During the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2001, the members of the Expedition Team of Yuanyang Town in Northern Chongqing prepared to go to Banpo Mountain in the south of Zhongshan Town in Chongqing to climb high and look far away, and the team also joked to see who could reach the top first.
Unexpectedly, just arrived at the foot of the mountain, they saw a "ladder" not far away through the telescope, to know that Banpo Mountain has not been developed, just a "wild mountain", so how did this ladder come from? In order to find out, the team members packed their bags and headed for the ladder.
The road is rough, but the ladder is very stable, and there are handrails at hand, which are not naturally formed, but are artificially built. After the team members trekked all the way and finally reached the top, everyone was shocked by the "hermit immortal residence" in front of them, and an old man came up and asked, "Who are you?" ”
The end of the ladder
The expedition members explained their intentions, the old man happily entertained them, and when asked about the ladder, the old man and the expedition team members told a story...
Just to think about it in your spare time, wipe the sweat and can't smell the fragrance
In 1943, the 16-year-old Xu Chaoqing got married, and as a famous beauty in the township, Xu Chaoqing's wedding day can be described as a high-profile event. In the war years, everyone hoped that a marriage would bring some fun to their poor lives. A group of children circled around the red palanquin, humming mountain songs of marriage in their mouths.
The sound of firecrackers, screams, gongs and drums brought joy to the town. 6-year-old Liu Guojiang began to cry, it turned out that while chasing the bride's palanquin, he accidentally fell and broke a tooth. When the aunt on the side saw the situation, she picked him up: "You can't cry on a big day, let the bride touch it, and your teeth will soon grow out." ”
The bride touches the gums
The aunt pushed Liu Guojiang to the bride's palanquin and begged the bride to touch it. This is the local "custom", a child who loses his teeth can quickly grow new teeth as long as the bride touches the gums.
However, the bride who has not passed through the door cannot see anyone. Therefore, Liu Guojiang saw a hand stretched out from the palanquin, and he did not know whether the palanquin was good-looking and stunned Liu Guojiang or how, Liu Guojiang bit the hand of the bride Xu Chaoqing in confusion, Xu Chaoqing ate the pain, and glanced at Liu Guojiang. At a quick glance, Liu Guojiang wrote down the bride.
The difference between the two was ten years, and Liu Guojiang called Xu Chaoqing "Aunt Xu", and looked forward to marrying his Aunt Xu day and night. Unconsciously, Liu Guojiang had also reached the age of marrying and having children. 16-year-old Liu Guojiang is hard-working, strong, and a "good object" in the eyes of matchmakers.
Liu Guojiang, Xu Chaoqing
At that time, Liu Guojiang's door was about to be broken by the matchmakers in the eight townships, but Liu Guojiang only had his Aunt Xu in his heart, and he really couldn't make room for other girls, and he didn't want to mistake people for life, so he shirked it.
That year, Xu Chaoqing had been married for 10 years, had four children with her husband, and the family's life was still harmonious. However, the red face is short-lived, Xu Chaoqing's young son was born not long ago, and her husband unfortunately died of meningitis.
In the past, the concept of mountain villages was not yet civilized, and once the husband had something, he would blame the wife. Xu Chaoqing looked beautiful, and at first glance, he was "Kefu Xiang", and his mother-in-law threw Xu Chaoqing and her four children out of the house without saying a word.
Xu Chaoqing
At that time, Xu Chaoqing's eldest child was only 10 years old, and the youngest child had to be held and fed by Xu Chaoqing day and night. Xu Chaoqing was afraid that her family would be laughed at because of her shame, so she had to take her children to live in an abandoned thatched hut in the village.
Every day, the four children were waiting to be fed, and Xu Chaoqing took them to the mountains to find food, dig up wild mushrooms to eat, and had no money to buy salt, so they swallowed the soup and water indiscriminately.
In order to improve his living conditions, Xu Chaoqing also began to weave straw shoes, selling a pair for 5 cents, while selling salt for 3 cents, the days are stretched. All of this was looked at by Liu Guojiang, but the eyes of the village were all staring at Xu Chaoqing, and they were all talking about her after tea. Liu Guojiang did not dare to make unnecessary moves, for fear that Xu Chaoqing would be ridiculed because he was "in the limelight".
