Aunt Ju's dusty past
Author: Fang Tanchun
Aunt Ju is Uncle Dan's wife, and she will be 95 years old after the year. She had silver hair, wrinkled cheeks the rosiness of a healthy old man, and her ears were quite backlit, but her voice was very clear. From the outline of the old man's face, you can see the Peugeot of her youth. She has always been thinner, and now she is old, and when she goes out to walk, she sometimes holds up a bamboo stick, which is naturally a little trembling. She and Uncle Dan have spent 80 years of diamond marriage, and have entered a more valuable oak marriage. The long road of life, there must be many stories between the two of them that are no longer known, and here are only a few stories about Aunt Ju.
A red palanquin picked up a ten-year-old bride
Aunt Ju's mother's home was the tea pass in the past on the Hengling Ridge of the Golden Cave, and later I found out that the mountain rock near Tangkou Village was also her mother's house, what was going on? It turned out that her mother's family was originally a tea pass, because during the great revolution, the Kuomintang reactionaries implemented the policy of burning and robbing the "three lights" in the Golden Cave Su District, and were forced to flee to find a place to settle in Tangkou Village, and only moved back to the tea pass many years later. "It was really bitter then!" Aunt Ju said. Her mother gave birth to 12 births, 8 of whom died, 4 boys died prematurely, and the eldest sister was sold to Huankou, and finally there was no news. Later, her parents adopted two small cubs from Changsha, which gave her two younger brothers. Because life was too hard for her parents to support the family, Aunt Ju was released at a very young age. When Aunt Ju married Uncle Dan, she was still a thin girl who was only ten years old, and she was picked up by a red palanquin. I think that the golden cave of the horizontal ridge seven miles down eight miles, also known as the "hundred shoulder stack", means to pick the burden up or down to turn a hundred shoulders to finish, you say how steep the mountain road! Those four sedans should have worked hard to carry the red sedans, but there can't be half a mistake! However, Uncle Dan's statement made me dispel this doubt--Aunt Ju was already living in Tangkou Village when she got married. From the mother's house in Tangkou to the husband's family, Ma Xi Village, you have to pass through a long field and turn over three mountain passes with twists and turns. The four caravans are all descendants, and it is easy to carry the palanquin of the ten-year-old bride (there is also a sister in the palanquin who makes her a bridesmaid). Listening to the beautiful new bride with the red hijab in the palanquin sobbing and crying all the way, in order to add joy, the sedans lifted the palanquin, and she quickly grabbed the sedan bars on both sides with her hands and let her sister hold her waist. A mischievous palanquin wanted to make her laugh, so he sang loudly: "New little girl, carry the palanquin; carry it to the loess mound, and build (wrestle) a rotten mouth jar." "I sang it several times, but because the new girl's courage was too small, she cried even harder."
Later, when Aunt Ju grew up, she felt that it was still quite a decent thing to come to her husband's house in a red car.
At that time, the mountains were closed, everyone had a feudal braincase, girls could not go out at will, and as a daughter-in-law, they could not run around casually. At that time, Uncle Dan's father, Sen Laozi, had died, only his mother was alive and well, and the family of three was also Soli. The relationship between the mother-in-law and the little daughter-in-law is relatively harmonious. When I was young, I heard adults say that the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in the feudal era was like a cat-and-mouse relationship. The daughter-in-law must be careful, if it is not pleasing to the eye, the mother-in-law will pinch the tip of the needle and stab the daughter-in-law. The bride is called the "shackled bride", and the daughter-in-law is controlled by the (shackled) bride.
Aunt Ju has developed the habit of loving labor since she was a child in her mother's house, and after coming to her in-laws' house, she does not stop on her feet and hands, and slowly exercises to get to the hall and the kitchen, which is very pleasing to the mother-in-law.
