The Ladder of Love (Part II) Zhang Baotong 2017.10.10

One day in mid-December 2007, when I had just returned from a business trip to the south, Xiao Wei, a colleague in the office, said to me, "Liu Guojiang, the hero of 'Ladder of Love', has passed away. When I heard this, it was like five thunderbolts. I couldn't even believe it, because I had taken my wife and daughter up the mountain to visit them during the Mid-Autumn Festival. They were all fine, but in less than three or four months, he died of illness. I asked Xiao Wei, "How do you know?" he said, "The newspaper has been published, it is the Chongqing Evening News, and the TV station has also reported it." So, I picked up the "Chongqing Evening News" in the office and flipped through it. Soon, I found the newspaper.

The newspaper report was very short, and it read: "Liu Guojiang, a villager in Changle Village, Zhongshan Town, Jiangjin District, Chongqing, and the builder of the 'Ladder of Love', passed away on December 12, 2007 at the age of 71. When Liu Guojiang was 19 years old, he fell in love with his widow Xu Chaoqing, who was ten years older than him, and in order to escape the world's rumors and cold eyes, he took Xu Chaoqing and her four children to live on the top of the 1,500-meter-high Banpotou Mountain. From the top of the mountain to the bottom of the mountain about 20 miles of mountain road, the mountain road is steep and precipitous, many places are cliffs, the next trip to the mountain has to walk for four or five hours. For the safety of his lover's descent from the mountain, he devoted his life to 50 years to open up a mountain road on the steep slope of the mountain, excavate more than 6,000 stone steps, pave the world-famous 'ladder of love', and write a great classic in the history of Chinese love. ”

When I saw this news, I was very sad and wanted to go up to Banpotou Mountain immediately. However, because at the end of the year, the affairs of the unit are very busy, so I have not been able to get out. It wasn't until January 2008 that I took a day off, connected Saturday and Sunday, and hurried to Changle Village in Zhongshan Township.

It rained for a few days, and the weather was really cold. Walking on the embankment, the wind blew the cold rain, hitting the face, cold. I walked towards Liu San's house from the river, and I saw an old lady sitting under the eaves in front of Liu San's door from afar. From the old lady's sitting position, I knew that it was Aunt Xu. Apparently, she no longer lives in the mountains. I know that she and Uncle Liu have an agreement, that is, one of them has left and will bury him on the top of the hill at the head of the slope, while the other person will go down the mountain to live. until another man also died, and he was buried with the person before him. Now that Uncle Liu has passed away, Aunt Xu can only go down to the bottom of the mountain to live with her son Liu San.

The current Aunt Xu is still the same as Aunt Xu on the mountain, wearing a blue shirt and pants, sleeves on her arms, and a black cloth scarf around her head. She sat upright on a bench, motionless, as if in a daze. I know she's thinking about Uncle Liu. Because she has never left Uncle Liu in her life, and now Uncle Liu has left forever, how can she not be sad and miss him?

I walked up to her and saw that she was much older and more emaciated. Of course, I know what kind of blow Uncle Liu's departure is to 82-year-old Aunt Xu. I whispered, "Aunt Xu." She looked up at me, and before she could speak, tears were on her face, and she said, "Lad, he's gone, and he's been gone for days." I nodded and said, "I see, I saw the newspaper." I sat next to her and took her hand, which was cold. I tried to persuade her, but I didn't know what to say to her. Because I know that no matter what I say, she will not be comforted.

She grabbed my hand tightly and said very reproachfully, "You want us to come down the mountain to live, I didn't have to listen to you, and now I regret it." If I had listened to you, the lad wouldn't have gone so fast. I said, "Aunt Xu, don't say that, people have good and bad luck, and no one has a long eye." ”

At this time, Liu San's daughter-in-law asked me to go into the house to drink tea, and I thought it was cool outside, so I let Aunt Xu into the house. However, she did not want to enter the house, she said that she was so depressed and breathless when she entered the house. I couldn't help it, so I went into the house and sat down at the table and drank tea. Liu's third daughter-in-law said to me, "Don't worry about her, she's just afraid that she's a little nervous, and all she thinks about is my father." told her that people were gone and could not be resurrected, and asked her to open some by herself, but she just didn't listen. I said, "No wonder she, she's never left your dad in decades." ”