After a while, one day, Liu Guojiang went to work in the fields, and the field assigned by his family happened to be by a river. On that day, Liu Guojiang put a hoe on his back to weed the field, and he heard a cry for help from afar, and Liu Guojiang hurried to the river, and saw Xu Chaoqing, who had "heart and mind", fall into the water, and there was a child in his arms.
Drowning
Liu Guojiang didn't think about it, threw away his hoe, plunged headlong into the rushing river, pulled Xu Chaoqing and the child and swam to the shore. Xu Chaoqing was saved and thanked Liu Guojiang for his kindness. Liu Guojiang smiled embarrassedly: "Aunt, you forgot about me, when you got married, you helped me a lot." ”
Xu Chaoqing then remembered Liu Guojiang: "It was you." ”
The two reminisced for a while, afraid that the child would catch a cold, Xu Chaoqing bid farewell to Liu Guojiang. Liu Guojiang was also wet, so he went home and changed his clothes. Remembering that Xu Chaoqing's family was poor and afraid that she had suffered from the wind and cold, Liu Guojiang quickly boiled a large pot of ginger soup and sent it to Xu Chaoqing's home without anyone noticing.
Thatched huts
Xu Chaoqing was very grateful, but because there was really no decent place in the family to entertain Liu Guojiang, he did not invite Liu Guojiang into the house. Liu Guojiang glanced at the hidden door behind Xu Chaoqing, knew the ruin of Xu Chaoqing's home, he didn't say anything, and left.
The next day, some vegetables and salt appeared at the door of Xu Chaoqing's house. After a few days, Liu Guojiang came with tools: "Aunt, it is about to be the rainy season, I see that your eaves are leaking, I will help you make up for it." ”
Xu Chaoqing originally wanted to push back, but thinking that his four children would suffer from wind and cold, he finally allowed Liu Guojiang to help, so he came and went, and Liu Guojiang often came to help Xu Chaoqing.
"There are not many widows in front of the door", not to mention that Xu Chaoqing looks so beautiful. Not long after, the elders in Liu Guojiang's family began to forbid Liu Guojiang from going out, and at the same time, a female representative came to the family to do ideological work for Liu Guojiang.
Liu Guojiang
"Do you know what people on the outside say about you, you don't think about your own reputation, you have to think about the face of your family, no matter how bad, you have to think about the widow Xu." You a bachelor who runs to a widow's house every day, which is a big deal. ”
"I want to marry her." This sentence Liu Guojiang from small to large. When I said this when I was a child, I was often teased by adults, saying that he was "not dry". Now that he has grown up, he also says that he "doesn't understand the world", so when will he be able to be with Xu Chaoqing? Thinking of this, Liu Guojiang could no longer bear it, and took advantage of the fact that the family was not paying attention at night and escaped.
In the dead of night, every household is resting behind closed doors. Liu Guojiang walked all the way to Xu Chaoqing's house in the dark, and gently knocked on Xu Chaoqing's door, Xu Chaoqing asked Liu Guojiang to hurry up across the door, so as not to be ridiculed, but Liu Guojiang was unwilling.
"I will not marry you in this life."
"You're still a big guy, your life has just begun, you can't ruin your life because of me." Xu Chaoqing was still reluctant to open the door.
"I've already thought about taking you out of here, away from these right and wrong, and come with me."
"You, hey." Xu Chaoqing finally said that Liu Guojiang could not say that Liu Guojiang, coupled with Liu Guojiang's care for himself and his children over the years, Xu Chaoqing already had a good feeling for Liu Guojiang in his heart, so he opened the door and discussed countermeasures with Liu Guojiang.
2. Just for this life, we will not let go no matter how tired we are
"So, sir, you came here a long time ago?" The expedition team members asked after hearing the story of Liu Guojiang's elopement.
