Shangping Village, Feng County, deep in the Qinling Mountains of the Ming Dynasty.
"woo woo woo woo!"
In the early morning, along with the crowing of the rooster, Carpenter Li opened the door of his room. The mountains outside were shrouded in clouds and mist, and the humidity and cold were overwhelming. Various birds chirped one after another, and from time to time, a bird could be heard in the distance.
Roar.
Looking at the Shangping Village where I am, it is very quiet. It has long lost the hustle and bustle of the past. This morning, I can only see a few elderly people walking around in the village. Most of them
The houses have long been empty.
"Oh, a house without anyone living in it will fall down quickly!"
"Lao Chen's family has only been away for less than a year, and it's such a pity that a good house has been abandoned like this. If it had been in the past, a wife like this could have been married to a house like this."
Carpenter Li looked at the old Chen's house next door and shook his head with a sigh.
Almost all the young people in the village immigrated, most of them to Black Earth Province, and many old people followed them. The old couple next door, Mr. Chen, also immigrated to Black Earth Province with their young son.
As soon as the man left, the house was empty and fell down in an instant.
There is a saying in the mountains that a house must be inhabited and popular to survive. If it is a house without popularity, it will fall down soon.
In fact, this is true. Shangping Village was originally a lively village with dozens of households, but now, most of the houses have collapsed.
These houses were uninhabited and unmaintained. They were soaked by mountain rains, and all the adobe houses fell down in a short time.
"If it falls down, just let it fall down. No one will live in it anyway."
Carpenter Li's mother-in-law said indifferently.
Now everyone's life is really much better. All the sons of the old couple have immigrated to Black Earth Province. The once bustling home is now only the old couple left alone.
Carpenter Li's son wrote a letter asking the couple to follow the immigrants to Heitu Province. After all, the old couple were always worried if they were left at home. They didn't know who was living, old, sick or dead, and no one was taking care of them.
However, the old couple couldn't bear to part with the fields, vegetable fields, and houses in the mountains. They said that they were inherited from ancestors and could not be lost like this, so they still insisted on living here.
"Look at our village. Nine out of ten people have left. You are the only one who insists on staying here. Otherwise, we would all be living in peace and happiness with our grandchildren in Black Earth Province."
My wife was very unhappy. She actually wanted to go to Black Earth Province because her sons were there, and her precious grandsons and granddaughters were also there. They had not seen their grandsons or granddaughters yet.
When the eldest brother Li Da went there, his grandson had not yet been born.
"Alas~"
Carpenter Li sighed and was not busy doing anything. He also went shopping in the village to visit some elderly uncles.
Although Li Carpenter is said to be a grandfather, he is actually only in his 40s. In later generations, he was in his prime and in the prime of life.
But in this mountain, people age quickly. Although Li Carpenter is in his 40s, he looks like he is already in his 60s. He has worked a lot since he was a child and cannot keep up with nutrition. He is very old.
quick.
However, there are still a few elderly people in their 60s and 70s in the village. Everyone has to visit them every day. If they leave that day, everyone will have to deal with the future of the elderly people together.
Walking in the village, Carpenter Li looked everywhere.
“What a nice house!”
"In order to build this house, Chen Laoer had a bloody fight with the Wang family next door, so he got this little land to build the house."
"It's fallen now, alas!"
Seeing a collapsed house, Carpenter Li sighed and shook his head.
"The vegetable plots are also in panic. No one is planting them anymore. The three Wang brothers fought over this vegetable plot to the death, and in the end no one wanted it."
Passing by a vegetable field, I looked at the rows of vegetable fields. They were full of weeds and no one had taken care of them for a long time.
In Li Carpenter's mind, he recalled the past, when the three brothers of the Wang family fought almost to death for this piece of vegetable land. The brothers were at odds with each other and never interacted with each other until death.
This thing is vivid in my mind, as if it happened yesterday.
But when I looked at the houses of the three Wang brothers, they were all dilapidated and empty.
"No one wants the fields anymore, so everyone is panicking."
"Back then, everyone had a lot of quarrels with each other over this piece of land. Fighting over a little bit of water was commonplace."
"In the end, we fought over and over again and let it go when we were told to let it go. No one even wanted it."
Looking at the terraced fields in the mountains, a large number of terraced fields have been deserted and turned into wild grasslands. In the past, there was no place to graze cattle, but now they can be seen grazing everywhere.
