It wasn't until we reached the end of the trail that the group had to turn their thoughts to what was in front of them.
There is a stone platform with an area of about 100 square meters in front, which is built on the edge of the river.
This river is completely different from the rivers in our Xihe City. At first glance, it looks rough. The light raindrops hitting the river seem to stir up a thousand waves, and the waves hit the stone platform and make a roaring sound.
The surrounding area was silent, and no one else was seen.
Before we even stepped onto the stone platform, we felt the river breeze blowing into our nostrils, which was a little cold and a little wet.
At the front edge of the stone platform is a ferry port, about two meters wide, which is a port for small boats to dock.
There is a rusty one-meter fence around the stone platform to prevent people from falling into the river.
Zhou Wu looked at the river for a while, then picked up a stone and threw it into the river. There was a gurgling sound. Brother Wu said that the river was very deep.
A few of us nodded in approval, but we didn't see any boats at the ferry port. I had to look far away, but still couldn't find any boats.
"Brother Jing, the cell phone signal is out of service."
Liu Wenya took a few landscape photos, originally intending to post them on Moments to record her beautiful life, but found that her mobile phone had no signal.
A few of us also discovered this situation, and King Zheng said it was normal. After all, this place is far away from the bustling city and is near the foot of a mountain.
Zeng Zhiguang asked me if I should continue to wait for the boat here, or if he should go back and ask the old man when the boat would be available here.
I said wait and see. As soon as I finished speaking, on the other side of the river, under the visibility, there was a boat heading towards us.
Liu Wenya yelled and said, "You can come wherever you want. It's a ferry coming."
We waited for a few minutes, and we could clearly see the boat. It was not a small ferry as we imagined, but looked like a cruise ship, but it was not as beautiful as the painting boat in the Sunshine Club.
At first glance, the front of the cruise ship is an empty platform with some items piled up. Apart from the low cab, there is no shelter on the ship.
When the cruise ship slowly docked at the ferry port, we discovered that the cruise ship was very old and mottled rust could be seen everywhere.
"Master, let's cross the river!"
I approached the cruise ship and spoke to a man in the cockpit.
The man got out of the cockpit. He had dark skin and looked like a local who was born and raised in the mountains. He had a bald head and was wearing a cardigan shirt, revealing his solid chest.
His size was even stronger than Zhou Wu's, almost as strong as King Zheng's strong physique.
I can't tell his specific age. The baptism of time and the vicissitudes of poverty have made his face obviously mature than those of his peers.
"I am not a boatman crossing the river."
The man's voice was deep, and he said that he was the scavenger of this river area.
Liu Wenya asked in confusion what a scavenger was, and I told her in a low voice that in some places people who pick up garbage are called scavengers. Some people who live on the water make a living by picking up items in the river, and they are also called scavengers.
.
Liu Wenya seemed to understand and said, "Are those people who pick up corpses from the river in the novel also considered scavengers?"
I said that's not a scavenger, that's a corpse collector.
The conversation between the two of us was actually very quiet, but the scavenger heard it clearly. He said solemnly: "I am also a corpse collector!"
Liu Wenya and I quickly shut up, but Zeng Zhiguang, a man who had seen the world, stepped forward to bargain with the scavenger and asked a man to drive us across the river. He was willing to give the scavenger two hundred yuan.
The scavenger immediately agreed and let the six of us board the cruise ship. He said that there were no cabins prepared and asked a few of us to stand on the front platform where he piled items.
The cruise ship started, and the roaring sound of the motor was very harsh, but we could only endure it.
Fortunately, the cruise ship was so big that it was quite stable when traveling on the river, and it did not cause any shaking for us.
Looking at the turbulent river water, Gouzi said that he had the urge to jump in and swim.
Liu Wenya laughed and said it was better not to jump. What if he jumped and picked up the body?
It was originally a joke, but suddenly the dog screamed like its tail was being stepped on, which startled a few of us.
"Brother Jing, look, that's a corpse!"
I saw Gouzi pointing to the northwest, where the current was too fast, and there was a huge tree in the water, so the water rolled up was very obvious.
Next to the big tree, there was a man floating on the water, and he was almost swept in by the whirlpool of the river several times.
At this time, the scavenger who was sailing the ship also discovered the situation. He stopped the cruise ship, took a long wooden pole, and stretched it towards the man.
"She's alive!"
The scavenger muttered: "She is a young woman, the kind who commits suicide, alas!"
As he sighed, our nervous hearts relaxed. When we saw the scavenger inserting the wooden pole under the woman's arm, he shook the wooden pole so that the wooden pole just touched the woman's sinking face.
After a few seconds, the floating woman finally felt the presence of the wooden pole. She tried hard to grab the wooden pole with both hands and raised her head from the water.
It is indeed alive and looks pretty good.
The scavenger pulled the pretty woman onto the boat. She was wearing simple old-fashioned clothes. After being soaked by the water, she lay on the boat platform and panted.
"Excuse me, how do you know she is a woman who committed suicide?"
My curiosity aroused, I walked into the cockpit and asked the expressionless sweeper.
"We are far away from the city. Some mountain people in the mountains can't find wives, so they kidnap women from other places and live in them."
The scavenger said: "Over the years, some women who cannot bear the abuse by the mountain people have chosen to commit suicide by drowning themselves in the river. They would rather die than be humiliated again. The ignorance and ignorance of the mountain people are the reality of poverty.
situation."
I frowned when I heard this. I really didn't expect that in today's society ruled by law, there is still such a bad habit of forcibly snatching women to be wives.
No, it’s not a bad habit, it’s a crime!
I hurriedly asked the scavenger, are there many such robbed women in mountainous areas?
The scavengers said that they were only a few. There were not many local mountain residents, so only seven or eight households had robbed them this year.
I couldn't help but sigh, not because I was scolding the scavenger, but because I felt that the words he said about "just seven or eight households" were such an understatement. Moreover, it was only this year, and I felt like he was talking about it with me.
There was no turmoil in my heart at that time.
Maybe it’s because you’re used to it and it’s not strange!
"Young man, I think you are quite righteous. Take my advice and don't think about going to the police. Otherwise, you may die in the mountains and no one will know."
The sweeper took a crumpled cigarette from the bridge and smoked it. He waved me away and said again:
"Don't believe me. There are many things you can't imagine in this mountainous area where the sky is high and the emperor is far away!"