Childhood memories

Childhood memories

One by one, it was warm but childhood

My hometown is in xx town, Gushi County, Henan Province, I was born in 1970, my father is a good blacksmith, in the south of Zhangbaiyue Street to open an iron shop for decades, the business is still worth it.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, just as the Chinese countryside was just beginning to awaken, the countryside was still very scarce, but when I was a child, I did not experience hunger in my childhood like other children. Maybe it's because there is an iron shop at home, and I am the old man (seven brothers and one sister), and on weekdays, my mother always leaves me the best food. At that time, the friends had almost no good food and fun, and in addition to the "local specialties" produced by themselves, the most luxurious thing was the jelly beans exchanged for eggs. The only fun is to be happy for days in the fields and rivers around you, making a slingshot to beat birds, and exchanging stolen eggs for some rice candy or a few villain books from the old man who picks the wind (selling groceries). I was in elementary school at the time, my academic performance was good, and I was looking forward to the New Year. Because when it comes to the New Year, in addition to pasting the award certificate in the house, I feel that there are many wishes that can be realized during the Spring Festival.

In my memory, when I was a child, it would snow heavily in the winter, especially in the waxing moon, the northwest wind was whistling, the goose feather snow was flying all over the sky, and there was always a thick layer of snow on the ground, and people walked inside wearing cotton shoes and made a creaking sound. It was very cold, and my hands were sometimes frostbitten, but when it came to the moon, it was always hot. After the eighth year, I look forward to the school's early winter vacation, counting the days every day and looking forward to the New Year. It was easy to stay up until the small New Year holiday, and the breath of the year slowly arrived in the wind and snow.

Here are the happiest times of my childhood; The first thing in the air was the sound of cornflowers. In the morning, I was still lying warm in the bed and did not want to come down, when I heard a "boom-- " sound, coming from outside the paper paste window into the house, and as soon as I heard this sound, I got up, quickly got dressed, jumped out of bed and ran out of the house. Under the old locust tree in the middle of the village, there are already many people around, in the middle of the crowd, the old man who fried the rice blossoms wears a worn-out wool hat, wears the long cotton robe that has not been washed for many years, a pair of hands full of calluses, while pulling the bellows, while shaking the rice machine, the flames in the stove flicker, the adults and children around, some pick up the rice scattered on the ground and stuff them into their mouths, some talk about how much rice is fried in this pot, how much rice is given to the uncle, some count the basins and porcelain bowls on the ground, Calculating that there are still a few people who can take their turn, there are also some who tell Uncle Wu a few words from time to time, the fire of their own home is enough, and the time to fry is longer and more scorched... At this time, a sound of "hiss--" again, in an instant, the yellowing corn flowers in the white bloomed in the cloth tube, the fragrant smell accompanied by smoke spread rapidly in the air, I could no longer bear the hunger in the corners of my mouth, so I ran home and said to my mother: "Boss (we are called this for our mothers there), I want to eat corn flowers, everyone is fried, my family fried some, right?!" At this time, my mother never refused, put down the work in her hand, scooped a porcelain pot of rice from the jar and went out, I followed my mother, jumping and trotting all the way. When they arrived at the place, they lined up in order of succession, and began to wait slowly, and while waiting, the neighbors who came first would grab a corn flower in their snakeskin bag to share with everyone, eating corn flowers, and all the people's faces were full of smiles, which was a rare happiness in the life of the croppers all year round. At the end of each year, my mother would give us more than half a bag of popcorn until the first month, which was one of the most important and delicious snacks during our New Year. Eating corn flowers, the days pass quickly, adults began to prepare for the customs of the New Year, the twenty-third day of the Waxing Moon, every household had to go to the market to buy a few pieces of sugar melon seeds to come back, stick to the "old stove mouth", looking forward to the next year without worry. In the evening, after the sacrifice of the old stove, the sweet and sweet and sticky stove candy can make our little appetite enjoy for a few days. In the days after the holiday, in the afternoon, I would walk with a few brothers for more than a dozen miles to the graves of the old lady, grandfather and other ancestors, and sometimes burn more paper money, hoping that they could have a good year there, and at the same time bless our whole family with peace and health, and the wealth was rolling in.

