The Ladder of Love (Part II) Zhang Baotong 2017.10.10

I'm going to pick an herb called purple beads. This herb belongs to the shrub and has purple or pink flower buds. This herb can not only treat hematemesis, hemoptysis, hematochezia, blood in the urine, bleeding gums and bleeding from trauma, but also carbuncles, snakebites and burns. I have been coming and going in the mountains and forests all year round, and I am very familiar with where some herbs grow. However, this purple pearl herb is in a shrub forest five miles away, and it takes at least half an hour to walk.

Although I have been in the mountains all year round, I rarely go out at night, because the night is the time when wild animals are infested, and people feel unsafe. However, for the sake of Aunt Xiu, I must collect the herbs as soon as possible and heal her. I take the black tiger with me, on the one hand it can give me courage, and on the other hand it can also help me to be vigilant, because dogs are much more sensitive to movement around them than people.

I came to the edge of the bush, and the bushes were all purple bead trees. I shone a flashlight on the purple bead tree, hurriedly picked a large bag of purple bead leaves with my hands, and then walked back briskly. Because I'm afraid to stay in this kind of bush for a long time. The bush is a place where wild animals such as tigers and wild boars frequent. I'd like to pick some tonight and use them first, so that I can pick more tomorrow during the day.

Back in the house, I was cooking and boiling water. When the water boiled, I washed her wound with water, and then smashed the purple bead leaves into pieces, applied them to the wound, and bandaged them with a clean cloth. In order to make her wound heal quickly, I also boiled the leaves of the purple pearl tree in a kettle, mixed them with egg whites, and let her drink.

After eating, it was almost late at night, and we started to sleep. Xiugu lay in my arms and said to me, 'Young man, tell you something. I said, 'Well, why are you so polite and solemn.' She said, 'Although we live in the mountains, we must not cut off contact with our family and relatives, and if we want to associate with them, we have to go down and up the mountains often, back and forth.' And the children are also going up the mountain to see us. This mountain road is too difficult to walk, too dangerous. Otherwise, you go and repair the mountain road, and make a smooth and safe road, and I will go down the mountain with you in the future, and it will be easy to walk, and it will not be so dangerous. Do you say?'

I said, 'That's right.'" However, I thought to myself that it was not a matter of words to build this road, and that it was at least twenty miles from the bottom of the mountain to the top, and that it would take four hours to walk faster. There are no roads in the whole mountain, there are all slopes and cliffs, and many roads are on the sides of cliffs and cliffs, not to mention building roads, even walking is very difficult. However, I think that no matter what, the road still needs to be repaired, and it will be convenient for Xiugu and the children to go up and down the mountain, so they will not fall and get hurt.

I said to Xiugu, 'I'm going to build roads, but who's going to do the work in the fields?' Xiugu said, 'Don't worry, I'll do it.'" I said, 'But you still have to watch the child.' Xiu Gu said, 'I can carry her on my back while I work.' I felt a little distressed and said, 'That's going to make you too hard.' Xiu Gu said, "It doesn't matter. You go and build the road, and I'll do the work in the house. ’

The next morning, after breakfast, I picked up my shovel and pickaxe, and took a few boiled potatoes and went down to the mountains to build a road. Xiugu sent me to the edge of the first cliff down the mountain, and watched me grasp the vines and slowly descend to the bottom of the cliff, before beckoning to me and watching me walk into the dense forest.

I came to the edge of a slope, there was no road, the slope was 70 degrees, very steep. And below the slope is a mountain stream, and the bottom is so deep that you can't see the bottom. Therefore, every time I walk through here, I have to be afraid that I will slip into the deep stream if I don't step on it properly. I used a shovel and a pickaxe to dig steps up the slope. This way, you don't have to worry about steep and slippery slopes when going uphill and downhill.

However, when I came back the next morning, I found that some of the steps had been washed away after a night of rain, while others had become very soft and slippery, making the slope still very dangerous. I think this slope can only be built with stones to be more stable and stable.

So, I immediately went down the mountain, went to the small shop in the village, bought some steel drills and axes, and then went back to the mountain. Not far from that slope, I started quarrying. Not only are there many trees and grasses in this mountain, but there are also many stones. These stones are the kind of sandstone that is relatively wet and soft, and when soaked with water, it is not as hard as other rocks. So, I used a steel drill and an axe and started mining the stones. I mined the stone into a series of steps, and then I picked up the stone steps and placed them on the steps I had dug yesterday. The paved pavement with stone steps is much easier to walk, up and down, and you don't have to worry about slipping and falling.

When I got home in the evening, I told Xiu Gu about the paving of the slope with stones, and she seemed very happy, and said that she would come and see it for herself someday, because she had fallen there last time.

After the slope is repaired, there is a cliff above. The cliff is about 30 meters high, and the top of the cliff is led by a vertical upward stone wall. Because there is no slope on the stone wall, there is no way to excavate the stone steps. I decided to dig rows of pedals into the stone wall, and then dig out rows of pits that I could hold onto. As long as you grasp the stone pit with your hands and step on the stone pedals with your feet, you can climb up and down.

It is not difficult to dig the stone pedals and stone pits under the cliff, but if you dig any higher, you will not be able to reach your arms. So, I fastened one end of the rope to the tree on the edge of the cliff, tied the other end to my waist, hung me in the air, and pressed my two feet against the rock wall, and continued to dig towards the height. It took me almost half a month to dig that rock wall. I call this kind of staircase carved out of the stone wall a ladder. On this mountain road of more than 20 miles, there are four or five such ladders.

After digging the first ladder, I was very happy and wanted to go home early to give good news to Xiugu. However, when I went up to the top of the mountain, I saw Xiu Gu sitting in front of the door and crying. I was shocked, so I went to the door, and without even removing the basket, I asked, 'Why are you sad, old man?'

Xiu Gu wiped her tears and said, 'The hen that laid our eggs was taken away by the eagles. As soon as I heard this, I said, 'Why are you crying when you take it in your mouth?' said Aunt Xiu, 'The child's grandmother was reluctant to stay in the house, and gave it to us, so she let the eagle pick it up.' How can I not be sad. I said, 'Forget it, don't cry, it's useless to cry, anyway, let the eagle pick it up.' ’

Xiu Gu wiped away her tears and said, 'You came back a little early today, and I haven't cooked yet.' I said, 'Don't do it, I'll be back early today, I'll cook.' Xiugu said, "No, you are tired of building roads for a day, you sit down and rest for a while, and I will cook." ’

At this time, the baby woke up, so I picked up the baby and sat in front of the door to look at the scenery in the distance. ”