Chapter 79 Immigrants
On the way back to Minqin, a journey of more than five hours, Guo Yang dozed off most of the time.

The roadside was gray and there was no trace of green.

Sometimes the desolate scenery along the way with no grass at all really makes people feel desperate.

But even so, the proud bitter water rose still grows on this barren land, and the wheat print is people's deepest love.

It is difficult for people who have never been there to understand the charm of the Northwest.

Here, there is the silence of "the lone smoke rising in the desert, the setting sun round in the long river", and also the heroic spirit of "don't laugh at me sleeping drunk on the battlefield, how many have ever returned from the battles in history";
There is the desolation of "Why should the Qiang flute blame the willows, the spring breeze does not reach the Yumen Pass", and there is also the wonder of "Suddenly, as if overnight, the spring breeze comes, and thousands of pear trees blossom".

What others see as a desolate place with no grass growing, I see as lonely snow scattered across the desert. I drink strong liquor all day long, draw a bow like a full moon, look northwest, and shoot the wolf in the sky.

Listen to the names of the cities here!

Jingbian, Dingxi, Dingbian, Pingliang, Anding, Wuwei, Dunhuang, Zhangye, Jiayuguan, Yumen...

From the lonely pathfinder Zhang Qian, the twelve Han princesses who slept in the open air along the way, Huo Qubing who sealed the Wolf's Lair, and the flying general Li Guang who stained the desert with blood for his dignity...

Loyal bones are buried everywhere in the green mountains.

The desolation here has guarded the northwest gate of China for five thousand years.

But the economy here is too backward, and countless people just want to escape from here.

In the car, Guo Yang was still recalling the situation at the original owner's home.

He is the youngest of seven brothers and sisters.

His parents had passed away long ago, and he followed his older brother Guo Shan when he was very young. The saying that an elder brother is like a father was clearly reflected in him.

However, the eldest brother also has a family, a wife and children to raise, and Guo Yang's existence is more like a burden.

The ecological environment is deteriorating day by day. Even if we work hard, the output from the land will always be limited.

The more they cultivate land, the poorer they become, and the poorer they become, the more they cultivate land. The people here seem to be caught in a vicious circle.

Many people began to flee from here.

They went out to work, lived with relatives and friends, found a way to make a living in a foreign place, and then moved with their family.

Guo Yang's brothers and sisters have also settled down in other places one after another, and occasionally have enough money to help their younger brother who is still studying.

But his elder brother Guo Shan still guards this place, stubbornly fighting the final battle against the yellow sand.

Many memories have gradually become blurred, and Guo Yang didn't want to face the family affairs before.

……

The car drove into Minqin.

The closer we get to the village, the fewer people there are.

On both sides of the road, two large deserts are guarding on the left and right. The sand dunes and vegetation beside the road are entangled together, fighting and rolling in the wind.

The Elaeagnus angustifolia and Haloxylon ammodendron forests, which have died due to lack of water, look like a set of plant specimens.

On the abandoned land, there are still traces of the former field ridges and broken plastic film dancing in the wind, and on some of the ground you can even see the horrifying salt-alkali crust.

Guo Yang watched this scene silently. He understood why the original owner studied so hard.

Because he, like many rural students here, has seen enough of the desolation of the Gobi Desert and the barrenness of the Loess Plateau.

I regard taking the college entrance examination as an important way to change my destiny.

While I deeply love this place, I also try my best to escape from it.

And every time they leave, men, women, young and old, regardless of spring, summer, autumn or winter, will carry their luggage and walk a long way.

But desertification is caused by environmental changes on the one hand, but more importantly it is caused by the transition of human demands on nature.

The Minqin Lake area is an area with a serious population overload.

Previously, when investigating saline-alkali land, Guo Yang had considered Minqin, but there was a fatal flaw here.

Too little water!

And it’s not just a single village that is short of water; it’s a widespread water shortage.

It is difficult to guarantee basic water supply for residents and agricultural irrigation, let alone improve saline-alkali land.

Considering the characteristics of Alfalfa No. 1, we can only choose Jinta for the time being.

