Da, da, da.

Ah Xiu opened his eyes and sat up dizzily. He was frozen. The sky outside the window was a deep, bright purple color, and it was already dusk.

Da, da. Someone is talking. "Hi sir. Ah Xiu turned his head and saw someone standing outside the car. Against the dim sky, only a vague figure could be seen. Ah Xiu reached out and rolled down the window a few inches, letting out a snort from someone who had just woken up before he opened his mouth to say hello. "Hi, there. ”

"Are you alright? Are you sick? Drunk?" the voice was high-pitched, possibly a woman or a child.

"I'm fine. Ashu replied, "Wait a minute. He opened the car door and walked out, stretched his waist, moved his aching limbs and neck by the way, and then rubbed his hands together to speed up the blood circulation and warm his hands.

"Oh, that's a tall man. ”

"Everybody says that. Ashu said, "Who are you?"

"My name is Sam. The voice said.

"Is it Sam for boys or girls?"

"Girl Sam. My original name was Sammy, and I always liked to draw the word 'rice' as a smiley face, but then I hated that name, and I hated it so much, because everyone seemed to have that name. So I stopped using it. ”

"All right, girl Sam, go over there and watch the road. ”

"Why? Are you a psychopathic killer or what?"

"It's not. Ashu said, "It's just that I'm going to make it easier for now." I wish I had a little bit of privacy. ”

"Oh, okay, no problem, I see. I'm just like you, even if there are people in the cubicle next to the bathroom, I can't pee. This is called bladder shyness syndrome. ”

"Go aside, please. ”

She walked to the other side of the car and turned to avoid it. Ah Xiu took a few more steps into the wasteland by the side of the road, unbuttoned his jeans, and sprinkled a long soak of urine on a fence post. He returned to the car. The last rays of dusk were gone, and night had fallen.

"Are you still there?" he asked.

"In. She said, "Your bladder is as big as the Thames." During the time you peeed, the king changed several rounds. It's been a long time, and the noise hasn't stopped, and I've been listening to it. ”

"Thank you for the compliment. Is there anything you have here?"

"Oh, I want to see if something happened to you. I mean, if you're dead, or if something happens, I can call the police. But the windows of the car are covered with exhaled fog, so I thought, maybe you're still alive. ”

"You live nearby?"

"It's not. I hitchhiked all the way from the city of Birmingham. ”

"That's not safe. ”

"I've been hitchhiking at least five times a year for three years. I'm still alive and well. Where are you going?"

"Far away, I'm going to Cairo. ”

"Great," she said, "I went to Manchester and spent Christmas there with my aunt." ”

"There's no way I'm going to send you to Manchester. Ah Xiu said.

"It's not that Manchester, Manzester, it's another city of a similar name, not far away. It's only a few hours' drive north. Do you know where you are now?"

"I don't know," said Ashu, "I don't know at all. Somewhere on the highway?"

"The next town is Peru," Sam told him, "not the country called Peru, but another city with a similar name." Let me smell you. Bend down. Ah Xiu had to bend down, and the girl sniffed his face carefully. "Okay, I didn't smell alcohol, you can drive. Let's go. ”

"Why do you think I'm going to give you a ride?"

"Because I am a poor little girl in trouble," she said, "and you are a knight." Your car is dirty. Did you know that someone wrote the words 'wash me' on the back window of your car?" Ashu got inside and opened the door on the passenger side. In a normal car, when the front door is opened, the interior of the car will be lit up. This car doesn't.

"I don't know," he said, "I don't see it." ”

She climbed into the car. "I did it," she confessed, "I wrote it." At that time, it was still dark and I could still write. ”

Ah Xiu started the car, turned on the headlights, and got back on the road. "To the left," Sam prompted. Ah Xiu turned to the left and drove down the road. It took a few minutes for the heating to start working. Soon, the warmth of happiness filled the carriage.

"You haven't said anything. Sam said, "Say whatever you want." ”

"Are you human?" Ashu asked, "a kind and honest man born of his parents and alive and breathing?"

"Yes, definitely. She replied.

"Okay, just wanted to test it. So, what do you want me to say?"

"Say something that reassures me. I suddenly had the horrible feeling of 'oh shit, I might have gotten into a madman's car'. ”

"Yes, I've felt that too. Ah Xiu said, "Okay, what can make you feel at ease?"

"Just tell me you're not a fugitive, a serial killer, or any other dangerous person. ”

He thought about it. "You know, I'm not really that kind of person. ”

"You'll have to think about it yourself, won't you?"

