The whole village gathers to debate whether to tear down a century-old stone bridge to build a wider road, as a young Party secretary and an old stonemason find themselves on opposite sides.
Scene 1: The Meeting at the Village Hall
的会议室挤满了人，墙上挂着新修公路的规划图。
The village committee's meeting room was packed with people, and a planning map of the new road hung on the wall.
Lin Hui
乡亲们，要想富，先修路，这座旧石桥太窄，必须掉重建。
Folks, if we want to get rich, we first have to build roads. This old stone bridge is far too narrow — it has to come down and be rebuilt.
话音刚落，坐在角落的老周师傅猛地站了起来。
The words had barely left her mouth when old Master Zhou, the stonemason sitting in the corner, sprang to his feet.
Master Zhou
？那是我爷爷一锤一凿垒起来的，凭什么说就！
Tear it down? My grandfather built that bridge stone by stone, hammer and chisel — what gives you the right to just say 'tear it down' and tear it down?
Scene 2: Both Sides Make Their Case
Lin Hui
周师傅，我理解您的感情，可救护车进不来，去年王大爷就耽误了。
Master Zhou, I understand how you feel, but the ambulance can't get through — last year that's why old Mr. Wang couldn't be treated in time.
Master Zhou
发展是要紧，可把老祖宗的东西全推平，子孙后代还记得自己的根吗？
Development matters, sure, but if we bulldoze everything our ancestors left us, will our children and grandchildren still remember where they came from?
屋里顿时炸开了锅，有人主张，有人坚决反对，争得。
The room instantly erupted in an uproar — some pushing to tear it down, others firmly against it, all arguing until they were red in the face.
Scene 3: A Way Out
林慧连夜翻看资料，第二天一早又把工程师请到了桥边。
Lin Hui pored over the documents all night, and early the next morning she brought the engineers down to the bridge.
Lin Hui
周师傅，我们不桥，在下游另选址架一座新桥，老桥保留下来怎么样？
Master Zhou, what if we don't tear the bridge down — we pick another spot downstream and build a new bridge there, and keep the old one. How about that?
Master Zhou
保留？可这石头都松动了，留着不修，迟早也是个啊。
Keep it? But these stones are all coming loose. Leave it standing without repairs and sooner or later it'll be a hazard.
Scene 4: Two Bridges
Lin Hui
县里批了一笔款，修桥的活儿，还得请您这位老师傅。
The county approved a heritage-preservation grant, and as for repairing the bridge — that's a job we'll have to ask an old master like you to take on.
周师傅愣了半天，粗糙的手掌在冰凉的桥栏上来回着。
Master Zhou stood stunned for a long while, his rough palm running back and forth over the cold stone railing.
Master Zhou
丫头，你这是既要往前走，又没忘了回头看,行,这桥我修!
Girl, you want to move forward and yet you haven't forgotten to look back. All right — I'll fix this bridge!
半年后，新桥上车来车往，老石桥静静卧在下游，桥头多了块石碑。
Half a year later, traffic streamed across the new bridge while the old stone bridge lay quietly downstream, a stone tablet now standing at its head.