Epiphanies of Rebirth

Chapter 97

Views:

The Golden Triangle region, the border of Thailand, and the banks of the Mekong River have a hot climate all year round.

It looks no different from many ordinary cities, except that the urban construction and sanitation are a little messy. The simple residents do not feel that they are living in danger all year round. When there are festivals, they ride elephants to parade through the streets to celebrate, and men and women in traditional costumes can be seen singing and dancing everywhere. Tourist buses bring curious guests to the midst of the group to play together. This is a tourist project that has only become popular in recent years. It has brought extremely rich income to this small town with few frontiers and suitable industrial development. Looking at the happy smiles on the faces of these residents, it is hard to imagine that this place was still under the control of the Golden Triangle drug lord a few years ago.

All of this is due to the sudden tightening of the crackdown and control on drugs by several countries in the Golden Triangle region in recent years. Led by a neighboring superpower that has the right to speak, the neighboring countries have greatly increased their spending on drug control every year. The iron-blooded army and guns ushered in the liberation of this year-round dark land. When the poppies in full bloom were shoveled by bulldozers, countless people who escaped from the sky gathered together and burst into unprecedented cheers.

The city has made this memorable day a permanent festival. On this day, the people of the city will dress up and take to the streets to celebrate the Songkran Festival. The loud cheers crossed the river and led to the common carnival of another country on the other side of the river, but it was difficult for this exciting noise to penetrate the valley and into the depths of the rainforest.

The hot air is filled with the fragrance of the soil, the canopies of the towering giant trees are so dense that they cover the sky and the sun. The golden sun shines through the gap and hits a unique local bamboo building with stilted stilts. The house is very rough, and the gap between the materials can almost let some small animals pass through, but in such a remote village This is already the best conditions the villagers can live in.

Some children roared past, chased from the jungle to the open space, plunged into the crops planted on the hill, knocked the working family members to the side, and successfully obtained the footprints on the buttocks and a reprimand.

The sound of something crushing dead leaves could be heard in the distance, and the parents who were scolding the naughty child suddenly became vigilant. In the sharp eyes of everyone, a car was covered with dust and mud, and it was not known how long it had been cleaned. The big buggy came out of the trail.

This is really an ugly car, the kind that will attract onlookers on the streets of Yan City. The camouflage body has a concealed function in the current environment, and a lot of external modifications have been made, such as the exaggerated bumper in front of the headlights and the small fist-sized gap on the car glass. It has obviously gone through a lot of wind and frost, and the scraped paint has simply not been repaired. The tattered convertible is crumpled behind the seat. Shouting: "It's us!"

The children immediately cheered with joy, and rushed towards the car from the fierce parents. The vigilant adult villagers also softened their sharp expressions and turned around. It was a group of disabled people!

Some of them lack ears or noses, and some have smooth joints in their torso, which makes them much more laborious to do farm work than ordinary people, and even the basket must be hung around the neck to fix it. There were no complaints, only laughter from time to time.

Before the off-road vehicle drove through the farmland, the young girl with wheat-colored skin hugged the child who was so mischievous that she climbed directly into the window along the car, sat on the back of the passenger seat, and greeted the farmers loudly: "Sang Bo, how are the beans today?"

The dark-skinned villager named Sambo, who only had one arm, picked the pods neatly with his three-fingered right hand and threw them into the bamboo basket, and answered her with a big laugh: "They are all good beans! Here's a bowl for you! Brother Miao, don't be naughty!"

His last sentence was for his daughter, who was clutching the rearview mirror and trying to crawl into the car.

"Go, go, go, go!" The strong man driving the car was full of tattoos on his arms and had a stubble face. While driving, he waved his hands to drive away the children who were chasing cars outside, but none of the children were afraid of him. The little girl named Brother Miao even picked a few delicate and beautiful wildflowers from the roadside and threw them in his face.

The car full of friends laughed, and managed to drive away the naughty child. The strong man wiped his unshaven face, his smile was full of helplessness, and he complained in Chinese without pain or itching: "Damn, These little bastards."

The car drove towards the humble bamboo building, and the chickens fluttered in front of them and fled in panic. The animals here seem to be simpler than those in the city. If you hide from the car and run to the side, how can you fly forward.

When I went downstairs, I heard the sound of the mechanical operation above. Everyone smiled at each other. The strong man with tattoos on his arms jumped out of the car window, and climbed up the stairs in three or two steps. A few friends who stayed in the car shouted at him, but got no response, so they had to pack up the guns and guns in the back seat and follow the back in front.

