South of Chutian

When Tang Heng stepped out of the elevator, he happened to bump into someone, who was Manager Qi from the hotel.

He was probably off work. He was not wearing a suit like usual, but ordinary trench coat and jeans.After seeing Tang Heng, he was as enthusiastic as ever: "Teacher Tang, have you just finished your work? You have worked hard, you have worked hard!"

"Are you here to see Teacher Sun?"

"Yes, he said that there is a problem with the air conditioner in the room, and I'll show him."

"I'm looking for him too." Tang Heng said.

Manager Qi knocked on the door, and the door opened soon.Sun Jihao was wrapped in a hotel bathrobe, and he spoke a little tremblingly: "Xiao Qi, come and see what's going on! I turned it on at 26 degrees and it was frozen like this—Junior Brother! Your air conditioner is also broken?!"

"No," Tang Heng looked at Sun Jihao's face, "Brother, I have something to tell you, is it convenient?"

"It's all right, Xiao Qi, you stay here and watch." Sun Jihao went back to his room to get his room card, and wrapped a coat over his bathrobe, "Let's go, junior brother, let's go outside and talk."

On the terrace on the fourth floor again, Tang Heng asked, "Brother, have you finished transmitting today's data?" They used questionnaires during their visits, and uploaded the collected questionnaires to the system every night.

"The transmission is over. You just fell asleep - I did it for two hours, and the wifi in this hotel doesn't work."

"Any questions?"

"It's all right in the village, it's the village head." Sun Jihao glanced at the door and lowered his voice, "When you didn't come back at noon today, the village head wanted to give me a gift."

"what to give?"

"Sheep liver mushroom, they say it's their specialty—"

"Have you noticed?" Tang Heng interrupted him, "There are no disabled or seriously ill patients in that village."

Sun Jihao was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "Did Lu Meining and the others tell you? The two children are quite responsible."

"Some villagers reported that before we went, the village cadres sent away a few people."

"Oh, it's hard for me and the children to explain so much," Sun Jihao patted Tang Heng's shoulder, "That old lady, her son is the former village chief, you understand? Then she must have trouble with the village cadres, If there is nothing wrong, just find something. I went to her house to see, and the old lady is a little confused."

"...She said that Li Yuechi's younger brother has mental problems."

"Then just ask Xiao Li," Sun Jihao said with a dazed expression, "Aren't you two old classmates?"

Fuck old classmate.

At 10:30 in the middle of the night, Tang Heng held a lighted cigarette and tried his best to restrain the urge to throw his phone out.He has sent Li Yuechi five WeChat call requests, but no one has ever answered.Is this an old classmate?He didn't even have Li Yuechi's cell phone number, he couldn't find him, obviously he knew he was also in Shijiang, but he just couldn't find him.

Every message, every voice, seems to be thrown into the boundless darkness.The last time this happened five years ago, when Tang Heng went to England to study for a master's degree, on a bright summer evening, he started dialing Li Yuechi's number out of control.At that time, Li Yuechi was already in prison, and he couldn't think of it anyway.He sent him WeChat, text messages, and QQ messages, and he said, are you there, are you there, Li Yuechi?Don't ignore me, I'll be back right now, I've bought my ticket, and I hope it won't be late when I fly to Shanghai at noon tomorrow——Li Yuechi, are you there?

What happened next, I can't remember.The memory seems to have been erased out of thin air. When he regained his senses, he was lying in a quiet ward with the night sky of London outside the window.

Tang Heng repeated Sun Jihao's words silently.Sun Jihao said, don't reply to WeChat?That's normal, there is no wifi in the village... People in the countryside go to bed very early, I guess he fell asleep and didn't check his phone... Brother, you can ask him face to face tomorrow.

Besides, he never heard Li Yuechi mention his younger brother six years ago. At that time, Li Yuechi called his family and occasionally asked "how is my brother at school"—this was not like asking a younger brother with mental problems at all. Right?

The phone vibrated.

