Description

While shaking hands, Li Yu carefully looked at the village chief in front of him.

He was in his fifties, wearing a worn blue shirt, a pair of gray pants, and a hat that he had only seen in movies before, which was popular in rural China in the 1950s and 1960s. The village chief’s dark face was covered with traces of time.

“He looks exactly like the one in the movie. He is a typical village chief.” Li Yu thought to himself.

“Teacher Li, we have been looking forward to your coming for a long time, and finally you are here! Oh, by the way, Teacher Li must be hungry, right? Mom, go and cook a bowl of noodles.” The village chief greeted Li Yu warmly.

After sleeping for such a long time, Li Yu did feel empty in his stomach, so he did not refuse. Soon a bowl of hot egg noodles was placed in front of Li Yu, and Li Yu quickly finished the noodles.

“How about it, Teacher Li, do you want another bowl?”

“Oh, no, thank you.” Li Yu said while wiping his mouth.

“Well, I’ll take you to your house!” the village chief said to Li Yu.

“My house, then, where is this?…”

“Oh, this is my house, your house is next to it.” The village chief said.

After listening, Li Yu followed the village chief out of the bamboo house.

“Wow…” As soon as he came out, Li Yu was stunned by the situation in front of him.

“Such a big cave!”

It was not until this time that Li Yu realized that he was in a huge cave. At this time, he could not see the whole picture of the cave, but the cave entrance of about 50 meters high did look very imposing. People standing in such a cave can experience the greatness of nature.

With the help of the lighting on both sides of the cave, Li Yu saw that the cave was unusually wide, with houses on both sides of the cave, and a road in the middle. Unlike some caves he went to during his previous archaeological internship, there were no rocks on the ground here, but rammed land. It seems that people have lived here for a long time.

“Teacher Li, this will be your home from now on.” The village chief Lao Gao pointed to a house and said to Li Yu.

Li Yu looked at the house and it seemed to be no different from the village chief’s house just now. Not only that, but all the houses in the entire cave seemed to be built with bamboo, and the style was basically the same, making it difficult to distinguish.

“Come in and take a look.” The village chief said as he pushed the door and walked in.

Li Yu followed closely behind and walked into the place where he would live in the future.

The area of ​​the house was not large, about 40 square meters in total, and there was no partition, just one big room. A table, a chair, a big box and a big bed were all the furniture in the house, and they all seemed to be made of bamboo.

“Has anyone lived here before?” Li Yu looked around and asked the village chief.

“Oh, someone lived here before. It was Teacher Xu who lived here before. Alas, what a pity…”

“Was Teacher Xu also a teacher in the village before?” Li Yu asked.

“Yes.” The village chief looked a little sad.

“What happened? Did he leave here?” Li Yu asked casually.

“No, he was washed away by a mudslide on the way to the county town, and not even a body was found. Alas!” The village chief sighed.

“No… No way, when did that happen?”

“It was last month. Teacher Xu is a good man. He also came from a big city. He has lived in our poor village for ten years and taught many children. Alas…”

“Is that so…” Li Yu looked around and felt a little uncomfortable.

“By the way, Teacher Li, let’s go out and take a walk. I’ll introduce our village to you.” The village chief suggested.

“Oh, okay.” Li Yu put down his backpack and walked out of the house with the village chief.

“Don’t you need to lock the door?” Li Yu searched the door for a long time but couldn’t find the lock.

“Haha, don’t worry, Teacher Li, nothing is ever lost in our village.” The village chief said with a smile.

“Oh.” Li Yu felt a little embarrassed.

After following the village chief out of the cave, the scenery in front of him suddenly opened up.

A circular farmland appeared in front of Li Yu. There were circular mountains on all sides, and it seemed that this place was completely surrounded by mountains. It was summer now, and the various crops in the farmland were growing well. It was just a little strange that Li Yu saw that most of the people working in the fields were women.

“What a big piece of land!” People in the city rarely see such a large piece of farmland.

“Yes, but this is all the arable land in our village!” said the village chief.

“How big is this piece of land?”

“About 500 acres!”

“Wow, it’s so big, then why do you have to live in the cave? It’s very big outside!” Li Yu asked puzzledly.

“It’s like this. In the past, there were many people in our village, and the seeds were not good at that time, and the harvest per acre was small, so the ancestors of our village lived in the cave.” said the village chief.

“That was a long time ago, right?”

“Yes, I heard from the elders that our ancestors fled here when the Qing army entered the pass, and then built this village.” The village chief said.

“The Qing army entered the pass! Li Yu, who studies archaeology, of course knows that the Qing army entered the pass in 1644, so it has been more than 300 years now.”