Here is a ㊙️ secret, I always pestered the fifth brother and the eldest sister, let them take me to the outside market to sell blacksmiths, although it is cold and cold, get up in the middle of the night, but I am still happy to do it, the fifth brother and the eldest sister will also be willing to take me, after selling the iron goods back will give me a few dollars "hard fee". With this money, I would go to the market to buy poker, buy candy, buy villain books or buy school supplies, but more for firecrackers (wrestling cannons), which are wrapped in sand in their stomachs and thrown on the ground, and they sound; there are monkeys with long tails that go up to the sky when they are lit; and there are a hundred firecrackers called "electric light". The firecrackers must have been removed from the strings one by one, one holding the firecrackers in one hand, the other holding a burning incense, lighting the cannon and throwing it upwards, and the crisp sound resounded high in the air. This scattered sound of firecrackers, in the rice field, on the hillside, in the field, in the village, in this sound, we forget the many daily work, forget the winter cold, the heart only has infinite happiness and freedom. Now that I think about it, I feel romantic and enjoyable.

On the twenty-seventh and eighth day of the Waxing Moon, the production team (village) began to concentrate on pulling fish, each family came out with a person to help, several reservoirs, a whole day, thousands of prints, big xiaozhi, jumping around alive, eating fish did not catch fish, the captain is a fish catching master, full of experience, he stood in the fish bucket, from time to time with a mallet to beat the side of the barrel, the mouth is still shouting loudly, it is said that frightened, they concentrated in one place, have drilled into the net, the shore of the reservoir is full of people, some holding baskets, some holding pockets, young and strong guys pull rope, It takes an hour or two for a net to come down, hundreds of pounds of fish, pulled to the big, everyone is overjoyed, hoping that they can get it. The captain used a large scale of 50 pounds, 100 pounds and 200 pounds to weigh the total number of pounds, and then counted the population of each family, the average score. Although it is divided equally, it will also fight for lipstick and red ears, a few sisters-in-law who love to take advantage of the small secretly stuffed into the pocket of the basket, most people turned a blind eye, but the captain saw that he was very angry, scolded, everyone laughed, the sister-in-law only did not have fun, and poured out the fish.

The modern version of the "Qingming River Map" The town's market is even more lively, with all kinds of New Year stalls lined up from the south end of the street to the north end of the street, selling meat, selling fish, selling vegetables, selling fruits, selling bowls and selling wine and cloth, selling fireworks and firecrackers, selling New Year paintings, writing couplets, hanging lanterns, making clothes stalls, snack stalls, pots and pans, spoons, needles, threads, furniture stalls, selling incense, selling wax, selling paper gods, and storytellers, and one year the Opera Troupe of Pingyu County in Zhumadian also came,... It was dizzying, and the shouts and shouts were woven together. The croppers who have been busy for a year can finally put down all the hardships and troubles in these days, drag the family to the set to listen to books and watch plays, buy New Year goods, some pull the rack car, some carry the flat burden, some carry the snakeskin bag, the whole market crowd is moving, you squeeze me and I push you, come and go, pick up the goods they need, good and lively.

I like to go shopping the most, like to look at the New Year paintings with my friends to see and write the Spring Festival, from the south to the north, there is no family left, while looking at the head also commented on the foot, which painting is good, which couplet is written well, more than 30 years have passed, and I still remember many New Year paintings and couplets, such as the New Year paintings have ten marshals, there are Pan Hong, there are Liu Xiaoqing, there are Chen Chong, there are Xia Meng... There is Jia Baoyu Lin Daiyu, there is "Chasing Fish", there is Liang Sanbo Zhu Yingtai, there is "Spend a good full moon" and so on,... Chunlian wrote that "business is prosperous all over the world, and the source of wealth is wide up to three rivers"; There are "days increase the number of years and people increase life expectancy, and spring is full of qiankun and happiness is full of doors"; There are "doors to the green mountains to attract white jade, households to take green water into gold"; There are "children and grandchildren have children, Erkang Ershou Erkang"... By 3 to 4 o'clock in the afternoon, except for those who were doing business, the people on the street gradually receded, and the people returned to their respective villages along the paths distributed in different directions of the fields with heavy harvests. When we arrived at home, my mother began to work in the kitchen, and my brother and sister rujie were responsible for cleaning and cleaning the house, cleaning the walls and pasting New Year paintings, preparing for the upcoming New Year.

