The night was like water, and the croaks of the summer frogs could be heard from the vast fields, rising and falling like thunder.
An MPV passed by on a deserted road. After entering this remote area, the traffic became fewer and fewer. Only a desolate small village could be seen along the way. In the early hours of the morning, it was all quiet. Only the occasional barking of a dog indicated that there were still people in the village.
The two children who had fallen asleep in the car were woken up by the croaks. Having lived in the city since birth, they understood the sounds of car engines and horns, but they were still curious about the sounds of nature.
"What's croaking?" asked the three-year-old little girl.
"Frogs." Yu Qi stroked her daughter's head and said, "The frogs in 'The Frog Prince'."
"Croak, croak, croak." Her six-year-old son, the little tiger, imitated the frog. It was noisy and joyful at the same time.
However, Guo Pengbin, who was driving, stopped him. "Don't disturb your grandparents." The three old people leaned against the back of the seat and fell asleep. They had been on the bumpy road for almost ten hours, and they couldn't even stretch their legs. It was a torture for their old bodies.
The little tiger lowered his voice and leaned forward to his father's ear, who was in the driver's seat, and croaked again.
Guo Pengbin ignored his son and muttered to himself with a smile, "We're almost there."
The phone's navigation showed that they were less than ten kilometers away from their destination, River Tail Village.
Along the way, Guo Pengbin was in charge of driving at full speed, and Yu Qi was in charge of checking the news on her phone. There were no more accidents. The US gave many explanations about what happened in New York, and Phecda also made a statement, condemning the atrocities of the Alliance of Will of Life. No matter how strong the enemy was, they would fight to the end.
The explanations and statements made the world more aware of the complexity of the world they lived in, the dark forces, the inhumans, the dimensional invasion …
To be honest, Guo Pengbin and Yu Qi didn't really understand much, but they knew that their guess was correct. Even Phecda couldn't guarantee everyone's safety.
Moreover, the inhumans were constantly appearing in various places, and the strange croaks became more and more frequent.
Yu Qi knew that it was because she kept refreshing a website that provided a warning map. Be it a Mutant or a patient, wherever there was a new howl, it would be shown as a red dot on the warning map. The red dots in the Eastern State were now densely packed, more than ten times more than when they first set off.
As for River Tail Village, their destination, there was no red dot on it yet, not even in this area.
When there were only five kilometers left, Guo Pengbin stopped the car and called Uncle Quan. Uncle Quan was less than 60 years old, and he had a mobile phone in the village. Soon, the call was connected. Guo Pengbin asked, "Uncle Quan, we are almost there. Today, in the village … did anything happen? Were there any strange noises? "
"Strange cries? No. "Uncle Quan's voice came from the phone." It's still the same. Where are you now? "
"We're almost at the entrance of the village." After Guo Pengbin ended the call, he informed his wife and continued to drive the car.
Even though the roads here were bad, they finished the five kilometers in no time. Through the windshield, the couple could see the yellow mud houses that made up the village with the help of the headlights. Someone was holding a flashlight at the entrance of the village. It should be Uncle Quan and the rest. Guo Pengbin couldn't help but say happily, "We're here, we're here. Honey, wake up mom and the rest."
The two children looked around curiously. Yu Qi woke up the few elders, and everyone could hear the few people waiting at the entrance of the village.
"Pengbin!" A middle-aged man shouted. He waved the flashlight in his hand, and there was joy in his voice. "Here."
The headlights blurred their figures. When they got closer, Guo Pengbin could see their faces clearly. They were Uncle Quan, Uncle Hong, and Uncle Bo. Uncle Quan was his family, and Uncle Hong and Uncle Bo were his father's good friends. It had been so many years since they last met …
At this time, Guo Pengbin suddenly had a complicated and inexplicable feeling. He should have come back to the village a long time ago.
The car slowed down slowly and stopped. Guo Pengbin's mother had already rolled down the window. She looked out and greeted these old acquaintances whom she hadn't seen for a long time. "You're back. Pengbin said it's dangerous outside recently, and there are a lot of illnesses. So, you came back to stay for a while."
"You can stay for as long as you want." Uncle Quan nodded happily. His tanned face was full of smiles. "Your house is still there. Some sundries were placed there before, and they were moved out today. There's a bed, a stove … but you've been living in the city for a long time, and you might not be used to it …"
"How could that be?" Guo Pengbin quickly said. The two yellow mud houses were transferred out a few years ago. They could totally not let them stay there. Luckily, Uncle Quan was a simple and honest person. "It's good to have a place to stay. We still need to rely on Uncle Quan and the rest in the future."
The two children stuck their heads out to look around. He led everyone out of the car first and introduced the three uncles. "Hurry up and greet them."
This time, the little tiger head and the little vegetable girl were well-behaved. Although they were young, they seemed to be sensible. After greeting the three uncles, Uncle Quan and the others smiled even more brightly.
The ones who were most likely not to be used to it were not the father-in-law and mother-in-law. They were old. Even if it wasn't the current situation, it would be good for them to live in such a village with fresh air for a period of time. The one who was most likely not to be used to it was his wife. Yu Qi was not an unruly woman, and she was very polite at this time.
