Returning to the 82 Mountain Village: An Encounter with the Journey to the West Film Crew at the Beg

Are there many fish over there?

"There are many, but the waves are also big, so my dad doesn't allow me to go often," Ah Hai replied.

Xiao Liu nodded and didn't ask any further questions. He looked down at the fish in the basket, and after a while, he suddenly asked again:

"Are you going to eat these fish yourselves or sell them?"

Ah Hai smiled, his face beaming with the joy of discussing the harvest: "Sell them! Keep a few small ones for ourselves, and sell the big ones!"

He pointed to the chipped enamel mug: "My mother packed my lunch in that mug this morning."

Xiao Liu looked at the jar, said "Oh," and nodded.

Xiao Chen, standing nearby, asked, "Where are we selling them? In town?"

"There's a market in town, and sometimes people come to the village to buy things. The price is a bit lower, but it's less troublesome."

As he spoke, Ahai put the net he had sorted out aside and picked up another basket to start tidying up.

It was getting dark, and Ah Hai finished packing his things and stood up to stretch his back.

Xiao Liu also stood up and patted the sand off his hands.

Ah Hai picked up his load and waved to them, "I'll come again tomorrow."

After Ahai left, Zhou Fangyuan and the other two also headed towards the guesthouse.

On the way back, Xiao Liu kept talking.

Ah Hai is a really interesting person.

He looked at that website for a long time but still couldn't figure out how to use it.

He said his family used to have the exact same enamel mug, but it broke later.

Xiao Chen walked beside him, occasionally humming in agreement.

Zhou Fangyuan walked in front with a smile on his face, listening to Xiao Liu chattering behind him.

As dusk settled, the dirt road ahead grew increasingly indistinct.

As Zhou Fangyuan listened to the two talking, his mind was elsewhere:

"I walked quite far today, and I have to get up early tomorrow. I wonder if Brother Lin has any new plans..."

With that thought in mind, I had already arrived at the entrance of the guesthouse.

The courtyard was quieter than usual. Usually at this time, there would be people washing clothes, fetching water, and chatting by the water room, but today there was hardly any activity.

Zhou Fangyuan felt a little strange, but didn't think much of it and walked towards the dormitory.

As he passed the prop room, he saw that the door was open and the lights were on inside.

Zhang Qiang squatted at the door, head down, a cigarette between his fingers, but he didn't smoke it, just held it there. Several ropes were scattered haphazardly on the ground next to him.

Zhou Fangyuan slowed down.

"Hey, do you guys think we could bring some dry food next time and trade it with Ah Hai for fish?"

Xiao Liu was still walking forward when Xiao Chen tugged at him.

Xiao Chen gestured with his chin toward Zhang Qiang, and only then did Xiao Liu notice. He quickly shut his mouth, and the three of them slowed their pace.

After taking a few steps closer, Zhou Fangyuan could see Zhang Qiang's face clearly.

His face turned ashen...

He walked over, squatted down, and looked in the direction Zhang Qiang was looking. The ropes on the ground looked quite new, with smooth surfaces and no problems.

Zhou Fangyuan was somewhat surprised and asked, "What's wrong, Brother Qiang?"

Zhang Qiang glanced at him without saying anything, reached out and grabbed a rope, handed it over, and lit a cigarette.

I took the rope, and it felt brand new; I couldn't see anything wrong with it.

He glanced at Zhang Qiang, who gestured for him to look down at the middle of the rope.

Zhou Fangyuan bent the rope and looked at it closely. The outer layer of the rope was fine, but when he bent it, he could see that the color was not right in a few places, and it was faintly black. In some places, the fibers were loose.

I squeezed it with my hand, and that section felt rough, unlike a good rope which is smooth.

He paused for a moment, then picked up another one, in the same spot, with the same problem.

"This is..." He didn't finish his sentence, but he already understood.

Zhang Qiang nodded, but after only a few puffs of his cigarette, the flame was about to burn his hand.

He coughed and stubbed out his cigarette on the ground, still not saying a word, just squatting there, looking at the pile of ropes.

Zhou Fangyuan picked up another one, broke it open, and examined it closely.

It looks very professional from the outside, and you can't tell the difference unless you look closely. But if someone were to hang themselves with this kind of rope, it would break after only a few uses.

The more Zhou Fangyuan looked at him, the more his heart sank.

Some look okay on the surface, but they're already broken inside; others are soft inside and out.

Only a few were in decent condition, but they weren't exactly sturdy.

"How many are in this batch?" he asked.

Zhang Qiang finally spoke, his voice muffled as if he'd been pulled from a well: "More than twenty... the usable ones, I picked out and put them over there."

Zhou Fangyuan followed his gaze and saw six or seven ropes neatly stacked in another corner.

Of the more than twenty, only six or seven are usable.

He was silent for a moment, then asked, "Who purchased this?"

Zhang Qiang suppressed his anger and remained silent.

A person came out of the prop room next door. It was Xiao Zhao from the crew. Hearing them talking, he leaned over and whispered, "Master Cui brought it."

Zhou Fangyuan was stunned for a moment.

He knew Lao Cui; he was a veteran in the crew, a very amiable person who always had a smile on his face.

He went back to his hometown to visit relatives a while ago and bought a batch of supplies for them, saying that they were recommended by an acquaintance and that the quality was good and the price was reasonable.

Everyone was quite happy at the time, feeling that it saved them a lot of trouble...

Who would have thought this would happen?

Zhang Qiang squatted there, staring at the pile of ropes, his face expressionless.

Xiao Liu and Xiao Chen stood not far away, not daring to come over.

Zhou Fangyuan looked at Zhang Qiang in front of him and knew what he was thinking. If he told Zhang Qiang about this, Lao Cui would lose face, and how could they work together in the future?

If I don't say anything, this rope is really unusable. If something happens, who can take responsibility?

Zhou Fangyuan also squatted down, sitting next to him.

The courtyard was very quiet, with the occasional sound of distant waves, muffled and rhythmic.

After a long while, Zhang Qiang spoke up: "Old Cui was just trying to help with this batch of goods; he was introduced by someone, and he never expected it to turn out like this."

Zhou Fangyuan nodded.

"But this thing is really unusable," Zhang Qiang said again.

Zhou Fangyuan nodded.

Zhang Qiang looked down at the batch of ropes, unsure of how to begin.

Zhou Fangyuan understood Zhang Qiang's concerns, and after a moment's thought, said in a deep voice, "Brother Qiang, could you put it another way?"

Zhang Qiang turned to look at him.

Zhou Fangyuan slowly said, "It's not that Master Cui bought the wrong thing, it's just that we didn't expect the humidity in Fujian to be so high."

The rope itself is probably fine; the problem is that we didn't protect it from moisture when we stored it.

After listening, Zhang Qiang paused for a moment, then looked down at the pile of ropes without saying a word.

Zhou Fangyuan didn't urge him, he just squatted there and waited.

After a while, Zhang Qiang suddenly stood up, dusted off his backside, picked up the ropes, and walked into the house.

Zhou Fangyuan followed him inside.

The lights in the room weren't very bright, so Zhang Qiang put the rope on the table and started to break it apart one by one to examine it.

After looking at the last one, he stood there in silence for a while, then said, "Let's go find Old Cui."

Old Cui lived in a room at the other end of the courtyard. When the two walked over, the door was open.

Old Cui was bending over tidying up other things when he heard footsteps. He looked up, saw them, and greeted them with a smile.

"Hey, still up so late? What's up? How's that batch of rope I brought back today?"