The raging blizzard blew all night, and the next day the snow stopped, and the light wind was still blowing, but it was not as sharp as last night.

The post man was angry and led the old horse out of the cigarette lamp spitting station. Stepping on knee-deep snow, I looked at the white expanse in front of me, as if there was no living thing between heaven and earth.

Yi Cheng wrapped several layers of leather jackets, followed outside with his hands copied, looked up at the sky, and said: "Brother Zhou, this is to blame, let's go quickly, it will be good to bring the black energy to Zhangjiakou." ”

"Damn, thief, I'm freezing to death." The pawn spat and smeared, fell to the snow, and instantly became a small Xiaoice lump.

He waved his hand at Yicheng, pulled down the curtain of his hat, and tightened the parcel on his horse. On both sides of the saddle, on one side were paperwork, and on the other side were solidly pressed pasture.

There is no way to do it, the snow is thick, and the horses on the road can't eat grass, so they can only prepare in advance.

The post man turned over on his horse, shouted in his mouth, and retreated in the direction of Zhangjiakou.

Because of the snow on the road, the horse could not run at all, and the postman prayed in his heart that it would not snow today, and let him reach Zhangjiakou safely.

Departing at dawn, at noon, the post man had only traveled more than thirty miles.

The horses he sat down on were snorting and some could not walk. The postman surnamed Zhou sat on his horse, built a pergola with his hands, and squinted his eyes to look ahead.

Not far ahead, there is a small dirt slope, which looks like a leeward place.

The postman urged his horse over and dismounted behind the hillside.

He untied the bales of hay tied to the side of the saddle and tried to bring out the fodder to feed the horses. Because of the solid pressure, he tugged hard twice before pulling out a bunch.

He touched the horse's body and sent the fodder to the horse's mouth, but his eyes widened.

The horse was looking down and chewing something black in his mouth.

It's black, with half a piece of flesh and skin, this ...... The postman shuddered, pulled the reins of the horse, and drove the horse to the side to graze.

Under the horse's mouth, there was a protruding object in the snow, which was a frozen corpse whose scalp had been torn off.

The postman took a step back, but he nearly tripped and threw out his arm from the snow.

Rao is this post man has a bit of the world, and he was also frightened.

He held the knife at his waist, and slashed a few times in the snow in front of him with the scabbard, and the frozen corpses that fell to death were not one or two, but as many as five or six.

There were also two dead horse corpses nearby, and it was bitterly cold outside, and there were no horses to walk, which was child's play. The other horses may have been separated from these men in the snowstorm.

Seeing that these dead bodies were all wearing fur clothes and carrying knives, they were all young and strong, and the post guards couldn't help but wonder a little.

Could it be that these are all people in the army, going to the outside of Cyprus on business, otherwise why would they come here at this time?

Although he bluffed just now, the eyes of the postman couldn't help but light up a little.

He looked around, and the white snowfield, except for himself, there was not half a figure.

He rubbed his hands vigorously and muttered: "Hehe, if you have a bargain, you don't take advantage of the bastard, this drudgery is not in vain." As he spoke, he leaned down and rolled over the men.

Several people turned over in a row, and the purse was nothing more than some broken silver and copper plates.

While sending silver into the purse, the post guard muttered over and over again: "Damn, it looks glamorous, but it is a poor ghost." ”

turned over to the last person, but the purse was heavy. The postman was overjoyed and hurriedly opened his purse, but his face froze at this look.

He weighed a whole purse of gold cakes with his hands, and there were fifty or sixty taels to say the least.

The postman took out a golden cake and put it in his mouth in disbelief, and bit it hard. On the golden cake, there were immediately two more tooth marks.

One tael of gold, ten taels of silver, this is something that can be exchanged for five or six hundred taels of silver, enough for him to work for half his life.

As if in a dream, the postman still couldn't believe it, and slapped himself hard, and then he was convinced that he was not dreaming......* A few miles away, a felt bag covered with snow rose from the smoke.

In the felt bag, Cao sat cross-legged on the wool felt on the east side, looking at the simple stove on the ground in the middle.