Carpenter Li's eyes reflected the busy scene in the terraced fields in the past. There were too many quarrels and fights over the fields and water.
But now, there are no people in this mountain.
The sun rises slowly, and the sunlight disperses the thick fog in the mountains. Looking from a distance, you can rarely see the smoke from the kitchen. Only occasionally, a little bit of smoke rises, alone, and is blown away by the strong wind. But it popped up again soon.
Just like a lonely candle in the cold wind, it may be blown away at any time and never light up again.
"It's still lively as before. In the morning, there is smoke everywhere, roosters crow, and dogs barking can be heard throughout the mountains and forests."
Carpenter Li sighed again.
The times are changing so fast. In just a few years, almost all the people in the mountains have left, especially the young people. Almost all of them have gone out. Very few young people will stay in the mountains. .
The outside world is more exciting, more comfortable, and richer.
"Carpenter Li~"
As we walked, we came to the entrance of the village. Seven or eight old men came to the entrance of the village early to report as if they were having a party every day.
Sitting on the stone at the entrance of the village, chatting leisurely, not in a hurry to do anything.
In the past, I was busy from morning till night, rarely taking a break.
Nowadays, everyone is not too busy. They can just plant some rice for their own consumption and some vegetables in the fields. There is no need to be busy cultivating fields, building houses, etc.
Because everyone knows that when people like themselves leave, this mountain will be completely quiet and no one will live here again.
"Uncle Chen~"
"Old Tao~"
"Old Wang~"
Carpenter Li also smiled and greeted everyone, found a rock to sit down, and looked at the mountains and his village.
"Did your son write to you?"
"I don't know, I didn't go to town."
"If anyone can help me when I go to town, I'll ask. Counting the time, it's almost time for a letter."
"Carpenter Li, I heard that your son's breeding farm here in Black Earth Province is now very large. My son mentioned this when he wrote last time and said that he specially visited your boss's place.
They say there are hundreds of cows, hundreds of sheep, and dozens of cows."
"It's not bad. You sent me some beef jerky last time. I'll bring it back for everyone to try."
"Forget it, the beef jerky is so hard that my teeth can't even bite it."
"Old Chen, your children are also very promising. I heard that they have already taken concubines."
"They are all slaves bought with money. They are said to be white slaves from Europe. They are bought back home to help with the work."
Everyone was chatting, and the things they talked about were all about their children in Black Earth Province.
Almost all the young people in the village immigrated to Black Earth Province. Here in Black Earth Province, they occasionally visit each other, walk around, and write letters back to tell everyone about this matter.
This has become the content and topic that everyone often talks about when chatting.
Apart from this, there is nothing else to talk about.
"What a wonderful field, but no one is planting it now."
"Isn't that right? In the past, everyone was fighting and grabbing it, but now no one wants it."
"No one is farming this field anymore. There are even more hares and other things."
"It's not just hares, there are also tigers. If you are fine, don't go to Niutouling. Someone said they saw a tiger somewhere last time."
"real or fake?"
"It's true. I've also heard tigers barking. The sound was very scary. I didn't expect that there are tigers starting to appear in our mountains."
"There are no more people, so there are more birds and beasts. It's normal."
"I'm even thinking about whether I should go to Black Earth Province. My children have gone, and I feel really lonely in this village, with no flavor at all."
"You can go if you want. I can't walk. I heard that going to Black Earth Province is really far away. I'm afraid I'll die on the way and grow old in this mountain. My ancestors have lived here for generations. How can I get away from it?"
open ah."
"Yes, I can't bear to part with it either. My son has been writing me letters asking me to go to Black Earth Province, saying that he is worried about me being alone in the mountains."
"My son also wrote a letter asking me to go to Black Earth Province, saying that he wanted me to help return his grandson and granddaughter. He said that the children were very naughty. When the couple got busy, no one really looked after them."
"If everyone leaves, there will really be no one in this mountain, and it will become a place for birds and beasts."
"Isn't it a matter of time?"
"Look at how many houses are rotten and how many fields are deserted. Even the roads between our mountain villages are covered with moss and weeds. There are fewer and fewer people."
"Isn't that right? Last time I took my mother-in-law to her parents' house, the road almost disappeared. There were grass on both sides and the road was covered."
"If you panic, just panic. Anyway, the children are doing well outside now."
Everyone looked at the village and the mountains and chatted, recalling the hustle and bustle of the past, and lamenting the desolation and desolation of the present.