At four o'clock in the morning the next day, the phone rang on time.
Chen Shu, who had already opened his eyes, knew that this was the alarm clock he had set the night before. According to the plan, he should get up at this time, wash up, and go to a nearby viewing area to watch the sunrise.
He was a little tired and turned sideways to go back to sleep. He was thinking of sleeping until noon before checking out and going down the mountain.
After tossing and turning many times, I finally sat up.
This was really not in line with my anger over the years. After a few moments, I finished washing, dressed neatly, rented a military coat from the hotel, and walked out of the hotel.
On the way to the observation deck among the crowd watching the sun, Chen Shu felt a faint sense of expectation in his heart. This was the same as when he went to Beijing's Tianmen Gate to watch the flag-raising.
When he arrived at the observation deck, he found a remote corner away from the crowds. Although the view was not particularly good, there were few people and it was clean.
Chen Shu stood on a protruding mountain rock and looked at the dark sky around him. It was still some time before the sun rose.
Just like last night, I stood there, tightly wrapped in my military coat, waiting patiently for the sunrise.
After a while, wisps of light shined through the dark sea of clouds, and the sky gradually became brighter.
A red-yellow halo also appeared on the horizon, and there was some light in the originally dark environment. Slowly, rolling mountains appeared in the field of vision. They disappeared and appeared in the elegant clouds and mist, which was very strange.
Spectacular.
Chen Shu held up the SLR camera in front of him, hesitated for a moment, and finally put down his hands, just quietly watching the red sun rise slowly.
Chen Shu took advantage of the sunrise to evacuate the observation deck earlier than the crowd and walked to the hotel. After arriving at the hotel, he took a shower, packed his luggage, checked out his military coat and room, and then took the cableway down the mountain alone.
When I left, I didn’t even look at the famous welcoming pine at the entrance of the hotel.
From the time he got up to the time he went down the mountain, only three or four hours had passed.
Taking into account the duty this week, Chen Shu only took three days of his original five-day annual leave. After spending two days and one night in Huangshan, he chose to spend the remaining night in the same province in Ontario, known as "Huaxia".
"Village in Chinese Painting" - Hongcun.
Taking a bus from Huangshan Scenic Area, it took Chen Shu more than two hours to arrive at Hongcun. Along the way, sitting on the bus unsteadily, Chen Shu looked at the scenery outside the window and felt a little calmer.
It was already around 12 noon when we arrived at the Hongcun Town stop. As the passengers got off the bus together, the crowd dispersed with a roar.
Chen Shu walked to a large map next to the platform and looked at it carefully for a while, determined the approximate location of where he was now and the hotel he had booked, and walked towards the hotel.
I have developed this habit after being taught by teachers and instructors for many years in the police academy. When going out, the first thing is to understand the surrounding environment and determine the direction; the second thing is to check the fire escape before entering the room at the place of accommodation, and lock the doors and windows after entering the room.
It's all something that doesn't take much time, but this habit has indeed saved Chen Shu a lot of trouble over the years.
Unexpectedly, after taking a few steps, a hesitant voice came from behind.
"Hello. Have you found a place to stay for the night?"
After Chen Shu stood still, he turned around and looked towards the place where the sound came from.
I saw a middle-aged woman in ordinary clothes, about forty years old, standing a little further away, looking at him with an embarrassed smile, as if she was afraid of disturbing Chen Shu.
She doesn't have the rudeness of the old woman at the train station who solicits people, nor does she have the money-grubbing cunningness of the people in the market. He is just an ordinary villager, even with some shame that he can't let go of because he comes out to solicit customers.
It was probably a B&B that came to the station to solicit customers. Chen Shu, who had already booked a room on Ctrip, looked at the simple woman in front of him and decided to give it a chance.
"Is your home in Hongcun?"
When the middle-aged woman heard that there was something going on, she quickly took a few steps closer: "Yes, my home is in the village! They are all my own houses, very clean! This is my ID card, take a look."
Chen Shu didn't look at it and nodded: "Is there anything to eat?"
Seeing that the business was about to be completed, the middle-aged woman smiled broadly: "Yes, yes, yes! Look at my memory! There must be something to eat. I will cook some authentic Anhui dishes for you then!"
Chen Shu smiled inwardly. This statement sounded a bit like a salesman.
Seeing the heartfelt smile of the woman in front of him, he was not particularly resistant. Although he would definitely be deducted if he canceled the previously booked room.
He shook his head in the direction of Hongcun: "Let's go then?"
Chen Shu looked up at the three-story old house in front of him, which was located in a remote corner of Hongcun and maintained the Huizhou architectural style.
The middle-aged woman next to her was worried that the talkative young man in front of her would regret it, so she hurriedly said: "The location is a bit off, but it only takes a few minutes to walk to Yuenuma Lake in the village."
Chen Shu stepped into the small courtyard: "What do you call aunt?"
The middle-aged woman picked up her skirt and hurried in: "Just call me Sister Zhang. By the way, I will take you to your room now. Which floor do you want to live on?"
This is a building made of gray bricks and small green tiles, with carvings and hollows everywhere. There are some daily sundries placed in the yard, and there are several Hongcun landscape paintings hanging on the wall of the lobby on the first floor.
It is full of life and has a little bit of ancient charm.
Chen Shu liked to live higher up, but after learning that the middle-aged woman's family also lived on the third floor, he chose an east room on the second floor and lived there.
Chen Shu put down his luggage, went to the first floor to order dinner dishes with Sister Zhang, went out with his SLR camera, and walked around the village.
In an inconspicuous place in the village, Chen Shu discovered the post office.
He ran to the post office and bought some postcards.
The first one sent one to Huang Siqian. He couldn't write romantic poems, so he simply sent a blessing;
Then he sent a letter to Zhou Qinghu who was far away in the provincial capital to wish him good luck in his official career. Chen Shu still felt a little ashamed about his last transfer;
There are some others.
Nowadays, with mobile phones, the communication between people is too convenient, but on the contrary, it feels like they are even more alienated from each other.
Evening, small courtyard.
The moon and stars are scarce and the climate is pleasant.
Chen Shu was sitting in the courtyard, with a medium-sized table spread out in front of him and several plates of Ontario specialty dishes placed on it.
A plate of stinky mandarin fish, a plate of salt and pepper chicken, a plate of green tofu, and a plate of bacon stewed with bamboo shoots. There were too many things, so Chen Shu specially left half a box of beer and planned to eat them slowly.
On the other side of the courtyard, about three or four meters away from Chen Shu, there was also a bald middle-aged guest sitting. There were also three or four plates of dishes and a bottle of white wine on the small table in front of him.
The middle-aged man with his back to Chen Shu frequently lowered his head to pick up vegetables, sipped wine alone, and occasionally raised his head to gaze at the moon for a while.
The two of them quietly ate their dishes and sipped their wine.
After a long time, the middle-aged guest suddenly started singing loudly, raising his glass and drinking.
Chen Shu did not fall behind others, drank all the wine in the bowl, picked up the chopsticks, and knocked on the porcelain bowl.
"The sounds of the river and the sea are heard in the middle of the night, and the guest's worries are suddenly lost in the cup!"
I vaguely remember that he was a big brother from the Northeast.