It is said to be a stove, but it is a shelf supported by iron bars, and two iron pots are hung from it. At the bottom is a small pit made of stones, and inside is dried cow dung and dry sheep dung.

Tea was boiling in a half-large iron pot, and the thick aroma of tea filled the tent. The other, larger, is a large piece of mutton that was put in the morning, which has not yet been boiled, but the meat flavor has also come out.

This felt bag doesn't look big, but in addition to the three generations of the herdsman Batu's family, there are now twelve people in Cao Yan's party, which is not too crowded.

Next to the iron pot, a sturdy Mongolian woman quickly filled two stoves with cow dung.

On the felt directly north of the felt bag, an old lady of fifty or sixty years old, wearing a blue cotton Mongolian robe, holding a brass prayer wheel in her hand, looked at everyone with a smile.

Next to the old lady, a teenage girl wore a bright pink Mongolian robe and a peaked hat on her head.

Among Cao Yan's cadres, only Cao Yan and Xiaoman can speak Mongolian.

Xiao Man gathered sideways in front of the stove, and used an iron tong to skewer two baked cakes and baked them by the stove.

One less time, the baked cake was baked to the brim, and Xiaoman looked at Cao Yan.

Cao Yan motioned to the place where the old man was staying, Xiao Man got up, flicked the floating ash on the baked cake, dragged down the two hot baked cakes, bent down, and handed them to the old lady with both hands.

When the old lady saw this, she shook her head and said in Mongolian, "You don't need to be polite to invite guests for their own use."

Xiao Man pointed to the cowhide bag on the side of the stove and told the old man in Mongolian that there are still a lot, and everyone will eat together.

When the old lady heard this, she took it with a smile and handed it to the little granddaughter next to her.

The little girl took it, smiled and glanced at Xiao Man, who was talking to the old lady on the side, and turned around to eat the baked cakes.

The Mongolian woman had already strained out the tea residue from the tea pot, sprinkled a pinch of salt in the tea, poured half a tube of goat's milk, and boiled it again, and the milk tea was ready.

The Mongolian woman took a stack of coarse porcelain bowls, first filled one bowl, and brought it to the old lady with both hands.

The old lady waved her hand at her and muttered a few words in Mongolian.

Cao Yan heard that it was a polite guest, and hurriedly leaned over to thank him, and said in Mongolian language: "Old man, you use it first, thank you for your grace of tolerance, the Buddha and the Immortal Heaven will bless you with a long and healthy life." ”

The old lady saw that Cao Yan was polite, so she didn't give in anymore, and asked them with a kind face not to be polite, just as if they were at home. After saying this, the old man beckoned the woman to pour milk tea for everyone.

The Mongolian woman responded, served milk tea in a sea bowl, and saluted Cao Yan.

Although looking at the felt bags and dresses of this herdsman, it is just an ordinary herdsman's house, but the Mongolians have always paid heavy respects, and Cao Yan is not slack.

The woman was the old lady's daughter-in-law, the little girl's mother, a sturdy woman in her thirties, and her surname was very cheerful.

She served tea with both hands and said in Mongolian: "Guests from afar, please drink a bowl of grassland wine, and may the high-flying goshawk bless you with a safe journey." ”

He bowed slightly, took the milk tea with both hands, and thanked him in Mongolian.

The others, although they couldn't understand Mongolian, were all like that, and they took milk tea with both hands.

The woman brought two large plates of milk tofu and placed them in front of everyone.

With this hot milk tea, take two bites of milk tofu, and the whole person seems to warm up.

I heard the sound of boiling meat, and the smell of meat gradually filled the room.

Yesterday afternoon, during a snowstorm, Cao and others were lucky enough to meet the herdsman Batu, and followed Batu to their yurt.

Because it was late, there was no stew last night, only milk tea was boiled, and milk tofu was served to entertain everyone. Everyone's dinner is baked cakes and milk tea, and there are some cooked food.

Now I smell the smell of meat, but it hooks out the saliva in everyone's stomach.

Everyone couldn't help but look at the meat pot, but Cao Yan looked at the door of the felt bag.

Wei Hei was bored with the felt bag, and followed the herdsman Batu out to see the livestock, but he had been there for half an hour and had not returned.

