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

Xu An picked up a walnut kernel and put it in his mouth.

It lacks the aroma of sugar-roasted meat, has a slightly raw and astringent taste, and a bit... earthy.

You can even taste the aged ash from under the fingernails of the person peeling the shell.

But as you chew, a wonderfully fragrant oily aroma explodes on your tongue.

Sweet aftertaste.

Extremely sweet.

Xu An felt as if something was blocking his throat; he couldn't swallow or spit it out.

Is this a bag of walnut kernels?

No.

This is a fool who, through countless long nights, used his clumsy hands to peel away his heart bit by bit and present it to Xu An.

"Fools are sometimes lucky."

Grandpa came out wearing a coat at some point.

He held the chipped teacup in his hand, looking at the bag of walnuts, his eyes both cloudy and clear.

"Anzi, do you know how hard it is to peel these wild walnuts?"

"Thick skin, small kernel, stuck in the crevices."

"Even a good person would have a hard time hitting it with a hammer."

"He scratched it out with his fingernails."

Xu An looked down.

really.

On each of those plump walnut kernels, there was even a trace of dark red blood.

It had long since dried up.

That was blood from Uncle Fool's fingertips.

"grandfather."

Xu An tied the bag of walnuts tightly and hugged it to his chest, as if he were holding a ball of fire.

"I want to... go out for a while."

Grandpa didn't ask where we were going or what we were doing.

He took a sip of hot tea and pointed to the metal cabinet in the room.

"Go."

"The road is repaired, and the car has electricity."

"Don't stay at home like a mother hen."

"Some debts cannot be repaid with money; they must be repaid with care."

Xu An nodded heavily.

He went back into the room and pulled out the rusty tin box that Teacher Zhao had given him from under the bed.

turn on.

A musty, papery smell wafted over me.

Inside lay dozens of yellowed letters, each with a stamp worth only 8 cents, and the image depicting the old Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

Xu An's fingers traced across the envelope.

Ultimately, it came down to a rather thick letter.

The handwriting on the envelope was very messy, written with fountain pen ink, and had already smudged.

[Recipient: Old Wei, lookout at Heifengling Forest Farm.]

[Sender: Li Xingbang]

Date: May 1978.

Xu An took a deep breath.

Black Wind Ridge.

It is an isolated peak deep in the Taihang Mountains, about forty kilometers away from Xujia Village.

But this forty-kilometer stretch is neither a highway nor a national road.

That was a sheep's intestine path that even a donkey would slip on.

"You're the one."

Xu An put the letter into his inner pocket.

……

Half an hour later.

Entrance to Xujia Village.

That battle-damaged electric tricycle was put back into service.

The truck bed no longer contained pork, nor tofu.

Instead, it was a shovel, a kettle of boiling water, and a bag of walnut kernels.

Uncle Xu Qiang stood by the roadside, looking at the broken-down car that made noise everywhere except for the horn, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.

"Anzi".

"How about... we take my Raptor?"

"That road is difficult to travel; it's all ice."

Xu An shook his head, turned up the collar of his military overcoat to block the wind from his neck.

"Second Uncle, those are sheep intestines."

"Your raptor is too wide; it'll get stuck once it goes in."

"My 'old man's electric car' is still the best."

"Durable".

After saying that, Xu An turned the key.

"Buzz—"

The motor let out a mournful wail, as if protesting that it would have to work overtime again.

Xu An skillfully opened the live broadcast room.

Although it was 8 a.m. on the first day of the Lunar New Year, 300,000 people flooded into the live stream room instantly.

These netizens were probably too excited last night and haven't woken up yet, so they're in a half-awake, half-asleep state of "last burst of energy".

【ID Stay-up-all-night champion】: ? ? ? Streamer? Not sending New Year's greetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year, is he running away from home?

[ID Wants to Eat Dumplings]: The cyber firecrackers last night were so exciting, I was even dreaming about setting them off!

[ID Details Weird]: Judging by this, they're going to buy more goods again? Is it pigs or cows this time?

Xu An adjusted the phone holder and wrapped it tightly to the handlebars with transparent tape.

Happy New Year, family!

"We won't slaughter pigs or build houses today."

"Today... let's deliver a message."

"Be a postman for a day."

The viewers in the live chat hadn't even reacted yet.

Xu An twisted the accelerator.

The tricycle started like a wild donkey that had broken free of its reins, launching itself forward.

The initial push-back feeling was entirely due to Xu An's own core strength.

After leaving the village, we got onto the newly paved asphalt road.

But this was not Xu An's destination.

After driving for about five kilometers, the gentle female voice from the navigation system rang out.

"Turn left at the next intersection and enter...unknown road section."

Please drive carefully.

Xu Anyi turned the tricycle onto a dirt road full of gravel.

This road is like a wound torn open by the mountains.

On one side are cliffs covered with withered grass, and on the other side are bottomless ravines.

