Mu Qing stayed in the crematorium, and I arrived at the station alone and boarded a bus directly according to the address given by Uncle Quan.
From 1st a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m., I spent almost all my time in the car.
The smell of gasoline in the bus made me feel a little depressed all day long, but sitting in the front row, I always felt like someone was staring at me from behind.
I looked back several times and found that there were other passengers sleeping heavily behind the car, which was not surprising at all.
The only thing that seemed to be sitting in the corner at the back was a figure of a woman, but the woman had a mask on her face and a hat on her head. I looked at it several times and always felt that the figure seemed a bit small.
Little familiarity.
But I can't remember who it is specifically...
At six o'clock in the afternoon, I got off the bus and found that I had arrived at a town with a quite primitive atmosphere.
There are quite a lot of people in the town, horses, donkeys and other things coming and going, and all kinds of cries are heard constantly.
I followed the address Uncle Quan gave me before and planned to hire a local to take me there on horseback or something.
Unexpectedly, after I walked around in a circle, the locals who were coming and going frowned immediately when they heard where I was going.
Even if I asked for more money, they would wave their hands and refuse to go, saying that the place was too dangerous.
I asked them what was dangerous about it, and they just made a fuss and said that the village was very weird and isolated from the world. It was very inconvenient to get in and there wasn't even a good road.
Half a day later, seeing that it was getting dark, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and shout: "Who will send me to that Willow Village? I'll pay twice the fare!"
I shouted like a vegetable seller for a while, and finally when the owners of the carriages shook their heads and dispersed, and I was about to give up, a low voice sounded.
"Young man, are you going to Liucun?"
When the voice came, I felt overjoyed. They say that money can make all the difference. This is true!
Isn't there someone here?
I looked back excitedly, but when I saw the person behind me clearly, my heart dropped!
My uncle!
Are you kidding me? This is it!
I saw an old man standing behind me with a severe hunchback.
And sitting on the bullock cart behind him was a little boy who looked to be under 18 years old.
I frowned, if a young man or something came randomly, I would definitely agree and get in the car.
But now, the old man looked very old, and the cart was pulled by an old ox, and there was a little boy sitting in the cart.
Is it really possible for an old man and a young man to send me to Liucun, where there is no way to go?
While my heart was beating a little, the old man spoke.
He rubbed his hands and said with a somewhat flattering smile: "Young man, you don't have to ask. No one in this town dares to go to Liucun unless you offer three times the price."
"Damn it, three times! Where are you trying to steal the money?" I said.
The old man nodded, then looked at the little boy behind him for a moment, and continued: "Young man, although I am just a bullock cart, I only charge you twice the price. What do you think?"
After hearing what the old man said, I felt a little confused in my heart.
The oxcart must be much slower than the horse-drawn carriage. It was almost night time, and it would take two or three hours to get to Liucun. I thought to myself that if it didn't work out, I would just find a place to stay.
Then make plans tomorrow.
But when I first told me that I would make plans tomorrow, the old man refused to comply.
The old man persuaded me for a while, saying that the price could be a little lower, and his ox-cart was not slow at all. It would take two or three hours to reach Liucun or something...
To be honest, I don't want to do it from the bottom of my heart.
But looking at the gray-haired old man, I couldn't help but ask: "It will get dark soon, and the road there is not easy to walk. Otherwise, I will still ask you to send me there tomorrow, how about it?"
The old man shook his head and said: "Little brother, the money can be less. If it is convenient for you, leave now. Old man, I promise to send you there."
"Are you more anxious than me?" I couldn't help but laugh.
But at this time, I heard the little boy on the oxcart mutter: "Grandpa, the teacher said, the tuition should be paid no later than tomorrow morning..."
"What? Tuition?" I was stunned and asked.
The old man sighed at this time, glanced at the dirty little boy on the oxcart, and said: "Tomorrow is the first day of school. School fees have to be paid, and the food at home has been sold, but there is still less."
