How did hiring someone to press a pig image during Chinese New Year become a top trend?

On a winter night in the Taihang Mountains, the wind is as sharp as a knife.

But at this moment, the wheat fields of Xujia Village are sweltering with heat.

The ten large oil fryers were still sizzling.

Several thousand people held bowls of spicy soup in their hands and fried dough sticks in their mouths, but their eyes were all fixed on the center of the open space.

A circular open space with a diameter of 20 meters was cleared out there.

The area was cordoned off.

Several shirtless, dark-skinned men from Henan were adding coke into several crucibles.

The bellows were being pulled loudly.

The red flames shot up more than a meter high.

Xu An hid behind Director Wang Xingbang, peeking out to look at the crucible that was burning white.

He swallowed hard.

"Chief, are we really going to do this?"

"This is molten iron, at 1600 degrees Celsius..."

"If it splashes on someone, it won't just be a blister, it'll be a hole in their skin."

As a long-time sufferer of social anxiety and security anxiety.

Xu An's calves are cramping right now.

This is hardly a performance.

This is clearly dancing on a barrel of dynamite.

Wang Xingbang, however, was so excited that his face was practically glowing.

He pulled Xu An out from behind him and pointed at the old men who were doing warm-up exercises.

"What are you afraid of?"

"This is the Queshan Iron Flower Festival!"

"Intangible Cultural Heritage!"

"These experienced pilots have demonstrated their skills for the leaders; their aim is even more steady than a sniper's!"

Xu An held up that incredibly heavy Huawei Extraordinary Master.

The camera was a bit shaky.

In the live stream, the 400,000 online viewers were also bewildered by this spectacle.

[ID Science Popularization Expert]: Holy crap? That crucible? Could it be the legendary iron flower making?

[ID Fire Brigade]: Cough cough, although it looks dangerous, if it's those guys from Queshan, they're definitely safe.

[ID: Unsophisticated]: What is "iron flower"? Is it like an iron tree blooming?

[ID materialized at this moment]: Upstairs, open your eyes and look carefully, that is the pinnacle of Chinese violent aesthetics.

On the field.

The foreman, an experienced craftsman, was holding a willow stick.

He looked up to check the wind direction.

Then I looked around at the densely packed crowd.

Finally, my gaze fell on the phone camera that Xu An was holding up.

The old man smiled.

Those wrinkles on his face concealed the confidence built upon thousands of years of heritage.

"Dolls!"

The old man roared, his voice hoarse yet extremely penetrating.

"Step back!"

"Don't blink!"

"Today, I'm going to show you something really exciting!"

Done.

Another man scooped up a spoonful of molten iron and threw it high into the air.

The old man at the head of the group had wide, angry eyes, and the muscles on his bare back bulged.

He used all his strength to strike the molten iron in mid-air with the willow stick in his hand.

"Bang--!"

A loud bang.

It was like a thunderclap exploding out of nowhere.

The once pitch-black night sky was instantly torn apart.

That spoonful of molten iron, under the heavy impact, transformed into thousands of golden meteors.

burst.

Splash.

A giant golden tree, twenty meters tall, bloomed in mid-air.

A dazzling display of lights.

At this moment, the night sky over the Taihang Mountains was as bright as day.

Holy crap!!!

The thousands of people at the scene uttered these two words almost simultaneously.

No one can describe the shock.

That wasn't the colorful display of chemical fireworks.

It was a pure, primal gold, radiating intense heat.

The molten iron struck the specially made frame and bounced back, like a golden rainstorm pouring down.

Those shirtless men moved through the golden rain of fire.

They went into battle shirtless, without any protection.

The sparks landed on their skin and were quickly bounced off by their sweat.

They were like gods and demons who had escaped from an alchemical furnace, dancing wildly in the fire.

Xu An was stunned.

He even forgot to breathe.

The fear of high temperatures was instantly overwhelmed by a much grander emotion.

That is reverence for power.

Awe for the people of this land, who are as hard as iron and as passionate as fire.

