Chapter 3 Return to the Village

Author: Lao Klin

Chapter 3 Return to the Village

Sanpao led the way and walked into a telecommunications business hall on the street.

Li Hongbing was eye-opening.

This is probably the most complete business hall he has ever seen.

Fertilizers are displayed at the gate, various cheap mobile phones are placed on the counter, farm tools are hung on the south wall, labor protection supplies are hung on the east wall, and the corners are piled with eggs and vegetables.

The only equipment in the business hall was a computer. Behind the computer was a pretty woman watching a movie.

"I made a big boss like you laugh." Sanpao scratched his head in embarrassment and shouted to the woman playing on the computer.

"Daughter-in-law, look who's coming."

The pretty woman didn't even raise her head, "What kind of gangsters are you talking about? I told you not to bring unscrupulous people into the store."

Sanpao waved his hand to Li Hongbing sheepishly, "What kind of friends are you? Take a good look at who is coming."

The woman finally raised her head. At first glance, Li Hongbing looked confused. Later, she looked a little familiar. After thinking for a long time, she finally found the number in her memory and asked uncertainly.

"Are you...the Red Soldier...brother?"

Li Hongbing had already known who this woman was. She was also an elementary school classmate she knew, Wang Chunmiao.

Back then she was just a runny-nosed girl with yellow hair, but she didn't expect that she is now very good-looking and married to Sanpao.

"Chunmiao, it's me."

The woman stood up suddenly and stared at Li Hongbing in disbelief, especially looking at the gray hair.

"Brother Hongbing, you are so stupid! At the beginning of the year, I met an old man who went home to burn paper. He said that you had settled in Mingzhu. Why did your hair get old so fast?"

Ahem!

Sanpao coughed on purpose to remind his silly wife that she had just seen Li Hongbing in the market and was shocked by his weathered face and gray sideburns. It took him a long time to confirm that it was Li Hongbing himself.

It is normal for people to have gray hair.

But having gray hair in your 30s is not normal.

It's either a serious illness or a catastrophe.

Li Hongbing smiled freely and said, "I am retired and ready to return to Caogou Village."

Retiring in your thirties is no joke, you must have other things.

Sanpao was afraid that his silly wife would say stupid things again, so he quickly answered, "It's good to come back. The air in the countryside is much better than that in the city. In city dialect, the oxygen is good. What is it called natural oxygen?"

After saying that, he yelled at his wife.

"Why are you still standing there? Go to the market and buy a chicken. I'll have a drink with Brother Hongbing."

Li Hongbing quickly stopped him, "No, I'll treat you to a drink some other time. I'm really busy today. I'll find a car to go back to Caogou Village."

Rural people are hospitable.

The enthusiasm is irresistible.

But Li Hongbing was anxious to return to the village and reluctantly rejected Sanpao's invitation after pushing it several times.

We can only make an appointment to meet next time, and we won’t come back until we get drunk.

After paying back the money to buy the dog, I casually asked if there was any way to go back to Caogou Village.

This is the right person to ask.

Sanpao patted his chest and said that he had a car and was about to go into the mountains to collect some eggs and mountain products. If he didn't mind, he would send Li Hongbing back to the village.

A car is indeed a car.

It was just a dilapidated 125 motorcycle with two large iron cages welded to the rear, filled with debris.

Sanpao explained while packing up the iron cage.

"In addition to looking after stores, I usually go to various villages to collect eggs and mountain products. The roads in the mountains are difficult to walk, so riding a motorcycle is convenient."

Seeing the embarrassment of his classmate, Li Hongbing quickly praised him.

"Okay, diversified business, if you have ideas."

boom!

When the motorcycle started, thick black smoke spewed out from the gas pipe, and the puppies howled in fear in the cage.

Li Hongbing quickly comforted the puppy, and Sanpao, who was riding the motorcycle, waved, "Get in the car."

…

The mountain roads in the forest area are winding and winding, with 125 sometimes speeding at the foot of the mountain, and sometimes climbing up steep peaks. Seeing such a "wild" road, Li Hongbing, who had not returned to the village for a long time, couldn't help but take a breath of air.

In the past, the paved cement roads in every village had been in disrepair for many years, resulting in potholes, serious damage, and crazy bumps, which made Li Hongbing feel like he was playing with bumper cars in an amusement park.

