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Li Hong's father was a coal digger who was stationed outside all the year round and basically only came back during the Chinese New Year.

It was the winter when Li Hong was two years old, and Li's father came back a month earlier than usual.

"Xiuzhen, I'm back." Father Li beat the snow on his body, and the heavy black cotton coat completely covered him, only revealing a pair of eyes covered with ice crystals, like a big bear standing up.

Li's mother heard the shout in the back room, hugged Li Hong in her arms, and ran out in a hurry, "Why did you come back so early?" As she spoke, she handed a towel to Li's father, with a smile on her face. smiling.

"The village chief asked me to come back with a message, saying that our village is going to open a mine." Li's father shook a rattle and stretched it out in front of Li Hong.

"I won't go out in the future, I will stay with you at home."

Li Hong grabbed the beads of the rattle and was about to put them in his mouth, but was gently patted away by Mother Li.

"Open the mine?" Mother Li carried Li Hong back to the back room, put him on the bed, and fell asleep after coaxing him for a while.Mother Li poured a cup of hot tea and handed it to Father Li, and the two sat opposite each other.

"I didn't hear that there was going to be a mine."

Father Li warmed his hands while holding the teacup, and took out a crumpled letter from his pocket.

"You look at it."

Mother Li still frowned after reading the letter, and rubbed her fingers back and forth on the name of the village chief, making the handwriting blur.

"There is indeed a coal mine in Houshan, but I heard from my dad that the coal mine was closed 30 years ago because of an accident, and it has not been opened for so many years. Why now..."

Father Li drank the tea thoroughly, and then he felt the heat return to his body. Looking at the strange house, the familiar wife and the lovely son, the blood nourished every inch of his skin, and it was itching to go home. It feels really good.

"I'll go to the village chief's house tomorrow to ask." Smiling, he put the empty teacup on the coffee table, grabbed Mother Li's hand, and stared at the flushed wife opposite him, his fingers lingering in her palm. spinning around.

The snow fell very deeply tonight, and the sunken footprints were covered layer by layer with falling snowflakes.The watchdog looked at the white flakes floating down from the sky and barked furiously, making the iron chain rattle. The owner opened the curtains, took a look and then closed them quickly. The steam in the room made people feel a little drunk. Carefully put the cut window grilles into the basket, with slightly raised eyebrows and eyes, heralding the coming New Year.

Father Li went out early the next morning, still wearing the big padded jacket from yesterday, but with a red fishnet scarf around his neck, covering the lower half of his face.

"Village chief! Village chief!" Father Li clasped the curtained window shut, and peeked in through the gap.

"Bieyun, you're back so soon." The village chief behind him put the pick on his shoulders on the ground, took out a cigarette and handed it to Father Li.

Father Li smiled and waved his hand, and stretched out the letter in his palm, "I'm here this time to ask about mining."

The village chief patted the soot on his chest and asked another question, "How many people are there?"

He took a puff of smoke, and the smoke blurred half of his face, "Over 25 years old."

Father Li stared suspiciously at the village chief, a thin layer of sweat dripped from his scarf-wrapped neck, "Village chief, who are you?"

"There are not enough people in our village." The village chief flicked a cigarette butt into the snow and found another one. "It takes 69 people to open a mine."

Father Li tugged at the scarf, the letter in his hand was already wet with sweat, "Up to 23."

The village chief thought carefully in his heart, his face slowly wrinkled, and he hissed a few times unconsciously, "It's still not enough, three less."

"Village chief, why is the mine in Houshan suddenly reopening?" Li's father inquired about the details from Li's mother. According to the scale of the mine, the number of people requested by the village chief is a bit too much, which made him feel a little pimple. .

"This..." The village chief made a gesture to light another one, but was stopped by Father Li, "What does it mean?" He pointed his finger upwards, in a gesture that could only be understood but could not be expressed in words.

Li Hong rubbed his nose, "I'll think of a way, when will I start working?"

"Twelfth lunar month 27."

There are many tricycles piled up with snow on the street. The snow under their feet has turned into black snow water, and there are large stains on the trouser legs.

"Li Buyun!" Wang Mangang slapped Father Li on the back, and then randomly grabbed him a few times on the head, "Don't tell me when you come back."

"Yesterday." Father Li smiled and avoided his thieves, "I was called back by the village chief."

"About the mining?"

"Ah."

Wang Mangang stopped messing around, put his hand on Father Li's shoulder and walked forward with him, "My mother also went to sign up for me, but I was rejected because I was not old enough."

Wang Mangang exhaled angrily, "I'm 24 anyway, and I'm not underage. I really can't figure it out!"

"I want to visit the coal mine in the back mountain, together?"

Wang Mangang thought for a while, and went home with two pancakes and went with Father Li.

The mine is right next to the Luosheng River, and the entrance of the cave is blocked by several big stones and rotten boards. In front of it stands a stone tablet that says "permanently closed" with the ZF seal on it.

