WSSAPF chapter 9

With all his strength, Zhou Chulan brushed away Li Zhuoyao’s hand and walked slowly down the mountain.

Li Zhuoyao’s hand dropped, watching his receding figure.

It was very noisy around. The villagers who had just unloaded the goods were resting by the roadside. Zheng Nanyun was busy distributing water and heat-relief medicine to everyone. Qi Zhenquan held a megaphone, loudly shouting, “Hold on, everyone. Two more trips, and the things will be almost moved.”

The buzzing crowd didn’t reach Li Zhuoyao’s ears, his mind strangely quiet, as if he were in a snowy mountain where there was no wind but it was cold. Amid the silence, only the sound of footsteps treading on snow could be faintly heard.

“What’s wrong with you? Your complexion is so pale.” Zheng Nanyun walked over, handing him a bottle of water.

“Nothing, just a bit tired.” After several seconds of hesitation, Li Zhuoyao replied.

“Why don’t you go back to the hotel and rest. I’ll handle things over here.”

“No need, I’ll be fine after a little break.”

She looked at the ground full of cigarette butts, frowning.

“Smoking so much, it’s not good for your health. I’ll find someone to clean up later.”

“I’ll do it myself.”

Li Zhuoyao bent down to pick up the cigarette butts and threw them into the trash bag. He felt a bit absent-minded; his palm was stained black by the cigarette ash. The villagers were using hemp ropes to tie things to carrying poles. Li Zhuoyao silently watched for a while, then turned to ask Zheng Nanyun.

“How much stuff is left to move?”

“About half. Some people had something urgent at home, so they left early. With what’s left, we should be able to finish in two more trips.”

“Later, tell the chief to tally it up. Pay 150 yuan per person for one trip, and 400 yuan per person after finishing. Pay according to this standard.”

“Okay.”

The new batch of things was almost tied up. Qi Zhenquan was rallying the villagers who came to carry the goods to line up.

“Next, I’ll take them up the mountain.” Li Zhuoyao said and walked towards the queue.

“The mountain road is all filled with mud. Your shoes won’t work; they’ll be ruined after one trip.” Zheng Nanyun pointed at his sports shoes and said, “A limited edition worth one or two thousand, and you’re treating them like this?”

“I’ll go find a pair of rain boots.”

Li Zhuoyao walked to the side of the truck, where a middle-aged man happened to take off his rain boots and put them in the basket of his motorcycle, preparing to ride down the mountain.

“Uncle, I’m going up the mountain in a while. Can I buy your rain boots?”

Li Zhuoyao took out a hundred yuan from his pocket.

The middle-aged man waved his hands repeatedly.

“Oh, Director, if you want to wear them, just take them.”

“How can that be? I’ll buy the shoes from you. I don’t have any change; so just take it.”

Li Zhuoyao handed the money to the man, picked up the rain boots, and walked aside to put them on.

These kinds of rain boots were sold in the village’s small shops and emitted a low-quality rubber smell. The pair Li Zhuoyao held was the same as the ones Zhou Chulan had, black in color.

The boots were a bit too big, hanging loosely on Li Zhuoyao’s pant legs, creating a slightly empty space. They were airtight, causing his entire lower legs to feel uncomfortably hot.

Wearing the rain boots, he walked to the front of the queue.

“Let’s go, everyone, follow me up the mountain this time.”

The mountain path was even more difficult to traverse than Li Zhuoyao had imagined. With each step, he had to lift his foot from the mud and struggle to pull it out. They were walking on a path overgrown with weeds, where wild grass mixed with thin mud, trampled heavily on the ground, emitting a plant’s bitter smell in the post-rain air.

“Director, you might not be used to this road.”

Leading the way was a spirited old man who looked around 60 years old, lean yet strong. One side of his carrying pole held a chair, and the other side carried a large glass vase.

“A bit. Uncle, you seem much healthier than me.”

“It’s bearable. After all, I’m getting old. When I was young, I worked as a mountain porter, going up and down the mountain for decades. Lately, there hasn’t been much work, just planting and harvesting, so I came out to earn some money.”

“What do you grow at home?”

“Ginger. We’re close to Guangxi, and the climate is suitable for growing ginger. Most people in the village grow it.”