Zita: Teacher Tang, I'm sorry to bother you...how's the matter?

Tang Heng: The old man's words need to be verified, so you don't have to worry about it.

Zita: Ah, that's good... sorry to bother you.

Tang Heng: Don't bother, let's go to bed early.

Isn't that the way it is?The mother of the former village head was dissatisfied with the village cadres, and her mind was confused when she was old, so she intentionally or unintentionally made up a few lies when the students visited.That's right.

He couldn't even make basic rational judgments because it involved Li Yuechi. He was already 27 years old, so he couldn't.

At 11:30 in the middle of the night, Tang Heng was sitting on a speeding motorcycle.

It was pitch black in the mountains, only the orange headlights of motorcycles illuminated a small stretch of road ahead.The speed of the car was very fast, and Tang Heng had to squint his eyes as the cold night wind hit his face.

"Master, how long is it?"

"Half an hour!" said the man on the bike. "It's fast enough. It doesn't rain today, so the road is easy."

He first looked for a taxi, and the driver refused immediately when he heard that he was going to Banxi Village: "It's too far away, and the road is difficult to drive - if you go to Tongren, I can still take you there."

"I can add more money," Tang Heng said, "You can make a price, okay?"

"It's not a matter of money, boss, I have to deliver the car tomorrow morning, and I'll send you there right now, and then come back, it will be five or six o'clock! Can't make it in time!"

"Do you have any other colleagues?" Tang Heng said, "If you are willing to go to Banxi Village, you can pay as much as you want."

"No one is going, it's too late!"

"..."

At that moment, Tang Heng almost suspected that it was not Banxi Village that he should go to, but the hospital.Has his disease relapsed?

"Hey, wait," the driver held Tang Heng, hesitating for two seconds, "There is someone... Let me ask for you."

So at this moment, Tang Heng was sitting on the motorcycle going to Banxi Village.

Lao Ren's family lives in Banxi Village and grows tea. Recently, when spring tea is on the market, he travels between Banxi Village and Shijiang County three or four days a week.

"This year's tea is quite good," Lao Ren said with a smile, "the price is higher than last year."

"Does your village grow tea?"

"No, some went out to work, and some were in poor health and couldn't do anything."

"Does the Li family grow?"

"Which Li's family? There are several families named Li in our village!"

"Li Yuechi. The eldest son is called Li Yuechi."

"Hey, why don't you go find him? There's no one in his family who grows tea."

"I'm his classmate...I heard he came out."

"Oh!" Lao Ren sighed, "His family is very pitiful."

"How has his family been doing these past few years?"

"How about it! Think about it, his father has been ill for so many years, and the second child's brain is not good enough. What about him, he went to jail! Fortunately, he came out, and his family was really annoyed a few years ago!"

"...What happened to his brother?"

"Stupid, born like that."

"I haven't heard him say that."

"Where are you his classmate?"

"University's."

"Let me just say, your accent doesn't look like Shi Jiang's."

"Yes," Tang Heng looked up at the night sky, barely hearing his own voice, "I'm here to find him."

It was past twelve o'clock when the motorcycle drove into Banxi Village.Tang Heng left here ten hours ago. Frogs croaked and dogs barked, the sky was blue and full of life.At this time, the village and the mountains fell into the night together, and the silence was strange.

The motorcycle slowed down, and Lao Ren said: "My house is in front, why don't you call Li Yuechi to pick you up?"

"..." Tang Heng didn't know how to explain, Li Yuechi didn't know he was coming.

"Isn't he doing business in Shijiang?" Lao Ren muttered again, "Why don't you go to his shop and look for him."

"Because we—" The phone in his pocket suddenly rang, and the surrounding area was so quiet that the music sounded like thunder.Tang Heng squeezed the phone hard and took it out. On the screen was a call request from Li Yuechi.

"...Li Yuechi?" Tang Heng called him in a daze.

"What's wrong," his voice was calm, "my signal is not good, and I can't connect to 4G."