Liu Guojiang replied: "Yes, at that time, I was 19 years old, and my wife was 29 years old, and we came to this Banpo Mountain with a momentum." ”
Xu Chaoqing wiped his tears from the side: "At that time, there was nothing, just rely on our two hands." ”
Speaking of cultivated land, the old man Liu Guojiang asked: "Chairman Mao, how is his old man' home?" If it weren't for the fact that the Communist Party helped us fight the local tycoons and gave us land, we wouldn't have lived at this time. ”
The expedition team members informed the old man that Chairman Mao had been dead for many years. Upon hearing this news, the two old men's eyes burst into tears: "At that time, it was really bitter, thanks to Chairman Mao's leadership, we were able to live a good life step by step." ”
The old man Liu Guojiang added hot tea to the expedition team, and continued to talk about the new life after going up the mountain...
One day in August 1956, the sky was just dark, and the mountain was covered with fog, which provided a natural shelter for Liu Guojiang and his party. Liu Guojiang carried a child on his back, held another child, took Xu Chaoqing's hand and ran south.
elope
"I've seen that place before, and no one lives there."
Xu Chaoqing squeezed Liu Guojiang's hand and wrapped the bag wrapped around his body, which contained in addition to a few pieces of clothing, that is, agricultural tools, and some seeds. Rural people, relying on the ground to eat, can not bring anything, but the food must be complete.
The sun came out a little, and Liu Guojiang's family found that Liu Guojiang and Xu Chaoqing were gone, and people began to search around. However, the vast mountain, a mountain over and another mountain, where to find? Coupled with the fact that this exodus was not glorious, he simply gave up.
At this time, Liu Guojiang was using his sickle to chop the branches in front of him, and he was hard to open a path for Xu Chaoqing and the child. A group of 6 people walked in the inaccessible mountains, and occasionally they could hear the roar of jackals, tigers and leopards, and Xu Chaoqing held Liu Guojiang's hand deadly.
Off the beaten track
Liu Guojiang comforted: "Don't be afraid old wives, if I am here, I will not let them hurt you." ”
Xu Chaoqing asked, "Who is the old woman?" ”
"It's you, they always say you're older than me, so it's so inappropriate." I don't believe it, anyway, I recognize you, I will be responsible for you, we all live according to conscience. ”
"Relying on conscience" is Liu Guojiang's lifelong commitment to Xu Chaoqing, and time has proved that Liu Guojiang has indeed done it. After a long climb, Liu Guojiang and his party finally reached the top of the mountain. After escaping from the right and wrong of the world, but after all, it is still a mortal flesh and fetus, and it is still necessary to consider life.
The two men opened their bags, ate some dry food, and looked at the barren hilltop, and the most urgent thing was to get a house to live in first. Liu Guojiang and Xu Chaoqing began to build thatched huts, although not very comfortable, but good villains can shelter from the wind and rain.
The problem of eating for four children is not a small problem, 6 mouths must be fed, and the problem of food and clothing is placed in front of two people. So Liu Guojiang went to the river to fish and pick mountain fruits and fungi. In order to survive the winter, Xu Chaoqing was responsible for drying the excess food, drying the fish into dried meat, and grinding the mountain fruits and fungi into powder and placing them in clay pots, which were also fired by Liu Guojiang himself.
Later, Liu Guojiang reclaimed the field again, and the seeds he brought came in handy. Liu Guojiang went outside to cultivate the land to hunt during the day, and Xu Chaoqing guarded his home, making a meal and waiting for Liu Guojiang to return. The family's life is hard but also happy, but unfortunately, the good times are not long. The weather in the mountains changed drastically, and a year later, a sudden mountain wind blew away the thatched huts that the family had taken shelter from.
cave
At that time, the family was sleeping, the wind blew up, blowing away the thatched roof, Liu Guojiang quickly led the family to find a Shandong to hide. Listening to the sound of jackals, tigers and leopards in the mountains, Xu Chaoqing was very scared, remembering the road they had just taken up the mountain, she said to Liu Guojiang: "If there was a brick house, it wouldn't be like this." ”
This sentence was remembered by Liu Guojiang, and during the few days of refuge in the cave, Liu Guojiang went out to find food and began to pay attention to finding a suitable mud place. When the wind receded, Liu Guojiang simply strengthened the thatched hut and took the child to the mud field found a few days ago to carry the mud. Bricks and tiles were fired from mud, and brick by brick burned for a whole year, and it took another year to build the brick house.
