Chapter 601 Liangjiazhuang
When Liang Jingguo's butt finally touched the back seat of the motorcycle, the rough canvas pants rubbed against the leather seat and made a slight sound, but it was completely swallowed up by the roar of the engine.
He subconsciously tightened his grip on the work belt around Zhou Yimin's waist, his fingertips touching the hard muscle lines under the other's cotton-padded jacket, while his other hand tightly grasped the rear rack - the cold metal rod still retained the warmth of the daytime sun, but now it was rapidly cooling down in the night wind.
The moment the motorcycle rushed out of the village entrance, the wheels rolled over the frosty dirt road, making a crisp squeaking sound.
Liang Jingguo's back slammed against the metal box. The clinking sound of tools inside the box came through the thin fabric of his clothes, reminding him of the spare parts piled up in the warehouse of the agricultural machinery factory.
But what was even more shocking at this moment was the wind blowing in his face - the cold wind carrying snow particles was like countless fine needles, pricking his cheeks painfully, but also making him inexplicably excited.
"Hold on tight!" Zhou Yimin's voice was blown into pieces by the wind, but it rushed into Liang Jingguo's ears like an electric current.
He looked at the two beams of light split by the headlights. The snowflakes dancing in the beams of light were like startled fireflies, drawing silvery tracks in the darkness.
This scene suddenly reminded him of the time when he watched open-air movies in the village when he was a child. The heroes on the screen rode on their horses, and at this moment, the steel beast under his crotch was more majestic than any horse.
When passing by the Red Star Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Liang Jingguo deliberately straightened his back.
He imagined that if Aunt Zhang, who bought salt here during the day, saw this at this moment, she would be so shocked that she would drop the enamel jar in her hand.
And there was Fatty Wang from the agricultural machinery factory who always laughed at him for wearing patched pants. If he knew he was sitting on a motorcycle, he would be so jealous.
The moment the wind blew into his collar, he had even thought of the opening remarks after returning to the village: "Hey, that's it, Yimin insisted on taking me for a ride."
I wonder what Zhou Yimin would think if he knew what Liang Jingguo was thinking?
When the motorcycle climbed up the dirt slope, Liang Jingguo's buttocks left the seat briefly, and the feeling of weightlessness made him unable to help but let out a low cry.
But he quickly swallowed the words back into his stomach - he caught a glimpse of scattered lights in the distant valley. That was Liangjiazhuang where he had lived for thirty years.
The imagined scene of the villagers surrounding him became clearer and clearer. The children would touch the tires of the motorcycle and scream, the old people would puff on their pipes and ask questions, and he would just wave his hand casually and say that this was just a means of transportation for his old classmates.
The engine suddenly let out a low roar and the motorcycle rushed to the highest point.
Liang Jingguo looked down and saw his shadow stretched out long by the car lights. He was jumping and running on the undulating dirt road, just like those majestic knights in the movies.
He loosened his grip on the shelf and tentatively raised his arms - the cold wind immediately filled his cuffs, making him feel an unprecedented sense of freedom and comfort.
When the motorcycle ran over the icy ruts at the entrance of Liangjiazhuang village.
Liang Jingguo's hands were still numb from the bumpy ride, but when he caught a glimpse of the crooked fence of his house, he subconsciously straightened his back.
The roofs of the three dilapidated earthen houses were covered with a thin layer of snow, and frozen and cracked mud blocks were falling at the base of the walls. Compared with Zhou Yimin's brick house with a solar water heater, this place looked more like a corner forgotten by time.
"Come into the house and warm up!" Liang Jingguo pulled Zhou Yimin into the house by his sleeve, and the door hinges made a dying creaking sound.
It was colder inside the house than outside. The wind had torn holes in the newspaper covering the window frames, and the sunlight shone through the cracks, casting spider-web-like spots of light around the stove.
His mother stood up from behind the stove, her apron still stained with vegetable residue. Her cloudy eyes suddenly lit up when she saw the guest: "Hurry up and sit down!"
