sunset mountains

Chapter 15

The snow fell half an hour after Wei Chi set off, and Xiao Yanwei hadn't done anything for a long time, the book he just picked up was still spread out on the bed, and he didn't turn over half a page.

Xiao Yanwei stared at the closed cell phone on the other side of the bed, sighed resignedly for a while, took the cell phone over and turned it on.

The phone is quiet, there is no signal at all.

Xiao Yanwei waited for a while while clutching the phone, but seeing that there was no signal, he put on his clothes and shoes and got out of bed.

Before the snow accumulated in the yard, Xiao Yanwei put on a padded jacket that Wei Chi gave him, stared at the distant mountains for a while, and went to Lao Yao's house.

Yao Dabao was born prematurely back then, his body was not considered strong, he always had troubles when he was hot and cold, since yesterday his temperature started to cool down, he had a little cough, now he has a fever.

Xiao Yan got on the kang without taking off his shoes, sat cross-legged beside Yao Dabao, touched his forehead with his hand, it was hot.

"Have you taken your medicine?" Xiao Yanwei asked with a suppressed voice.

"Sleep after eating," Lao Yao stretched out his hand to pull the quilt for Yao Dabao, "It's like this every year, and it will take a few days."

"His immunity isn't good enough." Xiao Yanwei frowned, "I can't just get sick just by changing the weather."

"It's been a poor foundation since I was a child," Lao Yao followed with a sigh, "It's actually been much better in the past two years."

Xiao Yanwei looked to the side again, Yao Dabao was covered with the quilt up to the tip of his chin, his cheeks were red on both sides because of the fever, and he didn't seem to be sleeping peacefully.

"Wei Chi didn't finish the granule last time." Lao Yao got down from the kang and twisted a towel to wipe Yao Dabao's face. one time."

Xiao Yanwei looked out of the window. He stayed at Lao Yao's place for a while, and the snow outside had already spread a very thin layer, and it seemed that it would not stop for a while.

"I don't think it's that cold," Xiao Yan waved his hand, "it's so easy to catch a cold."

Old Yao clicked his tongue softly, "You will know when the snow melts, it must be seven or eight degrees below zero."

Xiao Yanwei glanced at the calendar on the wall again, "Has it entered the twelfth lunar month yet?"

"It's been a few days," Lao Yao followed suit, "Don't take it seriously, when you really get sick from the cold, it will be hard to find a place to look."

Xiao Yanwei thought for a while, "That day I seemed to see a clinic in the village."

Lao Yao nodded, "Yes, but at most it can cure a headache and fever, and there is no place for infusion."

Before Xiao Yan opened his mouth, he suddenly didn't know what to say, so he just said, "Oh."

Lao Yao also remained silent for a while. After wiping Yao Dabao's face, he went to the basin to twist the towel, lifted a corner of the quilt and wiped the back of Yao Dabao's neck, "Dabao was almost delayed that year."

Xiao Yan didn't raise his eyes to look at Lao Yao, but Lao Yao lowered his head, "Thanks to Wei Chi."

At that time, Wei Chi had just arrived here a few days before he caught up with the heaviest rain that year.

It rained heavily for two days in a row, Yao Dabao caught a cold and couldn't open his burning eyes.

There is only one health center in the village, and Yao Dabao didn't recover after three injections. Lao Yao was so anxious that he was about to take him for the fourth injection, but Wei Chi stopped him.

"Let's look elsewhere," Wei Chi pulled a blanket and wrapped Yao Dabao in his arms without any explanation, "Don't drag it on."

The only dirt road in the town was washed away, and Wei Chi was wearing double-patched rubber shoes, and walked for several hours with muddy water to the town hospital.

Lao Yao staggered along the way to support him with an umbrella, and he didn't remember how many times he fell.

The raincoat on Wei Chi's body was borrowed from a fellow villager, and there was a leak somewhere. He was completely soaked and did not let Yao Dabao get wet.

Yao Dabao had pneumonia that time, and he recovered after staying in the hospital for half a month.

As Lao Yao spoke, his eyes became a little wet. He turned around and rubbed the back of his hand, and continued, "In the next few days, Wei Chi couldn't even hold his chopsticks steadily when eating."

Xiao Yanwei listened quietly, and waited for Lao Yao to calm down before saying, "I'm taking the medicine with me, I'll go back and rush."

Lao Yao responded, and asked again when he remembered something, "Did you burn the kang?"

Xiao Yan didn't shake his head, "It's not burned."

