Diamonds

To go to Namibia, you have to go southwest.

The terrain gradually slowed down, and the rich and beautiful green leafy plants in the forest disappeared, first replaced by shrubs, and then the shrubs disappeared, and succulent plants appeared.The three-meter-high cactus stands among the strange rocks, with seven heads separated from one body. The fleshy neck is thick and long at the roots, and the head is as big as a melon.

The desert finally showed its prototype.It is red, and the sea of ​​sand stretches for [-] kilometers to form a barren area that is long and narrow like a webbing.The outer edge is close to the Atlantic Ocean, and across the star-moon-shaped sand dunes, you can see the wonderful scene of sea water hitting the sand.The piles of eroded bedrock are rough, deep, and ancient, like an old man's peeling face. Time has found its birthplace, and the sun shines on its blood-dried afterbirth.

"Do you know? The name 'Namib' comes from the Nama language. It originally means 'a place with nothing'." Del the shepherd, as the tour guide for this trip, happily introduced: "But in fact, here It is thriving. First of all, the temperature is not too high. Compared with the Kalahati Desert at almost the same latitude, the temperature is much lower. It can even be considered pleasant in winter, with an average temperature of around 10. Secondly, this desert has rivers. If you pass by There are sand dunes with river channels, and you can also see bushes and green grass, and you can even see golden yellow trees near the water. There are also many animals, such as antelopes, zebras, jackals, and hyenas running all over the ground, how cute it is.”

Zheng Ke was tired of hearing him nagging all the way: "Cute, you go and play with them."

The shepherd dog pointed to the front and shouted: "Ahead, it's a meerkat, look!"

Zheng Ke's eyes lit up: "Wow, so cute!"

Xie Qiuqi: "..."

Zheng Ke excitedly pointed at the direction where the animals appeared: "Qiu Qi, the meerkat! It can jump!"

With these two along the way, the atmosphere is quite good.Xing Zhifei was also happy: "Anyway, they're all out, it's so lively, that's great."

"How long will it be?" Xie Qiuqi asked the shepherd dog.

The shepherd dog looked at the map: "If all goes well, we can arrive tomorrow morning. Christmas is coming, and there are not many people coming out, so the road is easier to walk. During the peak season, there may be traffic jams on this road."

They took turns driving for two days and two nights, covering almost the entire territory of Angola from north to south. The four of them were exhausted, so they found a gas station to refuel the car and take a rest.Zheng Ke bought sandwiches and hot drinks at the coffee shop. The scrambled eggs in the sandwiches were tender and smooth, and the bacon was slick and shiny. For these people who ate several canned foods in a row, they were delicious delicacies.

Xie Qiuqi wanted to go to the bathroom, so he asked Zheng Ke to watch the car.The men's room is part of the coffee shop. When he came out of the toilet, he smelled the aroma of hot dogs with mustard sauce. His heart moved and he remembered that Zheng Ke liked hot dogs, so he asked the waiter for one.

The hot dogs have to be made fresh, so he sat on the bar stool and waited.The waiter at the water table is a fat man who likes to chat with passengers: "The total is 220 kwanzas, you are not locals, you are going to travel far away after the holidays, where are you going?"

"Ufupa." Xie Qiuqi took a lighter from the shelf: "How much is this?"

"80," the fat man gave him the change: "I advise you to stay here for one night, because there will be a sandstorm. It may take half a day to reach Ufupa. You can't make it in time. If you encounter a sandstorm on the road, you will die, but you will not be killed." Nice."

Xie Qiuqi followed his eyes and looked at the old-fashioned TV set aside, the weather forecast was written in the scroll bar below the news broadcast.

He smiled: "Thank you, I was just trying to check the weather."

At this time, the doorbell rang, and an old man in a leather jacket came in from the outside with his hands in his hands.His back was so bent that he seemed to have a spondylosis. He walked in less than five steps, and looked out the window several times with his eyes.Walking to the bar, he stopped and sat down next to Xie Qiuqi.

The waiter greeted him warmly: "Good morning, what can I do for you?"

The old man's eyes were still looking out, and he said in a rough voice: "Americano, no milk and no sugar."

Xie Qiuqi didn't move, his brows were slightly frowned.The man smelled of blood.

From the corner of his eyes, he looked down slightly, and caught a glimpse of the old man's hand in his pocket, with the red strangle marks on his wrist protruding from the cuff.The corners of the underwear under the leather jacket were red and gray, and the red seemed to flow, and it was dyed next to the top of the trousers.

