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

The wind suddenly picked up.

The wind blew through the boundless larch forest, creating a sound like a tsunami.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

Standing behind Lao Wei, Xu An felt as insignificant as a speck of dust.

This is not just a few trees.

This is a wall.

A green wall that has stood firm against wind and sand and protected the mountain ridge for forty-eight years.

The more than 1.5 million people in the live broadcast room held their breath at that moment.

Under high-definition lenses, the bark of those pine trees cracked, resembling the calluses on an old man's hands.

The tree trunk is straight, without any sideways growth, as if it were standing at attention.

[ID Forestry University Student]: My God... This density, this growth, this is a textbook example of a protective forest!

[ID Tree Planter]: Laymen watch the spectacle, experts see the details. What's the survival rate in these rocky crevices high in the mountains? This old man has probably poured water into these trees for the past forty-eight years.

[ID Tribute]: These aren't trees, they're three thousand soldiers!

Old Wei didn't look at his phone.

He just stared blankly at the forest, his machete unconsciously rubbing against the tree trunks.

It's like scratching an old friend's itch.

"An Wazi."

Old Wei suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse and broken by the wind.

"you say……"

"Can that nerd see this?"

"When he left, this sapling was only as tall as a chopstick."

He called it "green gold".

He said that once the trees grow up, they can be used to build houses and railways for the country.

Old Wei turned around, his cloudy eyes filled with a childlike expectation.

Xu An felt as if he had been punched in the chest.

He quickly adjusted the angle of the gimbal, aiming the image at Lao Wei and the forest.

"able!"

"Grandpa, he can see!"

"He can see not only trees, but also you!"

Xu An took a deep breath, faced the camera, and said in an unprecedentedly serious tone:

"Family members."

"No matter who you are."

"No matter where you are."

"If you know an old man named Li Xingbang."

"Or perhaps his descendants."

Please tell him.

"His comrade-in-arms, Lao Wei, reported for duty at Black Wind Ridge!"

"Task……"

"It's done!"

The live stream chat exploded instantly.

It was a data stream carrying body heat.

[Searching for Li Xingbang across the entire internet]: Please share this! This must be seen by the person involved!

[ID Big Data Push]: Brothers, move your fingers and boost this live stream!

[ID Trending Pre-Order]: #OldWeiOfBlackWindRidgeSearchingForLiXingbang#, the entry has been created, let's go!

Just then.

A military retirement home in Beijing.

An elderly man with a full head of silver hair, sitting in a wheelchair, is wearing reading glasses and staring at a tablet computer handed to him by his granddaughter.

His hands trembled as if he had late-stage Parkinson's disease.

Tears streamed silently down that dignified face.

"Grandpa, what's wrong?"

The granddaughter standing next to her was terrified.

The old man did not speak.

He stared intently at the old man on the screen, who was wearing a tattered sheepskin coat and had a weathered face.

That's Lao Wei.

That "big, simpleton" who took on all the patrol duties by himself so that he could focus on preparing for the college entrance exam.

That "daredevil" who almost got swept away by a mudslide while trying to save saplings.

"Wei...Wei the Barbarian..."

The old man's lips trembled as he called out the nickname that only the two of them knew.

He wanted to stand up.

But these legs were frostbitten in the Greater Khingan Mountains twenty years ago when I was conducting forestry research.

"quick……"

The old man held his granddaughter's hand with astonishing strength.

"type!"

"Type it for me!"

"Tell him!"

"I'm checking the wind!"

"I saw it all!"

On Black Wind Ridge.

Suddenly, a bold, large gold bullet screen appeared on Xu An's phone screen.

There are no special effects, just the simplest text.

[ID Xingbang (verified: retired forestry expert): Old Wei! It's me, Li Xingbang! I saw you! You old codger, how did you get so old?!]

Then, another one appeared.

[ID Xingbang: The trees are planted well! They're planted so well! Even better than what we planned back then! You are a hero! You are a hero of the nation!]

Xu An was stunned.

The 1.5 million viewers in the live stream were also stunned.

Really...

Are you really there?!

"uncle!"

Xu An shoved his phone in front of Lao Wei, his voice trembling.

"They're here!"

"Teacher Li is here!"

"He's watching! He's talking to you!"

Old Wei is illiterate.

He stared blankly at the square characters on the screen.

"What did he say?"

"Was he... scolding me for not keeping a good eye on Linzi?"

Xu An shook his head, his eyes red as if he were a rabbit figurine.

"no."

He said…

"The trees were planted well."

He said…

"You are a hero."

