The Ladder of Love (Part II) Zhang Baotong 2017.10.10

Liu San was not at home, but her daughter-in-law entertained us. Her daughter-in-law, a peasant woman who was less than forty years old, was cooking in the house, and when she saw us coming, she said that Liu San had not come back from the field and asked us to wait for a while. We sat in the hall and drank tea. After a while, a teenage boy came back from outside, and when he saw Uncle Liu, he called Grandpa. So, I gave the two hundred dollars to the boy. The kid didn't want it, but I shoehorned it into him. He gave the money to his mother. When my mother took the money, she said to me, "You are so polite. ”

About ten minutes later, the kid called Liu San back. Liu San is a typical Sichuan peasant, medium height, thin and sturdy, simple and honest, half like Uncle Liu, half like Aunt Xu. As soon as he saw me, he handed me a cigarette, and I waved my hand and said that I wouldn't smoke it, so Liu San asked the woman to kill the chicken. I said don't kill, I have to rush to Zhongshan Town to catch a ride back to Chongqing. Liu San asked the woman to cook quickly.

I said to Liu San, "Your father and mother have worked so hard and pitiful in this life. Liu San said to me, "I know that I lived with them in the mountains until I was six years old. Not only was it so the mountain, but sometimes I didn't have anything to eat, so I had to eat wild vegetables and leaves, and I used to have diarrhea at that time, and now when I think about it, I still feel so scared. Later, when we were all older, we asked them to go down to the bottom of the mountain to live with us, but they still didn't like the outside world, and I asked them to come down the mountain many times, but they still wouldn't come down. I often found time to go up to the mountains to help them with some hard work. ”

As he spoke, the meal was ready. There are fried leeks with eggs, roasted eggplant, spicy tofu and water spinach. I was really hungry after walking most of the way, so I ate two bowls of rice in one go. Uncle Liu's food is better than mine, and he actually ate three bowls of rice. I don't think he usually gets a meal like this in the mountains.

After eating, I'm leaving. Liu San gave it to me in two plastic bags containing smoked tofu and slate glutinous rice cakes. I know that this smoked tofu and slate glutinous rice cake are the specialties of Zhongshan Ancient Town. Smoked tofu is to cut the tofu into small cubes, put it on a special bamboo product and smoke it slowly, after baking, the tofu becomes browned, cut it from the middle with a knife, add seasonings and shallots, after cooking, it is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, very delicious. The slate magnetic cake is made of glutinous rice as raw material, and after several processes of steaming, scooping, kneading, drying and baking, it is made into round cakes. When eating, fry it in an oil pan until golden brown, sprinkle it with sugar when it comes out of the pan, or put the glutinous rice cake on a large bluestone slab, bake it hot, add soybean flour and sugar, and taste soft, delicate and sweet.

I don't think the Liu family is very rich, so I resolutely don't want to, saying, "Don't be like this, these things can be bought in Chongqing, so it's better to let Uncle Liu take them to the mountains and let them taste them." But Liu San said, "It's not that I don't know, these things are out of Zhongshan Town, and you can't see them anywhere else." These are all made by our own hands, you can take them back and taste them. My parents are there, and I'm prepared. With that, he slipped these two bags into my travel bag. Then, he took out two plastic bags containing tofu and glutinous rice cakes and put them in Uncle Liu's back basket.

Liu San sent me and Uncle Liu out of the door. When we walked to the small bridge by the river, Uncle Liu broke up with me and said goodbye. He held my hand and repeatedly said, "When will you come up to the mountain again?" I said, "As soon as I have time, I will bring my wife and daughter to visit you and Aunt Xu." Uncle Liu shook my hand vigorously, waved goodbye to me, and then walked to the bridge.

Liu San sent me to a clearing at the head of the village, where a small minibus bound for Zhongshan Town was parked on the side of the road. Liu San went over and asked the driver to be on the road for a long time. The driver said he would leave after eating. So, I asked Liu San to go back, and I got into the car and waited. It took a long time for the driver to finish eating, and by this time, the car was almost full. The minibus staggered, stopped and walked, and when it came to Zhongshan Town, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon. While waiting for the bus in Zhongshan Town, I borrowed someone else's mobile phone and called Fan Zhilong, the leader of our expedition team, and said that I had arrived in Zhongshan Town. Then I called home again and said that I would be home in the evening and ask my wife to prepare dinner for me.

