My tomb robbing past

desert old man

As he spoke, he kept glancing back, which gave me goosebumps.

Actually, my uncle is somewhat of a cultured person. Back in his day, he was considered an excellent student. However, he didn’t pass the college entrance exam in his first year, and before he could take it the second year, my grandfather took him into the desert. My dad and mom grew up together. My mom's family was poor when they were young, and my dad's family supported them.

Therefore, my mom's family was very grateful to my dad's family. Otherwise, why would they marry my mom to my dad and have my uncle work for my grandfather? Thinking back, my mom's family hoped to establish a connection with a better-off family, and my dad's family also wanted another helping hand. So, my uncle was almost like my grandfather’s son.

I remember a few years ago, after my uncle swindled 80,000 yuan from a Russian with a worthless rock, he would come to our house with wine and meat almost every day to drink with my dad. Whenever he got drunk, he would start talking about that 80,000 yuan. My uncle had no fixed abode, although my grandfather had given him a house. But he rarely went back. Sometimes, after drinking with his bad friends, he would just crash at anyone’s place and continue drinking the next day, wasting another day away.

The funny thing is, once his house was robbed, and he didn't even notice until a month later. The thief broke in through a window, and a month later, the place was covered in rat droppings, and there was a dead cat on the floor. My grandfather was so angry that he chased him for two streets. My grandfather said to catch him but not to kill him, but my uncle ran faster than a rabbit, darting all over the street. Later, my grandfather made funny faces at him, which finally made him settle down and focus on making money.

My uncle was constantly on the phone in the car, talking to both men and women, while chatting with me intermittently. I pulled my clothes up and leaned to one side to sleep. When the car stopped, the inertia was so strong that I accidentally hit my head on the windshield. I couldn’t help but curse, "What a lousy car! The seatbelt is useless. Uncle, your driving skills are terrible!"

We drove until around 5 pm and arrived at a small shop. The shop was on the roadside, but the place was so remote that I thought no normal person would stop here. The building was made of mud bricks, with straw on the roof. There was a table under a sunshade at the entrance, and not far away, a mixed-breed dog was tied up.

Grandfather got out of the car, walked to the shop door, and shouted, "Old buddy, come out! Your big brother is here!"

A faint voice came from inside, "I smelled you half an hour ago." As he spoke, the door opened, startling me. An old man with a half-lame leg and a blind left eye shuffled out. He glanced at me, which was really scary, "Is this Min’er?"

Grandfather chuckled, "Yes! We are all old! My grandson is this big now!"

I stood aside, and the old man beckoned to me, "Boy, come here! Let grandpa have a look at you!"

I looked at my grandfather, who was expressionless. I walked over slowly, and he pinched my shoulder painfully, then took out the jade pendant from my chest and looked at it, laughing, "Your eldest son lost money and gave this jade away?"

Grandfather laughed, "The young generation’s affairs, we shouldn’t interfere! Old buddy, get some food, the old man is starving!"

My second uncle chimed in, "Uncle Tang! Really hungry! Hurry up! Noodles with meat!"

Uncle Tang limped back into the house. I followed out of curiosity, but my uncle grabbed me. He shook his head at me, so I didn’t persist. After a while, Uncle Tang brought out two long benches, and my second uncle and uncle immediately went up to take them.

Then the door inside opened, and a little girl, about fourteen years old, slowly came out with three bowls of noodles. She put the noodles on the table and went back inside.

Everyone focused on the noodles. These noodles were made with nothing but meat except for a bit of chili skin, but no one moved. The girl brought out three more bowls of noodles and placed them on the table before going back inside. Grandfather walked to the table, pulled out two large garlic heads from somewhere, threw them on the table, and waved his hand, "Eat!"

Then these few people started eating like hungry wolves. To be honest, I was hungry too, and it was my first time eating noodles with pure meat. The solid feeling of the meat in my mouth—it was delicious! I never thought I could eat such good noodles in such a place. Looking at my grandfather, he had an unusually good appetite, something rarely seen. "Soup! Noodle soup! Slightly cool!" My second uncle shouted to Uncle Tang while sweating profusely.

Uncle Tang put his cane aside, took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes, lit one, and squinted with his only cloudy eye at us, "Raise your hand if you want more noodles!"

Suddenly, it felt like being back in the classroom. Uncle, second uncle, and my uncle, including Sister Hua, all raised their hands. "Hehe! I knew you bunch wouldn’t be full!"

"Girl! Give these guys more noodles!" A voice came from inside, and a big bowl of noodles was brought out, filled to the brim.

After a while, second uncle and uncle were napping on the chairs, uncle was scratching the dog, and Sister Hua hid in the Santana, doing who knows what. Grandfather took a red envelope from his bag and handed it to Uncle Tang. Uncle Tang took the money, opened it, and glanced at it—I saw it and estimated it to be about 2,000 yuan. It was 2001, and 2,000 yuan was quite a lot.

"Old buddy, you've had a hard time all these years!" Grandfather extinguished his cigarette, "If it’s not enough, I can give you more."

Uncle Tang said, "Hehe, you say that every time you come. I'm almost done for anyway. I've spent my life in the desert, and I think it’s pretty good here. Now, I only have this girl left. I can’t go back. Those people in the desert are still waiting for me to go back! Oh, by the way, you need to use the things you stored here this time, right? I don’t think there’s much hope! This desert has never produced anything good, and there are a lot of strange things too! Old man, you must be confident this time, bringing even your grandson?”

Grandfather looked at me, "He is still young, but he needs to see things. This child is steady, more generous than his uncle, better than those two boys! He needs to see things, and the sooner, the better!"

Uncle Tang said, "Alright, you should rest for a while and then leave. If you get to the desert before dark, you can start working tomorrow."

Grandfather said, "Brother Tang, when I come back this time, I'll take Niuniu with me. The child needs to go to school."

Uncle Tang said, "Ah, a girl is hard to keep. This child is also smart. She’s already almost self-taught at such a young age. I can’t bear to let her go!"

Grandfather said, "Whenever you think the girl is ready to leave, just have her come find me. She can find me or anyone in my family! Well, I’m off!"

Grandfather called for uncle to get the equipment from the cellar behind the house. I followed along and found that the cellar was quite large, at least 50 square meters, with beds, a TV, and a small compartment. Uncle went straight in and handed me a wetsuit and a breathing mask, "This is your uncle's. You wear it, and don’t be afraid of the heat, protect yourself!"

I was puzzled. Why would we need a wetsuit on land? I looked closely. The wetsuit was average in quality but well-sealed. Uncle took five sets, along with military shovels, ropes, flashlights, kerosene, hooks, and some unknown gadgets.

When we went back up, I noticed everyone was already in the car. The sun seemed to set the ground on fire. The clothes felt like they were burning me as I put them in the car. Uncle said, "Let me check first!" He then put on the mask. I couldn’t help but laugh, he looked like an alien. He tightened the breathing straps and started the van, following grandfather’s car.