In Mobei City, the countryside is very sparsely populated. Most of the young people went to the city or went south to work, while those old people still stick to this piece of ancestral land.
Beidian Village, Yunlin Town, Maerwan District is such a village. The villagers settled along the river and cultivated a few farmlands. The rest of the land is almost all wasteland, and some weeds can still grow, but most of them have been deserted. It's been a long time, and I can't plant a field, nor can I graze.
However, it is also in this place. Over the past few decades, due to the support of policies, there have been some new changes in the landscape.
If you look from the sky, you will see that the wasteland outside the village has a little green area, which is a forest farm formed by planting trees.
For others, Arbor Day is once a year, but for 79-year-old Wang Fuhou, there are two tree-planting seasons a year, and he has to take care of trees every day.
Early in the morning, before dawn, Wang Fuhou woke up to the sound of birds chirping. The couple lived in a small brick house on the forest farm. Since the first contract of 50 mu of wasteland more than 30 years ago, he and his wife have long been used to such days.
"My wife, my wife." Wang Fuhou woke up his 77-year-old wife Zhang Maidong, "Wake up, we still have a lot to do today."
"Look at you stubborn old man, you don't feel tired at this age..." Zhang Maidong seemed to complain, "I can't take it easy..."
"Hehe." Wang Fu was happy, and got up first by himself, "We haven't read the book, but we also know the story of the Yugong Yishan. This tree must be planted, otherwise the land will be deserted, what will the future generations do? We hope to be able to Live a few more years and grow some trees."
"It's great, the country praises you, I know it." Zhang Maidong laughed.
Wang Fuhou's vicissitudes and rough old face suddenly burst into laughter. The couple were commended by the city on the Arbor Day that just passed this year, and they also accepted news interviews. It is said that planting trees is a hot topic in the country now. One is the Tianji Bureau, and the other is planting trees to afforest the environment.
Planting trees does not make much money, and land preparation requires a lot of manpower and sometimes large machinery; the tree planting period is too short to do it by yourself, so you have to hire people; there are also costs involved in watering, repairs, etc., and it depends on seedling cultivation , dead branches and dead leaves, and 30 acres of fast-growing poplar to earn some money, tens of thousands of yuan a year, and the state will subsidize some points to maintain life. All three of their children have families, and their children and grandchildren sometimes come to help and come and go. After all, young people don't want to face a piece of wasteland all day long.
It is impossible to say that he never thought about making a living at all. Wang Fuhou was also thinking about making some money when he started this contract.
But one kind has been planted for so many years, and feelings have really grown.
Wang Fuhou knew that his wife was just a knife's mouth. The wasteland became forest land, and the suffering of planting trees for so many years was not just for him.
More than 30 years ago, there was no electricity, no water, no roads, nothing but a piece of wasteland. It was they who personally tidied up the land little by little, and then planted saplings, such as pine trees, pagoda trees, weeping willows, fast-growing poplars... watching the trees grow up little by little, and seeing the barren mountains and ridges green and green.
"Shall we contract dozens of acres to plant trees? The country will have to praise me next year."
"That's right! Then you live a few more years, and I live a few years less."
After joking with his old wife, Wang Fuhou put on his coat and old man's hat, and walked out of the small brick house.
The sky was bright, and the chirping of birds in the forest became louder. Wang Fuhou stepped on the land with some fallen leaves, and walked slowly through the forest he had planted. In this Spring Festival, the trees grow new branches and leaves, and those green and tender greens make him really relaxed and happy.
"It's refreshing." Wang Fuhou had never been to school, so it can be said that he didn't know a few big characters, but the reporters who came to interview him kept saying this word to him, which was really a good word. Thinking of being able to be on the news and being praised by the country at his age, the old man smiled even more.
My whole life has passed without being confused.
"No, I really have to contract dozens of acres." Wang Fuhou thought about it, but just as he had this idea, he almost staggered when he stepped on a dead branch, and his hips felt a pain. He sighed to himself, his legs and feet were not sick, they were just old.
"Alas!" He recalled that in the past, he could do all kinds of heavy work by himself, and it was no problem to climb up trees to prune branches. Now walking is becoming more and more difficult.
People are getting older, but the tree is getting taller.
As Wang Fuhou walked, he was almost at the "Fuhou Tree", which was the first tree they planted, the pagoda tree, whose tall and thick trunk was too strong for them to hug. Every time Wang Fuhou took a walk in the morning, he would go there to have a look and hug the tree, just like one of their children.
"... Where are the trees?"
But now, Wang Fuhou's old face was stunned, looking at the slightly sparse woods around him, this place he had walked through thousands of times was a bit strange.
He is too familiar with this road, this is the road he opened, and he can walk wherever he wants to with his eyes closed. But now he should have reached the Fuhou tree, but he seemed to have lost his way. He didn't see the towering pine tree, and some other trees were gone.
"W-Where is this?" Wang Fuhou couldn't figure it out for a moment. There was no place like this in his 200-odd mu forest land.
The distance between the trees is wrong, the distance between the trees is wrong! Why are there so many trees missing
Was stolen? This thought flashed through Wang Fuhou, and he felt flustered and angry at once, but then he felt that it was impossible. It is impossible to cut down the trees without movement, and it is impossible to cut down so many trees in one night without disturbing them. Moreover, there are no traces on the ground, and they are not seen. There are stumps…
Strange, strange.
Wang Fuhou was puzzled and walked forward for a while, but the blame was that the woods in front had not changed. He walked back for a while, and he was sure that the range of more than 30 meters from his Fuhou tree had changed. He went back to look at the range and found that not only were there few trees, but the remaining trees also had no young leaves.
These trees are all lifeless, and some even have cracked bark, as if they will collapse at any time.
And the land under his feet seems to be becoming scorched black, more barren than decades ago.
"What's going on..." muttering, Wang Fuhou came to another locust tree, stretched out his callused right hand and pressed the cracked bark of the trunk.
The old man's eyes suddenly widened, and his wrinkled old face was full of panic. He saw his hand directly penetrated into the tree trunk, as if he had penetrated into the water. The old man felt a huge wave of twisted water immediately. The pain seemed to be burning all over the body, about to explode, "My wife, my wife...!"