Old people in Shan Ye

An old man who lives alone halfway up the mountain is in his seventies. My son died unexpectedly in middle age, and my wife died of illness more than ten years ago. His life has been taken care of by the village. A bag of rice and 150 yuan's living expenses are distributed to the village every month. And his distant cousin and niece will also bring gifts to see him during the Chinese New Year holiday.

His house is a wooden tile house, and some pillars have been eaten by termites like porous sponges. The house has tilted and looks like it will collapse at any moment. But this wooden house, like the leaning tower of Pisa, has been tilted for more than ten years.

The location of the old house used to be a small village. Later, because of the implementation of "alpine migration", other villagers moved down the mountain. The old man has a residence arranged by the government at the foot of the mountain, but he used to live on the mountain and secretly came back to live on the mountain. Fortunately, the old house can be electrified at night. Next to the house is a large water tank with a long plastic pipe leading to the mountain stream for water diversion.

Every year when a strong typhoon comes, town cadres and village cadres need to move villagers living in dangerous houses to safe places for resettlement. When they first saw the lonely old man's house, they were taken aback and decided to take him to the nursing home at the foot of the mountain. But his house didn't collapse after the typhoon, and he returned to the mountain. The village had to send someone to reinforce and repair his old house.

He said that although the conditions at the foot of the mountain were good, it was boring and he wanted to buy everything. He has some land on the high mountain, where he grows vegetables, Chinese cabbage, pumpkin, eggplant, pepper, beans, onions and garlic. There are some chickens and a dog. With rice, as long as you buy some oil and salt, plus vegetables on the mountain, you can basically meet his needs. He said that he can still work now and is used to life in the mountains.

His house is more than ten miles away from the foot of the mountain. Often, some teams crossing the fields will pass the mountain road next to his home, and they are curious to visit his old house. When I went hiking in the wild, I was surprised that there was such a family in the mountains. I was shocked when I learned that this was an old man living alone in this mountain.

The clothes he wears are obviously branded with the years. Although the clothes and trousers have faded, they are basically neat. The old man was very happy and talkative when he saw the hiker coming to his home. Perhaps this is the busiest time in his old house. He also prepared several pots of boiling water to quench the thirst of passers-by. You can also pour some cold boiled water into the portable kettle to take away.

We once asked him if he was afraid of living alone on the mountain and if there were any wild animals on it. He said with a smile that the mountains are mainly wild boar and rabbits, and they usually come out at night. There are obviously more snakes in summer than before. Generally speaking, they are afraid of people. He said that there are few birds in the mountains now, birds can hardly be heard in the mountains, and birds can't be seen during the day. This phenomenon has been going on for many years, but there are many birds singing on the roadside trees in the city. Nobody knows why. Have all the birds migrated to the city?

I haven't participated in hiking in the wild for more than three years. I wonder if the old man still lives on the mountain. I hope he can move down the mountain. Because of old age, people may have problems at any time. Once something happens, there is no place in the middle of the village and no neighbors are in charge. Living alone is too risky.