As soon as the bamboo door was pushed open, a figure sitting inside with his back to the door revealed. The light in the bamboo building was a little dark, and a rechargeable camping lamp was hung above the head of the back. The sewing machine was stepped on quickly, and the fabric was pushed away from the controller's hand like water.

The strong man threw the thing he was carrying, and laughed loudly: "We're going out for three days this time, you won't step on the sewing machine here for three days, right?"

The movement he made was so great that Qi Kai had to pause his movements and looked back at him helplessly.

"What are you stepping on these days..." The strong man stared at the piece of floral fabric he was hanging on the sewing needle, and approached the investigation curiously and speechlessly, "Damn, I've been in it for so many years, now look at it It's a headache even when it comes to sewing machines. How can you not get tired of stepping on it for more than ten years? And why is this fabric so flowery? Who do you get it for?"

Qi Kai didn't answer, just glanced at the pile of things he threw on the ground: "Have you bought what I want?"

"I bought it." When the strong man flipped through the fabric, the door was pushed open again, and the young woman with wheat-colored skin led the other companions in from outside, and answered while taking off her jacket. She bent down and rummaged through the paper bag thrown aside by the strong man for a while, and found a cigarette. Seeing all kinds of disgusting patterns printed on the cigarette, she threw a disgusting expression on her face and threw it in the air.

After receiving it, Qi Kai said with a smile, "Thank you."

The strong man has understood it now, twisted the edge of the fabric with two fingers, and raised this little piece of clothing that was a little pitiful compared to his size: "Isn't this what a child wears?"

"Where are you so much bullshit?" This place has inconvenient transportation and scarce supplies. In many cases, the missing daily necessities have to be replenished by returning from the car that occasionally goes out. Qi Kai waited for this cigarette for almost two days, and couldn't wait to take out one and put it in his mouth. He touched his pocket and couldn't find a lighter, so he simply kicked him, palm up.

The spicy breath choked into the lungs, with a shoddy taste of tobacco, which was far inferior to the special offerings smoked in China before, but at this moment, no one complained.

Everyone randomly found a clean place to sit cross-legged, Qi Kai reached out and wiped his head, and asked, "How is it going outside?"

"To celebrate the Penza Festival, the streets are full of elephant shit. Damn, I splashed water on my face." Penza Festival is a festival in nearby cities to commemorate drug lords being driven away by the army. Elephants took the lead on the streets, leading citizens and tourists to celebrate the Songkran Festival. When everyone came back, just in time for the celebration, the road was crowded, and the children's water guns were inadvertently counted a few times. The tattooed brawny man couldn't help but complain a few words, but he couldn't hear any displeasure in his tone. .

Qi Kai laughed a few times: "What about the country?"

"It's okay. Anyway, the news we heard has been handed over to someone. Isn't it just the squatters in the southwest. There's no reason to deal with them. By the way." Messy hair, suddenly thought of something, put his hand into the position of the vest and underwear, took out a mobile phone that was placed close to him, and threw it at Qi Kai, "This person is your little sister? wrong person."

The smooth and simple black shell of the international version of the hero phone still carries the owner's body temperature. Qi Kai took it and fiddled with it for a while before successfully unlocking the screen. The screen was still in the running state of the album, and he saw a gorgeous and dazzling photo. His eyes lit up immediately, and the smoke almost fell from his mouth: "Yo, is Xiao Miao married?"

"Let's just say it's her?" The girl rolled her eyes at the tattooed man, "If you are willing to admit defeat, you should say eat shit or learn how to bark."

A large group of friends immediately started making noise, leaving Qi Kai to quietly look at the wedding photo. He zoomed in on the screen to examine the familiar faces above. After a long time, he rubbed the screen with his fingers, showing a touch of nostalgia on his face. smile.

Some of the friends who were fighting gave him a wink, and the rest nodded tacitly, pretending that Quan didn't see his mood swings, and continued his content while playing thoughtfully. To be honest, who of the group of them who can gather together has no unknown past behind them in the first half of their lives

Everything should have been silent like the little cloth bag hanging from Qi Kai's neck.

There was a sudden sound of footsteps climbing the stairs outside, and before the people who were fighting were separated, a child's sweet local dialect came from outside the gap in the wall - "Boss! Boss!"

Qi Kai immediately returned to his senses, put the phone aside, opened the door, and saw Brother Miao waiting outside with a basket of boiled beans. Brother Miao is the king of children in the village, a little girl of about ten years old. She is yellow and thin, but her personality is surprisingly lively and sturdy. She stared at Qi Kai boldly, and her voice was crisp: "Boss, this is the boiled beans that my father and mother asked me to bring to you."

