Colección Hiromi - Capítulo 29
“Shiren City?” The little girl thought for a moment, “The long-distance bus will be faster. Trains that stop in small places like this are slow. Long-distance buses going towards Suihua should stop here. It should take about an hour, definitely no more than an hour and a half.”
Where do I catch a long-distance bus?
"Once this bus gets to the city, I can easily hail a taxi to Nangang Bus Station." At 11:50, amidst anxious waiting, the shuttle bus finally slowly pulled out of the airport. Forty minutes later, I jumped off the bus, rushed into the first small restaurant I saw, ate a bowl of shepherd's purse dumplings, and headed to Nangang Bus Station.
Buses to Suihua run almost every twenty minutes, but only a few stop at Shirencheng. The nearest bus is at 2 PM.
This is my first time visiting Harbin. Apart from the cold, the city hasn't left any impression on me. Every city has its own charm, but I was too preoccupied with worries to notice anything else.
At 3:25, the bus turned into a dilapidated parking lot. The cement road surface was full of potholes and small pebbles.
I was the only one who got off the bus.
"Need a car?" A rickshaw pulled up to me.
"I'm going to Qian Gou Village."
"Uh...then you should look for that carriage." The middle-aged driver shook his head dejectedly.
I stood at the entrance of Shirencheng Bus Station and looked out. It was more like a small town than a city. The narrow roads were sparsely populated with people and vehicles, and taxis were nowhere to be seen.
Having no other choice, I walked toward the car the driver had mentioned.
It was a three-wheeled motor vehicle, with a plastic canopy in the back that could seat about two people. The driver was a man in his thirties; he pulled up his hat and nodded at me.
Where are we going?
"Qiangou Village, how much?"
"Qiangou Village? That's quite far, about forty miles away."
I didn't have time to haggle with him, so I lifted the curtain from the back and got into the car.
Inside, there was a long bench with its back against the carriage. The thick curtains couldn't block the cold wind from outside, but it was still better than being directly outside. It must have been below minus ten degrees Celsius here; I had only been off the bus for a short time when my eyelids started to ache.
"How long will it take?" I asked.
"The road is difficult to travel; it will take at least 45 minutes."
The road got bumpier and bumpier, making my butt hurt terribly. I figured the guy driving wasn't really ripping me off; it would take almost an hour to drive on this kind of road, so forty yuan couldn't be too much.
"arrive."
The car finally stopped. I slowly got out, feeling a bit dizzy and short of breath.
The tricycle was parked on a narrow road, next to a field ridge. The man pointed to a group of houses on the other side of the ridge and said, "Qiangou Village is just over there. This road is only wide enough for a bicycle, my tricycle can't go that far. You can walk, it's not far."
After taking the money, the tricycle turned around and sputtered away.
This is the village. It's been almost thirty hours since I lost contact with He Xi.
The sun is about to set.
I took a deep breath, the icy air flowing straight into my lungs, calming my anxious heart slightly, and stepped onto the undulating path.
The village is small, with about a hundred households, mostly single-story houses, but a few self-built two-story buildings. Judging from the appearance of these houses, the village is probably not wealthy.
In such cold weather, no one was outside. Most of the gates to the courtyards of every household were open. I went into one of the courtyards and looked through the glass window. An old man was sitting on a kang (a heated brick bed), seemingly listening to the radio.
There was no doorbell, so I knocked on the front door.
I didn't use much force, but in the quiet winter evening in the countryside, the sudden thumping made my heart tremble.
The sound of a dog barking came from inside the house, then it whimpered and fell silent, and then the door opened.
"Excuse me for bothering you, but I have something I'd like to ask you," I said to the old man who opened the door.
He glanced at me, and a gust of wind blew from behind me, making him pull his coat collar even tighter.
"It's cold outside, come inside and talk."
"Come, sit on the kang." He closed the door and led me onto the kang. "Judging from your skin, you must be from the south. What brings you to this poor village in the dead of winter?"
A black dog darted out from the doorway and barked loudly at me, startling me.
"Go away!" the old man shouted at it. The black dog glanced at me, lowered its head, and lay down on the ground as if nothing had happened.
I took off my shoes and sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed). The heat coming from below and the old man's kindness made me feel a little more relaxed.
"It's like this, a friend of mine suddenly lost contact, and I'm worried something might have happened to her. She might have been here yesterday; I don't know if you saw her. She was a very young and pretty girl." "No, I haven't seen her. In this weather, I mostly stay indoors and don't want to move. If she was only here for a short while, and didn't knock on my door like you did, I wouldn't even know she came."
I felt a pang of disappointment, but then I saw the old man calling into the inner room.
I didn't catch what he called her, but an old woman came out of the inner room. She must have been his wife. Although she had many wrinkles on her face, she was radiant and had a large, healthy body. She was much more energetic than her husband.
The old man didn't explain who I was, and went straight to asking, "Was a pretty girl in our village yesterday?"
"Yes, yes, it was around ten o'clock when we met. He was really handsome."
"Are you wearing a leather jacket with a fur collar?" I asked eagerly.
"It looks like a hooded outfit, and the brim and collar are fur."
That's right, He Xi's fur coat was too hot to wear in Shanghai, and the hat was always hanging on her back and she never actually wore it.
She has indeed been here!
Do you know where she went?
"I didn't notice; she was heading towards the end of the village."
"Alright, you go ahead with your work." The old man waved his hand, and his wife nodded to me before going back into the inner room.
