The places we passed through in the morning were still full of life and harmonious scenery outside the car window.
But when the shuttle bus drove into the afternoon, the cultural landscape along the way no longer had the same pleasant feeling as before.
At this time, the shuttle bus was already traveling on the mountain roads in the rugged area.
The buses stop and go all the way, loading and unloading passengers and loading and unloading goods.
Logically speaking,
This kind of long-distance shuttle bus usually does not pick up short-distance passengers on the way. But this bus is obviously different: as long as someone waves, the shuttle bus will stop at the roadside without hesitation.
Drivers and conductors will even get out of the car to help.
Let those who want a ride board.
It just stopped at the drop of a hat.
What's especially surprising is that the driver and conductor, how could they be so enthusiastic and go down to help?
According to market conditions,
Drivers are all aloof and indifferent to passengers!
As for the conductors, most of them are women with loud voices and bad tempers.
They often yell at passengers.
Why did the driver and conductor actually change their tempers when they got here?
"They don't dare to yell at passengers...well, except for outsiders like you."
Namu explained: “The people in the village near the highway have bad tempers...
Didn’t you see? They all have long knives in their waists?"
Zhang Xiaoli leaned on Luo Xuan's shoulder and said softly, "It seems that this place is a bit unsafe. If something happens, don't get angry with others."
Luo Xuan nodded, indicating that he would not cause trouble.
Always making the women around you fearful for you is not a long-term solution.
Not only to give her a sense of security, but also to at least make Zhang Xiaoli feel at ease.
"You, get up and give up your seat."
The female conductor on the shuttle looked young, probably in her early 20s.
The female conductor is dark-skinned, not tall, and has a dark face.
He yelled at Zhang Xiaoli, "A compatriot from the Shui tribe is coming to take the bus now. Please get up and give him your seat."
Before Zhang Xiaoli could react.
Namu on the side pouted and said, "Ignore him."
The female conductor glanced at Namu: "I'm talking about her. Someone from the mainland gave up her seat. You girl, why are you messing around?"
Namu took out the dagger she carried from her waist and scratched her fingernails carelessly.
While whispering, "He's a great sailor. Why should we, guests of the x clan, give up our seats to him? Didn't we buy tickets or something?"
When the conductor heard this, he looked at Namu and then Luo Xuan with a little fear.
Maybe she was worried about Namu's background and the sword in her hand.
At the same time, he was also a little afraid of Luo Xuan, who had an extraordinary temperament and looked like a member of the public family.
The female conductor hesitated for a moment, then turned to face the short, dark-skinned man standing in the aisle who had just gotten on the bus.
He mumbled a few words in dialect.
Then a hint of shyness appeared on the man's face, and he nodded with a simple smile.
Namu pouted and explained to Luo Xuan, "The driver and conductor have been running this route for a long time.
So if anyone wants a ride along the way, they don't dare to ignore it. Otherwise, the next time his car passes through this section of road.
You might encounter nails, big rocks, or even downed trees on the road."
"Just now, she saw that you seemed to be from the mainland. So, in order to please the sailor, the conductor asked you to get up and give up your seat to him."
Namu snorted coldly, "It's a shame to leave your hometown. That man in the car, his village is also far away from here.
If you are very close, you don’t need to yell at the conductor. Maybe he will rush over directly and ask someone to make room for him..."
After Luo Xuan heard this, he suddenly realized!
The composition of the people living in this place is very complex.
In the past, large-scale armed fights and violent conflicts often occurred between different villages and different soldiers.
Fighting with native guns and cannons is very common.
The antagonistic emotions that have lasted for thousands of years make these people like to carry a knife in their waist when they go out.
First, it was for self-defense.
Secondly, it is also the local environment that forces them to do this.
The mountains here are densely forested and there are many ravines.
All kinds of wild beasts and venomous snakes are in and out. If you don't carry a weapon on hand, you can't even go out.
Plus,
The main job of the men in this area is to go hunting in the mountains.
