The two old men is standing on the top of the ladder recalling the past things,still feel sweet .(photography/ Lu Gang)

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At sixteen she became other’s bride while he was six .Her surprising peep at him made him feel love for the first time .Unfortunately, ten years later she became a widow. The young man show tender affection to her and her children. When he was 19, he determined to escape into the remote mountain with her so as to avoid gossips. He excavated 6000 steps of stone ladder on the barranca and built their love homestead with his own hands …

     About 30 kilometres to the south of Chongshan county in south Jiangjin is a patch of stretched and unfrequented mountain. It is adjacent to Simian mountain. Also, here is the joint of Chongqing Province, Sichuan Province and Guichou Province. There is a high mountain called Banpotou mountain which has a height of 1500 metres. The difference in temperature between there and the outside in Summer is 8 degree or so.

The team of explorsion encountered the “ savage” surprisingly

The savage asked: “How is Chairman Mao ?” 

     During the mid-Autumn of 2001, a team of outdoor tourists in Yuanyang County of north Chongqing Province went to explor the original forest near the Simian Mountain . However, they walked in the forest for two days and nights, seeing no person.

     On this day, the explorers were about to climb the Banpotou while they found there was a stone ladder which was a manul work leading to the top of the mountain. There was new excavatation trace and new mud and sand on the stone ladder. No people there. Two hours later,they reach the top of the mountain which was quiet around. Suddenly, some special sound came out from the dense forest.                                                

     One explorer with the suiname of Cheng recalled: “We thought it was wild animal and did not dare to move .” Once in a while,two savages --- a man and a woman were unthreading from the forest with firewood on their back. “looking carefully, they weren’t like savages.They were both old .Obviously they were human beings with blue-cloth clothes.”

     When the old men knew that the explorers came from Chongqing City, they asked: “Is Chairman Mao still fine ?” On seeing the flash lamps that the explorers took photos with, the woman “savage” frightened to hide behind the man “savage” and said : “Who are you ? Please don’t pretend the ghost and scare us.”

     In fact, the two old men weren’t savages. They were villagers of Gaotan Village at the foot of the mountain. The woman was named Xu Chaoqing and the man Liu Guojiang. Fifty years age, Liu Guojiang who was nineteen fell in love with widow Xu Chaoqing who was ten years older than Liu Guojiang, which drew on people’s gossip. For the pure love ,they eloped to the old isolated forest in the mountain, kept away from the modern civilization and live an orginal life on reamer and fire. Liu Guojiang chiseled a stone ladder for the sake of his love’s safety. He chiseled for half a century. At last, he chiseled more than 6000 steps.

     The team took the beautiful love story down the mountain and named the stone ladder “love ladder”. From then on, a stream of people went up to the mountain to visit the conjugal lover.

The stone ladder of 6000 steps

Created a passage of life-and-death love

     On the morning of 11 th, the journalists went to visit the legendary mountain “savage”. There is bazaar called Changle Village that lays over 10 kilometres the way from Chang County to Simian mountain. After passing the bazaar, the car for interview travelled for over 20 kilometres along the bank of Feilong river ,but meeting no man.     

     The Bodhisattva temple stood on the river bank. Here, no vehicle was useful. A singel-wood bridge which was about seven or eight metres was built above Feilong river. The opposite side of the river was the foot of the Banpotou.

     Crossing this singel wood bridge which was called big wood bridge by villagers is a piece of tree fern forest. Walking on the path paved by soft deadwood and leaves,we saw the slowly flowing mist around you. The protruded branches of the tree fern blocked your way. Maroon terranes were always revealed ouside the forest. This is belong to the rosy cloud physiognomy that had a history of at least 60 million years.

     Traversing the tree fern forest, we faced the stone ladder leading to the uphill. It’s getting harder and harder to climb the mountain. At last, we had to walk with both our legs and hands. Some places were built up of deal bridge. Walking on the bridge, we felt as if we were in the heaven because it was full of cloud seas both above our heads and below our legs. Most of the stone ladders with a wideth of less than 0.3 metres were established on the cliffs. Several places were nearly vertical cliffs. The upper step almost touched our noses when advancing. These ladders were embeded in the megalith stiffly, stretching vertically in the cloud.

     On the right side of the ladder was the deep frightening abysm. Thanks to the small manual pits on the left side and the skidproof sands, we could walk easily. Our partner---the station master of the culture station of Chongshan County---Liu Tonglin said that the small pits on the cliffs were called Shoubaiwo (a nest built by bands and fingers) and that they were carefully chiseled by Liu Guojiang. 

