1642 Chapter 31

### 1. The Phone Call to the Fat Guy

I lit a cigarette, knowing that many things were already inevitable, and it was time to make a choice.

I was in a small bar in Motuo Town at the foot of the mountain, making an important phone call. The place, described as a bar, was actually just a small room decorated like one. The walls were covered with photos of travelers, and they served many drinks that could be found outside the mountains. There were aromatic candles and other items typically found in bars, but everything was extremely expensive; a can of beer that would normally cost a few yuan was being sold for thirty.

At this time of year, the bar was filled with many charcoal fires, and people gathered in small groups around the fire, chatting about various stories in different dialects.

Although it was afternoon, the whole room was quite dim, illuminated only by the glow of the charcoal and candlelight. The flickering light reflecting off metal and glass instruments danced throughout the space, creating an atmosphere that I loved and found calming. So, the phone call I made ended up lasting much longer than I had anticipated.

On the other end of the line was the fat guy, thousands of kilometers away. The temperature on his side must have been quite high, as I could sense the warmth emanating from the microphone just from the tone of his voice.

After we parted ways, we initially kept in touch very rarely because it was really difficult to reach him in Bā Nǎi. Whenever I called, it was always A Gui who answered; I would ask him to have the fat guy call me back, but he never did.

In that situation, I was actually quite afraid he might call back because there were too many memories I couldn’t face. His silence was, in a way, a relief for me.

Thus, it wasn’t until six months later that I reconnected with the fat guy. Fortunately, he seemed to be in much better spirits and was able to joke around a bit.

After that, I made it a point to contact him about once a week, and he gradually became more open. I tried to encourage him to leave Guangxi, but this topic seemed to carry some negative emotions for him. Whenever it came up, he would brush it off, saying that he was living well with his father-in-law and that many people here wanted to be his father-in-law, so he was unwilling to leave, and so on.

Eventually, I stopped pushing him, but I still hoped that my calls could bring him some modern vibes, preventing him from becoming too immersed in the leisurely life of the Yao village. I wanted him to stay connected to what was happening in the world, in case he decided to step out in the future.