Two large round tables were set up in Old Enkun's yard.
The warmth and hospitality of the people of Kuaziba were all infused into this meal. The women chattered and bustled about, killing chickens and fish, lighting the fire and serving dishes, busy as bees. Most of the men crowded around the round table in the courtyard, talking and laughing, toasting Shi Dazhuang round after round.
Halfway through the meal, a pig-like wail suddenly erupted from a mud-brick house on the left side of the courtyard, disrupting everyone's enjoyment of the meal. People stopped eating, their bowls of wine suspended in mid-air, and all turned to look at Old Enkun, who was sitting in the main seat.
Shi Dazhuang frowned and said, " Grandpa Enkun..."
Old Enkun tapped his pipe, interrupting him. "Mind your own business, eat your rice!"
The sounds of pigs being slaughtered continued, and Old Enkun puffed on his cigarette, forbidding anyone from going over to watch.
Several women carrying tea and dishes came over and asked if we wanted them to bring some food to that room. Old Enkun banged his pipe loudly and cursed, "You damned bastards, what are you going to eat? Let them starve to death!"
They stopped mentioning it and started bickering again, just like the other two brothers.
Most of the people in Kuaziba are quite dark-skinned, somewhat like those from Mianyue. But Qingmu noticed a woman serving them dishes who was exceptionally fair-skinned, and it was immediately obvious she wasn't a local.
Shi Dazhuang had obviously noticed her too, and asked Enkun, "Whose wife is this? I've never seen her before!"
Enkun pointed to a dark-skinned man in his thirties at the next table and said, "He's from the Letuolie family; we've had him for almost two years."
The man named Letuolie chuckled and came over to offer a toast, saying, "Brother Shi, please take care of me."
Shi Dazhuang downed his drink, pointed at his wife, and said, " Letuolie, you're so lucky!"
Everyone joked that since he got married, he's been staying on the kang (heated brick bed) all day and refuses to get up, and he's even lost a lot of weight.
Letuolie puffed out his chest and chuckled, his smile brimming with the smug satisfaction of a toad that had finally tasted swan meat.
Only Qingmu noticed that the pale woman's expression was a little strange. Although she was smiling, there was an indescribable indifference in her smile.
Qingmu had seen this kind of smile before; in the nameless alleyway beside Liuying Lane, some women also had this kind of smile on their faces.
Everyone says that romance is wonderful, but they don't know that once you enter the world of romance, you may never be able to leave.
This is not the laughter of a worldly woman, but the laughter of despair, the helplessness of someone who has lived in a cage for too long, who can clearly see the world outside but cannot break free of the shackles. After helplessness comes despair, and apathy that has lost interest in everything.
The woman continued to run in and out diligently, always bringing the dishes to Shi Dazhuang and Qingmu first.
This was the proper way to treat guests, but Qingmu always felt that in the woman's eyes when she looked at them the moment she placed the dishes on the table, there was a flame burning inside.
It was like a spark suddenly igniting in the darkest, most hopeless place.
It's like suddenly throwing a pinch of salt into a bowl of bland boiled water.
That's passion, that's flavor, that's hope...
Qingmu didn't know what this fair-skinned woman was hoping for, but he was certain she wasn't interested in him or Shi Dazhuang.
"Please serve me a bowl of rice," Qingmu said.
The woman exclaimed "Hey!" and flitted about like a butterfly, soon returning with a steaming bowl of rice.
"This is fragrant rice, a specialty of Southern Yunnan, cooked in bamboo jars. Look at it, isn't it delicious?"
The woman's sudden use of a dialect that sounded somewhat like that of Shenzhou surprised Qingmu. The woman's husband, Letuolie, glanced at them a few times, his eyes filled with wariness.
Qingmu picked up the bowl and took two bites; it indeed had a unique, sweet flavor.
He was just about to say the rice was delicious when he saw half a small piece of paper sticking out of the rice.
The woman had already moved to the next table to eat, but her eyes kept glancing in his direction.
Qingmu brought the bowl to his lips, used his chopsticks to push the note into his mouth, held it under his tongue, and then left his seat under the pretext of going to the toilet.
The toilet was outside the back door; it was a separate little thatched hut.
When no one was looking, Qingmu spat the note out of his mouth, opened it, and read:
What kind of bicycle do you want?
fellow villagers
Wutong 9
The handwriting on the note was crooked and messy, clearly written in a moment of panic.
Qingmu pondered for a moment and then understood its meaning—it was a cry for help!
"What do you want, a bicycle?" is a famous line from the skit "Selling Crutches," so the key point of this line is "crutches."
The woman mistook Qingmu for someone from her hometown. It's likely that Qingmu spoke with a slight Three Wu dialect accent when talking to Shi Dazhuang, which is similar to Shenzhou, hence the woman's use of dialect when serving him rice.
I don't know what "Wutong 9" means; it's probably a place name or some kind of special landmark. Perhaps only her true fellow villagers would understand.
So, all things considered, the woman probably wanted to tell him that Shenzhou Shenzhou.
She's a smart woman!
Even if someone finds such a note, it doesn't prove anything. She can simply say it accidentally fell in while cooking rice.
However, the success rate of such a distress call was much lower; it seemed that the people here were keeping a close eye on her.
Should we save her?
Qingmu decided to pose this question to Shi Dazhuang.
It's clear that Shi Dazhuang has a good relationship with the people in the village, but no matter what, he's a policeman!
Qingmu put the note in his pocket, but didn't immediately return to his seat in front.
He is a person who dislikes socializing.
Although he seems to drink readily and accept all offers, it's because he finds refusing others a troublesome thing.
So, since I can drink it, I might as well drink it!
But drinking too much alcohol is never a pleasant experience, especially since it can cause bloating.
Qingmu unclogged his water pipes in Enkun's outhouse, and then began to wander aimlessly around the dam.
Most of the houses in Kuaziba are old wooden houses. The few two-story brick-and-wood houses are probably owned by the wealthier families in the area. Because the area is located in a mountain valley and built along the hillside, the houses are arranged rather haphazardly, at different heights and in different directions, unlike the neatly built houses in rural areas on the plains.
As Qingmu walked along, he passed by a wooden house and suddenly heard a hoarse roar, accompanied by a series of slapping sounds.
He stopped and peered through the cracks in the wooden planks of the wall. He saw a disheveled woman, naked, frantically pounding on the wooden wall in the dark room.
The woman seemed to notice someone spying on her. Sensing something amiss, she turned and pounced like a leopard against the wall where Qingmu was standing. She pounded on the wooden planks, letting out a hoarse, barely audible scream, "Help! &%&$&^%..."
Qingmu saw that her eyes were bloodshot and her hands were pounded raw and bloody.
I heard many footsteps behind me, and someone was shouting something in a dialect.
The woman in the dark room seemed terrified upon hearing the voice, shrinking into a corner and trembling.