"You came just in time." Qi Kai took the basket and dragged her into the room, cut off the thread of the work that was about to be finished on the sewing machine, shook it off, and hung it on her shoulder, "Take it and wear it."

It was a small cotton dress in a pattern. The cut was not very fashionable, like a style popular in Yan City in the 1980s. The only saving grace was that the sewing was fine. Such skirts may not be liked by children in big cities, but in this poor and backward village, it is a big surprise for children. Brother Miao let out a scream of surprise, then hugged the skirt and said thank you timidly, then turned around and ran away. The cheers of her calling friends and companions and the envy of other children soon sounded outside the door.

Qi Kai leaned against the sewing machine smoking a cigarette and watched her run away quietly. After hearing the child's laughter, he turned his head and silently cleaned up his workbench. The friends who stopped fighting exchanged their smiling eyes, and the tattooed man peeled off a sweet bean and stuffed it into his mouth. They were already accustomed to Qi Kai's extraordinarily careful care of the children here. Before this time, they had never imagined that this ruthless friend had such a soft side hidden in his heart.

This is a village deep in the jungles of the Golden Triangle. Five years ago, it was a purgatory filled with poppies.

The forces in this area have been very complex throughout the ages, and drug lords and gangsters have emerged one after another. Although the Ponka captured in China in the early years was very capable, he was by no means powerful enough to control the forces in all industries. After he was arrested, along with the in-depth siege and suppression of the anti-narcotics force, the resources and relationship network in this area began to be reshuffled. Like a ruined grassland after a fire, inside the desolate appearance, there are countless immortal root systems ready to go.

The darkness cannot be strangled quickly, just like expelling a group of cockroaches, it is a long battle that requires perseverance.

A few years ago, the multinational coalition forces finally penetrated deep into the jungle and rescued many entrenched villages. The controlled villagers were uniformly sent for physical treatment and detoxification, and the young and ignorant children were also able to receive normal cultural education. The battle in the mountains and forests is not so simple. The fleeing drug lords are still entrenched in the depths of this dense forest, and the disabled villagers who are no longer able to support themselves cannot leave their homeland. Choose to live here in privacy.

They all have a criminal record and are not regular government troops, but they accept various employments, voluntarily protect the villagers, and occasionally cooperate with the anti-narcotics unit to report relevant news from various channels, and the money they get is enough for them to live and breathe.

Not only did I bring back cigarettes after a trip, but the trunk was also stuffed with barbecued meat and wine.

It is also a beautiful thing to build a fire pit in front of the bamboo building at night, grill with barbed wire, and drink and brag with friends.

At this time, everyone usually talks about the outside world, and they all come from the same country, and the topic can't help but revolve around their homeland.

The anti-drug campaign in the Triangle region more than ten years ago was actually a rush to the shelves, because the country was not even fully prepared to deal with the drug lords before the sudden accident of Shi Nanxing and Qi Kai. Fortunately, the final outcome was happy, and the benefits of the country's early action have gradually emerged in recent years. Other small countries in the Golden Triangle region have suffered from the sudden development of drugs in the past few years. However, due to the early clearing of the land, it escaped the subsequent twists and turns.

This made a group of young people drinking and eating meat beside the fire pond very happy. Like Qi Kai, friends who came here to seek a new life after choosing to be released from prison were more or less tortured by drugs.

Tears welled up in many people's eyes when it came to the unforgettable past.

With his back to the tree, Qi Kai quietly drank the wine from the glass and listened to the voices of his friends in a trance. He only felt that most people in this life have irreparable regrets. To the scars he buried deep in his heart

For example, the tattooed man with no heart, he comes from a picturesque province in the northwest, and the elders in the family are emotionally harmonious and honest. Bad was hooked on drugs by a malicious "friend" during his rebellious youth, and since then, the order of life has fallen apart.

At this age, he went in and out a few times, and spent several years in prison, but he still got addicted from time to time. Fortunately, the images of his parents who died tragically always remain in his mind, and whenever he can't restrain himself, the alarm bell rings.

For example, sitting across from him, a little man with a huge appetite, always smiling and reluctant to talk, he was originally from a wealthy family, but who would have gone astray after marriage. scattered. Now he is alone and homeless. Only the little finger on his left hand, which was chopped off when he regretted it many years ago, and the wedding ring on his neck that has never been taken off but has lost its meaning, indicate the happy life he once had.

Qi Kai stroked the small cloth bag around his neck, there was only one left, and Xiao Poppy, who had accompanied him in prison for more than ten years, was now sleeping beside the stream in this forest with her ashes.

