Chapter 64 Central Park Built by the Whole People: Ore, Red Brick, Water...

Ores, bricks, cement, timber... these precious resources, which once required a great deal of manpower to transport back piecemeal like ants, are now being transported from mines and forest farms to various construction sites every day like a tidal wave. The implementation of the production team responsibility system has mobilized everyone's enthusiasm for labor to an unprecedented level.

Every day, Hope Town is undergoing tremendous changes.

One after another, red-brick courtyard houses rose from the ground in the planned residential area. Roofs were completed, tiles were laid, and plaster was applied. The shape of homes became clearer and more tangible. The residents of the town, whether they were once refugees or silent survivors who had just emerged from the abyss of despair, all wore smiles that radiated a heartfelt hope for the future.

Although they were still exhausted every day, the feeling of sweating for their home was incomparable to any comfort. Many people had saved up enough work points to move into their new homes, but they all tacitly refrained from redeeming them.

Lin Yue once jokingly mentioned at a public mobilization meeting: "Once most of the houses are built, let's hold a town-wide collective housewarming ceremony. We'll light a bonfire, roast a whole lamb, and everyone can celebrate together. That's what we call a lively celebration, that's what we call a real home."

This sparked everyone's anticipation of collectivism and a sense of ritual.

So the day they could move into their new home with all their partners became a sweet anticipation that sustained them through their daily hard work.

Lin Yue strolled around town every day like a proud foreman, hands behind his back. His favorite thing to do now was to climb up the lookout post at dusk and overlook the entire Hope Town. Watching the wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys, the lush green crops in the fields, and the busy figures on the construction site, an indescribable sense of accomplishment and belonging would fill him completely.

However, that evening, when he stood on the lookout post again, admiring his masterpiece with satisfaction, he always felt that something was missing from the picture.

He observed carefully that after finishing a long day of work and having dinner, most people could only gather in twos and threes at the entrance of their unfinished courtyards, or simply stay in the sheds.

The only public gathering area is the huge public water tank next to the central square. People will fetch water, wash up, and chat occasionally, but they are all in a hurry. There is no place where people can truly relax, sit down and chat, enjoy the scenery, or even just daydream.

In the entire Hope Town, apart from the work and residential areas, there isn't a single decent place to accommodate the community residents' public life and emotional exchange. It's like a computer with only a CPU and hard drive, but no monitor or speakers; it can perform calculations, but it can't provide a pleasant experience.

"Damn," Lin Yue slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing, "Just having reinforced concrete and red brick houses isn't enough; we also need poetry and distant places. At least we need a place to do square dancing!" A brand new and bold idea quickly took shape in his mind—he wanted to build a park, a central park belonging to Hope Town.

Such a large project would inevitably consume a lot of public resources and manpower, so it must first be approved by his makeshift committee.

So, early the next morning, Lin Yue found Li Ge, the captain of the construction team, the head of the ore mining team, and the leaders of several other related groups, and took them to the huge reservoir in the central square.

"Everyone, I had something on my mind last night." Lin Yue pointed to the huge, stone and cement-built reservoir that resembled a giant stone bowl and said bluntly, "I think it's wasteful and unsightly to have just a bare reservoir in the center of our town. I'm thinking, could we build a park around this reservoir?"

"A park?" Li Ge scratched his head, looking completely bewildered. "Mayor, what's a park? Is it an enclosure for raising lizard-like creatures? Or a vegetable garden?"

Lin Yue: "..."

"Simply put, we'll build some benches here so everyone can sit and rest, lay some nice pebble paths, and plant some pretty flowers and plants, so that after work, everyone has a place to relax, chat, and play with their children." Everyone understood this explanation, but what followed was more realistic skepticism.

“Mayor, your idea is good, but we are so short-handed right now. The city wall is not finished yet, and the houses are only half built. Where do we have extra manpower and materials to do these fancy things?” A foreman in charge of brick firing said with a frown, clearly a pragmatist.

"Yes, with that effort, it would be more worthwhile to fire a few more kilns of bricks and make a few more hoes," another voice chimed in.

“Don’t rush to object,” Lin Yue said, picking up a stick and drawing on the ground. “The park I’m talking about isn’t just for looks. It’s also a major upgrade to the functions of our town’s community.”