Some, so I thought about finding a job in the town, but no one wanted me as an old man the whole day... Even those who said I was weak and illiterate were unwilling to ask me to work."
The old man spoke slowly, and I couldn't help but feel my heart move!
I took another look at the little boy on the bullock cart. Although his clothes were dirty, his eyes were extraordinarily bright, just like the grapes.
I gritted my teeth and said to the little boy, "You have to pay the tuition tomorrow morning at the latest, right?"
The little boy nodded his head, a trace of desire flashed in his eyes...
Well, I have to say, I am infected at this moment.
I took out the money from my pocket and handed it to the old man to pay his tuition tomorrow morning.
But the old man refused to obey!
"Little brother, I can't ask for this money from you. Although the old man's family is poor, I will never ask for free money."
Well, seeing that the old man was so determined, I had no choice but to agree to him and let him send me to Liucun.
This town is about two or three hours away from Liucun. The road is said to be in disrepair and is no longer easy to navigate.
However, the old man said that he had walked there many times before and it would be fine even if it was dark. He could definitely take me to Liucun.
I glanced at the little boy behind the oxcart with a longing look in his eyes, and then at the old man who promised again and again, and finally nodded in agreement.
"Then it's hard work, old man."
I'm not being pretentious. This old man from a poor family has principles, so I'll listen to him.
In this case, they, grandfather and grandson, will stay one night in Liujia Village tonight and rush back to the town tomorrow morning, just in time to pay tuition fees and so on...
I got on the bullock cart and sat with the little boy. The old man over there was sitting on the seat behind the old scalper. He grabbed a small bamboo whip and spanked the old scalper's butt several times before the old scalper became lazy.
He started walking proudly.
I took out some snacks I bought before getting in the car from my backpack and gave them to the little boy. His eyes suddenly lit up and he was gobbling them down.
"What do you call the old man?" I took a piece of bread and handed it to the old man.
The old man waved his hand at me and said, "Just call me Lao Zhangtou. I don't like eating this food. You can give it to my grandson."
"Oh, then I'll call you Uncle Zhang. I'm Xiao Zhou. Don't worry, I still have some in my backpack. I'll give some more to your grandson later, so you can eat some too."
I could tell from the little boy that the grandfather and grandson probably didn't have anything to eat today in order to save money to pay tuition.
Otherwise, the little boy wouldn't gobble it up like this.
Uncle Zhang couldn't resist me, so he had to say thank you several times, and then took the bread to eat...
About ten minutes later, the oxcart slowly drove up the mountain path. I looked at the increasingly dark sky, and felt a lack of confidence in my heart.
It's late at night, I hope nothing will happen.
After a while, I saw that Uncle Zhang had taken out an oil lamp from under the oxcart, lit it and hung it on the other side of the bamboo, and then supported it with his hands to guide the old scalper to move forward slowly...
"Kid, what's your name?" Being bored, I touched the little boy who had a mouth full of crumbs and asked him.
The little boy smiled timidly at me and said, "My name is Zhang Rui, and my grandfather calls me Xiao Rui."
"Oh, Xiao Rui? That's a good name." I took out a tissue and wiped his mouth, then continued: "What about your parents?"
After I finished speaking, a look of confusion and loss appeared in the little boy's dark and bright eyes.
"Grandpa said that my father passed away very early and my mother also ran away..."
"Forehead."
The little boy's answer surprised me, so I quickly moved the topic elsewhere, for fear of arousing the little guy's sadness again.
More than half an hour later, I looked at Xiao Rui who was already happily playing games on my mobile phone. I couldn't help but sigh and thought to myself: "The old and the young are so pitiful. I'll find a way to give them to them later."
Let them get more money..."
Just when I was about to ask Uncle Zhang how long it would take for us to arrive, suddenly, I felt the bumpy bullock cart stop!
And when I looked up again, I saw that the oil lamp hanging from the bamboo in Uncle Zhang's hand suddenly went out.
And in the next second, the old scalper, who had been extremely lazy along the way, let out a cry of terror...