There were a few dried wild chrysanthemums floating in the tea in the coarse porcelain bowl. Zhou Yimin held the bowl and blew gently. In the mist, he caught a glimpse of the leaky hat hanging on the wall and the washed-out Zhongshan suit on Liang Jingguo.
Liang Jingguo squatted beside the coal stove and added firewood. Sparks splashed on his patched trouser legs, but he was unaware: "Our home is simple, don't mind it."
After finishing his tea, Zhou Yimin placed the enamel bowl on the edge of the kang and said, "Go out for a walk."
Before he finished speaking, the door curtain was already opened.
Liang Jingguo hurriedly grabbed the tattered cotton hat from the corner and chased after him. The cold wind blew snow particles at his head. He saw Zhou Yimin looking up at the row of crooked jujube trees at the entrance of the village - the dead branches whimpered in the wind, and last year's shriveled jujube pits were still hanging between the branches.
The two men walked towards the back of the village on the snow, and the frozen soil under their feet made a crisp crackling sound.
Liang Jingguo pointed to the bare hillside and said, "Nothing grows on this piece of land."
Zhou Yimin didn't respond, but bent down to pick up a piece of frozen soil and crushed it into ice chips in his palm. Suddenly, his eyes were attracted by a bush under the cliff - on the gray branches, there was a layer of translucent ice shell, which refracted fine light in the sun.
"What is this?" Zhou Yimin pulled down a branch and took a closer look.
Liang Jingguo scratched his head: "The villagers call it ice willow. It's like this in winter. It's useless."
Zhou Yimin looked at it carefully to see if he could find anything unique about it. It was obvious that he was overthinking it, and there was nothing unique about it.
The sun stretched the shadows of the two people very long. Liang Jingguo looked at Zhou Yimin's back as he walked with big strides, and suddenly felt that the ice shells hanging on the branches no longer seemed to be useless waste.
Zhou Yimin was not discouraged. He knew that this was not a small project and it was normal even if it was delayed for a few days.
The two men then walked towards the back mountain. The wind in the back mountain was stronger than that at the village entrance. The blown snow foam hit Zhou Yimin's goggles, making crackling sounds.
Liang Jingguo followed behind with his neck shrunk, and the crisp sound of his cotton shoes breaking the ice shell echoed in the empty valley.
The two of them walked towards the bamboo forest, one step deep and one step shallow. The withered yellow grass shivered in the wind. Only the dark green bamboo bush stood out against the gray snow scene.
"This bamboo..." Zhou Yimin's voice was torn apart by the wind. He squatted down and pushed aside the snow-covered bamboo branches, and his fingertips touched the cold bamboo joints.
The bamboo poles as thick as bowls swayed gently in the cold wind, and the icicles hanging on the bamboo tips reflected tiny rays of light, as if someone had scattered a handful of broken diamonds.
Liang Jingguo came closer, breathing out white air, and the ice crystals on his eyebrows fell down: "This is the only bamboo forest. The old people said that it can't grow food, so we can only cut it down and make baskets."
Zhou Yimin didn't respond, but rubbed his fingers along the bamboo grain.
Snow particles got into his cuffs, but he was unaware of it. His eyes swept over the bamboo shoots spreading along the edge of the bamboo forest - the roots exposed outside the frozen soil looked like dormant green snakes.
"Jingguo, are there so many bamboos here all year round?" he suddenly asked, his eyes behind the goggles shining surprisingly brightly.
Liang Jingguo was stunned, and the white breath he exhaled condensed into rime in front of his eyes.
He looked at Zhou Yimin's back as he squatted in the snow. The patches on his overalls' knees were soaked black by the snow. "It's winter now so there are fewer bamboos. In spring, there will be more bamboos."
Before he finished speaking, Zhou Yimin suddenly stood up and brushed off the snow on his trouser legs. His movement was so loud that it scared away the sparrows perched on the bamboo shoots.
"I've thought of a good idea. Let's go back first!" Zhou Yimin's voice was filled with suppressed excitement. When he turned around, he almost slipped on the frozen bamboo stubble.
Liang Jingguo looked at his eyes that suddenly lit up, and remembered that he looked the same when he solved difficult physics problems during his student days.
