Source: People's Daily client
He said that he did not have to cook, but as a result, Dongmucuo's sister-in-law was still ready.
From the county seat of Qilian County to the Daquan Village of Bison Gou Township where the interview site is located, after three hours of bumps, it feels different to be able to serve a bowl of steaming broth in the hinterland of Qilian Mountain, with an average altitude of nearly 4,000 meters.
What makes people feel even more different is this Mongolian husband and wife management station that has been guarded for 16 years in the depths of Qilian and at the source of the Heihe River.
I took the first group photo of 2022 for the two interviewers. Photo by Jia Fengfeng
In the photo, the dashing and burly Mongolian Man is called Ye Jin'erri, 49 years old; the gentle and strong lady next to him, called Dong Mucuo, 48 years old; the two are from Daquan Village, Bison Gou Township, Qilian County, Qinghai Province, and the stewards of the management and protection station of the ecological construction and protection project in the source basin of the Heihe River.
Qilian, the boundary mountain between Qinghai and Gansu, is rarely visited; the Heihe River, the second largest inland river in the mainland, originates from the Bayi Glacier in the hinterland of the Qilian Mountains, flows out of Qinghai and waters the prosperity of gansu's Hexi Corridor, and finally settles in Juyanhai - it also has a well-known ancient name: weak water. The so-called "weak water three thousand, only take a scoop to drink", said today's Black River.
Back in 2006, due to the weak regulatory force at that time, the illegal mining behavior was rampant, and small excavators, loaders, and mobile beds continued to pour in, leaving many pits like wounds turning out in the depths of the Qilian Mountains, as well as black soil beaches like psoriasis.
The establishment of a management and care station is imminent. At this time, Ye Jin'erri, a retired soldier from Daquan Village in Bison Gou Township, became the perfect candidate. "The government has repeatedly done its work, can we remain indifferent?" The stout and stocky Yejin Ohri became a steward, and in order to take care of his daily life, his wife Dongmucuo also came to the stewardship station.
The management and protection station built by the county is also the "home" of the couple. Photo by Jia Fengfeng
Interior view of the station. Photo by Jia Fengfeng
The name is called the management station, but at first there was no house, they set up a tent, and then put a layer of plastic sheeting on the inside, and woke up in the morning, and the water vapor fell like rain. "There's no way, only in this way can we keep warm!" Dongmucuo recalled that when he first came, his eyes were red, "And there is still water, you can only go to the spring three kilometers away each time to find it, and when you get up in the morning, it will take an hour just to melt the ice with a pot." ”
There were not many livestock in the family, so they were left to relatives to take care of; the only daughter was also given to the old man. Since 2006, two people and a motorcycle, from the Bayi Glacier in the west to the Oil Gourd Ditch in the east, from the Dayu Village in the south to the Qinggan Junction in the north, with a radius of 200 square kilometers, are their work areas, and the furthest point takes 10 hours to patrol.
For 16 years, this pair of figures guarded the land. Photo by Jia Fengfeng
In 2007, the couple returning from the patrol suddenly encountered a flash flood in the Heihe River, and the motorcycle was swept away by the water. Two people escaped from death, and the place of the incident is still forty kilometers away from the management and protection station, calling the day should not be, the ground is not working, the two people can only wait until the flood recedes, and then find the motorcycle, after two hours of drying, barely pedal to open fire, riding along the way to push, and when they reach the station, it is early in the morning.
The exhausted two slept in the cold kang for one night, and when they woke up the next day, Dong Mucuo's first words were "Either leave here or get divorced..."
Tears rushed out of his eyes and rolled down Ye Jin's face.
"You'll sleep again, I'll heat the kang first, and then I'll make some food." After Ye Jin's tossing and turning for more than an hour, a bowl of hot noodles was brought to Dong Mu Tso's heel... Later, three brick houses were built, and barbed wire fenced out of the courtyard. With the twilight of the morning sun, the sound of motorcycle start-up sounded again and again, and the empty courtyard witnessed countless departures and silently welcomed countless returns, although sometimes they were not on time.
In 2017, the two suddenly encountered a puncture on the way back from the tour, and in desperation, they took off their clothes and pants and stuffed them into the tires - just like that, even riding belt push, finally returned to the management and nursing station.
Winter Qilian. Photo by Jia Fengfeng
Yekin Ogiri suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis, and Dongmucuo's waist was often malfunctioning. At noon, Dong Mu Tso fished out the freshly boiled meat, and the two of them urged me to eat it one by one, but they didn't move much. Mongolians, where is there anyone who does not love meat? Looking embarrassed, Ye Jin'erri rubbed his knees while telling the truth: due to the patrol, he often could not eat hot, and the stomachs of the two people were not very good, so the meat was tightly controlled...
Due to its remote location, the cost of electricity is too high. Therefore, the three photovoltaic panels have become the source of all the electricity used by the Yejin-Russian-Japanese couple. In the summer, the sun is long, the battery can be full, and it can barely be enough; but in the winter, the day becomes shorter, the battery board that can't eat enough also plays a small temper from time to time, the lights are on and on suddenly go out, and the TV looks suddenly black... Because of this, the refrigerator has become a decoration. More than twenty days to go to the county, the couple bought the same dishes every time: potatoes, kale, radishes, cabbage, green onions, are some of the resistant. "But it's good to have a dish to eat, just a few years ago, it was noodles, potatoes, didn't they also come over?"
"What do you do when the power goes out?" I suddenly asked a question that would be silly to think about later.
"What can I do?" Sleep!" Yekin Iri replied with a smile.
"At this time, what do you all like to talk about?" I asked.
"Old husband and wife, what are you talking about?"
Fortunately, though, there is "Lu Ba", a black Tibetan mastiff with a "gold rim".
The front legs stomped on the ground, wagged its tail, and its cries were heard five or six kilometers away, which also added a bit of "ritual" to each patrol return.
Coming to stand for ten years, accompanying for ten years, in the hearts of the Yekin-Oh-Japanese couple, it is also a part of the family.
The majestic "Lu Ba". Photo by Jia Fengfeng
In the winter of the previous year, late one night, several wolves "patronized" the station. Outside, the barking of dogs and wolves was a mixture, and neither of the couple dared to go out. When he got up the next morning, the yard was full of wolf hair and blood, and Lu Ba did not let the wolves take advantage, but he also paid a heavy price: his front leg was bitten and he could not get up for a whole month.
Watching Lu Ba lying on the ground licking his wounds, making a series of "whining" sounds, Ye Jin'erri was heartbroken!
Again he took medicine, he fed him meat, and at night he was "picked up" to live in the house. After a few dozen days, it was back to its former vigor. Still the same as before, no matter who goes to the station, he is highly vigilant and screams, but the master's pot of green barley noodles can make it stretch over the fat head and spoil it non-stop.
Last year, I don't know why, the management station suddenly came two cats. Under the "temptation" of several pieces of steamed buns, they slowly probed and slowly approached, and after two days, they completely let down their guard and integrated into the life of the nursing station. And for the Yejin-Oh-Ri couple, in the lonely stewardship station, how much fun the two cats bring- entering the room at will, jumping on the owner's lap from time to time, this, Lu Ba only has the envy.
Nowadays, with the continuous increase of management and management, the grassland at the source of the Heihe River has basically disappeared and the ecological situation has continued to improve, "In the past, black-necked cranes were 'rare guests', and now they can often be seen." ”