Chapter 21 1
When the weathervane of the times turned in one direction, at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, such people could be seen everywhere in this northern city—their faces were engraved with loss, their expressions were in a trance, and they were confused. Looking desolate, his expression is full of resentment and all kinds of strong hopes.They were exhausted one by one, like wanderers who had just experienced a great migration but had not yet found their destination, like the exhausted soldiers of a broken army that had marched away and returned weary.They are a group of men and women who threw their youth as a weapon but didn't even get a medal to be proud of, a group of down-and-out and depressed men, and a group of confused and wronged women.
They went from nothing to nothing, like the hands of a clock from zero to zero.For time, zero point will always mean nothing but zero point, but for them, it means rewinding life tightly again.
The branches on both sides of the road were covered with frost and snow.
Two coal trucks broke down and stopped beside the road one after the other.
The front windows of the two trucks and the coal in the cabin were also covered with a layer of frost and snow...
A person got off a truck in front, and he stepped on half a foot of snow and walked towards the field beside the road.
The man used a lighter (an old-fashioned gasoline lighter) to ignite a ball of tarpaulin used to wipe the car in the field.
A bonfire was lit.He yelled at the truck behind: "Come down, enjoy the fire!" He was Wu Zhenqing.
Another person jumped out of the car, it was Tsui Hark.
Tsui Hark stomped his feet: "Damn it, it's almost freezing!"
The two of them squatted around the fire to warm their hands, and they were both wearing battered regimental uniforms.
Tsui Hark asked, "Zhenqing, do you still have any cigarettes?"
Wu Zhenqing took out the cigarette case from his pocket, and there was only one left. He broke off the cigarette and gave a piece to Tsui Hark.
Tsui Hark lit a cigarette with a fire stick, and said angrily, "Damn it, rent us these two broken cars! I will settle accounts with them when I get back. I, Tsui Hark, are not easy to deceive!"
Wu Zhenqing said: "Forget it, let's eat a pit and gain some wisdom! No matter how we deal with it, we have to get these two cars of coal back to the city, sell them as soon as possible, grab some cash, and celebrate the New Year!"
Tsui Hark said: "After dawn, I will definitely stop a car heading for Harbin."
Wu Zhenqing said: "I advise you to stop thinking about it. No matter what kind of car, as long as it is going to Harbin, how many people can fit, it must be full of people."
"Then, what do you do?"
"Stop driving from Harbin to Shuangyashan."
"Back to Shuangya Mountain?"
"Yes, as long as you can stop the car, you will arrive at Shuangya Mountain in two hours, and then get on the train back to Harbin."
Tsui Hark said nothing.
Wu Zhenqing said: "If you want to go back, I'll go back, and you stay in the car."
Tsui Hark said: "I'm not willing or not. I'm afraid that if I go back, the parts I bought are wrong, and I can't bring Debao. After all, he has a job now, so he is no longer a free man."
Wu Zhenqing said: "Then it's decided, I'll go back, I will not stop, there are so many checkpoints along the way, without Debao's police uniform to escort, maybe I will be detained somewhere."
The bonfire died down.It was getting brighter.
Wu Zhenqing and Tsui Hark stopped cars on the left and right of the road separately.
Vehicles passed by without stopping.After a long time, they finally stopped one.
Wu Zhenqing took out twenty yuan and handed it to the driver: "Master, help me!"
"Get in the car!" The driver was very happy.
There was no one else in the cab except the driver. Wu Zhenqing was about to get on, but the driver said, "I didn't tell you to go up here, go to the back!"
Wu Zhenqing said: "Master, we have been freezing all night, isn't there no one else in your cab?"
"How do you know? Wait at the intersection ahead! Can you get on?"
"Go! Go!"
Wu Zhenqing jumped onto the truck compartment and threw something to Tsui Hark who was still standing under the truck.
Tsui Hark quickly caught it, and the car had already driven away.
What he caught was a frozen steamed bun.
Tsui Hark squatted by the roadside again, and roasted the frozen steamed buns in the residual charcoal of the fire.
Tsui Hark held a steamed bun in one hand and a tree branch in the other. He took a bite of the steamed bun and tasted the frost and snow on the tree branch, just like sucking ice cream.
Tsui Hark entered the cab, put cotton gloves on the steering wheel, lay down, and fell asleep with his hands in his sleeves.
The sunlight of the day melted the glass of the cab, and through the glass, the scenery outside could be vaguely seen.
The glass of the cab was frosted again, and it was dark again.
Tsui Hark woke up, he breathed out on the side window of the cab, and wiped off the frost with cotton gloves...
