Return to the small mountain village in 1986

Gao Mingcheng is indeed very busy, busy taking care of the children and busy returning to the village for a short stay.

A long time ago, Gao Mingcheng had a sudden idea to build a small wooden house in the mountains, or find a cave, where he could stay for a few days occasionally, meditate at night, and climb the mountain to practice boxing early in the morning.

In this way, you can cleanse your soul and strengthen your body.

After putting his business aside, Gao Mingcheng found an opportunity to go into the mountains to explore the terrain. After some effort, he finally found a suitable cave.

The cave is just halfway up the mountain, not deep in the mountains. It may have been occupied by some wild beasts in the past. There are some furs and dead bones scattered in the cave.

Gao Mingcheng cleaned the cave, lit the insect repellent, and used some bricks and wood to make a door. Because he built an eaves against the mountain wall, it felt like a house in front and a cave in the back.

Gao Mingcheng made the cave very nice, not because he planned to live there permanently, but because he wanted to use it as a base. When his two sons grow up, he can take them to live in the mountains for a few days from time to time and teach them how to survive in the mountains, such as identifying plants, finding food and water, and avoiding risks.

In addition to digging the cave, Gao Mingcheng also enjoyed the four seasons of Xiaofushan and recorded them faithfully with his camera.

There are flowers in spring, moon in autumn, cool breeze in summer and snow in winter. If you have nothing to worry about, it is a good time in the world!

The wind in June blows gently, accompanied by light rain. From Xiaoman to Grain in Ear, and then to Dragon Boat Festival, it is estimated that there will be intermittent light rain during this period.

Gaojia Village has mountains but no rivers, so the traditional Dragon Boat Race during the Dragon Boat Festival is destined not to be held here.

Not to mention Gaojia Village, even in the county, there is no dragon boat racing activity.

The light rain came with the wind, but was blocked by the car glass. People sitting in the car could enjoy the scenery along the road comfortably.

Gaojia Village is located in the south, where wheat and barley are not grown, so the busyness of the Grain in Ear season cannot be seen here.

The rice fields along the roadside are full of green seedlings. Villagers wearing straw hats and raincoats are bending over to work in the fields.

In addition to rice seedlings, there are also many weeds such as barnyard grass and sedge in the rice fields. These weeds will rob the rice seedlings of nutrients, causing them to grow poorly. Therefore, hardworking old farmers will go to the fields to pull out the weeds. The pulled out barnyard grass and sedge do not have to be discarded, but can be taken home to feed the poultry.

Especially the duck's feet, which can actually be considered a wild vegetable. The fresh and tender duck's feet taste quite refreshing.

The car was driving steadily on the national highway, and soon arrived at Junling.

After arriving at Junling, you will turn down the path. Junling is still bustling as it is close to the road. There is a health center and a cooperative. The old market on the 3rd, 6th and 9th of every month is also held here.

On the roadside, there are thriving rice fields, old farmers weeding in the fields, and cattle and buffaloes grazing at the foot of the mountain.

After arriving at Junling, we were closer to Gaojia Village. Ten minutes later, the car stopped at Xing'anling.

"Mingcheng, you guys are back? Are you planning to come back to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival?"

Someone saw the car and immediately came over with a smile.

This man is the owner of a small shop near the elementary school. He smiles all day long and mainly sells simple seasonings, books, pencils, snacks and the like.

It was drizzling when we were in the county, but after we reached Greater Khingan Range, the rain gradually stopped and we could get out of the car and walk around.

"Hello, Boss Yang!" Gao Mingcheng greeted with a smile. After getting out of the car, he opened the door and let his wife and children get out and take a walk together.

This time, their family did return to the village to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.

"Ming Cheng, the principal of the elementary school told me last time that since you set up the scholarship, the children have been more motivated to go to school! My kid is usually lazy and just wants to go out and play all day long. Later, I said that if he can get a scholarship from the school, I will take him to the county to play for a day!"

"Haha, he's studying really hard now. Today is a holiday, but he didn't go out to play. He stayed at home to do his homework. The final exam is coming up soon, so he hopes to do well this time!"

Boss Yang's tone showed gratitude towards Gao Mingcheng.

As a member of the Greater Khingan Range, Boss Yang was one of the first people to benefit. When his son went to school, he could study in the newly built primary school and no longer had to worry about his textbooks getting wet by rain.

Gao Mingcheng also donated a library, which contains a variety of painting books and some educational toys, which greatly broadened the children's knowledge and brought a lot of fun to their boring study life.

