Yonghe Road

Chapter 55 Iron Branch
The crowd was in turmoil like a tide, but fortunately, the Shajiaqi Town Government staff and security team maintained order, and they soon calmed down and stood in an orderly manner outside the safety warning lines on both sides of the street.

For such a grand festival, safety is the top priority. Any accident will spoil the joy. No one wants to bear such consequences, so we can only strengthen security.

The security personnel were all in high spirits, their eyes sharper than radar and their ears more alert than foxes, aware of any slight movement. They moved among the crowds, sometimes offering gentle reminders, sometimes taking decisive action, to ensure that every visitor could enjoy this grand festival with peace of mind.

Tonight, these security guards in yellow and green fluorescent uniforms are the patron saints of this seaside town.

Fortunately, Zhong Ziqi and Xie Anmin took action first, so they grabbed the front row seats and were able to enjoy the best scenery from the best perspective.

"I'm coming--"

As the crowd cheered, Xie Anmin saw the parade coming from the other end of the street, and the first thing that caught his eye was a moving "big tree".

The moving tree slowly approached, like a fantastical beast emerging from an ancient forest. Its trunk was thick and solid, painted in a riot of colors, like a vibrant rainbow entwined around it. Rockeries, branches, and flowers were also installed for decoration. Each forked branch, like a meticulously crafted work of art, stretched outward, with carefully dressed children hanging from it.

Xie Anmin guessed that the name "Iron Branches" was because these "branches" were welded into "branch"-shaped supports with steel pipes or iron bars, otherwise how could they carry so many children?

The children, ranging in age from three to five, six to seven, all appeared small and light. They were dressed as characters from mythological and historical stories, such as the Jade Emperor, the Queen Mother, Erlang Shen, Chenxiang, and the Fairy Child, like tiny fruits hanging from branches. The "iron branches" were as tall as two stories, fixed to the shaft of the cart by a thick steel bar. Sitting on the base were little girls dressed as fairies, holding flower baskets.

The lighting strips and decorative lamps make the iron branches shine brightly, like silver flowers and fire trees moving in the night.

Tiezhi is followed by a band, which plays a variety of folk instruments such as suona, erhu, gongs and drums, creating a lively and festive atmosphere.

To the sound of music, several young men stood on both sides and behind the iron rods, carrying them together. They had to maintain a balance of strength, ensure that the iron rods moved smoothly during the process of transportation, avoid colliding with other objects or pedestrians, and ensure that the children on the iron rods would not fall due to shaking. They also had to pay attention to coordination with the band, adjust their pace and speed according to the rhythm and melody of the music, coordinate the movement of the iron rods with the music, and enhance the overall effect of the performance.

An iron rod passed in front of Xie Anmin, and another iron rod came up behind it. It was higher and more gorgeous, with more children hanging on it. The children's performances in the air were more vivid. Sun Wukong on the highest branch sometimes danced with his golden cudgel, sometimes scratched his ears and cheeks, making the crowd on the ground laugh.

Another iron rod came over, which was taller, about ten meters high, as high as a three-story building. The shapes of the children also kept pace with the times, with white tea fairies and astronauts... The number of people moving the iron rods below also increased from four or six to eight.

The lower parts of the shorter iron rods in the front are equipped with lifting bars at the bottom, and the porters use the lifting bars to lift the iron rods, so the iron rods are also called "lifting pavilions". The lower part of the tallest iron rod is directly replaced with pulleys, which allows the iron rod to slide on the ground, reducing the burden on the porters.

Several iron rods finally passed by, and the children's pretty faces became the backs of their heads in sight. The crowd began to move forward again. Under the strong command of the security personnel, everyone moved slowly and orderly, but everyone who was watching the excitement was extremely anxious.

Because Xie Anmin and Zhong Ziqi were in the front row, they had the advantage of quickly passing the others and running to the front of the iron rod, where they could once again admire the children's painted faces. Holding props, they sat or stood in the designated positions on the "iron rod," performing simple plot actions that closely resembled the "appearance" of an opera performance.

