Chapter 80

Helping someone all the way, sending the Buddha to the West, Liu Handong went to the gas station to refuel. There were no Sinopec or PetroChina outlets in town, only a small private gas station. The owner was a burly man who, after a long look, said, "Isn't this Meizi?"

It turned out to be an old acquaintance. Meizi stepped forward and chatted a few sentences in the local dialect that Liu Handong couldn't understand. The man reached out to pinch Meizi's buttocks, but she slapped his hand away and walked off with a laugh, starting the fuel pump to fill up the Fukan.

"What were you talking about?" Liu Handong asked.

"I told him not to mix water with the gas and to use real gasoline. Gas stations in small towns often cheat out-of-town cars, not only charging more but also mixing water, which can damage the engine," Meizi explained.

Liu Handong looked at his phone. "It's not early anymore. Let's get going after refueling. Helping someone all the way, sending the Buddha to the West, I'll take you all the way home."

Meizi said, "No rush. It's market day today. Let's buy some things first."

It was still early, so Liu Handong borrowed a broom to sweep the dirt off the car, then filled a basin with water to clean it. The Fukan was restored to its original appearance. There were local breakfast stalls in town, and they had a bowl of porridge and a few fried dough sticks. They then took a nap in the gas station's rest room.

The market began, with villagers from various villages setting up stalls to sell pork, agricultural products, firecrackers, fireworks, couplets, door gods, and cheap clothes and shoes wholesale from big cities, as well as small hardware and plastic products.

Meizi bought a pig's head, two trotters, some firecrackers and fireworks, and several pairs of children's cotton shoes and stationery. These were for the village children, and she never missed a year.

The snow had long stopped, and today the sky was clear and sunny. The market was bustling, with buses from the county town honking and weaving through the crowd to the bus station. Outside, several covered motorized tricycles, which were black market vehicles running to nearby villages, were parked. People returning home often carried a lot of luggage, and since remote villages had no bus service, they had to take these vehicles.

The Fukan set off again, passing through the bustling market and heading towards Lantian Village, ten kilometers away. The branches on both sides of the road were covered with ice and snow, making the scenery beautiful. Liu Handong turned on the CD player, playing Xu Wei's "Blue Lotus," and hummed along. A horse-drawn carriage came from the opposite direction, with a chestnut horse breathing hot air, and a few villagers sitting on it.

Meizi patted Liu Handong's shoulder. "Slow down, I see an acquaintance. Say hello." She then lowered the window and waved, shouting, "Xiaoshi!"

The carriage stopped, and a lean man in a double-breasted polyester suit with at least three sweaters underneath adjusted his glasses and shouted, "Rohua, you're back."

Rohua's name made Meizi's face flush with the shyness of a young girl.

"Yep, I'm back for the New Year. Are you going to the market?"

"Going to the market. Who's this?" The man looked at Liu Handong, who was driving.

"This is Officer Liu, my friend from the provincial capital," Meizi said proudly, and Liu Handong nodded at him.

Huanxi also greeted, "Teacher Shi, hello."

"Then you go back first. I'll go to the market to buy some things," the man said.

"Okay, see you later," Meizi said happily, waving goodbye to the man.

"Is he your first love?" Liu Handong asked.

"Don't talk nonsense," Meiruo said, hugging her daughter. "Xiaoyan, why didn't you say hello just now?"

Xiaoyan said, "I don't know him."

Liu Handong looked at Xiaoyan in the rearview mirror and suddenly felt she looked a bit like the man, but he didn't say anything, keeping the question in his mind.

Continuing on, the road was not as difficult as expected, and it was even somewhat wide for a remote village. Meizi explained that the village had a coal mine, and the trucks that came and went had damaged the road, and no one had paid to repair it.

"The village has a coal mine, why is it still so poor?" Liu Handong asked curiously.

"The coal mine is contracted by the village chief's family," Meizi said.

"Oh~~~" Liu Handong understood.

After driving ten kilometers, they finally arrived at their destination, Lantian Village. At the village entrance, a few elderly people were sitting on a low wall, basking in the sun, wearing old, dirty cotton jackets and straw shoes. When they saw Meizi get out of the car, they shouted, "Huani, you're back. Your father has been missing you for half a year."

They spoke in the local dialect of Pingchuan, which Liu Handong could barely understand. He went up to the old men and offered them cigarettes, and they all smiled with their toothless mouths, putting the cigarettes behind their ears and shouting to the distance, "His Seventh Uncle, your daughter is back."

Meizi's house was one of the better ones in the village, a two-story small villa with red brick walls and a large iron gate. Inside the gate was a mosaic screen, and there was a dog in the yard. Meizi's parents were honest and simple villagers. The old man wore a black overcoat, with dandruff all over his shoulders, and a cap with an oily brim. The old woman wore a black cotton jacket and started to cry when she saw her daughter.

