dognovel Chapter 326 He is dead...
Chapter 326 He is dead...
A huge black leopard was crouching in front of him, tearing something with its sharp teeth. Blood dripped from the corners of its mouth onto the ground, glowing strangely in the moonlight.
And the thing that was being torn apart was actually a human corpse!
Chu Tian suppressed the churning feeling in his stomach and tried not to make any sound. He recognized that the body was the middle-aged man he had seen in the room before, the "master" mentioned by Bai Zhi.
"He...he is actually dead..." Chu Tian's heart was filled with shock. He didn't know what had happened, nor did he know what to do next.
The black leopard seemed to notice his gaze and slowly turned its head. Its scarlet eyes flashed bloodthirsty light in the darkness, as if it would pounce on him and tear him to pieces in the next second.
Chu Tian's heart almost jumped out of his throat. He held his breath and dared not move, for fear of alarming this terrible creature.
However, just when he thought he was doomed, the black leopard suddenly let out a low growl, then turned around, picked up the corpse on the ground, and disappeared into the depths of the jungle after a few leaps.
Chu Tian sat on the ground in shock, his clothes soaked with cold sweat. He didn't know how he had survived the near-death experience, nor did he know what all this weirdness meant.
He only knew that his current situation was extremely dangerous and he had to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.
Chu Tian struggled to stand up, used the faint moonlight to determine the direction, and stumbled towards the depths of the dense forest.
He didn't know where he was going, nor what was waiting for him ahead, but he had no choice but to go on.
……
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Chu Tian arrived in front of a valley. The valley entrance was filled with thick white fog, and it was impossible to see clearly what was going on inside.
In 1960, the air in Beijing was filled with a strange smell of the alternation of the old and the new. On both sides of the street, courtyards with gray bricks and green tiles and brand new red brick buildings stood side by side, as if an old man was supporting a young man full of vigor. Qin Jingru, a girl who had just moved from the countryside, was like a drop of thick ink dropped into this bowl of chaotic soup, standing out from the crowd.
She was wearing a washed-out blue cloth jacket, with a few spots of mud on her trouser legs. Her hair was braided into two thick black pigtails, swinging back and forth behind her head. Her eyes rolled around, curiously looking at everything around her. Compared with the fashionable Lenin suits and braids of the girls in the capital, she was so unfashionable, like a mouse that had strayed into a porcelain shop.
Qin Jingru tightly held a wrinkled cloth bag in her hand, which contained all her belongings: a few sets of clothes, two pairs of patched cloth shoes, and a small bag of cornmeal steamed bread. Her mother made this for her, saying that it could fill her stomach in case she couldn't get used to the food in the city.
She walked and looked along the way. When she passed by the windows of the department store, she was dazzled by the dazzling array of goods inside. The colorful fabrics, the glittering enamel cups, and the snacks in the glass cabinets that exuded tempting fragrance made her unable to move. She couldn't help swallowing her saliva and secretly thought, if only she could live in the city and see these good things every day, how great it would be!
She continued walking forward and saw a vendor selling candied haws. The red haws were wrapped in crystal clear sugar coating, sparkling in the sun like strings of rubies. She felt the few dimes left in her pocket and finally couldn't bear to buy them.
"Hey, comrade, how much are your candied haws?" A young man wearing a Dacron shirt and frog-eye glasses approached the vendor and asked.
"Two cents a string," the vendor replied.
The young man picked the biggest bunch, paid for it, and took a big bite. The crisp sound of the sugar coating breaking, accompanied by his satisfied sigh, echoed in Qin Jingru's ears. She looked at the young man's back with envy, feeling sour in her heart.
She walked aimlessly and came to a busy square. In the center of the square, a group of soldiers in military uniforms were training, shouting slogans. Qin Jingru was fascinated. She had heard from the elders in the village since she was a child that city dwellers had a good life, good clothes, and could serve as soldiers to defend their country. At that time, she dreamed of becoming a city dweller one day.
At the edge of the square, a man wearing a Mao suit and glasses was sitting on a bench reading a newspaper. Qin Jingru hesitated for a moment, but still mustered up the courage to walk forward.
"Hello, comrade," she said timidly.
The man raised his head, looked at her, and asked, "What's the matter?"
"I want to ask, are there any workers recruiting in the city?" Qin Jingru rubbed her hands nervously, her voice as soft as a mosquito.
The man pushed his glasses and looked her up and down, with a hint of contempt in his eyes: "Recruiting? Just you? What are you capable of?"
Qin Jingru's face flushed red, and she stammered, "I can... I can farm, and I can... I can cook..."
The man snorted disdainfully: "Farming? Cooking? Who in the city can't do that? You should go back to your village and stop embarrassing yourself here."
Qin Jingru's eyes were red, she lowered her head, turned around and left silently. The square was bustling with people coming and going, but it made her feel even more lonely and helpless.
She walked to a secluded corner, squatted on the ground, and couldn't stop her tears from flowing down. She hugged her cloth bag tightly, as if it was her only support. She didn't understand why the people in the city were so indifferent, why couldn't she stay in the city?
Just when she was desperate, a clear voice sounded in her ears: "What's wrong with you?"
Qin Jingru looked up and saw a girl in a floral dress and a ponytail looking at her with concern. The girl had an innocent smile on her face, like a ray of sunshine shining into her gloomy heart.
"I...I..." Qin Jingru choked and couldn't speak.
"Don't cry," the girl squatted down beside her and patted her shoulder gently, "Tell me, what happened?"
Qin Jingru looked at the girl's sincere eyes and finally couldn't help pouring out her experience. After listening, the girl didn't laugh at her like the man did, but comforted her and said, "Don't be discouraged, there are many opportunities in the city, you can always find someone suitable for you."
The girl's name was Tian Fang, and she was a worker at a nearby textile factory. She warmly invited Qin Jingru to her home for dinner and promised to help her find out about job openings. Qin Jingru looked at this kind girl and felt a warm current in her heart, as if she had grabbed a life-saving straw in the vast sea of people.
At Tian Fang's house, Qin Jingru ate white flour buns for the first time and drank sweet malted milk. She ate them ravenously, as if to make up for the hunger of the past few days.