Confused and muddled.
My mind went blank.
Zhou Yan's thoughts came together with difficulty. The last remaining memories had not yet come back. He only remembered that before, a group of people were hiking in the mountains near Mount Tai, and he was a member of the city's volunteer search and rescue team to assist in the search and rescue. After that, he had no other impression.
Did he lose his footing and fall?
My mother always says that I was a child prayed for from the Goddess of Mount Tai, and she won't let me go to Mount Tai.
But I haven't been to the main peak of Mount Tai either.
A little hot...
My mind is full of messy thoughts.
He seemed to be lying flat on a small cart, and could only look up to see a narrow sky. Perhaps he had survived a disaster. Although his body felt a little stiff and painful, he felt relieved in his heart. He was still in a daze, and felt that the sky was exceptionally blue, even as blue as the grassland on a sunny day.
The cart pulled him forward, and what he saw kept changing.
The ground was rough and the cart was shaking a lot.
Bone pain.
Some people passed by and greeted the man pulling the cart. When they saw Zhou Yan lying down, they were surprised and said:
"Found it?"
"Well, I'm lucky. I thought it was boring to go to bed early today, so I went for a walk and found this person who fell down the mountain."
The conversation sounded like some kind of dialect, but Zhou Yan could understand it miraculously.
These people looked at Zhou Yan, talked to each other, and finally just sighed:
"What good luck."
Yeah, that's good luck.
Zhou Yan himself felt that he could still survive if he fell down the mountain.
All the ancestral graves have to be set on fire.
I'm afraid that grandma's credit card at King Yama is about to smoke from all the swiping.
Zhou Yan's body was shaking constantly. He could only guess that the rescue team had probably found him and carried him out of the ravine. No matter what, he was finally alive. His parents must be very worried.
Mom must have cried until her tears dried up.
She has a soft temper and cries easily.
I don't know how they will feel when they see me back.
As for those bad friends.
Haha...the mountain is rolling and the corners of my clothes are slightly dirty.
Zhou Yan felt relaxed. He had always been carefree and thought about all sorts of things aimlessly. He had a little hope of returning home soon. He wanted to talk and ask the other party for his cell phone to report his safety to his family, but he was too tired. When he opened his mouth, only a mosquito-sized sound came out.
The cart suddenly stopped.
There seemed to be a shadow in front, blocking the increasingly scorching sunlight. Zhou Yan felt a little more comfortable and lay there, squinting his eyes. From the edge of his vision, he could see what seemed to be a store.
It was a very exquisite decoration, with exquisite hanging curtains that swayed in the wind, casting shadows on Zhou Yan's face. The end of the curtains was cleverly made with slits, so when the wind blew, a wonderful gap was formed between the sunlight and the shadow.
Bang!
The two wooden poles of the cart hit the ground, and the cart hit the back of the head with a clicking sound.
Zhou Yan's head was buzzing from the shock.
Someone asked loudly with a smile: "Is this Wang Chun? Want to buy some meat?"
"The meat is freshly slaughtered today, and the blood has been drained. Would you like some?"
The friendly voice replied with a smile:
"Well, there's someone injured at home, so let's buy some meat to replenish our nutrition."
"Hey, that's the point, what do you want?"
Wang Chun said: "Three pounds of the best fatty pork tenderloin, and half a piece of thigh meat, make wontons for us. We need to take care of ourselves when we are sick."
"Haha, okay."
The shop owner was quite enthusiastic. Zhou Yan was lying there and heard the sound of the boss taking out a knife and cutting meat. He was very skillful and finally wrapped the meat and put it on the chopping board. He said familiarly, "Do you want cash or pay off the debt by account?"
"Cash now."
"That's the number, then."
"…Why is it rising again?"
"That's the price right now."
"Then keep a record."
"Keep accounts? No way!"
"No? Why not!"
"Of course not. You have memorized several notebooks. The meat in the butcher's shop is not blown by the wind. We are good friends but I can't let you eat and drink for free. Today is a coincidence, why not settle it together?"
"Come, I'll show you the account book. I have written down every entry."
