The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 71: Little Oil Lamp: How will the villagers survive without me? (Subscribe)

Shen Le walked on the mountain path again.

The surrounding scenery is quite familiar, as if the scenery I saw when I entered the mountains on a bumpy ride in a car was similar.

But if you look closely, you will see a big difference. There are fewer terraces on the mountain, and the road is much more rugged and narrow. More importantly - Shen Le looked around - where are the power lines?

What about those tall telephone poles standing on the ridge?
What about those long wires stretched between the poles?
What about those electric wires and poles that cut the sky into pieces and cannot be avoided no matter how you frame the scene, and you can only use photoshop to get a clear space, and which often show up in costume films?

Why is it gone?

By the way, what era is this memory provided by the small oil lamp from...

Before he could figure it out, Shen Le felt his shoulders and back sink, and he was about to kneel down.

In reality, he came to this village by train, then bus, then car, all the way up;
But in this memory, there were no cars to ride.

Shen Le was walking on the mountain trail. He looked up and saw a wooden stick in his hand. It was not the familiar shape of a trekking pole, but a rare T-shaped wooden stick with a short stick nailed to one end of the long stick.

Based on Shen Le's limited knowledge, wooden sticks of this shape are generally used by porters. They are placed under the items they are carrying during short breaks to allow them to get a brief rest.

At this moment, he was also carrying a heavy backpack and sweating profusely.

Not only was he sweating profusely, but everyone in front, behind, and around him was sweating profusely. The sun was blazing overhead, and the temperature had reached at least 37 degrees. Just standing in the sun made one sweat profusely, and everyone in front and behind him was walking with heavy loads.

The long team wound along the steep mountain path. You couldn't see the end in front or behind. Everyone was carrying a backpack half a person's height, which was so heavy that every step they took was deeply sunk into the mud.

Shen Le took a deep breath, pulled the towel from his neck, and wiped the sweat off his face. He raised his head, looking over the team and the items on the backpack:

Wires as thick as a thumb were tied tightly together, one coil after another, on the backpack. Each bundle of wires was more than one meter long and one foot in diameter, and one bundle weighed hundreds of kilograms.

The lamp-shaped insulators are made of solid ceramics. Each one weighs at least one kilogram, and there are dozens of them in a box.
He couldn't name the various hardware used to fix the cables and parts, so he put them in a bamboo basket and tied it tightly to the backpack.

Just looking at the size of these hardware pieces, Shen Le couldn't believe that one basket weighed less than 100 kilograms.

And they even used wooden backpacks! A backpack was made by nailing a few pieces of wood together and tying two vines together!
The part of the wooden back frame that comes into contact with the human body is merely two vertical wooden sticks and several horizontal wooden sticks, and its shape is similar to a half-length wooden ladder.

There is not much difference between having such a carrying system and not having it - or it is even worse than having it, because the wooden stick is not wide enough and the pressure per unit area is too high!
This is……

Various power facilities?

Wires, things to hold wires? Shen Le had only walked a dozen steps when he felt a burning sensation on his back. He wanted to twist his shoulders, take off the backpack, and put a towel on it.

This wooden back brace is so uncomfortable!
It was totally different from the soft, thickly padded mountaineering bag he was used to carrying, which could distribute the force to his shoulders, back and hips!
It presses on the back, and the weight of the material on the back frame squeezes hard into the muscles of the back. Take one step, press, take two steps, grind...

However, he did not have the luxury of this. The long line of people moved forward in silence, and he could only wipe his sweat and follow silently:
How long will this take...

How long will it take to climb...

A half-hour drive would seem like an eternity if we were to crawl...

He tried to look back, but couldn't see what was tied to his backpack. He only knew that it was extremely heavy, so heavy that he could hardly lift his feet.

Little oil lamp, or copper sheet, next time when we transfer memories, can we be a little gentler?
I don't want this kind of immersive experience...

Before he finished complaining, the team turned a corner, Shen Le looked up, and his pupils suddenly contracted. On the mountain road ahead, a long, long electric pole was erected!

Wait, why is it not erected on the ridge but on the mountain path?

Shen Le looked closely. The electric pole was not standing upright, but was carried by someone, going up and up on the mountain path.

The mountain is so steep that even the black wooden electric poles seem to be standing upright!
A long electric pole, at least ten meters long, weighs at least five or six hundred kilograms, if not seven or eight hundred kilograms.

The two ends were tied with thick ropes, and each rope passed through a pole, which was carried by two of the best boys, while the other two boys stood beside them.

There were just four of them, two in front and two behind, carrying a heavy electric pole, and walking towards the top of the mountain, one step deep and one step shallow.

Looking further back, I saw five or six people, using two levers, carrying a transformer that was half a person's height and most of a person's length. They were bent over, with their backs hunched, taking one step at a time, and beads of sweat falling to the ground with every step.

Shen Le's heart suddenly surged with a warm current, heavy and painful, which almost made him unable to breathe.

Back then, decades ago, our ancestors, Xiangyang’s father and grandfather, were like this!

That’s how we carry all kinds of equipment on our shoulders and lift them with manpower to bring electricity and light into the countryside!

He stopped complaining, and no longer wanted to take off the backpack and take a good breath. He lowered his head, stared at the mountain path under his feet, and walked forward step by step.

The front section is still a mountain path, while the back section is a simple mountain path opened up by cutting down trees and pulling out grass on the hillside and simply compacting it.