Last year, Gao Mingcheng offered another scholarship. The prize money was not high, but there were many places available. Six people in a class could get the scholarship. The first place got ten yuan and a set of paper and pen, the second place got five yuan and a set of paper and pen, the third place got three yuan and a set of paper and pen, and as for the fourth to sixth place, they only got a set of paper and pen.

A set of paper and pens consists of ten exercise books and ten pencils. For convenience, Gao Mingcheng bought them from Boss Yang and gave them to the school. Therefore, when Boss Yang saw Gao Mingcheng, his attitude was naturally very warm.

Gao Mingcheng praised: "Let the children study hard. There is a playground in the county park. It will be fun!"

This year, the People's Park introduced some amusement facilities. Although they are second-hand goods eliminated from other places, they can still bring a lot of joy to the people in the county.

"Oh, that's going to cost a lot of money, right?" Boss Yang felt distressed for a second, but soon straightened his back and said with a smile: "As long as he can get the scholarship, I will take him to play!"

"Dad! Are you serious? Are you really going to take me out to play?" At this time, the child's voice came from the room behind the grocery store.

Boss Yang turned around and yelled, "Study hard! If you fail the test, I'll treat you to fried pork with bamboo shoots!"

After the threat, the room became quiet.

Gao Mingcheng smiled kindly and said to his wife and children, "Let's go to the school and take a look!"

Although it was holiday, the gate of the primary school was only half-closed, and several teachers were still living in the school building behind the school.

Because it had rained, the ground was slippery. Gao Mingcheng held his three-year-old son, while Xuanyuemei held the six-year-old Xuxu.

Xiao Xuxu will be promoted to primary school student in the second half of this year. Thanks to adequate nutrition and good genes from his parents, Xiao Xuxu has a fair and clean complexion and looks like a child from a good family.

Xiao Xuxu knew that this was an elementary school, so he looked around curiously.

Although this primary school was newly built a few years ago, it still has many shortcomings compared to the primary schools in the county. The biggest shortcoming is that it is too small!
The primary school in the county town has a teaching building and a large playground, but here there are only a few classrooms and the playground is not big enough.

"Dad, why is this place so small?" Gao Xu asked curiously.

He had returned to the village many times, but this was his first time to visit Gaojia Primary School.

Gao Mingcheng looked around the elementary school and said, "Because there are only third grade students here, if you want to study in the fourth grade, you have to go to another larger school to study."

Gaojia Primary School has only six classes in total, from grades one to three, with two classes in each grade, and a larger library. This is the only configuration for the entire school.

Gao Mingcheng called the teacher who lived on campus and asked him to open the door of the library as he wanted to go in and check out the situation of the books.

The fundraising for the reconstruction of this primary school began in the autumn of 90, but time flies and it is already 94.

The bookshelf is filled with various books, and on the table next to it are piled some educational toys, mainly building blocks.

These building blocks were all made by Huang Xiaoan. It must be said that Huang Xiaoan originally followed his master to learn wood carving, but Gao Mingcheng gave him some toy drawings and asked him to make them, and lent him money to buy the most advanced tools, so Huang Xiaoan's career path took a turn here!
In fact, using machines to mass-produce building block toys is more suitable for Huang Xiaoan. After all, he is a polio patient. Although his hands and feet have become more flexible through surgery, he still finds it difficult to do some fine carvings.

Gao Mingcheng is the biggest buyer of these building blocks. He sends drawings for customization and buys in bulk. Some are used in kindergartens, some are donated to Gaojia Primary School, and some are given as gifts for fast food restaurants.

For example, if you buy a set meal on your child’s birthday, you can get a small toy as a gift.

Or small toys are given away during festivals and store anniversaries.

These activities are extremely attractive to children, and in order to collect a set of toys, they will come here from time to time to have a fast food meal.

Gao Mingcheng flipped through the book and found that it was still quite new and had not been torn or damaged intentionally, so he was happy.

He said to the teacher next to him: "I will send some magazines to the school when the second half of the semester starts!"

Upon hearing this, the teacher immediately smiled and thanked me, saying, "The books you donated are very interesting. When I have time, I will come and read them. I have already read all of them!"

Although he is a teacher, he actually does not have a high level of education and does not have much experience, otherwise he would not be just a teacher in a village primary school.

These rich books not only enrich the children's world, but also enrich the teachers' world.

Gao Mingcheng was speechless for a moment. This was something he had not thought of before, so he said, "In that case, I will also send some books that the teachers can read next time!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the teacher looked at Gao Mingcheng with eyes full of gratitude.

After a tour of the primary school, Gao Mingcheng took his wife and children to Gao Shouwang’s garment workshop.

This garment workshop was independently founded by Gao Shouwang and his wife. After its establishment, it provided more than 20 jobs to the village, which was beneficial to the villagers.