—Anyway, it wouldn't have been the result of knocking over the ketchup bottle.

The waiter turned to make coffee.The old man slowly stretched out his hand from his pocket, and put a pocket pistol on Xie Qiuqi's waist.

Xie Qiuqi froze.The old man whispered: "Don't be afraid, I don't want to hurt you." Xie Qiuqi could hear him panting, "Someone is chasing me, take me out of here, I will give you money."

Xie Qiuqi's expression remained motionless: "What if I don't help?"

The old man may not have expected that such a young man would spare his life so much, and immediately realized that he had encountered a difficult person and was about to retreat.The pursuers behind have arrived.A black off-road vehicle outside drifted and braked suddenly at the entrance of the coffee shop. The exaggerated and wild operation and the sharp braking sound immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the shop.

The old man looked flustered, Xie Qiuqi couldn't bear it, and quickly pushed him into the shadow under the bar: "Hide well, don't make a sound."

With just two actions, the other party has already entered——two burly men with guns openly pushed the door open. The cleaning lady at the door was just about to say welcome, but she was so frightened by the two G36s that she turned pale. I took a few steps back.

The two men didn't say anything, they came in and fired two shots, shouting——

"Did you see an old man come in? Did you!"

Although Xie Qiuqi knew that there was no law and discipline in places like Angola, it was not common for people to shoot guns in public like this.He took his own hot dog, pretended to be afraid and retreated to the bar, using his body as a cover for the old man.

The killer started asking from table to table.Someone shook his head in fear and tried his best to shrink his body under the table; a father with a child cried softly, and asked any question, he would only say "I don't know"; a waiter managed to complete the sentence: "It seems... ...It seems that I saw an old man who was still here just now..." But when she asked her again, she couldn't tell why.

Another killer patrolled in front of Xie Qiuqi: "Did you see any suspicious people?"

Xie Qiuqi shook his head and said nothing, his hand holding the paper bag trembled slightly.The killer thought he was afraid, and looked contemptuously, and touched his face frivolously: "Little beauty, if you tell a lie, brother will use my 'big barrel' to stab your ass | eye, you know? "

Xie Qiuqi held back his anger, his face was stiff and he didn't make a sound.

The killer thought he was too timid, spat, and left with the gun in his hand.

Xie Qiuqi let go of the paper bag slightly, and just before he lowered his head, the sound of footsteps suddenly returned before his expression changed.

The killer pointed his gun at the corner of his clothes: "There is blood on your clothes! You are lying! Tell me, where is he!"

It was only then that Xie Qiuqi noticed that the T-shirt had been scratched with blood by the old man at some point, and it was just when the two of them were sitting next to each other that they accidentally touched it.

The killer's companion also came over at this time, forcing: "I will count to three, if you don't say I will shoot, 3——2—"

Xie Qiuqi was caught off guard and took out the gun from his waist to shoot at the two of them.The first shot hit, the bullet hit the killer's face, the strong man was knocked down on the ground on the spot, he covered his face and screamed like a pig being slaughtered.His companion escaped the second blow, and seeing his brother was beaten to death, he shot at Xie Qiuqi angrily: "I will make you pay for it!"

Xie Qiuqi threw the paper bag in his hand towards him, the bullet burst the paper bag, and the mustard sauce popped open, splashing hot juice all over the killer's face.The killer was unprepared, his eyes hurt from the heat, and he started shooting indiscriminately regardless of whether he could see clearly.

Xie Qiuqi took the opportunity to support the bar with one hand and jumped over. The bullets swept under him as he rose into the air, and a row of glasses on the bar crackled and shattered into dross in an instant!The strong firelight reflects from the mirror surface, illuminating the whole coffee shop.

The waiter was so frightened that he lay on the ground with his head in his arms. Xie Qiuqi used the cover of the coffee machine to avoid another wave of shooting. The killer walked along the bar in two steps and was about to shoot Xie Qiuqi.Only Xie Qiuqi shouted: "It's now!"

A bullet flew from the direction of his feet and directly pierced his kneecap.The killer's legs went limp, and he fell down with a muffled grunt, only then did he see clearly the prey he was going to catch hidden in the shadows.He showed a shocked expression, as if he hadn't expected it at all.

The old man fired a second shot at his head without hesitation, and the killer's eyes were still wide open when he fell down.

The short shootout finally came to an end, and the old man let out a long sigh of relief.Xie Qiuqi helped him up.

The old man shook hands with him: "Thank you. You saved me."