Zhou Chulan had mentioned having a large ginger field at home. He even promised to paint a picture of the ginger field for him.

“Have you always lived here?”

“Yes, I’ve been living in the village for over 60 years.”

The old man’s foot slipped for a moment, but he quickly steadied himself. Li Zhuoyao reached out to support him.

“I’ll help you carry the next part.”

“No, no. This is heavy, and you have delicate skin. How can you do this work? Moreover, you’ve paid us, so you definitely shouldn’t carry it.” The old man firmly refused.

However, Li Zhuoyao insisted and expressed his desire to experience it. Unable to resist further, the old man reluctantly agreed, carefully placing the carrying pole on Li Zhuoyao’s shoulder.

The carrying pole was made of bamboo, very hard, and combined with the weight of the items, it pressed heavily on Li Zhuoyao’s shoulders. However, he didn’t feel any pain or fatigue. Wearing the same black rain shoes as Zhou Chulan, he walked the muddy path Zhou Chulan had just traversed. Carrying over fifty kilograms of weight in silence, sweating profusely, he walked on the muddy mountain road.

The skin in the middle of his shoulder under the carrying pole had swollen and begun to feel warm, a bit swollen and itchy after being soaked in sweat. Li Zhuoyao just kept walking forward, gripping the hemp rope tightly with both hands, stepping through the muddy terrain.

This was Zhou Chulan’s life.

Li Zhuoyao lowered his head, and the toe part of the black rain boots on his feet was completely covered in mud, obscuring their original appearance.

Finally, they reached the entrance of the villa. Li Zhuoyao silently put down the items, only to realize that his shoulder had been scraped, and blood had seeped through his white shirt.

“Oh, Director… this…” The old man looked worried.

“It’s okay. It’ll be better in two or three days.” Li Zhuoyao waved his hand and wiped the sweat from his face.

Suddenly, he recalled the phrase “it’ll be better in two or three days,” which Zhou Chulan had said earlier.

Looking around and seeing no one, he walked over to the old man.

“Uncle, I happen to have something I want to ask you.”

“What’s the matter? Director, just say it.”

“That person in your village, Zhou Chulan… Do you know about his family? I heard from the chief that he… has been in prison…”

The three words “killed someone” were like a blunt object; Li Zhuoyao couldn’t bring himself to say them.

“Oh, you’re talking about Zhou Lao Da’s only son. Poor child, really unlucky.”

“I’ve seen the paintings he did, very beautiful. What’s the specific situation of his family?” Li Zhuoyao asked quietly.

“That child was the first college student in our area. The family conditions weren’t good. His mother had been sick since he was little, and the cost of treatment dragged down the whole family. In the end, his mother passed away when he was in the second year of junior high. This child has been doing well academically since childhood, and he can also paint. Later, he studied art. It costs a lot of money, but the kid is stubborn. Every summer vacation, he wanders around picking mushrooms to sell, earning money to buy brushes and paints, and even works part-time to earn his tuition.”

“And then?”

“And then… and then he ended up in prison, saying it was a case in Hunan. People in the village say he encountered robbers while out playing, got his wallet stolen, and killed the person, stabbing them over a dozen times. But I’ve watched Zhou Chulan grow up since he was a child. He’s a good kid, not that kind of person at all. Filial, honest, and sometimes helps with farming for people in the village. There must have been other reasons for that incident…”

“Why do you say that?”

The old man raised his eyes, looked around discreetly, lowered his voice, and continued speaking to Li Zhuoyao, “Because Zhou Chulan has had a fainting problem since he was a child. I’ve known this all along. Last year during the New Year, he came to my house to give gifts, and when he saw me pouring pig’s blood for the New Year pig, he couldn’t catch his breath at all. Think about it, how can a person who faints at the sight of blood kill someone just because their wallet was stolen? And even stab them over a dozen times. There must have been other things happening back then. After he got out, he spoke even less. No one knows what happened…”

The old man lit a water pipe, smoking as he shook his head. In the swirling smoke, Li Zhuoyao found it hard to see clearly.

“Ah, it’s all fate, a karmic debt. I don’t know who Zhou’s boy owed in his past life…”