Looking at the brick and tile houses rising from the ground, Xu Chaoqing sang a mountain song: "At noon on the seventh day of the first month, I went to Wanglang, and my Lang dripped sweat to take the valley field." Take a handkerchief to look at Lang, the left hand to Lang not to wipe, the right hand to Lang to hide. I asked Lang again what he wanted this for? Lang promised: Just for the idle time to think about it, wipe the sweat can not smell the fragrance. ”
Liu Guojiang, who was laying bricks on the side, also sang along, and Xu Chaoqing walked over to help Liu Guojiang wipe off sweat with a handkerchief. When the new house was completed, Liu Guojiang no longer had to worry that his wife and son would not be able to sleep at night because they were afraid.
Counting up, the two have been on the mountain for more than 3 years, during which time the population of the family has increased by three more. These children were all raised by Liu Guojiang with fish and wild fruits. When Liu Guojiang was a child, he could only take care of his stomach because he wanted to fight, and when his stomach was full in peacetime, he had to think about going to school.
In order to save tuition for his children, Liu Guojiang went down the mountain to sell agricultural products in the mountains. Once, Liu Guojiang saw a honeycomb picking wild fruit on the mountain, so he went home to discuss with Xu Chaoqing, and the two began to breed bees again.
Selling wild fruits, honey, and vegetables, Liu Guojiang took the family's surplus agricultural products down the mountain, exchanged it for money, and gave all the children to pay tuition. Up and down every day, Liu Guojiang never felt hard.
Ladder
After going up the mountain for such a long time, Xu Chaoqing also missed his family a little, so he wanted to go down the mountain to see his mother's family, but he accidentally broke his leg because of the rugged mountain road, which frightened Liu Guojiang. In order to give Xu Chaoqing a stable way down the mountain, Liu Guojiang decided to build a ladder to get out.
The waves of banpo are nearly 1500 meters, and the mountain road is rugged. One side of the ladder is a steep cliff, and in order to facilitate Xu Chaoqing's movement, Liu Guojiang also dug out one "hand support nest" after another on the side close to the mountain. A man, by a shovel and a shovel. Liu Guojiang spent more than 50 years, during which he created a "love miracle" with more than 20 broken shovels and more than 40 shovels.
In the years when the ladder was built, the children all went down the mountain one after another to settle down, leaving the old two families, without the heavy responsibility of taking care of the children, Xu Chaoqing followed Liu Guojiang to repair the ladder every day, Liu Guojiang did not let Xu Chaoqing do heavy work, Xu Chaoqing wiped sweat for Liu Guojiang and handed water.
Liu Guojiang repaired the ladder
Unconsciously, time has flowed like this. Xu Chaoqing wiped the sweat from Liu Guojiang's forehead and said to Liu Guojiang, "Young man, you have also become an old man." "The original black silk teenager has already whitened his sideburns, and the white colt has crossed the gap, and it has been shaking for decades!"
Liu Guojiang looked at the heavenly ladder that had been formed and said to Xu Chaoqing, "But you have always been my old wife, you have not changed, you are still the same as before." ”
The two old men walked on the ladder one after the other towards their home at the top of the mountain, leaving behind a melodious mountain song along the way: "On the thirteenth day, I hid quietly, and made an appointment to elope and knock on the window." Lang carried me to the other side of the mountain, with a torch in his left hand shining on the mountain road, and a sickle in his right hand splitting the high post. I asked Lang are you tired? Lang promised: Just for this life, we will not let go no matter how tired we are. ”
3. Just round your hearts, I'll give you the fragrance of flowers
After listening to the story of the two old people, the expedition team members could not help but burst into tears, and pulled out their cameras to help the two old people take a group photo. Xu Chaoqing was a little scared when he saw the camera's flash, and hid behind Liu Guojiang and did not dare to come out.
The expedition team members talked to the two old people about the outside world, especially the development of the city, and the two old people were happy to blossom: "Good, new China is good." Mentioning whether to go down the mountain together, the two old men waved their hands: "This is our home, we will not go anywhere." ”
Liu Guojiang and Xu Chaoqing sent a group of people down the mountain, walking on the ladder, the expedition team counted, a total of 6208 steps, and each step surface is very clean, no moss cover, which is the result of Liu Guojiang's daily cleaning.