Chinese New Year's Eve is the best and most solemn time of the year. In the morning, the family has to get up early, my mother is the busiest on this day, she has to prepare the best food tonight, my brothers and sisters and I clean up, clean the yard and house carefully, my father bought candy from the street, couplets, the family has talked and laughed, and it is happy. Every household began to paste the door gods, and also to pay homage to the gods of the land, heaven and earth, and the prince. By about 3 p.m., there was the sound of crackling firecrackers, and other people's homes had already eaten Chinese New Year's Eve meal. My father settled in and out, lit red candles on the offering table, burned incense on paper in the hall and bowed down, and our brothers snorted one by one, making wishes, and saying auspicious words. Pay homage to the gods, the mother will change us into new clothes, the father will give each of us a few brand new money, and then the family will sit around a big table, chicken and goose, mung bean balls, a fire boiler in the middle... Chinese New Year's Eve night, to say some good work, the father tonight is regardless of the brothers drinking, completely free and relaxed, so that the harmonious Chinese New Year's Eve night is unforgettable. After eating Chinese New Year's Eve meal, the old and young masters of the whole village came out every household to quit the age", some about to play cards, we were still young, the family resigned, a few pockets of peanuts and melon seeds were mixed in one night, and occasionally there were some who gave us money for the year, now think about it, how happy the childhood was at that time! The adults sat together, talking about their lives for the past year and what their plans were for the coming year.

On the first and second days of the Chinese New Year, according to the rules established by the father, first go to the home of the closest elder to visit the New Year, we dolls do not drink, they grab the fruit on the table, sugar melon seeds, peanuts to eat, these are the most hungry in the weekdays but rarely can eat, the stomach is stuffed with snacks, the pocket of the old money is naturally bulging. We were happiest when we walked to the courtyard, picked up firecrackers with sticks and put them up, and as soon as the sound of firecrackers sounded, the smell of nian began to drift in the village with the aroma of wine. Eating well, drinking well, and having fun is the best memory of childhood. At this time, the gate of every household will be hung with fiery red lanterns, which will be warmly twinkling in the New Year's night, and the air will be filled with the smell of incense candles and firecrackers.

At that time, there was no television in the countryside, no Spring Festival Gala, no KTV, and the kind people were still happy and happy.

Now that I am over fifty years old, my parents have long since passed, and my childhood has become a distant memory. Now in the New Year, although I will also go back to worship my ancestors, I will also clean up my home and buy some orange trees to paste couplets, but the taste of the New Year is getting weaker and weaker, and there is no longer the taste of childhood.

"Tonight the moon is full of people, but I don't know whose house qiu si will fall into?" Time is hurried, in the blink of an eye it is going to be the New Year, this year's Spring Festival I am alone in Guangzhou, in this cold and lonely night, my thoughts can't help but drift back to the childhood years, I seem to see the happy smiling faces of the little friends in the sound of firecrackers, as if I returned to the house where the whole family gathered, I saw the kind faces of my parents, we surrounded the stove, roasted the charcoal fire, sniffed melon seeds, talked about the world, sang and laughed; I seemed to see my childhood friends giggling and joking, and I also saw the big red lantern hanging high in front of my house, flickering in the Chinese New Year's Eve wind and snow, shining, all the way to the deepest part of my heart...

Jin Gongxin is in Guangzhou

The seventeenth night of the month of the ugly year