At the same time that the Spark Team was starting the mountain-moving project, on the other side, in a small village in the southwest mountains, a "little thing" that had been going on for hundreds of years was happening as usual.
Wang Qing painted his face with a layer of natural dye mixed with pot ash, gardenia, and indigo grass, and carefully outlined the shape of a Nuo noodle.
On the side, his little nephew Wang Shu watched his movements curiously and asked:
"Manman, what are you doing?"
Wang Qing smiled and replied:
"Let's draw Nuo noodles. Tomorrow is the first day of October and we have to sacrifice to the Ox King - I'll practice first."
"What are you doing sacrificing to the Ox King?"
Wang Shu continued to ask.
His little face was full of curiosity, and he seemed completely unable to understand why he, a handsome and handsome man like himself, would paint his face in such a terrifying way.
Those weird patterns, the blood and fangs at the corners of the mouth, and the blood-red horns on the forehead seem to be terrifying demons that can only be seen on TV and in little books.
Wang Qing turned around, touched Wang Shu's head with some distress, and replied:
"Sacrifice to the Ox King is to protect us from good weather in the coming year."
"Also, please keep us safe, with smooth roads and secure fields."
"is that useful?"
Wang Shu asked reluctantly.
Wang Qing was stunned for a moment, and for a moment, he didn't know how to answer.
is that useful?
In fact, he knows better than anyone else that this kind of folklore activity is actually just the inheritance of "folklore". It only places an expectation on the mountain people living here, and it is not even a belief. .
Can it be useful?
How can it be!
If it were useful, the terraces in the mountains would not be frequently destroyed by landslides and mudslides, and the roads and bridges leading to the outside world would not be blocked by floods.
But the question is, besides begging to illusory "gods", what else can people here do?
Wang Qing sighed.
In fact, he is not just an ordinary villager.
His true identity is the village chief of this small village - a concurrent primary school teacher and director of the village disaster prevention office.
After graduating from college, he returned to this village called "Luojiao Village". His original intention was to rely on his own abilities to do his part for the village that raised him.
At that time, he was very high-spirited and believed that there was nothing in the world that he could not do. No matter how difficult or painful it was, as long as he was willing to work hard and united, he could always achieve one or two achievements.
In the history of this country, are there not many people who have taken root at the grassroots level and finally led an entire village out of poverty and become rich, making great achievements?
Even if you don't have the same abilities and talents as them, if you focus on one thing, you will at least achieve some results, right?
His idea was simple. After returning to the village, he would do two things.
The first thing is to build roads.
The second thing is to build bridges.
The purpose of building the road is to build a village road from Luojiao Village to Shuangxi County, and widen the bird path that originally surrounded the mountain wall and could only accommodate one person, at least wide enough to allow motorcycles to pass.
As for the bridge construction, a steel cable bridge will be built over Chengxi River at the entrance of the village to replace the wooden pontoon bridge that is repaired and broken every year.
Neither of these two things sounds difficult.
After all, the geographical environment of Luojiao Village is much better than that of Shibanhe Village, which made the news. They were able to carve a road out of the rock wall in two years. Could it be that Luojiao Village can't do it? ?
It’s nothing more than building mountains.
At that time, the stones excavated for road construction can be used in bridge construction, solving two problems at once.
This plan is wonderful, but the problem is that it is too good to be true.
It wasn't until Wang Qing actually returned here and started organizing the villagers to build roads that he realized how naive his ideas were.
How can it be so easy to open a mountain?
Insufficient tools, steep terrain, narrow construction area, and high incidence of landslides and collapses.
After more than two years of work and concentrating the efforts of the entire village, the road was only built for a short fifty meters.
Moreover, this has not yet reached the most difficult section of the road.
Everyone was a little disappointed, and even the plan was on the verge of being abandoned, but something suddenly happened that strengthened everyone's attitude.
Wang Shu's parents unfortunately fell off a cliff while outing. By the time someone found out, both of them were dead.
This incident gave everyone in the village a blow. Everyone realized that if it happened to Wang Shu's house today, it might happen to their own house tomorrow.