It didn't take long for the bus to Chongqing to start. It was about late evening when I got home. After dinner in the evening, I told my wife the story of Uncle Liu and Aunt Xu, and my wife frowned and looked at me with very puzzled eyes, as if I was making up a bizarre story for her. She said, "I'm afraid you're not telling a mythical story?" I said, "It's a true story, and I'm not making it up for you at all." With that, I took out the picture from my camera and showed it to her. She looked at the photos in her camera one by one. There are people in the photos, especially the ladders on the cliffs and stone stairs on the edge of the cliffs, which makes her believe it. She said to me, "When will I go with you and see what I know?" I said, "Well, let's take the kids with us tomorrow spring." The wife said, "Of course that's good." ”

After a few days off, I was very busy at work, and after a few days of work, I sat in front of the computer and began to recall and write, I wanted to report the love story of Uncle Liu and Aunt Xu, so that more people could know this story, and experience and reminisce the true meaning of marriage and love from this story. If compared, this story should be more real and touching than the love stories of Romeo and Juliet in foreign countries and Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai in China, because those stories are just the vigorous love stories of young lovers, life and death, and the love story of Liu Guojiang and Xu Chaoqing is simple and plain, but it is sincere and sincere, just like the mountain spring in front of his house, flowing warmly and warmly, and the more than 6,000 ladders on the top of the slope are the greatest testimony of their true love.

I originally wanted to write a novella or a long story based on this, but because I was too busy with work at work, I felt a little sleepy and tired when I returned home after a day of work, so I decided to write a long report first, and then start writing the middle and long story of "The Ladder of Love" after going up to the mountain next time to conduct more in-depth interviews and experiences with Uncle Liu and Aunt Xu. So, under the name of "The Ladder of Love", I used reportage to write a touching love story of more than 6,000 words. That day, I sent the manuscript to the Chongqing Evening News, and an editor read my manuscript and asked me, "I'm afraid you're not reportage, right?"

I certainly know the difference between reportage and that. Reportage is a literary genre that sits somewhere between a news report and a literary work. Its basic characteristics are journalistic and literary. It is a literary genre that shapes artistic images on the basis of real people and real events and reflects real life in a timely manner by literary means. Rather, it can be fictional. If you take this work of mine, then it means that my story is fictional, not real, and it will be a denial and blasphemy of the great love between Liu Guojiang and Xu Chaoqing. So, I called Fan Zhilong on my mobile phone and asked him to explain to the editor. Then, I took out the picture from my camera and showed it to him. The editor then believed that the love story I had written was completely true.

The "Chongqing Evening News" reported on my "Ladder of Love" at great length, which aroused great repercussions among the citizens, and people called the newspaper one after another to inquire about the situation. In order to let the citizens have a clearer understanding of the people and scenery on Banpotou Mountain, the "Chongqing Evening News" published some of my photos. Many friends, relatives and acquaintances called me to ask me about the situation on Banpotou Mountain, and many even decided to travel and experience there. As far as I know, many hikers have formed groups to reach the top of Banpotou Mountain, and I also learned about their ascent in some newspapers and discussions. I don't know whether to be happy or sad about this. I think letting the world know the love story of Uncle and Aunt is not only an encouragement and praise for their steadfast and pure love, but also a profound education for people living in a secular society, so that they can understand that there is such a pure, beautiful, and touching true love in the worldly red dust of materialism. But what worries me is that this will break the peaceful life of the two old people and bring them some unnecessary troubles and troubles.

But things in the world are like this, there are advantages and disadvantages, and you can't have both fish and bear's paws. In order to let the world know the love story of Uncle Liu and Aunt Xu, and in order to let the world get inspiration and education from it, I can only wronged the two old people. For this reason, I decided to wait until I reached the top of the mountain again and then give them a detailed explanation.