It takes about 40 minutes to fly from Kunming to Lijiang.
Obviously, Lijiang is a small tourist city that is quite famous in the whole country, especially the ancient city of Lijiang here, which has the reputation of "a small town in the south of the Yangtze River on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau".
We're not here to travel, though.
When I got out of the airport, the first thing I did was to find a car rented by a local car company and a driver and guide, and then I rushed to Xiaowanggou without stopping.
Originally, the car had to drive for more than six hours, and all of them were mountain roads, to reach the place. I feel sorry for Yan Di, and I don't want her to suffer from such long-distance travel. It is suggested that she stay in Lijiang, take a day off, and visit the scenery here by the way.
But Yan Di refused, she must follow me.
It was a six-hour journey, and the car we rented was not a high-end car. Riding in a car without a good suspension system for six hours on the bumpy mountain road almost knocked people's bones apart.
In the evening, in the evening, we arrived at our destination... Get out of the car, our group, unless Lei Xiaohu and I practice kung fu from now on, and our bodies can support it, the rest of us, including the driver Inside, I can hardly even straighten my waist. And the little girl was almost exhausted, and almost rolled off the car from the end.
As for Yan Di, I was hugged in my arms all the way in the car. With my fleshy cushion underneath, I was able to avoid some of the pain of bumps. But also very tired.
This is a typical small mountain village away from the city and away from modern prosperity. The surrounding mountains are lush and endless, and between the two mountains, there is a small river that is not very urgent. On the river is a bridge made of stones. Walking through this bridge, there is It was a low place, and I even saw the chimneys of some people's homes still emitting smoke...
It was evening now, and the sun was about to set behind the mountain, but I didn't see any lights in the village... Although there was a telegraph pole erected at the entrance of the village, it was the only one in the whole village.
The mobile phone is no longer available, and it is obvious that this is a blind spot with no signal. Because that bridge is too narrow, I am afraid that only bicycles can pass on the bridge, so we parked the car at this end of the bridge.
Obviously, this is a relatively closed place. Our arrival immediately aroused the curiosity of a group of children on the bridge. From the costumes of these children, I can see that there is still extreme poverty here. Some of the younger children were only wearing small bellybands made of homespun cloth, while the older children were wearing some old gray clothes of indistinguishable colors. And most of them don't wear shoes, and occasionally one or two older children wear yellow-green Jiefang shoes that have long since disappeared in the city...
After our group entered the village, the local villagers immediately became curious about us outsiders, and of course, there were also some vigilance and vigilance.
I held a jar in my arms, which contained the ashes of Uncle Qi, and walked at the end.
The driver stayed at the bridge. He wanted to check the car. We had enough gasoline in the car to get us out of the mountains to the nearest gas station on our way back.
After some confirmation, we are sure that this place should be the place where Seventh Uncle and Eighth Master lived!
Bao Yazhou and I worked hard for a long time, accompanied by the driver who came together (only the driver can barely understand the dialect of the people here), we even found one or two people who are said to know Uncle Qi. These people should be about the same age as Uncle Qi, but because of the hard work in the mountains, they look as if they are in their sixties.
I am a little curious about everything in this mountain village, because I am the only one who has heard Uncle Qi tell his story back then.
The village is not big, with a population of just over two hundred.
We first found the village head, and then communicated with him. It's time for dinner... To be honest, the poor environment here is far beyond my expectations... This village probably belongs to the poorest area. Almost all the families in the village are farmers and mountain people, and there is no restaurant in the village. , there are very few outsiders, and there is no shop here. It is said that every once in a while, the villagers go to a town about fifteen kilometers away to buy the goods they need.
But to my surprise, there is still a school here...if it can even be called a school.
A dilapidated adobe house with four holes in the roof at least visually, and the blackboard on it is a substitute for painting it with the sediment from the bottom of the pot.
To my surprise, among the few lamps in the whole village, there is actually one in this classroom! The textbooks are old, the desks and chairs are incomplete, and stones have been brought in to replace them.
