The protagonist of the story is the old Li Tou of our village, who is Li Ergou's father. Lao Li has been digging in the soil all his life, and he has no great potential, so he has two abilities: one is the ability to farm the land, and the other is the ability to look at feng shui.
That winter, the snow fell so hard that the village was covered tightly. Lao Litou's wife, Aunt Wang, suddenly fell ill, and she was very sick. The village doctors all shook their heads and said, "Let's prepare for the future." Lao Li Tou was anxious, like an ant on a hot pot. He remembered what the older generation said, if people can be buried in a good grave when they leave, future generations can enjoy happiness. So, he decided to find a feng shui treasure for his wife.
Lao Li Tou carried a compass and went up the back mountain against the wind and snow. The mountain is so white that I can't even see the road clearly. He muttered as he walked: "God, show me a clear path, let my wife walk at ease, and let our second dog have a good future." Strange to say, while he was chattering, a gust of wind blew away the snow mist in front of him, revealing a stone with a strange shape, like a lion's head. Lao Li's eyes lit up, and he thought: "Isn't this what the old people call 'lion looking at the door'!" He circled the stone several times, and the compass needle swayed, until at last he pointed firmly to a small pit directly below the stone. Lao Li Tou chuckled in his heart, this place is not simple!
He hurried down the mountain, found a few strong laborers, and buried Aunt Wang there overnight. The day after the burial, the village began to spread that Lao Li Tou found a good hole on the mass grave, and said that it was a place of "nine lions worship". The big guys were skeptical, after all, no one had ever seen the scene of nine lions worshipping. Oh, I'll go, that's really wicked. Since the day Aunt Wang entered the soil for peace, our place of Lijiagou has changed. Look at Lao Litou's field, the crops are growing as if they have eaten a divine pill, they are green and shiny, and the harvest has doubled several times compared with previous years. Look at the kid of Ergou again, he used to be a stunned young man, but now it's good, he suddenly opened his mind, he studied hard, he was the first in the exam every year, and finally he was admitted to the university in the provincial capital and became the first college student in our village. The people in the village began to talk about it, saying that Lao Li Tou had hit a big luck and buried a good place by mistake, and also related to the mysterious matter of the "Nine Lions Worship".
As for Lao Litou, he just smiled and didn't say anything. He knew in his heart that there were so many mysterious things in this world, but since good things were coming, he had to continue, let Ergou study hard, and add glory to the old Li family in the future. In a blink of an eye, Ergou graduated from university, returned to the village to become a village official, led everyone to engage in characteristic planting, and introduced new technologies, and Lijiagou's life is becoming more and more prosperous. As soon as the people in the village mentioned Ergou, they all gave a thumbs up, saying that he was "a great official who came down from Wenqu Xing and worshiped by the Nine Lions".
But at this time, something strange happened in the village. One night, there was a sudden roar of lions in the back mountain, which woke up the whole village. Everyone was bold, carrying lanterns up the mountain to see, hey, hey, how can there be any lions, only to see that under the moonlight, around the stone that looks like a lion's head, there is a circle of small mounds, from a distance, it really means something - nine small mounds, like nine little lions worshipping. As soon as the news spread, the mystery of the village became even stronger.
Lao Li Tou stood on the threshold of his house, looked at the direction of the back mountain, and muttered in his mouth: "The world is unpredictable, and it is wrong, maybe it is really the ancestor who apparitions, so that our Li Jiagou has become a big official, and also makes the legend of the nine lions worship true." (To be continued, the second half will reveal more about the truth about the "Nine Lions Pilgrimage" and how Ergou led Lijiagou to a more brilliant tomorrow.) ）
Ergou has become a celebrity in the village, but he knows very well in his heart that the legend of "Nine Lions Worship" is just the good wishes of the villagers, and what really makes Lijiagou better is everyone's concerted efforts and their unremitting struggle. However, Ergou is also willing to let this legend continue to circulate, after all, it can inspire more people to believe that as long as they work hard, they can change their own fate. Oops, in the blink of an eye, years have passed by by in a blink of an eye. Ergou, this kid, took the brothers in our village, repaired the road to a smooth line, the electricity was also connected, and several enterprises were connected. As soon as outsiders came, Ergou loved to take them up the mountain, pointing to the stone of the "lion's head" and the mound of "lion cubs" around it, and happily telling the story of the "Nine Lions Worship". But although our Lijiagou is prosperous, Ergou has a small pimple in his heart, and he always feels that in the back mountain, in addition to the beautiful scenery, there seems to be some secret hidden.
