A few days later, on a crisp autumn afternoon, knowing that Jinmin was going to go shopping, I bought dog meat, beef, pork, green vegetables, radishes... star anise, cinnamon, pepper... beer, liquor. Stand by the small carousel in the market and wait.
"How many people are eating? Do you want to burst my refrigerator? Haha." A white Isuzu stopped next to me with a snort. That's it. Then he reached over to pick up part of it, and opened the door on the other side.
Putting the vegetables away, I rubbed my dark and purple fingers, clapped my palms, and rubbed them together: "Let's go, I haven't eaten seriously for a few days, I have to have a good meal tonight." Do it."
"Oh, let's have a good drink tonight." He paused for a few seconds and asked, "Has Ah Wen been to Henggang?" Then he started the car and looked at the road ahead.
"No, I seldom come out, you know." I handed him a cigarette, he hesitated a little, took it, put it in his ear, and said, "I haven't smoked for a long time."
The car passed through Jiaoyuan Village, passed a high-speed intersection, and entered a field that I had never been to before. The newly built main road is more spacious and clean than the national road, but it is relatively bleak and monotonous, without greening, except for the asphalt road, which is loess, with intermittent and scattered embellishments A few bare and yellow shrubs. On the left is a wide and flat piece of land, as if it has just been bulldozed, with reinforced concrete pillars neatly inserted, and it is estimated that new houses will be erected soon. There is a low valley on the right, loess loess is presented in front of the eyes, and a line of mountain stream flows thinly at the lowest point.
Under the blue sky and white clouds, in the breeze and fine water, on the asphalt road, the car seemed to be driving on a highway, smooth and brisk. Jin Min, who was originally serious, didn't say a word when driving, holding the steering wheel with both hands, and looked intently at the car. forward. The car gradually slowed down. Seeing Jin Min pushing towards the left like doing Tai Chi with both hands, the front of the car turned to the left.
"Awen, this is Henggang. Go straight along the main road just now, and the next slope is Henggang's market and commercial street. There is a gate like a park on the side of the slope, and there is a reservoir inside. When it’s hot, you can come here to swim and play in the water to cool off, it’s very fun, and there are many people.”
"Oh, are we entering the fruit farm now?" I saw the car turning into a tree-lined path.
"Yes."
"Then if you come by bus, where should you get off?" I asked Jinmin, because I only saw a simple bus stop halfway, and then the road was empty.
"It's also at the bottom of the slope. The name of the platform is Henggang Station. You can take a bus from Hetian or Houjie during the day, but it's best not to go at night." Jin Min said.
"Is there no car at night?" I asked.
"No, it's probably not safe to walk that road at night if you're alone." He drove the car a lot slower as he spoke to me.
I just took a closer look, and saw that a mountain forest road with bluestone and gravel interspersed with it seemed to be repaired. It is not very spacious, but it can accommodate two small and medium-sized trucks passing by. Eucalyptus forests stand tall and straight on both sides, enclosing the narrow road like a tunnel. As the car moves forward, the sides of the road become wider and wider, and you can see a piece of low shrubs, evergreen pine forests, weeds and thorns, intricate Winding, I don't know if it is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but at least there should be pheasants and hares.
It was still a refreshing and soft wind outside just now, but after entering here, it was like entering a fresh-keeping freezer, with a hint of coolness blowing over the face, mixed with the smell of forest trees and grass, stream water and night dew. If it weren't for someone and a car as a companion, maybe there would really be a ghostly and gloomy feeling, just a few light and sweet birdsong, from far to near, cut through the sky, and also wiped out my momentary gloom, and Jin Min laughed.
"It's not bad, it's good for your boss. I found such a quiet and elegant mountain and forest treasure land for you. The air is fresh, and the flowers, birds and insects are singing. Living here, you must feel refreshed and your health will be much better?" I looked at Jin. civil.
"Everything else is good, but it's not convenient to buy something. Shopping for groceries every day is a problem." Jin Min said with a pleasant expression.
But in 10 minutes, I passed a newly built concrete bridge. The car enters a netted iron gate like a goal, and there are sparse and regular litchi and longan on both sides, which stand in a staggered manner. The fruit-hanging season has already passed, and it will only grow again in the coming year.
No one was seen, but there was a dog barking, and a big black wolfhound was leading the way, followed by two yellow and black spotted domestic dogs barking wildly. Seeing the car driving closer, the tails of Sansi became more and more pinched. As it got tighter, the car came to an abrupt stop under a tall mango tree. Jin Min got down first, stomped a few times, and scolded a few times, and those guys started shaking their heads and jumping for joy.
