Chapter 4

Tang Qingqing's mind worked quickly and she immediately remembered where she had heard this voice before.

Isn't this the voice that made fun of her this morning? Although the other person's laughter was very brief at that time, she could already be sure that it was the person in front of her.

Tang Qingqing's ears turned slightly red, and she wanted to drill a hole and escape right then and there, but she pretended nothing happened.

If this person insisted on talking too much, as long as she refused to admit it, he would open her pants to see if there were any new seams. Thinking of this, Tang Qingqing calmed down a lot.

When Zhai Hongyi came closer, Tang Qingqing saw his appearance clearly.

Although this man is tall, you can tell from his face that he is not very old, and he exudes an air that is somewhat different from that of a country boy.

He was very handsome, with a nice nose and nice eyes, better looking than any man Tang Qingqing had ever seen.

He has a buzz cut and likes to raise the corner of his mouth to one side, looking fierce and someone who is not easy to mess with.

The visitor saw that Tang Qingqing's expression was very calm and she didn't show anything unusual, which made Tang Qingqing feel more at ease.

Tang Qingqing's gaze turned to Wang Heizi. Who is this person and why did he bring him here?

Wang Heizi quickly explained: "This is Zhai Hongyi, the educated youth who came to our village a few days ago, Brother Yi."

Tang Qingqing knew that a new group of educated youth had arrived a few days ago, but she had never met them.

Wang Heizi likes to go around and is familiar with the educated youth who went to the countryside.

Sometimes he would get candies from the educated youth, and then share them with Wang Caoer, who would then share them with Tang Qingqing.

Wang Cao'er looked at Zhai Hongyi in amazement. She had heard Wang Heizi talk about his new acquaintance 'Brother Yi' before. It was Brother Yi who gave her the first White Rabbit milk candy in her life.

But she always thought that Zhai Hongyi was a gentle-looking boy, she didn't expect that he had grown so big and was only 16 years old.

"You're only sixteen and you're already this tall. When you're as old as my dad, you'll be tall as the sky."

Zhai Hongyi's mouth twitched. Where did this silly girl come from?

He gave each of the three men a flick of the finger on the forehead and said, "You lost the sheep, but you didn't tell the team immediately. Instead, you sneaked out to look for the sheep. Are you giving food to the wolves in the mountains because they have nothing to eat?"

Wang Cao'er and Tang Qingqing looked at Wang Heizi sideways. He said he wanted to keep it a secret, so how come he can't keep it secret?

Wang Heizi felt wronged: "I didn't want to do that either. Brother Yi could tell at a glance that I was in trouble. If I didn't tell him, Brother Yi wouldn't let me leave."

Tang Qingqing: "If we can't find the sheep, Cao'er will be killed by the family."

Zhai Hongyi had already heard Wang Heizi's explanation: "Aren't you afraid of being taken away by wolves?"

"Wolves usually don't come down the mountain. They stay deep in the mountains."

Zhai Hongyi looked at the little girl in front of him. She was dark and thin, with round, bright eyes and a firm look in her eyes.

In order to find the sheep, she was not afraid of any difficulties.

"It's almost dark now, how are you going to find it? You might as well wait until daybreak."

Tang Qingqing shook her head: "It would be troublesome if she was killed."

"But we haven't even seen the sheep yet. How are you going to find it with just a few of you?"

"We already have a clue."

Tang Qingqing took them to look at the footprints. She pointed at the footprints on the ground and said, "This is the hoof print of 'White-headed Old Man', and this is the hoof print of 'Little White Cabbage'. They both walked in this direction. We can find the sheep by following the footprints."

Zhai Hongyi was surprised: "You also have the ability to 'track'?"

Tracking is based on footprints.

Tang Qingqing didn't expect that Zhai Hongyi, a city dweller, knew about "code tracking". "Do you know about "code tracking"?"

"I heard that there are many experts in this field in Inner Mongolia. There are many sheep farmers there. In order to recover lost or stolen sheep, the shepherds have figured out this technique. Some of them are so good that they have joined the public security bureau to help the police solve cases."

Wang Heizi shouted, "Wow! Is this true? After learning some code, he can get into the police station to help solve cases? That's amazing!"

"I read in the newspapers before that there was a murder case where the murderer could not be found. Later, the Public Security Bureau hired a 'code trace' master to conduct an on-site investigation, and only then did he find clues and solve the case."

Wang Heizi's eyes almost popped out, and he kept asking Zhai Hongyi how the case was solved.

Tang Qingqing was also very surprised. She had never thought that the traces could help solve the case. She started learning the traces simply to find the sheep more easily.

Not every sheep is obedient. There are always some sheep that sneak away from the flock. Sometimes, if you are not careful, the sheep will run away.

Accidents are most likely to happen, especially when the shepherd is inexperienced.

