power over

It was not yet fully dawn when Yang Ke woke up.

There are sparse birdsong outside the house.In the early morning, the pale light shines into the room from the window without curtains. Yu Zhinian is wearing a white T-shirt that has been washed many times and has become very thin, with his back to Yang Ke, still immersed in sleep.

Both the room and the quilt smelled of clean soap.

Yu Zhinian had a lot of things to do these days and was very tired, so they went to sleep last night without doing anything.Yu Zhinian was still in a deep sleep. Yang Ke reached out to hug him from behind and touched the back of his hand, but he didn't wake up.

After a while, Yu Zhinian seemed to sense that someone was touching him, he brushed his hands, turned over, faced Yang Ke, and put his head on Yang Ke's chest.

Because he fell asleep, Yang Ke couldn't tell whether Yu Zhinian was happy or unhappy.

Yang Ke sometimes feels that there are many things about Yu Zhinian that he doesn't understand.

For example, when did Yu Zhinian start to like him, was it at a certain period when they lived together peacefully?If yes, why didn't you say it earlier.

Why do you like Yang Ke, what do you like about him.Why was he so noisy and lively before, and then became melancholy and quiet again? Will he trust Yang Ke again like before?

Yang Ke is more concerned about these issues.

Because Yu Zhinian can actually have more choices, if he is willing to choose.

Yang Ke also understood that among those Yu Zhinian could choose, he was not the one who could bring him the most happiness.

If Yu Zhinian had chosen something else, maybe he would be more cheerful than now, but Yang Ke is really not as selfless as Yu Zhinian.Yang Ke is very selfish. Since Yu Zhinian has already chosen Yang Ke, it is very difficult to change.

Yang Ke touched Yu Zhinian's left hand again. Yu Zhinian suddenly raised his head and opened his eyes. He looked at Yang Ke, frowned slightly, stayed for a while, and said, "Yang Ke."

Yang Ke said "um", he leaned over slowly, and then put his face on Yang Ke's shoulder.

After lying together for a while, Yu Zhinian finally woke up. He rustled in the quilt, looked at his watch, and said, "It's time to get up."

"The ceremony starts in the evening," he told Yang Ke, "it has to be done late at night."

Yu Zhinian got up first to wash, opened the door, and washed his face in the yard.

Yang Ke walked to the door and saw Yu Zhinian holding an enamel cup, brushing his teeth carelessly in the yard, the sky was shining from above the yard, and there was a very faint shadow of the wall on the ground.

The air in the mountains is fresh, Yang Ke's mobile phone has no signal, and there have been no new text messages or calls for dozens of hours, giving him a feeling of being isolated from the world with Yu Zhinian.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door of the yard, and a crisp girl's voice rang outside, shouting, "Brother Nian, is Brother Nian up yet?"

Yu Zhinian suddenly looked back at Yang Ke, rinsed his mouth quickly, put down the cup and toothbrush, walked over and pulled the latch aside, and opened the door.

"Miaomiao," he said to the people outside the door, "it's so early."

He stepped back, and the girl outside the door followed him in, and was slightly taken aback when she saw Yang Ke.

The girl looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, with big eyes, slightly dark skin, two braids, a skirt with ethnic characteristics, and silver bracelets on her left and right wrists.

She looked at Yang Ke with doubts on her face, said "Huh", and asked Yu Zhinian, "Brother Nian, who is this?"

"This is Yang Ke," Yu Zhinian introduced to them, "This is Miao Miao, the daughter of the village chief."

After finishing speaking, he suddenly looked at Yang Ke, feeling a little nervous and guilty.

Yang Ke is not a stingy person, and understands that in this kind of village, the relationship between him and Yu Zhinian should only be friends, and there is no need or should be extravagant.

"I'm Yu Zhinian's friend," Yang Ke introduced himself, "Passing by Xiping, come and see him."

"Hello, Brother Nian, your friends outside are so handsome, much handsomer than Brother Qi," Miao Miao said with a smile, and then said to Yu Zhinian, "Brother Nian, my aunt is cooking the leaves for this afternoon. Damn, the one you asked about last time, do you want to come and see it?"

"Cook leaves..." Yu Zhinian didn't agree immediately, but looked at Yang Ke again, as if asking for approval.

Seeing that he wanted to leave again, but didn't dare to leave immediately, Yang Ke thought it was funny, and said, "Go, I'll stay at home."

He washed the cup and hurried out the door.

After Yu Zhinian left, Yang Ke walked around Yu Zhinian's house.

The room is at most [-] square meters, and there is no partition in the house.

Entering the room, there is a small round table and three chairs, and cups are placed on the round table.

The bed is leaning against the north wall, and Yu Zhinian's suitcase is at the end of the bed.

There are two old tables of different styles on the south wall. One is piled with paper, pens and books, which is used as a workbench for Yu Zhinian to write and record; the other is a laptop with a power cord plugged in.

Yang Ke walked over and looked at the books on the table, some of which he brought to Yu Zhinian, and some of which he had never seen before.

Among them are Yu Zhinian's ethnography course notes that he made a long time ago. Yang Ke has read this notebook many times, when Yu Zhinian returned to China to do projects last year.

Yang Ke felt that Yu Zhinian was a talented person in a certain way. At least when Yang Ke read this notebook, he never felt drowsy like when he read Yu Zhinian's textbooks.

On the top is the field notes written by Yu Zhinian after he came to Dangzhuang. Yang Ke picked it up and flipped through it, and found that the notes were purely drafts, unorganized, messy and detailed.

What happened and what Yu Zhinian said in Dangzhuang one day was recorded in it.

Turning to the middle of the notes, Yang Ke saw Yu Zhinian writing a chat with an old man in Dangzhuang.The recording time was last week, at 12:30 pm.

