July 20, 2020.

Siberia.

The firelight was jumping, reflecting figures on the mottled walls. It is an abandoned wooden villa – unlike the southern buildings made of thin planks, the wooden villas in Siberia are made of very good quality logs. The thick logs kept out the wind and snow howling outside, but the room was not very warm. Because the temperature here is nearly minus 40 degrees, it is a real "exit into ice".

There is a fire pit in the middle of the villa's living room, which was originally a traditional structure used by the locals for decoration. But after Li Zhen and Rongshu broke into the door, they really lit a fire in the fire pit, which brought a reassuring warmth to the house.

It is still thirty kilometers from Murmansk, and from the map the distance between the two is less than half a centimeter.

Rongshu pushed the door open, and walked in with a chill and ice and snow debris. He sat down next to the fire, put down the bag he was carrying, opened it, and took out a bunch of things from it.

"There's a little supermarket down the road." He smiled and said, "It's good luck - I guess this supermarket has just finished loading people and left, and the shelves are full." ”

He said as he unscrewed the lid of a bottle of wine and took a sip. The smell of alcohol diffused in the room, and he picked through his bag again, finding a plastic bag and throwing it to Li Zhen.

Li Zhen raised his hand to catch it, opened it to take a look, and smiled.

It is a vacuum-packed "Yanjing roast duck", and it also says "Yanjing specialty" on it. As far as he knew, there were quite a few of these things at the train station in Yanjing, but he didn't expect them to be found here.

"Just two bags. One for each of us. He shook the bottle in his hand, "Take a sip?" ”

Li Zhen waved his hand and tore the bag open.

It was frozen hard inside, and there was ice ballast, like a stone. He dragged a chair beside him, broke off two stainless steel legs, and threw one to Rongshu. Then he pierced the roast duck with the legs of his chair and rested it on the flame.

Rong Shu also learned from him and asked, "What about Wang Meng?" ”

"Are you on the second floor with those people?" Li Zhen replied, "I heard them shouting something together just now - I think they were praying or something." ”

Eiki snorted and stared intently at the roast duck on the flames.

The ice on the surface melted quickly. Water droplets fell into the fire. After a while, the oil also dripped down. Snorting in the flames. He grabbed the bottle again, took another sip, retracted the duck and tried to bite it, then frowned.

It's not hot yet, it's still the inside.

Li Zhen stretched out his hand. The flames paused slightly. The reddish flames above turned bright white in an instant. A wave of heat is coming. The two roast ducks made a slight muffled sound at the same time. The belly sealed in the ice ballast burst open, and the enticing aroma filled the room with the heat.

Rongshu gave a thumbs up: "You can do it." ”

When he ate half of the roast duck, Rongshu had already drunk half a bottle of wine, and his face was slightly red. Actually, dinner has already been eaten. It's eight o'clock in the evening. He felt warm in his stomach, and the aroma and smell of wine were steaming up in his stomach, making him feel that he couldn't eat anymore.

So he put the rest on the bag and reached into the big bag he had brought back.

Li Zhen tore the duck leg meat and chewed it in his mouth, not knowing whether he should stay a little longer or go to sleep.

At this time, he saw Eiki stand up and walk into the kitchen on the other side of the living room. After a sound of rummaging through the cabinets, he walked out with a dusty bowl.

Then Eiki opened the door again and walked out, and walked back with the bowl full of snow after ten seconds.

Li Zhen couldn't figure out what this person was trying to do - they had drinking water here.

Eiki began to move the table again—there was a sofa in the living room, and the sofa was surrounded by a glass coffee table. He dropped everything on the coffee table on the couch and dragged it to the fire.

Li Zhen couldn't help but ask, "What do you do?" ”

Eiki smiled and shook his head, not answering him immediately.

Li Zhen could see that he was a little drunk—the northerner's alcohol consumption didn't seem to be particularly good, and he was now in a state of "slightly drunk".

He had no choice but to watch silently.

Sakae set the table. Then he unpacked the food on the floor—canned food, ham, bagged meat, and the like—and set it on the table. Then he put the bowl full of snow on the table, took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit three, and inserted them into the bowl.

At this time, Rong Shu took three steps back, tilted his head to look at his results, and let out a sigh.

"Today is August 15." He said softly.

Li Zhen was stunned and looked up at the window.

Unfortunately, there were heavy clouds in the sky, and the moon was gone.

He smiled, "I've forgotten about it." ”

After a pause, he said, "If only there were peanuts and edamame." ”

It was probably the custom in the North—he didn't know if it was the same in the South.

On August 15, when you enjoy the moon, you have to "set a bowl" and pay tribute to incense. But at the moment, three cigarettes are used instead of incense candles, and I don't know if Chang'e on the moon smokes or not.

