After Dazheng's car drove around the town, he did not find a hotel. This is extremely abnormal in a small town like this. Generally, ancient towns like this have no real economy, and they would like to add more tourism income to supplement their lives.
Moreover, Chen Zhi discovered that although there were some modern facilities in this small town, the buildings in the town were extremely old and dilapidated, which seemed very disproportionate compared with the modern elements. Everything here seemed to be deliberately kept low-key to prevent outsiders from entering.
Same.
Dazheng's car ran out of gas after driving around the town. They drove into a gas station in the town to refuel. Dazheng politely called the gas attendant sitting there and wanted to ask him about the situation in the town. By the way, he asked
Ask for directions.
The refueler was a stout man in his thirties. When he saw Dazheng calling him, he walked over briskly with a smile on his face and spoke in a military dialect with a heavy dialect, "Are there any problems for the guests?
”.
"Ah! Fellow fellows, let me ask you for directions!" Dazheng said, passing the cigarette. "Where can I find a hotel in this town? Even a B&B is fine. We just walked around in a circle, why can't we even find a hotel?
Can’t find it either?”,
"Oh, you're welcome." The stout man pushed away Dazheng's hand that handed him the cigarette, and pointed to the gas station next to him, indicating that smoking was not allowed here.
"Our town is very rundown, poor and picturesque, with few people coming here. There has never been any hotel. What are you doing here?"
"So that's it!" Dazheng continued to ask, "We have some things to go into the mountains. Do you know how to get to Guakeng Village? By the way, can you find a tour guide here? I am familiar with the mountain roads.
Just people from that village will do!"
"I don't know about that village," the stout man shook his head and said, "My ninth uncle has the final say on everything in our town. Otherwise, you can ask him! I am willing to take you there with me."
The man's face was full of kindness and his tone was very polite.
In this way, the man got into Chen Zhi's car and walked towards the center of the town with Dazheng and Chen Zhi. Dazheng and the man were chatting all the time. The man was a talkative person. After he got in the car, he
He is not as restrained as the mountain people. His surname is Zheng. Because he is tall and burly, the townspeople call him Zheng. People in the mountains get married early. He now has two children. The only gas station in this town is his.
It's owned by his family, and he is the owner and the gas attendant.
Although the economy in Wuping County is developing well, this town is very poor. There are no specialties here, you can't rely on the mountains to eat, and there is no tourism. Everyone makes a living by hunting and farming, and sometimes sells some vines.
Several of the woven handicrafts are given to the outside world, and the rest have little contact with the outside world. The ninth uncle he just mentioned is also surnamed Zheng. He is his biological uncle and the most respected old man here. Everything in the town, big and small, is involved.
It's up to him to decide.
The car stopped when it reached the center of the town. Zheng Da led them towards an alley. Chen Zhi noticed that the man named Zheng Da was very brisk in his steps, and there was no wind on his feet as he walked.
They soon saw the old man named Uncle Jiu. He was an old man with white hair and a white beard. When Chen Zhi saw him, he was squatting at the intersection selling homemade bacon.
The mayor has nothing to do with it.
"This is my ninth uncle," Zheng Da introduced, and told the old man with a white beard that Chen Zhi and others wanted to find a tour guide.
After hearing this, the old man stood up and dusted himself off.
This old man was at least over 70 years old, with a face full of deep wrinkles and a rosy complexion. He was wearing short home-made clothes made of coarse cloth, and his calves were tightly tied. He had a tall and straight body and a sonorous voice. He did not look at it. Da Zheng, but his two bright eyes looked up and down at Chen Zhi.
"You two are distinguished guests from afar!" the white-bearded old man said politely in the military dialect, "I wonder what the hell is going on in this run-down town like ours?"
"It's nothing big," Dazheng replied, "Old man, we are going to Guakeng Village to do some errands. Can you help find a guide?"
"Going to Guakeng Village?", the old man's eyes continued to look at Chen Zhi keenly. His eyes fell on Chen Zhi's waist and stopped. After a while, he smiled and said, "Haha~~, the distinguished guest wants to go to that village." What is the village doing? If there is any accident, why not tell me and see if I can help you two?"
