The Ladder of Love (Part II) Zhang Baotong 2017.10.10

After living on the top of Banpotou Mountain for a few days, my aunt and I lived and worked together every day, and we already had a deep relationship. But today is the day I will part from them.

In the morning, before dawn, I heard Aunt Xu get up and cook for me, because I wanted to go down the mountain early so that I could catch the shuttle back to Chongqing in Zhongshan Town. Hearing them get up, I also got up early, went to the kitchen, and saw the elderly Aunt Xu making boiled potatoes and baked tortilla potstickers for me.

I said, "Aunt Xu, you got up too early." Aunt Xu said, "It's not early, you guys have eaten early, so you can get on the road early." So saying, she added a handful of firewood to the hearth, and said to me, "I don't know when you will come again." I said, "Now the traffic is very convenient, it only takes three or two hours to get from Chongqing to Zhongshan Town, which is faster than going up from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain." When Aunt Xu heard this, she was very surprised and said, "It's so fast? I used to walk for three or four hours to Zhongshan Town." I said, "Now it's only half an hour by car to Zhongshan Town." Aunt Xu said, "Then you have to come to this mountain often to play." I said, "As soon as I have time, I'll come by car." ”

It was a little bright, and I went out to see the scenery again. At this time, Rhubarb came to me and waged his tail at me affectionately. I stroked its head with my hand and said, "I'm leaving, I'll come and see you when I have time." Rhubarb seemed to understand my words, and kept wagging his head and tail.

At this time, I saw Uncle Liu coming from the ground, digging some potatoes, and said to me, "I don't have any good things here, you like to eat potatoes on this mountain, I'll dig some for you, you can take home to eat." I hurriedly said, "I can't ask for potatoes, and besides, it will be tiring to walk on the mountain road with these potatoes." However, Uncle Liu couldn't say anything, so he went into the house and found a plastic bag to put the potatoes in it, and I had to bring it. I couldn't help but pack the potatoes in my travel bag.

After eating, it was already dawn. Before leaving, I kept the leftover food, mustard and snacks in my bag, left 50 yuan for a bus ticket and a meal, and then gave them the rest of the 200 yuan. I think they live a hard life and they don't make any money. So, I want to leave them more money. But they don't want to live or die. They said the three hundred dollars I gave them were useless. I saw that they would not accept it, so I had to put the money in my pocket again.

I'm leaving, Uncle Liu picked up the basket and wanted to send me down the mountain. Aunt Xu also sent me to the cliff all the time. When we broke up, I said to Aunt Xu, "Aunt Xu, I will come back to see you soon." Aunt Xu said happily, "We'll be waiting for you." ”

I followed Uncle Liu all the way down the mountain, asking him this and that, and he kept telling me the scenes and stories of his road construction and stone digging at that time. The mountain road is winding and steep, and although the mountain road has been repaired and many places are paved with stone steps, many places are still very difficult and dangerous. But how arduous it must have been to carve out such a mountain road in such an inaccessible and isolated place! One can imagine how steep and dangerous the road would have been if the mountain road had not been paved with more than 6,000 stone stairs before it was repaired. But the most incredible thing is that in order to allow Aunt Xu and the children to go up and down the mountain safely, Uncle Liu was able to spend 50 years to build this road and dig so many stone steps. Every chisel of each stone step here, although there is no kind of tender whispers and kisses and hugs, but it is immersed in the purest and most incisive love, which witnesses the loyalty of love and the power of love.

I can definitely think that except for Uncle Liu, maybe for anyone, he would not exhaust his life's youth and years to build such a difficult road. If it were me, I would rather move down the mountain than build such a road.

Because our wonderful life is to come into this world to enjoy it, not to suffer and be burdened, and if we want to suffer, we must feel worthwhile. And in order to build a mountain road that wives and children will not walk several times in their lives, it may be that many people will not feel that there is any practical value. But Uncle Liu can do this, so he makes people feel sincere and great, and they feel incredible. It is precisely this kind of sincere, great and incredible actions and results that make their love seem so sincere and precious, so ordinary and great.

So, I asked Uncle Liu a question, "You and Aunt Xu have really loved each other like this, haven't you ever regretted or complained?" Uncle Liu smiled and said, "We made many people laugh at this, and there were a lot of rumors, even my parents disagreed, but I think as long as the two of us are together, we are not afraid of anything." After going up the mountain, we were very miserable, and sometimes we had nothing to eat, but none of us complained, nor did we regret it, and it was useless to complain and regret, it would only make both of us feel uncomfortable. We all want to make each other happy, and when the other party is happy, we ourselves will be happy. I also wanted her to go down the mountain often to see her children, so that she would not stay on the mountain all the time, feeling so lonely and boring. She knew that I was doing this so that she could go down the mountain, so she was grateful to me for being so good, gave birth to four children for me, and ran to the edge of the cliff every day to pick me up before the sun went down. ”

I asked him again, "You have lived on this mountain all your life, and you have endured all the hardships and sins, do you feel that you are at a loss?" Uncle Liu shook his head and said, "Do you have a loss? I love Aunt Xiu and want to live with her for the rest of my life." We have lived together all our lives, what is the loss? Even at the foot of the mountain, don't people have to live like this for the rest of their lives? Our life is very miserable and inconvenient, but there is no one to control us and laugh at us. If we really didn't want to live in the mountains, I'm afraid we would have gone down long ago. ”

When we went down the hill, it was noon. Uncle Liu took me to the house of his son Liu San. Liu San's home is at the foot of the mountain and on the river. The house is still one of the older old style bungalows. The rest of the village has almost all built two- or three-story buildings. Liu San's house is far away from the houses of other families in the village. But the surrounding environment is relatively open, and there are vegetables growing in front of and behind the house.