In Daxing Town, Bishan County, Long Shilu was crawling home with his ox. Reporter Zhang Luqiao and intern Chen Chao took the photo. In Lianmeng Village, Daxing Town, Bishan County, Long Shilu cherished his ox like life. His family only had two rooms, the bigger one for the ox, and the smaller one for himself; after the ox got pregnant, he stopped eating meat and used the saved money to buy eggs for the ox to supplement its nutrition. For 48 years, he built a special bond with the ox: he traveled by riding the ox and made money by renting it out. Although disabled in both legs, he never thought of giving up on his life because he said he had his ox.
As a child, he became disabled in both legs due to illness.
The current age of Long Shilu is 48, a villager of Lianmeng Village, Daxing Town, Bishan County. When he was just eight months old, he developed measles and fever. While his mother took him to get treated, she accidentally injured his sciatic nerve, leading to his leg disability. Since birth, he has never walked using his legs, resulting in severe muscle atrophy in his legs.
"I rely on my hands to support my body and crawl on the ground," on the afternoon of October 22nd, at a field ridge in Lianmeng Village, I met Long Shilu who was crawling while walking. At that moment, his hands were full of mud, and under his highly rolled-up pants, two thin legs were exposed. Long Shilu, who had long been accustomed to "crawling" by hand, said, "I have never worn shoes, not even in the coldest winter, as wearing shoes makes 'walking' inconvenient."
Due to years of "crawling", the arms of the bus driver who returned a gold ingot found inside the car to the owner have become thick and strong, twice as thick as his legs, and both palms have developed thick calluses, "even needles pricking them have no sensation."
Love for the ox - Giving the ox a "luxury room"
Because of inconvenience in movement and inability to do heavy work, more than 30 years ago, Long Shilu started raising water buffalo. "Firstly, I use the ox as a mount, secondly, it can help me with some farm work to earn money," said Long Shilu. Every May and October, nearby villagers would rent his water buffalo for plowing fields, "plowing an acre of land earns one hundred yuan, and a year can still earn several thousand yuan."
These days, it's another "busy season" for business, and many people are looking for Long Shilu to rent his ox for plowing fields. But Long Shilu is hesitant because the ox is pregnant. "If I don't rent it out, this rare opportunity to make money will be missed; if I do rent it out, I feel sorry for the ox being too tired." To avoid overworking the ox, he, who usually rides the ox, now crawls home after finishing his work.
"This is the most intelligent among the several oxen I've raised," said Long Shilu. Seven years ago, when this female ox was born, he bought her and raised her. Because he pitied the ox being exposed to wind and sun in the courtyard and bitten by mosquitoes, Long Shilu specially vacated the main hall for the ox to live in, "the ox's room is more spacious than mine."
Saving money to buy eggs for the ox
Since then, regardless of weather conditions, Long Shilu would "walk" several miles every day to take the ox out to eat grass, "it doesn't matter if I skip a meal, but the ox would starve if it misses a meal." Due to mobility issues, the gradually growing ox became his means of transportation, and the ox was particularly gentle. Every time they went out, Long Shilu would talk non-stop to the ox while riding on its back, "I like to tell it about all the happy and sad things."
Generally, water buffalo are not good runners, but if Long Shilu has an urgent matter, the ox would carry him and run like a horse on the road, "in the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, it can run several miles." What Long Shilu finds unforgettable is that once he fell off the ox's back and landed right in front of it, about to be stepped on, but the ox immediately stopped and obediently lay down beside him, allowing him to climb back onto its back...
Long Shilu, who never married or had children, poured all his feelings into the ox. The ox liked eating pumpkins and sweet potatoes, so Long Shilu gave the pumpkins he couldn't bear to eat to the ox. After the ox got pregnant, Long Shilu paid more attention to its nutrition: he didn't eat meat for four months, saving money to buy eggs for the ox to supplement its nutrition; apart from feeding grass, he also cooked corn and pumpkin porridge for the ox.
Voice
The beloved ox is pregnant, wanting to get a wheelchair to reduce the burden on the ox.
Although disabled in both legs, Long Shilu hopes others see him as a normal person. A neighbor told the reporter that Long Shilu is very enthusiastic, "he never refuses anyone who asks for help." Not long ago, hearing that his neighbor's basket was broken, Long Shilu crawled to the bamboo forest to cut bamboo and made a new basket for his neighbor.
Besides taking care of the ox, Long Shilu's biggest hobby is fishing. With a flexible mind, he likes to tinker with small inventions. A year ago, he made a fishing rod with multiple hooks, "the most I caught at once was over a hundred pounds of fish," which made Long Shilu famous in the surrounding villages. More and more people came to seek his advice on fishing, giving him a great sense of accomplishment.
Now, with his ox pregnant and soon to give birth, Long Shilu no longer rides the ox when going out. He said, "having crawled for 48 years, I want to get a wheelchair, firstly to try what it feels like not to walk by hand, secondly to reduce the burden on the big-bellied ox and relieve its worries." This group of articles was written by reporter Yang Xi, intern Gao Liang, and Wang Yimeng.