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

When the tricycle rushed into the threshing ground, it stirred up a whirlwind of earthy yellow dust.

"The food is here!"

Xu An's voice cracked from shouting.

There was nothing I could do; it was frozen.

Those two rows of teeth were fighting in their mouths, like sending telegrams.

But his alarm clock worked even better than that of the "extraordinary master".

They were originally tightening screws on the scaffolding and shoveling sand next to the mixer.

He stopped what he was doing instantly.

Dozens of eyes were fixed on those insulated boxes.

That look in his eyes.

It was like a pack of wolves that had been starving for three days spotting a lone, plump lamb.

As a dean, Li Daguo stopped putting on airs at this moment.

He jumped down from the half-built red brick wall.

His movements were as agile as a monkey's.

You'd never guess he was a middle-aged man who'd stayed up two nights in a row.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

"Anzi!"

"I can smell it!"

"That's the taste!"

"The peppery flavor hits right at the top of your head, that's right!"

Li Daguo rubbed his hands together; his large, dusty hands were more excited than when he saw the blueprints.

Xu An shakily brought the car to a stop.

Before he could even step down, he was surrounded by several burly men, along with his vehicle.

"Don't rush!"

"We have them all!"

"One bowl per person!"

"Plenty of fried dough sticks!"

Xu An called out as he opened the lid of the insulated box.

"call--"

A plume of white heat instantly rose into the air.

It was an overpowering aroma of beef, gluten, pepper, and aged vinegar.

In the early morning in the Taihang Mountains, where the temperature was several degrees below zero.

This heat is like a life-saving elixir.

Li Daguo snatched the first bowl.

They didn't even care that it was hot.

"Slurp—"

Take a big bite.

The entire threshing floor seemed to hear the satisfied sigh emanating from his throat.

Followed by.

A flush instantly rose on Li Daguo's dark red face.

Beads of sweat trickled down his temples.

"Cough cough cough!"

"Cool!"

"That was fucking awesome!"

"This spiciness comes from the crops of Xiaoyao Town!"

"interesting!"

With the dean taking the lead, the workers became less reserved.

A man was holding a large bowl and two fried dough sticks that were thicker than his arm.

They didn't even look for a stool.

He just squatted there at the base of the wall, next to the pile of steel bars.

Even sitting on half a brick.

Drinking soup in big gulps and chewing fried dough sticks in big bites.

This is the right way to enjoy breakfast in Henan.

No table manners are required.

All you need is a good set of teeth and a resilient stomach.

Xu An held up his phone and weaved through the crowd.

The number of viewers in the live stream is still increasing.

It has now surpassed 500,000.

[ID Wants Breakfast]: Wow! This mukbang is so hardcore! Look how spicy it is, even Dean Li's nose is running!

[ID Carb Godfather]: Fried dough sticks soaked in hot and sour soup! This is the pinnacle of Chinese breakfast! No arguments allowed!

[ID wants to work on a construction site]: Suddenly I feel that working on a construction site is quite happy. With this food, I could work until Dean Li goes bankrupt!

Xu An looked at the comments and smiled.

He walked over to Li Daguo's side.

Li Daguo had already finished half a bowl and was now dipping a fried dough stick into the soup.

"Dean Li."

"How does it taste?"

"I risked my life for this."

Xu An made a joke, pointing to the empty cargo bed of the tricycle.

Li Daguo nodded indistinctly, his mouth full.

"middle!"

"That's perfect!"

"Anzi, where is this shop?"

"This flavor is just right, and the meat..."

Li Daguo picked up a piece of beef cube with his chopsticks.

That's real beef shank, with clear marbling and a glistening sheen from the braising.

"This boss is an honest man."

"There's more meat in this bowl of soup than I usually drink three bowls in the county!"

Xu An zoomed in, giving the bowl of soup a close-up.

Then he said it softly.

"This shop is on a cliff."

"The boss is a veteran."

"Only one hand."

Li Daguo suddenly stopped chewing the fried dough stick.

Several workers nearby also stopped eating.

The sounds of slurping, which had been rising and falling, seemed to have been paused.

The wind blows across the construction site.

The wind made the safety netting on the scaffolding rustle loudly.

"One hand?"

Li Daguo swallowed the food in his mouth, his voice becoming much lower.

The simple appetite in his eyes had faded.

Instead, there was a sense of solemnity.

"Um."

Xu An nodded.

"It's over there, on the cliffside highway."

"The old man has been guarding that place for more than ten years."

He said, "This road is difficult to travel."

"He stood there, leaving a light on for passing truck drivers."

"A sip of something hot makes me feel calmer."

Xu An's voice was not loud.

