Hearing the question raised by He Mingliang, the captain of Xishan Village, Liu Yan's heart suddenly became heavy, and his thoughts immediately returned to the summer before last:

That was the first time he set foot on Songyang, and the first time he came to Yunling Village, the farthest place from the production brigade.

Yunling Village is located on a high mountain with an altitude of more than 1,500 meters, surrounded by clouds and mist all year round.

Starting from the Songyang Production Brigade, we walked more than 30 kilometers to the foot of the mountain, and then walked more than 40 kilometers of steep mountain roads to reach Yunling Village.

There are only five households in the whole village, which is located deep in the mountains and old forests, and there are less than thirty people, men, women, old and young.

Within a radius of dozens of square kilometers, 80% is rock. Less than 20% is dry land between the rocks, and most of it is slope land.

Moreover, these dry lands can only grow potatoes, corns and sweet potatoes.

The mountains are high and the roads are far away, so it is really difficult to carry a bag of rice noodles back from outside. Therefore, rice noodles have always become a luxury product in Yunling Village.

Moreover, wild boars, black bears, and venomous snakes appear all year round, not only competing with villagers for food, but also often injuring people.

The 24 natural villages under the Pine and Poplar Production Brigade are relatively scattered. Every time a notice or information is sent to each natural village, usually only one village after another can be used to deliver fireworks.

Use torches at night and smoke during the day.

One fire or smoke means that people from other villages want to go up the mountain; two fires or smoke means that the brigade has a meeting.

Yunling Village, the most remote village, relies on the torches or smoke on the mountain of Xishan Village, the nearest village, to receive information from the outside world.

If Yunling Village lights three fires or smokes on the mountain, it means that there is a big problem in the village and it needs urgent help from the outside world.

This situation usually occurs when someone's life is in danger on the mountain, and we hope that people at the bottom of the mountain will come to help on the way. In most cases, women have difficulty in giving birth or are bitten by wild animals.

On the afternoon of the second day after Liu Yan went to Yunling Village for investigation, he heard that the wife of villager Lin Yuanming was bitten by a poisonous snake when she went up the mountain to pick up hazelnuts. He and Yunling Village Captain Li Tianfang immediately came to Lin Yuanming's home.

The two entered the house and saw Lin Yuanming with tears in his eyes and a trembling saw in his hand.

His wife Huang Yuxiang was lying on the bed, crying in pain, with a red and swollen leg exposed.

The son who had just turned six years old hugged his father's leg hard while crying: "No, no, dad don't want to saw!"

The three-year-old daughter shed tears and opened her arms in front of her mother.

Standing nearby were a barefoot doctor and two villagers with helpless expressions.

This was the first time in Liu Yan's life that he had seen such a horrific scene. He was surprised and stepped forward to stop Lin Yuanming: "How can you be so cruel? Why did you cut off your wife's legs?"

Lin Yuanming threw the saw in his hand to the ground angrily, bursting into tears and crying, unable to say a word.

...

At this time, the barefoot doctor and two villagers told Liu Yan that Huang Yuxiang's left foot was accidentally bitten by a highly venomous king cobra. If the injured leg was not cut off in half, her life would be in danger.

Liu Yan turned around and asked Li Tianfang: "Why don't you have someone send you down the mountain immediately? Or light fireworks to ask for help?"

Li Tianfang shook his head, his face full of sorrow: "It's too late. Whether it's carrying it from the mountain to the top or from the bottom to the mountain, the steep mountain road of more than 40 kilometers will take seven or eight hours at the fastest.

Even if you walk up and down the mountain at the same time, it would take four to five hours to walk only half of the way, which is not enough time.

This is a king cobra, if its legs are not amputated, it will be dead."

Then, Li Tianfang told Liang Haitao: "In Yunling Village, for the past hundred years, this method has been the only way to deal with bites from poisonous snakes.

Not only that, the same is true when women encounter difficult labor. If they cannot be delivered, they can only wait to die.

I have been back in the village for more than ten years, and this kind of thing has become commonplace and I have become numb."

…

"Brother Li Tian, ​​is Brother Li Tian from Yunling Village here?" Thinking of this, Liu Yan shouted loudly to the crowd in the yard.

