“Wenzhou, you are truly a hero!”
The scorekeeper from Xiahe Village stepped forward and patted Meng Wenzhou on the shoulder. He had been right there among the crowd, helping to extinguish the fire. The insulation on the electrical wire had been burning and crackling, and the fire was just about to reach the generator—at that moment, it was like a ticking time bomb!
At this critical juncture, Meng Wenzhou from their village had stepped forward, snapped the burning wire, and successfully nipped the danger in the bud. This made him, as a fellow villager, feel extremely proud.
“Such courage!”
The fire had been put out, and the surrounding people crowded around.
“This young man is impressive; he reminds me of myself when I was young.”
“Pah!”
Someone nearby spat at the shameless man.
Meng Wenzhou’s eyes scanned the enthusiastic, smiling faces, trying to find a glimpse of Xia Xianxian in the gaps.
Where was Xia Xianxian? The scene had been so chaotic just now—was she okay?
Before Meng Wenzhou could find her, the dejected voice of the projectionist reached him.
The projectionist was in the corner checking the remaining equipment, his face pulled into a long, sad expression as he told everyone: “The engine is broken. It seems the upcoming screenings will have to be suspended for a while.”
Sighs rippled through the crowd; the sudden fire had extinguished their enthusiasm. The adults could understand, but the children could not, and some began to cry in disappointment upon hearing the news.
The screening venue was an open threshing floor, and the main fuel for the fire was the diesel leaking from the engine. The public didn’t suffer much loss—at most a few headscarves or some broken, scorched stool legs. If anyone had suffered a significant loss, it would have to be Meng Wenzhou; that was a newly made coat!
However, it was different for the projectionist comrade. The projection equipment itself wasn’t damaged, but the most important part, the generator, was indeed completely broken. Now, it was unclear whether it could be repaired or needed replacement, and the plan to show movies for the time being would likely have to be canceled.
“Here, may I take a look?”
The projectionist looked at Meng Wenzhou, who was shirtless and covered in dirt from fighting the fire, and remained silent for a moment. He thought that since things were already broken to this point, they couldn’t get any worse, so why not let him look? He stepped back from the engine and yielded his spot.
Meng Wenzhou squatted down, carefully opened the casing of the generator, and used his own unburned sleeve to wipe away the oil inside. Once it was slightly cleaner, he took the flashlight given to him by someone nearby and carefully inspected it against the light.
The oil pipe had cracks; the rubber had aged.
After confirming the issue with the oil pipe, Meng Wenzhou carefully inspected other areas.
The seal gasket was flexible and elastic, its edges flat with no burrs, fitting perfectly into the groove—it was fine. He carefully felt the fuel tank; it was intact, with no tiny cracks on it.
After ruling out other potential problems one by one, Meng Wenzhou finally felt at ease.
Seeing Meng Wenzhou’s skilled hands and feet, the projectionist’s eyes lit up. If it could really be fixed, that would be a fantastic thing.
“How is it, comrade? Did you find the problem? Can it be repaired?”
“It’s not a major issue. The oil pipe has aged; we just need to replace it with a new one when we go back.”
“Uncle, will I still be able to watch ‘Tunnel Warfare’ today?”
Before he knew it, Xiao Huzi had squeezed in next to Meng Wenzhou, his face like a painted cat, his eyes sparkling.
“This…”
“Yeah, can we still watch it?”
The surrounding crowd also chimed in.
Meng Wenzhou turned to the projectionist and said, “We can temporarily block the leak with something, but it’s best to replace it with a new oil pipe.”
The village head of Hekou Village nodded in agreement. “Yes, changing the pipe is the reliable way to go.”
After speaking, he turned and scolded the young man who had spoken earlier: “Tieniu, how old are you this year? Still acting like a child. You saw how dangerous it was today, yet you are still pestering them with questions like a kid.”
Huzi, standing on the side, heard that they couldn’t watch the movie today and felt a bit lost, hanging his head.
“Young man, thanks to you today. Which village are you from?”
Huzi heard his uncle being praised and immediately puffed out his chest, answering loudly, “My uncle is from Xiahe Village!”
“My uncle’s name is Meng Wenzhou, and I am Huzi, his nephew!”
The little one, his face covered in grime, said these words in his childish voice, looking exceptionally cute.
“Good. Comrade Meng Wenzhou, on behalf of all of Hekou Village, I thank you for your heroic behavior in disregarding your personal safety to protect national property and extinguish the fire. It is too late today; let us discuss the proper procedures tomorrow, and we will come to your village to present you with an award.”
Meng Wenzhou shook his head and declined: “This is not my achievement alone; it is the result of the joint efforts of all the members present today. I’m sorry, I cannot accept this award.”
In this day and age, everything was about the collective. If he accepted it too bluntly, there was no guarantee that someone with malicious intent wouldn’t report him behind his back.
When the crowd dispersed, Meng Wenzhou finally found Xia Xianxian.
Xia Xianxian’s hair was a mess. The crowd flowed around her like a tide, and she just stood there in the middle of it all, looking at Meng Wenzhou with a smile.
At that moment, the restless heart Meng Wenzhou had been nursing all evening finally calmed down.
Xia Xianxian stood there with her hair disheveled, tufts sticking out in all directions, and her clothes crumpled from the pushing crowd. But strangely enough, despite such a messy appearance, Meng Wenzhou couldn’t take his eyes off her.
She looks so beautiful! Meng Wenzhou thought to himself.
“Are you cold?”
“Are you afraid?”
Both of them asked at the same time.
Once they were close, Xia Xianxian’s first sentence was to ask if Meng Wenzhou was cold without his coat.
Meng Wenzhou, meanwhile, was worried about whether Xia Xianxian had been frightened.
“Pfft!”
They locked eyes, and both Xia Xianxian and Meng Wenzhou laughed.
After a while, Xia Xianxian straightened her back and tugged Meng Wenzhou to move forward.
“Come on, let’s go home quickly.”
On their way back to the village, they walked quietly along the path they had come from. There was no other reason; there were simply too many people wanting to come up and talk to Meng Wenzhou. He was, after all, a minor celebrity now!
The moon hung high in the sky. With no clouds to obscure it, they could see the path beneath their feet even without the flashlight. The mud, freshly turned not long ago, mixed with the wind in the dark night and brushed against them, feeling cool.
Passing through a thicket, Xia Xianxian stepped on a loose clod of dirt. Losing her center of gravity, she was about to fall to the side. Fortunately, Meng Wenzhou had been watching her the whole time.
Seeing the situation, he stepped forward to steady her. In that fleeting moment of action, Xia Xianxian’s hair brushed against Meng Wenzhou’s neck and swept over his still-bare shoulder.
Her hair felt thin and delicate, sending a tingling sensation across his skin.
Meng Wenzhou rubbed his flushed ear and pointed ahead to Xia Xianxian.
“Our home is there; we are almost there.”
In the distance, a hazy silhouette appeared—that was the small courtyard where they lived now, the home for the two of them.
Their shadows were joined together by the moonlight, slanted against the bushes on the ridge of the field.
Xia Xianxian looked at Meng Wenzhou standing beside her, then glanced at the small courtyard where they had lived for several days.
Under the hazy moonlight, the small courtyard looked exceptionally warm.