Text: Liu Enwen
Figure: From the network
Three years ago, my father, who was in his eighties, suddenly had a serious illness, appeared with symptoms such as mouth obliqueness and language impairment, and went to the hospital for a series of examinations such as brain CT and magnetic resonance, and finally diagnosed with cerebral infarction. After being hospitalized for more than half a month, I finally got better. After being discharged from the hospital, although he was able to take care of himself, he could no longer do the heavy farm work and could only do some minor things.
His father spent his life with the soil, accompanied by the land every day, hard work, perennial labor, unless the rain gave him a holiday, never idle; people who work in enterprises and institutions retire at an age, but as a peasant father's dictionary can never find these two words.
When I was in the hospital with my father, I advised him to give the land to his sisters after he was discharged, and from then on we would "retire" and stop farming. At first he nodded reluctantly and did not answer me head-on. After a few days, when he was slightly better, he disagreed, saying that as long as he could move, he would not give the land to others, and he would collect some of the planting points, and he would support himself, and there was no need to trouble his children.
I knew that he was afraid that I would spend too much on my family and was trying to reduce my burden. However, the sky is not the limit. Half a year later, my father was admitted to the hospital again. This time it was heavier than the last time, I persuaded him again, he sighed, helplessly said, can't plant, really can't move, divide it.
After my father was discharged from the hospital, I returned from my hometown to the city far away from my hometown, and I called at both ends of the three days to ask about the land. My father said that the good pieces of land would be divided among my two younger sisters, who were married not far from home.
My father also told me that seeing him in such a body, several of my uncles and brothers-in-law and sister-in-law, who rarely came to my house, often patronized at this time, did not come two days a day, nagged homely, greetings and greetings, and sometimes helped to do some housework.
There is also my cousin who married into our village through my mother's matchmaking and often came to see my parents. I listened, was very touched, and thought to myself, the next time I go back to my hometown, I must bring them some gifts to express our gratitude.
Before returning to my hometown, I discussed with my wife and bought a few gifts, which were specialties of my city.
What I didn't expect was that when I mentioned them, my father scolded angrily. Saying that they are wolf hearts and dog lungs, often come to see that they have other plans, no peace of mind, and now, it has been a long, long time.
I was puzzled, and my father went on to say that the uncles and brothers had come for my father's land, and they had given it to my sisters, so they asked my father for the few remaining pieces of mountain and woodland, sand, and a few scattered ridges, and my father gave them those pieces of land, but several people were not happy, and they secretly blamed their father in their hearts.
Some also asked their fathers for this and that, saying that their fathers could not plant the land, and that those agricultural tools would not be used in the future, so it was better to give them to them, but they were all rejected by their fathers. My cousin, like them, also looked at her mother's dowry, and the old Shanghai-made Trapeze sewing machine was also rejected by her mother...
Listening to my father's words, I was very surprised and sad, and I suddenly felt that the countryside had changed, people had changed, and they had become very snobbish, even relatives and family members.
That time, I stayed in my hometown for a long time and learned that in the years of reform and opening up, the rural economy has indeed developed greatly, people's incomes have been greatly improved, and the people's lives have become more and more prosperous and their lives have become happier and happier.
However, between relatives, between neighbors, between villagers, there is less frequent walking in the streets, less sitting on the kangtou to pull homely routines, nagging and chattering, less hot calls to meet and greet, less simple and pure nostalgia, family affection and friendship in the past, and the simple folk wind is getting weaker and weaker.
What followed was that people's feelings became more and more distant, their human feelings became more and more weak, everyone was concerned about their own interests, what they could get, and if there was no benefit, there was very little more to do to help, to talk about dedication, and to contribute in vain.
For the gradually changing current rural human feelings, I can't help but have some worries, in three or five years, what will my hometown look like? Ten or twenty years? In my lifetime, can I still find the nostalgia of my childhood?
I really don't know.