The motorcycle rolled up the mud and left. The smile on Huo Qianli's face slowly disappeared. He turned around and looked at the muddy road ahead, frowning.
He had never thought that a road could be so bad, or rather, he had never thought that such a quagmire could be called a road.
Several days of continuous rain had soaked the yellow mud on the road. If you stepped on it with a little force, the soles of your feet would involuntarily slide to the side.
Carrying a large bag and a suitcase, Huo Qianli walked cautiously towards Hushan Village, where he would be stationed for three years.
......
The two-mile road was longer than Huo Qianli had imagined. After falling three times, he finally managed to see the houses of Hushan Village covered in mud.
Immediately, his brows furrowed.
Within the field of vision, there were nearly seven or eight households, but there was not a single building, not even a brick house. All of them were low and dilapidated adobe houses!
Not only that, there are long cracks on the walls of many houses that are visible to the naked eye.
Huo Qianli, who also lived in the countryside, had lived in a house like this. He used a mixture of straw, clay, etc. to build four walls, used large wooden beams on the top, and covered the roof with tiles, and that was enough to make a house.
The walls of this kind of house must be very thick, otherwise they cannot bear the weight.
At the same time, due to the material and force, there are no windows on the walls, and all the light in the house comes from a few bright tiles on the roof.
Therefore, in Huo Qianli's impression, living in such a house can almost be described as "dark and dark".
But that was in the distant year of 1996, not in the present year of 2006.
A gap of ten years within one province.
Huo Qianli thought he was well prepared, but the current situation was beyond his imagination.
The mud he had just walked through and the mud house he hadn't seen for a long time seemed to be mocking the young boy: You think too simply.
Huo Qianli smiled bitterly, it was too late to regret now.
Taking a deep breath and adjusting his mentality which was about to collapse, he walked towards the nearest house.
A woman was sitting under the eaves, rocking a baby in her arms. She looked haggard, and her messy hair and old-fashioned clothes made her look even shabbier. However, her eyes were unexpectedly bright, and she and the child in her arms looked curiously at Huo Qianli who was passing by.
Seeing Huo Qianli coming towards her, she panicked and was about to get up and go into the house. Huo Qianli quickly said, "Sister, may I ask where the village chief's house is?"
In order to reassure the woman, Huo Qianli added, "I am a new village cadre."
The woman hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the slope not far behind her and said, "It's a building."
If you point the way like this elsewhere, it would be the same as not pointing at all, but here, the characteristics are very clear.
Huo Qianli nodded and smiled, "Thank you."
Then he took two steps forward and waved his free hand gently in front of the child, "Good boy, uncle will buy you some candy later!"
The child looked at the stranger in front of him blankly, and suddenly burst into tears. The woman smiled apologetically and quickly carried him into the house to coax him. Huo Qianli touched his nose, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and walked towards the village chief's house.
There were few outsiders in the village with poor transportation, and people walking on the roadside all stuck their heads out to watch the fun. This made Huo Qianli, who was already in a mess, even more careful. It would be embarrassing if he fell here again.
Fortunately, the roads in the village are often used by people, and the road conditions have improved a lot. Huo Qianli walked smoothly to the conspicuous building.
The door on the first floor was open. Huo Qianli stretched his head and looked around but didn't see anyone, so he shouted, "Hello, is anyone there?"
“Here it comes!”
Soon a familiar voice answered, and a bald head suddenly came into his sight.
The tall and strong man stepped forward quickly and extended his hand enthusiastically, "Hello, Brother Huo! I'm Gu Daqiang!"
"Um, ah! Hello, Village Chief Gu, I'm Huo Qianli!" Huo Qianli was slightly stunned by the shock of this image and stretched out his hand to shake hands.
"Haha, when I heard your voice on the phone I thought you must be a handsome guy. Now that I see you, you are indeed a college student from the provincial capital!"
Gu Daqiang, who had a strong sense of martial arts, smiled and took Huo Qianli's box. "The room is ready. I'll take you there. Take a shower and we'll have a couple of drinks later!"
Huo Qianli fell and was covered in mud, but Gu Daqiang pretended not to see it and didn't say a word.
Following Gu Daqiang into the house, Huo Qianli looked around inconspicuously.
The walls were not covered with the common putty or imitation porcelain, but just grey cement. There was no suspended ceiling either, and instead there was an exposed white plastic pipe with an energy-saving lamp screwed onto the lamp holder.
"The conditions are a bit crude, Brother Huo, please make do with it."
Gu Daqiang seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. He led the way in front and spoke with a smile.
Huo Qianli quickly waved his hand, "Village Chief Gu, you are too polite."
"Don't call me village chief, call me brother. We are all under the same roof, so don't be so distant!"
Huo Qianli hesitated for a moment and said, "Brother Gu!"
"Hey! That's right!"
Don't even think about hot showers here. It's Huo Qianli's blessing not to have to use a dry toilet.
Gu Daqiang carried two buckets of hot water to the bathroom, and Huo Qianli walked in with some clean clothes.
......
"Brother Gu, sister-in-law! I toast to you."
More than an hour later, Huo Qianli, who had washed and changed his clothes, sat at the dining table, raised his wine glass, and spoke with a smile.
Gu Daqiang wiped his greasy mouth and laughed, "Don't be polite, don't be polite, drink!"
Gu Daqiang's wife smiled awkwardly, "Oh, how can we deserve the toast from college students?"
Although he was being polite, he drank the wine happily, and then greeted Huo Qianli warmly, "Eat your food."
Huo Qianli looked at the table full of dishes and said with a smile: "There are so many dishes, my brother and sister-in-law are really too polite!"
Gu Daqiang's wife waved her hands proudly, "Why are you being so polite? I think the dishes are not enough, please don't think I am being rude!"
Gu Daqiang chuckled and didn't intend to expose the fact that this old woman had previously quarreled with him because she cooked two extra dishes.
He raised the glass again, "Come on, drink."
Huo Qianli smiled and clinked glasses with him. Just as he raised the cup to his lips, a breathless shout suddenly came from outside the door.
"Village Chief! Village Chief! Something happened! Someone was beaten to death!"
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