"I've been in prison, but I've never killed anyone. ”

"Oh. ”

They drove into a small town lit up by street lamps and Christmas decorative lights. Ah Xiu stole a glance to the right. The girl had short, messy black hair, and a face that was seductive—he thought for a moment—and somewhat like a man's face: her features were carved out of stone. She's spying on him too.

"Why did you go to jail?"

"Hit a couple of people and beat them to serious injuries. I was angry. ”

"Do they deserve to be beaten?"

Ah Xiu pondered for a while. "That's what I thought at the time. ”

"And would you still do that now?"

"Of course not. The three good years of my life have been thrown in prison. ”

"Hmm. Do you have any Celtic ancestry?"

"As far as I know, no. ”

"You look a bit like the Celtics. ”

"I'm sorry to disappoint you. ”

"It's okay. Are you hungry?"

Ah Xiu nodded. "I haven't eaten yet. He said.

"Just a short distance after the next traffic light, nice place to have a home. Delicious and inexpensive. ”

Ah Xiu drove the car into the parking lot, and the two people got out of the car, and he didn't even bother to lock the car, only putting the keys in his pocket. He pulled out a few coins and bought a newspaper. "Do you have the money to eat here?"

"Of course," she said, her chin raised, "I'll pay for it myself." ”

Ah Xiu nodded. "Tell you, let's do it. Toss a coin and guess the positive or negative to decide who pays. He said, "You pay for me with the face up, and I pay for you with the back side up." ”

"I'll look at the coins first. "I have an uncle who has a penny coin with two sides." ”

She examined it carefully, and was satisfied to see that there was nothing wrong with the penny coin. Ah Xiu put the coin face up on his thumb and pretended to throw it up, but the coin only wobbled, but it looked like it was spinning. He grabbed the coin, clasped it upside down on the back of his left hand, and then opened his right hand covering it in front of her.

"It's the back!" she cried out excitedly, "you pay for dinner." ”

"Okay. He said, "But you want to win every time." ”

Ah Xiu ordered a bun with meat, and Sam ordered spaghetti with bolognese. Then Ah Xiu began to flip through the newspapers, looking for news of anyone who had died in the freight train. The only news of interest was the front-page report: a record number of crows infested the town. Local farmers wanted to hang dead crows on public buildings around the town to scare off other crows. Ornithologists say that this method is useless, and that the living crows will eat the dead crows as food. But the local population refused to stop there. "When you see the bodies of your dead companions," said one representative, "they understand what we mean: we don't want them here." ”

The food was served, and each serving was filled to the brim, far more than one person could eat.

"What are you doing in Cairo?" Sam asked, stuffing a mouthful full of food.

"I don't know. I got a message from my boss that he wanted me to go there. ”

"What do you do?"

"Running errands for other people. ”

She laughed. "Well," she said, "you can't be a mafia, you don't look like that kind of person at all, and you drive that kind of car." Why does your car smell like bananas?"

He shrugged and began to eat.

Sam's eyes narrowed. "Maybe you're a banana smuggler," she guessed, "and you haven't asked me what I do." ”

"I guess you're still in school. ”

"University of Birmingham. ”

"There is no doubt that you will choose to major in art history, which is the favorite major of women. Maybe you'll also cast a bronze statue yourself. You may also work part-time in a coffee shop to help subsidize school fees. ”

She lowered her knife and fork, her nostrils open, her eyes wide. "Hell, how do you know?"

"What, guessed right? You should now say, no, actually, I majored in Latin and ornithology. ”

"Are you saying you just guessed by chance, or something else?"

"Anything else?"

Her big black eyes stared at him. "You're such a weirdo. Mr...... I don't know your name yet. ”

"Everyone calls me Ah Xiu. He said.

She pursed her lips, as if she had tasted something she didn't like to eat. She stopped talking, and buried herself in her share of spaghetti bolognese.

"Do you know why it's called Egypt?" asked Ashu when she had finished eating.

"You know, I heard that there is a very small river delta there, the same as Cairo in the Nile Delta. ”

"Makes sense. ”

She sat back, ordered coffee and chocolate cream pie, and tipped one hand into her hair. "Are you married, Mr. Asho?" Seeing his hesitation, she immediately said, "Oops, it looks like I asked another sensitive question, didn't I?"

"She was just buried last Thursday," he carefully chose the words, "from a car accident." ”

"Oh my God, it's horrible, I'm sad. ”

"Me too. ”

An embarrassing silence followed. "One of my half-sister's children died, my nephew, at the end of last year. It's horrible. ”

"That's right, it's scary. How did he die?"