The cold wind blew into his collar, but he didn't feel cold. The hot meal he had just eaten at Zhou Yimin's house turned into a warm current, warming his stomach to his fingertips.
The two men walked back with one foot deep and one foot shallow. Zhou Yimin looked back at the bamboo forest from time to time, and their pace was so fast that Liang Jingguo could hardly keep up.
The setting sun stretched the bamboo shadows very long, outlining mottled lines on the snow.
Liang Jingguo looked at the snow particles falling on Zhou Yimin's shoulders, and suddenly felt that the bamboos swaying in the wind were no longer waste that could only be used to weave baskets. Instead, they were like countless green swords that were about to split the silent winter in Liangjiazhuang.
When passing by a frozen stream, Zhou Yimin suddenly stopped, bent down to pick up a piece of snow-covered bamboo, and blew on it in his palm. The light green lines on it looked like some undeciphered code.
The coal stove in the main room made a slight crackling sound. Liang Jingguo paced back and forth in front of the eight-immortals table. The hem of his Zhongshan suit brushed against the wooden chair, making a rustling sound.
When he looked at the door for the third time, he finally couldn't hold back any longer: "Yimin, don't keep me in suspense. Tell me what your idea is."
Before he finished speaking, Zhou Yimin had already added a handful of dried chrysanthemums into the enamel pot and watched the tea leaves expand into a translucent shape in the boiling water.
"Jingguo, go and invite the head of your village over here, and I will tell you directly in front of you, so that you don't have to say it several times!" Zhou Yimin picked up the teacup and took a sip. The heat blurred his lenses, revealing only a sly smile in his eyes.
Liang Jingguo opened his mouth, and finally grabbed the tattered cotton hat by the door and rushed out, the wooden door making a dull sound behind him.
The rhythm of snowflakes hitting the window frames became faster and faster. After about half an incense stick of time, hurried footsteps were heard outside the yard.
Village chief Liang stepped over the threshold wrapped in a patched black cotton jacket. The snow on his shoulders turned into water marks before he could shake it off, dripping onto his faded Zhongshan suit.
He caught a glimpse of Zhou Yimin sitting at the eight-immortal table, wiped his calloused hands on his trouser legs, and walked quickly forward: "Comrade, thank you very much for coming to help in such cold weather!"
"No, Jingguo and I have been friends for so many years. Since he asked, I had no choice but to come!" Zhou Yimin stood up and shook the other's hand, feeling the thick calluses on the palm of his hand almost piercing into his skin.
Liang Jingguo, who was standing behind Village Chief Liang, was rubbing his red, frozen hands, staring straight at Zhou Yimin, as if he wanted to dig the answer out of the other's eyes.
When the three of them sat down, the round table made a creaking groan.
Liang Jingguo's mother, hunched over, brought three steaming coarse porcelain bowls with tea stains accumulating over the years on the rims.
The old man's hands, covered with age spots, trembled slightly. Hot water splashed onto the table, forming tiny streams between the wood grain.
She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just closed the door gently. The sound of her cotton shoes stepping on the snow gradually disappeared in the howling north wind.
The charcoal in the coal stove suddenly burst into sparks, startling the tea bowl in Village Chief Liang's hand.
The room fell into a brief silence, with only the steam rising from the surface of the tea, outlining illusory lines under the dim kerosene lamp.
Liang Jingguo's toes kicked the table legs unconsciously, while Village Chief Liang put the tea bowl to his lips but was reluctant to drink it.
Everyone's eyes were on Zhou Yimin, waiting for the answer that would change the fate of Liangjiazhuang.
Zhou Yimin put down the teacup, and the bottom of the cup made a slight sound when it hit the wooden table, which startled the snow on Liang Jingguo's knees and made them fall off.
"Village Chief Liang, I want to ask if there is anyone in your village who is good at bamboo weaving."
Before he finished speaking, Liang Jingguo had already jumped up from the bench, and the sleeve of his cotton jacket swept across the kerosene lamp, causing the flame to flicker violently: "Yimin, you don't know that the village chief is very good at bamboo weaving!"