In the front mirror, the rear truck was accompanied by a walking tractor. Two people were stealing coal from the truck, one was on the truck and the other was on the walking tractor.
He jumped out of the cab and stopped in the past: "Hey, what are you doing?!"
The man on the tractor said: "What are you doing? Pick up some coal to burn!"
"Are you picking this up?"
The man on the tractor jumped off and pushed him: "Go away! I'll show you the color again."
Tsui Hark and the man started to fight, and both sides rolled to the ground.
The people on the truck jumped off, holding a large lump of coal.Hitting Tsui Hark on the head: "Fuck you!"
Tsui Hark fainted on the ground and did not move.
One of the two said, "Go!"
The walking tractor drove off.
Wu Zhenqing finally arrived in Harbin by train from Shuangyashan. He hurried out of the ticket gate and walked towards the bus station again. A man on a bicycle passed in front of him. Wu Zhenqing saw him and called him loudly: "Hey! Qu Chuanliang! Qu Chuanliang!" The man didn't hear him, so Wu Zhenqing simply called him by his nickname: "Congo cloth!" The man heard it, jumped off the bicycle, and Wu Zhenqing chased after him. "Kongo Bu" punched him: "Who am I? It's you! After returning to the city, I haven't heard anyone calling me my nickname when I was in the Corps!" Wu Zhenqing asked: "Have you found a job?" "Congo cloth" said: "If you have a share, you can ride a donkey to find a donkey!" "Where are you going?" "Go and register my son!" "Bought a new car?" "Where do I have the money to buy a car! Didn't you see that this is a girl's car! My sister-in-law's, I borrowed it to ride for a day because of business today!" "Give me the key." "What are you doing?" "Lend me a ride, I have more urgent matters than you." "This……" "Don't do this and that! I'll take you home early tomorrow morning!" As Wu Zhenqing said, he got on the bike, patted the other person on the shoulder, and rode the bike away. The other party chased after two steps and shouted loudly: "Hey, no!" Wu Zhenqing turned his head and said, "Stop chasing! It's useless to chase! I've booked your car!" The other party looked at his receding back and muttered, "Damn it!"
Beside the two broken-down cars, Tsui Hark was still on the ground.Five or six passers-by surrounded him, and a few bicycles were parked beside him. Passers-by speculated, "Are you drunk?" "It's not like..." Someone squatted down, raised his upper body to lean against himself, and asked, "Comrade, comrade! What's wrong with you?" Tsui Hark opened his eyes, looked left and right, and then slowly said: "Someone...someone snatched the coal from my car and hit me with coal lumps." He struggled to stand up, stopped by the front of the car, and took out his cigarette case , was empty, squeezed it flat and threw it on the ground, and begged the onlookers: "Who has cigarettes, can you give me a few?" Someone pulled out a half pack of cigarettes and gave it to him. He lit one and sucked greedily. The person who gave him the cigarette asked, "I said, is the injury all right?" He shook his heavy head: "It's nothing serious, just a little dizzy, thank you all kind people, let's spread out. Don't call the police patrolling the road." Another person said to him: "Young man, if you can still keep the steering wheel steady, drive the car away as soon as possible, and let someone come and grab it when it gets dark?" "car broke down……" Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, shaking their heads helplessly and dispersed. Tsui Hark helped the car into the driver's cab, took off his cotton cap, and found blood on his hands. He unbuttoned, undressed, and tore his shirt. He was looking in the car mirror and bandaging his head.