Yuhe Village is a small village with few people and households scattered all over the place.

Guo Yang originally wanted to find out who was living at the entrance of the village and spreading rumors about him in the village.

But when the time really came, I realized it was a ridiculous excuse.

There were only a dozen houses in total, so who would want to gossip about him? The roar of the car still attracted the attention of the villagers, and some of them came out of the yard.

Looking at the rare car, the car finally stopped in front of Guo Shan's yard.

The villagers saw two people wearing clothes of very fine fabric getting out of the car, one of them was very young.

"Guo Shan, there are guests at your house!" someone shouted.

"Does that young man look like Guo Yang?"

"You know what, it really seems to be him. I heard that he became very successful out there, and it seems to be true!"

"Aunt, a few days ago you were still saying that Guo Yang hadn't come back for so long, maybe he had committed a crime outside and got caught."

"Oh, I heard it from others."

"I almost didn't recognize her. It turns out that she still needs to study. Only by studying can she leave this crappy place. Guo Yang is like this. His niece probably won't come back in the future."

"Almost all the people in the village have left, and only we old men and women are left."

They were silent for a while. There were almost no laborers under 30 years old in the village, and there were very few people between 30 and 50 years old.

The young, the more educated and the economically well-off ones have all moved away.

"I don't know if the government-organized relocation this time is reliable. I heard that it is going to Xinjiang Province. Should I move?"

"What else can we do if we don't move? The sandstorms are getting worse and worse, and the income from farming is getting lower and lower. Now every household has debts owed."

"I know Guo Shan doesn't want to move. He just organized people to plant trees this fall and is planning to go again in the spring."

"Their trees won't live long. Not only are the saplings taken directly from the trees, but many of them haven't even been watered."

“The saplings cost money, and there are no conditions for watering them.”

……

Guo Yang looked at the low house in front of him. There were two crooked jujube trees in front of the door.

The gatehouse of the house is very exquisite, but when you walk to the side from the gatehouse, you will see a compacted earth wall made of loess and wheat mixed into mud.

The wall has a strong sense of age.

He remembered that when it rained, the earthen wall would emit a strong smell of wheat straw and earth. Guo Yang liked this smell very much when he was a child.

"Squeak."

The door opened and Guo Shan came out. He was thin, hunched over, and had small eyes. Next to him stood a woman wearing a pink headscarf. She was his sister-in-law Tian Ying.

The figures in my memory gradually overlap, and my inner emotions are complicated.

"Brother, sister-in-law."

Guo Shan also stared at Guo Yang with a smile in his eyes, then nodded to the driver Lao Song, then looked at the car for a while and exchanged a few words with the villagers.

"You've made some progress, little brother."

"Come inside and talk, come inside and talk." The sister-in-law said hurriedly.

Old Song opened the trunk, and Guo Yang followed him and took the gifts he brought back into the house.

The villagers watching were all envious.

"Guo Shan, your family has become prosperous. Xiaoxia will graduate soon next year, right?"

An old man followed up and said, "Alas, Guo Shan and his wife have finally made it through."

Guo Shan and Tian Ying couldn't stop laughing.

Guo Yang has not returned since graduation, and rumors are spreading in the village, which makes the two worried.

Only when I saw my younger brother did I feel relieved.

After entering the door, I saw two jujube trees planted in the yard, various farm tools piled up in one corner, and the walls of the house were also compacted with wheat straw and soil.

After sitting down in the main hall, Guo Shan said, "Brother, I know you have become rich, and I don't want to come back."

"But this time the government is organizing a relocation. More than 50 households and more than 100 people in the village have to move out. Everyone is hesitant, and I don't really want to move either, so I thought of asking you to come back and take a look."

"Relocation? Where are we going to move to?"

"Xinjiang Province, I heard that more than 1000 people from several nearby towns are going to move there."

Guo Yang frowned. Has the desertification here become so serious?
“Has the government organized villagers to go to Xinjiang Province to check out the situation?”

"We farmers are not qualified. The people who go to inspect are all county officials."

(End of this chapter)