Therefore, carrying a firecracker on the shoulder and a sharp dagger on the waist has become the standard equipment of these mountain people.
No wonder just now,
Passengers who were boarding the train on the way, each had a sword on their waist and a short fire blunderbuss on their back.
Without exception.
There is a fierce look on every face, as if they are ready to fight with others anytime and anywhere...
So tough!
Luo Xuan estimated that in this area, don't start a fight over a disagreement. Even a wrong look would probably lead to a group fight...
It's a new era now.
Thanks to the effective mediation efforts of the local commune, there are no longer many conflicts between different villages.
But it does not mean that
Their thousands of years of inertial thinking and work habits have been completely reversed.
Deep-rooted antagonism can only slowly dissipate.
It is impossible to completely change it overnight.
Fortunately, on this trip, Namu, who had returned home, was with me.
Otherwise, if Luo Xuan really can't protect himself, will he conflict with others?
If the conductor had yelled at him just now, Luo Xuan would not care about her.
Just give up your seat.
Just stand in the aisle and you'll be gone, no big deal.
But earlier, if it weren't for Namu, the conductor would have been kicked out.
Luo Xuan would definitely not spare the conductor lightly: Dare you bully Zhang Xiaoli? He doubts that he can beat up the female conductor!
The knife in someone else's waist can scratch someone.
Is it possible that I can't beat her with my fists?
Isn't that the man with a short blazing gun on his back?
Luo Xuan definitely has that confidence: if the opponent has the ability to pull out the gun with his backhand, even if he wins...
We don't intend to cause trouble.
But if something happens to you, how can you be afraid of it?
Although there are many passengers in this car, they belong to different villages and have different origins.
If I really had a conflict with a few of them, it would be fine if the other passengers didn't add insult to injury.
How could he take action to help other people who are not the same as him?
The shuttle bus just kept going, squeaking, squeaking, and moving forward.
During this period,
The shuttle bus was halfway down the road, and the "Traveler's Home" stopped to let the driver and passengers eat and rest several times.
It lasted two full days and two nights.
The shuttle bus finally arrived at Liao Lao County.
This small border town is extremely small.
Compared to Hongxing Commune, the county seat is about the same size as a commune in the mainland.
Just over 10,000 residents with permanent urban household registration built this dilapidated and desolate border town.
This small county town.
The first impression you get is that it is dirty, messy and poor.
Small, dark pigs roamed the streets looking for food, pooping and urinating.
Occasionally, you can see groups of old scalpers walking leisurely through the streets and alleys.
It seems that these cattle are not afraid of humans at all. They are not afraid of the people in the county who carry large backpacks or carry large water jugs on their heads.
Just take it seriously.
Cow dung, pig excrement, defecation everywhere...
This stinky atmosphere attracted countless blowflies and gadflies, chasing the crowds on the street.
"My Iceberg Beauty Wife"
In the county town, there are two streets that have not been hardened with cement. People are covered in dirt on sunny days and mud on rainy days.
In this county,
Those low and messy thatched houses constitute the mainstream architecture in the city.
When Zhang Xiaoli saw such a scene, she couldn't help but sigh, "This is a very backward and primitive small town!"
Luo Xuan laughed and said: "Comrade Xiaoli! I don't want this kind of ideas and cognition of yours!
Do you think that if you go to the countryside to jump in line, you will be sent to those very prosperous and wealthy places?
It is precisely because this place is very backward and very poor that we are sent here to support the rural construction here!"
After arriving at the county seat,
Luo Xuan and Zhang Xiaoli need to go to the local "Educated Youth Office" to go through the landing procedures.
And Namu, who has nothing to do,
However, she was unwilling to go back to the village alone, and would not let Luo Xuan book a room for her in the guest house.
"Do not worry."
Namu, who never seemed to know what sorrow was, giggled: "As long as I have this sword on my waist, I don't need to carry anything else.
I can survive 10 days and a half in the wilderness.
Once you have completed the formalities, you can go to the edge of the county town and wait for me under the telephone pole tomorrow morning."
