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

The black Passat belonging to the Culture and Tourism Bureau drove very steadily on the winding mountain road.

The car's heater was on full blast, making it even a bit stuffy.

Xu An huddled in the corner of the back leather seat, clutching the long, black and gold box in his arms as if it were a newly unearthed landmine.

Director Wang Xingbang drove himself, humming the Henan opera "Hua Mulan," in a mood as good as if he had just gotten married.

"Xiao Xu, stop spacing out and fix your phone quickly."

Wang Xingbang glanced at the rearview mirror and said, "The online discussion is still escalating. Everyone is trying to find out where Xujia Village is. You need to come out and say something to put everyone at ease."

Xu An said "Oh" and pulled her stiff fingers out of her sleeve.

Unpack and turn on.

It truly lives up to its reputation as a shining example of domestically produced goods.

There were no frame drops, no stuttering, and the moment the screen lit up, the texture was even more delicate than Xu An's frozen red face.

Connect to the car's WiFi.

Download TikTok.

Log in to your account.

The whole process was so smooth that Xu An felt as if his fingertips were dancing.

However, the moment he clicked on the message interface...

My fingers froze.

The previous phone screen went black because it froze.

This phone, thanks to its powerful processor, has managed to withstand the torrent of data.

Although the screen wasn't lagging, the frequency with which the numbers were jumping around was so fast it made my eyes dizzy.

Number of followers: 12.8.

The number is still climbing at a rate of dozens per second.

Xu An swallowed.

Half a day ago, this number was 328.

This fan growth rate is ten thousand times faster than a pig gaining weight.

In the private message list, the red "99+" is like a shocking sea of ​​blood. Behind each red dot is a soul that is starving for meat.

"Wow, so many people..."

Xu An muttered something under his breath, feeling a little short of breath.

He clicked on the pinned group: "Xujia Village Pig Slaughtering Help Group 1".

Good guy.

Xu An initially thought everyone was just chatting casually, but after looking at the chat history, he realized he was still too naive.

A serious "tactical seminar" is underway in the group.

【ID Hunter Lao Liu】: @All members Based on the height of the pigpen (about 1.2 meters) and the size of the black pig (estimated to be 320 catties) in the blogger's video, I suggest adopting a "品" shaped encirclement tactic.

【ID Hunter Lao Liu】: Two people in front attract aggro, two people on the flanks hold down the legs, and one person in the back (must weigh over 180 pounds) holds down the buttocks.

[ID Surgical Master]: Agreed. I'm an orthopedic surgeon. I brought anesthesia needles and hemostatic forceps. In case the pig resists violently, I can perform minimally invasive surgery on the spot.

[ID: Outstanding Graduate of Lanxiang Vocational School]: Um, I brought a small excavator over. If you really can't hold it down, I can lift the pig up and fight it.

【ID Southern Little Potato】: Um... I'm not very strong, can I cheer for the pig instead?

Xu An was dumbfounded.

Are these people crazy?

Minimally invasive surgery? And an excavator?

This is slaughtering pigs, not attacking Ping'an County!

Xu An swallowed hard, feeling he had to say something.

Otherwise, these people might really tear down their own yard wall tomorrow.

He took a deep breath and clicked the plus sign to publish his work.

I didn't film a video this time; it was too dark inside the car, and it would have looked like a horror movie.

He chose a panoramic photo of Xujia Village that he had taken before—the barren mountains, a few scattered red brick houses, and the iconic winding dirt road.

Then, I started typing.

He carefully considered every word, afraid of saying the wrong thing and causing some misunderstanding.

Hello everyone, I'm Xiao An.

My phone broke just now, but I've just fixed it.

Thank you all for your concern. The pig is still here, and so am I.

[This is the specific location: Xujia Village, Huixian County, Xinxiang City, Henan Province.]

Xu An added a geolocation.

Then, he added a few more words to "discourage" the student from leaving:

Please don't push yourselves too hard on your journeys, especially if you live far away.

The slaughtering of pigs won't start until noon tomorrow; if you come too early, there won't be any meat to eat.

It's cold in the mountains, there's no heating, and the accommodations are poor. Everyone should stay in the county town tonight. Please don't go into the mountains overnight; the roads are difficult to travel, safety first.

[Actually, it's just two pigs, nothing special. Let's all be rational...]

After typing the last sentence, Xu An hesitated for a moment, but still didn't delete it.

He genuinely thought it wasn't anything to see.

Click to send.

It happened almost the instant the location was sent.

On the data monitoring chart in the background, the curve, which had been slightly flattened, suddenly spiked straight up again, as if it had been injected with adrenaline!

Comments section replies instantly:

[ID: I Don't Want to Go to Work: Holy crap! Location sent! Guys, is your navigation set up?]

[ID Dedicated Off-Road: Location confirmed! 300 kilometers away, expected arrival at the battlefield at 10 AM tomorrow!]

[ID Gentle Cut: The blogger is so gentle! He was worried we were cold and told us not to go into the mountains at night. He really is... I'm so touched!]

[ID: Professional Pig Slaughterer: He says there's nothing to see? He doesn't understand! Is this a pig? This is our nostalgia! This is our lost youth!]

[ID Culture and Tourism Bureau staff member: Rationality? Absolutely not! My stomach is already irrational!]

Xu An looked at these comments and closed his eyes in despair.

Do netizens these days not understand human language?

I told them the road was difficult to travel, but they got even more excited.

Just then, a familiar profile picture popped up in my private message list.

A tiger with a cigar in its mouth.