Especially in the dead of night, the occasional low chanting sound that can be heard makes Ergou's heart beat a drum. One night, Ergou went up the mountain alone with a lantern, and by the moonlight and the faint light, he circled the "lion's head" stone several times. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through, blowing up a fallen leaf, and also blowing away the fog in Ergou's heart. He squatted down and took a closer look at the mounds of the "little lion", and found that these mounds did not grow naturally, but were deliberately piled up.
Ergou was shocked, thinking that there wouldn't really be any secret behind this, right? He carefully dug through the gaps between the mounds. Digging and digging, the soil was peeled away layer by layer, and a rusty iron box appeared in front of him. Ergou carefully opened the tin box, which contained a yellowed diary and a few old photographs. In the diary, there is a feng shui master named Old Man Zhao, who came here decades ago and discovered the feng shui treasure of our Lijiagou back mountain. Old man Zhao originally wanted to take this place as his resting place, but when he thought of the hardships of the people of Lijiagou, he decided to leave a mark, hoping that one day someone would find out, so as to change the fate of our Lijiagou. Those "little lions" mounds were piled up by Old Man Zhao himself, meaning "Nine Lions Worship", hoping to bring good luck to our Lijiagou. As for the low groaning sound mentioned in the diary, it was Old Man Zhao who used the terrain in the mountains to design a set of mechanisms, which were created with the sound of wind and water, just to add a sense of mystery and attract more people's attention.
Ergou looked at the diary, his eyes moistened. He didn't expect that behind the story of "Nine Lions Worship", there would be such a story of unsung heroes paying silently. He gently closed the heavy diary, stood in the courtyard of his house, and bowed deeply to the deep night sky. In his heart, he silently made a wish to let this heavy kindness, like a seed, take root and sprout in the land of Lijiagou, so that our tomorrow will be brighter than now.
Early the next morning, Ergou gathered all the men, women and children of the village under the old locust tree at the entrance of the village. With that passionate voice, he told everyone about his own discoveries and the story of Old Man Zhao. When the villagers heard this, they were all moved to tears, and they all said that they should remember the good of Old Man Zhao and continue to work hard, so that the good days of our Li Jiagou will be passed on from generation to generation.
In order to commemorate the old man Zhao, Ergou proposed to erect a monument next to the big stone of the "lion's head", which was engraved with the name of the old man Zhao and those touching deeds, so that later people could remember him. He also plans to set up a "Old Man Zhao Foundation" to help education and public welfare in the village, so that the spirit of Old Man Zhao can take root in Lijiagou.
As soon as the monument was erected and the foundation was established, Lijiagou's reputation became even greater. Tourists from other places come here, some to see the wonder of the "Nine Lions Worship", and more to feel the warmth and touching across time and space. Ergou stood in front of the monument, looking at the endless stream of tourists, watching his hometown get better day by day, and the pride and satisfaction in his heart really can't be described in words. He knew that all this was inseparable from the selfless dedication of Old Man Zhao and the joint efforts of the villagers. He took a deep breath and shouted loudly into the sky, "Old man Zhao, did you see it? Li Jiagou has really changed! ”
Time flies, and decades have passed in the blink of an eye. Under the leadership of Ergou, Lijiagou has changed from a poor small mountain village to a modern new countryside. And the legend of "Nine Lions Worship", like the patron saint of Lijiagou, inspires generations of people to move forward bravely and pursue a better life. In the dead of night, the low chanting sound on the back mountain seems to be still telling the story of that legend. Ergou has also changed from a young man to a respected old man. He often took his grandchildren up the mountain, pointed to the "lion's head" stone, and told them the story of the "Nine Lions Pilgrimage" with a smile, as well as the night that changed his fate and that of the entire Lijiagou......