Loving wife, husband picked up 20,000 stones to build a bridge for 5 years

The bridge built of 20,000 stones was built by a husband in China persistently for 5 years.
The stone arch bridge in Lieu Tipha village, Tan Hoang district, Shijiazhuang city, Hebei province looks quite ordinary. It is 24 m long, 4 m wide and 6 m high.

However, behind the bridge is a touching story about the love of a couple outside the sixties. Trieu Chan Thu, 60, said he was very surprised when he became widely known, even more did not expect to become an idol of young people one day. Trieu said he and his wife Yen Ai Duy, 62, got married in the 1980s. The two have two children, a son and a daughter. When their daughter was 4 years old, Trieu’s family moved to their current residence. In front of their house is a river 20 meters wide. The village of Lieu Ti Pha where the family lived is surrounded by hills. More than two-thirds of the arable land in the village is located on the hillside facing the river. The bridge Mr. Zhao built for his wife is famous throughout Chinese social networks. (Picture: 163) When Trieu and his wife went to work in the fields, they had to walk nearly 2 km or wade across the river. On a summer day in 2001, when the couple waded into the river, carrying a basket of corn home, Mrs. Yen unfortunately tripped. Loving his wife, Trieu vowed to build a bridge for his wife to travel less hard. Two years later, Trieu officially started work. “The first few days, he always left early and left late. He used a two-wheeler to pull the stones home. After pulling back, he had to work. But during the process, he did not say what he planned to do. He just told me he wanted to build a bridge.” Yen recalls. Due to inexperience, building a bridge with a farmer like Trieu is not easy. The hardest part is the preparation of materials, which alone takes a whole year. Trieu had to choose rocks on the mountain, then use a hammer and drill to break up the tens of tons of rocks, load them on a trolley, and then go home to grind them into shape. Seeing her husband struggling, Yen offered to help. She took on the task of loading ice into the car, and at the same time pushed the stone truck home with her husband. When he had enough stones, Mr. Trieu began to move on to the design stage. First, he spent more than ten days leveling the rocks on both sides of the river. He then built two piers, erecting an arched wooden frame between the pillars before gluing stones to the frame. He filled the gaps between the large rocks with smaller stones. Finally, Zhao removed the wooden frame. After the stone bridge was completed, local officials came to survey and evaluate, and at the same time proposed to make more railings. (Picture: 163) During the five years, except for rainy days and snowy days, Zhao never rested. Even on Tet, he will only rest on the 1st and resume work on the 2nd. In the fall of 2008, the stone bridge built of 20,000 stones was completed in the joy of the couple. Trieu shared that the hammer he borrowed from a relative to cut the stone was halved after these 5 years. The households in the village are also very excited because thanks to the bridge, they no longer have to wade through the river as hard as before. Currently, Mr. Zhao, even though he is over 60 years old, still works at a construction site in Shijiazhuang. He only comes home once a month. Trieu said, every time he crosses the stone bridge in front of his house, he feels very satisfied. For Ms. Yen, although she doesn’t see Mr. Trieu every day, every time she looks at the bridge, she remembers her husband. “This life, that’s more than enough”, b Yen shared.