“I was wondering why your accent is a little different from what I heard in the county town, so that’s it!” Li Yu, who studies archaeology, knows that in China, many villages look inconspicuous, but often have incredible histories.

“I heard from the elders that when our ancestors first came here, there were many people, and the per-acre yield was relatively low at that time, so all the land here was planted with grain, and people lived in caves afterwards. Later, they gradually discovered that living in caves also has many advantages, warm in winter and cool in summer, and there are fewer mosquitoes, so we still live in caves now.”

“Is there no arable land nearby?”

“No, there are hundreds of square kilometers of mountains around here, and there is only one village in our village, and there is only this piece of arable land.” The village chief explained.

“Oh, that’s why!”

“Let’s go to the mountain.” The village chief led Li Yu to the nearby mountain.

Li Yu and the village chief walked along the path and climbed a small hill nearby.

“Look, that’s the only way in and out of our village.” The village chief pointed to a small path at the entrance of the village and said.

“Oh, that’s the way I came here!” Li Yu thought to himself. When he came here, Li Yu was completely exhausted and didn’t remember how he entered the village at all.

Speaking of the road, Li Yu suddenly remembered his plan.

“Such a beautiful place, I will stay for a few days before leaving, just as a tour. Haha…” Li Yu thought to himself.

“By the way, village chief, since I’m here to teach, I’m going to the county town to buy some teaching materials in a few days. Can you send someone to take me there? If I walk on the mountain road by myself, I will definitely get lost.” Li Yu said to the village chief.

“Oh, it’s difficult!” said the village chief.

“Difficult, what do you mean, have they seen through my plan?…” Li Yu thought of this and broke out in a cold sweat.

“Why is it difficult?” Li Yu asked cautiously.

“Teacher Li, you don’t know, there was a heavy rain last night, and I don’t know where there was a mudslide, so I sent people to check this morning, and there will be news in the evening.” The village chief said.

“Oh, so that’s the case!” Li Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

“If there is a mudslide, can’t we just clean it up? Village chief, didn’t you say that last month, the former teacher Xu was washed away by a mudslide, and when I came, the road surface had been cleaned up. Even if there is a mudslide this time, can’t we just clean it up again?” Li Yu asked.

“That cleanup has used up all the budget for our village’s cleanup this year, so if there is another one, we can only wait until the beginning of next spring to clean it up.” The village chief said.

“Ah… the budget has been used up. Which, village chief, can I ask, how much is your village’s annual budget for clearing mudslides?” Li Yu asked.

“It’s different every year. It depends on how much income the village has. Basically, it’s only a few thousand yuan!”

“What? Only a few thousand a year?…” Li Yu had heard this and had begun to pray that the heavy rain last night would not cause mudslides.

“Oh, by the way, Teacher Li, don’t worry. Although our village is poor, we grow plenty of food, and the women can weave cloth. In our village, you have no worries about food and clothing. Even if you can’t go out, you can rest assured!” The village chief looked at Li Yu and thought he was worried about this.

“No worries about food and clothing!…” Li Yu didn’t know what to say.

“Come on, Teacher Li, I’ll take you to meet the old people in our village.”

“Oh, I see.” Li Yu replied, and followed the village chief down the mountain.

“By the way, village chief, how many people are there in the village now?” Li Yu asked.

“More than 240 people, you have to teach more than 60 children, from the first grade of elementary school to the third grade of junior high school.” The village chief said.

“Village chief, you don’t mean that there are no other teachers in our village except me now?”

“Yes. Teacher Xu used to teach more than 60 children alone.”

“Oh my God…” Li Yu began to complain in his heart again.

Walking down the mountain, the two had nothing to say, and the atmosphere was rather dull.

“Oh, by the way, Village Chief Gao, I just saw that there were more women working in the fields than men, so strange!” Li Yu asked casually to liven up the atmosphere.

“This, this… Speaking of this, this… Sorry…” The village chief hesitated, as if he had something to hide.

“What’s wrong, Village Chief? Is there any problem?” Li Yu asked strangely.

“That, that… Our village has always been like this…” The village chief’s voice became smaller and smaller, so that in the end, no one could hear what he was saying.

“One moment this, the next that, what’s wrong with the village chief?” Li Yu thought.

Seeing the village chief’s embarrassment, Li Yu wanted to change the subject, but he couldn’t find a good topic for the time being, so the atmosphere between the two became very awkward.

