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

My second uncle even picked up the red lacquer bucket from his hands.

They looked like they were about to splash water all over the wall and turn it into a monkey's butt.

Xu An, however, stuffed the half-finished draft paper into his pocket.

He jumped down from the scaffolding and stood in front of his second uncle's burly frame.

"no."

Xu An's voice wasn't loud, and it had a slight tremor from the cold wind.

But his tone was as hard as a rock from the Taihang Mountains.

Uncle was stunned for a moment, his brows furrowing into a knot.

A few drops of red liquid sloshed from the paint bucket in his hand, landing on the expensive leather boots.

"What?"

"Didn't you just say you wanted to draw?"

"Now the paint's here, everyone's here, and the lights' all on, and you're already failing?"

"Anzi, you can't give up halfway through life!"

Xu An didn't look at his second uncle's eyes, which were wide open like copper bells.

He turned around and touched the cold, rough cement wall.

There was a little gray powder on my fingertip.

"Second Uncle."

"Tiananmen Square is red."

"But the lights are yellow now."

"The color temperature is wrong."

"If you apply it now, it will turn liver-colored when the sun comes out tomorrow."

"If you want Third Master and the others to cry while looking at the liver-colored city walls."

"Then go ahead and swipe it."

After Xu An finished speaking, he put his hands into his sleeves and resumed his signature old man squatting posture.

The entire venue fell silent for three seconds, with only the relentless roar of the mixer in the distance.

Li Daguo pushed up his glasses, a gesture of professional approval.

Although Third Master didn't understand what color temperature was, he did understand "liver color".

So Third Master knocked the tobacco pipe in his hand.

"Listen to Anzi."

"This matter cannot be rushed."

"We've waited seventy or eighty years, what's one more night?"

Uncle was speechless, looking at the paint bucket in his hand and then at the huge wall.

Finally, he slammed the bucket on the ground while cursing.

"OK!"

"You are an artist!"

"You're in charge!"

"Disperse! Disperse!"

"Go to sleep!"

"If anyone dares to sneak in and paint in the middle of the night, I'll dock a month's salary!"

The crowd dispersed, and night once again enveloped Xujia Village, but no one in Xujia Village slept soundly that night.

Everyone is dreaming, and in their dreams there are red walls, yellow tiles, and a golden sun.

……

For the next three days, time seemed to be fast-forwarded in Xujia Village.

But in some places, it's so slow it's almost like it's still.

The fastest-growing project is the "White Rabbit Canteen," which is rising from the ground. The Huixian Construction Group is showing the same drive they had when building the reservoir.

The exterior wall insulation has been applied, the window frames have been installed, and even the blue and white striped "White Rabbit" logo has been half painted.

The slower one is Xu An.

He was like a mushroom growing on scaffolding, climbing up at the crack of dawn and not coming down until it was completely dark.

His fifth aunt would bring him his meals in a hanging basket.

In the live stream room.

There was no rousing background music, no shouting during battles, only the whistling wind and the rustling sound of brushes rubbing against the wall.

There were also Xu An's occasional musings.

"The perspective of this pillar needs to be adjusted."

"The red here needs a touch of dark ochre, otherwise it won't have a sense of history."

Or perhaps they awkwardly explain to the camera:

"Um...did I just talk to myself?"

"Don't be afraid, everyone, I'm not crazy."

"It's just... a bit cold up there."

The number of followers steadily increased without anyone noticing, without any exaggerated figures like millions of new followers overnight.

But every day, hundreds of thousands of people sit in front of their screens, watching that gray wall gradually come to life, gradually gaining color and soul.

[ID Cloud Supervisor 001]: Day 3 check-in! The railings of that Jinshui Bridge are absolutely gorgeous! The light and shadow effects are amazing!

[ID Art Student]: This color palette of the streamer is a dream come true for people with OCD! Every stroke is incredibly precise!

[ID Missing Home]: Watching the streamer draw actually cured my insomnia.

Xu An didn't pay much attention to the comments; his social anxiety became his strongest shield at that moment.

This wall isolates him from the noise of the outside world, leaving only this wall in his world.

There were also elderly people who occasionally passed by under the wall, tiptoeing to look out.

Third Master comes here eight times a day, changing his clothes each time.

Today it's a Zhongshan suit, tomorrow it's a Dacron shirt, as if they're rehearsing for some grand ceremony that's about to take place.

On the evening of the third day, as the last rays of the setting sun shone on the wall, Xu An finished the last stroke of his painting.

That was right in the center of the city gate tower, that solemn national emblem. His hand trembled slightly, not because of the cold, but because of excitement.

When he climbed down from the scaffolding and his feet touched solid ground, he felt as if he had just woken up from a long dream.

"Second Uncle."

Xu An called out, his voice a little hoarse, and his second uncle, who was squatting on the ground smoking, suddenly jumped up.

