Ice is not averse to deception

Watching the mother and daughter walk away, Liu Ruo's heart remained unsettled for a long time.

In the face of time, everything seems so small and pale. Liu Ruo even thought that if she were the old lady and had the same experience, she would make the same choice as the old lady.

When Liu Ruo returned to the hotel with a dejected look, Sun Bing and Wu Dayong had already arrived at the entrance of the ice sculpture factory.

Located far from the city center in the northeast of Yanji, the ice sculpture factory is built against the mountain. Although the factory is quite large, the mottled rust on the nameplate shows that its former glory has gradually faded and it has lost its luster.

The road in front of the gate was rough and dilapidated, making it difficult for Sun Bing and his group to walk.

When the group arrived at the factory, it was already past 10 p.m. The factory gates were tightly closed, and they could occasionally hear dogs barking from the yard.

"Is this the ice sculpture factory you mentioned?" Wu Dayong frowned, his eyes filled with worry as he looked at Dongmei.

"Wait."

Dongmei picked up a twig from the side, thinking she was going to knock on the door, but instead she threw it directly towards the gatekeeper in the yard.

The branch fell squarely onto the door of the security room.

"Who?!" A deep voice then rang out, and a man in his forties walked over.

As soon as he stepped outside, an old yellow dog came up to him and wagged its tail.

Seeing that the old yellow dog didn't bark, the man seemed to have guessed something. Without asking who was outside the door, he simply picked up the key and opened the door.

"Old Zhang, you're still awake?" Dongmei said with a smile.

Old Zhang and Dongmei seemed to know each other quite well, and Old Zhang didn't hold back at all: "Can you be a little gentler in the future? How can a girl get married if she's so violent all the time?"

Dongmei chuckled and then led Sun Bing and the others into the factory.

"Where's Lao Chen? Isn't he here?" Dongmei asked the man called Lao Zhang.

Old Zhang shook his head, looking somewhat dejected: "He went out, said he was having dinner with a big boss, and probably won't be back today." At this point, Old Zhang suddenly blurted out, "Uncertain."

Sun Bing didn't know what Lao Zhang meant, but seeing the branches of varying lengths scattered at the entrance of the security room, she realized that this peculiar knocking method at the East Gate was obviously not the first time it had been used.

As soon as the old yellow dog saw Dongmei enter, it circled around the group, its tail spinning more violently than a helicopter tail. Sun Bing was worried that if the old yellow dog kept wagging, it would fly away.

Afterwards, Dongmei led Sun Bing and the other person to a shed made of corrugated iron.

Next to it was a cupboard, in the middle was a stove built by the workers themselves, and on the other side was a large pile of cabbages. Clearly, this was the factory canteen.

"Please have a seat first. I'll make something to eat. Old Chen isn't here, so we'll have to deal with Bingyuan's matter tomorrow."

As she spoke, Dongmei got busy. Judging from her skillful movements, it was clear that this was not the first time Dongmei had cooked here.

"Is this ice sculpture factory reliable? It looks even more desolate than my great-uncle's grave," Wu Dayong couldn't help but ask.

Dongmei didn't feel embarrassed at all, and laughed it off: "What do you know? It's not about how high the mountain is. Ice sculptors don't care that much. They put all their energy into the surface. It's unnecessary."

This statement aligns with Sun Bing's viewpoint. Just like his seal-carving shop, despite its outdated appearance, it doesn't actually make much money.

As they ate and chatted, Sun Bing gradually learned some of the details.

This ice sculpture factory is the oldest in Yanji. It used to be a state-owned factory, and I grew up working for the government.

Later, with the rise of the market economy, the factory became privately owned. The old factory manager kept a large number of ice sculptors, which made a significant contribution to the employment rate in Yanji.

At first, the factory was doing quite well. After all, it was the oldest ice sculpture factory, and it had considerable influence in Yanji based on seniority alone.

But later the ice sculpture factory gradually faded into obscurity.

As the market economy develops stronger, factories suddenly find that the old system of seniority-based promotion no longer works.

Because of its remote location, poor economic performance, and low wages, the factory has very few young people; most of the workers are old craftsmen struggling to survive, maintaining the factory's daily operations.

