In the late autumn of that year, I drove a long-distance car to deliver goods to Wuhan. It was delayed due to road maintenance. At around two o'clock in the afternoon, I set off from Chengguan Town, Shitai County, in the southern Anhui mountainous area. I hurriedly and slowly crossed the river to . When Anqing arrived, it was already past five in the afternoon. It got dark early on a cloudy day. In order to ensure that the goods could be delivered the next day, I decided not to stop in Anqing and drove from Huaining to Dabie Mountains overnight - taking the mountain road. Although the road is dangerous, the distance is short and it saves money. Time comes.
In those days, there were no expressways in the Dabie Mountains, and even the provincial and national highways were in disrepair. Although I was anxious, for the sake of safety, I still controlled the speed as much as possible.
From Huaining we entered Qianshan and Yuexi . The further we walked, the closer we got to the deep mountainous areas. There were fewer and fewer vehicles on the road. In addition, the sounds of birds and animals kept coming from the depths of the mountains, which added to the infinite charm of this night walk. of panic.
Drivers are afraid of walking alone at night and always hope to have someone to accompany them. They don't dare to doze off at all, because the blink of an eye may cause the car to hit a rock or fall off a cliff.
On that trip, my boss originally arranged for a colleague to work with me, but my colleague received a telegram from his hometown and had to rush back. When people go out, they always get anxious, and of course I can't stop them.
Just as I was driving along the rugged mountain road, my scalp suddenly tightened: through the aperture of the far headlight, there seemed to be a black shadow moving dozens of meters ahead. My eyes widened and I held the steering wheel tightly with both hands. When I got closer, I discovered that it was a young man riding a mountain bike and was riding hard. Because I was nervous, I looked carefully. This was a cyclist. His whole body was stretched like a bow. Although I couldn't see his expression clearly, I could feel his fear. When my truck approached him, he and the mountain bike suddenly became confused and almost fell down.
No wonder, in such a remote mountain, on such a desolate night, on such a lonely road, what would it be like to meet a large truck and a single cyclist?
I was no less frightened than he was. Every time the young man's mountain bike shook, my truck and my heart also shook. Soon, my van passed his mountain bike. I don’t know why, but I remembered my grandma’s advice when I was a kid, never look back when walking at night.
But at that moment, I couldn’t help but want to look back. At this time, I had a flash of inspiration. Fortunately, there is also car rearview mirror !
Looking through the rearview mirror, I noticed that the flashlight hung by the young man on the handlebar of the mountain bike was getting dimmer and dim. It seemed that the battery was about to run out. What will happen if there are no lights when driving at night on such a mountain road?
I involuntarily slowed down the car. I wondered if I should wait for the young man so that he could ride with the light of my car lights?
At this time, it happened to be a downhill road. I stepped on the brakes and the speed naturally slowed down again. The young man behind him took advantage of the mountain and chased down the slope effortlessly.
Just like that, I drove forward slowly with my headlight on, and the young man followed behind me on a bicycle. I didn't have the courage to give him a ride, because it was a big taboo for drivers to pick up a stranger while driving at night on this remote mountain road. Many people had died because of this, so naturally I couldn't take the risk. What's more, I could really feel that the young man was also wary of me, but he just followed the car from a distance. In this way, we maintained a tacit understanding, retaining our own space within the light distance of the car lights, and respecting each other. As we walked, the original fear seemed to gradually dissipate, replaced by a sense of peace building up in my heart.
Whenever I rounded a hill, I would slow down the car and wait for the young man to come up to me before continuing forward, so that the light would be within his line of sight as much as possible. Whenever I go uphill or downhill, I will take care of his speed and let my headlights illuminate the way for him as much as possible.Whenever I see him riding steadily behind in the rearview mirror, I feel a real warmth in my heart, and this night journey is no longer lonely.
We just relied on the car lights as cover, looked after each other, and moved forward.
Finally came out of the mountainous area and could see the open wilderness ahead. When going down the slope, the young man suddenly accelerated and passed in front of me. I was surprised when I found him stopped and turned around, and I finally saw his face clearly. It was a face that was tired but full of gratitude. I slowly stopped the car. In the halo of the headlights, the young man raised his right hand and gave me a military salute, and then pointed to the village not far ahead. Only then did I realize that he was home.
At that moment, there was a warm air rising from below. Through the windshield of the car, I followed his example and raised my right hand in return with a less than standard military salute.
My car drove past slowly, and the young man’s eyes kept following it. The car went farther and farther, and I still seemed to be able to see him standing on the side of the road, watching me and my car...
■ Author: Leng Jiang
Selected from "Story Meeting"