It was very late at night. There were no young people in the village all year round. There were very few cars. Some vehicles were agricultural diesel tricycles. Most of the roads between the houses were muddy, and the yellow mud houses were built closely together. Their MPV couldn't drive in.
Immediately, the car stopped at the entrance of the village. Guo Pengbin, Uncle Quan, and several other men moved boxes of luggage from the back of the car and moved them to the two yellow mud houses in the village.
When Yu Qi saw the two adjacent yellow mud houses, although she was mentally prepared and understood the current situation, she still felt a little uncomfortable.
Both houses were one house tall. They had old and dilapidated yellow mud walls, old and dilapidated tile roofs, and an equally old and dilapidated wooden door. Outside the house, there was a small deserted yard full of weeds that no one took care of. There were some water tanks, firewood, and other sundries piled up in the yard.
Outside the house, there was a shaky electric pole on the roadside. There were electric wires leading to the two old houses, but because of the years of disrepair, Uncle Quan and the others were not sure if they could still be connected to the two old houses.
After entering the house, Guo Pengbin turned on the old electric switch installed on the wooden plank. The electric lamp wrapped in cobwebs emitted a dim yellow light, which immediately made them all heave a sigh of relief. With the current temperature, if there was no electricity and no fan, it would be difficult to sleep well. There was no need to think about air conditioning, but there wasn't even a fan in the house. Fortunately, Uncle Hong's house still had an unused floor to ceiling electric fan, and Uncle Quan also had a small fan. Both of them warmly lent the fan to them, and this problem was solved.
There was running water. After draining the muddy water from the old pipes, the water gradually became clear. However, the "kitchen" was basically an old stove in the house and a few pots and pans in the yard outside the house. There was also no independent bathroom. The bathroom was a small thatched hut on the wasteland not far from the yard.
With such a living environment, it wouldn't be a problem to stay for a few days, but there would definitely be a lot of problems if they stayed for a long time …
When Uncle Quan and the others weren't paying attention, Yu Qi sighed. She didn't hide the disappointment in her heart and said to her husband, "We need to do a lot of renovations. At the very least, we need an independent bathroom … We can't cut off the monthly payment for our house …"
Guo Pengbin wanted to say something but stopped. In the end, he didn't say anything and continued to move the luggage into the house.
There were two yellow mud houses. His family and his mother lived in the bigger one, while his father-in-law and mother-in-law lived in the smaller one.
Uncle Quan, Uncle Hong, and Uncle Bo were busy. In this midsummer, even though the night breeze was cool in the early morning, they were so busy that they were sweating all over. They were shirtless, and their fat bellies were sticking out, just like when they were working in the fields. It wasn't until they were done and the family had settled down that the three uncles left to go home.
Before they left, Uncle Quan said, "You guys stay here for the time being. If there's anything you need to fix, let me know tomorrow. I'll bring you to the town to get someone to fix it."
"Okay." Guo Pengbin nodded. In fact, he just wanted the whole village to be closed off and not have any contact with the outside world for a short period of time, including the nearest town.
After Uncle Quan and the others left, it was time for everyone to go to bed and rest after a busy day.
At first, the two children were still looking around curiously. They had a lot of questions to ask their parents, but they were, after all, only a few years old. They got tired very quickly. Yu Qi coaxed the two children to sleep on the small wooden bed that was closest to the door with the best ventilation. She turned on the old floor fan that she borrowed, which made a squeaking sound.
She told the two children a fairy tale and let them sleep peacefully. She went to the other yellow mud house to help her parents pack their things.
Guo Pengbin's mother felt that the house was too hot. After checking on her grandchildren, she moved a bamboo mat outside the house and laid it on a freshly cleaned area in the yard, just like she did many years ago. She slept there. The surrounding darkness and mosquitoes were things that an old woman like her could stand. She just wanted the refreshing night breeze.
Guo Pengbin stood at the door of the yellow mud house and looked at his mother sleeping on the ground. After a while, she started snoring. She was already fast asleep.
He looked at the dark night and his heart was in turmoil. He sighed and walked over to the wooden bed.
Little Vegetable was also asleep, but the little tiger head was still turning around and looking around. When it saw him walking over, it whispered, "Daddy, I can't sleep …"
"What's wrong?" Guo Pengbin sat on the edge of the bed and paid attention to the position where the fan would blow. In fact, he had been driving for a whole day. He was highly focused and tense, so he was already exhausted. When he sat down, he almost fell asleep. "Is it hot? The bed is too hard? The fan is too noisy? Or the frogs outside are too noisy? "
The little tiger head shook its head. "I just can't sleep …"
"Do you miss home?" Guo Pengbin said softly. He reached out to caress his son's young face. "This is home. Daddy grew up here and slept on the bed you're sleeping on now … Daddy knows that you're not used to it, but something happened … We have to be brave, okay?"
The little tiger head seemed to understand, but it nodded in the end. It closed its eyes tightly, its little face filled with determination. "I know, I'm a man."
"Okay, go to sleep …" Guo Pengbin couldn't help smiling. Perhaps it was really too stuffy in the house. Even his heart, which had been cold recently, felt a little warmer.
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