She took a sip of her coffee. "We don't know, we don't even know if he's really dead. Missing. But he's only thirteen years old. What happened last winter. My sister was almost broken. ”

"Did you find any clues?" he said in a tone similar to that of a police officer in a TV show, so he asked again, "Do you suspect any misconduct?" this time more like a police officer.

"They suspect my uncustody bastard brother-in-law, the father of the child. That guy was a big bastard and did kidnapping kidnapping, maybe he did. But it's just a small town, in the North District, it's very small, peaceful and lovely, and the residents don't even lock their doors. She sighed, shook her head sadly, and gripped her cup tightly with both hands. "Are you really sure you don't have any Celtic blood?"

"As far as I know, no. But it's possible. I don't quite know who my father is. But I guess if he was really a barbarian warrior, my mom would have told me. ”

She pursed her lips again. Sam put down the chocolate cream pie that he had only eaten half of it. The cake was almost half the size of her head. She pushed the plate off the table and in front of Ashu. "Would you like to eat?" Ashu said with a smile, "Of course." He finished the cake.

The waitress should hand them the bill, and Ah Xiu paid for it.

"Thank you. Sam said.

It's getting colder. The car fired several times before it started. Ah Xiu drove the car back to the main road and continued south. "Have you read a book written by a fellow named Herodotus?" he asked.

"God, who are you talking about?"

"Herodotus. You haven't read his History?"

"You know?" she said, in a trance-like voice, as if in a dream, "I don't understand you as a person, I don't understand your words, I don't understand the words you use. Sometimes you're just a big stupid guy, but you can see through my thoughts, and in the blink of an eye, you're talking about Herodotus. I've heard of him, maybe on the radio. Is he called the father of liars?"

"I thought the devil was called the father of liars. ”

"Yes, the devil too. They say that Herodotus' book contains great ants and griffons guarding the gold mines, all of which he made up. ”

"I don't think so. He just jot down the stories that people told him. He writes history, and most of the parts are very well written. There are a lot of strange things recorded in it. For example, did you know that in Egypt, if the wife of a particularly beautiful girl or a monarch or something like that died, they didn't immediately apply embalming spices to her body, but waited three days for her body to rot and spoil in the heat? ”

"Why? Oh, wait, okay, I think I know why. Oops, it's disgusting. ”

"There are also a lot of wars written in it. Everything was normal at the beginning, but it didn't take long for the gods to appear. A man ran back to his country to report the results of the war, and suddenly he saw Pan in a clearing in the middle of a forest. Pan said to him, 'Tell them to build me a temple here.' The man said yes and went on the rest of the race. He reported the news of the war to the king, and finally added, 'Oh, by the way, Pan wants you to build him a temple.' You know, there's no fuss about God. ”

In this way, there are many stories of gods and spirits in this book. What do you think? All of these people are hallucinating?"

"No," said Asho, "that's not the case. ”

She gnawed on her nails. "I read a book about the brain," she said, "and it belonged to my roommate, and she lent it to people everywhere." It seems to say that 5,000 years ago, the left and right lobes of the human brain were still connected, so whenever people imagined something at that time, the right lobe of the brain made people feel as if they were really hearing God tell them what to do. In fact, all this is just a delusion created by the brain. ”

"I still prefer my theory. Ah Xiu insisted.

"What's your theory?"

"In the old days, people used to meet the gods. ”

"Oh. Both of them were silent, so quiet that only the rattle of the car parts, the roar of the engine, the vibration of the exhaust pipes--- the sound of the exhaust pipes didn't sound right. Finally, she finally broke her silence. "Do you think God is still there?"

"Where?"

"Greece, Egypt, West Indies, Far East...... Places like that. If you go to the places where those people met the gods in the past, would you see the gods? What do you think?"

"Maybe. But I don't think people will know what they're seeing. ”

"I dare say that gods are aliens. "Now people know that they are aliens, but people in the past see them as gods." Perhaps, aliens are likewise fantasized by the right half of the human brain. ”

"In my opinion, it is certainly not God who does the rectal examination," said Ashu, "and neither is the one who slaughters the animals himself." Humans do all of this. ”

She chuckled. They drove quietly for a few minutes, and then she couldn't help but speak again. "By the way, I was reminded of one of my favorite stories about the gods I heard in a comparative religion class. Do you want to hear it?"

"I want to hear it. "Ashu said.

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