"December [-]..." Father Li repeated the closing time on the stone tablet thoughtfully.

"I heard that people were killed inside." Wang Mangang walked around along the entrance of the cave, and finally sat on the stone on the top of the cave.

"what happened?"

Wang Mangang picked up a square brick, smashed it hard on the ground, and began to speak in a hoarse voice like a storyteller.

Thirty years ago, the village organized 30 strong laborers to open up rocks and dig a passage to the outside world in the back mountain.When digging to 30 meters, a large iron gate appeared in front of it, and a line of small characters was engraved on the wall next to it: "Yiyang Coal Mine".

The village head immediately reported the matter to the higher authorities, and soon got an order to stop mining.For a while, all the men over the age of [-] in the village volunteered to join the mining team, and Li Hong's grandfather was one of them.

But things were far from smooth as expected. After several weeks of digging, no cinder was found. The railway track laid by the predecessors was also divided into two sections by a large rock.

It took three days for this big rock to be smashed, but the railroad track stopped here, and there were endless rocks ahead.At that time, the village head was very anxious. After all, the higher authorities attached great importance to this matter and promised generous rewards.After thinking about it, I decided to continue digging.

The day when the tragedy happened was a cloudy day, and the cool breeze was blowing very comfortably. The workers dug deeper into the mine as usual.

The stone walls on both sides began to change gradually, first light gray, then dark gray of donkey skin, and finally turned into jet black with protruding particles.The temperature in the mine suddenly rose, and drops of clear water seeped out from the cracks in the stone walls, and stopped after a short while.

Grandpa Li Hong who was following behind felt that something was wrong, and suggested that the people in the cave retreat quickly.The experienced foreman felt that Grandpa Li Hong was timid and timid, and he was afraid that he would delay his way of making money, so he kicked him out.

A few timid workers followed Grandpa Li Hong out of the mine. As soon as they arrived at the entrance, there were shrill howls behind them. Various screams overlapped and lingered in the depths of the mine for a long time.Then the roof of the cave collapsed suddenly, and the stone blocked the entrance of the cave tightly, and the sound stopped abruptly.

After several months of investigation and research, the mine was permanently closed and must not be opened again.

"I didn't expect my dad to participate in it. He never told me about it." Father Li said in a daze.

Wang Man just jumped down from the top of the cave and fell on his back. He curled his lips indifferently, "If those people had listened to Uncle Li, they might not have died." Shaking the dust off his body, he rode on the stone tablet again.

"By the way," Wang Mangang seemed to have thought of something again, and said to Father Li mysteriously, "I heard from Zhang Mazi that he brought the little girl here for a date one night, and there was a sound like eating from the cave. .”

"Then, he pissed in fear in front of the little girl, ha—" Wang Mangang lay on the stone tablet laughing and rolling forward and backward, like a big caterpillar with cramp.

Father Li also pursed his lips and smiled, but stared fiercely at the entrance of the cave, as if he was looking at the darkness in the cave across the stone.

Father Li felt very heavy when he returned home. There was still one month left before he left the mine, but there were indications that the village head's purpose was not to mine the mine itself. The closure 30 years ago and the reopening 30 years later all stemmed from the mine disaster that killed 70 people.

"Are you going to my dad's?"

"Well, is our father on the slope or down the slope?" Grandpa Li Hong lived alone on the slope since Father Li got married, and sometimes he was called back to live for a few days by his filial father's cousin.

"It should be on the slope. Your cousin went to other provinces a few days ago." Li's mother packed a big bag of clothes for Li's father, and stuffed some steamed buns to eat on the way.

"Come back in a week at the latest." Father Li stroked Li Hong who was asleep, and left with his things.

Go around the stage at the entrance of the village and go straight to the path on the right, and you will arrive at the centralized office in the village.Several neatly built one-story houses, the nearest one is the broadcasting room, next to the village brigade, behind which are built more than a dozen factories of different sizes, and the sounds of various operations are often mixed together, which makes the working cadres suffer. .Although I applied for relocation of office space many times, they were all rejected due to insufficient space.

Father Li passed by the gate of the brick factory and saw the village head surrounded by several workers, who laughed loudly from time to time.The impassioned village chief accidentally glanced at Father Li at the door, twitched the corner of his mouth in embarrassment, and beckoned the workers into the office.

Pass through the small woods behind the brick factory, and you will arrive at the intersection on the slope.The slope is the back garden of Hongli Village. Before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it belonged to the neighboring village. Later, the land was re-planned, and the slope was divided into Hongli Village. developed.

Father Li walked around the tree trunk in front of him, and saw his father sitting on the stone pier at the intersection with a chicken in his hand, waving in his direction.

"Dad, why are you here?" Father Li stomped the snow on his shoes and looked at the old man in surprise.

"Wait for you."