Li Huai and Luo Tianhe nodded when they heard me say that.
They didn't want to live there either, especially Li Huai, who was allergic to locust trees.
Soon, the three of us walked slowly along the main road in the village, deliberately avoiding the direction of the old locust tree at the east end of the village.
The village remained quiet, but occasionally a villager would peek out from behind a low doorway, glance at us, and then quickly retreat.
It's as if we are some kind of bad luck.
"Damn it, this godforsaken place! The villagers are all like they've caught a plague. Isn't there a single normal person among them?"
Feeling like he was being treated like a monkey, Li Huai couldn't help but curse and swear.
"Hehe, I knew this would happen. You were sleeping like a log just now. Didn't you see that when we first entered the village, these villagers probably had never even seen a car before, yet they weren't curious at all about us driving in?"
Luo Tianhe sneered and followed up with his own words.
"How is that possible? What era are we living in? How could these villagers have never even seen a car before?"
Li Huai was somewhat surprised upon hearing this and couldn't help but retort.
"Heh, let me ask you this: have you seen a single telephone pole along this journey? This shabby village probably doesn't even have electricity!"
Upon hearing Luo Tianhe's words, Li Huai immediately showed a look of reminiscence. In his memory, he did not seem to have ever seen a telephone pole.
But what Luo Tianhe said was so contrary to his common sense!
In his view, this is an era in which even the deepest mountains have access to electricity and the internet.
How could there be a small village 70 or 80 miles away from the city that doesn't even have electricity?
Thinking of this, Li Huai even stood on tiptoe and looked around, shaking his head, but found with a grim face that there wasn't even a single telephone pole.
"Hehe, now you believe me, do you think I would lie to you?"
Luo Tianhe laughed when he saw that Li Huai had searched for a long time but couldn't find a single telephone pole.
"Hehe, you're still laughing? There won't even be a place to charge your phone then."
Li Huai retorted somewhat defiantly.
"Sorry, I brought a power bank. Besides, there's no cell phone signal here, so I can only tell the time. It's okay if the battery runs out."
Luo Tianhe shook his head, and with a few casual words, he utterly defeated Li Huai.
I carefully observed these villages, and then we arrived at a fairly tidy courtyard.
Somewhat coincidentally, the wooden door creaked open as we walked past.
A middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties and dressed relatively normally walked in.
He was holding a dustpan, as if he was about to take out the trash.
When he saw us, he was clearly taken aback, and his face showed a surprise that was different from the other dull villagers, as if he were alive.
"You're from out of town? You look unfamiliar."
He hesitated for a moment, then took the initiative to talk to us, and we immediately felt like we had grasped a lifeline.
Finally, we met a normal person, and his yard looked quite big, so he should have a spare room to take us in.
Before I could even speak, Luo Tianhe quickly stepped forward and gave me a friendly smile:
"Brother, we are tourists passing through. It's getting dark, and we'd like to ask if it would be convenient for us to stay here for the night?"
As he spoke, Luo Tianhe took out a stack of 100-yuan bills and quietly slipped the money over to the person.
"Oh, it's just a small matter. It's not appropriate for you to give so much. I'll just take one."
The villager's eyes widened when he saw so many red bills, but he waved his hand and only took one.
Li Huai and I both breathed a sigh of relief; at least the people here recognized the newly issued 100-yuan banknote.
If they pulled out a few cents or even copper coins, that would really cause a huge uproar.
Luo Tianhe took out the money not just for bribery, but more importantly, to test the waters.
Fortunately, the results of the trial were quite satisfactory.
After taking the money, the middle-aged man seemed to become much friendlier. He looked us up and down, and seeing that we didn't seem like bad people, he nodded.
"Come in. It's just my wife and me at home. The side room is empty. If you don't mind, you can make do for the night."
We were overjoyed and thanked them repeatedly.
"Brother, we don't mind at all. We should thank you for taking us in."
We followed him into the yard, which was fairly tidy, with neat stacks of firewood in the corner. There was also a rope strung up in the yard, with a few old clothes hanging out to dry; it looked like a very ordinary rural courtyard.
This normal scene made me, Luo Tian, Li Huai, and I feel relaxed.
At this moment, a middle-aged woman dressed in blue cloth, who looked to be in her forties and had a gentle face, walked into the house. When she saw us, she was taken aback for a moment, then a warm smile appeared on her face:
"Oh, we have guests! Come in and have a seat. I'll pour you some hot tea, please have some first."
These are the normal villagers.
They are warm, generous, and easy to talk to.
What are those people outside anyway? They're like walking corpses.
"This is my wife."
The villager first introduced the house, and then led us into the main house. The furnishings inside were simple, but it looked very clean and tidy.
A yellowed New Year picture was pasted on the wall, its details illegible, but a festive atmosphere could still be faintly discerned.
There is an oil lamp on the table, but it is not yet dark and the lamp has not been lit.
We looked around and sure enough, there were no electric lights here; it seemed that the kerosene lamp was the only source of illumination.
"Well, it's a rural area, so we don't have much to offer. We've run out of tea, so please have some hot water first."
The middle-aged woman poured us three bowls of hot water, and seemed a little apologetic for not being able to offer us tea.
We quickly accepted it, thanked them, and said it was nothing, since we weren't used to drinking tea anyway, as it was bitter.
Seeing our reaction, the villager smiled and said it was normal for young people not to want to drink that stuff.
He didn't like drinking it when he was young, but as he got older, he came to like tea with a slightly bitter taste.
I took a sip of water; it was lukewarm, but it had an indescribable earthy smell, just like the village itself.
But I was really thirsty, so I couldn't help but drink a few more sips.
"Big brother, big sister-in-law, what are your names?"
After clearing my throat, I put down my bowl and tried to strike up a conversation, hoping to build a closer relationship so we could ask why the people in this village were so strange.
"Yes, my name is Wang Fugui, and this is my wife."
"When I asked that question, the middle-aged man said..."
Wang Fugui is a very common rural name; it seems there are others in our village with this name as well.
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