"You, you——"
There were crackling sounds, as if someone was using an abacus, and the sound of flipping through account books.
Zhou Yan listened to the conversation between the two people and thought that it seemed that the financial situation of this benefactor was not very good. The meat had to be bought on credit. However, this boss was quite nice. In today's situation, it was hard to buy meat on credit in a small business like selling meat.
In that case, I must thank this lifesaver when I get back.
Zhou Yan's benefactor was anxious after hearing this: "You, it's not time to pay yet. Look at my situation, you know it, I, I, where can I get the money to give you!"
The butcher said, "Hey, hey, hey, we have to follow the rules. No one buys things without paying. No matter what you want to do, you can't take my meat for free."
"Either use your sheep to pay off the debt, or don't buy them."
"There's no reason to give you free food."
The man holding Zhou Yan, Wang Chun, seemed distressed, and the flesh on his face twitched. He hesitated for a long time and said, "Well, the sheep is not fat yet. I was planning to keep it for the New Year. It would be a pity to kill it now. I can give it to you as a loan, but you have to give me one thousand."
The butcher said, "Okay!"
Zhou Yan was thinking to himself what a good sheep it was, and the person in front of him suddenly made way.
A shadow was cast, and a fishy smell came over.
Then a hairy hand rushed over, grabbed Zhou Yan's collar, and suddenly pulled him up. The sunlight stung his eyes, and Zhou Yan's vision went dark. He had been lying there, and being pulled up so suddenly that his vision was a little dazed.
Just now my soul seemed to be floating outside, but now it seemed to have returned to its place after being pulled. Then all the colors and smells from all directions surged in. The sunlight was dazzling, dogs were gnawing at bones on the roadside, there was a cross hill, and a big locust tree.
He breathed hard and looked down.
The butcher, who was only wearing a tarpaulin apron, had a beard and a scar on his left eye. He laughed loudly, with saliva sticky between his teeth. His eyes were slightly blue as he looked at Zhou Yan.
There was a delicate abacus on his waist, with a red sleeve rope on it, and the writing in the account book on the table was serious and meticulous.
The butcher pinched Zhou Yan's arm:
"Hahahahahaha, good sheep!"
He leaned in again and took a deep sniff, praising, "Good meat!"
"Wang Chun, you are so lucky!"
? !!!!
What does this mean? !
Zhou Yan couldn't breathe. The luck and relief he thought he had been rescued suddenly turned into absurd fear. The slowness of thinking caused by the intense fatigue dissipated in an instant. His sight moved subconsciously and he saw the wasteland around him.
There is only one butcher shop in Shizipo.
A row of arms hung from the butcher's door curtain.
The arms are long and graceful, with slender fingers and bright red nails.
Like a curtain with forked ends.
As the wind sways, it casts shadows and gaps in the sunlight.
It hit the face of the person who was lying on the table.
So beautiful.
Extreme fear surged up, but underneath the fear, an unknown anger exploded in Zhou Yan's heart. He wanted to raise his hand, and as if he had come back to his soul, his limbs finally obeyed and he was able to raise his hand this time.
But that hand was much smaller, and it was still wearing his own clothes, but it seemed to be many years smaller.
The huge impact made his thoughts pause.
Just now, only the butchers were talking, so he thought there were only two people.
Now I see a dozen people standing quietly behind the butcher's shop, with a straw rope tied around their necks, not daring to move, with wooden eyes.
In the instant of this pause, the butcher grabbed both of his wrists with one hand and lifted them up. Zhou Yan looked at the pair of green eyes looking him up and down. The butcher raised his hand to wipe the saliva from his mouth and said:
"Good meat, good meat!"
"My dear, you smell so good."
He stuck out his tongue, which was covered with thick, yellowish coating, and licked Zhou Yan's body, his breath smelling foul.
The dry, hot sun, the curled leaves, and a man tied with a thin rope.
The curtains made of fingers flutter in the wind.
Zhou Yan's heart was beating wildly with fear.
So scared, so scared!
I'm so scared!
I...
Zhou Yan raised his right foot instinctively, then kicked the butcher in the face viciously.
The roar scared even the cicadas.
"Fuck you!!!"