"Nothing, we are just looking for some rare medicinal materials, which are only available near that village." Chen Zhi replied with a smile and continued to ask, "Old man, do you know where I can stay in this town?"
"In this broken town of ours, there is nowhere to stay in an inn. If you don't mind, you can stay at my house tonight! People in this town don't have telephone receivers. I'll go from house to house later and ask if anyone knows that village. I'm willing to take you up the mountain." The white-bearded old man said politely, then turned to Zheng Da and said, "Big man, go back and tell your wife Xie that there are distinguished guests coming to the door today. Let's kill a chicken in Zheng's building. Don’t welcome guests.”
"Okay!" Zheng Da happily agreed, beckoning Chen Zhi and Dazheng back to the car and continued to drive forward. After the car turned a corner, they saw the so-called Zheng Family Building.
This "building" is really shabby. It is actually a large courtyard with more than a dozen shabby mud houses. It seems to be a place where several families live together. There is a broken plaque hanging on the gate of the courtyard. Zhengjialou is carved crookedly.
There were a lot of chickens and ducks raised in the yard, and the barking of dogs was mixed in with everything. They were quacking and quacking, and a teenage boy was running around chasing the ducks inside.
Zheng Da let Chen Zhi and Dazheng into the yard, and the boy rushed over and bumped into Chen Zhi.
"Dad, I heard that people from outside are coming today! Is it them?" The boy spoke to Zheng Da in very standard Mandarin.
"This is my eldest son, his name is Shi Dandan. A country boy has never seen anything in the world. He can't laugh or laugh." Zheng Da said politely, then he hit the boy on the head and cursed. , "You are talking nonsense, when did you know that outsiders were coming? You keep talking like this every day, go back!".
"I..." Just as the boy was about to speak, a woman holding a child came out of the house and called Shi Dan'er back while yelling.
This woman is probably Zheng Da's daughter-in-law. She is very young, has thin skin and tender flesh, and is very beautiful. She does not look like a mountain person at all. It made Dazheng's eyes straighten. The woman looked very calm, and she was polite to Chen Zhier. The man nodded and went inside to cook.
Soon, the smoke rose, and the young men in the Zheng family building came back from the fields, and the women also came out of the house. The women were all good-looking, and they set tables, dishes, and chopsticks in the yard.
, secretly glanced at Chen Zhi and Dazheng, but said nothing.
The people in this yard were all surnamed Zheng, and their attitudes were very polite. Soon Uncle Jiu came back with two large pieces of marinated meat. Zheng Da’s wife killed two more chickens, busying the entire mountain village.
Vegetables, a group of people were eating in the yard.
During the meal, Uncle Jiu told Chen Zhi that he had asked the people in the town. In recent years, they have not been going up the mountain. Moreover, Guakeng Village is really remote. There are almost no people who know it, and there is nothing that anyone can do.
Guide. So I advised Chen Zhi not to go. If there is any shortage of medicinal materials, they can help search for it in the nearby mountains.
When Dazheng heard what Uncle Jiu said, he kept begging him to think of a solution, but Chen Zhi remained silent.
After it got dark, everyone went back to their rooms to sleep. Chen Zhi and Dazheng were arranged in a stone house on the edge of the yard. The house was very simple and Dazheng had been complaining ever since they entered.
Dazheng's company is a branch of the Bao family, and he rarely has the opportunity to meet Mr. Bao. But this time, Mr. Bao personally called him and asked him to make arrangements for Chen Zhi's stay. Dazheng was flattered and thought about it.
He should behave well and ask Chen Zhi to go back and say some nice things to him, but the current situation makes Dazheng very frustrated.
It soon became dark. Dazheng complained and slowly fell asleep, but Chen Zhi kept his eyes open.
It was estimated that around 12 o'clock in the middle of the night, Chen Zhi heard a burst of footsteps outside the house. It was a large group of people walking in from the gate of the yard, walking towards the backyard of Zheng's house. These people's footsteps were very light, and a large group of people walked in.
There was only the rustling sound of feet touching the grass. If Chen Zhi hadn't been trained to be alert over the years, he wouldn't have noticed at all.