Cheng Jia'an listened to the master's reminder, squinted his eyes and glanced behind his buttocks, in the distance of the Gobi, a black line that seemed to be there was faintly appearing in the field of vision, he hurriedly closed the car door and said, "Okay, then thank you, master." ”

As he spoke, the dust on the ground began to rise......

The truck left with a puff of dust, Cheng Jiaan frowned and hurriedly picked up his luggage and hurried according to the route pointed by the driver.

The speed of his two legs is naturally not as fast as that of a car, and looking down from a high altitude, he walks on the vast Gobi like a turtle. Seeing that there was no village in sight in front of the desolate path, Cheng Jia'an was considering whether to make a quick march to avoid the sandstorm chasing behind.

At this moment, an old man with a scruffy beard and a torn sheepskin jacket behind him drove a mule cart, carrying half a cart of wheat stacks, and hurried to the back, Cheng Jia'an hurriedly stepped forward to stop: "Uncle, wait a minute, is this going to Xifeng Township?" ”

"It's a drop, what?"

"Uncle, can you take your car? Oh, I'm from Xifeng Township. ”

The uncle squinted at Cheng Jia'an with squinted eyes that were squeezed by wrinkled skin, and hurriedly urged: "Xifeng Di? Then hurry up, this day's (nasty) sandstorm is about to come, and it will be numb (troublesome) if it's too late. ”

"Oh, thank you!"

Cheng Jia'an hurriedly climbed onto the wheat straw pile, holding the rope on the wheat pile tightly with both hands, so as not to be upside down by the speeding mule, raised his head, and looked worriedly at the black sand belt that was gradually approaching.

In a trance, Cheng Jia'an suddenly remembered that when he returned to his hometown for the first time, he also encountered such a sandstorm, and it seemed that he also got on an uncle's mule cart to rush home.

It seems that this sandstorm is really related to himself, as long as he comes back, he can encounter it, but I don't know if this uncle is still the uncle of the year.

"Drive, drive!" The uncle was busy urging the mules, and the whip was raised high. The sound of hooves and shouts came into the ears of Cheng Jia'an, who was immersed in reminiscing about the past.

"Uncle, ...... you" Cheng Jia'an licked his dry lips, he wanted to explore, but after thinking about it, how many years have passed, even if the original uncle remembers it deeply, he will not remember himself.

Cheng Jia'an shook his head self-deprecatingly, thinking about it, it was in such a ghost-crying and terrifying sandstorm that year that he met Li Xiulan, who was eager to find the lost lamb in the wind and sand. It was also with his help that the two little lambs who were regarded by Li Xiulan as more important than their lives could be safe and sound. It is also because of this that the two have formed a wonderful fate.

Is it because I have a relationship with this annoying sandstorm, or is it related to this sandstorm that is a matchmaker?

Well, in the final analysis, it should be related to Li Xiulan!

Cheng Jia'an thought like this, the mule spread its four hooves and ran hard with a hum, as if it knew that the sandstorm behind the butt was not easy to provoke, and he had to quickly find a place to be comfortable.

But no matter how hard it tried, the mule cart was still a primitive tool, and it wasn't long before the footsteps of the sand were whining behind it.

At first, it was just a little choking sand and gravel filling the surroundings, and in the blink of an eye, the black sand in the sky was raging and dancing wildly, and with a huge physical force, everything flew into the sky.

Cheng Jia'an covered his mouth and nose with his hat, squinted his eyes and stared ahead, watching the uncle wave his whip in a panic.

The mule was also forced to hurry, and spread its hooves and ran wildly.

The mule cart was violently bumpy and undulating on the gravel road, and only the butt knew how uncomfortable it was.

Cheng Jia'an's internal organs were about to jump out of his throat, he clung to the edge of the mule cart, and wanted to remind the uncle in front of him to go to a flat place as much as possible, but as soon as he opened his mouth, a mouthful of sand poured in his face, grinding his teeth and crunching.

So, Cheng Jia'an closed his mouth knowingly, covered his mouth and nose with his hat, and then stuck his head into the grass and stomped his head, like an ostrich pouting his ass.

Count the ball, bear it if you can!

Fortunately, the sandstorm finally gave Cheng Jia'an, who returned to his hometown again, a little thin face, and did not make it too difficult. After a burst of terrible whimpering, the gale finally stopped with a humming chirper, but Cheng Jia'an also became a real dirt ball......