The telephone poles next to the county seat?
Namu said this!
No matter how small Liao Lao County is, it still has four directions: southeast, northwest, and northwest, right?
This Namu speaks,
People in the Southwest speak the same way: no distinction is made between east, west and north, only front and back, left hand and right hand.
Zhang Xiaoli was a little worried, "Why don't you let Luo Xuan open a room for you?
Anyway, we have to stay in a guest house at night, and we have to get two rooms. You and I can just squeeze in for one night, and that will be fine."
Namu shook her head, "Those public servants in the guest house speak ugly and look ugly.
I don’t want to be angry with them! It’s great to go to the mountains and be free... and you don’t have to spend money.”
"Luo Xuan is too powerful, I can't beat him."
Namu muttered incoherently, "Now my cheeks, thighs, and waist still hurt a little...my whole body hurts.
Huh, I have to go to the river and get some dry catfish to eat."
After saying that,
Namu carried her luggage, skipped and disappeared into the simple streets.
"What can't you do?"
Zhang Xiaoli turned her face sideways and asked Luo Xuan, "What on earth is Namu talking about?"
Luo Xuan shook his head, "You have been riding in the car for two days and two nights, and your whole body doesn't hurt. And there are always many things she says that are confusing to listen to.
Just like the dry catfish Namu mentioned just now...Have you ever heard of catfish? Are there any catfish that don't live in water?"
Zhang Xiaoli chuckled, "Forget it if you don't understand. Let's go! Let's go to the county office to find the Educated Youth Office and try to complete the procedures as soon as possible."
Liao Lao County is not a big city.
It's just an old 3-story building, which is already the tallest modern building in the county.
Luo Xuan carried two bed rolls on his back and took Zhang Xiaoli with him, and successfully found the county government office.
It was already getting late at this time.
In order to keep a low profile, Luo Xuan never took out his watch and put it on his wrist.
In fact, I don't need luxuries like watches: in school, when should I get up and go to the hall to get food.
Naturally, there will be school handymen who press the bell on time.
If you stay in a rural area,
Time has lost its meaning: it doesn’t matter what you do, whether it’s earlier or later.
But now, if you go to Liao Lao County and jump in the queue to go to the countryside, what else do you have to do based on time?
People here live a free and carefree life, doing whatever they want.
Eat when you are hungry and drink when you have wine.
If I want to do something bad, I'll take her as my friend and get into the grass...
When you need to calculate the time, what do you do by looking at the time?
When Luo Xuan and Zhang Xiaoli followed each other to the gate of the county government, they saw an old man who was about 50 years old.
He was picking up dog and cow dung with his head buried in a bamboo clip.
"Hello, uncle."
Luo Xuan stepped forward to say hello, "Excuse me, those public comrades in the unit now, are they off work?"
The old man put a lump of cow dung into the dustpan and slowly raised his head.
I saw him looking up and down at Luo Xuan, and after looking at Zhang Xiaoli, a kind smile appeared on his face, "Are you educated youths here to jump in the queue?
Some comrades from some departments are already off work."
The old man smiled slightly and said, "However, if you come to handle the landing procedures, I will open the office and handle this matter for you.
I don’t want you to have to wait another night.”
There is a clear division of labor among departments within the agency.
normal person,
Will it be as easy as what the old man said just now: just open the office and get things done?
So Luo Xuan was a little confused, "Uncle, who are you?"
"Oh, my surname is Li. You can just call me Lao Li."
The old man said with a smile, "I am the deputy county magistrate of Liao Lao County, and I am also in charge of the affairs of the Educated Youth Office. Therefore, I can issue you a landing certificate."
Luo Xuan and Zhang Xiaoli were shocked when they heard this:
A dignified deputy county leader was actually working hard to pick up manure for the production team on the street?
Look at people's state of mind.
Look at people, this fine style of hard work and simplicity... is so admirable!
This made Zhang Xiaoli feel a sense of admiration in her heart for the kind old man in front of her.