"The factory is already in such a state, why insist on continuing? Wouldn't it be better to transfer it?" Sun Bing asked Dongmei.

Dongmei pouted: "That won't do. Don't look down on this factory. It's still a big name in the ice sculpture industry. Having an elder in the family keeps the young people motivated, right? We can't just give up so easily."

At this moment, Sun Bing still didn't understand the meaning of Dongmei's words.

After finishing their meal, Dongmei took Sun Bing and the others to the factory dormitory.

It's called a dormitory, but it's actually just a row of old brick and tile houses, reminiscent of the scenes in old movies about educated youth going to the countryside.

There are two rows of dormitories, standing in the northeast corner of the factory area. Although they look a bit old, the blue brick roads and red brick houses look very neat and quiet.

Two rows of old houses stand facing each other, with a gap of more than ten meters between them. In the middle is a long pool. The moss in the pool has dried up, but it still retains the marks of a prosperous period, like a flower roll.

At the door of the room next door, an old man in his sixties was squatting on the ground smoking a pipe. He didn't react at all when someone came in, and he was squatting there like a stone pillar.

"Old Liu," Dongmei greeted the man, but received no response.

Dongmei, as if it were commonplace, led Sun Bing and the others to the door of a nearby dormitory room, pointing inside: "Sleep here tonight. It has everything you need, and you can sleep in any of the empty beds. Don't worry, the beds are all clean."

After saying that, Dongmei went to another room next door by herself, and soon a yawn was heard.

For some reason, Sun Bing always felt that Dongmei's presence here gave her a sense of coming home, and everything seemed so casual and natural.

After running around for half a day, Wu Dayong was exhausted. He went inside, found an empty bed, lay down, and fell fast asleep.

Sun Bing couldn't sleep.

I don't know why, but I was quite tired, but as soon as I entered the room, I was attracted by a novel atmosphere and couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

The room was warm, with two rows of heated brick beds on the north and south sides. A sizable chimney stood in the middle of the house like a flag, and the coal in the stove burned brightly, the flickering flames bringing a sense of warmth to the heart.

Leaning against the bedding, Sun Bing then noticed that several workers were sleeping in the beds next to him.

They all looked to be quite old; they were probably older workers from the factory.

Just as Sun Bing was about to lie down, an old man next to her started getting dressed. He moved very slowly, panting heavily with each step, looking like he was having a hard time.

Sun Bing couldn't help but ask, "Grandpa, what are you doing up so late?"

The old man turned his head and realized that it was as if a new person had come to the dormitory.

His face was expressionless, neither warm nor cold, and he said in a flat voice, "The factory's engine was just repaired today. I'll go take a look; we can't afford any more problems."

The old man then staggered out the door.

Sun Bing was still thinking about whether to help, but the old man refused. His good intentions were not appreciated, and he was not even respected. The old man simply said, "Don't make things worse," and walked away.

Then Sun Bing never saw the old man return.

After dozing off for a while, whether he had slept for a long time or had just fallen asleep, Sun Bing was suddenly awakened by a wail.

Following the sound, Sun Bing quickly spotted an old man who was wailing incessantly as if he were having a nightmare.

Sun Bing nudged the old man, but the wailing showed no sign of stopping, which instantly made Sun Bing tense. She worried that the old man might have some kind of illness and feared that they might waste time.

But no matter how he shook the old man, he couldn't wake him up. In desperation, he simply put on his clothes and went to the side to call Dongmei over.

Dongmei seemed unfazed. As soon as she entered, she took out a box of medicine from the drawer of the table next to her, took out two pieces, and then asked Sun Bing to help the old man up.

The old man didn't open his eyes the whole time, and the wailing stopped shortly after he took the medicine.

"Old Cai... isn't the old man who sleeps here?"

Following the direction Dongmei was pointing, Sun Bing immediately realized: "He said he went to the factory to check on the engines, but he hasn't come back for a long time. He..."

Sun Bing pointed to the old man on the bed who had stopped wailing, and Dongmei immediately understood what he meant.

"It's my old problem, phantom pain. It's nothing serious, go to sleep early. You don't need to get up too early tomorrow, sleep in a little longer."

After Dongmei finished speaking, she went back, which made Sun Bing even more unable to sleep.

I have to say, the people here are quite strange.