I packed up the scattered vegetables and seasonings, handed some of them to Jinmin who turned to greet me, and jumped out of the car. The big guy in the lead tentatively sniffed and licked my trousers, and was about to be disappointed, thinking it was a little girl. I was afraid that I would smack it on the head a few times, and it would jump up and become enthusiastic, as if it was apologizing for the unreasonableness just now.
The two little domestic dogs were still full of hostility at first, but seeing that their master and leader treated me as a guest and treated each other with courtesy, they just hummed a few times in a low voice, and opened the way for us as if away.
Walking through a small path, you can see several low tile-roofed houses lined up. There is an empty field in front of the door paved with cement, a well, a vegetable garden surrounded by a fence, and a double-layer wooden chicken coop. On the edge of the vegetable garden, there were a few old hens, and they had already hid in their nests as the sun went down. In the distance, a group of shelducks croaked and swayed, shaking their heads non-stop, and occasionally making intimate movements with each other with their mouths. A harmonious scene caught my attention.
"Awen is here. Come, come, let me come." The old uncle in Sichuan saw us, with a smile on his face, stepped forward to meet us, and helped me carry my things. He kept saying, "So polite."
"Oh, I bought so much again, Ah Wen, you are always so polite, come in and sit down." Hearing the voice, Ah Ying jumped out of the first room, holding a half-knitted sweater in her hand.
"Hey, what about Jin Jun and Lian Yu?" I asked.
"Come back soon, let's go out and start working." Aying said, looking at Jin Min.
"I'm going to pick them up now." Jin Min put his things into the small room next to the well, turned around and left.
"How to do it, according to our taste or...? I'm not very good at it, hehe. Ah Wen, you invited everyone to eat, right?" The old man looked at the dishes put down, and looked at the sky , look at me again.
"Just according to your taste. I bought all the peppercorns. Haha." I am also a person with heavy tastes. I don't mind Sichuan flavors, but I like Hunan flavors very much. So as long as it's not too bland, it doesn't matter. "Did you tell them for me?" I looked at A Ying.
"As I said, I cooked all the meals, a total of eight people's meals. Come on, let's do it together, hurry up." A Ying has always done things vigorously and vigorously. Seeing that it was getting late, she went into the room to put down her sweater and put on an apron Then I came out and came to the small house by the well. It turned out that this was their kitchen, and it was quite spacious inside, with bowls, chopsticks, stools, kitchen utensils and so on.
A few of us got busy. The old uncle would always be polite: "Ah Wen, let's go watch TV, we'll be fine, if you buy it, you have to do it yourself, how embarrassing it is."
Eating hot pot is more trouble-free, just set up the bottom of the pot, wash and tidy up the other dishes, so it doesn't take long, and it can be started when they come back.
"Do you want to put the peppers in the pot to cook?" the old uncle asked.
"No, let's make chili rings. Lian Yu doesn't eat chili very much. Hehe, I don't know if he would mind the peppercorns." I said. I thought to myself, when I bought peppercorns, I hesitated.
"Oh, yes. Ayu doesn't seem to want to eat it, why don't I pick up the pepper leaves?" The old uncle looked at me as if he had made a mistake.
"No need, let the minority obey the majority."
Everything is ready, waiting for everyone to come back, the old uncle is watching in the kitchen, tidying up some details. I came to Aying's house and sat on a small stool to watch TV. Aying sat on the bed and continued knitting. Seeing me coming in, she put down her work and turned to the refrigerator to ask me what I would like to drink, Coke or coconut milk.
"No need, I'll eat right away, and I'm not thirsty." I stood up and stopped her, and looked inside and outside the small house because I was familiar with it, and I didn't care whether others were scruples.
This room is about the same size as the original room on the outside, but there is a bathroom missing inside, so the kitchen looks bigger, the master bedroom is the same, and the furnishings are similar to the outside, all the original things, but there are more I bought a new refrigerator, saying that it is not convenient to buy vegetables here, so I bought a slightly larger refrigerator, which can store vegetables for a few more days, so that I don't have to go out when there is a strong wind and rain.
The pots and pans in the kitchen are simple and clean. There is a large jar on the ground in the corner, which is probably pickled cabbage. There is a desk next to the TV in the bedroom. There are messy paintings on the desk. There is a red schoolbag on one side. Thinking about it, I looked at A Ying who was concentrating on threading the needles and threads.