Xie Qiuqi actually didn't want to help him at first, so he shook his head indifferently.Just as he was about to reply, another person rushed in with a gun——

"Qiu Qi!" Zheng Ke's expression was very bad.The incident happened suddenly. When he heard the first two gunshots, he wanted to rush in, but was stopped by the shepherd dog in time. It would be easy for someone inside to rush in rashly, and it would be easy to do bad things. He had to observe the situation carefully before moving.

The shepherd's sharp eyes caught the killer's body: "How did you provoke these people?"

Xie Qiuqi asked, "You know him?"

"They belong to the 'Gas Station Gang' in Angola. You can tell by looking at the tattoo of this letter. It is a gang logo. This is a large gang in the south, and they often use gas stations as their bases. Have you clashed with them?" Shepherd pointed A tattoo of the "G" letter.

The old man next to him interjected: "He did it to save me. I haven't had time to ask, what's the benefactor's name?"

"Xie Qiuqi."

"Call me Cardiff. Aren't you Angolan?"

Xie Qiuqi didn't want to disclose his identity: "We are just part-time workers, responsible for shipping goods."

The old man showed a clear smile: "Oh, you mean smuggling. Guess what it is? This route is going to Namibia, and there are not many things that Angola can smuggle to Namibia now, ivory, arms or...diamonds? "

The expressions of the three people present changed instantly.The old man said: "Don't worry, I won't meddle in other people's business. Mr. Xie is my savior, and I will repay him with all my strength when I get the chance. But it's not safe here. I'm afraid we have to leave quickly, and there will be soldiers chasing us."

They left the glass-filled café and crossed the square to find their car.

Before getting in the car, Xie Qiuqi held down the old man: "Don't worry about it for a minute. Please speak clearly, why are they chasing and killing you? What is your origin? I can't save anyone. I don't know myself."

"I understand," the old man laughed at himself. "To be honest, I feel ashamed. These people were hired by my daughter-in-law to hunt and kill me."

Xie Qiuqi had a bad feeling when he heard the beginning, as if catching up with a freshly released TV series.

"My son works abroad and rarely comes back, so my daughter-in-law has an affair with other men outside. Her lover happened to know someone from the 'Gas Station Gang', and they planned to kill me and take my property. They took advantage of I kidnapped me when I went out to buy vegetables, but I escaped halfway. If they knew that I was still alive, they would probably be angry, haha. This is a family scandal. I shouldn’t be talking about it. I’m old too. Avoid it After this time, I don’t know if I can escape the next time... um..." He rubbed his stomach as he spoke.

It was only then that Xie Qiuqi remembered that he was still bleeding. He opened his leather jacket and saw that the bullet had hit his waist. He had persisted until now with such severe pain and massive blood loss.He asked Zheng Ke to find spare gauze and medicine.

The old man panted hard: "Let me follow you. I have already contacted my son. His people will pick me up at the border. You can just find a place to drop me at the border."

People have been saved, so throwing people on the side of the road is not an option.The car of Xing Zhifei and Shepherd Dog is more spacious, and it doesn't hurt to let the old man sit in their car.Xie Qiuqi thought for a while, helped him into the car, and left this place of right and wrong first.

Zheng Ke could see that Xie Qiuqi had doubts: "This person's background is not right. How can an old man from a decent family have such a strong sense of quackery. I think his words are also nonsense. Do you really believe in that set of family ethics stories?"

"I believe he's hiding something, but I don't think he's lying." Xie Qiuqi said, "He just picks out the part he can say. As for the part he can't say, it may not be beneficial for us to know."

Zheng Ke smiled: "Qiu Qi, you are kind-hearted. You are willing to trust others."

They walked along the original route, the sky was so overcast that people were discouraged, and the clouds were coming down layer by layer, as if they were about to fall on their shoulders.The farther you go to the border, the fewer people there are. Before the gas station, you could occasionally see two or three cars, but now there are no cars at all.They walked for nearly an hour when Xing Zhifei's car stopped suddenly.

"What's the matter, old Xing?" Xie Qiuqi leaned out of the car window and asked.

The shepherd only bared his chin and pointed south: "Hey! We're in a bit of trouble!"

Xie Qiuqi followed his instructions to look, and there was a burst of dust on the sand dune with his back to them.The orange wind barrier rushed toward us like a sea tide.

"Don't tell me, it's a sandstorm." Xie Qiuqi gave a warning look.

The author says:

Hmm...I'm thinking about getting this article into V, but I'm not sure.Ok I'll say as soon as possible.