Yanzi said that Fatty and I were like dung beetles having a cold war—stinking to high heaven. We had only been behaving ourselves for two days before she wanted to pull some strange tricks and go play on the Grassland in Horqin Left Wing. However, our minds were made up. After receiving the letter, we couldn't sit still at all. Moreover, there’s no better day than today. By sheer luck, the next morning, downstream on the Chagan River near the Forest Farm, there was the last small train transporting timber outside the mountain. The only way to get out was to catch that train.
Since we were going out to play, not to conduct serious business, we didn't have the nerve to ask the Party Branch Secretary for leave in person. We entrusted this task to Yanzi, with the price being a promise to bring back lots of delicious food she had never eaten from the Grassland. Fatty and I didn't have much luggage to tidy up because we had absolutely nothing; we were the perfect picture of the Proletariat plus a Bachelor, with nothing to our names. We just put on our dog fur hats, slung on a tattered military satchel, and ran out of the Village. We walked in the mountains for a whole night before reaching the small train station specifically for transporting timber at dawn.
The work of loading the timber was done by the villagers the night before. By the time we arrived, the train had already started, hissing and puffing out white steam. Taking advantage of the old man watching the station not paying attention, Fatty and I climbed onto the last carriage and quietly lay down on the stacked and bundled logs, waiting silently for departure.
According to regulations, this kind of small train only transported timber to the large station outside the mountain, and no one was allowed to sneak a ride. If the old man watching the station had discovered us before departure, even if we had a thousand excuses, we would have been chased off. Worse, we might have been accused of taking advantage of public property and forced to attend a meeting for self-criticism. Thus, this matter was actually quite risky. Fatty and I had no choice but to lie low like two spies, terrified of being discovered.
Although we were careful, we still drew attention. I had started getting a runny nose two days ago while trapping a Yellow Weasel in the mountains. The Barefoot Doctor in the Village, nicknamed "The Mixer," was a rather "simple-minded" local country doctor who could treat both people and livestock. He prescribed some herbal medicine for me, but it didn't help. Precisely at this moment, I couldn't hold it in any longer and let out a sneeze. I quickly covered my mouth with my hand, but the old man watching the station still noticed.
Hearing the movement, the old man saw someone sneaking onto the train. This was intolerable! He immediately puffed up his cheeks, glared, and rushed over in a short trot, intending to yank Fatty and me off the small train. But just then, with a jolt, the train started rumbling forward. The engine gradually accelerated, shifting from slow to fast. The trees along the railway lines rapidly retreated. Seeing that the old man watching the station could no longer catch up, Fatty and I immediately stopped caring about the consequences of him discovering us. With grins on our faces, we simultaneously took off our dog fur hats and gracefully waved them at the old man in farewell, shouting: "Farewell, Strider..."
The running speed of this small train we hitched a ride on could not compare to a regular train at all, and the shaking and jolting were extremely violent. On the train, we felt rootless, with the wind whistling past our ears, leaving us dizzy and disoriented. We had no time to admire the scenery of the Primeval Forest with its towering ancient trees along the route. We bundled up tightly in our coats and hats, huddling in the lee of the timber, but even so, it was better than walking out of the mountains; that journey was truly too long.
After a winding journey with many detours, which we will omit here, Fatty and I finally spent more than a day before setting foot on the Grassland of Horqin Left Wing. If you view the map of China as the shape of a Rooster, this vast Grassland is located right on the Rooster's hind neck. It is part of the Hulunbuir Grassland, under the jurisdiction of the Hinggan League, adjacent to the Khingan Mountains. The area is vast, encompassing Forest Farm areas, Pastoral areas, and agricultural reclamation zones.
Horqin Left Wing is segmented by several dry River channels left behind by ancient riverbeds, making transportation inconvenient. The land is wide and the population sparse. We first arrived at a settlement of Educated Youth in the outer agricultural reclamation zone to inquire about the location of the pasture where Ding Sitian had settled. Then, we hitched a ride on a passing "Lele Cart" into the Grassland. The "Lele Cart" is a unique means of Transport on the Grassland. Its wheels, made of birch, elm, and other miscellaneous wood, are very large, with a diameter of over one meter. The Herdsman driving the cart shouted "Lele, lele..." to drive the livestock.
This was our first time on the Mongolian Great Grassland. Being there in person, we realized the gap between reality and imagination was huge. The so-called Grassland consisted of sparse clumps of grass rooted in sand dunes, distributed unevenly. The grass grew in tufts, and since it was autumn grass growing, almost every clump was knee-deep. Although these grasses looked sparse and long up close, looking into the distance, the boundless Grassland turned into a yellow-green ocean, stretching endlessly.
Listening to the desolate songs of the Mongolian herdsmen, our bodies sitting on the cart shafts rose and fell with the vehicle's jolting. The autumn Grassland was bitterly cold; floating clouds and wild grass, cold wind hit our faces, and flocks of geese cried mournfully as they flew away overhead. According to local Herdsmen, snow had begun to fall on the Grassland a few days prior, but it hadn't accumulated. They estimated that winter would arrive early this year, and just like in the mountains, preparations needed to be made in advance to cope with the Winter Famine.
Fatty had never been to the Northeast and found it incredible that snow fell so early in both the mountains and the Grassland. He muttered, wondering why the climate was so abnormal. He thought that an early winter probably meant spring wouldn't be far off. I told Fatty, "The Ancient People said that snow flies in the Hu territory as early as the tenth month. 'Hu territory' refers to the lands beyond the frontier inhabited by the Hu people. I think we’ve entered Hu territory..."
While sitting on the Lele Cart, we chatted briefly about the scenery of this high and distant place. As we talked, the topic shifted to our comrade Ding Sitian, whom we were about to reunite with. The image of her tying two pigtails, wearing a military cap, dancing the loyalty dance on the train, and teaching passengers revolutionary songs, once made both Fatty and me marvel as if she were a celestial being. We thought she was truly too beautiful and talented. At that time, we probably already had some nascent feelings of first love, but given the social atmosphere then, we never said it directly. Perhaps we didn't even think that way at all. It was only much later, as the years passed, that we realized such feelings might have existed.
Now that the reunion was imminent, I felt my heart rate accelerating. Could our revolutionary friendship as close comrades-in-arms advance further? If so, I would stay on the Grassland and not return to the Greater Khingan Range. I immediately discussed it with Fatty, wanting him to help me ask Ding Sitian what my position was in her heart.
Fatty immediately shook his head: "Hey Old Hu, can we not be so impure? I was just about to ask you to help me ask her what my standing is in her heart. Why are you asking me to go first?"
I thought to myself, *So you have that wicked idea too, you brat!* I said to Fatty, "How have I treated you normally? Touch your conscience and tell me. Comrade Lenin said that to forget the past means betrayal."
Fatty put on his shameless expression and replied, "You've always treated me well, of course. You treat me just like a real brother. So I thought... at the critical moment, you would definitely think of me first, right? Isn't that right?" We argued for a long time, reaching a stalemate. In the end, we had to compromise and decided to separately ask Ding Sitian on behalf of the other to see who had a chance.