He sometimes thinks of that hidden cave, that overlong belt, that crumpled flower, and that morning that will never be forgotten.

It's just that the wrong things can never be recalled, and the living people must also carry that sin and walk on.

As if it was a confession to his past, the atmosphere was as heavy as many times before, and the friends finally changed the subject and talked about some light things.

Everyone was not satisfied with the poor living conditions here, the tattooed man wiped away his tears and said loudly: "After this, I fucking miss the food in Dongping (prison)! It's either sour or spicy all day long, I think I can't find any place to eat a bite of braised pork. Yesterday, someone from the army asked us if we needed any help when we met. My first fucking reaction was to ask him to bring some canned beef for the next meeting, damn! I remember when he was I feel ashamed of the look on my face!"

Everyone was laughing, and the wheat-skinned girl teased him: "If you want to eat braised pork, let's apply for returning to the country. What's the problem? Qi Kai knows a lot of friends in China, so let him find someone to treat him!"

Qi Kai poured a glass of wine and poured it on the ground lightly, thinking of the grand and luxurious wedding photos he saw on the phone not long ago, he agreed in a good-natured manner: "I don't mind, let's wait until things are over here. Let’s apply for a few days’ stay in China together.”

The heat of the charcoal fire carried the aroma of the ingredients far away, and a group of children in the village with noses better than dogs ran out in droves cheering, and in a short while the young people were covered with cubs begging for food. Brother Tian was wearing a new dress, and it was rare for a lady to not fight. He stood on the side and waited quietly for the kind-hearted people to feed her. Qi Kai used a dagger to fork her a roast chicken leg. Baba fell, with the curious eyes of a chicken.

He froze in place for several minutes, until the greedy Brother Tian couldn't wait any longer, jumped up and snatched the drumstick from his dagger.

The young figure in the floral dress ran away like a successful beast. Qi Kai stood there watching her back, and after a while, he showed a nostalgic and somewhat self-deprecating smile.

The other children were still mischievous, making the adults who had previously been somber to laugh or cry. The adults simply invited them to sit down for a meal together. In the suddenly lively gathering, the topic that was just half-talked about was brought up again.

A friend joked while cutting the meat: "Brother Kai, what you said just now is wrong. What does it mean to apply for returning to China after you are done with this matter? You can't say that in the future."

After regaining his senses, Qi Kai sat down again, and was a little puzzled when he heard the words: "What do you mean?"

"Is it outdated?" The person who spoke laughed laughed, "It's a popular saying on the Internet that you don't usually play with your mobile phone. What's it called... what is it?"

The wheat-skinned young girl added with a smile, "flag."

"Yes yes yes! Flag, set up flag!"

Qi Kai pondered for a long time but couldn't figure it out: "What do you mean?"

The explanations of a group of uneducated companions were topsy-turvy for a long time. The Maifu girl laughed harmlessly: "Have you not watched the TV series filmed on Hong Kong Island? There are often protagonists who say that this time the matter is successful, wash your hands and return to your hometown. ."

"And then he died!"

"I can't go back to my hometown! Hahahahaha!!"

Qi Kai thought about it for a while before he understood what it meant, and then laughed: "What a mess, there are so many things to say about returning to China..."

Before he could finish his words, the next second, a distant gunshot came from the jungle.

Everyone: "..."

The playful children instantly quieted down, and the innocent smiles on their faces were swept away. Qi Kai raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet. Amidst the sound of beeping flames, birds in the depths of the forest were startled.

The expressions of the adults gradually became gloomy, and they stood up one after another. Qi Kai looked at the bamboo house and compared his chin. The tattooed man quickly got up and went upstairs to get his weapon. He took off the gun that had been hanging on his shoulder and loaded it. The children did not cry or make trouble, but waited quietly for his command.

Brother Miao, who escaped after grabbing the chicken legs, quickly ran back from a distance. Qi Kai instructed her in the local dialect: "Take your friends home, wake up your parents, and find a safe place to hide."

The ten-year-old child nodded solemnly at him, and then left quietly with a bunch of radish heads large and small.

The whole village moved in the dark. The villagers quickly packed up the necessities and evacuated along the route known only to themselves. Some people in the team by the campfire speculated: "It may be that the mice in the forest want to attack at night."

This is not uncommon. In order to achieve their goals, they will use all means and sacrifice everything worth sacrificing. Most of the time, the despicability and cruelty of drug lords are far beyond the imagination of normal people.

