Prose about returning home on a snowy night in the Qinling Mountains

One day in March of that year, after finishing work at Xunyang Dam in Ningshan County, I took a medium-sized van and drove back from National Highway 210 the next morning. I took the shuttle bus from around 9 a.m. and would be back home around 5 or 6 p.m.

The shuttle bus was driving all the way on the national highway. From time to time, I looked at the scenery outside the window. The vegetation on the mountain had not yet fully sprouted. There was a trace of green among the dead leaves, only the green pine trees. The sea of ​​green forests shows the scenery of the green mountains. The trees on the roadside fell back quickly, as if to see off the passengers in the car. At noon, the shuttle bus stopped for a while in Guanghuo Street Town. After the passengers got off the bus to find food or go to convenience, they continued to take the Mercedes-Benz shuttle bus. The car was on the road, and everything was going smoothly. While the shuttle bus was still driving in Ningshan, someone said that there seemed to be snowflakes falling outside, but no one paid attention to it. I looked at the blue sky and white clouds above my head, wondering where could there be snow? Maybe it’s Guoyun! The shuttle bus went through twists and turns on the national highway, climbing over mountains and ridges. The sun's rays shone down on the top of the mountain for a while, and then hid on the top of the mountain again. From time to time, I looked out the car window at the strange rocks and rocks in the creek, and the jungle cliffs, and I couldn't help but think about it.

While the shuttle bus was driving, at some point, snowflakes suddenly started flying outside the window, and the dark clouds on the top of the mountain slowly began to increase. I thought it was blue sky and white clouds just now, but why are there snowflakes all of a sudden? The weather in this mountain changes at any time! Seeing more and more snowflakes, the wind seemed to be going crazy. The shuttle bus is driving on the winding mountain road. Looking down from the car window, the road is like a white ribbon floating in the valley, and the vehicles below are like little turtles crawling on the white ribbon. Before the shuttle bus climbed to the top of the mountain in front, the sky was already filled with dark clouds, threatening to overwhelm the city. Outside the car window, I saw that the pine trees in the ravine were covered with white snow, and dark clouds were rolling on the top of the mountain, like black dragons. I suddenly thought of the natural scene of "three million jade dragons flying up, and their broken scales and armor flying all over the sky". I felt that the strange scenery of "three million jade dragons flying up, stirring up the cold weather all over the world". I thought, maybe Tang Monk and his disciples encountered some monsters again. What! On the highway, layers of wind and snow rolled up from the ground and rushed straight into the window. The temperature inside the car became much colder. Everyone hurriedly closed the windows, put on sweaters, and looked out the window from time to time. The wind blew more and more as the car went farther, and strong winds came with snowflakes, as if they were going to push the car over. The car was driving hard in the headwind. At this time, the vehicles in front and behind all crowded to the roadside, saying that there was a traffic jam in front and the road could not be driven. At this time, the sky was so dark that I couldn't even touch my hand, and the car lights were flickering on the road. Some drivers saw that the sky was wrong, so they hurriedly turned around and turned back. The shuttle bus we took was also caught in the middle and could not move forward. Like other passengers, I got off the bus to see what was going on. As soon as my feet touched the ground, the snow on the road was already thicker than the tops of my feet. Under the illumination of the light, I vaguely saw the words "Yangtze River and Yellow River Water System" written on the stone wall by the roadside. This is the dividing line between the north and the south of China! At this time, I saw nearby mountain people walking back and forth on the roadside with anti-skid chains. Vehicles without anti-skid chains had to pay a higher price to have the mountain people install them. At this time, I saw that the driver of our shuttle bus had already installed the anti-skid chains. He probably traveled this route often, so he was already prepared. At this time, I only heard the mountain people shouting, "Whoever wants to stay, there is a house here!" Some mountain people are shouting that the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains has been snow-capped and it is impossible to walk, why don't you take the opportunity to find farmhouse entertainment? The other passengers and I felt chilly all over, so we hurriedly got into the car and asked the driver: "Are you going or not?" The driver said: "If you don't go, just freeze here all night. I don't know what the weather will be like tomorrow." "

I saw the driver waiting for everyone to sit down, then started to start the shuttle bus, bypassed the vehicles in front, and drove forward slowly. I knew that if I drove further, it would be downhill all the way. There are cliffs on one side and an abyss on the other. The road is covered with heavy snow, making it difficult to distinguish the boundary between the roadside and the abyss. The wind and snow that hit us were like dense white feathers or thousands of arrows. The light from the car lights could only illuminate a distance of one or two meters. It was like walking on the edge of death. In order to see the road clearly, the driver asked the conductor to open the door and use a flashlight to help explore the road. Although the light of the flashlight is weak, it may have some effect. Once something happens, report it to the driver immediately. But the wind and snow suddenly rushed in from the open door, freezing the passengers in the car to the point of chattering. Everyone couldn't help but rub their hands and stamp their feet. The driver said: "Stop stamping your feet, do you want to save your life?" No, the most important thing now is the driver's high concentration. The wealth and life of the people in the car are in the hands of the driver. This is no joke. Yes! The passengers in the car were tensed, and several religious ladies kept crossing themselves on their chests and praying for God's blessing.

The shuttle bus stops and goes, stops and goes. Walking slowly on the snow, I don’t know how many beams and ridges I climbed over, but the anti-skid chains kept making a clanging sound. The driver got out of the car from time to time to watch, and sometimes asked everyone to get down and jump around the car. There are very few vehicles on the road. The mountains are blocked by heavy snow. There are no vehicles going up the mountain and very few vehicles going down the mountain. Although it was quite cold inside the car, no one dared to complain at all.

When the shuttle bus finally arrived at Fengyukou, the wind and snow seemed to have lightened up a lot. There was only a little residual snow and puddles of water on the road.

The driver stopped the car under a streetlight, and we took the opportunity to get down and jump around to warm our bodies and talk about our hands that were numb from the cold. The driver took off the anti-skid chains, and everyone got back in the car, and then they rushed all the way to the southern suburbs of Xi'an. When they got off the car, they looked at the time and saw that it was already around 5 o'clock in the morning. There was no trace of snow on both sides of the road, just large and small puddles, as if it had just rained, but the whole body felt the warmth of spring.

Looking back now, I am indeed a little scared, but today we no longer have to take those winding mountain roads, they are all gentle tunnels, there is no such thrill of climbing over mountains and ridges, and we can no longer see the scenery of the past. .