After descending the mountain, the expedition team told the others about the incident, and soon the TV station came, and the government came to visit the two people with condolences. Suddenly so many people poured in, Liu Guojiang was afraid that Xu Chaoqing would not adapt, so he kept holding Xu Chaoqing's hand.
Many people are touched by the love story of two old people and want to "learn from the old man". The most frequently asked question by the elderly Liu Guojiang is how to maintain the longevity of love. He didn't understand, because in his opinion, this was a very simple thing: "It's very simple, as long as you talk about conscience, be good to her, she is also good to you, and the two take care of each other, you can last a long time." 」 ”
At the age of 6, Liu Guojiang's "conscience" was caught by Xu Chaoqing. At the age of 19, Liu Guojiang promised Xu Chaoqing that "she will not marry in this life." For more than 50 years, the couple had been in love with each other, and Liu Guojiang had proved his love for Xu Chaoqing with a ladder.
In 2006, the stories of Liu Guojiang and Xu Chaoqing were selected as "Top Ten Touching Stories in China", and the elderly Liu Guojiang was also invited to participate in the "Qixi Special Program" of Jiangsu Satellite TV. When he took the stage to make a speech, the elderly Liu Guojiang was concerned about the old woman at home who could not come to the scene because of a leg injury.
When asked what else he wanted to say, the old man Liu Guojiang blurted out that he wanted to go home. The audience expressed confusion about this, and Liu Guojiang quickly added: "I am afraid that the monkey stole my corn." In fact, it was because Liu Guojiang wanted Xu Chaoqing, but he said that he was worried that the monkey had stolen his corn.
After this separation, Liu Guojiang and Xu Chaoqing began to discuss the aftermath. "Whoever goes first, leave the one who is definitely sad, and I hope that the person who is sad is me." Elder Liu Guojiang said.
Liu Guojiang took the stage to receive the award
Fate is something that no one can say for sure. A year later, the elderly Liu Guojiang died of illness, and before he died, he held an iron shovel in one hand and Xu Chaoqing's hand in the other. Because of the customs in the mountains, the old man Xu Chaoqing could not send Liu Guojiang to the last section of the road.
On the day of the burial, it rained lightly in the sky, much like the night the two escaped, it was so cold, but Liu Guojiang held Xu Chaoqing's hand so hot.
"Don't leave me, you say you'll take care of me so that no one will dare to bully me." Xu Chaoqing took Liu Guojiang's already cold hand and said.
The coffin board was closed, and the tears of the old man Xu Chaoqing also dried up, she looked at the long ladder and sang "Seventeen Wanglang" again: "On the fifteenth day, the moonlight was shining, and I was in the chapel with my lang." Heaven made a bed, and the left ear listened to the clam, and the right ear listened to the howling wolf. Lang asked me again if I was afraid? I promised: As long as Lang is by my side, sleep until dawn. ”
On October 30, 2012, five years after the death of the elderly Liu Guojiang, the elderly Xu Chaoqing also died of illness at the age of 87. According to the old man's last wishes, the children buried Xu Chaoqing and Liu Guojiang together.
More than two hundred people came to attend the funeral of the elderly Xu Chaoqing, and roses symbolizing love were laid on the ladder. The singing sounded again in the mountains:
On the seventeenth day, he looked at Lang, and Lang went to bring in the Fire Phoenix. After the phoenix came, the trees and birds danced on the left, and the cuckoos in the mountain stream on the right were crazy. I asked the birds what do you dance? The bird promised: Only round your hearts, I will hand you the fragrance of flowers. The phoenix sent Xiangrui, and the "young man" finally waited for his "old wife".
Bronze statues of Liu Guojiang and Xu Chaoqing
The love story of Liu Guojiang and Xu Chaoqing was passed down by word of mouth, and in order to commemorate the love between the two, someone specially created a bronze statue of two old people by the side of the ladder. Nowadays, the "Love Ladder" has become the tourist symbol of Zhongshan Town, and Liu Guojiang and Xu Chaoqing have achieved a love story and benefited the local residents.
"A hundred years of repair to cross the same boat, a thousand years to repair to sleep together", the ladder love story proves to us that true love in the world is very simple, and true love can definitely withstand the test of time, I wish you can harvest your own "true love".