"Next!" The tattooed man on the bamboo building threw his guns at the buddies below. The quick-moving buddies had already brought water to extinguish the bonfire. After the villagers quickly evacuated, the people in the darkness immediately sped up their actions. Everyone quickly made several emergency plans and reported the situation here to the frontier anti-drug brigade. When carrying the magazine to him, Qi Kai heard a chuckle nearby.

Turning her head, it was the wheat-colored young girl. She was tall and thin, with slender eyebrows and slender eyes. Her smile was no different from the ordinary beautiful girls outside. She was the only girl in their team, and she called herself pure.

Pure smiled until her eyes curled, revealing a mouth of healthy and neat white teeth: "You crow's mouth, just talking about flag, it's actually effective."

Qi Kai didn't know if it was his fault. He was a little dazed about the blame, but when he saw pure's thin legs and arms, he was a little worried out of concern for women: "Do you want to talk to me first? The villagers evacuate together? We are here."

Pure, who was still smiling, her face sank suddenly after hearing this, she stepped on the tree to tie her shoelaces, adjusted the angle of the bandage wrapped around the dagger on her leg, then pulled the bolt, loaded it, and hung it neatly. On the neck, jump in place, and climb the trunk.

She crawls fast, moving silently under the cover of the night, only a pair of eyes are surprisingly bright: "Don't forget how I got here."

Pure is the only one in their team who has never been in prison. She is a Lao Chinese and has received higher education in China. When she was 20 years old, her parents who were doing business in Laos both died of drug overdose. The local law could not give her a satisfactory result. So single-handedly, with a dagger, she killed the drug dealer she had traded with her parents.

Then Jin Chan escaped from the endless pursuit, crossed the border, and came to this place. In the recent battles, he killed no less than ten drug dealers with his own hands.

Qi Kai realized his unreasonable worries, and smiled apologetically at the girl who found a suitable hiding place and was dormant on the branch like a cheetah.

The danger is getting closer and closer, Qi Kai looks at the dense forest in the distance, the skyline under the night is like a bottomless abyss, and he opens his mouth at any time to choose someone to devour.

Qi Kai is the pioneer commander and needs to investigate the enemy's situation. He stood on a high stone platform and looked ahead under the worried eyes of everyone behind him. For some reason, an impulse suddenly came to his mind, which drove him to turn around and propose: "If you can survive this time, go to Yanyan when you return to China. Let's play in the city, I'll show you my friends there."

"Shut up!" The surrounding comrades who were ready to go shouted in unison to stop his crow's mouth.

Qi Kai laughed silently, turned his head and squeezed the trigger, looking into the distance, gradually calming down. He squeezed the cloth bag on his chest, brought it close to his mouth, and dropped a kiss.

Immediately jumped-

There are endless gunshots between heaven and earth.

Early in the morning, Yan City, Chengdong, Dongtai Community.

The sun peeked out softly from the gaps in the curtains, the room was quiet and quiet, and the spacious bed could only hear the sound of breathing one after another.

The mobile phone on the head of the bed suddenly rang loudly and vibrated, waking up the two masters who were sleeping soundly.

Lin Jingzhe hummed a few times, seemingly awake but not awake, Xiao Chi stretched out his hands to cover his ears while he was half-awake, then fumbled sleepily on the bedside, and got the phone, which was a string of unfamiliar numbers.

Who, calling so early, has no vision at all.

He was a little impatient, but thought it might be an urgent matter, so he put his ear to his ear: "Hello?"

"Yo!" A voice came from the other end of the phone, "Mr. Xiao! Haven't gotten up yet?"

Xiao Chi: "... Who are you?"

"Fuck, this is so fucking ruthless!" The other party accused sadly, and then quickly cut to the point, "I'm back to China, hurry up, sleep for what, and bring your boss Lin out for dinner!"

Xiao Chi: "..."

He heard it, fuck it.

Lin Jingzhe yawned and opened his eyes with difficulty in his arms: "Who is it? How can you say it and hang up?"

"No one, just go to sleep." Xiao Chi patted his back, and turned the phone whose screen was on again to mute, and replied calmly, "Selling insurance."

The author has something to say:

When I typed these three words, I felt a lot of emotion and it was hard to put into words.

There are many, many shortcomings in this article. I can only thank you all for your continued companionship and support, so that I have the confidence to write this day.

I hope today that we parted, we can meet again in the future, and everyone's life can be happy, complete and perfect.

At the same time, I would like to thank the leaders who supported the genuine version of this article, left comments, and cast overlord votes. Keep it in mind, there is no reward, only the codeword supports it.

Prev   Index