The cigarette butt in his hand drew a red line in the air.

"Is it...it over?"

Xu An nodded and rubbed his sore neck.

"It's over."

My second uncle turned around and looked at the wall.

Under the setting sun, the red walls and yellow tiles stand majestically.

Even the shimmering water under the Jinshui Bridge was vividly depicted by Xu An using white paint.

Although it is two-dimensional, at this moment, in this twilight deep in the Taihang Mountains, it is so three-dimensional that it brings tears to one's eyes.

"This is fucking..."

After holding it in for a long time, the second uncle managed to squeeze out only one swear word, and then he wiped his face hard.

"Pass the word down!"

"Tomorrow morning!"

"The whole village, assemble!"

"Get all the clothes you've been saving at the bottom of your trunks out!"

"Who would dare come wearing just a pair of shorts?"

"Don't blame me, Xu Qiang, for turning my back on you!"

……

The next morning.

The fog in the Taihang Mountains had not yet dissipated, but the entrance to Xujia Village was already as lively as if it were Chinese New Year.

No, it was even more grand than the Lunar New Year. Xu An held up his phone and had just turned on the live stream when he was stunned by what he saw.

Is this still the same Xujiacun village where people usually wear thick cotton-padded coats and squat against the wall with their hands in their sleeves?

Third Master put on a dark blue Zhongshan suit, the one he wore to his wedding fifty years ago. It was a bit tight, and the buttons were about to pop open.

But he stood ramrod straight, his hair was neatly trimmed with those old-fashioned clippers, and he even smeared some hair oil on it; even a fly would have to do the splits if it landed on him.

Second Uncle Xu Jianguo, the old man who was always drunk, was frighteningly sober today. He was wearing a faded old military uniform.

That was the old-fashioned style; it didn't have shoulder boards, only collar insignia.

His chest was covered with military medals: Special Merit, First Merit, Korean War Commemorative Medal... gold, red, bronze.

His body trembled slightly in the wind, making a soft clattering sound.

Ding-dong.

Ding-dong.

It's like an echo from that war-torn era.

Grandma Hua couldn't see, but she asked Fifth Aunt to change her into a bright red jacket with a side opening.

That was leftover fabric from when she was young, used to make her wedding dress. It was later altered into this jacket.

She only wore it during holidays and festivals, and she still held the big white rabbit doll in her arms, with a little face cream on her face, which smelled so good that it made people feel at ease.

Even the construction workers who usually carry bricks on the construction site polished their safety helmets until they shone.

The dust on the work clothes was brushed off completely.

They stood neatly at the outermost edge of the formation, like soldiers awaiting inspection.

Xu An felt his eyes getting hot, and he pointed the camera at the group of elderly people who were "dressed up".

The number of viewers in the live stream was fluctuating wildly.

[ID with tears in my eyes]: Holy crap! Is that medal on my second uncle's chest real? A special merit award?!

[ID Tribute]: Everyone stand up! This scene is even more awe-inspiring than watching the flag-raising ceremony on TV!

[ID: The Most Handsome on the Entire Internet]: This is the real top star! This is the kind of star we should be following!

Uncle Xu Qiang wasn't wearing his leather jacket today; he had changed into a black suit.

Although with that buzz cut, he looks a bit like a bodyguard leader.

But he looked serious as he directed everyone to take their positions.

"Third Master! Please stand in the middle!"

"Second Uncle! Please move to the left, don't block Aunt Hua's view!"

"Hey you! Big Country! Hold that reflector up higher!"

"Anzi!"

"Is the camera setup ready?"

"This is the most important photo our village has ever taken!"

Xu An nodded and fixed the camera on the tripod.

After adjusting the angle, the background in the lens is the Tiananmen Gate Tower, painted so realistically it's almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

Ahead are dozens of elderly people who have spent their entire lives guarding this impoverished mountain village.

Some of them were missing teeth, some were hunchbacked, and some were blind.

But at this moment, under the rising sun, their faces radiated an unprecedented glow.

That kind of radiance is called dignity, it's called fulfilling a dream.

"Look at the camera!"

"Don't blink!"

Xu An called out, his voice filled with both laughter and tears.

"Three! Two! One!"

"eggplant!"

"middle!!!"

The whole village shouted a phrase in Henan dialect.

The shutter is pressed.

Freeze.

In the picture, the red city gate seems to really rise up in the Taihang Mountains.

These elderly people seemed to have traveled through time and space, truly standing on that Jinshui Bridge.

As the wind blew by, Xu An heard his second uncle beside him gently sniff.

He muttered something under his breath:

"Class monitor."

"I've arrived in Beijing."

"Did you see that?"

In that instant, Xu An felt that his four years of social anxiety and thousands of days and nights of lonely practice had become a thing of the past.

Worth it.

Even if it's just a painting on a wall, as long as it brings their dreams to life, it's the greatest project in the world.