Chapter 157: It’s such a small world

Li Yi walked slowly along the dirt road to the head of the village. There was an old elm tree here!

There are many stone tables and benches under the old elm tree, which look to be quite old. Judging from the degree of patina on the outside, they look to be at least ten or twenty years old.

The edges and corners have become very smooth, and it is obvious that these stone tables and benches were frequently used.

Li Yi saw an old man with gray hair, leaning on a cane, sitting on one of the stone benches, holding a pipe in his hand.

Immediately he tidied up his clothes, then walked up and asked: "Hello, old man, look at your pipe, is it a few years old?"

Hearing this, the old man smiled and replied: "It's been more than twenty years, young man. From your accent, you must be from outside. Why are you here with us?"

"We are outsiders."

At the entrance of Yujia Village, Li Yi and Da Chu were chatting with a gray-haired old man.

Through a few casual conversations, Li Yi learned that there used to be more than 100 households in the village, but now there are more than 80 households left, more than 20 households have moved to other places, and many other households are preparing to move away.

As for the reason for relocation, it is very simple, because if you stay here any longer, you will not be able to survive.

The soil quality around the village is not good and crops cannot be grown, so these families choose to raise pigs as their only way to survive.

But after the meat factory began to decline, the lives of these retail pig farmers have become increasingly difficult.

There is a saying that goes like this: after working hard for thirty years, we returned to before liberation overnight. This is a true portrayal of Yujia Village today.

After learning about these situations, Li Yi sighed and asked again: "Old man, why don't you leave? Why don't you go to the provincial capital to find a relative or something?"

The old man sighed, knocked his pipe on the sole of his shoe, and replied: "When you get old, you want a fallen leaf to return to your roots. I have stayed in Yujiacun for more than sixty years and don't want to leave. There are many people in the village who don't want to leave." I plan to leave, but there is really no other way. When the time comes, the building will really be empty..."

Li Yi smiled. There was nothing he could do before, but now that he is here, the villagers don't have to leave!

He can't bring much to these villagers, but at least he can give them hope!

"Old man, how many households in the village raised pigs before? Who raised the most pigs?"

The old man smiled, pointed the cigarette pole in the direction of the village, and said:

"Girl Zhou in the east, her family used to be a breeding farm, and she was considered a wealthy family in our whole village. But then her meat factory stopped accepting pork, and her family's business plummeted, but Girl Zhou was very supportive. Well, everyone in the village cares about them..."

Li Yi frowned and caught the key point!

"Boss? This girl Zhou you are talking about, is she married?"

The old man nodded seriously and continued: "Girl Zhou's partner was a very handsome young man in our village, but later it was said that because of a car accident or something, he never came back after a business trip. Only Girl Zhou was left behind. I have a daughter who is three or four years old.”

"Girl Zhou also has a hard life. This daughter has some kind of disease. It is said that she can't cure it. Yatou Zhou took her daughter to Jiangcheng to see a doctor, but all the money was stolen..."

Da Chu, who was next to Li Yi, felt heartbroken after hearing the old man's story. He didn't expect that such a tragic story would happen right next to him!

Although Da Chu's family was not rich before, at least they had enough food and clothing. When he heard such a story, he naturally became interested and subconsciously asked: "What happened next?"

The old man took a puff of dry cigarette and continued: "Later, Zhou Yatou met a kind person at the station and gave her some money so that she could return to the village."

Da Chu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, and thought to himself, it seems that there are still good-hearted people in this world!

But Li Yi frowned slightly. Why does this story sound so familiar?

I seemed to have encountered such a situation when I was at the station!

At that time, there was also a woman with a small child. The little girl still had a fever. Could it be...

It can't really be such a coincidence, right?

Immediately, Li Yi shook his head, anyway, let's find this Zhou girl first.

Li Yi smiled and took out a box of unpacked cigarettes from his pocket and handed it to the old man.

"Old man, take this pack of cigarettes and smoke slowly while we go to the village to have a look!"

The old man took the cigarette with a smile, his eyes almost narrowed into slits when he smiled, and the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes became more obvious.

"Okay, okay, you are quite sensible, I like it!"

Li Yi patted Da Chu on the shoulder and led Da Chu away from the big elm tree.

"Brother Yi, where did you say this girl Zhou's partner went? Was there really a car accident?"

Li Yi walked towards the direction that the old man just pointed and replied: "How did I know this? What we have to do now is to find this Zhou girl and see if she can help us and convince these villagers to start raising animals again." pig!"

Dachu followed Li Yi and looked around at the scene in the village. Most of the village's style was still preserved in the 1970s and 1980s. It must be said that it was indeed very poor.

At this moment, Li Yi stopped!

Ahead is a large yard, which looks very empty. There is a long shed in the big yard, which seems to have been used to raise pigs.

The specific facilities are quite complete. The scale of this farm is not small. There are still a few chickens walking around in the yard. There is a local dog lying outside the door, basking in the sun lazily.

After seeing Li Yi and Da Chu, the big yellow dog stood up immediately and made a warning sound in his throat.

When Da Chu saw the local dog, his eyes narrowed slightly, but then he found that the dog had an iron chain around its neck, so he was relieved.

"Brother Yi, such a farm is not small, right?"

Li Yi nodded and said with a smile: "It is indeed not small, but it looks abandoned for a long time. Let's go in and visit."

Da Chu followed Li Yi and looked around the yard.

There is a tree in the middle of the yard, which looks like a poplar tree, but there are not many leaves on the tree. Coupled with this empty yard, it gives people a feeling of loneliness.

As soon as the two walked into the yard, the local dog started barking. After barking a few times, a little girl came out of the house.

He looked at Li Yi and Da Chu in the yard, and then skipped back.

The moment he saw the little girl, Li Yi narrowed his eyes!

That's right, this is the little girl in the arms of the woman at the station!

This world is really too small, and I can't help but sigh that I really have a fate with this family!

Soon, the door of the house was opened again, and a slender figure stood in front of Li Yi and Da Chu.

It was a woman, wearing a simple floral dress, with her hair tied behind her head, giving people a sense of competence, and coupled with a pretty face, a standard village flower.

Da Chu hadn't reacted yet, this woman who looked like a village flower actually knelt straight on the ground!