"Secretary Liu, I'm here." Li Tianfang stood up from the crowd.

"Come here." Liu Yan waved to Li Tianfang.

Then, he pointed to a middle-aged man in his thirties who came to him and said to everyone: "This is Li Tianfang, the leader of Yunling Village.

I believe many of you here know him. He is an educated youth who returned to his hometown in the 1960s.

Ten years earlier than Xiaogang Village, he had always wanted to lead the villagers in Yunling Village out of poverty and become rich, and tried various methods, including planting Gastrodia elata and raising bees.

As a result, the Gastrodia elata cultivated so hard were eaten up by wild boars, and the honey harvested after hard work was eaten up by black bears.

Today, the more than 40 kilometers of rugged mountain road leading down the mountain from Yunling Village has cliffs on one side and an abyss on the other, and is less than 30 centimeters wide.

It was Brother Li Tian who led more than 20 men, women, and children over the past ten years to build it on the cliff bit by bit, just like the Foolish Old Man moving mountains.

Fellow commune members, the spirit of Yunling Village is commendable and worth learning from all of us.

If each of us has the spirit of Brother Tian and the villagers of Yunling Village, any difficult road will be no problem."

At this point, Liu Yan choked with sobs and couldn't say any more.

He couldn't help but think of eating hotpot mutton in a restaurant in Haidian, Yanjing, with some close friends in his previous life. Everyone had different opinions on the way to behave and do things.

The reason is what A Yuan said: People in the world have summarized many techniques for doing things, but in the final analysis it is nothing more than concentration and persistence. Foolish Old Man Yishan, who once moved a generation, is the best example.

This sentence may sound reasonable, but upon careful consideration, it is not comprehensive. Although the spirit is good, the way things are done is problematic and deserves discussion.

Many people know that the allusion of Foolish Old Man Moving Mountains comes from an article in "Liezi Tang Wen". The author, Lie Yukou of the Warring States Period, narrated such a story:

There are two big mountains in front of Yu Gong's house, one is called Taihang Mountain and the other is Wangwu Mountain. Every time the family wants to go out, they have to go around these two mountains, which is extremely inconvenient.

Yu Gong convened a meeting of the whole family, and finally decided unanimously: dig the mountain!

In this regard, some people called Yu Gong "foolish". Yu Gong said to people: Although I am old, I still have a son.

If I die, I still have my son; if my son dies, I still have my grandson; if my grandson dies, I still have my great-grandson; and there are endless descendants.

The more soil is excavated, the less soil is left on the mountain, and the more stone is removed, the less one is. As long as I persist in digging every day, every month, and every year, I will be able to move these two mountains one day.

Foolish Old Man was not afraid of the difficulties and kept digging the mountains. Finally, he moved the Emperor of Heaven and moved the two mountains away.

Documentary master Juris Ivens shot a documentary of the same name in China in the 1970s.

Director Wu Jiazi filmed thirty episodes of the TV series of the same name based on it.

The great man has his famous poem "The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountains", and Xu Beihong's famous painting "The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountains" has been handed down to the world.

Especially the song "Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountains" sung by Jiang Tao, a singer in his previous life, makes people excited:

It sounds like an anecdote, but it sounds like a joke. Let the shoulder pole bend your back and let the soles wear out the wooden clogs.

Facing Wang Wu and Taihang, with his courage and bravery, it was not an anecdote when he told it, and it was not a joke when he talked about it.

Looking up at the sky above, walking around and looking at the level ground beneath my feet, facing the hall full of children and grandchildren, I fulfilled my prayers in my heart.

It is difficult to have no road, and it is even more difficult to open a road, so later people will sigh for you.

Yes, the main essence of Yugong’s spirit is single-mindedness! Persistence!

But in terms of way of thinking, it does not meet the needs of the development of today's era.

What is the purpose of a family digging mountains for generations?

Isn’t it just for easy access when you want to go out?

Since the goal is convenience, why can't we move our family to the other side of the mountain in a once and for all way?

Even if we have to rebuild a home on the other side of the mountain, isn't it much faster and easier than digging two mountains?

With the same amount of time, not only can we solve road problems, but we can also do many more meaningful things than digging mountains every day.
Chapter completed!