Chapter 22 Looking for Zoran
Shi Tao and I returned to the house. Sadiq was happily telling Kong Xue about his experiences and interesting stories here over the years. When he saw us coming in, he hurriedly asked us to sit down quickly.
Sadik continued, "I have been here since I was less than twenty years old. I am almost fifty years old this year. I have been here for nearly thirty years. I have seen many things!" Sadik turned his head and saw the camera bag beside Kong Xue, pointing to it and said, "Camera, I like it! I used to like taking pictures. At that time, my family was poor, so I could only do some work for others. I earned money to buy an old camera. At that time, it was a film machine. It was too troublesome to put on the film. My camera was still a bit malfunctioning and there was something wrong with rewinding. When I took the film, sometimes it was exposed by accident!"
I have to say that Sadiq is really talkative and talks endlessly. We can't even get in touch, so we can only watch him talk. When he was excited, Sadiq pointed to the camera next to Kong Xue and said, "What brand are you?"
Kong Xue smiled and generously reached out and took out the camera. Miss Kong's camera was naturally expensive. Sadiq's eyes lit up, and he took the camera and kept praising him, "What a good machine! Not bad! Better than mine!" As he said, he gestured very professionally.
I picked up a piece of roast lamb leg and threw it into my mouth, "I can't tell that Boss Sa is quite professional in photography!"
Sadiq laughed, "It's professional, it's not a question! But I really like it!" As he said, he took a drink of half a cup of Yilitou, "Hehe, I'll show you my works!"
Sadik got up and brought a photo album, "There are all photos I took, let me show you!"
We took the album and looked it over one by one. Not to mention, Sadiq's photography skills are really good. In these photos, the characters also have scenery, and the scenery around the desert has a unique charm.
Some of the photos in the album are very new, they are taken recently, and some are very old, obviously it has been a while. While flipping, Kong Xue suddenly pointed to one of the photos and said, "You guys look at this photo!"
The photo that Kong Xue mentioned is already a bit yellow, obviously old. The photo shows a scene of setting sun against the light, and the dunes of the houses are like silhouettes, and the golden sunlight shines, which adds a layer of gold to the silhouettes.
Kong Xue was not referring specifically to these scenery, but to one side of the photo, there was a person sitting in contemplation in the direction of the sunset.
Kong Xue looked at me and said, "Look at this person, why do I feel very familiar!"
Because it was backlight, I couldn't see the person's appearance clearly, so I could only blur a silhouette-like side face. But just looking at the outline of the face, I did feel that this side face looked familiar. When I looked closely, my back immediately became cold. This person seemed to be my second uncle!
Shi Tao and Kong Xue also noticed the change in my expression, and the eyes of the two of them also fell on the photo. Kong Xue frowned and asked softly: "Will the person in this photo really be..."
I nodded and whispered: "That's right, this person should be my second uncle!"
When they heard my words, both of them looked very surprised.
I pointed the photo to Sadiq, "Boss Sa, look at this photo. Do you still have the impression of the person on it?"
Sadik looked up at the photo, "This photo was taken about 20 years ago. This is a very mysterious person, but he is very good and even helped my mother treat her illness. It's a pity that I don't know what happened to him later? I hope everything is fine!"
I asked, "Is this person's surname Zhuo?"
Sadik's eyes suddenly widened, "What? Do you know him?"
I nodded, Sadiq was very surprised, "You know him! Then tell me he is still alive?"
I was a little surprised that he would ask this, and nodded immediately, "Of course!"
Sadik sat down as if relieved, "Thank you, Allah! I didn't expect that he could still live! It was a miracle!"
I asked curiously: "Why do you say that?"
Sadik looked at me playfully, "Do you dare to go into the desert alone!"
I immediately asked, "You mean he entered the desert later?"
"Yes, yes," Sadik nodded, "One morning when I woke up, I found that the person lived in empty place and had no luggage. I went out to find him and heard from me that he saw that he walked towards the desert with his bag on his back!"
Speaking of this, Sadik sighed, "No wonder he asked me a lot about the desert the night before. I asked him why? He said he was going to enter the desert. I thought he was joking, so I didn't take it seriously. I didn't expect that he really entered the desert!"
I picked up the photo and looked at it carefully, "Can Boss Sa explain carefully, what happened to this person just came here?"
