Chapter 5

Nowadays, people often talk about life goals, what they want, what they will do in the future, and what kind of person they want to become. But at that time, the two of them had only less than a thousand yuan between them, and the questions they thought about were extremely similar and very tragic: how could they survive, what would they eat, and where would they live...

By then, it was already dark, and the continuous mountains behind them echoed with terrifying howls, like wolves or wild dogs.

The snow showed no signs of stopping.

Looking around, the small houses ahead were all lit up, some chimneys still smoking. It was the eve of the New Year, and the joy of the holiday had already begun.

They didn't enter the village but left via a side road.

The road had wheel tracks, pressing the thick snow firmly, making it very smooth. Running a few steps on it could make you slide several meters, but the two of them had no playful mood. The village was about thirty miles from the county town, and it usually took about two hours to walk. Now, with the darkness and heavy snow, their speed was greatly reduced, and it would take about three hours.

Liu Feiyang carried the suitcase, his hands already red and swollen, but he looked resolutely ahead, taking his unique stubborn steps. He had already cried and made a fuss; now, all he had left was the desire to survive and the determination to become someone.

He hadn't thought through what he would do in the county, but he knew that even a blind cat could catch a dead mouse, and heaven wouldn't let people starve.

Erhai lagged half a step behind. He hadn't spoken since they came down the mountain, his head hanging low, his spirit completely drained.

In those days, people were very simple, and cars would give rides to anyone they met on the road. Sadly, there were no cars in those days.

As they walked, Erhai started to cry again. Over the past three years, he had done whatever Liu Feiyang said, very obediently, because he felt a sense of security from him. Now, the cold wind from all sides made his thin figure waver. He gritted his teeth and wiped his tears with his sleeve.

"Brother Yang, I just heard my mom talking to me."

"What did she say?" Liu Feiyang didn't turn back.

"She told me to live well, not to cry, and to hold back my tears. My grandfather and grandmother got married when they were seventeen, so I have to be strong too!"

"What are you doing now...?"

"I'm not crying, just my feet are cold, and my face hurts..." he said, wiping his tears again.

"Run, run, and you won't feel cold..." Liu Feiyang gritted his teeth, speaking as his legs started to move quickly.

Seeing this, Erhai pouted and followed behind.

Children from the countryside had nothing but strength. The two of them ran as fast as they could, using all their might. They slipped and fell, got up, and continued running, falling again, gritting their teeth and enduring the pain.

Because Liu Feiyang knew that only by moving would they not feel cold.

They arrived in the county town before eleven o'clock.

The county town they were in was called Zhongshui County, a well-known poor county in the city. The landmark building was a four-story commercial complex that sold clothes and hats. The county had only two main streets, with shops on both sides. Some people who had made money built two-story buildings with white tiles, expanding their businesses, but most were still tile-roofed houses.

The two of them had been to the city before, but they weren't very familiar with it. At least they wouldn't get lost, knowing where to buy what. Liu Feiyang stopped, took off his dogskin hat, and his head started to steam. He walked to the roadside and sat down, reaching into his pocket to take out an iron box and a roll of tobacco.

He looked at the row of dim streetlights with a dazed expression.

"Do you trust me?"

Erhai was taken aback by this question and turned his head to reply, "Why wouldn't I?"

"Give me the money, all of it..." Liu Feiyang took a puff of the tobacco.

Dried tobacco was different from cigarettes; it had no filter, and the tobacco oil wasn't filtered out. The smoke he exhaled was yellowish.

Erhai straightened his legs, untied the red rope around his waist, and reached into his pants. This was an ancient practice; back then, people had no money, and a steamed bun cost only two cents. A four-digit sum was a huge amount. He had sewn a pocket into his underwear and hidden all his savings there.

He took out the crumpled, smelly money without hesitation and handed it to Liu Feiyang.

"We have to rely on each other from now on."

"Didn't we do that before?"

"It's different..." He shook his head, threw the cigarette butt to the ground, and stomped it out.

Before, they at least had a yard where they could grow potatoes and cabbages, pick mushrooms from the mountains, and be self-sufficient with vegetables and food in the winter. In the summer, it was even better. But from now on, it meant that besides breathing, they would have to be careful with even the toilet paper they used.

"Let's go, we need to find a place to spend the night," he said, standing up.

Though they were dressed warmly, the cold wind could penetrate their military coats in less than ten minutes. If they stayed out all night, they might freeze to death. They found a computer room, which was like an internet cafe, with big-screen monitors and games limited to local networks and single-player.

However, neither of them had played before.

They spent twelve yuan to open two computers, which served as a shelter from the wind. Erhai, being a child, was excited and played games all night, while Liu Feiyang didn't touch the computer, leaning back in his chair, thinking about what to do.

In his view, there were four main things in life: clothing, food, shelter, and transportation.

Wearing clothes was about face, eating was about energy, finding a place to live was about having roots, and being able to move was about the drive to survive.

He had clothes on, and hunger wouldn't kill him in a few days. They had reached the county town, and the most urgent thing was to find a place to live, to root themselves in this land. He glanced at the boss behind the counter, thought for a moment, and walked over.

"Brother, give me a bottle of mineral water..."

"Have a Snow Beer instead, it's only fifty cents, and the bottle is bigger," the boss said. Snow Beer was a drink in a beer bottle, similar to today's Mirinda.

"I'm not used to that, it doesn't quench my thirst..." Liu Feiyang took a yuan from his pocket and handed it over, unscrewed the water bottle, and took a sip. "Brother, do you know where I can rent a place?"

"Are you planning to do business?" The boss put the money in the box.

"No, just looking for a place to rent. I had a fight with my parents at home and came out to scare them, hehe..." He deliberately said it in a casual manner.

The local people were tough, and he had never been to a computer room before. According to rumors, the people who came here weren't good, so he had to be cautious.

"Whatever, why bring this up during the New Year? If you want to rent a place, you should go to the back of the city, not here," the boss, who had seen many such cases, was no longer surprised.

"Thanks..." He nodded and turned back.

He knew about the back of the city, officially called Back City Village, where silver mine workers lived. It was a suburban area, and he had heard that the silver mine's performance had been poor in recent years, with a batch of laid-off workers, and some might have moved out.

He didn't care where it was, as long as they had a place to live, not in the village.

Deciding to check it out the next day, he closed his eyes in fatigue.

Erhai, encountering such new things for the first time, played all night without sleeping. His stomach growled, and by the time Liu Feiyang opened his eyes, his eyes were already dark from lack of sleep, but he was still staring at the computer screen. Liu Feiyang turned to look out the window; it was already morning, and the streets were empty.

"Stop playing, let's go..." He put on his hat.

"Wait a bit, just a few more minutes, I'll finish this game!"

"Finish this game, and you'll want to play the next one. Let's go..." Liu Feiyang scolded and turned to leave.

It was still very cold outside. He bought two red bean buns from a breakfast shop and two meat buns for Erhai, then headed to Back City. By the time they arrived, the sun had risen, making it a bit warmer.

Back City was poorly planned, with winding alleys. They wandered around but didn't see anyone renting a house, only receiving strange looks, as if they were suspected of being thieves.

They followed an alley, just reaching the end.

"Clang..." A big iron door of a house opened.

Immediately, a fragrant smell wafted over...