As soon as Lao Yao heard this, he disapproved a little, and was about to get up immediately, "Look at Dabao for a while, I'll go and burn it for you, how can we not burn the kang today."

Xiao Yan didn't stop him quickly, "No need, I..."

He originally wanted to say that he wasn't cold, but Lao Yao definitely wouldn't believe it. He remembered that Wei Chi's house key was with him, so he had to bite the bullet and say, "I'll go to Wei Chi's."

"Oh," Lao Yao thought for a while, "It's not cold in his place, he has a heater."

Xiao Yanwei rubbed his nose with his hand, "Ah, yes."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Lao Yao began to drive him out, "Hurry up, it's still early for the snow to stop."

Xiao Yanwei didn't think about it at first, but Lao Yao was impatient and had already put his shoes under the edge of the kang.

Xiao Yan didn't sigh, so he put on his clothes and shoes and left.

After staying at Lao Yao's place for a while, the snow outside was as thick as the sole of a shoe, and Xiao Yanwei stood at Wei Chi's door with the key for a long time without opening the door.

He and Wei Chi haven't been in touch yet, and he always feels that it's not good for him to go directly.

He asked Wei Chi to be more honest, but he came to his house without saying hello.

There was still no signal on the mobile phone, Xiao Yanwei stood at the door for a while, did mental training, opened the door and went in.

Wei Chi probably knew that he was coming, and had already helped him put the slippers by the door, the same pair he was wearing that day.

Xiao Yan fumbled to turn on the living room light before he changed his shoes, and before he walked in, he saw a big chair facing the sofa, on which was the little sun that Wei Chi mentioned.

Before Xiao Yan walked over, he bent down and tore off a piece of paper from the little sun, and Wei Chi's vigorous notes jumped in front of his eyes.

"Xiao Yanwei, don't be afraid of the electricity bill, I'm very rich."

Xiao Yan couldn't hold it back, and laughed in the room like a madman. While laughing, he turned on the little sun, and the warm yellow light filled the room with a comfortable heat in a short while.

Xiao Yan didn't turn off the light in the living room, leaned against the sofa and sat on the carpet, took a photo of Little Sun with his mobile phone and sent it to Wei Chi.

There is still no signal, and when the small circle in front of the message turns to an unknown number of circles, it turns into a red exclamation mark.

Xiao Yanwei stared at the little sun for a while, feeling that every pore was filled with warmth, and he became lazy.

The little sun runs very silently, Xiao Yanwei likes this kind of quiet warmth.

He thought of Wei Chi again.

Thinking of what Lao Yao said, Wei Chi carried Yao Dabao to the hospital for an infusion in the heavy rain, and when he came back, his hands were shaking so much that he couldn't hold the chopsticks, and he thought of Wei Chi skipping lunch to deliver papers to the students when he was in town.

He also remembered that Wei Chi held his hand to prevent him from leaning against the edge of the cliff.

Xiao Yanwei just thought about it, and picked up the phone again.

The temperature outside was very low, Xiao Yanwei hadn't warmed up yet, his hands were probably a little stiff, and he wanted to dial a number, but accidentally clicked into the mailbox.

"Brother! My mailbox!"

The first thing that jumped into my eyes was this half-line, which was written 3 years ago, from Xiao Chengyang who just learned to use the mailbox.

Xiao Yan stared blankly at the email that he hadn't replied to, his heart began to ache slowly.

When sending this email, Xiao Chengyang was by his side, clamoring for Xiao Yanwei to reply him an email, but Xiao Yanwei felt naive and did not reply him.

After that, Xiao Chengyang never sent another email to Xiao Yanwei, and every time Xiao Yanwei saw these words, he would think of Xiao Chengyang's expression of anticipation, excitement, pride and complacency.

But he couldn't bear to go back.

This unanswered email, like the phone numbers memorized in his address book, never answered.

In a strange village filled with heavy snow, Xiao Yanwei's mood is like the land when the snow melts, muddy and mottled.

When Wei Chi's eager and familiar voice came over, Xiao Yanwei realized that the phone was connected at some point.

He clicked on speakerphone, turned the phone upside down on the sofa, and answered in a low voice.

The signal was fairly stable at the moment, Wei Chi heard him talking, and his tone was not so anxious, "I haven't made a sound for a long time, I'm wondering what's the matter."

"No," Xiao Yanwei leaned back, put his shoulders on the side of the sofa, and volunteered to report, "I'm here with you."

"Well," Wei Chi smiled and asked him, "Is it cold?"