He pointed to the reservoir: "First, we're going to transform this reservoir from a simple water storage container into the central lake of our park. We'll build a beautiful retaining wall around it using the smooth, pretty pebbles we collected from the riverbank. Then, we'll transplant some guide ferns and moonshine moss onto the retaining wall. Imagine, at night, it will be sparkling, surrounded by soft starlight and moonlight—wouldn't that be much prettier than this dark, murky puddle?"

This sight prompted everyone to nod in agreement.

"Secondly," Lin Yue drew a platform extending out from the reservoir, "we're going to build a large public waterfront platform here using the smoothest bluestone slabs. The platform will be divided into two areas. One side will be a laundry area, where we'll build several fixed washing tables and washboards so that the women in our town no longer have to squat by the river, washing clothes under the scorching sun or in the rain."

The proposal immediately won the enthusiastic support of the few female representatives present.

"Oh, this is great, this is great!" Aunt Leah clapped her hands excitedly. "Mayor, you have no idea, we wash clothes by the river every day, and our backs are almost aching. If there really is a place like this, it would be so convenient."

"On the other side," Lin Yue continued, "is the water collection and cooling area. We're going to build a covered pavilion on the platform, which will provide shade in the summer and shelter from the rain. Under the pavilion, we'll set up several designated water collection points, so people won't have to stand around a bare pool to get water anymore. They can sit comfortably in the pavilion, chatting while they queue up. Isn't that better than now?"

“Of course, a real park needs more than just these things. It also needs a soul, a core that represents the spirit of Hope Town.” Lin Yue turned his gaze to a special shed not far away, temporarily built with the finest wood and regarded as a sacred place by the Silent Ones, used specifically to cultivate the sacred tree saplings.

"We will hold a very solemn transplanting ceremony for the Son of the Sacred Tree brought by the Silent Ones in the most prominent location in the center of this park, next to the reservoir."

This decision sent a collective gasp through everyone present. For all the Silent Ones, the Child of the Sacred Tree represented their last faith and hope. As for the human inhabitants, although they didn't fully understand what that tiny seedling truly meant, they knew its importance from the immense care Elder Farador and Grena had shown it.

Seeing the solemn expressions on everyone's faces, Lin Yue said in a deep voice, "I know you may all feel that this is the Whisperers' business and has nothing to do with us. But I want to tell you that from the moment they chose to follow us to Hope Town, we have been an inseparable whole. The Sacred Tree is not only the Whisperers' Sacred Tree, but it will also become the guardian tree of our entire Hope Town. This ceremony is not only to give the Sacred Tree a new home, but also to allow all of us to witness firsthand that our two different groups will, on this land, be as closely intertwined as the roots of the Sacred Tree and the land of Hope Town, taking root together and growing together."

His words were powerful and resounding, completely moving everyone present.

Li Ge, always true to his nature, said, “Mayor, you’re right. The Silent Ones’ brothers have joined our crop harvesting and group work ever since they arrived. We’re one family, their business is our business. Just tell us what to do, and our construction team will be the first to step up.”

"Yes, our firing workshop is one of them, and we guarantee to use the best bricks and cement."

"Our agricultural team is responsible for loosening the surrounding soil to ensure the sacred tree can live comfortably."

...

For a moment, the crowd was filled with righteous indignation.

Preparations for the groundbreaking ceremony proceeded rapidly.

Gray personally led a group of young Silent Whisperers, setting off once again for the Valley of Tears. Their purpose was not for anything else, but to collect the purest soil from beneath the original site of the Sacred Tree in the Valley of Tears, soil imbued with the essence of the Silent Whisperers' ancestors, to be used as the foundation soil for the new home of the Children of the Sacred Tree.

Ella personally opened the kiln and worked tirelessly to fire a huge and exquisite ceramic flowerpot, large enough to accommodate the sacred tree's growth for decades to come. On the outer wall of the flowerpot, she used the most ancient techniques to personally carve intricate runes representing life, protection, and hope, passed down through generations of the Silent Tribe.

Lin Yue, along with Norm and his apprentices, designed a miniature circulating irrigation system around the base of the sacred tree. They used the water pressure from the waterworks to slowly and evenly permeate the soil around the tree's roots through tiny ceramic pipes, ensuring it always received the most abundant and purest water nourishment.

