Fang Qilian's wife Xu Lizhong died on the 20th of the twelfth lunar month16. Before his death, Xu Lizhong was paralyzed in bed for more than ten years due to illness. For more than ten years, Fang Qilian took good care of his wife, served his deaf-mute mother-in-law, planted several acres of mountains, and lived a hard life for more than ten years. Mother-in-law gives her daughter-in-law a thumbs-up when she meets people. The picture shows Fang Qilian pouring her mother-in-law a bowl of water.
After years of careful care, Fang Qilian's wife Xu Lizhong finally passed away, leaving Fang Qilian and her deaf mother-in-law Chen Guilan to live alone. Fang Qilian said: "Her father left us both, regardless of us, but I will take good care of her (deaf-mute mother-in-law) anyway." The picture shows Fang Qilian feeding peanut rice noodles to her mother-in-law. Because her mother-in-law has few teeth and can't bite peanuts, Fang Qilian will grind them into peanut threads for her mother-in-law.
Fang Qilian said that she has been living a poor life since she married this village. My husband has been ill all the year round, and my father-in-law has been dead for 28 years. In this small mountain village, we rely on a few acres of mountains to grow peanuts, corn, sweet potatoes and other food. Because of the lack of water, we are here to watch the weather and eat. When the rain is good, collect more food. When the weather is dry, charge as much as you can. The picture shows Fang Qilian combing her mother-in-law's hair.
Fang Qilian stayed in this small mountain village far away from the city, taking care of her deaf-mute mother-in-law and planting several acres of mountains. There is no other income except the old age allowance for the two. She said that if she moved to the foot of the mountain, it would cost tens of thousands of dollars to build a house. Because she has no money, she can only live here now. She harvested some wormwood on the mountain and dried it at the door, which can be sold for a little money.
"Langwo Village" is located in the depths of the mountains more than 20 kilometers east of Jiao Shan Town, Juxian County, Rizhao City, Shandong Province. This natural village is 1.5km away from the nearest village at the foot of the mountain and 3km away from Zhujiamiaozi Village, the nearest market. Fang Qilian walks 6 kilometers every 5 days and goes to the market at the foot of the mountain to buy some vegetables, pork and snacks to improve her mother-in-law's life. The picture shows Fang Qilian pulling grass in the field. Because it is too dry, there is nothing in the field, and now there are many weeds.
In order to increase her income, Fang Qilian raised two lambs, one of which can sell for two or three hundred dollars when she grows up. Fang Qilian pulled up some weeds in the field and went home to feed the sheep.
She also keeps a few chickens, which can lay eggs when they grow up and save a lot of money a year. Fang Qilian's care for the deaf-mute mother-in-law in the mountain village has attracted the attention of some local caring people, village committees and governments, and will send them rice, noodles, oil, solatium and other daily necessities on holidays.
Fang Qilian said that the house she lives in has been in disrepair for a long time, and the rain leaked everywhere on rainy days two years ago. Last year, the children chipped in to repair the roof. Much better now. Few people come here when the crops are harvested in winter. Especially at night, the cold wind whistling, my mother-in-law can't hear. She is sometimes scared and often wakes up in her dreams, but in order to take care of her mother-in-law, she holds back her fear and persists.
Fang Qilian has a son and a daughter. My son lives at the foot of the mountain, and my daughter-in-law is in poor health and often falls ill. In order to make a living, my son works outside all the year round to earn money. My daughter is married and working outside to earn money. Children are just busy farming, or going back to the mountains for a holiday.
In "Wolf's Nest Village", traffic inconvenience is secondary. Nowadays, the difficulty of draught is what Fang Qilian is most worried about. She said that there is a water control well behind the village, and there is not much water in the well when it is dry. The well is seven or eight meters deep and can only carry one and a half barrels of water at a time. And the well is full of leaves and garbage blown in by the wind.
After you take the water home, you have to let it stand and skim the garbage before you can drink it. If it rains, they all drink rain. If there is no water in the well, someone can only pull the water mountain from the village below.
When it snowed last winter, Fang Qilian came back with water from the well behind the village. When she was carrying water on this mountain road, she accidentally slipped and finally got up.
Without water, she was covered with snow. Tears welled up in her eyes as she walked back with a bucket. She said it was because she fell and was injured, but also because she was poor and sad.