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

The courtyard was unusually quiet.

The only sound was the "whoosh" of corn kernels rubbing against each other and falling off.

And on the old locust tree next to the millstone, two crows occasionally caw.

Xu An sat on a small stool, his hands red from being rubbed raw by corn cobs.

But he didn't stop.

It seemed that as soon as he stopped, the suffocating feeling of being watched by thousands of people would grip his neck again.

The phone in the live stream room was propped up on the half-ground stone mill.

There were no grand scenes on the screen.

There was only one young man wearing an old military overcoat, head down, peeling corn.

However, the number of online users remained steadily at over 10.

The comments scrolled slowly, like a silent form of companionship.

Actually...

Xu An tossed a bare corn cob into the basket and suddenly spoke.

He wasn't looking at the camera; it was like he was talking to thin air.

"That rock music last night was really loud."

"When I was standing on the stage, I was thinking, 'If I yell like that, will I scare the old hen at Grandma Wang's house at the village entrance into menopause?'"

A chorus of "hahahaha" filled the live stream chat.

Xu An's lips twitched slightly, an expression that suggested he wanted to laugh but was also a little tired.

When I was a child, I was most afraid of crowds.

"In second grade, the school held a Children's Day performance, and the teacher insisted that I play the radish that was pulling up radishes."

"That day backstage, I held in my pee until I was stuffed in my pants, but I didn't dare tell the teacher that I needed to go to the toilet."

"When we finally went on stage, the radish hadn't been pulled out, but water had spilled all over the floor."

"The whole school is laughing at me."

Xu An was rubbing corn in his hands, his eyes a little unfocused.

"From then on, I thought, I wish I could become a real radish."

"Buried in the ground, no one can see it."

"If you live a peaceful life, grow up, get pulled out, and pickle into salted vegetables, then your life will have been worthwhile."

The trend in the live stream has changed.

[Level 10 Social Anxiety Patient]: I laughed and then cried. I understand that feeling of wanting to hide yourself.

【ID in that faraway place】: Radishes are fine too, at least they're down-to-earth.

Xu An sniffed.

"But this time, it couldn't be hidden."

"Not only did we fail to hide it, we also attracted everyone's attention."

"When I saw Ah Qiang trample on the radish, I thought, what did this radish do to deserve this?"

"It took it a long time to grow up."

Xu An lowered his voice.

His voice had a slightly hoarse, nasal quality.

"The year my parents passed away, the radishes in the field were this size too."

"They said they would go south to work, make a lot of money, and come back to build me a house."

"I didn't understand back then, so I just sat at the village entrance and waited."

"We waited and waited, but instead of a building, we received a money order."

"I only found out later."

Some things are like this corn on the cob.

"The skin was peeled off, and inside it was all golden yellow."

"But if you don't peel it open and keep it inside, even if it rots or gets moldy, no one will know."

"They didn't come back because they were protecting that seed station."

"Sometimes I think, if only they could be like me now, even if they were just husking corn by this millstone, even if they were poor..."

"How wonderful that would be."

Xu An didn't continue.

He vigorously rubbed a red corn cob in his hand.

I rubbed it too hard and split a piece off my fingernail, from which a little blood seeped out.

But he didn't seem to feel anything.

The laughter and banter in the live stream room were gone.

【ID: Stranger】: I want to go home, really.

【ID: I wish to care for my parents, but they are no longer there】: Blogger, stop talking, these tears are saltier than last night's spicy soup.

[ID Left-behind child]: I also grew up watching the trees at the entrance of the village. My parents only come back once a year. I also want to peel corn.

The grandfather who had been sitting next to me smoking his pipe suddenly tapped his cigarette ash.

"Dang dang dang".

The sound of the copper pipe tapping on the sole of his shoe interrupted Xu An's thoughts.

"Alright."

Grandpa tucked the tobacco pipe handle into his waistband.

"Young man, stop spouting so much nonsense."

"Your parents are heroes, not people you can use to piss on your face."

Grandpa stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked up to Xu An.

Those cloudy yet sharp old eyes stared at Xu An's split fingernail.

"Does it hurt?"

Xu An withdrew his hand.

"It doesn't hurt."

"Stubborn to the end."

Grandpa took a crumpled handkerchief out of his pocket and tossed it to Xu An.

"The bosses offered you money just now, but you didn't take it."

"I heard you."

Xu An lowered his head, like a child who had done something wrong.

"Sir, that money... it's too hot to handle."

"It's hot to the touch, that's all."

Grandpa looked outside the courtyard wall.

There, several elderly women wearing floral cotton-padded jackets were sitting on small stools against the wall, basking in the sun.

Those were the second uncle's aunt and the third grandmother.

They were holding the leftover fried dough sticks from last night, their toothless mouths agape in wide smiles.

"My dear grandson."

Grandpa pointed outside.

"Look at them."

"In this Xu Family Village, only a few dozen old bones are left."

"All year round, the only time you can smell meat is during the Chinese New Year."

"These past two days, your brother Da Biao has been bringing you rice and noodles."

"Last night's feast, I saw that Third Grandma licked all the plates clean."

"She told me that she had never eaten such delicious fish in her life."

Grandpa turned around and looked at Xu An.

"If you hadn't gone through all this trouble..."

"Even if these old bones of theirs rotted away in the house, no one would know."

"You've saved this village from the brink of death."

Xu An was stunned.

He always felt that he was causing trouble for the village.

They blocked the road, trampled the ground, and ruined our peaceful lives.

"Sir...I..."

"Stop with the 'you' and 'me' stuff."

Grandpa bent down and picked up a clean corncob from the basket.

"This corn cob has given away all its kernels, leaving only its shell."

"But this frame is also useful; it can be used to start a fire and to make animal feed."

"People are the same."

"If you want to stay with me and this family, that's your way of being filial."

"I understand."

"but……"

Grandpa suddenly changed the subject, his tone becoming somewhat stern.

"Xujia Village is too small."

"This mountain valley, which you can see the end of at a glance, can't hold your feet."

"I saw the way Academician Zhang looked at you yesterday."

"That's the look in your eyes when you see a promising talent."

"The roads your father didn't finish walking, the places he didn't get to go."

"You have to go and check on him."

"Don't be like an old hen all day long, just lying in the nest incubating the eggs."

"Young man, you should be like that iron flower last night."

"Shoot it into the sky."

Even if it's broken, it was still brightly lit.

The corn in Xu An's hand fell into the basket.

He looked up at his grandfather's deeply lined face.

Suddenly I realized...

This old man has hardly ever left the mountains in his entire life.

They see further than those CEOs who sit in office buildings and pontificate.

The chat in the live stream went crazy.

[ID: Human Sober]: Grandpa's vision! Absolutely top-notch!

[ID tearful]: Don't stay cooped up like a hen all day... This may be a rough way of putting it, but it's so damn true!

[ID: I work as a security guard at a big company]: Grandpa is right! Xu An, you should go and see a bigger world!

【ID Guardian Xiao An】: But what will happen to Grandpa if I leave?

Just then.

A sudden screech of brakes came from outside the yard.

Followed by.

The already shaky wooden door was slammed open with a loud bang.

Director Wang Xingbang rushed in, his brow beaded with sweat.

He wasn't wearing that sharp suit.

I changed into a slightly pilling windbreaker and wore a pair of hiking boots covered in mud.

He looks even more like a farmer than Xu An.

"Xiao An! Master!"

"We've finally found you!"