The daughter-in-law went to the street to sell firewood
During the Qingming Dynasty of that year, when the high church of the main house was burning fire paper at the tomb of the lion-shaped mountain, he accidentally caused a mountain fire, and many of the oil tea trees were burned. Later, Aunt Ju went up the mountain and cut down several cartons of tea tree sticks and came back. I thought that this firewood would be picked up on the street to sell, and if I had some money to go home, my mother-in-law would be happy. Ten miles away from the Longevity Street, she has long wanted to take a look and open her eyes! On this day, breakfast was also eaten, and she and her husband Uncle Dan each used a chai clip to pick up a load of tea tree firewood and went on the road. The firewood burden she picked was 30 pounds, the husband picked 50 pounds, the little husband was not very sensible, he walked fast, no matter whether the young husband and wife could win or not. Climbing up the big pass two miles away, Aunt Ju was panting and hissing, feeling very difficult. And the tea tree stick in the chai clip is smooth and slippery, like a yellow rat restless, slightly collided, it slipped down from the chai clip, Aunt Ju had to find a flat road from time to time, put down the chai load to check, which made her more flustered! Look at the thin husband but turned a corner in front of him and disappeared. The area around this col is very quiet, only the dove "grunts" and cries! She was so anxious that her tears came out, thinking how to pick up this load of firewood to the street, I don't know how far away it is to the street! When she was in tears, a person came from behind, she turned around and looked at it, it was an acquaintance on the mountain of her mother's family, Zheng Dajie, only to hear her say: "Is it Ju Meizi, go to the street to sell firewood?" Look at you picking a lot of tired food Oh, I also go to the street, help you pick it. With that, he took the burden from Ju Meizi's shoulder. Aunt Ju suddenly felt relaxed and grateful. Sister-in-law Zheng said, "I can help you pick up the street." However, if I encounter a prisoner of soldier who arrests someone, then I can only carry the firewood and run quickly. Aunt Ju followed this sister-in-law to taiping, which was not too far from Changshou Street, and sure enough, she had a vision of being a soldier, so she hurriedly dropped the firewood burden on her shoulders and ran away in a panic. Aunt Ju was so frightened that her heart jumped, and she had no choice but to pick up the firewood and stumble into the street. When she came to the door of a shop in Ciqing Lane on the street, she did not recognize the words on the signboard, but saw that there were many small boxes and boxes (it was a Chinese medicine shop) against the wall. A chubby shopkeeper came out, looked at her and the firewood she was picking up on her shoulder, and said, "Little sister, come, sell chai to me!" When Aunt Ju heard this, the almost numb nerves seemed to suddenly wake up, and she hurriedly picked the firewood into the bunk. The boss weighed, 30 pounds is not bad, picked up a few silver millimeters (equivalent to the current 5 yuan) to her: "Little sister, I see that you are old and thin, pick up firewood to sell well and pitiful, your tea tree stick firewood is good, but it is still dry." I still give you more money to go back, if your adult asks where the firewood is sold, you say that it is the shop with a lot of fine boxes and boxes at the entrance of the second green lane. If an adult says that he will give less money, he will come to me. At this time, a stone hanging in Aunt Ju's heart fell to the ground, but she did not dare to look at the street scene anymore, nor did she care about looking for her husband, so she hurried home. As soon as he entered the door, he handed the silver millimeter to his mother-in-law and repeated the boss's words. The mother-in-law said: "The boss is still fair, and you will not give you less money." At this time, Aunt Ju was completely relieved, and a small sense of accomplishment made her forget her shoulder headache, forget the fright, and forget that her stomach was still hungry. Just silently thinking about the two kind people I met on this first trip over and over again in my heart.
The little daughter-in-law grew up slowly
Aunt Ju, who is a child bridesmaid, is still shy and timid. Usually, the gate does not come out, the second door is not open, there is a village diagonally opposite the Fang family called Zaoshu Bay, which is not separated by a road, where there are several families living there, but Aunt Ju does not dare to contact the people there. After about three or four years, the laughing guy in the door oil shop got married, came to ask Aunt Ju to help organize the wedding banquet, she had the courage to go, and one person was busy making two tables of wedding dinner. Since then, she has become good friends with the smiling lady's husband, Sister-in-law Gui, just like today's girlfriend. On such days, in addition to waiting for the family to eat and drink, they still have to grow vegetables, feed pigs, and wash clothes.