Although some of the snow melted, it froze into an even slipperier ice shell.

The wheels creaked and groaned as they ran over the car, a sound that made your teeth ache.

The style of the live stream suddenly changed.

The netizens who were jokingly asking for red envelopes suddenly became very anxious.

[ID Fear of Heights]: Holy crap! This road? Is this for people to walk on?

[ID Veteran Driver]: I drive off-road vehicles, and this road condition... I wouldn't dare to go down without a winch!

[ID is reckless]: Slow down, streamer! There's a cliff right next to us! This isn't delivering a message, it's suicide!

Xu An gripped the handlebars tightly with both hands, the veins on the back of his hands bulging.

Actually, he was also extremely panicked inside.

This social anxiety, when faced with a cliff, directly evolved into "fear of death".

But he cannot back down.

The letter in his pocket felt like a burning ember, searing his chest.

"Family members, don't be afraid."

"This is the road through the Taihang Mountains."

"It looks dangerous, but actually... as long as you don't look down, it's not dangerous."

Xu An forced a joke in an attempt to ease the tense atmosphere in the live stream.

However, the reality check came too quickly, like a tornado.

Ahead, a huge fault line suddenly appeared.

The road surface looked like it had been bitten by something and broken.

Only a narrow ridge, barely half a meter wide, remained, connecting the two sides.

The navigation's gentle voice now sounded like the death knell from the King of Hell.

"The road ahead narrows."

"Please... carry the car away."

Although the navigation system didn't say it that way, its meaning was clear: there's no road, you're on your own.

Xu An braked the car.

The tire slid two meters on the ice before coming to a stop just off the edge of the cliff.

A few pebbles rolled down.

Several seconds later, a "thump" echoed.

The live stream chat exploded instantly.

【ID I'm kneeling】: Navigation: There's no road ahead, I suggest you reincarnate.

[ID: PUBG]: This is a dead end! Go back, Anzi! Can't you just leave the letter?

[ID Hardcore]: Carry the vehicle over? This tricycle must weigh at least 300 pounds, right?

Xu An got off the car.

The cold wind cut my face like a knife.

He glanced at the broken section, then at the Black Wind Ridge opposite him, hidden in the clouds.

On that mountain, there lived a man named Lao Wei.

I waited for a letter.

Forty-six years have passed.

If we return it today, this letter may never have a chance to be delivered.

"Family members."

Xu An took the shovel out of the truck bed.

His gaze gradually shifted from that "clear foolishness" to an almost stubborn determination.

That's the stubbornness unique to the people of Xujia Village.

"Carrying the cart is impossible."

"I'm not Lu Zhishen."

"But we Henan people have an ancestor."

"Call him Yu Gong."

"He can move mountains."

"Let me fill in this gap..."

"It shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

After saying that, Xu An took off his military overcoat.

He was only wearing a pilling sweatshirt underneath.

He exhaled a puff of hot air and rubbed his hands together.

Then he shoveled it onto the nearby earthen slope.

"when!"

The permafrost is as hard as iron.

The shock made Xu An's hands go numb.

But he didn't stop.

One shovel, two shovels, three shovels...

The 1.5 million viewers in the live stream watched this thin, frail figure from behind.

On the edge of a bottomless abyss.

In the cold wind of the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Like a fool, trying to fill the ravines in the mountains with a shovel.

There is no background music.

The only sound was the shovel striking the frozen soil.

dull.

tedious.

But it was deafening.

[ID with tears in my eyes]: This is exactly what I wanted to see! It's a million times better than those streamers who wiggle their butts!

[ID Infrastructure Maniac]: Brothers, don't just watch! Type "Go for it!" in the chat!

[ID Xujiacun Spirit]: Is this the power that bag of walnuts brought us? Anzi, you're amazing!

A full half hour passed.

The break has been filled in.

Although it looks loose and flimsy, it's still wide enough for a car to pass through.

Xu An was already drenched in sweat; his hoodie was completely soaked and steaming.

He threw down the shovel and put his military overcoat back on.

He flashed his signature big white teeth at the camera.

They laughed without a care in the world.

"The road is open."

"Walk!"

"Go see Lao Wei!"

The tricycle started up again, carefully rolling over the newly paved road.

The new soil creaked under the weight.

But it's all in the past now.

Climb over this ridge.

The view ahead suddenly opened up.

A solitary little wooden house, like a bird's nest, hangs on the highest mountain peak opposite.

On the roof, a faded five-star red flag, blown into strips by the wind, was stuck.

In the gray and white world.

That last trace of crimson.

It was still burning hot.

Xu An parked the car and took a moment to catch his breath.

She spoke softly into the camera:

"Family members."

"arrive."

"That's... the place we're looking for."

"Black Wind Ridge Forest Farm".

"He was also an old man who had guarded this place his whole life..."

"position."