Ghost Blowing Lantern II - Chapter 21 Restricted Area (Part 1)

Yanzi said that the fat man and I were dung beetles having a cold war – stinking se, it had only been two days since we had settled down, and yet another monster came to play on the grassland of Karenzuo Banner. Unfortunately, we had already made up our mind to go. After receiving the letter, we couldn’t sit still at all, and it was better to catch the sun than to pick it up. It happened to be the next morning, and there was the last trip to deliver wood to the mountains at the lower reaches of the Chahagan River in the forest farm. Little train, the only way to get out of the mountain is to catch this train.

Since I was going out for fun instead of doing serious business, I didn’t have the nerve to ask for leave from the party secretary in person, so I entrusted the matter to Yanzi. The price was to promise to bring her a lot of delicacies that she had never tasted before when she came back from the grassland. For food, Fatty and I didn’t have much luggage to pack, because there was nothing at all. We were completely proletarian and bachelor. We put on our dog-skin hats and a broken military school bag and ran out of the village. After walking in the mountains for a whole night, we arrived at the small railway station that specializes in transporting wood in the early morning.

The work of loading lumber onto the truck was all done by people in the village all day and night. When we arrived, the train had already started, wheezing and steaming. When the old man at the station wasn’t paying attention, the fat man and I climbed on. After getting on the last train, I quietly lay down on the stacked logs and waited quietly for departure.

According to regulations, this kind of small train only transports wood to big stations outside the mountains. No one is allowed to take the train secretly. If we are discovered by the old man guarding the station before driving, we will be kicked off even if we tell the truth. , and might even be labeled as taking advantage of the public and held for review, so the risk was actually quite high. Fatty and I had no choice but to lurk like two spies, for fear of being discovered.

Although we were careful, we still exposed our target. Two days ago when I was wearing a yellow leather jacket in the mountains, I started to have a runny nose. The barefoot doctor in the village gave me the nickname “Mixianzi”, and he was a relatively “secondary” country doctor. , it can cure diseases of both humans and animals. He prescribed some herbal medicine for me, but I didn’t feel better after drinking it. At this moment, I couldn’t bear it anymore and sneezed. I quickly covered my mouth with my hands, but I was still looked at by the old man at the station. Found.

The old man heard the commotion and saw someone sneaking onto the train. It was not a big deal. He immediately rushed over, blowing his beard and staring, trying to grab the fat man and me from the train. But at this moment, with a burst of noise, Shaking, the train started rumbling, the front of the car gradually accelerated, turning from slow to fast, and the trees on both sides of the railway retreated one after another. Seeing that the old man looking at the station could no longer catch up with us, the fat man and I immediately no longer cared about being discovered by him. How’s it going? He took off his dog-skin hat at the same time with a smile on his face, waved his hat to the old man in a graceful manner, and shouted: “Farewell, Stuart…”

The speed of the small train we took was impossible to compare with that of a regular train, and it was shaking and bumping very violently. On the train, we felt like we had no roots under our feet, and there was wind in our ears. We were so shaken that we had no time to go back. Appreciate the scenery of the primeval forest with towering ancient trees along the way, wrap up your coat and hat tightly, and huddle under the trees in a place leeward from the wind. Even so, it is better than walking out of the mountain on a mountain road. Such a journey is really too far.

There were many twists and turns along the way, which I won’t describe here. It took only one day for Fatty and I to finally set foot on the grassland of Karen Zuo Banner. If the map of China is viewed as a rooster’s In shape, this prairie is exactly at the back of the rooster’s neck. It is part of the Hulunbuir Prairie. It is under the jurisdiction of the Hulunbuir League and is adjacent to the Xing’an League. It has a vast area, including forest areas, pastoral areas, and agricultural reclamation areas.

Kelunzuo Banner is cut off by several dry rivers left over from ancient riverbeds. Transportation is inconvenient, and the land is vast and sparsely populated. I first went to the educated youth spot in the peripheral agricultural reclamation area to find out the location of the pasture where Ding Sitian settled, and then took a ride on the road. “Lele cart” enters the grassland. “Lele cart” is a unique means of transportation on the grassland. The wheels of the cart made of birch, elm and other miscellaneous wood are very large, with a diameter of more than one meter. The herdsmen driving the cart shout “Lele Lele…” Come and drive the cattle.

This is the first time we have been to the Mongolian prairie. When we were there, we discovered that it was very different from what we imagined. The so-called grasslands are all sparsely rooted in the sand dunes and distributed very unevenly. The grass is all in clusters. Yes, the autumn grass is growing, and almost every cluster is knee-deep. Although the grass looks sparse and long up close, looking far away, the boundless grassland turns into a yellow-green ocean, endless and continuous. .

In our ears we listened to the desolate singing of the Mongolian herdsmen. Our bodies sitting on the shaft of the cart were bumping and rising. The autumn grassland was bitterly cold, with floating clouds and weeds, the cold wind blowing on our faces, and the geese in the sky whining away. According to local herdsmen, before Snow has also begun to fall on the grasslands in the past few days, but it has not started to fall. It is estimated that winter will come early this year. Just like in the mountains, we must start in advance to prepare for the winter famine.

Fatty has never been to Northeast China, and thinks it’s incredible that it snows so early in the mountains and grasslands. He wonders why the weather is abnormal. Winter comes early, which probably means spring is not far away. I said to the fat man: “The ancients said that it snows in October in Hudi. Hudi refers to the territory of the Hu people outside the Great Wall. I think we have entered Hudi…”

We sat in the Lele car and chatted about the distant scenery of the highlands that day. As we talked, the topic shifted to our comrade Ding Sitian, who was about to meet again. Back then, she wore two braided bras and a military hat on the train. The image of her dancing the Zhongzi dance and teaching tourists to sing revolutionary songs once shocked Fatty and I. We thought she was so beautiful and talented. At that time, she probably had some awareness of her first love. However, the social atmosphere was there, but I didn’t say it directly at the time, and maybe I didn’t think about it at all. It was only a long time later, as the years passed, that I realized that I might have this awareness.

Now that we are about to reunite, I feel my heartbeat is a little faster. Can we take the revolutionary friendship between our close comrades a step further? Then I will stay on the grassland and not return to Daxinganling. I immediately discussed with the fat man and asked him to help me ask Ding Sixian what my position is in her mind.

The fat man immediately shook his head: “Old Hu, can you please stop being so impure? I just wanted you to help me ask her about my weight in her mind. Why did you let me go for you first?”

I thought that you, the kid, also had such evil intentions, so I said to the fat man: “How the hell do I usually treat you? Tell your conscience. Comrade Lenin said that forgetting the past means betrayal.”

The fat man showed his dopey face and replied: “Of course you are always nice to me. You treat me just like you treat your brother. So I think… once the critical moment comes, you will definitely take my place first.” Is this what we were thinking about? Isn’t it like this?” The two of us argued for a long time and were at a stalemate. Finally, we had to compromise and decided to ask Ding Sitian on behalf of the other party to see who could win.