The road was steep and slippery, and every step was difficult. Shen Le was panting heavily, walking with his head down, feeling as if his entire soul was pressed into the ground.

However, as they walked, a loud singing voice suddenly rang out on the mountain road ahead:

"The first one should have more - what do you want more~~~"

Shen Le could hardly make out the lyrics because of the strong local accent. However, the man he possessed had been used to listening to the song since he was a child, so he immediately understood the meaning of the lyrics. After a pause, a response came from the back of the team:

"The first one is coming - the stars in the sky~~~"

The men who were carrying heavy objects on their backs and shoulders and hurrying along all subconsciously raised their heads. At the front of the team, the singer spoke again:
"The second one has more - what more..."

"The second one comes mostly from the mortal world!"

The singing was high and clear, echoing on the hot mountain road, like a gurgling mountain stream jumping down. Shen Le was refreshed, raised his head, and sang along with everyone: "The stars in the sky——"

The singing echoed. One after another, one sang and the other sang in unison, from the first, second, all the way to the eighteenth, singing in high spirits to everyone in the team.

Carrying the backpack, electric poles and transformers, the pace of the march was a little faster. From beginning to end, Shen Le's smile never faded:

It was so hard and difficult. But people at that time were so open-minded and could always find joy in their work and life!

It was getting darker and darker as we walked. The team heading into the mountain lit torches one by one. The sky was dotted with stars, like a golden chain twisting and turning on the mountain road.

Shen Le was in no mood to look at this beautiful scenery. He carried his things to the top of the mountain, took off the backpack, slumped down on a clump of weeds, unscrewed the kettle and tilted his neck back to drink:

"I'm exhausted!"

Looking left and right, most people are like him, unable to get up once they sit down.

There was a group of people busying around, digging holes, erecting electric poles, and filling the holes. In the crowd, a middle-aged man with one arm missing held up an oil lamp and gave orders in a hoarse voice:

"Get out of the way, get out of the way, everyone! - Jianguo, Jianjun, hold the rope, three, two, one, up -"

In the crowd, small oil lamps gave off a bright light, illuminating the entire venue and all the faces of those who were holding out hope and hoping to quickly bring in electricity to illuminate the mountain village.

The light of the oil lamp moved from the top of the mountain to the mountain path, and then from the mountain path to the village entrance.

A transformer that looked very old in Shen Le's eyes, but was very shiny at the time, was placed steadily at the entrance of the village amid the cheers of the villagers.

Unprecedented light illuminated the entire village.

Standing next to the transformer, Shen Le looked around, watching the old man's excited smile and the children running around.

My ears were filled with all kinds of cheers, from the villagers, the electricians, and the small oil lamps:

【Power is on! 】

【We are powered up! 】

【We finally got electricity! 】

[From now on, everything will be bright and clear, and everything will be clear. It will always be clear! ]

However, this light was not permanent. At that time, the electricity supply was often insufficient to support industrial production, and it was simply not possible to keep rural areas lit 24 hours a day.
Not to mention, in those days, farmers basically couldn’t afford the electricity bills…

So, Shen Le stood beside the small oil lamp, watching the family, who often only had one 5-watt to 10-watt electric light, which was only on for a short while during dinner and quickly turned off;

Watching the lights in the village often flicker, then suddenly go out with a "sizzle" sound, plunging the entire village into darkness;
I watched the electrician holding a loud speaker made of rolled iron sheets and shouting at the top of his voice: "There will be a power outage tonight! Everyone get ready in advance!"

Then, one by one, candles and oil lamps were taken out and lit by the housewives.

Shen Le watched the children reading under the oil lamp, the mother sewing clothes under the oil lamp, and the old man calmly splitting bamboo strips under the oil lamp, his hands flying, weaving bamboo baskets or bamboo plaques with the strips.

The light and shadow suddenly changed, and a young man rushed into the village in a panic and headed straight for the village entrance:

"Mother Li! Mother Li!" He shouted breathlessly:

"Hurry! Hurry! - My wife is about to give birth!"

With a creak, the window opened, and a middle-aged woman with neatly combed hair and a kind face answered through the window:
"Wait a minute! I'm going to pack my stuff!"

She came hurriedly, carrying a small box on her back. The young man held up an oil lamp to light the way for her, leading her forward, and taking her through the mountain road to the delivery room.

The oil lamp cast a uniform and steady light into the room, illuminating the painful face of the woman in labor and the busy hands of the barefoot doctor.

Finally, a baby's cry broke the tense atmosphere in the room:

"It's a boy! - Xu's mother, congratulations!"

The air suddenly became light and cheerful. People smiled, exhaled, and congratulated each other. Even the flickering light from the small oil lamp seemed exceptionally bright:
[Look, look, luckily I'm here! ]

[Without me, you'd be in big trouble at this critical moment! ]

"Oh, it would be nice if there was always electricity." Outside the delivery room, Shen Le heard an elderly man sighing to the husband of the woman in labor:

"If that happens, there's no need to deliver babies at critical moments, and we have to rely on kerosene lamps all the time!"

Shen Le smiled. Through the window, he stretched out his hand and touched the small oil lamp in the air.

——You see, what everyone expects is that there will always be light.

I didn't expect you to always be there!
The light of the small oil lamp flickered violently.

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(End of this chapter)