Riding the wind of rebirth

"Wait a minute!" Li Laosan exclaimed, getting excited. "Luofeng Slope, is that the Luofeng Slope I know?"

The question was rather strange, and Zhou Zhi found it quite amusing: "There's only one Luofeng Slope, the one you know, the one where Pang Tong was shot to death outside Baima Pass."

"The Crouching Dragon and the Young Phoenix, what a pity." Li Laosan slapped his thigh: "If the Young Phoenix hadn't died, one of them would have led the Four Tigers out of Qishan, and the other would have accompanied Guan Yu to guard Jingzhou. This world might have belonged to Liu Han."

"It's not that simple!" Zhou Zhi rolled his eyes inwardly, but he also praised Li Laosan's rare display of classical Chinese learning: "I didn't expect that Third Brother is quite knowledgeable about 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'."

“You can skip reading the others, but my father insisted that I read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” Li Laosan said with a smile. “But that novel is indeed quite interesting to read.”

After saying that, she turned to her cousin Anxin and said, "Anxin, why did you never tell me that Luofengpo was in Jingyang?"

"Because I don't know either." It would be a miracle if Xu Anxin liked the Three Kingdoms. Besides, Luofengpo is actually in Luojiang, which is 30 kilometers away from Jingyang. It's not a place that Anxin's cousin, who is only interested in making money during the holidays, cares about.

Zhou Zhi also gleaned something from Li Laosan's words. The business world is like a battlefield. The Three Kingdoms is a must-read for the children in the Li family. Perhaps it is just like the Later Jin rulers, who used the story to learn about the wickedness and deceit of people. So he smiled and said, "Then we will visit this place tomorrow. It's a pity that our Japanese and Korean friends, Matsui and Jin Junyi, are not here. They are also fans of the Three Kingdoms."

After eating their fill of flatbread, everyone put Tiedan on the handcart and went for a walk along the river.

Jingyang also has a riverside road, which is built along the Mianyuan River that runs through the city.

The Mianyuan River is the ancient Mianshui River, which originates from Hanwang in Mianzhu and flows through Jintang to join the Tuojiang River. The Tuojiang River was also known as the Luoshui River in ancient times. Therefore, the plains in this area were also called "Mianluo Land". The "Chronicles of Huayang" records that these two rivers were the main reason for the abundance of Sichuan. At that time, the people of Sichuan called Pi and Fan "fertile land" and Mian and Luo "fertile land". Both banks were excellent agricultural areas.

Surprisingly, there were still many people swimming in the river. They entered the water from a dock with a well near the old East Bridge, then drifted downstream to a place called Shiniutang, climbed the riverbank, and then walked back to enter the water again.

So along the way, there were men and women of all ages wearing swimming trunks, as well as some women wearing swimsuits. Girls in industrial cities are more open and bold. There were even one or two girls wearing bikinis, walking back along the riverbank with composure, which left Li Laosan dumbfounded.

"Ahem! Where are you looking?" Cousin Anxin's eyes widened, and a low-pressure atmosphere began to swirl around her.

"Oh no, I just think the girls in Jingyang are pretty open-minded. They actually wear bikinis on the street. It's not like we're in the mainland at all!"

“That’s quite daring.” The third aunt held a fan in her hand and waved it as she walked. “The place they drifted down to is called Dead Man’s Island. We never dared to cross there when we were picking Guangzi Stones.”

"What is Guangzi Stone?" Anxin's cousin asked.

“This is it.” Mai Xiaomiao picked up a white pebble from the ground and tossed it in her hand. “It’s actually limestone that was transported here by water. This kind of stone can be burned into lime.”

"Oh my, Xiao Miao, you actually know about this?"

"When Zhouzi took me to see the porcelain kiln in Lianhe Township, the old manager there told me that this was also one of the formulas for firing porcelain."

"Really?" Anxin's cousin asked her mother for confirmation. "How can you be so shameless? You've lived by the river for decades, and your knowledge is less than that of a little seedling!"

"Third Aunt, didn't you come directly from Jiachuan Public Security Bureau to Dongdian Police Station?" Zhou Zhi found this strange: "Why did you pick on Guangzishi?"

"Back then, all the workers and cadres in the city had to participate in voluntary labor on weekends," my uncle said. "One of the tasks was to carry limestone ore to the lime factory across the river to be burned into lime for the construction of several large factories."

“The stones are very heavy, each one weighing over a hundred pounds, so everyone came up with a lazy way to carry them.” Uncle pointed to the Mianyuan River in front of them and said, “The water is high now, so you can’t see it. Earlier, or after a while, the water will recede, and the deepest part will be this far away…”

After saying that, the uncle gestured to his collarbone: "...and the temperature was also suitable for going into the water, so everyone found a 'waterway' to walk across to the other side. This way, when the carrying pole was submerged in the water, the buoyancy made the carrying pole much lighter."

"Do you get paid for this kind of work?" Mai Xiaomiao asked.

“I already said it’s voluntary labor, and voluntary means there’s no pay.” Uncle laughed. “There aren’t actually that many people in Jingyang who carry Guangzi stones, maybe only a few thousand. Back then, large projects like the Heilongtan Reservoir could gather tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people on the construction site.”

Imagining the scene of all the city's workers and cadres taking turns carrying stones across the water to the other side, Mai Xiaomiao and Li Laosan were both shocked and moved.

"That's Dead Man's Island. After the water flows over the island, it forms two backwaters behind it. Some drowned people's bodies float there and come to rest. Over time, some supernatural legends have been told about it. Men like to walk through the calm water there, but women are a bit scared and generally don't dare to go near it."

"Dad, Mom, is this how you built Jingyang into this new city?" Li Laosan said, looking at the bustling city along both banks of the river. "You were truly amazing!"

"Before, it was about survival; now it's about living," my uncle said with a smile. "The stone carving park is just ahead."

It was only after my aunt and uncle explained the origin of this park that everyone learned about it.

In 1986, a road was to be expanded here. In order to reduce the demolition of houses, the government decided to fill the river embankment and build a retaining wall to take the road from the river, which resulted in a stone wall as high as eight meters.

With this stone wall in place and the need to build a park, the leaders at the time had a brilliant idea: why not turn that stone wall, which is more than one kilometer long and eight meters high, into a stone carving art wall, and then expand the riverbank in front of it into a park?
The country was very poor at that time, and with outdated ideas, there were very few large-scale cultural and artistic works like this in major parks. Doing it this way would easily attract criticism.

Ultimately, the city decided to proceed with the project, with local artist Luo Ping from Jingyang independently designing and creating the most complex piece, "The Soul of China." This piece reflects China's long history, depicting the stories of the 56 ethnic groups using their hardworking and intelligent hands to develop the land and create a splendid culture. It incorporates historical stories, ancient legends, and many other elements, forming the largest independent-themed large-scale sculpture group art complex.

Construction on these sculptures began in 1989 and is still ongoing; it is said that they will not be fully completed until 2000.

These stone carvings are only more than half completed, and there are already accusations of "wasting manpower and resources." However, Zhou Zhi and Li Laosan believe they are excellent works, first-class in terms of subject matter, craftsmanship, and artistry.

The key point is that the creator was only in their early twenties when they started creating, which is quite impressive. (End of Chapter)