However, the little daughter-in-law finally became the eldest daughter-in-law and became a mother-in-law.
Mother-in-law has a set of skills for others to give birth to children, at that time there were no midwives in the countryside, the mother-in-law's skills are naturally ancient, she taught the old method to the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law also learned. Aunt Keju was afraid of the evil thorn (filth), felt disgusted, and did not want to do this, but when she had to, she could still help and knew how to cut the umbilical cord. Once, Aunt Ju was cutting buckwheat under the temple, and one of her nephews was in a hurry to find her, and she asked if there was anything wrong? The eldest nephew said with some embarrassment, "Huanyu wants you to go." Aunt Ju immediately understood, so she rushed to the eldest nephew's house, and after some busyness, she delivered a new life! Another time, Aunt Ju had an old brother-in-law who was about to give birth to her first child, but she couldn't give birth, she heard the news and rushed to see, the old brother and sister-in-law were sitting on a chair sideways, chewing stone calamus in her mouth (an ancient method of midwifery: chewing stone calamus will be nauseated, causing vomiting, prompting the lower body to tremble and induce labor), and there is a moment of stretching out the throat to do evil, which is extremely embarrassing! There was an old sister-in-law next to her beckoning her. Aunt Ju immediately found that the mother's sitting posture was not right, and rushed to help her correct her sitting posture, fortunately, Aunt Ju came to the scene to help carefully, and the old brother and sister-in-law finally gave birth to a baby boy safely. Everyone rejoiced.
I have been out of the door once in my life
As mentioned earlier, Aunt Ju came to the Fang family, and at that time, the farthest out of the door was to sell firewood to Changshou Street, which was a matter of the old society. Later, in her life, there was also a long way out - the real far door.
Aunt Ju said that she could not remember exactly what year it was, that is, after the founding of New China, the husband's Zhengping old uncle (old rules, the married woman called her husband's brother "old uncle") in the Guangzhou South China Sea Fleet as a political commissar, heard that the cousin-in-law Ju Ming was not in good health, so she wrote back to let Dan Di take her to the Zhanjiang Naval Hospital in Guangzhou for an examination, and at the same time let the couple see the outside world, so the two weighed it up and set off on the autumn sun.
At that time, Changshou Street was still open to traffic to the county seat, because the road was destroyed when the Japanese invaded Pingjiang in 1939, and it was not repaired until 1957, so Aunt Ju could only walk more than 100 miles to the county seat, then take a car to Changsha, and take a train to Guangzhou.
At that time, Aunt Ju's eyes, which had always been closed by the mountains and had never seen the outside world, saw the world outside the mountains for the first time, and she felt novel and incredible, even the blue sky was much wider than that of her hometown! Seeing the long dragon-like train, one section after another, "banging" sounding, whistling, she wondered how those wheels could run so fast? Seeing the bright and bright electric lamp, I thought, why doesn't the lamp need to be lit to emit light? Anyway, there are so many strange things!
In Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, Aunt Ju was unwell, and everyone was wearing a shirt, but she put on a cotton coat and was admitted to the Naval Hospital. The hospital is adjacent to the coastal avenue in front of the hospital, and the harbor pier is lined with banyan trees, jagged pavilions, pavilions and ponds, birds and flowers everywhere, and the environment is beautiful and peaceful. The doctors and nurses in the hospital are all amiable and well-served. However, what bothered her was that she was "unsatisfied with the water and soil", and the smell of disinfectant water that touched her nose everywhere in the hospital stimulated her stomach to constantly vomit and could not eat. The old uncle and his wife asked Dan Brother to take her to the house and give her food. Once, Old Uncle Zhengping also said to her humorously: "Kikumi, you always don't eat, you are hungry, you can't go back, your mother and aunt asked me for someone, how do I make a difference?" The words made her laugh. The old man urged her to eat and cooperate with the treatment. Cured, good to go outside to explore the scenery!
Aunt Ju stayed in the hospital for a month, and when her condition improved, she braced herself to see the novel world, and the two of them quickly returned. Strange to say, as soon as she got home, she was full of energy. "Hey, the blessing of being able to go out, or the air in my own ravine is good!" Aunt Ju said to people.