The groundbreaking ceremony was scheduled for an auspicious day three days later—of course, Lin Yue picked it randomly, thinking that those days would be cloudless and suitable for outdoor activities.

On the day of the ceremony, everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered at the construction site of Central Park. The park's basic shape was already taking shape; the retaining wall of the reservoir had been built, and guide ferns and moonshine moss shimmered softly on it. Huge ceramic flowerpots had been firmly placed in the most prominent position in the center of the park.

Elder Farador, supported by Kaylan and Ella, slowly walked to the flowerpot. His wrinkled face held an unprecedented solemnity. For the first time, before all the residents of Hope Town, he began to recount the history of the Silent Ones in his ancient and somewhat awkward language.

He spoke of their ancestors, the immense price they paid to combat the corrupting influence, and how, in their despair, they finally received the glimmer of hope brought by Gray and Lin Yue. Though he glossed over many details, the story's tragic grandeur and resilience deeply moved all the human inhabitants present. For the first time, they truly understood the heavy burden their taciturn neighbors carried. Their gazes towards the Silent Ones held a newfound, profound respect for their guardians.

After finishing his story, Elder Farador turned to Lin Yue, then to everyone, and bowed deeply: "Mayor Lin Yue, and all friends of Hope Town, on behalf of all the Silent Ones, I thank you for giving us a new home and a new future for the Sacred Tree."

Then, the ceremony officially began.

Gray carefully spread the soil he had brought back from the Valley of Tears at the bottom of the huge ceramic flowerpot.

Elder Farador then began chanting a prayer of blessing in an ancient language.

Amidst the chanting of prayers, Ella and Kaylan together held the animal skin bag containing the sacred tree sapling and reverently placed it before the flowerpot.

When the animal skin was removed, the child of the sacred tree, radiating a faint green light, appeared before everyone, eliciting a suppressed gasp of amazement from the entire audience.

Finally, Lin Yue, representing all the human residents of Hope Town, stepped forward. He carefully took out a small cloth bag from his pocket, which contained dozens of the plumpest and brightest Starlight Wheat seeds.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, he personally planted these seeds, symbolizing human civilization, harvest, and hope, into the soil around the roots of the sacred tree sapling.

“From today onward,” Lin Yue’s voice was clear and firm, “your roots are here. Our hope is intertwined with yours. We will protect this land together and create our future together.”

As the last handful of soil, imbued with the essence of both worlds, covered the roots of the sacred tree, the two tender leaves atop the sapling suddenly burst forth with a soft, radiant green light, more dazzling than ever before. It was as if responding to everyone's anticipation, and as if proclaiming the official birth of a newly integrated community of life.

After the ceremony, everyone was deeply moved by this sacred and touching scene.

The Silent Ones unleashed tremendous creativity. In Kailan's woodworking workshop, using the finest craftsmanship, they carved a batch of wooden benches, road signs, and trash cans that blended perfectly with the surrounding environment, in accordance with Lin Yue's basic guidelines for public facilities.

Ella's pottery workshop produces a large number of artistic flower pots of various shapes, which are used to grow the exotic flowers and plants brought from the Valley of Tears.

The human residents, especially the women and children led by Aunt Leah, also actively participated. They helped lay pebble paths and transplanted brightly colored wildflowers in various corners of the park.

The construction team led by Li Ge worked overtime to build the public laundry platform and the cool pavilion with red bricks and cement as quickly as possible.

During its construction, this park truly became a bond connecting the emotions of all residents.

Two weeks later, the Central Park in Hope Town was officially completed.

During the day, on the hottest afternoons, you could always see men who had finished their morning work, shirtless, gathered around the reservoir, washing their faces and hair thoroughly with the cool, purified water. Then they would sit in twos and threes under the pavilion or under the newly planted, shady trees, chatting and discussing what to eat for dinner or whose work points had been ranked higher.

As evening falls, after a day's work and dinner, this place becomes the liveliest spot in town. Pathfinder ferns and moonshine moss adorn every corner of the park, radiating a soft, dreamlike glow. Adults stroll along the pebble paths, children chase and play on the grass, and young couples quietly hide under the large tree beside the sacred tree, whispering secrets in the gentle green light.