But everyone present heard it clearly.

Li Daguo looked down at the bowl in his hand.

The soup was still steaming.

But now, it felt heavy in his hands.

This is hardly a bowl of breakfast.

This is a veteran, using his only remaining arm.

On the edge of a cliff, let's brew a bowl of warmth for this world.

"No wonder……"

Li Daguo sniffed.

I don't know if it was from the pepper spray or some other reason.

His eyes were a little red.

"No wonder this soup is so spicy."

"It's so spicy it makes your heart feel hot."

After Li Daguo finished speaking, he stopped wolfing down his food.

Instead, he picked up the bowl and stood up.

Facing the direction of that cliffside road.

That's where the sun rises.

It's also the place that veteran guarded.

"Brothers!"

Li Daguo shouted.

Although his voice was a little hoarse, it conveyed a sense of respect.

"Did you all hear that?"

"We can't just eat this meal for nothing!"

"Although we are not soldiers."

"But we're in the construction business!"

"The veteran guards the road on the cliff."

"We're building houses in this mountain valley!"

"It's all for the sake of making life better!"

"This bowl of soup is a tribute to the veterans!"

wow-

Dozens of grown men stood up in unison.

He was holding that large bowl in his hands.

Their movements were not synchronized, and some even had grease stains around their mouths.

But his expression was as solemn as if he were attending a flag-raising ceremony.

Respect for veterans!

Dozens of voices came together.

The vibrations made the newly erected steel beams overhead buzz.

then.

Look up.

Boil it all in one gulp!

This scene, captured through Xu An's phone camera, was transmitted to countless screens thousands of kilometers away.

The live stream chat exploded.

But this time there was no "hahaha" and no memes.

The screen was filled with red exclamation marks and that one uniform word.

[ID: Veteran]: Salute!

[ID Construction Site Worker]: Salute!

[ID Huixian Culture and Tourism]: Salute! This bowl of soup will be reimbursed by the county! From now on, the county will cover the coal and noodles for that shop!

Xu An watched this scene unfold.

The bitterness in my heart finally melted away.

It turned into a warm current.

He watched as Li Daguo licked the bowl clean, leaving not a single drop of soup.

"Alright!"

"We've eaten and drunk our fill!"

"Get to work!"

Li Daguo put down the bowl and waved his hand dismissively.

That same frenzy of infrastructure development is back.

And it was even more intense than before.

"Hey you! Group Two!"

"Straighten that wall!"

"If it's even a millimeter off, I'll have done a disservice to this bowl of soup!"

"Group Three!"

"Take it a little slower with the rebar tying; quality is our top priority!"

"We're building a project that will last a century!"

"Don't embarrass the veterans!"

Rumbling--

The mixer started running again.

The construction site was bustling again.

But this time, in that tinkling sound...

It seems there's something different here.

That is power.

It was a bowl of soup that awakened the power called "responsibility".

Xu An silently retreated to the side.

Collect all the empty bowls one by one.

He knew he couldn't get involved.

These madmen, who have been "buffed," are now at off-the-charts combat power.

"that……"

"Family members."

"Breakfast is over."

"Judging from this progress, we won't have to wait until the Lunar New Year."

"I reckon we'll be able to have porridge in the cafeteria on Laba Festival."

Xu An gave the camera a relaxed smile.

Although her face was red from the cold, her smile was genuine.

[ID looking forward to Laba porridge]: Host, could you please cook the kind with red beans? I love it sweet!

[ID Cloud Supervisor]: This speed is impressive. The Huixian speed lives up to its name.

[ID Messenger Xu An]: Where to next? Do we still need to deliver that letter?

Upon seeing that comment, Xu An subconsciously touched his chest.

The letter is still there.

But he shook his head.

"The letter must be delivered."

"But there's no rush."

"We need to settle things at home first."

"and……"

Xu An winked mysteriously.

"My fifth aunt just sent me a WeChat message."

"They said it was the elderly people in the village who saw how busy the construction site was."

"They couldn't sit still any longer."

"Just doing that..."

"The whole village is mobilized."

A village-wide mobilization?

The viewers in the live stream were taken aback.

Aren't the people left in this village mostly elderly men and women in their seventies and eighties?

What can this mobilize?

Are you suggesting I go help carry bricks?

Wouldn't Li Daguo be scared to death?

"Walk!"

"Let me show you."

"The senior citizens' group in our Xujia Village is quite hardcore."

Xu An packed up the insulated box.

Leave the tricycle at the construction site for logistics use.

He wrapped his military overcoat tightly around himself and put his hands inside his sleeves.

They strolled leisurely toward the village's stage.

We haven't even gotten close yet.