After a while, Aunt Xu shouted in front of the door, "The third, the third." "Because Liu San was not at home, my third daughter-in-law and I went out. The third daughter-in-law of Liu asked, "What's the matter?" Aunt Xu said, "I'm afraid that tomorrow I'm going to see your father." Liu San's daughter-in-law said, "You say this to Liu San, and if he asks you to go, you will go." I saw that Aunt Xu was unhappy, so I said to her, "Aunt Xu, tomorrow I will accompany you up the mountain to see Uncle Liu." Aunt Xu nodded and wiped her tears with her sleeve.

I helped Aunt Xu into the house, sat her down at the small table, and brought him the apples and bananas I had brought. Aunt Xu had no teeth, so I peeled a banana and let her eat. She ate the banana slowly, but her eyes were looking out the door into the distance. I said to her, "You have lived in the mountains, suffered all your life, suffered a lifetime of sin, and now that your life is slowly getting better, you should enjoy a few days of happiness, but it is really sad and regrettable that Uncle Liu left so early." ”

Aunt Xu said, "I regret it so much, I didn't have to listen to you." I said, "Everyone is destined to die, this is destiny, there is no way." Then, I said, "But Uncle Liu died a great death, a worthy death, although he is gone, but the mountains are still there, the ladder is still there, and the loyal love of your two elders is still there." But Aunt Xu said pessimistically, "The young man is gone, what does the love ladder still mean to me, it's not interesting at all." He's gone, and it's so boring for me to live alone in this world. I really want to walk with him and be by his side. He was so lonely on the mountain alone. "Listening to Aunt Xu's words, I really feel that I can't persuade her.

After a while, Liu San came back for dinner, and when he saw me coming, he wanted to have two drinks with me. I just happened to bring two bottles of Luzhou Laojiao. We opened a bottle, served it, and drank it. I'm going to pour Aunt Xu a cup too. However, Aunt Xu picked up the cup and poured it herself, but she didn't drink it, but put it next to her. I asked her, "Why don't you drink it?" she said, "it's a drink poured for the lad." He drank it with love. So, I picked up a small plate, put some meat and vegetables in the small plate, and put it next to the wine glass, which was regarded as a worship to Uncle Liu.

After eating, the rain outside had stopped, and the sky was very bright, and it seemed that it was going to rain and clear the sky. As soon as the sky is bright, people's mood is brightened. Aunt Xu sat on the bench under the eaves in front of the door, looking at the mountain for a long time. Because Liu San had to go to the tourist attraction to sell goods after eating, I moved a small stool to sit in front of Aunt Xu and talk to her. I saw that she was in a better mood, so I asked, "When we came to the Mid-Autumn Festival, I saw that your bodies were still fine, why did Uncle Liu leave so quickly?"

Aunt Xu said, "It was December 7th, and it was more than 20 days before today. In the middle of the night that day, the dog began to bark violently. So the young man got up and went out with a machete and a flashlight, and went to the other side of the valley. After an hour he came back from the field, and as soon as he entered the house, he had just sat down on the edge of the bed, when he fell to the ground. I was startled, and I cried out, 'Boy, get up!' and I got out of bed and pulled him up. But when I got him to the bed, he lay on the bed, not moving, and I touched his nostrils with my hand, as if he were not breathing. I knew that this was over, so I began to cry and said, 'Liu San, come quickly, you old man is no longer good.' I cried and got dressed and ran down the hill. I ran to the top of the ladder of love and shouted desperately to the bottom of the mountain, 'Liu San, come quickly.' But there was only my own echo in the mountains and the sound of water dripping from the forest. At this time, I realized that it was useless for me to shout like this, and I couldn't hear my shouting at all when I was so far down the mountain.

So, I ran back into the house, put the young man to sleep, and covered him with a thick quilt, because at the top of the 1,500-meter half-slope mountain, it was so cold and cold at night in winter. Then, I grabbed my flashlight and went down the hill to call someone. This is the first time I've left the young man alone on the mountain, since I went up to the top of the mountain. I'm going to save the boy's life!