Tang Qingqing once encountered a situation where her sheep were lost. Like Wang Caoer, she was almost scared to death.

Later, her master helped her find the sheep, so she avoided punishment and kept her job as a shepherd.

Since then, she has been very interested in "ma wei" and has been following her master to learn.

At first the master did not acknowledge her as his disciple and was unwilling to teach her, so she went to observe the sheep on her own.

I stare at them every day, trying to tell the differences between them. I often wish I could eat, live and sleep with the sheep, so that I can understand them thoroughly.

Later, she not only watched the sheep, but also observed the footprints of people and other animals.

She became possessed during that period and the villagers said she was insane and had turned into a fool.

But all these efforts were not in vain, she gradually figured out some tricks.

Seeing that she was diligent and talented, the old man began to teach her.

I just asked her not to mention this to anyone else, so no one knew that Tang Qingqing had learned this skill.

Now it seems that learning 'code traces' has many uses, which has opened the door to a new world for Tang Qingqing.

While observing the hoof prints on the ground, Tang Qingqing pricked up her ears to listen to Zhai Hongyi talking about the case.

"You can tell what a person looks like just by looking at his footprints? This must be a god! Is this true?"

Wang Heizi felt like he was listening to a story. How could there be such capable people in the world?

There are so many identical shoes, how do you tell them apart?

"That's what the newspaper wrote. It can't be false."

Wang Heizi jumped to Tang Qingqing's side and asked, "Can you see that too?"

Tang Qingqing paused, then waved her hand and pushed Wang Heizi away:

"Don't block my view. It's getting dark and I can't see clearly. You're still blocking the light."

Just as he finished speaking, a beam of light shone on the ground.

Tang Qingqing was slightly startled, and following the light she saw Zhai Hongyi holding a flashlight in his hand.

"Here, take it." Zhai Hongyi handed her the flashlight.

Wang Heizi: "No wonder you insisted on going back to the Youth League site just now, Brother Yi. It turns out you went to get a flashlight."

Zhai Hongyi sneered: "You three idiots, you want to look for sheep in the middle of the night without any preparation. Aren't you afraid that you might get lost before you find the sheep?"

Tang Qingqing felt a little embarrassed. She was in a hurry to find the sheep just now and had not considered these things.

"It's still light now. I can see."

Batteries are expensive, so don't waste them.

Zhai Hongyi directly put the flashlight into her hand and said, "Turn it on. Why save electricity at this time? It's more important to find the sheep."

Wang Heizi was very happy: "Brother Yi, I knew you were nice enough."

Although Zhai Hongyi acted very fierce just now and did not approve of their behavior, it was clear from the looks of him that he was ready to go hunting for sheep with them.

He is tough on the outside but soft on the inside, which makes Tang Qingqing and Wang Caoer's liking for him increase sharply.

"I'm bored at the educated youth camp anyway, so I might as well come out with you guys and learn the spirit of Lei Feng."

Zhai Hongyi grabbed a piece of grass from somewhere and put it in his mouth. He crossed his hands behind his head and looked calm and composed.

"Brother Yi, you are not used to living in the countryside, right?"

Zhai Hongyi's generosity was obviously different from that of other educated youth, and one could tell at a glance that his family situation was relatively good.

The better people live in the city, the more difficult it is for them to adapt to life in the country.

"It's OK. It's the same everywhere."

Wang Heizi didn't expect him to answer like this, "How can we, the people in the mountains and valleys, compare with the people in the city?"

"This is all Chinese territory. There is no comparison."

"We are so poor, but I heard that every household in the city has electricity. Even at night, the house is bright. Just turn on the switch and the lights will be on. There is no need to light a kerosene lamp, and there is no need to worry about fire."

Wang Heizi particularly yearned for life in the city. In his entire life, he had only been to the commune once. After he came back, he boasted about it for several years and would bring it up from time to time.

He jumped up and down, and was about to rush in front of Tang Qingqing, but was grabbed by Tang Qingqing.

"What are you doing? If you want to follow me to find sheep, don't run ahead of me."

Wang Heizi was not convinced: "Why should I walk behind you? Men should walk in front of women."

Tang Qingqing immediately got angry: "You walk ahead of me, and I have to look at your footprints. If your footprints cover the sheep's hoof prints, it's over. Do you think giving up is not enough?!"

Zhai Hongyi pulled Wang Heizi back. He had just wanted to take action, but he didn't expect that Tang Qingqing, who had been concentrating on watching the hoof prints, was faster than him.

"You haven't even grown all your hair yet, and you dare to call yourself a man. Just follow behind and pay attention to the situation on the side. If there are enemies, we rush to the front to protect them. That's what a man does."

Zhai Hongyi doesn't know how to read footprints, but he doesn't force himself and just does his job as a bodyguard conscientiously.

