Tsampa and beef jerky
Along the highway leading out of Tibet, towering mountains rise on one side and bottomless cliffs on the other. Two large trucks sped along this treacherous road, which is usually only used by military pickup trucks and a few freight trucks transporting supplies.
Fatty Zhang glared fiercely at the truck in front of him with his triangular eyes, silently counting, 1, 2, 3. He floored the accelerator. There was a sharp turn ahead, and if he crashed into it, the truck in front would definitely plunge off the cliff.
The car in front drifted, shaking off the car behind and crashing into it, then pulled away with a dragon tail swing to create distance.
Fatty Zhang turned the corner, his heart filled with determination, but there was still a slippery and bumpy section ahead, and he didn't believe that the kid could still drive so fast.
Lin Shaocheng kept his feet busy, constantly watching the movement of Zhang Pangzi's car in the rearview mirror. His face turned pale as the wheels slipped, and he slammed on the brakes.
Fatty Zhang grinned maliciously, stepped on the gas, and crashed into the car in front of him.
Lin Shaocheng slammed hard against the side wall. The impact made him dizzy for a moment. He leaned back in the car seat, his footsteps clattering.
Fatty Zhang opened the car door. Lin Shaocheng seemed to have been knocked unconscious. He pulled out a small machete, his eyes flashing with ferocity.
A flash of cold light appeared as a knife met Zhang Pangzi's cleaver. The knife was sharp and cold, clearly indicating that the person was a trained martial artist.
Fatty Zhang looked surprised. "You didn't faint."
Lin Shaocheng kicked out with his long leg, and Fatty Zhang staggered back four or five steps before stopping. His face was full of mockery as he cursed, "You pretty boy, you're quite cunning. I advise you to obediently hand over the goods and certificates, and I might spare your life." Lin Shaocheng snorted coldly, took out another knife with his left hand, and stepped forward.
The cold light was chilling, and Zhang Pangzi's dark flesh trembled. His outer clothes were torn, and he licked his lips with his thick tongue. He was a tough nut to crack.
Snowflakes are falling; it's snowing in autumn!
A snowflake landed on Lin Shaocheng's eyelashes, causing him to lose his focus for a moment. The sound of something cutting through the air made him instinctively parry with his twin swords in a cross shape.
Fatty Wang, his face contorted with rage, pressed down on the cleaver. The two men were not in the same weight class, and Lin Shaocheng could only watch helplessly as the cleaver drew ever closer to his head.
Lin Shaocheng slid his twin swords upwards, bent over, and swept his long legs to dodge the cleaver, delivering a heavy blow to the fat man's lower body. Lin Shaocheng's eyes darkened, and the snow had already formed a thin layer.
The fat man's face was filled with terror. He stepped on a slippery rock and slid down to the edge of the cliff. He didn't know when, but the two of them had fallen from the mountainside to the cliff. He clung to the ground with both hands and shouted, "Save me, I'll give you all the cordyceps."
Lin Shaocheng looked at him coldly, as if Fatty Wang was already dead.
Fatty Zhang's hands grew weaker and weaker. He pleaded, "I have a seriously ill mother at home, and a girl waiting for me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have risked this journey. I don't care about making money now, please save me."
Lin Shaocheng paused slightly, as if remembering someone. He reached for his waist, turned around, grabbed Zhang Pangzi, his arms bulging with veins, and pulled Zhang Pangzi up with a force.
Fatty Zhang, panting, put on a fawning smile again and said gratefully, "From now on, you're my brother."
Fatty Zhang reached out his right hand to help Lin Shaocheng up.
Lin Shaocheng stood up, a cold glint in his eyes. He dodged, warm liquid flowing down his right arm, and looked at Fatty Zhang with a gloomy expression.
Fatty Zhang's face was sinister, and he held a dagger in his right hand, from which blood dripped.
Fatty Zhang said, "My brother will be here in a bit. You'd better give me your ID. I might spare your life since you saved it for me earlier."
Lin Shaocheng's right arm wound was extremely large, making it difficult to hold the double swords steady. Without the double swords, how could he quickly resolve the situation? If he dragged it out until Zhang Pangzi's brothers arrived, he would surely die.
He raised his right hand to strike, and Fatty Zhang sneered. Lin Shaocheng, with only one strike left, was no match for him. He only needed to stall until his brothers arrived.
With a bang, the heat melted the premature and thin snow. Fatty Zhang clutched his stomach. He had a gun, why didn't he use it sooner?
Fatty Zhang lay on the ground, and Xiaoxue slowly covered his bleeding abdomen; it was so cold.
Lin Shaocheng climbed into Zhang Pangzi's driver's seat, found the cordyceps and snow lotus, picked up Zhang Pangzi and threw him into the driver's seat. Zhang Pangzi looked up and pleaded, "Save me!"
Lin Shaocheng pointed to the sky, got into his car without looking back, and left.
Several Tibetans rushed over upon hearing the gunshots. The driver's cab door was wide open. The leader touched Zhang Pangzi's neck and found a pulse. Zhang Pangzi was already unable to speak, but silently pleaded, "Save me."
The Tibetans shook their heads, chanted scriptures, and walked away. About fifteen minutes later, two men got out of a delivery truck. "Fatty? Fatty?"
A glint appeared in Fatty Zhang's eyes. It was his brother. A sinister glint flashed in his eyes. He was determined to get revenge.
"Where is Fatty's Cordyceps?" one of them asked.
Fatty Zhang was breathing weakly and could no longer speak. The two men lifted the lump of black flesh and moved it step by step to the edge of the cliff.
The leader said, "Don't blame your brother. If you go to the underworld to complain, blame the person who injured you."