Old Wei's body jolted violently.

A smile suddenly bloomed on his face, which had been sculpted by wind and snow for half his life.

That smile was awful.

He was missing a tooth, his face was full of wrinkles, and he even had snot bubbles in his nose.

But that was the most carefree smile Xu An had ever seen in his life.

Old Wei suddenly threw away the machete in his hand.

He turned around and faced the phone camera.

I straightened out that dirty sheepskin coat.

He buttoned up the collar button that had been half-fallen off long ago.

He rubbed his chapped hands against his trouser legs again and again.

then.

He straightened his spine, which had been hunched over for more than forty years.

Bring your legs together.

Raise your right hand.

Facing the camera.

He offered a salute that was not standard, but which was as weighty as Mount Tai.

"Black Wind Ridge Forest Farm!"

"Forest ranger Wei Jianguo!"

"Reporting to the captain!"

"Three thousand eight hundred larch trees!"

"Three thousand eight hundred survived!"

"Not a single one was stolen!"

Not a single fire!

"please……"

"review!"

The wind picked up even more.

The tattered five-star red flag fluttered in the wind.

The wind made the three thousand eight hundred pine trees look like three thousand eight hundred soldiers, who at that moment roared in unison.

"Whoosh—!"

In the live stream room.

The laughter and banter of the past were gone.

Even the most humorous and witty people were silent at this moment.

All that's left is a screen full of three neatly arranged characters:

【receive! 】

【receive! 】

【receive! 】

……

Xu An didn't know how he left Black Wind Ridge.

All he remembered was that when he left, Old Wei insisted on stuffing things into the back of his tricycle.

It's not about money.

Old Wei has no money.

It was a sack of pine nuts.

Those wild red pine nuts, each only the size of a fingernail, yet so plump they look like they're about to burst open.

"Take it!"

Old Wei's attitude was very tough; he even brandished his machete with a threatening air.

"This is for that bookworm!"

"You get one too!"

"Take some back and let the children in the village try it!"

"Tell them."

"Everything in these mountains is clean!"

Xu An couldn't refuse, so he had no choice but to accept it.

On the way back, my mood was heavier than when I came, but also much lighter.

The letter that had been weighing on my heart finally arrived.

The stone that had weighed on Lao Wei's heart for forty-eight years has finally been removed.

The tricycle bumped along the potholed dirt road.

Xu An watched the live stream while driving.

Although the peak has passed, the number of online users remains above one million.

Everyone was discussing what had just happened.

They discussed the old man named Li Xingbang, and the vast forest.

Suddenly, a private message caught Xu An's attention.

It was sent by the user with the ID "Xingbang".

Thank you, young comrade.

[For various reasons, I haven't had a chance to go back and see Lao Wei. Thank you so much this time!]

Also, I need your help with something. I think Old Wei's wooden hut looks like it's about to collapse.

I work in forestry, and I have a small pension.

Could you please help Old Wei fix up his house? I'll pay for it.

Don't tell him it's my money; just say it's a bonus from the government.

He's stubborn; he won't take my money, but he feels more comfortable taking the country's money.

Xu An looked at the private message and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

This is probably the tacit understanding among the older generation.

Even after half a century, they still know where the other party's weakness lies.

"Don't worry, Mr. Li."

Xu An faced the camera and replied softly.

"Leave this to me."

"You don't need to pay."

"There are over a million people watching this live stream."

"If each person contributes one brick, we can build a villa for this old man."

Of course, that was just a joke.

If we really want to build houses, we still have to rely on the "infrastructure maniacs" of Huixian.

It was already 2 PM.

Xu An's stomach started growling.

I ate two dumplings this morning, and they've long since been digested.

"Family members."

"The letter has been delivered, and the person has been seen."

"Should we... go back?"

My stomach is already protesting.

Xu An rubbed his shrunken belly and played the victim.

The comments section was filled with sympathy.

[ID Feed]: Anzi, hurry back! Your second uncle has definitely saved some good food for you!

[ID wants to see the follow-up]: Is that all? Weren't there still a lot of letters in that metal box?

[ID Urging Update]: Who will the next letter be for? Is it still this easy to cry over?

Xu An glanced at the metal box placed on the passenger seat.

There are still dozens of letters left.

Each letter may be a piece of a long-forgotten story.

But not today.

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, a day for family reunion.

Old Wei found his "reunion".

Xu An should go back and keep those old men and women who are still waiting for him in the cafeteria company company.

"That concludes today's mail carrier work."

"The next letter..."

"Let me eat first."