Xiao Yanwei raised one hand close to the heater, and looked at the warm light streaming out from between his fingers, "It's not cold, the little sun is on."

"Don't turn it off when you sleep at night," Wei Chi said, "It's snowing and cold."

Xiao Yanwei didn't speak for a long time, Wei Chi thought the signal was bad, so he called him several times, Xiao Yanwei said, "Old Yao told me today that you took Dabao to see a doctor back then."

"Huh?" Wei Chi reacted for a moment, then remembered, "It's been several years."

"He also gave me two bags of medicine." Xiao Yanwei took out the two bags of cold medicine in his pocket, "He said you bought them."

"Did you rush?" Wei Chi asked.

"Not yet." Xiao Yanwei looked at the little sun for a while, and recognized the words on the packaging bag, "Isn't this a children's cold spirit?"

"Adults can drink it too," Wei Chi smiled softly, "I have a kettle, so let's flush it before going to bed."

"Oh," Xiao Yanwei put the medicine back into his pocket again, with a flat tone, "Isn't it quite bitter?"

Wei Chi was stunned for a moment, and asked softly, "Xiao Yanwei, are you in a bad mood?"

Xiao Yan didn't reach out to turn off the little sun, the barbed wire was glowing red and darkened, the lights in the room were not turned on, and the room slowly fell into darkness.

Xiao Yanwei rubbed his thumb unconsciously on the side of the phone, "Wei Chi, did I tell you that I wouldn't stay here for a long time?"

It took Wei Chi a long time to hear his voice, even through the receiver, it was not easy, "I said it, you still said it when I came back today."

"Well," Xiao Yan continued without a pause, "Actually, I don't like this very much."

Wei Chi didn't know how to answer, and was thinking, Xiao Yanwei said abruptly, "My younger brother, my father and mother, used to like climbing mountains the most."

Wei Chi didn't answer, and listened quietly.

"I don't like it," Xiao Yanwei blinked, his voice was a little ethereal, "They didn't take me that time..."

The glaring phone numbers in the address book were like knives, every time I saw them, I could poke a few bloody holes in his internal organs.

Wei Chi was far away from Xiao Yanwei, he couldn't do anything, he just called softly, "Xiao Yanwei."

Xiao Yanwei paused for a while, then continued, "It happened when they came back, right in front of me, my brother..."

Xiao Yan didn't continue talking, Wei Chi didn't ask any more, the phone was still in communication status, and Xiao Yanwei's breathing was still very steady.

After a while, Wei Chi asked Xiao Yanwei softly, "Do you really dislike this place?"

Xiao Yanwei's breathing became heavy all of a sudden, he raised his hand to cover his eyes, "It's too cold in winter."

Wei Chi was silent for a long time, "Yao Dabao is quite cute, don't you like it?"

Xiao Yanwei sniffed, "Da Bao is fine."

"Where's Lao Yao?" Wei Chi asked again, "Don't you like Lao Yao being so good to you?"

Xiao Yanwei cleared his throat, "I like it."

Wei Chi paused, "What else?"

Xiao Yanwei smiled, his voice was still hoarse, and he asked knowingly, "What else?"

Wei Chi didn't continue talking, he seemed to have walked outside, Xiao Yanwei heard the creaking of the rough wooden door of his dormitory.

"There is really nothing good here," Wei Chi said, "You may have never seen such a poor place."

"This is the short board of the barrel, the most inconspicuous corner of the 960 million square kilometers of land."

"From the village to the town, the distance is 8 kilometers, and there is no shuttle bus."

"It's nothing," Wei Chi's voice was gentle, he paused, and continued, "but spring is not bad."

Xiao Yanwei did not speak, Wei Chi continued, "Winter is indeed cold, but it will pass soon, and spring will not be too late."

Xiao Yan did not answer.

He stood up on the sofa, walked through the living room in the dark to the outside under the rain screen that had been erected.

There is no moon in the snowy night, no starlight, and it is pitch black everywhere.

The sound of electric current in the earpiece became more and more obvious, and the signal seemed to be cut off soon.

The cold wind swept over Xiao Yanwei's cheeks, it was not biting, like a butterfly resting on the water, bringing up insignificant waves.

Xiao Yanwei's heart calmed down.

Before the communication was cut off, he heard Wei Chi say, "Xiao Yanwei, do you want to wait a little longer?"

Spring is not here yet, but the snow seems to have stopped.

The long night dissipates in the eyes of the sleepless.

That Wang Chunshui was disturbed.