Zhang Pangzi was flying in mid-air, his eyes wide open, struggling to stretch out one hand. This time, no one would pull him up.
The leader said to the other, "You've always wanted to drive yourself, now you can."
The man chuckled, and the two trucks drove away one after the other. The snow slowly covered the bloodstains, as if nothing had happened.
Upon exiting the border, Lin Shaocheng did not queue to leave the city. Instead, he waited for the other meat trucks. A truck with a slightly damaged front caught his attention. Wasn't that Zhang Pangzi's truck? He got out and hid behind it.
The inspectors at the checkpoint first climbed onto the vehicle to check the goods, and then checked whether the person in front of them was bringing in items without a permit.
A small, thin man with dark skin and a shrewd face got out of Zhang Pangzi's car. He first tried to secretly slip something into the person in charge's hand, but the person in charge glanced at the damaged front of the car and did not accept it.
The person in charge carefully searched his padded jacket. He stopped what he was doing, forcefully pulled open the inside of the jacket, and many cordyceps fell to the ground.
The man next to him, whose examination had already been completed, turned pale and, not daring to linger, climbed into his car, stepped on the gas, and drove away quickly.
The smaller man took a step towards the fat man's truck, but several dark gun barrels stopped him. Two men stepped forward and took him off.
The inspector in charge shouted, "Collecting cordyceps and snow lotus without a permit is prohibited, or you will face a huge fine." Several people looked uneasy and secretly left the group.
Lin Shaocheng's team had also arrived, leaving only 4 vehicles. Lin Shaocheng was the first to arrive. He showed his collection permit, and the inspector counted the number of vehicles and asked, "You didn't bring any extras, did you?"
Lin Shaocheng spread his arms wide, and the person in charge felt around in his leather jacket. There were no linings. The person in charge pointed to the leather pocket and asked, "What's this?"
Lin Shaocheng opened the leather bag, which contained a mixture of tsampa and beef jerky. He replied, "It's a local specialty, you can take it with you." He reached out and took out a large handful, placing it in the person in charge's hand. The person in charge smiled and put it back.
He waved to signal that the road was open.
Lin Shaocheng sighed, his shoulders relaxed, and blood was seeping from his right arm. He couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile and gently stroke the gun at his waist.
In Mengshan Village, three or four wooden basins were placed on the ground. Li Guoliang's clothes were covered in mud, Li Guoqiang and Li Guojian's pants were covered in pig manure from feeding pigs, and Li Guolan's clothes were the cleanest. Qian Duoduo gritted her teeth, held her breath by the stream, and put her pants covered in pig manure into the stream.
Li Guolan hid behind the door and asked in a low voice, "Should I go help? It's not really appropriate."
Li Guoliang whispered back, "The Qian family wants you to marry a mentally ill person. Eldest sister, you're actually pitying her. Second sister will scold you again if she finds out."
Li Guojian smiled smugly. Who told the Qian family to make his younger sister work for free? Now they've gotten their revenge.
Inside the house, Zhang the matchmaker was talking to Wu Cuihua. In the countryside, people don't care about the three-year mourning period; they usually get married after seven months. Today, the matchmaker was invited to arrange the marriage of her elder brother, Li Guoqiang.
Wu Cuihua handed Zhang the matchmaker a bag of pastries. Zhang smiled broadly and patted her muscular chest, assuring her, "Sister, I'll definitely handle it perfectly for you."
Li Guoqiang and Liu Hong had long been in love, so this bag of pastries was practically free. Luckily, the matchmaker Li had no conscience and introduced the eldest sister of this family to a mentally ill person, otherwise this good thing would definitely have gone to the matchmaker Li. She swayed and left, smelling the sweet aroma of the pastries, completely satisfied.
Li Guoqiang entered the main room with a flushed face, and awkwardly called out, "Mom."
Wu Cuihua's hair has turned half white in the past few months, but today she finally put on a slight smile. "It's good news. After you get married, you will be the pillar of the family. Don't be a useless child anymore."
Li Guoqiang's eyes were slightly red. He knelt on the ground, his head resting on his mother's lap. He was working hard to earn money to make a good life for his mother.
Wu Cuihua thought of Li Guolan and Li Guojian. Their children were getting old, and there were always things going on at home. She had to make arrangements immediately, otherwise the children would be neglected.
Qian Duoduo was covered in sweat and her arms ached from washing. At home, everyone washes their own clothes, and she had never washed so many before. She carried a large bucket of clothes into the house, where there was a clothesline. She wiped the sweat from her head.
Li Guojian dusted himself off, came out, and asked with a smile, "Are you tired?"
Qian Duoduo replied with a smile, "Not tired, Brother Guojian."
Li Guojian looked up and saw that the sky was covered with clouds, and there was a faint sign of rain. Li Guojian said, "The weather is not good. You should go home first. Come back tomorrow, and I will teach you to recognize herbs."
Qian Duoduo's face twisted in pain. She had given a small piece of meat to the Li family today, and if she went back now, wouldn't she be unable to eat meat?
Li Guoliang also shouted, "It's going to rain! Sister Duoduo, hurry home, you have to get up early tomorrow morning to cut pig feed."
Qian Duoduo's eyes flashed fiercely, but when she turned her head and saw the few sheets of paper in Li Guojian's hand, which were covered with drawings of flowers and plants, her expression brightened, and she said with a smile, "Then, Brother Guojian, I'll come and help again tomorrow."
Li Guoliang said in a high-pitched voice, "Brother Guojian~~~"
Li Guolan chuckled from behind the door, then said with some concern, "Guojian, are you really going to teach her to identify medicinal herbs?"
Li Guojian shook the paper in his hand. "You can only be a thief for a thousand days, not a thief for a thousand days. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." He touched his balding head, his eyes gleaming.
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