ID: Raptor Car Club - Da Biao.

Xu An's hand trembled, and he opened the chat box.

Da Biao: [Brother! You finally replied!]

Da Biao: [I thought you'd been kidnapped by some agency!]

Da Biao: [Location received! I'm currently at the guesthouse in the county town, having barbecue with thirty brothers!]

Immediately afterwards, a picture was sent over.

In the photo, two large round tables are pushed together, and a group of burly men are sitting around them, all with ruddy complexions. The tables are covered with beer and kebabs.

The bald guy in the very center, with a big gold chain around his neck, is giving a peace sign to the camera.

He doesn't look like a good person... no, he looks like a master who can carry a pig on his back.

Da Biao sent a voice message; the background noise was chaotic and full of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) atmosphere:

"Don't worry, brother! I saw your post earlier, telling everyone not to go into the mountains overnight. It really warmed my heart!"

"I'll listen to you, brother! I won't go into the village tonight to disturb you and Grandpa's rest!"

"Tomorrow morning, your brother will lead a convoy to clear the way for you! See you there!"

Hearing that bold voice, Xu An could only reply with two words:

【Thanks.】

Then I sent a "handshake" emoji.

He really didn't dare to say much, afraid of revealing that his legs were actually shaking.

……

Meanwhile, on the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway.

A modified Jeep Wrangler is speeding along.

Lin Zixuan gripped the steering wheel with one hand, while on the passenger seat sat sausages and Red Bull that were extremely cheap to him.

The car radio was playing Xu Wei's "Blue Lotus".

Nothing can stop your yearning for freedom...

On the phone stand, messages from the WeChat group "Yangtze River Delta Off-Road E-Family" were flashing wildly.

[ID Taihang Car God: Location confirmed! Xujiacun! 40 kilometers to the highway exit!]

[Group Admin: Lao Lin, where are you?]

Lin Zixuan glanced at the navigation and pressed the voice button:

"We just crossed the Zhengzhou Yellow River Bridge, and it'll be another hour to Xinxiang."

"The service area was full of cars. I just got out of the car to pee and saw several cars with stickers that said 'Xujia Village Pig Slaughtering Inspection Team'."

"These guys really know how to have fun."

A burst of laughter erupted in the group chat.

[ID Taihang Car God: Don't laugh at others, don't you have two cases of Moutai in your own trunk?]

Lin Zixuan smiled and looked ahead at the dark night road.

In fact, he didn't know why he had made this trip.

As a rich second-generation heir in Shanghai, what top-tier ingredients haven't he eaten?

Iberian ham and Kobe beef are both excellent choices.

But when I saw that video this afternoon...

Seeing that young man in the tattered cotton-padded coat, with those bewildered eyes.

And there's that phrase, "Food provided, all you can eat."

Lin Zixuan suddenly felt that his Michelin-starred lifestyle was a bit boring.

He wanted to go and see.

Let's see what kind of food tastes like—a meal that requires no reservation, no dress code, and all you need is a mouth and a heart.

"This is not slaughtering a pig."

Lin Zixuan sent a voice message in the group, his tone unusually serious.

"This is a call from us, a group of people who have been stifled by the rules in the city, to find a bit of our wild side."

The group chat was silent for a few seconds.

Then he started swiping a row of thumbs up.

[Group Admin: Well said! For this taste of wildness, I'm not sleeping tonight! Floor the gas!]

……

The Passat drove deep into the mountains.

Xu An's phone vibration gradually subsided—because he had turned off all notifications except for those from special notification groups.

Otherwise, the phone will still explode.

"We're almost there."

Director Wang Xingbang suddenly said something, his tone filled with pride.

Xu An looked up at the window.

At this time of day, Xujia Village should have been pitch black, with only a few barks from dogs.

But at the moment.

The mountain valley ahead was brightly lit!

Several powerful searchlights pierced the night sky, illuminating half of the mountain.

The rumbling sound carried on the wind.

"That is..." Xu An was stunned.

The car rounded the last bend.

The scene before him made Xu An wonder if he had traveled through time.

At the village entrance, where the threshing ground was originally overgrown with weeds, four or five excavators and bulldozers were now parked.

The machines roared, and dirt flew everywhere.

A group of workers wearing yellow hard hats are working late into the night to level the uneven wasteland into a temporary parking lot.

There were even road rollers widening the narrow road leading into the village.

And at the gate of their own yard.

Grandpa, wearing a coat and holding a lantern, looked on blankly at the bustling scene.

Two uniformed special police officers stood nearby, standing at attention with their backs straight.

This is impressive.

If you didn't know better, you'd think the Terracotta Army had just been discovered here.

Wang Xingbang parked the car, turned to look at the petrified Xu An, and grinned:

"How's it going, Xiao An?"

"That's the speed our county is moving at!"

"The road must be repaired tonight, and the parking lot must be cleared."

"Tomorrow, we're going to show all of China what it means to feel right at home!"

Xu An mechanically unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed open the car door.

The cold wind rushed into his collar, but he didn't feel cold.

He looked at the once quiet and dilapidated little mountain village, which now resembled a noisy construction site.

He looked at the swaying lantern in his grandfather's hand.

He looked down at the priceless cell phone in his hand.

Xu An suddenly had a premonition.

After tomorrow.

His fate and that of Xujiacun were like the soil turned up by the excavator.

Never go back.

"Master..."

Xu An walked towards the old man with somewhat unsteady steps.

"Our old hen that lays eggs... I'm afraid we won't be able to save it either."