Otherwise, these three radishes would be wandering around in the wild in the middle of the night, and whatever they came across would be given as food.

Wang Heizi curled his lips, but he was not angry.

He suddenly thought of something and took out the steamed bun from his arms.

"You must be hungry. Have some steamed bun."

Zhai Hongyi took a look and took out a box of biscuits from his backpack.

"Put yours away first and eat mine first."

The biscuits were packed in a small iron box, and it was obvious that they were worth a lot of money. The three of them swallowed their saliva but did not dare to take it.

Zhai Hongyi just used his hands to dig out and stuffed several pieces into each person's pocket.

"Don't be such a sissy, just eat what I tell you to eat."

Wang Cao'er raised her hand weakly: "But Sister Qingqing and I are originally women."

"Then you should eat more. You look so skinny. You are already eight years old, right? And you are still so small."

Tang Qingqing, Wang Caoer...

Tang Qingqing: "I'm thirteen."

Wang Cao'er: "I'm ten years old."

Zhai Hongyi was surprised. Wang Cao'er was fine, as she was only ten years old.

It's really pitiful that Tang Qingqing is thirteen years old and still so short.

His cousin from his uncle's family is also of this age, very tall, and already looks like a grown-up girl, while Tang Qingqing is still just a little kid.

Zhai Hongyi gave her two more biscuits, his tone full of pity:

"You probably grow up late. Eat more and you will grow taller in the future."

Along the way, the four of them searched and ate as they went.

It seemed as if Zhai Hongyi's backpack contained a whole world, with biscuits, malted milk, beef jerky, and canned fruits that Tang Qingqing and the others had seen but never eaten.

Each person is given a spoonful of maltose and put it in the palm of their hand, then chew it. It tastes better than drinking it with water.

This was said by Wang Heizi, because neither Tang Qingqing nor Wang Caoer had ever drunk it.

Zhai Hongyi didn't drink this stuff before, but his grandmother forced it into his mouth when he was preparing to go to the countryside.

Wang Cao'er was originally very worried and frightened. She ate and drank all the way and suddenly had the thought, "I hope this kind of thing will happen again next time."

This is better than what we ate during Chinese New Year!

Everyone was embarrassed at first, but Zhai Hongyi was firm in his attitude and they became more familiar with each other, so they were not so resistant anymore.

Every time I wanted to stop, Zhai Hongyi would just pry open my mouth and feed me with rough movements, not caring whether you were a man or a woman.

Everyone couldn't help but feel sorry for him when they saw how generous he was.

Wang Heizi: "You gave it all to us. What will you do in the future? The countryside is different from the city. There is nothing to buy. The commune is far away from our brigade. We have to ask the brigade leader to issue a letter of introduction every time we go there. It is very inconvenient."

"It won't make me hungry. If I keep it, people will just keep thinking about it. It will be a nuisance. I might as well eat it all."

"Who dares to take your things?!"

Wang Heizi was surprised, because he had seen Zhai Hongyi's abilities.

Within two days of Zhai Hongyi's arrival, Wang Heizi had become familiar with him and even took him to secretly go up the mountain to catch rabbits for a snack.

Zhai Hongyi's height did not hinder his nimbleness. Although he was a city dweller, he was very good at climbing mountains and trees and had great strength. One could tell from his agile movements that he was a frequent fighter.

Is this kind of person afraid that others will covet his things?

Zhai Hongyi waved his hands, too lazy to talk about this bullshit.

"Huh?"

Tang Qingqing frowned and walked around several times, her expression becoming more and more unsightly.

"What's wrong?"

Wang Cao'er also became nervous when she saw her like this, not caring about how delicious the White Rabbit milk candy in her mouth was.

Tang Qingqing pursed her lips and said, "I can't find the hoof prints of the two sheep here. I don't know which direction they went."

Wang Cao'er was shocked: "Ah, what should I do?"

This is a large flat area where you can walk east, west, north, or south.

Wang Heizi: "How about we split up and look for him?"

Zhai Hongyi directly rejected the proposal: "No, it's not safe to separate them. Sheep are not as important as people!"

At this time, the moon is high in the sky, and the round moon shines on the earth. Even without lights, you can vaguely see the distant scenes.

Zhai Hongyi pointed in that direction: "Is there a village over there?"

Wang Heizi calculated how far they had walked and said, "That should be Liushu Village. My aunt married into this village."

Zhai Hongyi suggested: "Let's go over there and have a look. Sheep are raised by humans and are used to being with humans. They can't adapt to the wild and may run to where people live."

Tang Qingqing thought about it and agreed to go over there and take a look.

As she was walking, Tang Qingqing suddenly stopped and kept sweeping the flashlight on the ground in front of her. After a while, she suddenly stopped and shone the light in one place.

“Found it!”