Another disadvantage is that it is narrow, barely two meters wide. Two carriages passing each other can stagger each other. But if two cars meet, it will be difficult. They can only retreat to a certain avoidance point before they can pass each other.

However, these do not affect Sanpao's suicide riding style.

Tightening the accelerator without letting go, I rode the 125 with the temperament of the Isle of Man TT competition. Black smoke spewed out from the exhaust pipe, and I ran at high speed on the winding mountain road. I didn't slow down when turning, but accelerated and whizzed past the cliff.

.

The 100-meter-high cliff, coupled with the extremely dangerous terrain in the forested mountains, is rich in various "heavenly roads".

Li Hongbing was so frightened that he yelled at Sanpao to run slower and pay attention to safety despite the roaring wind.

Sanpao didn't take it seriously. He turned back and showed off without looking at the road, "It's okay. I can ride this road with my eyes closed. I guarantee that I can reach Caogou Village in two hours."

You're fine.

But I'm afraid.

Don't wear a helmet either.

Damn it, don’t look back at Lu Xuan’s driving skills.

Dazzle, dazzle!

Come back!

If there is a car accident, the fallen leaves will really return to their roots.

Li Hongbing wisely closed his mouth, firmly grasped the handrails on both sides, straightened his back, and watched the road conditions with wide eyes. If there was danger, he would jump out of the car as soon as possible.

At least it's better to be disabled than to live on a pedestal.

It's been a blast all the way.

Soon, Li Hongbing's sight appeared in Li Hongbing's sight, a continuous cliff of thousands of feet. The gray-white cliff seemed to have been cut with a bare edge, and it stood like a city wall between heaven and earth.

Looking up, wisps of white clouds, like gauze, lie across the waist of the cliff, and the lush greenery exposed on the top of the wall looks like a hanging garden.

This is the only way back to the village, Chaotian Rock.

From the perspective of city people, this is a miraculous work of nature, an astonishing miracle between heaven and earth, but for Caogou Village, it is a stumbling block. The harsh environment and blocked traffic make the already poor villagers even poorer.

When Li Hongbing was a child, every time he saw Chaotian Rock, he would be in awe of its magnificence.

A gap seems to be cut by the gods with an ax in the middle of Qianbian Cliff. A zigzag mountain road is embedded in the gap. It is the only entrance and exit passage in Liancaogou Village. It has a continuous "Z" shape of steep turns and sharp turns.

There are nineteen turns, also called the Nineteen Turns toward the sky.

This "Z"-shaped steep slope road was hammered out of the rock bit by bit by the villagers of Caogou Village using iron picks and chisels. The average slope reaches 20 degrees, and the steepest point is close to 30 degrees.

Li Hongbing hated the nineteen-turn crutch facing the sky. As a child, he had to climb up and down every time he went to school, which was a kind of torture.

And as soon as winter comes, it is closed to traffic. I remember one year when it snowed heavily, a villager had to leave the village for urgent business, so he flew out directly from the 19th Turn, and when he found it, it had turned into a puddle of meat.

The gravel road is now made of cement. Although it is more than three meters wide, there are no railings on the roadside, but it is still steep and steep, with sheer cliffs outside.

Sanpao put away his smile and got out of the car to inspect the motorcycle, especially the engine and brakes.

"Brother, please don't move around later. The bastard who built this road will die if he makes a few more turns. He has to make the road so steep."

The average steep slope is 20 degrees. The maximum slope is 30 degrees, with nineteen consecutive turns.

Accidentally, the car crashed and everyone was killed, and the whole village was devastated.

After checking the motorcycle.

Increase the accelerator, the motorcycle roars, spits out billowing black smoke, and climbs up slowly, like an old cow, unable to stretch its legs and gasping for air.

When we climbed the steepest slope, the motorcycle simply lay motionless, its wheels spinning and black smoke billowing from the engine and exhaust pipe.

Sanpao skillfully took out a plastic bottle filled with cold water and sprayed water on the motorcycle to cool it down.

Li Hongbing didn't know whether he could water the motorcycle to cool it down if it overheated, but he knew that the life of this 125 would be miserable if it was with Sanpao.

Looking at the highest slope in front of him, Li Hongbing knew that the broken 125 had tried its best and was overwhelmed by the weight of the two people. He simply picked up the backpack, picked up the four puppies from the iron frame and put them on the ground. Sanpao said.

"I'll go by myself first, and you'll follow me later."
To be continued...