sunset mountains

There is a big pagoda tree outside Lao Yao's courtyard, and several old men with white hair set up a small table underneath, and they are playing chess there in a circle.

Xiao Yan had nothing to do before he finished his meal, so he stood under the tree and watched for a while.

The old men shouted angrily, the wooden chess pieces crackled when they touched each other, Xiao Yan didn't guess that the chess set probably had cracks.

He glanced at the chess game over the heads of several old men, and then looked away.

I don't understand.

In fact, my father told him many times, it seems to be "a horse walks in the sun, like a field", but it may also be "a horse walks in a field, like a day".

He stared at the unpredictable chess game for a while, and then he was stunned. When he realized it, there was already a person standing beside him.

Wei Chi didn't know when he came out, he was standing with him watching a chess game, when he noticed him, he nodded and greeted him.

He changed his clothes, not the same as returning the farm tools just now.

Xiao Yan is not afraid of the cold, but he is also wearing a fleece long-sleeved sweater at the moment. Wei Chi is wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt with the cuffs rolled up, half of his arms are exposed, and his muscle lines are obvious.

Everyone has come to the front, it would be impolite not to speak anymore, Xiao Yanwei thought about it, and asked without embarrassment, "Going out?"

"No." Wei Chi shook his head.

Xiao Yan didn't know what to say, so he just nodded to show that he understood, which meant that he should go if he was busy.

But as a college student in the village, Wei Chi's ability to read people's faces was not as good as those of the fellow villagers, not as good as Lao Yao, and even not as good as Yao Dabao.

He didn't seem to notice that Xiao Yanwei didn't want to talk, he still stood side by side with Xiao Yanwei watching the old men play chess.

Xiao Yanwei couldn't bear it, and was about to withdraw first.

As soon as he moved, Wei Chi glanced at him, "Uncle Yao said you came from the capital? I came from there too."

Xiao Yanwei was stunned for a moment, stopped in his footsteps, and shook his head, "No."

Wei Chi raised his eyebrows, as if surprised.

"I don't remember where I came from." Xiao Yanwei lowered his head and smiled, mocking himself, "At this time two years ago, I set off from the capital."

Wei Chi also smiled, his tone was a little teasing, but not annoying, "I don't remember where it came from?"

Xiao Yan didn't shake his head, didn't speak again, and continued to stare at the chessboard under the tree that hadn't been decided yet.

How long has it been since he watched people play chess like this? Xiao Yanwei thought about it, and felt that it had been a long time. The last time he watched people play chess was when he was a child, and he was only Yao Dabao's age, riding on his father's neck and making people blind command.

But in fact, thinking about it carefully, he seems to have nothing serious in the past two years, running all over the place, so why doesn't he have time to watch people play chess?

Wei Chi followed his gaze, "Do you understand?"

"I don't understand." Xiao Yanwei told the truth.

"Didn't you learn it when you were young?" Wei Chi asked.

Xiao Yanwei licked his lips, his eyes dimmed slightly, "I learned it, but I didn't."

The change in his mood was not very obvious, but Wei Chi still noticed it. He turned his head to look at Xiao Yanwei, and didn't continue to ask.

Before Xiao Yan finished speaking, he became quiet again.

His skin is very fair, which is completely different from the rough skin that has been exposed to the wind and sun for years of farm work here, which is very special.

Although the dress is very casual, it still looks out of place in this mid-level area, which is not closed but definitely not modern.

When Wei Chi first met Xiao Yanwei in the morning, his long legs were wronged and awkwardly bent beside Lao Yao's low table, holding a shallow bowl with no artistic sense in his slender fingers, and he drank it one after another. Eating porridge, it is very similar to looking at the distance without emotion now.

Wei Chi had met many people of his age, and there were many good-looking ones, but when he first saw Xiao Yanwei in the morning, his eyes still burned.

Realizing that he was staring at Xiao Yanwei, Wei Chi coughed lightly in embarrassment, trying to continue the topic just now, "Why didn't you learn it?"

Xiao Yan didn't blink, didn't look at Wei Chi, just when Wei Chi thought he wouldn't answer, he said softly: "My father didn't teach me."

"I don't have a father," he said.

When he spoke, his tone was very calm, and he even twitched the corner of his mouth slightly, not knowing whether he was comforting Wei Chi or himself.

Wei Chi was taken aback for a moment, then pursed his lips, "Sorry."

Xiao Yan shook his head, "There's nothing to be sorry for, I've already forgotten."

Wei Chi mentioned his sadness, stopped talking for a while, and stood quietly beside him, his eyes drifted to Xiao Yanwei involuntarily.

"Why did you come here?" Wei Chi asked.

This is not a tourist city, there are no characteristic industries, and there is almost no development potential.

In recent years, the only foreigner in the village is a teacher who volunteered to go to the countryside.

"I didn't want to come." Xiao Yan didn't say anything.

Wei Chi didn't understand, and looked at him inquiringly.

Xiao Yan didn't meet his eyes, and didn't want to answer at first, but he didn't know whether Wei Chi seemed more reliable or he really wanted to talk to someone, so he finally opened his mouth.

"I'm tired from sitting in the car." Xiao Yanwei frowned, then chuckled again, "If you want to get out of the car, then get off."

Xiao Yanwei didn't have any destination in the first place, so he didn't care where he went, but when the long-distance bus drove here, he woke up from a chaotic sleep, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the green hills in the distance and the clouds hanging between the mountains. .

