The only roads were covered with either bright ice or snow that was brewing into ice. There were no ruts except for the jumbled footprints of people on its snow-covered sides. We no longer looked beyond the road, not only because the snow in the yellow sun made our eyes sick, but also because the distance to the school was almost desperate. Nearly a kilometer above sea level northwest of Hubei Province, in a place called Dashuya, increasing snow caused a complete "shutdown" of National Highway 241. Since 7 a.m., I, Fei, Hua, Hua's father who came to see him off, and a middle-aged man have all been stuck in the same spot. According to Huafu's experience, waiting for the bus at the terminus was no doubt futile. We had to walk more than three miles along the road and climb over Dadouya to see if the bus came. It was almost 12 o 'clock, and there was no sign of a single car, let alone the only shuttle bus that used to pass by Shuya every morning at 8 a.m. The middle-aged man with pale face and bushy eyebrows suddenly said: "I take the path, you can't go?" Hua Fu said hurriedly, "Oh, that would be a trouble for you."

In this way, Hua Fu gave us three girls to a stranger who had just said a few words in the snow, but no one could care so much. Under the cover of the snow, everything deep in the mountains seems to return to the universe, its silence makes us speechless, its vast bewildering us. Like three white rabbits intent on shaking off the eagle hovering overhead, we followed the middle-aged man closely, as if he were the omnipotent "Dad." However, the middle-aged man was so impatient. From the Dabyashan we went down, and even if we followed his footsteps, the snow soon filled our shoes to the depth of our ankles, and in places it was only a foot wide, and we had to sidle down by the branches. When faced with a steep challenge, he would say our imitation skills were too poor: "Crouch down, put one foot firmly before stepping on the other foot." When we reached the flat, he always thought we were moving too slowly: "Are there ants biting our feet? You have to go on till tomorrow." He would throw us far behind at corners, and when we caught up with him, panting, he would straighten up from the pine tree or rock against which he was leaning, glance at us coldly with half-squinted eyes, and then turn away. I do not know how long I walked until I finally reached the bottom of the valley, where the river appeared and a low bridge crossed my eyes. It was a very simple bridge, five or six thick wood riveted together, covered with a thin layer of snow, below the rushing water. He crossed it in a few steps. Hua held my hand, but I couldn't hold Fei's. Fey said she was afraid and kept backing away. He shouted from the other bank, "What are you afraid of? They lead you, and you close your eyes and come." Fi covered her face and burst into tears. He was stunned. After a while he waved and said, "Why are you crying? You two come here first!" As Hwa and I shivered across the bridge, he darted across, clasped Fei diagonally to his waist, and placed her in front of us in the blink of an eye. He ordered Fi to go first, and told us to keep to the river. "This river ends in the Jugs, in front of your school." Hua tugged at my cuff and whispered, "What if he leaves us alone?" He broke a branch for each of us and said to watch out for local dogs. Sure enough, as the houses appeared one after another, the local dogs barked at us in succession. He asked Hua and I to go ahead, but Hua insisted on going last. Just after turning a long row of houses, Hua's scream burst through the air. We turned back and ran to meet the galloping Hua. With dishevelled hair, she didn't stop until she ran past us, pointing to her left leg in shock and saying, "Dog!" He crouched down and lifted the corners of Hua's pants, which were torn in two. Hua shouted, "There are so many dogs on the road. You can't leave us." He said nothing. He pulled his thick lips. From then on, we kept the formation he wanted, and he left the rear. We were no longer in danger, nor did we speak, except to hear the rapid "creak" of stepping in the snow.

The sky is getting darker and darker, snow began to fly, fear in the bottomless silence constantly accumulated, like a boundless mountain down. How much longer will it snow? How much further do we have to go? What can we break through, even if we keep pushing forward with our sore feet? When I heard the sound of frostbite cracking in my right heel in my fanaticism, I broke down, and for a moment my tears seemed to drown the river around me. The river was whispering in the dark, but I was so overwhelmed with grief in the wilderness that I completely ignored the other three. I squatted in the snow sobbing, Ren Hua and Fei La, but would not get up. He walked around rubbing his hands together, then suddenly he shouted, "What's the matter? Speak!" I thought that the thunder in the sky had exploded, and instinctively bounced up, forgetting to cry, and forget the pain, until the cold wind wrapped with snow into the open mouth, it was completely awake. Huge injustice and anger prompted me to go, but the sudden action but let shoes and frostbite produced a fierce friction, a sharp pain, I "ah" a sound fell down. He staggered and grabbed my coat, caught me on the verge of hitting the snow, and threw me over his back. I tried to prop up the upper body, trying to pull down, but his hands like iron pliers, firmly around my legs, completely unable to move. 'Don't move!' he said gruffly. Say, what's the matter?" I bit my lip and let the tears run across my face. He did not ask again, but said for the first time: "I know you are very hungry, just hold on a little longer, we will reach the mouth of the Xia, to my third aunt's house for dinner." I saw Hua and Fei taking long steps, and I leaned down on his not very thick back. He seemed to gasp, his hand slightly loose. It was dark and he knocked on the door of a house down the road. A woman with gray hair, wearing a padded padded jacket with a digress, exclaimed: "Nothing? What is this for?" He said: "Hungry, cook something to eat." Three great aunt shredded radish and cabbage in leftover rice, plus scallion, cooked a big pot of hot rice. We gorged ourselves by the roaring fire. He said to the three aunt: "Find two rags to me." He tore the clothes into six pieces, kneaded and kneaded them, and made us take off our shoes, dry our feet first with the corners of the discarded clothes, and then bind them up one by one. When it was my turn, see I shrink back, he pulled my leg, will my right foot raised, wrinkled black sword like eyebrows, like to look at the study for a while, looking at the three aunts asked: "sheep oil?" Three great aunt down eyes said: "a little bit left, it is difficult to get." He stared at her until she took out the lamb oil. He melted the little lump of lamb oil and applied it in circles to my heels. It was so hot that every time he applied it, I wanted to pull my foot back, but I resisted. I saw several white hairs on his swaying head. After wrapping, he let me go down to try, and sure enough, much better. He waved and we obediently lined up. Three aunt said: "so late or stay first." He said, "If you are a student, you have to be disciplined. You can't miss class tomorrow." Three aunt skimming mouth: "is really a two leng son, on you seriously. Wait, light a torch." He whispered: "No, the snow road is already light, leave a door for me." Right out the gate, he got me on his back. The snow had stopped and the night was getting deeper. He asked us to take turns singing songs and telling stories. He told a few himself, but they were dry and not attractive at all. At one point, he put me down and told me to walk on my own, only to be lifted back onto his back after a short walk. When we finally reached the school gate, all three of us crouched on the ground, clutching the bars like the arms of a family member, and wailing. He said to the doorman, "Over to you." Then he touched me hard on the head. Uncle shouted: "Where are you going? It's already one o 'clock." He did not answer, nor did he look back, and soon disappeared into the depths of the weeping willows at the edge of the pond. It was 1987. From noon on January 1 to early morning on January 2, three 13-year-old girls walked 60 miles with him through the ice and snow. That's the only time the three of us have ever seen him.