A district public security bureau in Harbin. A person held a telephone receiver and shouted: "Han Debao, call!" "Here we come." Han Debao answered the phone, "It's me. Zhenqing? Where is the injury? Okay, I'll get out right away." Wu Zhenqing actually made the call from the telephone booth opposite the Public Security Bureau. He was carrying a yellow satchel, and he was standing on the sidewalk to meet Han Debao, who had become a policeman. When the two came together, Han Debao asked, "Why don't you come in and look for me?" "I'm afraid that your colleagues will mistake me for surrendering." "what's up?" "Come with me, I'll tell you on the way!" "Now?" "right." "But...we're in a meeting." "Then I can't control so much! Let's go." After finishing speaking, Wu Zhenqing grabbed Han Debao's wrist and dragged him away. Han Debao was reluctantly dragged along the sidewalk by Wu Zhenqing. He shook his hand and said, "What's the matter?" Wu Zhenqing explained to him what needed help, and Han Debao felt embarrassed. Seeing him like this, Wu Zhenqing turned around and left. Han Debao stared at his back for a moment, but had no choice but to follow. In the end, the two of them agreed that "the next time will not be an example", and they got on the train together to rescue the unfortunate Tsui Hark. But when they came to the place where the coal truck was parked, they saw only the car but no people.The two were wondering when a figure jumped up from the coal pile in the carriage, jumped out of the carriage, threw itself on Han Debao, and fell down together with Han Debao.Seeing this, Wu Zhenqing quickly said, "Tsui Hark! It's us! It's me and Debao!" Xu Hark raised his head and got up from Han Debao. Han Debao picked up his police cap from the ground, patted it, saw Xu Ke holding a big board in one hand, and seemed a little shuddering. He said, "You kid want my life?" It was getting dark, and the three of them came to a small restaurant. Tsui Hark's eye sockets were bruised, and one hand was bandaged with a handkerchief.They sat down around the table. Wu Zhenqing asked Tsui Hark, "Does it hurt?" "The pain is over...they want to grab the coal on the car. Then how can I do it, the two of them, I know I can't beat them, but I have to beat them if I can't beat them! At that time, I thought, the head can be broken, the blood can flow , life can go, but the two trucks of coal cannot be robbed! I am so ruthless that I will risk my life." Wu Zhenqing taught him: "Remember. If you encounter this kind of situation in the future, you can ignore everything except the head and the blood." Han Debao said: "Zhenqing is right! If we hadn't happened to arrive, what happened today would be dangerous!" The man brought three bowls of noodle soup, and they devoured it. After finishing their work, they went to a better restaurant; this time their expressions were different, because there were three stacks of RMB on the table.Wu Zhenqing said: "Debao, between brothers, Tsui Hark and I won't say thank you... All the money is here, divided by three, eighty each." He took out a handful of steel balls and ten-cent bills from his pocket and said, "Don't use egalitarianism for these odds and ends, it's mine." Han Debao picked up a stack of money, eight pieces of ten yuan.He fanned the money like a playing card, looked at it and said, "It's still new..." Tsui Hark said, "It's the first time I've made so much money when I grow up so big!" "You don't call it earning, you call it down..." Wu Zhenqing took out cigarettes to share with them, smoked and said, "Yeah. It's called down. It's not as glorious as earning, but it's not much easier than earning. Without you, we two are really 'unlucky' this time. " Han Debao put forty yuan on Xu Ke's stack of money, and forty yuan on Wu Zhenqing's stack of money, and said, "I won't accept any pennies, so you two can add up to five!" Tsui Hark said: "How can that be done!" and forced the money to Han Debao. Han Debao said, "If I say no, I won't. I have a job." He added, "I'm wearing this police uniform. What's okay for you is not okay for me." Wu Zhenqing said: "Then, just listen to Debao!" The three of them left the restaurant and walked on the lonely street in winter...
Wu Zhenqing finally arrived in Harbin by train from Shuangyashan. He hurried out of the ticket gate and walked towards the bus station again. A man on a bicycle passed in front of him. Wu Zhenqing saw him and called him loudly: "Hey! Qu Chuanliang! Qu Chuanliang!" The man didn't hear him, so Wu Zhenqing simply called him by his nickname: "Congo cloth!" The man heard it, jumped off the bicycle, and Wu Zhenqing chased after him. "Kongo Bu" punched him: "Who am I? It's you! After returning to the city, I haven't heard anyone calling me my nickname when I was in the Corps!" Wu Zhenqing asked: "Have you found a job?" "Congo cloth" said: "If you have a share, you can ride a donkey to find a donkey!" "Where are you going?" "Go and register my son!" "Bought a new car?" "Where do I have the money to buy a car! Didn't you see that this is a girl's car! My sister-in-law's, I borrowed it to ride for a day because of business today!" "Give me the key." "What are you doing?" "Lend me a ride, I have more urgent matters than you." "This……" "Don't do this and that! I'll take you home early tomorrow morning!" As Wu Zhenqing said, he got on the bike, patted the other person on the shoulder, and rode the bike away. The other party chased after two steps and shouted loudly: "Hey, no!" Wu Zhenqing turned his head and said, "Stop chasing! It's useless to chase! I've booked your car!" The other party looked at his receding back and muttered, "Damn it!"
