The next afternoon, Zhang Youzhi and Li Douyu got on the urban bus. The suitcase was placed under the car, but there were still three or four large packages in Zhang Youzhi's arms.

They are all clothes and some random things that I plan to buy for Li Douyu’s father and grandma Li Douyu.

Li Douyu didn't even forget to buy a can of dog food from the city for his big black dog. He didn't know whether the black dog would eat it or not.

The mountain roads in Longnan were very rugged. Zhang Youzhi watched with fear as the driver smoked with one hand and turned the steering wheel gracefully with the other. The stuffed and bulging bus turned flexibly on the rugged mountain roads. Sometimes Zhang Youzhi felt that the wheels of the car were loose.

The cliff next to the road is less than one meter.

Zhang Youzhi is not afraid of death, but he is not ready to send it here in advance.

Li Douyu suffered from motion sickness again. He fell asleep in the car holding his own pillow, and when he was tired, he lay on Zhang Youzhi's body in a daze.

"Here, eat a piece of orange to stimulate your brain." Zhang Youzhi handed over the orange segment with only a thin layer of skin peeled off.

Li Douyu opened his mouth with his eyes dazed.

Just feeding, falling asleep, thinking, and chanting all the way.

Kuba Town has arrived.

Zhang Youzhi and Li Douyu got out of the car packed with bags. Both of them were covered with things, like two large mobile hooks.

There are still more than ten kilometers of mountain road from Kuba Town to Mazipingshe.

Li Douyu worked hard and found a fellow villager who was passing by to take the two of them in a van.

The van's overturn was even greater. Li Douyu vomited out all the oranges Zhang Youzhi had fed him, and then raised his head and looked at Zhang Youzhi with tears in his eyes.

Zhang Youzhi patted her back gently and wiped her mouth with warm water.

When we arrived at the bottom of the mountain, it was already six o'clock in the afternoon.

The door sign of Maziping Society could be seen in the distance. Zhang Youzhi picked up Li Douyu and placed him on the stone next to him to wake up. He then hung the large and small bags on his body one by one.

Zhang Youzhi's forehead was covered with sweat. The analgesic pill obviously had the effect of temporarily improving his physical strength, but it did not last long.

Occasionally, a crimson wave rises from the undulating green mountains. These crimson waves are picked up by the remaining heat wave in the evening and sweep away in all directions.

Zhang Youzhi seemed to smell the strong smell of pepper.

On a hillside not far from one of the red pepper groves, there are three lonely houses on it, all of which belong to Li Douyu's family. This is the only house on such a large hilltop.

Zhang Youzhi pointed to the house and mustered up the courage to shout at the infinite barrier.

"Let's go, I'll take you home."

…

His uncle was still beating peppercorns and would not be back until night. Li Douyu, who was already in full condition, settled Zhang Youzhi on his former boudoir bed, picked up a sun hat and went up the mountain to call his father.

It seems that I am the only one left at home.

Zhang Youzhi pinched the four analgesics in the plastic film and remained silent.

Li Douyu's hometown has a strong sense of separation between urban and rural areas.

The kitchen is covered with white tiles, and has a microwave and a full gas stove. There is a large amount of firewood stacked in the corner of the kitchen, and there is an earth stove next to it. The hot ashes in the earth stove are still shining with slag.

Obviously, compared to the gas stove, the large iron pot earth stove is the most popular tool in this home.

The other two rooms are similar. The walls of the main room are covered with ceramic tiles, but the floor is still dark concrete. When you look up, you can see the lamps and rotating fans hanging on the wooden beams.

This is not Zhang Youzhi’s first time here, but he always has a novel feeling.

Just as Zhang Youzhi was about to return to the inner room, he suddenly bumped into an old lady who was walking silently.

She is Li Douyu's grandmother.

"Grandma." Zhang Youzhi said in a panic.

With Li Douyu away and a translator missing, it was difficult for Zhang Youzhi to communicate effectively with this old lady. The older generation from Longnan spoke urgently and quickly.

"It's time for you to sprinkle. Have you eaten?"

I can understand this sentence.

"I just came here in the afternoon and had some food." Zhang Youzhi nodded.

Only then did the old lady look up at her grandson-in-law from out of town.

Zhang Youzhi stood still, accepting the old lady's gaze. He straightened his body unconsciously.

"Youzhi, are you not feeling well?" The old lady came over with some confusion and squeezed Zhang Youzhi's hand.

There is already a layer of slight swelling under Zhang Youzhi's skin, which makes him look a little fatter than a few days ago, but it is almost invisible unless you look closely.

"You're all swollen, what's going on?" The old lady looked at the flustered Zhang Youzhi with her cloudy eyes.

Only people who starve to death will become swollen. The last time she saw someone swollen was during the famine decades ago.

"Grandma, I've gained weight these days, but I'm healthy." Zhang Youzhi said, jumping up and down from the spot twice, punching a few more times, and deliberately fiddling with it for a long time.

"Look, he's just fat." In desperation, Zhang Youzhi even used his own dialect.

The old lady obviously didn't believe it, so she asked Zhang Youzhi to expose his arms.

Zhang Youzhi took a deep breath and tensed his arms as hard as he could. The originally swollen skin was lifted up by the only muscles, making it look much normal.

Zhang Youzhi squeezed his arm with his old and withered hands, and Zhang Youzhi felt like a piece of plastic paper was being pulled from his body.

Finally, the old lady breathed a sigh of relief.

"Eat well from now on and let me know if you have anything to say."

Zhang Youzhi nodded frequently.

After seeing the old lady walking into the yard, Zhang Youzhi, who was exhausted, felt his body go limp and reluctantly found a chair to collapse on.

Seeing that the old lady was still looking at him, he took the initiative to straighten his sitting posture.

The old lady didn't speak, just walked out slowly.

Zhang Youzhi really has no strength. Under the analgesic effect of morphine, the pain sensation is blocked, but this does not mean that he can jump like a normal person. Zhang Youzhi feels that every breath he takes is laborious.

According to the doctor's theory of two months, Zhang Youzhi can live for one month.

But Zhang Youzhi felt that he would not survive this July.

Before your body deteriorates to the extreme, take the last four analgesics, hand the Lidouyu back to your uncle, and climb over these layers of mountains to go to a farther place.


Chapter completed!