On the fourth day of the first lunar month in 1996, I sat dozing off by the window of a green-skinned train.
Transportation in the nineties was far less convenient than it is today.
I left home at noon on the second day, but it wasn't until the afternoon of the third that I managed to buy a train ticket to Diannan in the provincial capital.
The small train station in the county seat where I had stabbed Wang Hai only had trains going to Yangcheng in Guangdong; there were no other routes.
I had no choice but to go to the provincial capital first.
After squeezing on the green-skinned train for over thirty hours, I finally arrived in Honghe Prefecture, Diannan.
Diannan and Guizhou belong to the same Southwest region, so the dialect and eating habits aren't too different, though there are more ethnic minorities here.
Speaking of which, let me ask you guys something funny. I know a buddy from Diannan who told me there's an ethnic minority there—I forget which one exactly—that has a festival called the "Breast-Touching Festival."
As the name implies, on this festival day, you can touch freely.
I've traveled to many places in Diannan over the years and celebrated festivals with many ethnic minority brothers and sisters, but I've never encountered this Breast-Touching Festival.
I once suspected that son of a bitch was lying to me.
I wonder if any friends here have seen this festival. If it's convenient, please tell me the specific location.
I'd also like to experience the magnificent rivers and mountains of the motherland and the various ethnic customs. Thanks in advance.
Anyway, enough idle chatter. Back to the story.
The place I was going to was called Mile. Once I reached Honghe Prefecture, there were no trains, so I could only squeeze onto a minibus that ran once every two days.
I was lucky; the day I got off the train, there happened to be a bus leaving for Mile.
When I revisited the place in 2018, the drive from Honghe to Mile took only a little over four hours on the highway, covering 280 kilometers.
But in '96, an era without highways, only tattered national roads and township dirt paths, I had to endure fourteen hours on that minibus.
By the time I got off, I smelled sour.
Leaving the station and looking at this unfamiliar world, for a moment, I didn't know what my next step should be.
It was the sixth day of the lunar month, one day earlier than the seventh Sir Niu had mentioned.
I first got a room in a small guesthouse next to the station, took a shower, and changed my clothes. Only then did I go downstairs to borrow the phone and dial the number Sir Niu had given me.
The phone rang seven or eight times before someone picked up.
It was Sir Niu's rigid voice.
"It's me, Chu Shanhe. I'm in Mile."
Sir Niu's voice, originally rigid and somewhat indifferent, immediately became serious upon hearing it was me.
He even lowered his voice a few notches.
"Good. Earlier than I thought. Where are you? Give me a location."
After I told him which guesthouse I was at, Sir Niu hung up and told me to wait for him there.
In less than an hour, Sir Niu drove over to the guesthouse, standing on his tiptoes and looking around.
"Over here, Sir Niu. I'm over here."
I called out to Sir Niu in my stiff Mandarin.
Sir Niu didn't speak to me. Instead, he looked around nervously, then grabbed my hand and pulled me into the room I had rented.
"Aiyah, my dear Sir Niu, don't be like this. It wouldn't be good if people misunderstood that there's something going on between us."
I still couldn't break the habit of running my mouth in front of him.
Sir Niu glared at me fiercely. "Cut the crap. Get inside first."
Seeing Sir Niu so serious, I couldn't keep up my cheeky grin.
Once inside the room, Sir Niu clearly relaxed a lot.
"Shanhe, I really didn't misjudge you. You actually came."
I chuckled softly. "You're my protective umbrella. If you give the word, would I dare not come?"
conscientiously speaking, that phone call from Sir Niu saved my life. Since he needed help, I had to give it.
Selfishly speaking, the son of the province's second-in-command... not everyone gets the chance to lick his boots even if they wanted to. So with this opportunity in front of me, I definitely couldn't let it slip.
We hadn't seen each other for less than a week, but Sir Niu had clearly matured a lot. The angry youth vibe, that black-and-white worldview, was gone.
Replacing it was a slick and effortless demeanor, much like Captain Xu's.
"Shanhe, no matter what your purpose for coming is, I'll remember this. Consider it a favor I owe you."
I shook my head. "Just call me Number Two like they do."
"I'm already here. Just tell me straight, what is it?"
Sir Niu frowned and shook his head. "I don't care what others call you, but I call you Shanhe. Remember, we are friends, not officials colluding with bandits."
He paused, lowering his eyelids, his gaze piercing into me like two sharp knives.
"The favor I'm asking might very well cost you your life. If you're scared, I'll give you money now to buy a ticket home."
"But once you know what the favor is, even if you're scared, you can't back out, because only you and I can know about this."
Before coming, I had anticipated that Sir Niu's favor wouldn't be easy to claim, so I was already mentally prepared.
"Sir Niu, I, Chu Shanhe, am different from someone born with a silver spoon in their mouth like you. When you're in the underworld, you're hustling with your life on the line. Speak. What is it?"
People in the underworld all have a bad habit: bragging.
It could just be a brawl between a few street hooligans, but they'd make it sound more thrilling than the Three Heroes battling Lu Bu—always spouting bullshit about risking their lives, loyalty, and how brotherhood is bigger than the sky.
So Sir Niu didn't answer immediately; he was weighing the truth of my words.
Moments later, Sir Niu gave a light chuckle. "Heh, actually, besides you, I couldn't call anyone else. Even if I could, they wouldn't be suitable."
I cursed inwardly. If you weren't a Crown Prince, I'd have slapped you across the face already.
Spending all this time sighing and lamenting without getting to the point.
Fortunately, Sir Niu's next sentence got straight to the matter.
"Shanhe, do you know which department of the yamen I'm in now?"
I asked tentatively, "Still the same as before, handling public security and civil matters?"
Sir Niu shook his head and softly spat out two words. Upon hearing them, I instantly knew I was screwed.
"Narcotics."
My scalp exploded. "You're in Narcotics? Your old man let you go to that department? Do you have a death wish?"
Sir Niu sighed. "He doesn't know. My dad couldn't easily move against those two animals, Captain Xu and Director Wang. Plus, I was just there to gild my resume, so he just transferred me out directly."
"He spoke with the Provincial Department in Diannan and thinks I'm working there. But actually, I'm not. I'm working in the Narcotics Department of Lincang City, Diannan."
My scalp was tingling numb.
Of all the departments and types of constables in the yamen, Narcotics was undoubtedly the most dangerous, the one with the highest sacrifice rate.
Sir Niu, a perfectly good rich kid, ran off to join Narcotics.
If you told me his brain wasn't sick, I wouldn't believe it.
"Shanhe, I asked you to come this time because I want you to get close to someone. He's also in the underworld. I suspect he's connected to a drug trafficker moving goods across the border. I want to follow the vine to get the melon and take down this trafficker."
I stuck out my tongue and licked my dry lips.
A Crown Prince's favor really isn't something just anyone can help with.
If your fate isn't hard enough, just touching it will get you killed.