Chapter 64: North Country
The winter in the North Country was very long. After waking up from a sweet and beautiful dream, the thick white snow had fallen all over the roof in one night. A long row of sharp and transparent icicles were frozen under the eaves, symbolizing the silent arrival of this long and cold winter.
It had been a heavy snow last night, and the goose-feather-like snow had been falling all night. The snowflakes did not melt for a long time in the sub-zero temperature, and they were piled up on the side of the road, dyed a dirty and messy dark black. The street was a mess, and the dark yellow muddy water was flowing everywhere. A few signs were placed on the side of the road to warn the vehicles that the road was slippery. A gust of bone-chilling cold wind blew past, and they could only fall limply on the side of the road and be trampled by the pedestrians.
This was just a common sight in the North Country. A few sanitation workers were bending down to sweep the snow to the side of the road, by the unknown thick trees. The branches were swaying with the howling of the north wind, and a few pieces of white snow were shaken off. A little bit of eye-catching green had emerged in the wind and snow. When the workers were tired, they would lean on their brooms and look at the continuous mountain range, which the low-rise bungalows on the side of the street could not block at all. In the hazy mist, they could only see a desolate and withered, dark gray patch at the foot of the mountain.
The street was still filled with scattered figures. Everyone was huddled in their bulky and thick clothes, which blocked the cold wind and also the warmth that was transmitted between people. Everything was quietly proceeding in a monotonous gray and white tone.
His figure was reflected in a floor-to-ceiling window that was covered with a water mist. He was wearing a slightly large black windbreaker, and the shadow of the hem of his coat was stretched long on the ground.
Su Yu put his hands in his pockets and silently looked at himself, who was reflected in the glass. The world in the glass seemed to have no color, including himself.
The street behind him was surging with people. He stared blankly at the parents holding their children, and the girls holding the boys’ arms. They were particularly eye-catching in the crowded crowd, creating a rare and warm scene on the street.
He was all alone in this extremely cold place, where the temperature was so low that it had extinguished all passion. But he still had to rely on the thin human presence around him to live.
The wind and snow blurred his vision. Su Yu rubbed the corners of his eyes and shrunk into his thick windbreaker. He turned his head and walked into a convenience store on the side of the street.
It was much warmer in the store. He did not stay in front of the heater for long and walked into the cooked food area. He took a chicken sandwich from a shelf that was filled with all kinds of high-sugar and high-calorie food. On his way to the checkout, he stopped at the area where drinks were sold. His fingers slid along the shelf where the milk was placed. He hesitated for a few seconds and then chose the cheapest one and put it in his shopping basket.
The cashier at the counter had the typical appearance of a person from the North Country. His skin was very white, his pupils were very light, and his hair was thick. He had a deep beard, and his expression was a little solemn.
The desire to talk to a stranger had long since been extinguished in the pain of hunger and pain. He placed the things on the counter one by one and took out a few bills from his pocket and shook them, indicating that he would pay in cash.
The cashier was biting his thick beard and said something to him. Su Yu could not understand the language of the North Country, so even if the other party deliberately slowed down his speech, it was just a few blurry and meaningless ravings to him.
Su Yu gestured a few times according to his own shallow understanding, which he had obtained from his own special observation. He indicated that he did not have and did not need to apply for a membership card. The cashier could also see that he could not understand his language, so he did not say anything more and handed the things to Su Yu.
Su Yu said thank you in Chinese, put the change the clerk had given him in the inner pocket of his shirt, and then walked into the fierce wind and snow outside the store.
He breathed out a cloud of steaming hot white mist and stood in the biting cold wind for a while. The tip of his nose was slightly red. It was almost evening, and the street, which had just been bustling with people, was suddenly empty.
There were many small towns in the North Country that were far from the information age like this. There was no paper and gold that was never-ending in a modern city. They stood quietly on the thick white snow, like a secret place that was isolated from the world.
Many families had lived here for generations, but he was like a strange intruder, breaking the peace that should have been here, and he could not find his own home.
…
The key was inserted into the door lock, and the lock tongue suddenly popped open. The door creaked and slowly turned. The cold and bleak light from outside dispelled the darkness that was shrouding the entryway. Su Yu stood at the door for a while before he gathered his courage and walked in.
The inside and outside of the house were equally bone-chilling. He closed the door, put down the key, and took off his shoes… he did not turn on the light and walked into the deep darkness of the apartment alone.
He walked in the deep darkness as skillfully as a blind man. The sound of his footsteps was drowned out by the carpet. The house was so quiet that it was a little creepy. It was as if an invisible hand was holding his beating heart all the time. After a long time, a sense of desperate palpitation would arise.
Su Yu walked into the kitchen and put the sandwich and milk in the microwave to heat them up. He had been here for so long, but he was still not used to eating cold food, let alone the North Country people’s love for raw fish.
He stood silently in front of the microwave, staring at the red light on the screen in a daze. He waited for a little while longer, and the crisp beep of the microwave woke up his drowsy consciousness. He took out the things and carried them back to the living room.
Su Yu sat on the sofa and tore open the sandwich wrapper in the bleak light that was seeping in from outside the window. He took a small bite, and although he had expected it, his eyebrows couldn’t help but furrow. He had never been used to the food here. The monotonous ingredients, seasonings… and the unremarkable cooking methods. But if he didn’t eat, he would feel hungry. It would be better when the woman came back, but the other party would not be back for another two days. He couldn’t stand it for that long. Hunger was really a maddening thing.
He chewed the food in his mouth without any taste. It took him a long time, and in the end, he swallowed it numbly and completely into his stomach.
He suddenly felt a little tired. The feeling of fatigue was drawn from the bottom of his heart and spread to every corner of his body, along with a deep and soul-deep weariness.
Su Yu put the sandwich, which he had only taken one bite of, back on the plate. His body leaned back, and he buried himself deep in the soft sofa. He lay in the dark apartment and closed his eyes tiredly, letting himself fall into an even more lonely darkness.
The desolate darkness would bring back too many unbearable memories. Familiar faces flashed in his mind like a series of fast-playing movie scenes. They were pulling at him, holding on to the last bit of hope, so that he would not be able to open his eyes again and return to the bright and real world.
He was finally woken up by the cold. The soft and thick wool sweater could not block the cold after nightfall in the North Country. He finally turned on the living room light, squinted his eyes to adjust for a few seconds, and then picked up the sandwich and milk, which had completely cooled down on the table.
After nightfall, the small town was completely swallowed by the silent night. Occasionally, a few rays of light from the car lights would shine on the ceiling and flash past. The car passed by the door, and the sound of the rubber tires crushing the snow completely covered the faint sound of eating.
