Wangqiao Base was actually a village at the foot of Mount Dajin, called Wangqiao Village. It stood at the mountain's foot, built along a river. There was only one road into the village, and it crossed an ancient bridge that had stood for hundreds of years. Legend had it that a prince was inspecting his fief when he discovered that the area had excellent feng shui and its people were simple and honest. But the two banks of the river could only be reached by ferry, so the prince paid to have a bridge built. It came to be known as Wang Bridge. Ever since, the village on the other side had been called Wangqiao Village, and its name had never changed in all those centuries.
After the bridge was built, generations came and went, and Wangqiao Village steadily grew in size and population. It became a large village, famous for miles around.
During the Sunny Era, as people joined the tide of workers heading south, many villages became hollowed-out communities. Apart from the women, children, and elderly left behind, hardly any able-bodied adults remained.
Wangqiao Village had also been affected, but its situation was much better than most. As a large village, it had a thriving collective economy, with several sizable factories and businesses. Local employment was plentiful, so the loss of young adults was far less severe.
It wasn't that every villager had stayed to build a life locally, but compared with other villages, the situation was definitely much better.
Yet even a large village of three or four thousand people couldn't escape the Era of Strangeness. When the strangeness descended, Wangqiao Village suffered heavy losses too. Most of its population failed to survive wave after wave of upheaval. After repeated blows, Wangqiao Village had become the Wangqiao