Beside the two broken-down cars, Tsui Hark was still on the ground.Five or six passers-by surrounded him, and a few bicycles were parked beside him. Passers-by speculated, "Are you drunk?" "It's not like..." Someone squatted down, raised his upper body to lean against himself, and asked, "Comrade, comrade! What's wrong with you?" Tsui Hark opened his eyes, looked left and right, and then slowly said: "Someone...someone snatched the coal from my car and hit me with coal lumps." He struggled to stand up, stopped by the front of the car, and took out his cigarette case , was empty, squeezed it flat and threw it on the ground, and begged the onlookers: "Who has cigarettes, can you give me a few?" Someone pulled out a half pack of cigarettes and gave it to him. He lit one and sucked greedily. The person who gave him the cigarette asked, "I said, is the injury all right?" He shook his heavy head: "It's nothing serious, just a little dizzy, thank you all kind people, let's spread out. Don't call the police patrolling the road." Another person said to him: "Young man, if you can still keep the steering wheel steady, drive the car away as soon as possible, and let someone come and grab it when it gets dark?" "car broke down……" Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, shaking their heads helplessly and dispersed. Tsui Hark helped the car into the driver's cab, took off his cotton cap, and found blood on his hands. He unbuttoned, undressed, and tore his shirt. He was looking in the car mirror and bandaging his head.
A district public security bureau in Harbin. A person held a telephone receiver and shouted: "Han Debao, call!" "Here we come." Han Debao answered the phone, "It's me. Zhenqing? Where is the injury? Okay, I'll get out right away." Wu Zhenqing actually made the call from the telephone booth opposite the Public Security Bureau. He was carrying a yellow satchel, and he was standing on the sidewalk to meet Han Debao, who had become a policeman. When the two came together, Han Debao asked, "Why don't you come in and look for me?" "I'm afraid that your colleagues will mistake me for surrendering." "what's up?" "Come with me, I'll tell you on the way!" "Now?" "right." "But...we're in a meeting." "Then I can't control so much! Let's go." After finishing speaking, Wu Zhenqing grabbed Han Debao's wrist and dragged him away. Han Debao was reluctantly dragged along the sidewalk by Wu Zhenqing. He shook his hand and said, "What's the matter?" Wu Zhenqing explained to him what needed help, and Han Debao felt embarrassed. Seeing him like this, Wu Zhenqing turned around and left. Han Debao stared at his back for a moment, but had no choice but to follow. In the end, the two of them agreed that "the next time will not be an example", and they got on the train together to rescue the unfortunate Tsui Hark. But when they came to the place where the coal truck was parked, they saw only the car but no people.The two were wondering when a figure jumped up from the coal pile in the carriage, jumped out of the carriage, threw itself on Han Debao, and fell down together with Han Debao.Seeing this, Wu Zhenqing quickly said, "Tsui Hark! It's us! It's me and Debao!" Xu Hark raised his head and got up from Han Debao. Han Debao picked up his police cap from the ground, patted it, saw Xu Ke holding a big board in one hand, and seemed a little shuddering. He said, "You kid want my life?" It was getting dark, and the three of them came to a small restaurant. Tsui Hark's eye sockets were bruised, and one hand was bandaged with a handkerchief.They sat down around the table. Wu Zhenqing asked Tsui Hark, "Does it hurt?" "The pain is over...they want to grab the coal on the car. Then how can I do it, the two of them, I know I can't beat them, but I have to beat them if I can't beat them! At that time, I thought, the head can be broken, the blood can flow , life can go, but the two trucks of coal cannot be robbed! I am so ruthless that I will risk my life." Wu Zhenqing taught him: "Remember. If you encounter this kind of situation in the future, you can ignore everything except the head and the blood." Han Debao said: "Zhenqing is right! If we hadn't happened to arrive, what happened today would be dangerous!" The man brought three bowls of noodle soup, and they devoured it. After finishing their work, they went to a better restaurant; this time their expressions were different, because there were three stacks of RMB on the table.Wu Zhenqing said: "Debao, between brothers, Tsui Hark and I won't say thank you... All the money is here, divided by three, eighty each." He took out a handful of steel balls and ten-cent bills from his pocket and said, "Don't use egalitarianism for these odds and ends, it's mine." Han Debao picked up a stack of money, eight pieces of ten yuan.He fanned the money like a playing card, looked at it and said, "It's still new..." Tsui Hark said, "It's the first time I've made so much money when I grow up so big!" "You don't call it earning, you call it down..." Wu Zhenqing took out cigarettes to share with them, smoked and said, "Yeah. It's called down. It's not as glorious as earning, but it's not much easier than earning. Without you, we two are really 'unlucky' this time. " Han Debao put forty yuan on Xu Ke's stack of money, and forty yuan on Wu Zhenqing's stack of money, and said, "I won't accept any pennies, so you two can add up to five!" Tsui Hark said: "How can that be done!" and forced the money to Han Debao. Han Debao said, "If I say no, I won't. I have a job." He added, "I'm wearing this police uniform. What's okay for you is not okay for me." Wu Zhenqing said: "Then, just listen to Debao!" The three of them left the restaurant and walked on the lonely street in winter...