     Two hours later, we finally reached the top of Banpotou mountain. Counting casually, we found shockly that we had climbed more than 6000 steps. Looking back, the cloud we saw just then had been casted below us. What we saw was the flowing cloud and a set of mountain peek above the cloud sea. It seemed that we were in the faryland.

 　 
The two old men is singing the love song in their days to each other, looking still shy.(photography/ Lu Gang).   

      “Here we are!” said Liu Tonglin. A succession of bark and crow came out from the forest. Taking a curve, we were suddenly enlightened by the front scene--- a patch of vegetable terras were orbing a low earth-wall house, a spring was flowing in front of the house and the smoke from the kitchen chimney was waving in the wind. An old woman was sitting in front of the house sewing, an old man was chopping firewood, a yellow big dog was going and coming in front of the house and a group of chicken were wandering in the terras. We could’t image that actually there was such fary kind of word vision in the deep mountain if we didn’t see this with our own eyes.

     “Chap, there comes some guests! ” On seeing strangers’ inburst, the old woman hailed for her husband to welcome the guests.

     The mountain hasn’t electrified by now. It was dark in the house even during the day time. We could loomed three rooms by the light of coal oil lamp. There were only some self-made desks ,chairs ,wood stool and bed which were coarse but firm. What caught our eyesight was a Chairman Mao’s Quotation. The book had turned yellow.   

     The two old men’s faces were full of donga and had no tooth left, but they were energetic. When they called each other “chap” and “old mother” ,the mood was somewhat effeminate. They both wore kaji cloth (the old style of blue-cloth clothes) which were washed whity and wrapped thick headband with several wisps of black hair outside it.

     Having heard that Xu Chaoqing was a beauty when she was young, the journalists couldn’t help looking for several times: thin face,big black eyes,a face of wrinkle and the lax skin. But they couldn’t conceal her former charm.

     It was difficult to communicate with the two ole men since they didn’t understand the language outside the mountain. Neither did they know who was Jiang Zemin nor who was Deng Xiaoping nor what was touch nor what was talking love. What whey only know was that they had to hold together and love each other. During the interview, the journalists could understand the special love only on the condition of Liu Tonglin’s ceaseless translation.

     Xu Chaoqing was full of shiness when talking the past. “It was ridiculous. I had an engagement when I was 13, and I married when I was 16.” During the talk, she and her “chap” had a look at each other quietly and what in their eyes is sweetness.

The beautiful bride woke up the 6-year-old child

Sweared to married a girl like her

     One day in June in 1942, a pretty girl in adjiacent village married to a man with his surname Wu who lived in Changle Village. Liu Guojiang ,who lived in the front part of Changle Village, kept chasing the bride’s sedan to the bridegroom’s home with a group of children.

     Some days ago, Liu Guojiang knocked his incisor down. According to the convention there, if a child lost his incisor, once the empty place in his mouth was touched by a bride ,his new tooth would outgrow. Therefore, Liu Guojiang was much more eager to see the bride.

     On the guide of elderships, the little Guojiang went to the front of the sedan with his face facing the ground. When a orchidaceous hand stretched out from the curtain of the front sedan and put it into his mouth, he couldn’t help frowing several drops of slobber. He sucked nurvously ,but bit her hand. So the bride lift the curtain with her other hand. Little Guojiang found that the bride was staring at him softly but angerily. The sedan went far away, but little Guojiang was still in a daze at the native place…

     “Hey! Wake up! You should married to such a beautiful girl when you grow up!” the aunties around him played jokes on him.

     From then on, many villagers always played such kind of jokes on him, and he would answered seriously: “a woman like aunty Xu.”

     Hence, Xu Chaoqing had impressed Liu Guojiang deeply. However, Liu Guojiang was coward. When he encountered her on the way, he always stood on the roadside and lowered his head. He dareed not move until he peeped her passing away with his canthus by stealth. With such peep, Liu Guojiang grew up to a handsome guy.

     “At that time, I didn’t think of love. She was so honourable that I would make her dirty if I had a look at her . ”  Liu Guojiang recalled with a sweet smile on the corner of mouth.

Unfortunately, the honourable fetish became a widow

A 19-year-old guy eloped with his love

     Ten years later, Xu Chaoqing’s husband died of acute meningitis. Thus she became a widow. She had to feed four children with the oldest 11 and the yougest just 1 year old.

