The two of them had a busy day, and it was already eight o'clock in the evening when they returned to town.【】

I found a barbecue stall and sat down, ordered two side dishes, two glasses of draft beer and some mutton skewers, and rested while eating.

Wu Xiaojun said with a smile, "Today should be said to be a great victory for the army. The results were good. We visited fifteen or sixteen houses in several nearby villages."

Bai Lingyan said happily, "If we keep this up, we can go home in three or four days. Judging from the children we visited today, it's really worrying. I didn't expect that the situation here is worse than ours."

Wu Xiaojun said, "For me today, I feel uncomfortable walking from house to house, and I feel very uncomfortable. The general feeling is that people here are still relatively conservative in thinking, and the economy is relatively backward. A large village with thousands of households and thousands of people can't find it.

When I visited a few decent homes, I felt like I was back to my childhood, which is unbelievable."

Bai Lingyan said, "What's the use of lamenting these things? It's boring, so I won't talk about it. Today is a bit beyond my expectation. The first intuitive impression you gave me was that you have a serious face, don't speak much, hide your thoughts, and are unpredictable.

Tou, but in your interactions with fellow villagers, you are very easy-going, generous, polite, and very neat."

Wu Xiaojun said with a smile, "It's an award, and I'm well-deserved. People have to lower their heads under the low eaves. When they go out, they ask for help everywhere. If they want to straighten their backs and speak loudly, they lack the confidence. It's really not good to be modest and prudent and bow down. But that's what you said.

Yes, I don’t have a very good impression on people who don’t know me well. My girlfriend often says I don’t understand humor and always calls me a silly boy.”

Bai Lingyan giggled and said, "You have a girlfriend. She must be very beautiful. Is she from your hometown or from our school? Let's talk about it."

Wu Xiaojun said proudly, "She is my classmate in high school. She is the son of a cadre. She is studying business administration as an undergraduate at Xiangzhou University. She is far from beautiful. Compared with you, she is still one or two percentage points off. She has a good character.

He is lively and cheerful, a bit carefree, and he treats me very well."

Bai Lingyan joked, "When I mention your girlfriend, you are so happy that you can't even find her. Your relationship must be very harmonious."

Wu Xiaojun suppressed his smile and said, "It's hard to say that we have a relationship, but the difference between urban and rural areas is too great. Her parents are firmly opposed to our relationship. There has always been an invisible barrier between us. I am worried that it will be removed one day."

."

Bai Lingyan said, "No matter how big the barrier is, it is external. Whether it can be demolished mainly depends on whether you have confidence, whether you can resist the temptation from the new environment and all aspects, and whether you can withstand the test of the world. Now our class has

Several female classmates met new friends at school, started falling in love, and then kicked their previous boyfriends. Even if you can stick to the promise you made to the other party, you can ensure that the other party's position will always be firm and will not waver. Advice

Just tell me, be careful."

Wu Xiaojun smiled confidently and said, "The same goes for Liu Youcai in our dormitory. If it rains, my mother wants to get married. There is nothing to stop her. Just let her do whatever she wants. By the way, how are you? Do you have someone you like?"

"

Bai Lingyan blushed and said calmly, "I'm ashamed. I made friends with a few boys in high school, but I haven't had any deep friendships yet. I don't know what it will be like in the future. Those who are destined will definitely come, and those who are meant to come will definitely come."

It will come, and there is no need to pursue it deliberately, lest it end up being a life-and-death struggle, mentally taxing, miserable, fruitless, full of regrets, and really not worth it."

Wu Xiaojun said with a smile, "You see clearly and think openly. Most of the time, bystanders are the ones who understand the authority and are obsessed with it. Once people fall into the whirlpool of love, they often forget everything, become crazy and unable to extricate themselves, and are even cute and stupid. It’s ridiculous.”

Bai Lingyan pursed her lips and said with a smile, "Do you still have a good understanding? It's based on personal experience. It's better to stay awake."

As the night falls and the morning light emerges, the mountain town is so hazy, quiet and distant, soothing the tired body and mind.

After the two woke up, they felt physically and mentally comfortable and extremely relaxed.

After preparing everything for the day, we set off in the direction of Panling and started a new day of difficult, long and painful journey.

The road to Panling is a bumpy rural dirt road. It follows the hillside and the mountain col. It is steep and narrow, twists and turns, winding and extending into the distance like a snake. The road is covered with tractors and tricycles. There were wheels and cattle hoof prints coming out, as well as some thorns and small stones. On both sides of the road, there were occasionally sparse and bright houses scattered in the mountain col.

There are few pedestrians on the road, and few vehicles are seen. The two of them are far away from the hustle and bustle of the city and the pollution. They walk on the mountain path in the early morning, sometimes uphill and downhill, sometimes through mountains and rivers, forgetting the troubles of life, blank There is no need to think about anything, just breathe the fresh mountain air and the smell of earth to your heart's content, leisurely and quietly appreciate the scenery on the roadside and the endless mountain peaks, and listen to the chirping of insects, birds, barking of dogs and horses with high spirits. Enjoy your time in heaven and earth, contentedly and contentedly, full of admiration for nature and joyful mood.

The mountain road was winding, going up and down, left and right. At a fork in the middle of the mountain, the two of them went around and lost their way. They stopped and thought about it for a while, but still couldn't make up their minds.

When I was at a loss, two people, a man and a woman, walked up from the valley on the right. They were about thirty years old, dressed naturally and elegantly. The man held a camera in his hand, and the woman carried a black simple bag on her shoulder.

Bai Lingyan recognized the woman as a staff member of the town government at a glance, and hurriedly stepped forward to say hello, "Sister, we met at the town government the day before yesterday. Do you still recognize us?"

The woman's expression was natural and easy-going, and she said very kindly, "Yes, yes, I didn't expect to see each other here again. Where are you going?"

"Sister, we are going to Panling to see some children. Can you please show us the way?"

"To Panling, you go straight ahead along the road on the left, over a ridge, across a valley, and then up to the top of the mountain. The first village is there. There are no cars here. It's seven or eight miles away. It’s really hard for you to go away for a while, it’s so hard on you.”

"Thank you, eldest sister, we are leaving. See you another day."

Following the direction she pointed, the two of them continued walking along the road.

There are sparsely populated areas along the road, and there are many placers and lime kilns. On large and small mountains, white smoke rising from lime kilns can be seen everywhere.

In front of a kiln on the roadside, a worker with a dirty face and rags was filling coal into the kiln. He was surrounded by rising dust, and in front of him was the scorching heat.

Wu Xiaojun and Bai Lingyan said, "Look, it's not easy for workers to earn a living. Working in such an environment without any protective measures, I don't know how many diseases will soon plague them."

Bai Lingyan looked up, feeling sad, and said worriedly, "Inhaling a large amount of dust every day can easily cause pneumoconiosis. In our hometown, there are many people who work in the mines to dig out coal mines and gravel, and they suffer from pneumoconiosis at a young age.

This disease is difficult to cure and the cost to the individual is quite heavy, as life expectancy may be shortened by an unknown number of years."
Chapter completed!