Then we heard a burst of rousing music.

It's not the square dance version of "The Most Dazzling Ethnic Style".

It is not the Henan Opera "Mu Guiying Takes Command".

But...

"The vast horizon is my love..."

wrong.

Why does this tune sound so familiar, yet so...strange?

It sounds like rock music played on an erhu?

Xu An walked closer and took a look.

I was completely stunned.

All I could see was the open space at the village entrance, which was usually used for drying grain.

A group of elderly men and women are sitting in a circle.

The one sitting in the middle.

It was the same old man who told stories yesterday.

The second uncle was holding an erhu.

He was using a broken washbasin as a drum set.

Grandma San was holding two pot lids.

He was acting as a mortar and pinsmith with a serious expression.

The most outrageous thing is...

Fifth Aunt.

She was holding a large megaphone.

It was directly facing the loudspeaker used for collecting scrap metal.

There... rap?

"Yo yo yo!"

"Check it out!"

"The canteen in Xujia Village is built very high!"

"Everyone is having a great time eating!"

"Not only is there meat, but there's also soup!"

"Feeling great and having a great appetite!"

Xu An: ...

Live stream room: ...

[A rapper happened to pass by at this moment]: ? ? ?

[ID is too advanced]: Is this the legendary... Henan-style rap?

[ID Seniors' New Rap]: Aunt Wu's flow is really catchy!

Xu An felt his skull trembling.

He initially thought the elderly people were doing some kind of logistical support work.

For example, making shoe soles or sewing gloves.

result……

Is this a rehearsal for a "construction site performance"?

"Fifth Aunt..."

Xu An called out weakly.

Aunt Wu turned around and saw the camera.

Not only did they not dodge.

Instead, he tossed the bright red scarf around his neck.

He struck an extremely swag pose.

"Anzi!"

"Perfect timing!"

"Hurry up!"

"Bring me your suona!"

"Our 'Xujia Village Senior Citizens' Heavy Metal Band' is just missing your high note!"

Xu An instinctively covered his pocket.

There was no suona there.

There is only one Huawei Master.

"no……"

"Fifth Aunt, what are you doing?"

"They're working on the construction site right now, let's not go and cause trouble, shall we?"

Fifth Aunt glared at him.

"Who said I caused trouble?"

"Dean Li said so!"

"When you're tired from work, you need mental nourishment!"

"Although we can't move bricks."

"But we can cheer them on!"

"This is called... well..."

"Cheerleaders!"

The 90-year-old third grandmother next to her tapped the pot lid in cooperation.

"Bang—"

The sound was crisp and clear.

Go straight into the sky.

The live stream audience was absolutely in stitches.

[ID Hardcore Cheerleading Squad]: A 90-year-old cheerleading squad! This is unparalleled!

[ID This is Life]: Is this the "senior citizen group" that Xu An was talking about? I love it!

[ID Wants to Join]: Host, I'm only twenty, but can I join this band? I can whistle!

Xu An looked at the group of energetic old people.

Looking at the long-lost, genuine smiles on their faces.

Even though she only has a few teeth left.

But that kind of happiness is contagious.

This is hardly a hollow village.

This is clearly a "rock village" brimming with punk spirit.

Xu An sighed.

It was a mixture of helplessness and indulgence.

"Alright."

Fifth Aunt.

"The suona is at home."

"But I have to make that clear first."

"I'm not good at playing."

"What if we scare Dean Li and the others so much that they fall off the shelf?"

"This is considered a work-related injury, so you have to pay for it."

Aunt Wu waved her hand, her heroic spirit soaring to the heavens.

"pay!"

"I'd even pay up to your fifth aunt!"

"As long as this cafeteria can be built!"

"As long as this village can become lively again!"

"Our old bones..."

"Let's go all out!"

Under the sunlight.

Fifth Aunt's bright red scarf was as vibrant as a ball of fire.

Burning deep within the Taihang Mountains.

It ignited the most vibrant human warmth of this winter.

And just then...

Xu An's phone suddenly vibrated.

This is not a tip from the live stream.

It wasn't a WeChat message either.

Instead, it was a text message from an unfamiliar number.

It was just one short line of text.

But this made Xu An's foot, which was about to step out, instantly freeze in place.

"Hello Xu An, I'm Li Qiang."

"I saw you were live streaming."

"In that tin box..."

"Is there a letter addressed to me?"

"I am... your second uncle."

Xu An's pupils suddenly contracted.

Second uncle?

That grandfather never mentioned it; the villagers said he died outside a long time ago… Second Uncle?

The wind suddenly turned a bit cold.

The wind made the bright red scarf flutter loudly.

story.

It seems like this is just the beginning.