“Actually, Teacher Li, since you have come to our village to teach, I won’t hide it from you… This matter is not a glorious thing, so I can’t bring it up. I don’t know why our village has been born with more girls and fewer boys since ancient times. Because of this, the men in our village can’t hold their heads up in front of people from other villages. Hey…” The village chief finally told the whole story.

“Oh, that’s the case. What is the ratio of men to women in your village?” Li Yu asked.

“There are more than 240 people in our village now, more than 60 children, 180 adults, and only 60 men.” The village chief said.

“No way, the ratio of men to women is 1:2? This gap is too big! Is the ratio among children the same?”

“Yes, there are more than 60 children, only 20 boys and more than 40 girls.”

“That’s right! Actually, village chief, this kind of thing has nothing to do with the men in your village, you don’t have to be embarrassed.” Li Yu said.

“It has nothing to do with men, Teacher Li, do you mean it has something to do with the women in our village?” The village chief asked in confusion.

“No, that’s not what I mean. I mean, this situation has nothing to do with people. I have seen this kind of thing in the newspaper before, but it was somewhere abroad. The report said that this situation may be related to the imbalance of some trace elements in the food you eat or the water you drink.” Li Yu said to the village chief.

“What do you mean? Teacher Li, I am uneducated and don’t know what you are talking about, but you are from a big city. Since you say it is what it is, it is what it is.” The village chief said.

Although the village chief said so, Li Yu still heard from the village chief’s tone that he seemed to not believe what Li Yu said.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about this, Teacher Li, I’ll take you to see the old man in our village.”

“Well…”

The two walked down the mountain one after the other.

Under the leadership of the village chief, Li Yu went to visit the old man in the village. After a visit, Li Yu also had some understanding of the situation in the village. At least he knew that in the village, many things were not counted by the village chief alone. These old people in the village were like the elders in the parliament, holding a large part of the real power in the village.

After visiting the “elders” in the village in turn, the people sent by the village chief to explore the way also came back.

“Don’t have any bad news, I don’t want to stay here for so long.” Li Yu prayed secretly.

“It’s over, it’s over, village chief, this time it’s troublesome, the road is completely blocked, there is no way to go.” The person who came back to report the news said so.

“No… No way, I…” Hearing this news, Li Yu almost fainted.

“Hey, Teacher Li, there’s nothing we can do. It seems you can’t go to the county town!” The village chief said to Li Yu.

“No… It’s okay. I feel a little tired. I’ll go back and rest first.” Li Yu said and walked towards his hut.

As soon as he entered the door, Li Yu threw himself on the wide bed.

“Oh my God, what should I do? At least until next spring, there is still half a year! What should I do? What should I do? Will I become like the village chief in half a year, with dark skin and wrinkles all over my face? Will I also wear that kind of clothes and drive a donkey cart to the county town to sell potatoes? Will I…” A series of terrible premonitions made Li Yu almost crazy.

“Sleep, sleep, this is just a nightmare, yes, it’s a nightmare, tomorrow will definitely be better, tomorrow, tomorrow…”

Tossing and turning in bed, Li Yu couldn’t fall asleep no matter what.

“This is not the end of the world. It’s only half a year. It will pass quickly. Find something to do first, forget about time, and it will pass quickly, quickly…” Li Yu quickly learned to comfort himself.

“What to do, what to do…” Li Yu began to frantically rummage around in his room, but there were too few furnishings in the room. There were only a few items, except for the table, chairs, and bed, and the big box.

Li Yu walked to the box. It was a big box woven with bamboo strips. It was the kind with many holes on it. It was a very common box in the south. Li Yu opened the box carefully. He had expected to have a box of novels in the box, martial arts novels, horror novels, detective novels, fantasy novels, H novels… Anyway, anything that could be read and kill time would do.

But reality once again disappointed Li Yu. There were many teaching doctrines, textbooks, students’ homework, and several diaries neatly placed in the box.

Li Yu looked at the things in the box helplessly.

“Forget it, I’ll just be a rural teacher for the next six months!” Li Yu sighed.

He picked up a textbook and flipped through it casually.

“Boring.” After flipping through the textbook, he flipped through the student’s homework.

“Boring.” The student’s homework was also thrown aside by him, and then the diary.

The diary was written by Li Yu’s predecessor, Teacher Xu. He took out the bottom one and started reading from when Teacher Xu just came to the village.

“July 10th, cloudy

I didn’t expect that there is still such a backward village now. I don’t know if my choice is right. Village Chief Gao seems to be a good person. I’ll stay in the village for a few days first. If there is a chance, I might escape…”

“This Teacher Xu looks similar to me!” Li Yu thought.

“July 11th, rain

I started to hate this place. From the time I came to the county town until today, I have been here for almost a year.