The live stream chat went completely crazy.

The barrage of comments was so fast it became a blur, completely obscuring the screen.

[ID is bowing down]: Is this what Henan is like? Is it really this hardcore?!

[ID Cyberpunk]: This is cyberpunk for real! This is heavy metal for real!

[ID I cried in front of the screen]: It's so beautiful, that kind of beauty that's full of vitality and could be destroyed at any moment.

[ID dares not blink]: That's 1600 degrees! Are they bathing in fire?!

[ID Cultural Confidence]: Who says we don't have good things? This stuff is art that can scare foreigners to death!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Three more batters in a row.

The sky was filled with sparks of iron, like a golden waterfall, layer upon layer, covering the sky and the earth.

Xu An felt his face burning hot.

But he didn't dodge.

He stared intently at the screen, his hands as steady as if they were welded to it.

He wanted to share this scene, this wildest side of his hometown, with everyone who couldn't be there.

"Master..."

Xu An muttered to himself.

"This is more beautiful than fireworks."

Grandpa stood beside him, holding the boning knife in his hand, his face bathed in golden light.

"That's right."

Grandpa squinted, his voice filled with pride.

Fireworks are cold.

"These sparks are hot."

"This has ignited the anger in the hearts of ordinary people, sending it soaring to the heavens."

As the last baton fell.

The golden rain slowly dissipated.

All that remained was the strong smell of sulfur in the air and the lingering red glow in the crucible.

A deathly silence fell over the scene.

A few seconds later.

"Whoosh—"

The applause erupted like a tsunami.

Some people were screaming, some were whistling, and some were even so excited that they threw the fried dough sticks in their hands into the air.

Da Biao yelled at the top of his lungs, "Awesome! Henan is awesome!"

Even Lin Zixuan, a rich second-generation who had seen countless grand occasions, was speechless, like a child who had never seen the world.

Xu An lowered his head.

I glanced at my phone screen.

The number of followers, which was originally stuck at 99.6, seemed to have been ignited by the sparks from the iron flowers.

99.8 million.

99.9 million.

The number jumped.

It became [100.0W].

There was no system notification sound.

There are no dazzling special effects.

Only a quiet "m" unit appeared below that simple avatar.

Xu An was stunned.

He remembered two days ago.

He was still an unemployed young man with fewer than 300 fans who couldn't sleep because he was worried about killing two pigs.

He remembers that he only posted a video saying that meals would be provided.

And now.

One million people.

A million living people stood behind him.

I accompanied him to watch this pig-slaughtering feast, and I accompanied him to watch this iron-flower fireworks display.

"It's broken..."

Xu An muttered something under his breath.

Wang Xingbang kept a close eye on the data.

Upon seeing the "100 million," the nearly fifty-year-old bureau chief jumped up.

"It's broken! It's broken!"

"Millions of influential bloggers!"

"A dragon has emerged from our Huixian!"

Wang Xingbang grabbed Xu An and hugged him tightly, not caring how dirty Xu An's military overcoat was or his own image as a bureau chief.

He was so excited that he became incoherent.

"Xiao An! You're a hero!"

"These wrought iron fireworks weren't for nothing! These roads weren't built for nothing!"

Xu An was nearly strangled to death.

He awkwardly held up his phone, giving the camera a bewildered smile.

"that……"

Thank you everyone.

"Actually, I didn't do anything..."

"It's just... I treated everyone to a meal of pork stew."

This kind of acceptance speech, which still falters at crucial moments, actually made the atmosphere in the live broadcast room more heartwarming.

[ID This is the Top Influencer]: You're welcome! We're thanking you!

[ID Guardian of the Best Xiao An]: A million is just the beginning! We want to see you take your grandfather to the world!

[ID Wants to Eat Braised Pork]: Blogger, stop being so sentimental. Look at what's coming next. It seems like Brother Da Biao is drunk and wants to take that willow stick back as a souvenir.

Xu An turned around and looked.

really.