As long as the road is not repaired and the bridge is not erected, it will be impossible for the people who stay in the village to really leave the village.
As a result, the villagers became more active. Even the annual Ox King Festival celebrations were simplified this year, just to save more time and build an extra road during the slack period. rice.
This would have been a good thing.
But for Wang Qing, it is an even heavier burden.
The more positive the villagers became, the more guilty he felt.
He felt guilty that he was incapable of winning support from superiors, funds, technology and equipment.
I also feel guilty about the decision to build the road itself.
Because he knew that the reason why Wang Shu's parents had to leave the village in the rain that day was to sell the few eggs and bundles of medicinal materials they had left in the family in order to exchange for some food to subsidize the family.
In fact, they didn't need to be so embarrassed.
If it were not for road construction, they would have more time to run their own small home, plant more rice, and raise more chickens and ducks.
In that case, they might be able to live in this isolated village for the rest of their lives without worrying about the world.
It can be said that it was their own decisions that led to their tragedy.
He couldn't help but reflect, was he really right to do this?
I told them with an arrogant attitude that you should build roads, connect this place with the outside world, and see the bigger world.
But I have never really thought about whether they need the "bigger world".
Thinking of this, Wang Qing couldn't help but sigh again.
Wang Shu on the side stretched out his hand and wiped it on his face, then giggled and applied the paint to his own face.
He didn't know how to draw, so he just painted his face into a tabby cat. Wang Qing found it funny, so he dipped in paint and helped him draw the pattern on his face evenly.
At this time, Wang Shu completely turned into a black-faced Mr. Bao, but he was still unaware of it.
Wang Qing finally felt better. He laughed for a while, fetched water and helped Wang Shu wash his face. Then he looked at the time and started to rush towards the ancestral hall.
Today is a regular meeting in the village committee. In addition to the arrangements for the Ox King Festival the next day, there are also plans for road construction in the near future. As the village chief, it is impossible for him not to be present.
When they arrived at the ancestral hall, the other main young adults in the village had been waiting for a long time. Wang Qing smiled apologetically, told Wang Shu to wait aside, and walked to the specially reserved seat.
"Everyone, be quiet."
Wang Qing raised his hand, and the chaotic and noisy voices around him gradually became quieter. Everyone looked at him subconsciously, waiting for his speech.
Wang Qing coughed and said:
"We have a lot of things going on recently and everyone is very busy, so I won't talk too much nonsense."
"There are two main items on our agenda today."
"One is about the Ox King Festival tomorrow."
"The other one is about our plan to build roads in the future."
"Let me talk about the Ox King Festival first."
"The elders in the village know how to arrange specific activities, so I won't interfere."
"However, I want to emphasize one point here, that is, our festival this year will be simple. Everyone has voted and agreed before. No one will be allowed to say weird words or do weird things. Are you clear?"
"clear!"
"Don't worry, Ah Qing, I've already said hello!"
Listening to the answers from everyone in the audience, Wang Qing nodded gratefully and continued:
"Another thing, you need to pay special attention to safety when using fire tomorrow. It's autumn now and the weather is dry, so fires are easy to happen."
"The terrain here is complicated. If something happens, 119 won't be able to get through at all."
"If the mountain really burns down, none of us can bear the responsibility, do you understand?"
"Understood! Ah Qing, we have organized the fire prevention team. The whole village will be patrolling tomorrow. Just keep it in mind!"
"Okay, then I'm relieved."
Wang Qing took a deep breath and his expression became serious.
"Next, we have to discuss the road construction plan."
"In at least half a month, all the rice in our village will be harvested. This means that we will officially enter the slack period."
"According to our road construction plan, we will take advantage of the slack farming period to try to build the most difficult road in Wayaotou within this year."
"We have not changed this plan."
"Now, I want to ask everyone, are there any problems in terms of manpower and family finance?"
After hearing his words, the entire ancestral hall fell silent instantly.
In fact, everyone is well aware of the road construction plan and basically accepts it. But to say that there are no difficulties at all would be a joke.
