The People on Taishan‘s Ridge
Before the sun even peeks out, the foot of Taishan is already crowded with silhouettes of people. There are shivering college students wrapped in military coats, tour guides holding small flags, and old ladies carrying baskets selling water and flatbreads. But among this crowd, the most eye-catching is Xiaoliuzi.
Xiaoliuzi, twenty-six years old, is thin and lean, like a hemp stalk, but his eyes are exceptionally bright. He has a business on Taishan—escorting people to climb the mountain. To put it bluntly, he helps those who can't climb but want to see the sunrise, lending a hand and giving encouragement.
"Yo, Xiaoliuzi, another customer today?" Aunt Wang, who sells tea eggs, squints at him while peeling an egg.
"Heh, thanks to you, Aunt Wang!" Xiaoliuzi grins, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
His "customer" for today is a chubby city boss, dressed in a suit and tie, who is already panting like a bellows after just a few steps.
"Young man... how, how much further is it?" The boss asks, one hand on his knee, the other wiping his sweat.
"Boss, just you wait and see, this is just the beginning! The Eighteen Bends are still ahead!" Xiaoliuzi deliberately scares him.
The boss's face turns green upon hearing this.
Xiaoliuzi doesn't hesitate, he takes the boss's bag, supports him with one hand, and moves up step by step. He climbs Taishan eighty to a hundred times a year, he could find his way up even with his eyes closed. But today, he feels that this mountain path is exceptionally long, as long as the days stretching endlessly before him.
He thinks of his parents, who have toiled all their lives with their faces to the loess and their backs to the sky, just to provide for his education. But he, he didn't make anything of himself in school, and instead, he became an "escort climber" on this mountain.
"Young man, tell me... what's the point of living?" The boss suddenly asks a nonsensical question.
Xiaoliuzi is stunned. He has never thought about this question. He only knows that he has to earn money, earn money to build a new house for his parents, earn money to get married, earn money... so that he can stand firm in this world.
"For... fun?" Xiaoliuzi says uncertainly.
The boss shakes his head and sighs, "Fun? I wish I could be like you young people, with some hope."
Hope? Xiaoliuzi's heart skips a beat. Where is his hope? On this steep mountain road? In this heavy backpack? Or on those stacks of banknotes?
When they reach Nantian Gate, the sun has already leaped out of the clouds, dyeing the entire mountain top golden. The boss excitedly raises his camera and clicks away. Xiaoliuzi stands aside, looking at the dazzling light, but his heart feels empty.
"300,000... is it enough?" he murmurs.
This "300,000" is his income for the year. In the eyes of the villagers, he is successful, but he knows in his heart how aggrieved he is to earn this money.
He has to smile, listen to those bosses brag about their businesses, and endure the capriciousness of those young ladies. He has to shiver in the cold wind and sweat profusely in the scorching sun. He has to... serve others like a grandson.
"This world..." He wants to curse, but the words are swallowed back at the tip of his tongue.
He thinks of the characters in Lu Xun's writings, those who struggle in the darkness but can't find a way out. He feels like he is one of them.
The sun rises higher and higher, making it hard to keep one's eyes open. Xiaoliuzi squints, looking at the dense crowd at the foot of the mountain. He knows that tomorrow, he will have to stand here again, accompanying another person, to walk this long and arduous mountain road.
He is just an insignificant person on the ridge of Taishan.