The sandstorm in the northwest is so speechless and terrible, but it comes and goes extremely slowly, after the yellow sand that covers the sky, the whole sky is filled with a layer of gray and choking rustic atmosphere, and even the winter sun can not penetrate this bleak yellow.

It was almost afternoon, and the scattered villages in Xifeng Township were also surrounded by this layer of lingering earthy yellow, which looked a little cold.

In the great winter, there is no trace of greenery in the scattered farmland, and in the cracks of the soil, the withered grass swayed lonely with the sand and dust raised by the cold wind, except for the bare poplars and earthen houses, there is no bulge on the horizon, and a scene of barrenness and decay stretches for thousands of miles.

Cheng Jia'an thanked the uncle who was driving the car, jumped off the mule cart, slapped his body fiercely, cleaned the thick dust and the wheat straw stalks on his head, and felt like a person, so he squinted his eyes and walked to his brother's house according to the vague memory of many years ago.

Although many years have passed, the whole village has not changed much.

At first glance, every household is still building a simple house with clods of earth, and the living mud of wheat straw is thickly covered on the roof, and the miserable straw stalks can be seen at the edges.

The windows cut out of the walls are rarely made of glass, and they are simply pasted with kraft paper, which can play the role of a shelter from the wind and soil.

Under the eaves, you can also see some hanging buds, dried potatoes, peppers and other crops, but more are scattered around the grain poles and firewood piles, which are the raw materials used to burn the kang in winter.

Surrounded by a half-person high soil cultivation courtyard, few houses have a decent courtyard gate, to point face, simply use poplar branches to make a fence, can have a door meaning.

As far as the eye can see, the village in winter is full of dirty yellow, and the sand and dust have been blown, and it looks withered and bleak.

At this time, it is rare to see a swaying figure in the village, and the villagers who have nothing to do are huddled at home, trying to minimize outdoor activities, so as to reduce physical exertion and save more food. Second, in this cold winter, in addition to picking up some firewood to burn the clay kang, no matter how hard you work, don't expect to be able to dig out anything from the ground to eat.

Even so, it was much better than in previous years, the villagers had enough to fill their bellies, there was occasionally a little meat on the table, and there was a surplus of wheat bran to raise chickens and dogs, which was better than using potatoes and cornmeal batter every day.

It's just that the conditions are still difficult, and most of them are still struggling to survive on the poverty line.

Cheng Jia'an walked through the village, and occasionally a dog barked in the distance, echoing over the empty village, like a lonely ghost.

Cheng Jia'an's eldest brother Cheng Jiaguo moved out of the ancestral house first, and he lived alone at the other end of the village, and the original house was left to the second brother Cheng Jiamin and the younger sister Cheng Jiali.

Of course, this ancestral property does not have Cheng Jia'an's share, who made him the "most decent" person in this family, how can he be embarrassed to grab real estate with the poor brothers!

In fact, just as Cheng Jia'an expected, the first time the two brothers saw each other again, there was basically no joy of reunion after a long absence and warm greetings of brotherly love, only the eldest brother Cheng Jiaguo snorted from his nose with a frown: "Are you back?" ”

"Well, it's back!" Cheng Jia'an replied with low eyebrows.

entered Cheng Jiaguo's earthen house, and Du Yumei, the kind-hearted sister-in-law, brought half a basin of turbid "waterlogged dam water" to Cheng Jia'an's face.

The so-called waterlogging dam water is the stagnant water formed by rainwater collected between low potholes.

There are dead branches and leaves, animal feces and even some drowned animal carcasses, and in addition to the smell that is difficult to swallow, such a waterlogged dam carries various infectious diseases.

But this kind of water cannot survive without it.

There is no shortage of inexplicable particles floating on the turbid water surface, Cheng Jia'an didn't care, he hastily washed the wind and dust on his face, and the water of the waterlogging dam became more "waterlogged", black, and almost impossible to see the bottom.

Then with the pickles and corn paste brought by Du Yumei, I nibbled on two buckwheat steamed buns, and after a trip, it was considered to be "catching the wind and washing the dust" for myself who had returned from a long journey.

In the small and dim mud house, a few people went in, and it was basically full.

When you've had enough to eat, it's time to start talking about "business".