The house looked grand from the outside compared to the low, flat houses in the village, but inside it was not so impressive. The walls were painted with a layer of paint, and the floor was covered with a pungent-smelling vinyl. The only appliance was a CRT TV. The old couple was somewhat reserved, and the old man kept inviting the guests to smoke and drink tea, repeating the same two sentences.

Meizi said she had something to do and would first take Huanxi home, carrying a trotter and a string of firecrackers, and asked Xiaoyan to stay and talk with her grandparents. She then took Huanxi and Liu Handong out.

The village was full of the New Year atmosphere, with sporadic firecracker sounds and children with red, frozen faces running in the fields in tattered clothes. Dogs either barked fiercely at strangers or wagged their tails pitifully. Occasionally, a dirty, fat pig would pass by, grunting, probably unaware that its life was about to end.

Huanxi's home was at the end of the village on a hill. It was a three-room house, half brick and half adobe, with a thatched roof. The crooked door frame had corn and chili peppers hanging on it. A skinny dog ran out of the yard and pounced on Huanxi.

"Laifu!" Huanxi squatted down and hugged the dog affectionately.

Laifu barked, and a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion came out of the house, probably Huanxi's father, Mr. Lan.

"Ni'er, you're back. Sister, thank you for your trouble. Who's this young man?" Mr. Lan adjusted his glasses and asked.

"A friend from the provincial capital, who drove us back," Meizi said with a smile, entering the house.

Inside the Lan family's house, Liu Handong realized what it meant to be penniless. Apart from the black, cured meat hanging from the beam, there was nothing valuable. The bed was made of wooden planks and bricks, and the bedding was black from long-term use. The smell of a long-term bedridden patient filled the room. A withered woman lay on the bed, presumably Huanxi's mother, who had been paralyzed for many years. She just smiled, which was her way of greeting.

Mr. Lan kicked the chamber pot under the bed and invited the guests to sit down, but there was only one decent chair, and no one felt comfortable sitting.

Suddenly, a teenager ran in and shouted, "Sister!"

"Brother." Huanxi was overjoyed to see her brother. The two siblings looked very similar. The boy, though thin, had delicate features, fair skin, and big eyes, looking more like a girl. He wore a tattered Zhongshan suit, and his worn-out cotton shoes had exposed toes. His hands were full of chilblains.

Meizi put down the trotter and firecrackers and asked Mr. Lan, "Uncle, have you finished your New Year's shopping?"

"Almost done. The village leaders came to visit and brought flour and bean oil," Mr. Lan adjusted his glasses, emotionally excited. "The party's policy is good. They take care of us poor families during the New Year. When my second son grows up, he will definitely give back to society and repay the party's kindness."

Meizi said, "Ni'er has worked in our beauty salon for a few months and has done well. I plan to give her a raise. After the New Year, I'll take her to work with me."

Mr. Lan was delighted. "Thank you. If it weren't for you, my second son's tuition would be a problem."

The bedridden Mrs. Lan also thanked her. "Thank you so much, Huani. Among the people from our village, you are the most successful."

"From the same village, how can I not help? If you need anything, just let me know," Meizi said, not wanting to stay longer, and got up to leave. Mr. Lan and Huanxi's brother and sister saw her off for a long distance, and Laifu also ran around excitedly.

"Don't send us anymore, or you'll be home," Meizi said.

"Okay, take it easy, and thank you," Mr. Lan thanked Meizi and Liu Handong again.

The two slowly walked back. Liu Handong finally said, "Really poor."

"Mr. Lan used to be a private teacher, but the government cut off their jobs, and the village primary school was closed. He lost his source of income and got liver disease. All the family's hopes are on the second son, who is even better at studies than his sister, always ranking first in the school."

Back in her hometown, Meizi no longer had the flirtatious and charming demeanor of the past. She seemed to have truly become the "beauty salon manager" and the "most successful person in the village" in the eyes of the Lan family.

The next day was New Year's Eve, and Liu Handong decided to leave immediately. Meizi insisted on keeping him for lunch. The family kitchen started cooking, boiling water to remove the hair from the pig's head, making meatballs, and steaming buns. The young men and women from the village came to visit, and Meizi transformed into a caring big sister, telling city stories to the younger ones and encouraging them to go out and explore the world.

Lunch started at 10:30. Meizi's father invited some people to join, including Mr. Lan and the previously encountered Mr. Shi, who was a teacher at the village center primary school and a respected figure in the village.

Meizi boasted that Liu Handong was a police officer from the provincial capital, and everyone respected him. Since he had to drive in the afternoon, no one tried to get him drunk, and they drank tea instead. The meal was simple, and it ended at noon. A group of people saw Liu Handong off as he left the village.

Liu Handong drove the Fukan out of Lantian Village, driving on the bumpy road. He suddenly looked back and saw Huanxi waving at him from the hill, her figure becoming smaller and smaller.

Guided by the GPS on his phone, Liu Handong quickly got onto the provincial road. The snow on the road had started to melt, and he drove quickly, eager to return home.

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