Village Chief Liang's dark face suddenly turned red, and his cracked hands hurriedly rubbed against his trouser legs, as if trying to rub off the bamboo chips on his palms.
Zhou Yimin's eyes sparkled, and the wind he created when he leaned forward lifted the tea bowl on the table: "Village Chief Liang, do you have any finished products? Can I take a look?"
These words made Liang Jingguo rush out of the door immediately, and the sound of cotton shoes slipping on the snow came from near and far.
Village chief Liang stood up, rubbing his hands, and took out a bamboo basket from the wooden cabinet at the head of the kang.
The fine lines on the basket body glowed with a warm luster under the light, and the handle was tied with a red rope to form an auspicious knot, but it could not hide the traces of repairs on the bottom of the basket - it was patched with thinner bamboo strips.
"They are all clumsy things." Village Chief Liang laughed at himself, his Adam's apple rolling between his tattered collar.
"It can hold food and food, but it doesn't look good."
When Liang Jingguo rushed back with bamboo baskets and bamboo sieves, a small mountain of bamboo was quickly piled up on the wooden table.
Zhou Yimin looked at the finished products carefully, his fingertips moving along the bamboo weaving patterns, and suddenly stopped at a joint - three bamboo strips as thin as hair were woven into a twined branch pattern.
"Good craftsmanship!" He looked up suddenly, and his eyes behind the lenses were surprisingly bright.
"I know that the subdistrict office has a processing factory, and they need a lot of bamboo weaving now. And there should be quite a few people in your village who have good skills?"
The pipe in Village Chief Liang's hand fell to the ground with a clang, and the ashes scattered on his patched cotton shoes.
His lips trembled, and he wanted to say something but was drowned out by Liang Jingguo's shout: "Is this true? Yimin!"
Zhou Yimin did not answer, but grabbed a bamboo sieve and pointed it at the kerosene lamp. The light and shadow passed through the crisscrossing strips of bamboo, casting fine diamond-shaped spots on the wall.
Village chief Liang suddenly squatted down and covered his eyes with his calloused hands. Water droplets seeping from between his fingers fell on the frozen ground and instantly condensed into tiny ice crystals.
Zhou Yimin looked at the gleam of hope in Village Chief Liang's eyes and said firmly, "Of course this is true. I won't joke about this kind of thing!"
Liang Jingguo's tense shoulders finally relaxed, and he sat down on the bench, shaking the bamboo items on the kang.
Village Chief Liang picked up his pipe again with trembling hands, but forgot to fill the pipe with tobacco. He just rubbed the bamboo pipe repeatedly with his cracked fingers: "Comrade, could you please help me introduce it to someone?"
His voice was hoarse, but with the simplicity and sincerity unique to farmers, as if he had used up all his strength to say this.
Zhou Yimin looked out the window at the darkening sky. The dusk had already spread over the eaves of the adobe house, and the snow in the corners of the wall was glowing faintly blue in the shadows.
"Of course no problem, but it's a little late now, I'll go ask for you tomorrow!"
He pointed to the old clock on the wall, the hour hand was slowly approaching five, "The street office has all gone off work, there's no rush to go to Director Li's house and talk."
Village Chief Liang finally came back to his senses as if awakened from a dream, and a moist luster appeared in his cloudy eyes.
He suddenly stood up and held Zhou Yimin's hand tightly with his rough palm. The calluses on his palm almost hurt him: "Thank you, comrade. If it weren't for you, our village wouldn't know what to do!"
As he spoke, a suppressed sob came from his throat, as if he wanted to pour out all the hardships the village had experienced in recent years with these words.
Liang Jingguo also came over with red eyes, wanting to say something, but was interrupted by Zhou Yimin: "We are old classmates, it's too formal to say these things."
He patted Liang Jingguo on the shoulder and turned to look at Village Chief Liang. "I will go to the street office early tomorrow morning. You should count the number of people in the village who can weave bamboo tonight, how many people there are, and how much work they can do. Make a list."
Village chief Liang agreed immediately. After all, he would do the same thing even if Zhou Yimin didn't say it.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