I used to think that there was Chang'e on the moon and Wu Gang - although mankind has landed on the moon, that kind of beautiful fantasy has always existed in my heart. After all, reality and legend are two different things, and many people believe that if they don't understand the "truth of the universe", they can't prove that those immortals really don't exist.

However, for now...... Li Zhen let out a sigh of melancholy.

Because the species have all come out - Chiyou, Yellow Emperor, Lu, Candle Dragon, Ying Long, are all species. So maybe Chang'e and her descendants are also species?

But then he smiled again. Actually, you shouldn't think so. August 15, thousands of years have passed, and it is not so much Chang'e and Mingyue that are worshiped as people's homesickness.

August 15 reunion night.

Li Zhen stood up silently.

Eiki sat back down beside him, and roasted half a roast duck on the fire, squinting at the table and taking a sip of wine.

The two of them were silent for a long time, and Rongshu asked, "What about your family?" ”

After a few seconds, Li Zhen said, "It's still here." ”

He thought for a moment and removed one word: "It's all there." ”

"That's good." Rongshu scratched his head, "Over there in Luzon?" ”

"Hmm."

"Have you been there since you came back?"

After a while, Li Zhen shook his head and stretched out his hand: "Give me a mouthful." ”

Eiki tossed another bottle of warm one. Li Zhen unscrewed the lid, sniffed it, and took a sip.

The cold, icy liquor slid through the esophagus and into the stomach, turning into a fire. He turned the bottle and looked at the label affixed to it by the light of the fire - Yaka Vodka, 40 degrees.

Rongshu smiled apologetically: "If it's a foreigner, don't you have to say sorry at this time?" ”

Li Zhen tugged at the corners of his mouth: "I'm not so pretentious, two big men." ”

"Actually, I want to see it." He took a second sip, frowned, and spewed the wine out of his nostrils, "But after thinking about it, it's better not to go." ”

"They've probably thought I'm gone for the past few years...... Now I came back all of a sudden, ran over, and three people hugged their heads and cried for a day, and then I had to go. If something happens......"

He smiled and shook his head: "It's better not to see it." It's all over now. ”

"It's time for them to know. Didn't you say you got in touch with South Luzon? Rongshu said sullenly, "When I'm done here, I want to go there too." It's so cold in here that I've almost forgotten what it's like to wear short sleeves. ”

"Well, it's too cold." Li Zhen poured another sip of wine. I don't know what kind of psychology Lu Dao had, he didn't try to get the alcohol out of his body as soon as possible. So now he feels lighter, and there seems to be something missing in his heart.

He smiled: "The first time I met you, I was shocked. ”

Rongshu raised an eyebrow: "Oh? ”

"I'll tell you the truth, I just learned to fly not long ago." He recalled those memories that were almost blurred, "I went to pay the money that night, and halfway through the flight, I found that there was an accident with a car on the road, so I went over to look. Then suddenly people jumped up on the ground—"

"Electric eel." Eiki nodded.

"yes, it's an electric eel—it pulled me back." Li Zhen shook his head, "I really don't plan to meddle in my business. In fact, then you jumped up and grabbed a knife, which also scared me a lot. But it's all gone...... At that time, how could you have imagined that the two of us would sit together today and talk like this? ”

Rong Shu smiled and said in a low voice: "Electric eel people are also quite good, but they like to drink some wine." If he hadn't died that day...... Maybe it's kind of tempered with you. ”

He tilted the bottle slightly, poured some wine on the floor, and said something silently.

Footsteps could be heard on the stairs. The two of them turned their heads to see that Wang Meng had walked down.

He was slightly stunned when he saw the table next to the fire and the things on it.

Rong Shu held up the wine bottle to him: "Do you want to have some?" ”

Wang Meng smiled and shook his head, walked to the fire and sat down, and asked, "What is this?" ”

Rongshu said: "Today is August 15th. ”

Wang Meng frowned slightly: "Today is the twentieth of July, right?" ”

Rong Shu was stunned for a moment and laughed: "I'm talking about the lunar calendar, and you're talking about the Gregorian calendar—you still don't know anything about this?" ”

Li Zhencai realized once again that this person was not the age he seemed. You can learn a lot in four years, but you can't learn everything. It seems that Wang Meng spends most of his time in the "really useful" places and does not know much about other things.

Rong Shu said to Wang Meng about the "Mid-Autumn Festival", Wang Meng nodded in understanding, and glanced at the three cigarettes on the table that were about to burn out.

"By the way, I remember that the God you believe in does not allow polytheistic worship." Rongshu said.

Wang Meng didn't realize that the other party was ridiculing, thought about it and shook his head: "This kind of thing is different." ”

But he didn't say exactly what the difference was.

The room fell silent again.

After a while, Rong Shu suddenly said thoughtlessly, "It's good to have moon cakes." ”

"Five benevolent ones are fine." (To be continued......)