Although the iron rod masters laid multiple layers of soft cotton cloth and sponge pads on the iron rods in an attempt to keep the children in a comfortable position, after all, how can children who are naturally active tolerate being fixed and relatively still for a long time?

In addition, the spring night was chilly, and the children followed the "iron rod movers" surrounded by the audience, sometimes walking in a straight line, sometimes crisscrossing and circling, sometimes laughing, sometimes making noises...

After laughing and making a fuss, he started crying.

The more sadly the children cried on the high iron branches, the louder the crowd watching the fun on the ground laughed.

"Look, Erlang Shen is crying."

"That Sun Wukong also cried."

"The Jade Emperor and Queen Mother were both crying." "Some were even asleep."

People whipped out their phones to film the children's embarrassing moments. Someone suggested giving the crying children some food, so the poles, originally used to raise the power lines and clear the path for the iron rods, were repurposed, hanging chips and candies to pass to the children in the air.

So the children continued to cry while licking their lollipops and chewing potato chips...

On the ground, Xie Anmin fell into Zhong Ziqi's arms with laughter, pounding his chest and saying, "You adults are so bad, so bad..."

It was as if she was not an adult, but was in the same group as the children in the sky.

"Iron rods are so interesting. I must interview the masters who make them." Xie Anmin made up his mind.

Zhong Ziqi smiled and thought, then Xie Anmin can stay in Baile Village for a few more days, right?
He was distracted for a moment, his eyes drifting towards the crowd across the street. Suddenly, he was shocked. How did he see his sister-in-law, Lin Yingying? Lin Yingying was holding her little nephew, who was only a few months old, in her arms. As they were being squeezed by the crowd, a pair of hands took the little nephew from Lin Yingying's arms and took him away...

Zhong Ziqi's heart was in his throat. In such a lively occasion, children were the most likely to be lost. No one would be so bold as to snatch a child openly, right?
Zhong Ziqi almost shouted out loud, but shut up in time.

The person who took the little nephew away was none other than Lei Sheng.

Several iron rods had already set off to the next station, and the crowd around them began to surge again. Xie Anmin took Zhong Ziqi's hand and continued to drift with the flow. Zhong Ziqi looked across the street again, and the figures of Lei Sheng and Lin Yingying had disappeared, leaving only the dense crowd.

Is he seeing things?
……

……

Wang Zian was finally caught alive in the crowd by Secretary Wang Kai and Ms. Bingfen.

"Mom and Dad, are you here to see Tiezhi too?"

"Haha, only you are allowed to come, but not us? You have a car but you don't bring us to watch the fun, so we have to take a taxi here. You are so filial!" Secretary Wang Kai was sarcastic and his dissatisfaction was written all over his face.

Wang Zian quickly stuffed the string of squid in his hand to his father.

"Your father is so stingy that he even asked me to pay for the taxi fare, otherwise he wouldn't have come." Ms. Bingfen also sneered. Her words expressed her dissatisfaction with her husband, but her eyes were fixed on her son, shooting out several cold arrows.

Wang Zian hurriedly stuffed the remaining string of squid into his mother's hand.

It was terrifying. As a child, not only did he not take his parents out to play, but he was also caught eating alone. He was accused of being unfilial. If he didn't share these two skewers of squid, his father would definitely take him to the archway of Filial Piety Culture Park when he returned to Baile Village that night to repent.

"What else do you want to eat? I'll buy it for you."

The crowd followed the iron rod, but Wang Zian went upstream and ran towards a snack stand not far away.

Wang Zian had been a soldier and was very agile, but he didn't expect Secretary Wang Kai to get ahead of him and block his way. His mother, Ms. Bingfen, also quickly caught up.

"Come with us." The two old men said, and they each held Wang Zian's arm and walked away.