"Are you at home?"

"Ah."

"Can you?" Tang Heng coughed with a tickle in his throat, "Can you come pick me up?"

Li Yuechi was silent for a few seconds and asked, "Where are you?"

"I'm at Ren Dongqiang's house."

Li Yuechi remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he said, "Wait."

Tang Heng handed over 200 yuan, and Lao Ren waved his hands again and again: "How can I use so much! Let me bring you here along the way!"

"You accept it," Tang Heng said, "thanks to you." Otherwise, what else would he do tonight?He himself does not know.

"It doesn't take so much, fifty, fifty is enough!"

"I don't have fifty change."

"Oh——" Lao Ren took 100 yuan from Tang Heng's hand, "You are not a person short of money at first glance! It's really not easy for the Li family... Let me say something more, since you have a good relationship, you will pay more. Help him."

"Okay, I will." Tang Heng said seriously.

"That kid is very sensible, and his parents are also good people. I used to want to work in the mine, but his father told me not to go, saying that it would be a waste of my body." Old Ren leaned on his motorcycle and sighed, "Then His father is really sick, tell me...it's really unlucky."

"What's the disease?"

"Pneumoconiosis, several of us who work in the mine have this problem."

"Li Yuechi's father has pneumoconiosis?"

"Well, it has been many years, and I have suffered."

"..."

A small light appeared in the distance, and soon the light got closer, and the sound of the motorcycle became clear.Li Yuechi parked outside the old Ren's house and shouted, "Uncle Ren, I'm sorry to trouble you."

Lao Ren went up to meet him: "What's the trouble! You, a classmate, have worked hard, and you have to come so late."

The two exchanged some more pleasantries, but Tang Heng stood where he was and didn't step forward.He looked at Li Yuechi, at his T-shirt whose color was not clear.He seemed to have put it on in a hurry. On such a cold night, he only wore a T-shirt.Without the cover of the jacket, Tang Heng realized that he was much thinner than six years ago. When the night wind blew, the sleeves and hem of the T-shirt fluttered.

The old man turned around and entered the house.Tang Heng didn't move, still looking at Li Yuechi.

Li Yuechi also looked at him silently, and after a while, he said, "Tang Heng, come here."

Tang Heng walked over and stood in front of him.

"How did you come."

"I'm coming to find you."

"Didn't you say see you tomorrow?"

"Why did you lie to me?"

Li Yuechi stopped talking.Tang Heng grabbed his wrist, feeling very cold.

"Get in the car." Li Yuechi said.

Tang Heng sat on the back seat of the motorcycle with his forehead resting on his back.He was too thin, so thin that his spine protruded slightly, like a shackle on Tang Heng's forehead.Tang Heng closed his eyes, only listening to the wind whistling in his ears, and the image of Li Yuechi retreating towards the cliff appeared in his mind, and he suddenly realized that maybe Li Yuechi had really thought about that, or even tried.

Tang Heng said hoarsely, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Li Yuechi sneered, "Tell you that you didn't do well after you got out of prison, tell you that I'm poor, tell you that I've been like this for the rest of my life, and I'll admit it—and then ask you to borrow money? Interesting? ?”

"No... that's not what I said."

"Then what did you say?"

Tang Heng said nothing, but tightly wrapped his arms around Li Yuechi's waist, burying his cheek in his T-shirt.His lips were trembling, and his chest was rising and falling rapidly, he thought why didn't he contact Li Yuechi?Why not look for him?Why did you come to Guizhou six years ago but did not come to Shijiang in the end?And why—why was Li Yuechi so careless when he wrote the phrase "You are the lake water that got into my lungs", he asked, why didn't it get into your heart?Li Yuechi smiled and said because the lungs are very important organs.Well, now, now I know.Lungs are very important organs, and he was swept into his lungs like a lake.

The motorcycle stopped, Li Yuechi turned off the lights, and they were plunged into pure darkness.

"Why are you crying?" Li Yuechi said softly.