Of course we had to drive to the county town, especially since it was drizzling!
After arriving at the county town, the car drove all the way to the south of the city. At the junction of the Huai River and the Rui River, we got on the dam. The road condition at the dam was not good. The bumpy dirt road was mixed with broken bricks and stones. In addition, it was raining, so the car was shaky when driving.
After a lot of effort, they were about ten kilometers away from the Huaihe River Bridge. The road conditions were so bad that they got out of the car and walked. Not only was the place deserted, it was also raining and there was no one around.
Zhou thought he might as well put the car into the space. Maybe he wouldn’t take this road when he comes back!
Ling Ran looked at the two men who were fully equipped with raincoats and rain boots, and asked Zhou Xiang to take out the bicycle. The car was difficult to drive, but the bicycle could be ridden.
It can be ridden, but you have to get off after riding for a while to pry off the mud on both sides of the wheels, otherwise you won't be able to ride it anymore.
When he came down to pry the mud off the wheel for the Nth time, Zhou Xiang couldn't help laughing, "I haven't encountered this situation in a long, long time."
"Of course. I've been traveling around big cities these past few years, and the roads in those cities are all well-maintained. If there were a dam like this, they should have built both sides long ago and paved the surface with asphalt."
"Yes! It will take another ten years or so to build this embankment road in Huai County!"
The two men were not in a hurry at all. When they couldn't ride it anymore, they got off and pried it open, then rode back on again.
Later, when there was really no other way, we simply carried the car down the embankment and started cleaning it in a place with more stones.
Zhou Xiang took out a steel saw and kindly began to prune the willow tree. He only sawed the lowest and outermost branches that were in poor condition, and he made a hissing sound while sawing and collecting them.
Seeing that she was busy, Ling Ran quickly washed the car, took out a hacksaw and started working, and put the cuts he made into his storage ring.
Zhou Xiang, who was facing south, saw someone walking towards her in the hazy rain in the distance. She immediately put away everything in her hands and whispered to Ling Ran to look.
Ling Ran nodded, put away the things in his hands, and returned to the river to continue washing the clean bicycle. The man passed by here and saw the two people washing the bicycle. He just paused and continued walking north.
After he walked away, Zhou Xiang and Ling Ran continued to wash the car. After washing it clean, they rode it again.
It was just a lot quieter. The man just now came from the south, which was where they were going, not far from here.
Finally we reached the sharp bend. The water of the Huai River was as turbid as that of the Yellow River, so we couldn't see anything in the river.
The rain is not heavy and the water flow upstream is not fast, so the whirlpool will definitely disappear.
The two of them pushed the cart slowly past this place. Zhou Xiang, who had sharp eyes, pointed to the riverbank and whispered, "There, there seem to be footprints."
"Yeah! I see. Push the cart and I'll go take a look."
Ling Ran looked at the footprints and then followed them. The direction of the footprints should be north, but halfway up the dam slope, the footprints disappeared. Could they be covered up? Then why was it not covered up below?
Could it be that you didn’t expect someone to come on a rainy day?
He covered his tracks as if nothing had happened, walked up the embankment, took the bicycle, and continued walking south.
Not far from this sharp turn, there was a village, so the two men planned to go through the village and find another way back.
The village is not big, with only about 30 households, and the doors of all the houses are half-open.
Not far from the entrance to the village, there was a house with its door open. An old lady was standing at the door. The old lady looked to be in her seventies, with gray hair and poor eyesight.
Look, "Kid, you're out again on this rainy day?"
Maybe she is a little deaf, she speaks very loudly.
Ling Ran stopped and said, "Auntie, you got the wrong person."
"Ah? It's not the kid? I thought the kid came again. The rain is getting heavy. Don't leave. Come to Auntie's house and sit for a while. I'm alone at home."
Ling Ran looked at Zhou Xiang, who nodded, "Okay! Thank you, Auntie."
"Oh! There's a little girl here? Come in quickly! Girls shouldn't go outside on rainy days. The humidity is bad for your health. Come in and sit for a while."
Ling Ran leaned his bicycle against the wall and took Zhou Xiang's hand as they walked into the old lady's house.
The old lady finally saw the bicycle clearly, "Look at me, my eyesight isn't very good, and the rain blocked it, so I really didn't see you pushing the bike, I thought you were holding something else?
Otherwise, I wouldn't have recognized the wrong person. But, it doesn't matter. If you're not in a hurry, just sit here and wait until the rain stops before leaving. I'm alone, facing four walls every day, and I can't go out for a walk when it rains. It's really frustrating! "
As the old lady said this, she was about to pour water for the two of them. She had to use the stick in her hand to feel the way when she walked, so how could Ling Ran let her pour water?
"Auntie, please don't bother. We'll just sit down and leave."
"Why leave? Come have lunch at Auntie's place! Auntie doesn't have meat, but she does have vegetables. I planted a lot of them in the backyard.
That kid often comes here to play, and sometimes he eats lunch here, and takes some vegetables away, saying that the vegetables I grow are delicious, so he comes here often.
Ling Ran and Zhou Xiang looked at each other.
"Who is that kid?" Zhou Xiang asked with pretended interest.
"I don't know. At first I called him baby and he agreed. After that he always asked me to call him baby. I'm an elderly widower and I'm very happy that he can come to see me and keep me company."
"Oh! Okay, let's have lunch here at noon. It's raining, and we originally planned to take a walk in the rain, but the rain is getting heavier and the road here is not easy to walk on.
I've been getting off the bus to pry mud all the way here, and I'm planning to go through your village to see if the road back to Huai County is better."
The old lady waved her hand. "The road through there is even worse. It's better to walk on the embankment! The embankment is very solid. When it rains, only the surface gets rotten, but it won't sink. The road to the west of the village, if you step on it, it will take a long time to pull up. You have to carry the bicycle along."
"Well! Let's listen to Auntie and go back the same way."
Ling Ran took off his raincoat and helped Zhou Xiang take off his as well. After hanging it on a nail on the wall, he went to the kitchen in the backyard to cook.
The old lady's house has two front rooms in front, a yard in the middle, and two back rooms in the back. A small pot house is built on one side of the yard. This type of house is common in rural areas of Huai County. Because the place is small, there is no wall or gate in front of the yard, but the front room directly.
The house is a mixture of adobe and bricks. It is built quite high and the room is bright.
The old lady disagreed with Ling Ran going to cook, so Zhou Xiang pulled her aside to chat, "Auntie, I'll chat with you. My girlfriend can cook. We just saw someone selling fish on the road, so I bought some and asked my girlfriend to cook it for us."
"Oh! How can I do that? Auntie invited you to dinner, how can I ask you to bring some food? Take the fish home and cook it."
"It will go bad if I cook it at home. It's a bit hot and humid today. If I don't eat it, the fish will go bad in my stomach."
"Then kill it, pickle it, and take it home to eat in the evening."
"No, let's have it at noon today. I'll ask you to try my boyfriend's cooking. I especially like his braised fish."
Zhou Xiang pulled the old lady and handed Ling Ran a bowl of cooked fish with his hands behind his back.
Ling Ran took it and went to the backyard.
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