Those clouds were very white, without a trace of variegation, floating in the mountains, or maybe they didn't, just because the car he was riding in was moving, but no matter what, Xiao Yan didn't feel that they were very free, so he got off the car at the stop .

He didn't even know where he was, he just remembered seeing Lao Yao as soon as he got out of the station.

Lao Yao came to the town to sell agricultural products, and told him that there was a vacant house at home, and Xiao Yan hadn't paid the rent and meals, so Lao Yao picked it up.

"Old Yao is a warm-hearted person," Wei Chi smiled, "The volunteer who went to the countryside to support education was also picked up by him."

At that time, the volunteers had just graduated and came here full of enthusiasm. Who would have thought that before reaching the entrance of the village, they would be confused and wandered around into the mountains. Lao Yao happened to be on the mountain, and even brought his luggage to the village brigade.

Xiao Yanwei also laughed, actually it didn't seem particularly funny, but he still laughed endlessly, as if Wei Chi's words poked his laughing hole.

When he had laughed enough, he went to see Wei Chi. Wei Chi had been looking at him with raised eyebrows for a while.

Maybe it was because of the inexplicable laugh just now that he felt extremely relaxed, or maybe it was because he hadn't talked to anyone like this for a long time, Xiao Yanwei suddenly felt a little emotional.

Xiao Yanwei lowered his head, and asked Wei Chi softly, "Do you think I'm sick?"

He was originally shorter than Wei Chi, but now that he lowered his head, Wei Chi could only see his long eyelashes and stiff nose.

His hair was a little long, and when he lowered his head, his hair swayed, covering his forehead completely.

"If everyone was healthy, the world would be boring." Wei Chi said.

Xiao Yanwei suddenly turned his head to look at him, his movement was a little big, Wei Chi seemed to be taken aback, "What's wrong?"

Xiao Yanwei pursed his lips, "...it's nothing."

He just felt that what Wei Chi said was very interesting and light, but it made a certain string in Xiao Yanwei's heart loose.

It may have something to do with "Brother Wei Chi is a college student in the village", Xiao Yanwei felt that Wei Chi and Lao Yao were completely different from those fellow villagers.

He is special.

"Did someone say that about you?" Wei Chi asked again.

"Huh? What did you say?" Xiao Yanwei thought for a while, "You said I was sick?"

Wei Chi nodded.

"Not yet," Xiao Yanwei tapped his toes on the ground, lowered his head and said, "Maybe it's because I can't be contacted."

What he said was a bit irresponsible, but Wei Chi didn't understand the inside story and couldn't spy on it, so he followed his meaning and said, "Now I can't get in touch even if I want to."

Xiao Yan didn't look up at him, "Huh?"

His eyes were very light in color, it was just after eight o'clock, and the sun was not very strong, the soft light reflected in his eyes made Wei Chi shake for no reason.

"There is no signal," Wei Chi collected himself, and explained to him, "The Internet speed is very slow, and it may be available when you are lucky."

Xiao Yanwei looked around. He had been here for more than half a month, but now he suddenly felt as if he had just got off the car and just arrived here, and he had no memory of what he had seen these days.

He looked back, and behind him Wei Chi and Lao Yao's house were two houses next to each other, both of which were not high, and the walls of Wei Chi's courtyard were peeled off, looking very dilapidated.

Next to it is the house of a neighbor whose surname is unknown. There is a small four-legged stool at the door, and an old lady is sitting on it.

In front of them is a dirt road with potholes, because it has rained a few days ago, the road surface is more uneven.

A few red bricks were paved towards the door of Wei Chi's house. The bricks were not new, some were half a brick, some were two-thirds of a brick, and there were deep and shallow cracks on them.

Farther away are the big mountains he saw in the car that day. They looked far away in the car, but they looked much closer here.

Xiao Yan didn't look back at Wei Chi, "Haven't all the impoverished counties already taken off their hats?"

"Yes," Wei Chi sighed softly, looking into the distance, as if he could see the outside world through the mountains, "but this is not a poor county."

There are a total of 960 impoverished counties in a land of 832 million square kilometers. With the completion of my country's poverty alleviation task, this concept has gradually faded out of people's sight.

Although Xiao Yanwei seemed to be poor enough here, in fact their per capita income was still above the poverty line.

Xiao Yanwei, who had no common sense of rural development, only thought of a sentence, "If you want to get rich, build roads first."

Xiao Yanwei licked his lips, "Why don't you build the road?"

"Where is it going to be built?" Wei Chi snorted, as if he was very helpless, "This village alone has three hills, and other villages have more. The living is not compact, and the road is not willing to be built close to anyone."

Xiao Yan didn't say anything more, he kicked a small stone away with his feet and watched it roll to the bottom of the tree.

"Young people have gone out," Wei Chi pointed to the old men playing chess, "they are the only ones left."

Xiao Yan didn't follow along, the old men shouted until their voices became hoarse, the game of chess has not yet been decided.

"What about you?" Xiao Yanwei asked, "Will you go out in the future?"

Wei Chi looked back at him, waved his hand at him, and motioned him to approach.

Xiao Yanwei looked at him dubiously for a while, then leaned closer.

Wei Chi put his finger on his shoulder, paused every word, and said with a smile, "I am the old Yaolian who brought his luggage to the village brigade, that unlucky volunteer."