     “I had to take care of so many children. My parents-in-law paied no attention to them, instead, they said I am widow’s peak . How suffering!” Tears emerged from her eyes while talking. “When we had nothing to eat, I took them to the mountain to pick up some wild mushroom to eat. We couldn’t afford the sault which was worth of six pennies per kilogramme. I had to weave straw sandals to get some money. I could get 5 pennis per pair… ”

     16-year-old Liu Guojiang kept all this in mind. He wanted to help her, but he was fear of being refused and laughed at by other people. Further more, he didn’t know how to do it.

　　　　
The old men live an autarkic life, feeding their chickens and growing vegetable.(photography/ Lu Gang).

     One evening, Xu Chaoqing took the youngest children on her back to Feilong River for some water. Unfortunately, they fell into the river. Liu Guojiang’s house was just near the river. He jumped into the river to rescue them as soon as he heard the noise. That was the first time he saw Xu Chaoqing clearly.

     Hence, Liu Guojiang always went to Xu Chaoqing’s house to offer some physical help, such as picking water with shoulder,chopping firewood and taking care of the housework. Four years had passed quickly, they both know something in each other’s mind by the expression in their eyes. Gossip had soon gone round all the village. Many people came to Liu Guojiang constantly to ask him not to delay his marriage because of a widow. Her mother-in-law was even unhappy. Girls showed their love to him, but he paid no attention to them.

     One day in August in 1956, Liu Guojiang encountered Xu Chaoqing in the street, and then he went to talk to her. Nevertheless, Xu Chaoqing said coldly: “There are too many right and wrong in front of a widow(this is an old Chinese saying).” He went to Xu Chaoqing’s house that evening,said definitely to her: “I want to marry you!” Looking at the man who was ten years younger than her and then her own 4 children, Xu Chaoqing bursted into tears while shaking her head. Liu Guojiang hugged her impatiently, said: “I am serious.”

     The next morning, people found that Xu Chaoqing and her four chilren had disappeared, together with Liu Guojiang.

     “The next afternoon, we arrived here. I had been here to chop firewood before and I knew that there were two empty couch grass house.” Liu Guojiang feels exultated even today when mentioning the courage at that time.

Striving food with wild animals

They feed up their seven children in the mountain

     From then on, what accompanied with Liu Guojiang and Xu Chaoqing was the children, the blue sky, big mountain,barren slope,ancient trees and wild monkeys, but without gossip.

     They ate out all the food they had brought, so Liu Guojiang had to caught fish in the river and Xu Chaoqing had to dig potherb. They digged wild nuts and Chinese dates. They picked up the leaves of wood-plasm tree and insolated them, prepraring for famine. One day, Liu Guojiang found a beehive in a tree. He was enlightened to feed honeybee himself and got some money from brewing honey. He still does it now.

     Also, he cut several pieces of garden around their house and planted white potatos, red potatos and corn. However, one night, a bang of monkey stole all the corn which was about to bacame mature.

     In June of 1957, a rainstorm bursted down their couch grass house. Liu Guojiang had to took them to the highest grotto in the mountain. Thus, there became their temporary home.

     What made them fear wasn’t strong wind or storm, but wild animals in the mountain. “I had heard tiger’s roaring for a few nights. The voice was so big that I felt the earth shaking.” Xu Chaoqing was still a look of fear when talking about tiger. That night, she cried to her husband: “I really want a tile house.”

     Liu Guojiang said nothing. The next morning, he,together with his family, went two miles away to lift mud for burning to tiles. They lifted mud for a year. Liu Guojiang built a stone hole and then burned the mud for another year. At last, he made enough tiles he needed.

     “These tiles were made at that time.” Liu Guojiang said proudly, pointing at the tiles on the roof. The journalists found a nip which was made up of bamboo. Once patting, it would utter the sound like “papa”. This was for driving out monkys. “We haven’t heard tiger’s roar these years. Monkeys always come here to steal foodstuff. A glede came here and caught a hen which was laying eggs yesterday. However, I dared not beat it, because I will be shot by gun if I do so.”

     “The youngest child died from dropping into a cesspit when he was five. Later, we gave birth to another four children who were the “chap” accouched. I ate out the last two eggs when I gave birth to the third child, Liu Mingsheng, in 1963. The next day, I took the advantage of his going to the mountain to kill wild rabbits, I went out to dig wild vegetable. He frightened by this when he came back.” Xu Chaoqing and Liu Guojiang fed up their seven children with wild vegetable and animal flesh. Now they even has their great-grandson.

