Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

Xu Damao smiled widely and nodded repeatedly: "Hey, thank you for your concern, Brother Zhao! I'll leave right away."

As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly walked to the warehouse, took out the equipment needed for the projection, and carefully put them into the basket behind the bicycle. After everything was ready, Xu Damao got on the bicycle, pedaled, and the bicycle slowly drove out of the steel mill.

However, not far from the steel mill, Xu Damao suddenly stopped the car. He looked around and confirmed that there was no one around, then quickly put all the projection equipment in the basket into his personal space.

Then, he got on the seat again, stepped on the pedals easily, and moved slowly and leisurely towards the direction of Baxian Village.

After leaving the capital, not far from the city gate, the originally flat and wide road began to gradually change. The road surface became rugged and uneven, full of potholes, and the width of the road was constantly narrowing, making it extremely difficult to walk on it.

Xu Damao was eager to speed up his riding, but the road conditions were so bad that even if he tried his best, he could not increase his speed at all.

Time passed quietly, and it was already past noon. When we were about to reach Baxian Village, the road conditions became worse and worse.

Not only is the road narrow, its surface is like an uneven washboard, covered with deep and shallow grooves.

What's worse is that the road is covered with a layer of ice as thin as a cicada's wing. If you are not careful, the wheels will slip and lose control.

If Xu Damao had not mastered superb cycling skills since childhood, he would have slipped and fallen many times on this dangerous road.

At this moment, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a strong man on the side of the road, struggling to pull a cart full of goods slowly forward.

The man walked to the side of the road and stopped, taking off the heavy strap on his shoulders, apparently preparing to take a rest here.

Seeing this, Xu Damao drove up quickly and stopped beside the man. With a smile on his face, he took the initiative to talk to him: "Brother, this road is really too difficult to walk on! How about we take a break together?"

As he spoke, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to the man.

The man took the cigarette, a look of gratitude on his face, and said, "Thank you very much, brother. This road is indeed extremely difficult to walk on! However, when the weather gets warmer and the ice above and the permafrost below melt, it will be really impossible to walk on it!"

The burly man had a weather-beaten face. He stretched out a pair of rough and thick hands and steadily took the Daqianmen cigarettes handed to him by Xu Damao.

Then, he carefully fumbled out a slightly worn-out fire lighter from his arms, blew it gently, and a flame jumped out, quickly lighting the cigarette.

The man took a deep puff of cigarette, exhaled slowly, and sighed: "Alas..."

Seeing this, Xu Damao also took a puff of his cigarette, frowned slightly, and revealed a hint of doubt in his eyes. He asked, "Oh? Will it be more difficult to walk when the weather is warmer than it is now?"

The man shook his head helplessly, pointed at the road under his feet and said, "Brother, look at this road surface! Most of it is loose sand. Once the wind blows, the sand from the north will blow over like crazy."

He paused and continued, "It's better in winter, the road surface is frozen hard, and cars can barely pass. But if the weather gets warmer, the wheels will immediately sink into the sand. No matter whether it's the cart or the unicycle I'm pulling, or the two-wheeled vehicle you're riding, none of them can move an inch!"

After hearing this, Xu Damao's face turned serious and he asked, "What should we do when it gets warmer? We can't be trapped here forever, right?"

The man took another puff of his cigarette, thought for a moment and then answered, "There's no other way. We can only take the longer route. But the other route is not only much longer, but also deserted and you have to pass through several small woods. If you run into bad guys on the way, there's really no one to turn to!"

Xu Damao nodded gratefully and said, "Thank you for telling me the truth, it's getting late now and I have to hurry on my way. So goodbye and we'll see each other later!"

Xu Damao pinched the cigarette butt between his index and middle fingers, took a last puff, and then extinguished it. He shook his wrist slightly, and the cigarette butt, which was still emitting a wisp of smoke, drew an arc in the air and then fell to the ground.

Without even turning his head, he turned around and waved goodbye to the man pulling the cart. Then he got on the old bicycle, stepped on the pedals, and the wheels began to turn slowly, carrying him forward.

Along the way, the sun shone through the gaps between the leaves onto the ground, creating patches of light and shadow. The breeze blew by, bringing a little chill, but Xu Damao kept pedaling and didn't feel the cold at all.

After a difficult journey, we finally arrived at the Baxian Village.

It was already past two o'clock in the afternoon, and the sun was high in the sky, emitting warm light.

Xu Damao pushed his bicycle into the village and soon found the village chief's house.

After explaining the purpose of his visit to the village chief, the village chief immediately showed a warm smile and invited him to rest in the house. Although the room was not big, it was very tidy and clean.

After sitting down, Xu Damao drank some water to moisten his dry throat.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered the scene he saw when he entered the village, so he asked curiously: "Village head, I just saw from afar at the entrance of the village that there are many people gathered at the west end of the village. I wonder what they are doing?"

The village chief smiled and replied, "Haha, that's the stage in our village. There are two people in the village who can sing opera. They are performing there right now, so many villagers come to watch."

"Oh? I see! These two must be good at singing, otherwise why would so many people come to support them?"

Xu Damao raised his eyebrows, with a hint of interest in his eyes. After all, in this era, people's entertainment activities are very limited, and it is indeed a rare pleasure to have a wonderful opera performance to enjoy.

Hearing this, a trace of embarrassment flashed across the village chief's face, and he stammered, "Uh... well, the singing is not bad, right..."

After saying that, the village chief seemed to have something else to say, but he swallowed it back in the end and just shook his head helplessly.

"Hehe, the movie won't be shown until tonight anyway. I'm free right now anyway, so why not go over and listen to a short clip of the show?" Xu Damao raised the corners of his mouth slightly and laughed.