After a while, I saw the felt curtain at the door lifted, and a Mongolian boy of fifteen or sixteen years old came in, holding a half-sized sheep in his arms.

He was the son of Batu, and his name was Nasson.

Although he entered the felt bag and saw the guests, he still had a sincere smile on his face, but he could not hide the sadness in his eyes.

The little Mongolian girl had already gotten up from her grandmother's side, and rushed to the door, touching the lamb in her brother's arms, and her face was sad.

Behind the song, Wei Hei and Batu came in one after another, both holding the dying lamb in their arms.

Batu set the lamb aside, smiled at the guests, and asked the woman how the meat was stewed.

The woman opened the lid of the pot and pricked it with her chopsticks, and the meat was rotten.

Batu rubbed his hands, laughed twice, and said to the old lady in Mongolian, invite the guests to dinner.

The old lady looked at a few lambs that couldn't get up, and her smile was a little heavy, and then she turned the prayer cylinder in her hand and lovingly invited Cao Yan to dinner.

Cao Yan got up and thanked him, turned around to greet everyone, and sat around the old man.

Wei Hei had already returned to Cao Yan's side and said, "Childe, in order to make room for us, most of their sheep froze to death, so we have to compensate for it." And our mounts, three of which froze to death. ”

Last night, when Cao Yan and the others returned to the felt bag with Batu, the snowstorm was already very heavy.

Fearing that their animals would freeze to death, Batu's family drove the more than 20 sheep they had raised into felt bags to avoid the cold.

Cao Yan and his group of more than a dozen people, this felt bag is full of sheep, and there is no place for anyone to stay.

Without hesitation, Batu took his son and drove the sheep into the outer pen.

Because of the heavy snow last winter, there was not enough grass to eat, and these sheep were already weak enough, where could they withstand the ravages of the blizzard?

No, after one night, most of them froze to death.

Batu wiped his hands, sat down on the old lady's right hand, and greeted everyone heartily, with no look of chagrin or regret on his face.

For the herdsmen's family, these dozens of sheep are the livelihood of the whole family.

In order to help strange guests, although they have suffered a lot of losses, they are still enthusiastic.

What a simple nation, Cao Yan's heart was very moved.

In the whole day of the capital, in the face of these kind and simple people, it really makes people feel close. Not to mention, the unattractive Mongolian man in front of him can be regarded as everyone's life-saving benefactor.

Thinking about the howling wind like a ghost crying wolf last night, it was in the felt bag, and it also made people feel cold.

Even large animals such as horses froze to death; If you hadn't met Batu, you can't imagine what it would have been.

The woman took two small bowls of the sea, filled them with stewed mutton, and brought them to the old lady and her guests.

Batu took out the Mongolian knife at his waist, cut a piece of mutton at intervals, and sent it to the old lady's bowl, and then invited everyone to enjoy it as they pleased.

Cao Yan thanked him in Mongolian, and then beckoned everyone to move.

When everyone went out, they mostly carried short knives on their bodies, cut half a palm-sized piece of meat, and ate it with salt, but their mouths were full of oil, and they were full of relish.

Some people who are not accustomed to using meat as their staple food ask the hostess to help serve half a bowl of broth and eat it with baked cakes.

This meal was a great meal.

Cao Yan and the others left the post station yesterday, came here, and inquired with Batu, only to know that there were still more than thirty miles away from the smoke and lantern Tu post station.

Batu had sold sheepskins and bought salt there, so he was familiar with the road.

Seeing that Cao Yan and the others were all dressed as aliens, and knew that they were not from the grassland, Batu was worried that they would get lost again, so he volunteered to send them over.

Although Cao Yan was embarrassed to trouble this enthusiastic man again, everyone lacked mounts and was not familiar with the road conditions, so they had the cheekiness to ask Batu for help.

Batu explained a few words to his mother and wife, and then went out to set up a car.

Cao Yan looked at the lamb crawling on the ground in the felt bag, quietly untied the purse he was carrying, and tucked it behind the old lady's shelf of the prayer wheel while everyone was not paying attention......

(To be continued)