Unfortunately, the situation is pressing and these years are not suitable for starting a business. Some township enterprises have gone bankrupt. Even if they have not gone bankrupt, they have transformed themselves into village collectives.

This is the case with the garment workshop founded by Gao Shouwang and his wife. In order to avoid trouble, even though their two sons have already made great achievements in the army, Gao Shouwang and his wife still gave the garment workshop to the village collective. Now the people from the brigade are preparing to take over the management.

The reason why Gao Mingcheng stopped his car in Xing'anling was not only to take a look at Gaojia Primary School, but also to meet Gao Shouwang and his wife.

Gao Shouwang and his wife are not young anymore, but they were in better spirits when they were busy before. When they met this time, Gao Mingcheng noticed that they both seemed to have aged a little.

Gao Shouwang was handing over the work to the team members, and Dong Feixia was teaching others how to cut cloth.

An excellent old tailor's skill lies not in sewing but in cutting.

If the clothes are well cut, not only will they look good, but they will also save fabric!
Before, Dong Feixia was unwilling to pass on this unique skill, and usually she would cut the cloth with her daughter.

But now the garment workshop is going to be given away, and she is old, so she doesn’t plan to hide it anymore.

Seeing Gao Mingcheng coming back, Gao Shouwang smiled reluctantly and said, "Mingcheng is back! Oh, the two children have grown so big!"

Gao Xu and Gao Jun both called him Grandpa Xi obediently.

Hearing the child calling him grandpa, Gao Shouwang excitedly took out the candy from his pocket and gave it to the child.

As he handed over the candies, he said, "Grandpa Xi is giving you some candies! These are good candies, and Grandpa Xi only buys the expensive ones!"

Gao Shouwang also has a grandson, but unfortunately he is not around. This time, knowing that Gao Mingcheng would come back to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, he bought the most expensive milk candy early and put it in his pocket.

"Thank you, Grandpa Xi." The two children thanked him obediently.

Gao Mingcheng looked at the clothing workshop and asked, "Uncle Shouwang, are you planning to leave after the Dragon Boat Festival?"

Gao Shouwang nodded, his eyes full of reluctance as he looked towards the garment workshop.

Gao Shouwang said, "Both children called and asked us to live with them. My eldest son had a son last year, and my youngest son had a daughter this year. They both asked us to go over and help take care of the children. Originally, we were supposed to take care of one each, but after thinking about it, I decided that I didn't want to be separated from your aunt."

"Your aunt and I have been together for most of our lives, but our two sons live in the east and west, thousands of miles apart! I would feel sad if we were separated. Your aunt didn't want to be separated from me, so she decided to live with her eldest son."

Gao Mingcheng felt very disappointed when he heard this.

The gears of fate are indeed constantly turning.

In their previous life, Gao Shouwang and his wife left Gaojia Village and went to live with their son. They never returned until their death.

In this life, Gao Shouwang and his wife originally started a business in Xing'an Mountains, but who knew that they would have to leave in the end.

Gao Mingcheng advised: "Uncle Shouwang, you and aunt are not young anymore, it would be nice for you to enjoy the company of your grandchildren now."

Gao Shouwang smiled and said, "Yes, it's time to take care of my grandson. I haven't even seen him since he was born!"

"Let's not talk about this anymore, Mingcheng. On the Dragon Boat Festival, come to my house for dinner. We'll have a good meal together!"

This wine is a farewell wine.

Gao Mingcheng would go of course. This time he returned to the village to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, and he was here to say goodbye to Gao Shouwang.

He and Gao Shouwang have known each other for many years and have worked well together. Now that Gao Shouwang and his wife are leaving, it's time for him to say goodbye properly.

"Okay, uncle, I will come when the time comes!"

After deciding this matter, Gao Mingcheng did not stay here for long. He got in the car with his wife and children and headed towards Gaojia Village.

This time we didn’t stop at the old village, but drove all the way to the tung tree under Niuweiling.

The flowering period of the tung tree has passed, and egg-shaped fruits are hanging on the treetops. After a period of gestation, these fruits will mature in October.

Seeing her own home, Xuanmei was in a good mood. She took her two sons and went to her own vegetable garden.

Gao Mingcheng looked at their backs, smiled, and didn't follow them.

Gao Mingcheng lifted the tarpaulin covering the truck bed, moved all the things in the bed into the house by himself, then picked up a broom and swept the yard.

Then he stood in the yard and looked at the mountains in the distance.

There are many mountains on Niuweiling, but Xiaofu Mountain stands out. It is a beautiful mountain after a rain, and the weather is pleasant. (End of this chapter)