Da Biao was arm in arm with the old iron-making master, stroking the charred willow stick with an admiring look on his face.

"Grandpa, are you selling this stick? I'll pay a high price! I'll take it home to ward off evil spirits!"

The experienced chef slapped his hand away, laughing and scolding, "Get out of here! This is your livelihood!"

Xu An looked at this chaotic yet incredibly harmonious scene.

The weight on my heart has finally been lifted.

Late at night.

The residual heat from the iron flower fireworks dissipated.

A chill has returned to the wheat fields.

The crowd, who were excited just moments ago, are now full and have enjoyed the show, and are starting to feel sleepy.

Several thousand people stood in the open space, looking at each other in bewilderment.

A new and very serious problem was presented to Xu An.

Where to stay?

Xujia Village has only a few dozen households, and most of the houses have collapsed halfway.

The slightly better spots were already taken by several women with children.

Even if they slept on the floor, there wasn't enough room for these thousands of strong men.

Xu An looked at Lin Zixuan.

"Brother Lin, didn't you say... you had tents?"

Lin Zixuan yawned and pointed to the convoy in the distance.

Yes, it is.

"But ours are professional single-person camping tents."

"Only a few dozen..."

"The remaining few thousand brothers..."

Lin Zixuan looked around.

Those netizens, bundled up in down jackets and hunched over, were now staring longingly at Xu An.

Just like those hungry wolves waiting for their prey.

It's just that now it's become a stray dog ​​looking for a home.

"Chief..."

Xu An turned to Wang Xingbang for help.

Director Wang was holding a walkie-talkie, his face serious.

"I know! It's already on its way!"

"Five hundred disaster relief tents borrowed from the neighboring county, and two thousand military sleeping bags!"

"But... we're stuck on the way!"

"The roads leading into the mountains are full of private cars; supply trucks simply can't get in!"

Xu An was dumbfounded.

Is this the backlash of traffic?

Did they call in too many people and block the road?

It's the dead of winter.

If we let everyone sleep in the open air for one night...

Tomorrow morning, Xujia Village will probably turn into an "ice sculpture art exhibition".

By then, let alone millions of fans.

The entire internet is sending wreaths to Xu An.

"What do we do now?"

Da Biao abandoned the stick and walked over with a worried look on his face.

"How about... we let the guys squeeze in?"

"Two people can sleep in the back of the pickup truck."

"Squeezing it in can solve part of the problem."

"But what about the rest of the main force?"

Just when everyone was at a loss.

Grandpa, who hadn't said a word, suddenly tapped the pipe in his hand.

"My dear grandson."

"What's wrong, sir?"

Grandpa pointed to the dark, towering mountains behind the village.

"Back when our village was going through tough times, didn't we repair a lot of those...?"

"dugout?"

"That's a great place, warm in winter and cool in summer."

"It's right below the threshing floor; it's connected to it."

"and……"

Grandpa grinned, revealing a few gap teeth.

"There are still several thousand kilograms of dried sweet potatoes stored inside."

Xu An's eyes widened.

dugout?

Does this work too?

He held his phone, facing the camera, his expression extremely complex.

"Family members."

"tonight……"

"We might be about to experience... a real 'Tunnel Warfare' game."

"Don't be disgusted, this is also... this is also a kind of sentiment."

In the live stream:

[ID Underground Worker]: ? ? ?

[ID Hardcore Accommodation]: Holy crap? Staying in an air-raid shelter? This is way more exciting than a five-star hotel!

[ID Wants to Go Live]: Blogger, stop talking! I'm buying tickets right now! I want to go crawl through the tunnels too!

Xu An sighed.

He looked at the group of young people who became even more excited when they heard they were going to live in air-raid shelters.

shook his head.

"This world."

"Things have really changed."

People used to want to live upstairs.

"People these days... want to crawl into holes."

But he still silently took the flashlight from Da Biao's hand.

"Let's go."

"Let me show you..."

"Our Xu Family Village's underground fortress."