"Eighteen Stories of Eighteen Cave Village": Warm and Bright, Deep Feelings

"Eighteen Stories of Eighteen-Hole Village" is an excellent reportage that goes deep into life, expresses the nostalgia for the people, and speaks for the times. Eighteen-hole village is located in Xiangxi, Hunan, is a Miao village surrounded by green mountains and green water. On November 3, 2013, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to Eighteen-Hole Village and proposed for the first time an important strategy for targeted poverty alleviation. The eighteen-hole village sleeping in poverty has since changed, opening its colored wings and struggling to fly in the spring breeze of poverty alleviation and well-off. In the early winter of 2019, writer Li Di came here, leaving early and returning late every day, crossing mountains and mountains, walking through villages, roasting fire ponds, drinking hot tea, chatting about home cooking, and listening to stories in villagers' homes... This book tells the story of poverty alleviation that Li Di heard in the eighteen-hole village, the language is simple and unpretentious, and the emotions are sincere and deep.

This is a reportage work on the theme of poverty alleviation. Writers take going deep into life and taking root in the people as the premise of creation. In his days in the Eighteen-Hole Village, he either helped the villagers sell vegetables and drink, or accompanied the villagers to chat with the land, or went into the back kitchen of the hotel to give the boss a hand, and whoever caught him listened to the other party with great interest and told the story of poverty alleviation in the village. Soon, Li Di's arrival became a new thing known to everyone in the Eighteen-Hole Village, and the villagers all said: "This Teacher Li from Beijing has no fancy!" They regard "Teacher Li" as an old friend who pulls the family routine and talks about getting rid of poverty.

In the book, "The Man With the Shaved Character on His Head" tells the story of Yang Chaowen, a villager who loved the Eighteen-Hole Village and even shaved the three words "Eighteen-Hole" on the back of his head. The opening paragraph is Yang Chaowen's words: "Teacher Li, I don't have a story. However, I especially want to talk to you and tell you how I have come to this life... You are willing to listen to me, and you are willing to listen to anything I say, which makes me feel unspeakably happy in my heart. "The box is opened, and the story is born. In the narration of the villagers, Li Di has a deep understanding of their experiences and has a sincere emotional resonance with them. The stories of these ordinary people let us read about the characters of flesh and blood, and read about the life of sour, sweet, bitter and spicy as well as dreams. We are extremely happy and admired for them to overcome all kinds of difficulties and lead a well-off life. Going deep into life and taking root in the people is aimed at writing about the people, and Li Di is such a writer who puts the people in the highest position in his heart.

Li Di appropriately edited and sorted out the stories told by the villagers, used 18 stories to show the profound changes that took place in the eighteen-hole village, entered from small incisions, and truly reflected the great feat of poverty alleviation in human history, and preserved for history. Long Xianlan in "Jin Lan Honey", his father died, his mother remarried, and his sister ran away from home, he felt that life was hopeless and gave up on himself. Long Xiulin, the leader of the poverty alleviation task force, took him home as a brother, first paid him to set up a fish stall, the business was not good, and then paid him to learn to keep bees, and also helped him build a house, marry his daughter-in-law, and build a "Golden Orchid Honey" bee farm. Long Yingzu in "Even if it is a cliff, I have to jump" gave up his high salary and returned to his hometown to breed and start a business. A girl slept alone on a mountain farm, overcame many difficulties, and finally made the company bigger and stronger. The narrator of "Yellow Peach Golden Can" is the village director Long Jilong. He worked in Shenzhen and did not return home for ten years. After making small achievements in Shenzhen, he decided to return to his hometown to start a business. The road to entrepreneurship is very difficult, but he is determined to "make a career". A few years later, the yellow peaches he promoted and planted in the whole village finally achieved a bumper harvest, and became the peach of all the villagers to get rid of poverty and get rich... In the battle against poverty, the Eighteen-Hole Village is a model and a microcosm, and its story is a vivid footnote to the superiority of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. The experience of accurate poverty alleviation in Eighteen-Hole Village is not only a magnificent triumphal song that changes fate and moves towards a well-off society in an all-round way, but also a vivid Chinese story of landmark significance in the field of anti-poverty in the world.

Li Di has left us, left the land he loves so much. Eighteen Stories of Eighteen-Hole Village is his last work in June 2020. It can be said that he contributed all the last days of his life to the creation of the theme of poverty alleviation and to the enthusiastic praise of the great era and the great people. Tie Ning, chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and chairman of the China Writers Association, spoke highly of Li Di: "His works are simple, there is no gorgeous rhetoric, he strives to write the words in the hearts of the people, his style is warm and bright, and his attitude is deeply affectionate, which fundamentally stems from his deep emotional identification with the people." "From these works, we feel the vast land and the enterprising people, and feel the great power that promotes the development of history in one figure after another, an ordinary and great fighter and laborer." (Road Hero)

Source: People's Daily