Lost (short story) Zhang Baotong

As the silent twilight filled the mountains, they came to a chain bridge. The bridge seemed to give them hope and light. Confidence was inspired. The chain bridge is covered with wooden planks, and there is a deep ravine underneath. Walking on it, the bridge swayed violently, like a swing in the air. Chen Yi was afraid that the violently shaking rope bridge would be thrown into the deep ditch of the stream, so he was so frightened that he stood on the bridge and did not dare to move. Zhao Jiping held the iron cable next to him with one hand, and pulled Chen Yi across the bridge step by step with the other. After crossing the chain bridge, a path leads them to a gentle valley. In the valley there is a large area of barley cultivation. The barley grew thinly in the ground. The barley is ripe, but it has not yet been harvested. Next to the wheat field is a dilapidated hut, nestled in the dim and cold twilight. There are several large walnut trees next to the cottage. It makes them feel at home.

Zhao Jiping excitedly ran to the edge of the wheat field and shouted at the mountain, "We're back!" and then hugged Chen Yi and cried.

Chen Yi was also excited, seeing that Zhao Jiping was crying, she also burst into tears and said, "We finally came out." ”

Zhao Jiping wiped his tears with his hands and said, "For a while, I was desperate and thought we were finished, but we finally came out." ”

Chen Yi burst into tears and said with a smile, "I regarded you as a hero in my heart, but I didn't expect you to feel desperate." ”

Zhao Jiping smiled embarrassedly and said, "I'm also a human being, just like you, but I'm a man." ”

Chen Yi nodded seriously and said, "No matter what, you will always be the hero in my heart." ”

After embracing each other for a while, they sat down on the edge of the wheat field, tugging at the ears of wheat, rubbing off the husks, putting the grains in their mouths and chewing them. When it was almost dark, we walked together towards the twilight hut.

The door to the hut was hung with a rusty wire. They twisted the wire and entered the hut. The house was dark and smelled musty. Zhao Jiping lit the lighter, and the faint light illuminated the room. There was a bed made of wooden planks in the room, and a thick quilt was piled on top of it. There was a small iron pot and several small bowls covered with dust next to the bed. There are also some potatoes on the side of the iron pot.

Chen Yi picked up a few potatoes and said, "We have something to eat." Her delight was as if she was holding a gem instead of a potato.

Potatoes grow long sprouts. This long-sprouted potato is poisonous and cannot be eaten. However, they were already so hungry that they could not take care of so much.

Zhao Jiping lit a small oil lamp next to the bed, and the room suddenly lit up. Chen Yi asked Zhao Jiping to make a fire, and he used an iron pot to pick up some potatoes and wash them by the stream in front of the door. In the sky above the valley, the moon is bright, the sky is full of stars, and the sound of the clear stream is as melodious as a serenade, which is very beautiful. The whole valley is as mysterious and peaceful as a dream. The water of the stream is cool and pleasant, allowing one to smell the refreshing smell. When she finished washing the potatoes and returned to the house, Zhao Jiping had already lit a fire. The flames shimmered with an alluring red light, illuminating the hut. They threw the iron pot with a few stones and began to boil the potatoes.

When Zhao Jiping lifted Chen Yi's skirt and sat down, he saw that the wound on her knee was still bandaged with a wet cloth, so he helped her remove it. Zhao Jiping carefully took off the handkerchief, took it to the stream outside, and put it next to the fire to roast.

After a while, the water in the iron pot boiled, and the delicious aroma wafted from the heat. They were so hungry that they started eating the potatoes before they were cooked. Chen Yi usually doesn't like to eat potatoes, but now she thinks they are delicious and fragrant. While Zhao Jiping was eating potatoes, he looked at Chen Yi with a gorgeous firelight. He felt that the beautiful woman in front of him was not only melancholy, sad and timid, as he depicted in his paintings, but a fiery passion and dream. He felt that his painting should be repainted.

