The yellow-faced man finally stopped at a courtyard gate, where there was a discarded single-door refrigerator in the miscellaneous pile, two half-naked little boys were hanging together vertically with big thumbs. The yellow-faced man pushed the summer inside, throwing him on the platform in the room.
Inside the room, a western official’s voice was softly saying: “Heaven is not easy to believe, human life is not certain, if you rely on yourself, if you talk about blessing and fortune, that is destiny and blessing, not casual words.”
The wooden basin was very responsive on the ground. His brain bag was long broken, fresh blood flowing all over his face, with bloody flesh on his feet, wiping his face, the blood-stained handkerchief thrown on the blue stone slab under the sun. After the Tiao finished speaking, a man came out. The men in the southwest mountain area were not tall, this man especially thin and dark, with an extremely fierce face, with a wide mouth on the lower jaw, looking like a fierce expression, but the suppressed wooden basin seemed about to burst out a cry, he was wearing a half-rolled edge hat, wearing a black long robe, stepping on white-skinned cloth shoes, the man under the courtyard called the yellow-faced man’s name, the sound like “Hao Gan Ga”.
Ti Gan he was the local dialect, the two discussed for a while. The summer could still hear, they were deciding whether to break their own bones or peel off a layer of skin. This was not to report to the miscellaneous store’s little boy, nor was their focus point, they were discussing how to place the wooden basin at the train station or transport it.
When they discussed for too long, the wooden basin said: “If you’re talking about finding small children, I can help you find many.”
The two men didn’t speak, simultaneously looking at the summer on the ground, that gaze in the wooden basin’s heart turned virtual, but he didn’t stop talking: “After I break my hands and feet, I can only take care of myself, at most earn a dollar, but if I find many small children, it won’t be the same.”
Ti Gan he looked at the man under the courtyard and said: “Ti Shi Mo He?”
Ti Shi Mo He was the name of the next-door person.
Ti Shi Mo He didn’t hesitate, Hao Gan Ga said: “After you find a child, you can offset yourself, find another, those two children will belong to you, the money they earn will be given to us entirely, we’ll distribute money according to the number, if done well, you can get the first place.”
Ti Shi Mo He gave an order: “Cut off his thumb.”
“This is useless!” Summer almost shouted in response, “If I don’t cooperate with you, don’t mention cutting thumbs, even without hands and feet it’s the same! Don’t believe me, I’ll bring children back for you to see right now!”
Ti Shi Mo He asked: “Are you a local?This sister didn’t reply immediately. He guessed that this reply was very important to himself, but he didn’t have time to consider for long, trying to gain the other party’s trust was most important.
“I was traveling with my father, and the train just left after getting off, not a local person!”
“Where did you get on the train?”
“Maojian Flower.”
“What time was the train?”
“Just before noon today.”
This question would not be answered wrong. Although he was not from Maojian Flower, his parents were definitely at the Maojian Flower station where he sat on the train, not far from two hours.
Gao Gege said: “You go find a child to come back first.”
What was called “panic and flee” was the sister’s current state of mind, but she didn’t dare reveal it.
Tiqin Hehe asked: “Have you eaten?”
The sister nodded, barely smiling and said: “Probably not full, he just grabbed half a steamed bun.”
They opened the meal, the sister sitting in the doorway, trying her best not to look at the dishes on the table. Looking up from the courtyard, the sky was overcast, the clouds like a family’s roof, thick and almost round, each one penetrating, rolling at the bottom of the plate, smooth and white, the skin tight and smooth, sweet and oily, with a mouthful, the sesame sauce thick and rich, always causing a hot headache, but still eating heartily, this amount of white clouds, eating a few would not be finished.
The sister used her strength to swallow. The phone in the room rang, and Ruanqian answered the phone and became silent, and people started discussing again.
“Why not give that side, he has no illness and no injury, the family’s price is not expensive.” Ruanqian’s main meaning was this, Tiqin Hehe did not object, turning to ask: “What’s your age?”
Belonging to relatives, that is, asking about his age, the sister knew Yabei belongs to the small ones, right? He thought, and then answered: “Belongs to the dog.”
But this time he guessed wrong.
Gao Gege said: “How does it look not eight years old.”
But Tiqin Hehe had already decided to do this deal. Ruanqian was responsible for delivery.
Still using the original broken cart, but not returning to the train station, but to a long-distance bus station. Ruanqian used a cloth to tie the sister’s right hand with his own waist, outside the window was long and cold, looking like a child about to walk away, holding onto his father’s belt.
Gao Gege said in the knife drawer, specially telling the sister: “If you mess around, I’ll kill you first!”
The long-distance bus window had a sign marking the starting point and end point station’s wooden sign, but the sister couldn’t fully recognize those words. The driver didn’t report the station, all the way bumpy, the dirt road raised gray dust everywhere. Outside the window was all wilderness, fresh with smoke, fellow passengers were mostly ethnic minorities, skin dark, speaking various local dialects, almost unable to see a slightly normal face. The sun chased the bus, gradually passing the vehicle, disappearing on the horizontal line, the starry moment pointing to a magical world: mountains and rivers, flowers intertwined, not completely dark. The car had no lights, only two or three dim stars flickering.
5 Luck This Thing (Part 2)
The sister didn’t sleep all night. Midway the bus had stopped once, with several passengers getting off for convenience, but Ruanqian didn’t move.
Until the next day’s evening the bus arrived at the station, Ruanqian found a small restaurant to order noodles, the sister begged for a long time before being allowed to drink some noodle soup. Ruanqian had just finished eating when a thin Han boy walked directly to the table, glancing at the sister, looking down at Gao Gege.
Gao Gege said: “Pay first.”
The Han boy pulled out a small cloth from the drawer, Gao Gege prepared to clean a bit, when the Han boy suddenly said: “Wait, this item has a problem!”
The sister leaned on Gao Gege’s body, mouth constantly drooling water.
“Eyes turned white,” the Han boy said, “This won’t work.”
Gao Gege was also a bit anxious, explaining: “He just ate.”
The Han boy didn’t believe it, Ruanqian then scooped a bowl of noodles for the sister to eat, the sister was half dead, Ruanqian had to forcefully feed half a bowl. Only then did she barely open her eyes, still half-dead.
That’s good,” Ah Ping said, “You see, it’s nothing.”
Han Zi was not convinced: “I won’t go home, you should go back first, give me a good one. Besides, this child is too big, we want two or three of them.”
Ah Gui said, “Then I’ll just give you some.”
Han Zi asked, “How many is appropriate?”
“Reduce three thousand.”
“Reduce five thousand and I’ll take it! One price!”
Ah Gui thought for a moment, indicating agreement. The money was exchanged, but the knife still couldn’t be used, and Han Zi and Ah Ping were negotiating. This summer, he saw the fire poker used by the family on the dining table, and quietly took it in his hand, poking Ah Ping’s calf underneath.