Ninety-year-olds still love to do work
Aunt Ju is a woman who loves labor very much. Willing to do it, but also especially for human affection, this is her soul as a person. When she was engaged in the collective, she was still in her youth and strong age, the momentum of labor had no need to say, never to be left behind, Uncle Dan said that she "always wanted to be a female haojie." "She served as a women's captain. At that time, when she went to the district for a meeting, she could not forget to put the soles of her shoes on, listen to the conference report, and take the soles of her shoes, purely the innocence of a working woman.
When the agricultural cooperative was cooperative, Aunt Ju and my mother were partners, and the two of them were responsible for the tobacco cultivation management of more than one acre of land. The weather on a summer morning was so cool, and the tobacco furrows that smelled of fresh smoke were a good time for them to catch green insects; in the evening, they were picking smoke grandchildren (armpit buds). And, of course, weeding, soil loosening, fertilization. When the tobacco leaves were slightly golden, they braved the fiery sun, picked the ripe tobacco leaves back, and used a cigarette clip made of bamboo to dry. After the summer smoke is harvested, the tobacco stalks are cut off, the mushrooms are regenerated, and a stubble of autumn smoke is cultivated, these efforts are made in the morning, middle and evening, and more work can be done, and there is no mistake in the collective work during the day. After the tobacco leaves were harvested, they were sent to the supply and marketing cooperatives for purchase, and the money was sold to the team to record the work points.
Aunt Ju took the lead in all the work that needed to be done by female members, going to the side of the mountain soil to pick tea, to the mud beans at the edge of the field, to pushing the grass rake in the field, as well as cutting grass, picking medicine (pingshu) balls, hoeing cotton, picking cotton, hoeing sweet potatoes and other kinds of labor. Pushing (removing) grass rake may not be known to many people, it is a small rice field tool promoted and applied in the period of the high society, 5-7 inches wide, roller type with five long blades, there is a long handle, both hands push in the rice field between the grass rows to weed and turn the mud, instead of using the foot to cultivate the grass, improve the efficiency of the grass. At that time, the president of our company arranged for 3 female members to take the lead in the demonstration with this grass raking branch team, one sister-in-law of the old wife of Zhishu Tao, one of my mother (my father was the president) (at that time, it was emphasized that the family members of the cadres took the lead in participating in labor), and one was Aunt Ju. The three and a half sides of the sky were very energetic, and the real one made the horse hiss, and soon there was a climax of everyone using the grass rake.
Aunt Ju is a full laborer, and when she scored the score, she got the highest score - 12 points a day. Labor competitions, she often won prizes, prizes such as enamel jars printed (written) in red characters, shell tea bottles, straw woven straw hats, and awards, etc. At that time, labor was advocated, and it was a special honor to get this honor.
During the agricultural leisure season, Aunt Ju and my mother went to the old bureau of the Golden Cave to pick pig grass and pulled the cedar grass in the forest farm on Hengling. Anyway, it's rare to have a spare time.
Today, Aunt Ju is nearly a hundred years old, and she still loves to do it, feeding chickens, serving vegetable gardens, drying greens in spring, drying potato shreds in autumn, and everything is harvested. Let's say that one day in the winter of last year, I saw someone pick up half a carton of green vegetables, and it was Aunt Ju who was looking at it recently, no doubt preparing to dry the pickles, I wanted to take out my mobile phone to take a picture, but it was too late, she had already put down the basket and went into the house, and the photo was taken. This scene makes me sigh: in the traditional story, there is She Taijun "a hundred years old and a marshal", it seems that this story is not completely fictional.
About the Author
Fang Tanchun (screen name Chunfeng Asakusa, pen name Fang Chun), born in the spring of 1950, a native of Pingjiang, retired cadre. Love literature, now a member of the Pingjiang County Literary Association, a member of the Yueyang Writers Association, a standing director of the Pingjiang County Poetry Association, a member of the Hunan Poetry Association and the Chinese Poetry Society, and has published poems and essays. Artisans", has been published by Hunan People's Publishing House.
Photo: He Zhixian Fang Tanchun