The old man is the younger brother of the priest in the village. He told about the sea in the myths handed down by the village. Xiao Chang translated it and said a lot about the relationship between the god of the sea and the god of rain.

Turning the page, Yu Zhinian suddenly wrote a line of digression.

He wrote that he bought the tobacco recommended by Professor Zhao and gave it to the old man. The old man liked it very much and praised Yu Zhinian for understanding his heart.

Then Yu Zhinian wrote "Reminder: Thanks to Professor Zhao Sibei for imparting field experience to me without reservation, which saved me many detours", and drew two horizontal lines under the reminder.

For some reason, he continued to write "Yang Ke" below it twice, and then copied a short sentence of a very popular love poem.

This is exactly what Yu Zhinian would do. He finished his work in the middle of the night and started to think wildly.There is no lack of nonsense in his ethnographic notes review. When he wrote in the library for review, he could write four lines of sentiments when it suddenly rained halfway.

Compared with other characters, Yu Zhinian wrote Yang Ke's name very neatly, as if writing very slowly. Yang Ke lowered his head and pressed Yu Zhinian's notebook, reading short love poems silently, and he has not turned over this page for a long time.

Yang Ke stood by the table for a moment, Miaomiao suddenly swept in like the wind: "Brother, breakfast is ready!"

She added some metal hair accessories on her head, and she showed her white teeth when she smiled, looking healthy and beautiful.

Yang Ke followed Miaomiao, walked out of Yu Zhinian's bungalow, walked through a bamboo forest, Miaomiao slowed down, came over, and asked Yang Ke curiously: "Brother, are you and Brother Nian very close?"

"It's okay." Yang Ke told her.

"Can you tell me, does Brother Nian have a girlfriend outside?" Miao Miao asked again, "Xiao Chang hates it so much, she said she didn't know, and told me not to ask so many questions, it's not polite."

Seeing such an innocent little girl, Yang Ke felt very energetic, and couldn't be displeased because she had a crush on Yu Zhinian, so he said, "Did you ask Yu Zhinian himself?"

"No," Miao Miao became shy, "how easy is it to ask him?"

"But..." Miaomiao hesitated again, and said, "I saw that he has a ring."

Yang Ke looked at her and asked nonchalantly, "Really?"

"Well," she said, "I went to give him wontons made by my aunt one night. He was holding it and looking at it, but he didn't wear it."

For some reason, she lowered her head for a look, was taken aback for a moment, raised her head and blinked a few times, pointed to Yang Ke's hand, and said to Yang Ke, "It's very similar to yours, a silver circle, shiny."

"What do you mean by wearing this finger, brother?" She showed a curious expression.

Yang Ke looked at her and explained, "I'm married."

Miao Miao let out a "wow", and before she had time to make a speech, Xiao Chang ran over not far away: "Why have you been here for so long?"

He greeted Yang Ke and said that everyone had almost finished breakfast and had to go quickly.

The village chief's house is very close to Yu Zhinian's house, just across the bamboo forest.

For the evening ceremony, many villagers came to the village chief's house to have breakfast, and then began a busy day.The men cut the sticks into more suitable shapes for the fire and chopped the wood, and the women dressed those who had to pray for rain and anointed them with purple sap pounded from plants.

Yu Zhinian was busy recording, and he got permission to take some photos of the scene.

Yang Ke was free and did physical work with Xiao Chang.He was quick to use, and he chopped a lot in a short time. Several villagers came over to watch.

The day passed quickly, and at noon, Mei Qi also appeared, busy until evening, and the ceremony of praying for rain began.

The ceremony of praying for rain involves walking down from the top of Dangzhuang Village. Villagers dressed as various gods and beasts hold torches, beat gongs and drums, go around the village, and then go to the altar by the well at the entrance of the village to hold the final ceremony.

The torches in the darkness are like a long river, and the sound of drums stirs up the tits.

Yang Ke and Mei Qi followed behind the crowd, watching the commotion ahead.Yu Zhinian didn't know where he went.

Mei Qi approached him and chatted with him: "Brother Yang, I thought that you guys who are in the economy are not interested in folk customs, and our unit's financial department doesn't like to quote me the bus fare for going up and down the mountain."

Yang Ke smiled at him, and he asked again: "Brother Yang, why are you so close to Zhinian?"

"Are you guys from college?" he asked.

"High school is a classmate," Yang Ke said, "University is also in the same school."

"It's been so long," Mezzie said in surprise, "no wonder the relationship is good."

The villagers in front walked to the altar, stopped, surrounded the altar square, and lit the center bonfire.

"I don't think there are many people like Zhinian anymore," Mei Qi sighed suddenly. "We went out from Sanwen when we were young, and few of them were willing to come back. Who would think these old things in the mountains are interesting. What's more, he walked so far. Far. I just don’t know when he will have a family.”

"I always feel that Zhinian is not very interested in the relationship between men and women," Mei Qi said. "We teased him, but he didn't say anything. Maybe he was too pursuing, and he only had academics in his heart, and nothing else was important. In this way It seems to be good to be free and have nothing to restrain him."

Yang Ke didn't say anything. They walked around the torch and saw Yu Zhinian standing on a stone brick with a camera to take pictures.

As if feeling it, as soon as Yang Ke and Mei Qi approached, he suddenly put down the camera and looked back.

Yang Ke saw Yu Zhinian looking at him with bright eyes. Yu Zhinian jumped off the stone brick, approached Yang Ke, and said worriedly, "Yang Ke, my camera and mobile phone are almost out of battery."

"Did you bring your phone?" he asked for help.

Yang Ke handed him the phone, and he turned on the camera with it, and walked away again.