What surprised me even more was that this small school was organized by the only one who did not return to the city among the group of people who went to the countryside with Seventh Uncle and the others. It is a pity that the old gentleman passed away last year, and the grave is Located at the end of the village.
I also inquired about the "Awang" that Uncle Seven had had a relationship with. Of course, if she is still alive, she should be fifty years old.
We did inquire about this, and we even found Ngawang's house... a piece of mud house that had already collapsed, with only a little wall left, and most of it had been converted into a cowshed.
After inquiring, I learned that in order to protect Qishu, Awang married and went to Lincun. After Qishu and his group left here and returned to the city, Awang's parents who lived in the village died of illness. And after Awang married to Lincun, it is said that there was no news afterwards, and the village in Lincun does not exist anymore. In a plan of the government to develop mountainous areas, the whole village was relocated to other places. up.
All clues are broken, and there is no trace that can be found.
Originally, when I came here, I even hoped to find some traces of the Seventh Uncle or the Eighth Master... But unfortunately, decades have passed, and everything has disappeared. Even the two local villagers found who might know Seventh Uncle and Eighth Master, they almost forgot Seventh Uncle and Eighth Master.
After thinking for a while, I walked to the end of the village. There was an old tree by the side of the small river, and not far away was a lonely grave. That is the tomb of the old man who built the elementary school here and went to the countryside with the seventh uncle.
I hesitated for a moment, and gave up my original plan... Originally, I wanted to find a place with a treasured geomantic omen here, and then give Qishu a grand burial... But now it seems that the conditions here are too bad, and it is not suitable for him. What kind of grand burial is going to be done, and it is even more impossible to do something too luxurious and high-end tomb here.
I stood by the river, smoked a cigarette for a while, and then suddenly opened the ashes urn I was holding in my arms...
I just stood on the edge of the river and sprinkled Qishu's ashes down the river one by one. The white ashes flew up, quietly fell on the river, and soon flowed away...
"Uncle Seven, maybe you have your reasons for choosing this place." I looked at the sky and the mountains, and then looked back at the lonely grave in the distance. I sighed and murmured, "Uncle Seven , I just sprinkled your ashes here, along this small river, you can stay in this village quietly... There is also an old friend of yours who is with you here, presumably you must know him. "
I finished scattering the ashes, clapped my hands lightly, and looked back at my companions standing behind me. When I sprinkled the ashes just now, all of them were standing a few meters behind me. Everyone had a serious face, even the little girl, although she looked dazed, didn't dare to say a word.
"Let's go. Let's go back." I made a quick decision.
Yan Di didn't say anything, walked to my side, and gently held me by the arm.
Before we left, I asked everyone to take out all the cash they had with them, the part left for the driver's compensation, and all the rest. A total of more than 100,000 yuan was donated to the villager in this village. Primary school.
For the name of the donor, I neatly left the three words "Zhang Jianhua".
This is Seventh Uncle's real name.
…
After more than six hours of ups and downs, when our group finally returned to Lijiang City, it was already three o'clock in the middle of the night, and we checked into one of the best hotels in Lijiang on the most prosperous Shangri-La Street in Lijiang City... Fortunately It's not the peak tourist season, otherwise we might not even be able to book a room.
Yan Di saw that I was in a bad mood, and she was even more gentle towards me this night.
When I woke up the next day, I saw everyone talking to me cautiously... After all, I am the leader of everyone. If I always take advantage of my bad mood, I am afraid everyone will feel very depressed.
Although it has been a night of rest, the previous day was too bumpy, and everyone looked a little tired.
Looking at my woman beside me, and these few brothers who followed me all the way, I suddenly smiled: "Okay, everyone, our work has been done... Everyone has worked hard these days, today we are in the ancient city of Lijiang Let’s go shopping, stay here for one more day, and we’ll go back tomorrow.”
"Oh!!!" Although the adults were very happy, they didn't shout out, and only the little girl couldn't help dancing.
What I didn't expect was to stay in Lijiang for one more day... This decision brought me some wonderful changes.