Because he had been hungry for too long, Zhao Jiping was afraid that he would break his stomach if he ate too much, so he put down his chopsticks. Chen Yi felt that he hadn't eaten enough, and when he heard Zhao Jiping, he had to put the pot aside. After eating, Zhao Jiping wrapped Chen Yi's wound with a dried handkerchief and strips of cloth, and told her to go to bed. Chen Yi thought the quilt was too dirty and refused to take off her clothes. Zhao Jiping said that there were fleas and lice on the bed and quilt, and the wet clothes in the morning had not yet dried, so it would be very uncomfortable to sleep in them. In order not to embarrass Chen Yi, he walked out of the house. When he came in, Chen Yi was already lying in the quilt, and the clothes he had taken off were placed on a wooden pier. Seeing him coming, Chen Yi happily turned around in the quilt and said, "It's very comfortable, it's like a fairy." ”

Zhao Jiping put himself and Chen Yi's clothes on the embers, roasted them slowly, and then slept on the other side of the bed. But Chen Yi slept for a while, and then said to him, "Come here, I want to talk to you." He got up and lay down beside her, and she immediately felt a warm feeling. She leaned over and asked him curiously, "How do you know how to scare the takin away?"

Zhao Jiping said, "I actually don't know, I just heard others say that takin is the most afraid of hyenas, so I had the courage to try." I didn't expect it to work. ”

When Chen Yi listened, he put his face on his chest and said gratefully, "You are risking your life to protect me." ”

Zhao Jiping stroked her cheek and said, "I'm a man, and I can't hide aside when I'm in danger." ”

Chen Yi nodded, couldn't help but feel a little emotional, so she put her arms around his neck and kissed him.

She knew that his words were earnest and sincere. His gaze had already made a statement to her. And all of this led her to a deeper and deeper affection and infatuation. She was cherished by his gaze and caressing, and she felt a wonderful warm current surging in her body.

After the oil lamp was blown out, the moonlight poured in through the window. Listening to the small and sleepy sound of the stream around the mountain, Chen Yi felt that his mood could not be calmed down. She seems to be in a cottage full of warmth and romance, holding a touching love, and feeling the true meaning of life and life. Zhao Jiping breathed deeply and evenly beside her, and there was a deep and vivid breath in his breath. She knew that he had an indomitable perseverance and perseverance, and could immerse this perseverance and perseverance in the eagerness and pursuit of life and love. This is where her love for him lies. It was he who brought her into this world full of danger and romance, and made her feel the magnificence and novelty of life. Over the years, her life has been spent in poverty and loss without passion and novelty, without romantic feelings, without fresh feelings, and without the wonderful sense of a man who knows true love. In this regard, she has always had a feeling of dazed and lost, and often recited Tagore's poem silently in her sad and emotional heart:

I'm lost,

I'm drifting,

I seek what I can't get,

I get what I didn't seek.

Yes, she has always been lost in life, but when people are lost, they can see the purpose of life more clearly, maybe he is the person sent by fate to take her back. Thinking of this, an impulse surged in her heart to convey this strong feeling in her heart to him.

She woke him up with her hands and said, "I want to ask something." ”

"You say. He answered.

"When you get out of the mountains, will you take me away?" she said.

"Why?" he asked, widening his eyes.

"I don't want to repeat my old life. She said earnestly.

"Your life is stable and peaceful, how can you change it at will?" he persuaded her, pertinently, "and I drift outside almost all year round." You'll get tired of it quickly. "Because that's how his wife left him.

"I can accompany you out, you sketch and paint, I write prose. Chen Yi said stubbornly.

Zhao Jiping thought about it and admonished, "Life in the wild is very hard, and sometimes it is very dangerous, for example, we almost lost our lives this time." I think you should know. ”

Chen Yi put his face to his ear and said disappreciably, "Only in this kind of life can there be bitterness and joy, and there is passion, as long as I am with you, no matter how hard and dangerous it is, I am willing." ”

Zhao Jiping was silent for a long time and said, "Let me think about it." ”

As soon as Chen Yi wanted to sleep, he felt a severe bite on his body, and when he touched it with his hand, a pimple appeared on his shoulder and back. She asked Zhao Jiping to light the oil lamp and shine it on the bed, and immediately saw a few fleas jumping and disappearing. Chen Yi felt itchy all over his body when he saw the fleas. Zhao Jiping said nonchalantly, "Sleep, when they are full and have bitten enough, they won't bite again." So saying, he pulled her into the quilt and blew the lamp.