Sadik looked at me with some surprise, "You seem to care about this person, why is this? Who is he you?"
"Because my surname is Zhuo!" I said slowly. "The person in the photo is my relative. He is now missing, and as far as I know, he has returned to this desert again."
Sadik opened his mouth wide all of a sudden, "Has he entered the desert again?" Sadik murmured to himself, "Oh my god, he's simply crazy!"
"So, Boss Sa," I continued, "I hope you can tell me in detail what you saw at the beginning. It is very important for me to find him!"
"So that's the case," Sadik nodded, "This was the case back then..."
At that time, Sadik was only in his twenties, and his home lived on the edge of the desert. One day, a stranger came to his home and wanted to stay for a few days and was willing to pay.
Many friends from ethnic minorities were very hospitable, so the Sadiq family agreed readily at that time and told the young Han nationality that there was no need to be paid.
And this young Han nationality is his second uncle more than 20 years ago.
Sadik recalled that at that time, his second uncle was not talkative and usually went out after getting up and had breakfast. He didn't come back until it was approaching evening. In the evening, he would sit there and watch the sunset in the distance.
Sadik's photos were taken at that time.
When I heard Sadik’s story, I suddenly felt that the second uncle at that time gave people a very similar feeling to Wenmo now.
Another reason why Sadiq was so impressed by his second uncle was that one night his mother had a sudden illness, a split headache and unbearable pain. At that time, medical conditions were very lacking, and there was only one doctor within a radius of more than ten kilometers. Unfortunately, the doctor happened to have some urgent matters that day, so he went out and could not contact him at all.
This made the Sadiq family very anxious. Just when Sadiq was helpless, Uncle II heard the movement and walked in. After asking about the situation, he took the pulse again. In Sadiq's words at that time, Uncle II first touched his mother's wrist and used a long and sharp thing to pierce into his body. Although they were skeptical at the time, they could only take a chance. In the end, Uncle II did cure his mother's headache. I knew that the method he used was acupuncture.
The Sadiq family thanked her second uncle for her, but she just laughed it off.
The next day, Uncle Second sat in the sunset again in a daze. Sadiq also sat over and took out the photos he took to show them to Uncle Second. Uncle Second took them and looked at them, "Yeah! It was a good shot!"
Sadik asked his second uncle curiously, why did he come here?
The second uncle told Sadiq that he was going to enter the desert.
Sadik couldn't believe that it was impossible to enter the desert alone. He even thought that his second uncle was joking. However, Sadik still asked his second uncle, why did he enter the desert?
The second uncle looked into the distance and said, "Look for someone!"
When Sadik heard this, he immediately patted his chest and said, "I am familiar with you within a radius of more than ten miles. I can help you find anyone you want!"
The second uncle said, "He is a Han man!"
When Sadik heard this, he became more confident. There were not many Han people around him, so it was more convenient to find them. So he asked, "What is the name of this Han man?"
The second uncle replied word by word: "His name is Zhuoran!"
When Sadik talked about this, I was shocked and almost fell off my chair!
Shi Tao and Zhuoran were also full of disbelief!
Only Sadiq is unknown so, "You guys, what's wrong with you?"
I suppressed the endless confusion in my heart and said in a trembling voice: "I am Zhuoran!"
"What!" It was Sadiq's turn now and it was unbelievable! "How is it possible? Twenty years ago, you were a child, how could you go deep into the desert!"
That's true! I supported my head with both hands, which was really puzzling. What did the second uncle meant that way? Why did he say that?
I suddenly remembered a sentence Wen Mo once said to me. The name Zhuoran is not something anyone wants to call it!
What does the name Zhuoran represent?
Kong Xue asked me softly, "Zhuoran, what's going on?"
I grabbed my hair hard, "Don't ask me, I don't know!" In an instant, I felt my brain was about to explode, so I got up and walked out.
As soon as I walked to the door, Sadik suddenly stood up and slapped his head, "By the way, your surname is Zhuo, right?"
Kong Xue gave him helplessly, "His name is Zhuoran, what do you think?"
Sadik's words below made us stunned. Sadik took two steps towards me, "Your second uncle, I left you a sentence twenty years ago!"
I suddenly turned around and grabbed Sadiq, "Where is it? Where?"
Sadik broke away from me, "Don't be excited! Just behind that photo."
Chapter completed!