Since the Xu family doesn't know much more about the situation, should we ask another family instead?
Looking at the old man's kind face in the sunlight, I decided to ask him from a different angle.
"There's something else, but I'm not sure if it's convenient to ask."
"Ahem, go ahead and ask," the old man said, waving his hand.
“I heard from my friend that around October this year, someone died in this village, and the way they died was quite gruesome.”
"Ah, you mean Luo Er?" The old man slapped his thigh. "That guy, heh!"
Seeing that he seemed hesitant to speak, I asked, "What, has someone died?"
"Yes, it was on October 1st, National Day. He was riding his motorcycle into the city, and on his way back, someone saw him suddenly collapse by the roadside. Not long after, he... died." The old man spoke haltingly, probably because his death was too gruesome.
But to confirm, I pressed on, "I heard everyone was blown up?"
The old man didn't answer. He took out his long pipe, tapped it, lit it, and took a few puffs before speaking again: "That family, everyone says it's retribution. Oh well, they're all dead now. But if your friend goes to their house, he's in the right direction; their house is at the end of the village."
"Oh, which house exactly? Should we go straight down this road?" Since He Xi is here, she must have been to Luo Er's house.
"Go straight, his house is easy to spot—a three-story building. Only his family built a three-story house. But Luo Er originally lived alone; after he died, the house was vacant for a while. Later, I heard it was robbed. His family is just like him; they even came to the village to cause trouble. Now they've sent a man to look after the house. I don't know if he's hired or a relative, but he doesn't really associate with the other villagers. I don't have much to say to him." The old man spoke angrily, clearly having a significant conflict with Luo Er's family.
After leaving the old man's house, I walked a short distance and saw the three-story house, a European-style villa with a pointed roof. This house was more than a hundred meters away from the other nearest houses in the village, standing all alone.
This building looks much better than the other houses in the village, so it seems that Luo Er's discord with the villagers must be related to his wealth.
The black iron gate to the courtyard was closed, so I rang the doorbell.
"Who is it?" After a while, a hoarse, shrill male voice rang out from inside.
I answered with another doorbell ring.
The door opened a crack, and a young man with red, swollen eyes and a bandage on his left cheek poked his head out. He glanced at me, frowned, and asked, "Who are you looking for?" I smiled at him amicably and asked, "Excuse me, was there a girl here yesterday morning?" "No." The man stared at me, "No, no." He then slammed the door shut.
What kind of attitude is that? I cursed inwardly. No wonder this family doesn't get along with the other families in the village.
But that can't be. How could He Xi not have been to this house? The old lady just said that when she saw He Xi, she was walking towards the end of the village.
Was the man lying, or did something happen to He Xi before she got here?
In such a small village, if something big happens, the old couple at the village entrance will definitely know.
Either He Xi discovered something more noteworthy in the village before coming to Luo Er's house, which is why she didn't end up visiting it at all; or this man is lying. I think the latter is more likely; I noticed his eyes were shifty earlier.
Just as I was about to ring the doorbell again, I suddenly faintly heard my cell phone ringing.
It was a piano piece as the ringtone, not from my phone; it was coming from inside the door.
The phone rang for a while and then stopped; the man answered it.
I clenched my fist immediately.
That day I bought that Nokia 6111, and I made sure to set the ringtone beforehand, so I remember it very clearly. It was this piano piece. I think He Xi would like this unpretentious yet refreshing and comfortable piece.
Could it be such a coincidence?
I rang the doorbell loudly, once, twice, three times. Then I started banging on the door.
The man inside initially ignored me, but after a full five minutes, the door was suddenly pulled open.
"Are you fucking crazy? Are you looking for death? I told you no one came yesterday," he yelled at me, baring his teeth.
"Let me see the phone you just used." The man's expression changed, and he said, "Why should I show it to you?" His voice had unconsciously become a little softer than before.
"Give it to me or not?!" I couldn't hold back and yelled at him.
The man shrank back and forced himself to reply, "Are you out of your mind? If you don't leave, I'm calling the police." He then tried to close the door.
I steeled myself. The worst that could happen was administrative detention; if a fight broke out, most of the villagers probably wouldn't care about this family. I kicked the door open, sending the man staggering backward.
I strode through the door, grabbed the man by the collar, and punched him hard in the stomach. The man's face immediately contorted in pain.
“Tell me, what have you done?” I shook his neck violently.
The violent shaking caused something to fall out of his clothes and land on the ground. I looked down and saw it was the brand-new Nokia 611l. I was stunned for a moment, and the man took the opportunity to break free from my grasp.
"Little Yellow, Little Yellow, bite him!" he shouted.
A yellow dog ran out of the house, barking loudly.
"What the hell are you yelling for!" I roared at the dead dog, my heart filled with worry and anger that I had nowhere to vent.
The dog immediately fell silent, but still charged straight at me.
I glared at it and went to kick it hard, but to my surprise, the dog took a few steps in front of me, turned a corner, ran past me, and dashed out the door.
I was stunned for a moment, not expecting this dog to be such a coward, and then I realized that the man had already disappeared.
I hesitated for a moment, then decided not to chase after him and turned to walk back into the house.
"He Xi! He Xi!" My shouts echoed in the empty house. I went from the first floor to the third floor, opening every room to look inside, but I couldn't find He Xi anywhere.
I checked again from the third floor down, but still nothing. This time I even checked under the bed in the closet and storage room.