Chapter 718 Finally arrived at the destination

Chapter 718 Finally arrived at the destination

He supported himself with his hands on the oily wooden box beside him, trying to stand up, but found that his palms had long been soaked with rust and oil, leaving two dark palm prints on the wooden surface.

The metal carriage continued to heat up under the scorching sun, baking his sweaty back. The cloth stuck to the iron sheet, and every slight movement caused his skin to hurt.

After finally propping up my upper body, I felt dizzy and a dense mass of golden stars exploded in front of my eyes.

His knees fell forward uncontrollably and his forehead hit the metal lock of the surveying box.

"Clang!"

The iron door of the carriage was roughly pushed open, and dazzling sunlight poured in, causing him to instinctively raise his hand to block it.

Li Zhiqiang appeared in the halo, and his voice was filled with rare concern:

“We’ve arrived! Can we go?”

Wang Jianguo opened his mouth, but his throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool soaked in kerosene and he couldn't make a sound.

He gripped the iron handle of the door frame tightly, his knuckles turned white from the effort, and his legs trembled as he straightened them inch by inch, but when he tried to take the first step, he fell heavily against the inner wall of the carriage.

The smell of rust mixed with blood spread in his mouth. His forehead, which had just been broken, was bleeding continuously, and the blood was flowing down his eyebrows into his eyes.

He held onto the wall and moved forward, one step deep and one step shallow, like a child learning to walk.

With every step I took, I felt a tearing pain in my thigh muscles, and my lower back felt so sore and swollen that it seemed like it was going to break.

The iron floor beneath his feet still had aftershocks from the train's operation, which made him completely lose his sense of balance. He was almost tripped by the tools scattered around several times.

Finally he moved to the edge of the carriage. The scorching sun instantly enveloped his body, mixed with the city's unique smell of gasoline and the bustling noise of people, which made him sober up a little.

He looked down at his twisted and deformed legs. His trouser legs were stained with motor oil, coal dust and fine sawdust. His knees were worn to a shine, and the purple bruises underneath were faintly visible.

The pain in his lower back spread with every breath, but when he raised his head and saw the towering clock tower and the bustling streets in the distance, his cracked lips unconsciously lifted up.

“It’s worth it.”

He muttered to himself, his voice so hoarse that he could hardly recognize it. Sweat mixed with blood slid into the corners of his mouth, salty but with a hint of sweetness.

It was the taste of hope that I finally felt after eight hours of darkness and bumps.

The sound of bus horns, vendors' cries, and children's laughter in the distance have become the most beautiful music at this moment, washing away all the pain and turning it into stepping stones to the goal.

The twilight of the city, filled with coal smoke and sweat, dyed the brick and tile alleys of the old city a blue-gray color.

Wang Jianguo held onto the mottled brick wall. The dull pain in his lower back entangled like a vine, and every step he took felt like he was stepping on cotton.

The memories of his quick glance a few months ago surged in his mind. He forced himself to support his sore legs and turned into a narrow alley filled with the smell of rotten vegetables.

At the end of the alley, two mottled wooden doors were half-open, and the strong men leaning on both sides of the doors were like two iron towers.

The man on the left was wearing a washed-out blue shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing a hideous knife scar on his forearm.

The bald man on the right had a dark blue tattoo on his neck and a thumb-thick iron chain hung from his collar, swaying gently with his breathing.

Cigarette butts were scattered around the two men's feet, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of low-quality tobacco and sweat.

Wang Jianguo took a deep breath and touched the crumpled blueprint in his inner pocket. The metal door knocker shone coldly in the twilight. He raised his hand and knocked lightly, and his knuckles made a hollow sound when they hit the wooden door.

The scarred man glanced at him sideways, his Adam's apple rolling as he spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm:

“What do you do?”

"My two elder brothers."

Wang Jianguo forced a smile, his legs trembling slightly from standing for so long.

"I'm here to see Yang Huaixi."

Before he could finish his words, the bald man came forward, the smell of cheap perfume mixed with alcohol hitting him in the face.

"Who are you to Yang Huaixi? What do you want to do with him?"

He grabbed Wang Jianguo by the collar, and the chain brushed against his chin.

"Tell me where you came from."

Wang Jianguo suppressed his panic and took out two crumpled Mao bills from his pocket.

The edges of the banknotes were softened by sweat and glowed faintly in the dim light.

"It's nothing, please help me."

He noticed that the bald man's eyes stayed on the banknote for half a second, and his Adam's apple moved up and down.

The scarred man reached out to take the money, and the calluses on his fingertips scratched the back of Wang Jianguo's hand.

The two looked at each other, and the corners of their mouths curled up with malicious arcs at the same time.

In the twilight, the bald man deliberately bumped into Wang Jianguo's shoulder, and the chain wrapped around his wrist and pulled hard:

"go in."

The wooden door creaked and the dark corridor behind the door was like the open mouth of a giant beast. The smell of rotten wood and damp mold hit me in the face.

Wang Jianguo staggered and held onto the door frame, but his lower back hit a protruding iron nail and the pain was so severe that he felt dizzy.

But he ignored the pain, forced himself to stand up straight and walked towards the door.

Behind me, I could hear two people giggling, mixed with the rustling sound of banknotes being rubbed.

The kerosene lamp at the corner swayed in the draft, and the light and shadow on the wall twisted into strange shapes, as if foreshadowing the unknown that was about to be faced.

The smell of mold mixed with cheap perfume was surging in the corridor. Wang Jianguo's cloth shoes stepped on the wet stone slabs, splashing fine dirty water.

The muffled sound of the iron door closing behind him startled him, and the kerosene lamp hanging above his head suddenly burst into flames.

In the dim light, the faces of the two sturdy men whispering to each other just now became clearer in my memory.

He subconsciously touched his chin which had been scraped by the chain, and the cold touch suddenly made his whole body stiffen.

Yang Huaixi's "reputation" in the black market was like a heavy hammer hitting his heart at this moment.

He was a man who specialized in doing secret business. Wang Jianguo recalled the rumor he had heard by chance three months ago.

The stall with faded blue curtains in the corner of the black market is filled with dark brown medicine bottles labeled "Strengthen your body". Customers coming and going always lower their hats and look around when doing business.

I just said I was looking for Yang Huaixi, no wonder the strong men had mockery in their eyes and the smiles on their lips were full of malicious speculation.

He clenched the shopping list hidden in his sleeve, the edges of the paper softened by cold sweat.

The faces of the old and young waiting for medicine in the mountain village appeared in his mind, making him swallow back the excuses that were about to come out of his mouth.

Walking through the long corridor lined with greasy oil lamps, the noise gradually became noisier. The shouts from behind the stalls were mixed with the sounds of bargaining. Dirty things and scarce supplies were displayed alternately under the dim light.

Someone was selling smuggled semiconductor parts, with bundles of food stamps hidden in a tin box.

There were even foreign cigarettes wrapped in newspapers in the corners. In the smoke, every face was shrouded in shadow.

Wang Jianguo stood on tiptoe and searched the crowd, his eyes scanning the backs of everyone in a blue shirt.

When the people behind the stall looked up, they revealed a smile with missing front teeth, or a hideous scar at the corner of the eye, but there was no sight of Yang Huaixi's face which always had a cautious smile.