     Sometimes, they walked over four hours from mountain to Changle bazaar to buy some piglets, iron for repairing roads and sent their kid to Gaotan primary school…

Chiseling a road for half a century because of love

Black hair became white

     Banpotou mountain located far behind Gaotan village. It had only one brambled path connection to the village. They went to the mountain through this road in that year.

     In case his wife fell down, Liu Guojiang started to chisel their love ladder between cragged cliff and thousand-year-old bine from the year they went to the mountain.

     Every time they didn’t need to do farm work, Liu Guojiang went out with iron hoe, hammer and some steamed yam. Firstly, he burrowed on the dard rock. Then, he stood on it and constructed steps on the cliff with earth, wood, stone flag. He gnew some yam when he felt hungry. He drank spring when he was thirsty.

     Now, Liu Guojiang had become an old man. He has chiseled over 20 iron hoe into broken. He chiseled hillroads for half a century under such an environment.

     Suddenly, the journalist felt that of all ages bookmen’s annotation towards love seemed so pale and inanited in front of this love ladder.

     “I felt distressed. But he always said I could go downhill easily when the road was bilt. In fact, I went out only few times all of my life. ” Touching the callus in his hand, Xu Chaoqing cried.

     “I still can move!” Liu Guojiang stretched out his hand to scrape her tears. They felt distressed for each other as if there was no people around.

     “How to divide the housework?” the journalists didn’t will to disturbed them. “I won’t let her do the hard work. She is older than me. I even prepared her the water for the footbath. ” Said Liu Guojiang.

     “We won’t depatch from each other even for one day.” Said Xu Chaoqing. Those fifty years, Liu Guojiang had never left her at night. They dad never been to Jiangjin County. Even Chongshan county, Liu Guojiang had been to only few times.

     Whoever had to be out of the mountain for something, other one would go down to the singel wood bridge waiting before dark. Waiting for the beloved and going home through the love ladder.------ The opposite side of the bridge was the laical world. They went across the bridge only when they had something to deal with.

     Sitting for a while, Xu Chaoqing insisted on inviting the journalists to have lunch. She said they hsd just killed the pig which was planned to kill in Spring Festival. Dished were ready soon. They only had two cups, so they had to use dishwares instead.

     After drinking for three cups, suddenly Liu Guojiang had the interest to sing folk songs. “We often sang folk songs when we was young. Although we are old now, we sometimes sing folk songs.”

, Xu Chaoqing and Liu Guojiang began to sing Seventeen Times Visiting My Man inYellow-white cavity(a kind of tune-pattern): 

Getting up early to visit my man on the morning of kalends

My man is ill in teethridge

Put some rice in the pocket

Pull my man with the right hand, but he doesn’t reply

Pull my man with the left hand, but he doesn’t taste the rice

I ask him what he wants to eat

He reply : I even don’t want to have any dainties

What I want is holding your hand until the dawn comes

The next day I went to visit my man again…

The beloved couple’s last wish was

That they can be burried together in the mountain

     Over half a century had pssed, their marriage certificate had been eaten by moth. And the gossip had disappeared. But they didn’t want to go out of the mountain. A superior in the village named Cou jiuming tell to the journalists: “several years had passed, people had said nothing about it. In those days, we didn’t know where they went because of other’s gossip. We knew where they were a few years age. That mountain is very high, and there has tigers. I haven’t been there before. ” 

     Their daughters had got married outside the mountain. And their sons became         . Because daughters and sons lived outside, the two old men got more chances to contact with the outside world. But they didn’t like it. The third son Liu Mingsheng who lived at the foot of the mountain went to help his parents with some physical work when he was free. “I asked them to move down from the mountain, but they said they had been used to the life in the mountain.”

     “She is a bit older. I will try my best to look after her.” Liu Guojiang said. They had an appointment : who departed first, the other one would burry him or her in the mountain,and then went down to live with sons. They must be burried together. “The children has grown up. We can put down everything but the accompany. We hope we can burry together in this mountain. That is enough.”

The netfriends’comment

This kind of true love should only exist in heaven, which in the world hear several.

Moved! Love is great!

I want to cry. It’s too great. Meanwhile, I feel blessed for someone promised to accompany me until the end of my life.

(translation/ Meng Xiaoli )