For the villagers here, even in the slack season, there are still countless jobs to do. Who can really guarantee that there will be no problem with manpower?
However, in this situation, no one is willing to be the first to stand up and admit defeat.
Looking at everyone's reactions, Wang Qing knew what they were thinking. After a moment of silence, he said:
"I won't force the road construction."
"If everyone thinks that we really can't hold on anymore, then we won't do it."
"The time and energy wasted in the past two years, from now on, I, Wang Qing, will slowly find a way to replenish everyone."
"Ah Qing! What the hell are you farting at?"
Before Wang Qing finished speaking, an old man stood up from the crowd.
He glared at Wang Qing angrily and continued:
"Building roads is everyone's decision, not just your decision, Wang Qing's."
"Now, we are encountering difficulties and we don't have enough manpower, but we haven't reached the point where we have no other options."
"What do you mean by saying frustrating things here? Are you looking down on us?"
"I'm going to leave my words here today. You can make a difference even in a family of four barbarians!"
"As soon as the Ox King Festival is over tomorrow, we will go to Wayaotou immediately. I will go there myself!"
After hearing the old man's words, the emotions of everyone in the ancestral hall were suddenly aroused.
"Yes, if you build a road, build it. If there are not enough people, just slow it down. In ancient times, there was a foolish old man who moved mountains. Can't we move them?"
"That's what I said. My family is in a bit of trouble and the rice hasn't been harvested yet. I'll go there when the rice is harvested and I'll provide two laborers."
"I can also come up with two! My mother-in-law can't go, and there are pigs to feed at home."
For a time, people kept signing up, even if they were really having difficulties at home, it all explained the situation.
They were thinking of various ways, racking their brains to think about how to get the "road construction" thing started. It seemed that the idea of "retreating" had never occurred to them.
Wang Qing couldn't help but feel a little moved.
He opened his mouth and said:
"Since everyone is so positive, let's continue as planned."
"This section of Wayaotou is the most dangerous and difficult part of our road. When we go up the mountain, everyone must pay attention to safety, especially the safety rope must be fastened, don't find it troublesome!"
Everyone agreed in confusion, and the expression on Wang Qing's face relaxed slightly, but at this moment, someone asked:
"Ah Qing, last time we said we would go to the county to find a way. Is there any way now?"
"The road is so long, wouldn't it be enough for the people in our village alone?"
"Even if the county doesn't send anyone, it would be better to send us two excavators. The work that the excavators can do in one day is enough for us to do it for at least several days."
Upon hearing this, Wang Qing sighed and said:
"I went to the county to ask, but there is no confirmation yet."
"But I'm not afraid to tell everyone."
"This matter is basically hopeless."
"The county can provide part of the money, but not the people."
"Equipment, there's really nothing we can do about it."
"The mountains here are too high and the roads are too narrow, so an excavator cannot get up. If we insist on using an excavator, we will have to dig out the entire mountain. The cost is too high."
"So, everyone should not hold out any hope. If we really want to do it, we can only do it ourselves."
After hearing his words, everyone's faces showed a look of disappointment.
Someone said:
"It's better to rely on your father and mother than to rely on yourself. I've already told you that it's useless to ask the county."
"What can they do? Our village is still like this after hundreds of years. It's impossible for it to change in their hands, right?"
"If you expect them to succeed, you might as well expect the Ox King to come down to earth and open the mountain."
"Hahaha, that's a solution. Tomorrow is the Ox King Festival. If you light some incense, maybe the Ox King will appear."
Listening to their words, Wang Qing felt a little uncomfortable.
He looked at the people walking out of the ancestral hall and involuntarily hummed the song "Send Meishan Ci" to be sung on the Ox King Festival.
".Sent into the first cave of Meishan, the nine-fold bend of the stone rock dripping with water."
"Sent into the second cave of Meishan, it is difficult to cross the Niubian bridge."
The water is like a nine-fold bend, and the road is difficult for an ox to pass.
In the lyrics of Millennium, the situation in Luojiao Village has been vividly written.
But he didn't know how long this situation would last.
(End of chapter)
