First acquaintance with the Great Miscellaneous Courtyard
Text/Wu Jisheng
(Image courtesy of the author)
In September 2014, I entered the courtyard for the first time. Walking into that courtyard, the familiar feeling of facing each other is still unforgettable, and it is precisely because of that inexplicable déjà vu that such a rare fate has been opened.
At that time, I had just finished my sophomore year, because I had not lived in the dormitory in the first two years of college, and I had not considered moving back to the dormitory. The freshman and sophomore put most of the energy outside the school, the study is inevitably greatly affected, coupled with the physical and mental exhaustion brought about by entrepreneurship, I plan to adjust it well, find a small nest to stay quietly for a period of time, and repair the fallen studies well, so I found the small courtyard that is not too far from the school.
It was a traditional northern farm yard. After entering the big iron gate is an old door wall, there is a persimmon tree next to the door wall, and what puzzled me most at that time was that there were no flowers and grasses under the door wall, even the most common months. After entering, it is a small courtyard with a brick floor, and the north, west and east sides are covered with houses. The main house is naturally sitting north and facing south, and both the height and width show its innate "status". The first room in the north to the west is the dedicated kitchen of the landlord's aunt's house, followed by a side room and a large door. To the east are two side rooms and a small open room. The foundations of the main house and the west roof are relatively high, about three or four steps, and I already had residents before I came.
At that time, the most impressive thing was the pressurized water well next to the door of the east side room. The landlord's aunt told me that tap water is basically available at noon every day, and there are many times to rely on this pressurized well to respond to the emergency, so I have to prepare a bucket to fill it with water at noon for use at any time. In fact, at that time, I was a little confused, because before that, don't say that I have rented a building with tap water has become accustomed, even if it is our rural hometown, we have achieved the freedom of tap water use, and later I can probably guess that there is a faucet in the landlord's aunt's kitchen is always water, but because it is only a fixed water bill of five yuan per month, there is nothing to think about.
The open room next to the south of my room, with bicycles, electric vehicles, and some other miscellaneous items, further south is the toilet, although it is a flush toilet, but it can not be automatically pumped, after going to the toilet, you need to manually scoop water from the bucket next to it to flush, and it is particularly easy to block. That's the thing that bothers me the most.
The little room I lived in was probably less than ten square meters, and at a glance, a wooden bed, a lamp, an electricity meter, nothing more. I used the only means of transportation I had at the time, the electric car, to transport everything I needed every day, including but not limited to three long table for students, a single table, three stools, a lamp that had accompanied me for many years, a fan, two boxes of books, and then I rearranged the bed, made the curtains by myself, and later got the most basic pots and pans, and added a few pots of succulents and greenery that I liked. After about half a month of going in and out, the seemingly simple but cumbersome objects I needed for life were almost complete, and the small room finally had the way I wanted it to be.
In this way, I lived in that small courtyard until the early summer of 2016, a time that will never be forgotten.
The course of the third and fourth years was relatively small, and there was no need to get up early in the morning, so most of the time I could read books without scruples until late at night, of course, a large part of the reason why I could calm down and read was that my room was too far from the landlord's aunt's room, and the router at that time was not as strong as it is now, and the wireless signal was so poor that it was difficult to do the Internet to brush the drama freely, so reading and writing for those who are used to sleeping late can be regarded as the only choice.
In this way, almost every day I can sleep until the three poles of the day to wake up naturally, and then get up to wash up, set off to find friends to go to the west gate of the school for lunch, and occasionally accompany friends to listen to classes in the afternoon, or go to the library for a while, in addition, a few times a week to do part-time to pass the time, at that time I often use "soft landing" to describe myself. Before going to college, there should be many people who have imagined this kind of university life: there is no pressure of further education and life, there are not many or even no classes every day, you can participate in some of your favorite club activities, there is nothing to bubble library, and three or five brothers to chat nonsense.
During the time I lived in that little courtyard, I finally lived the university life I imagined.
If life is only like the first sight, how many people and how many things around you have become passers-by. Although that yard has long been replaced by tall buildings, that time, that memory has always warmed every step I have taken, and perhaps, in the future, it will warm me through a longer period of time.
【About the author】Wu Jisheng, a native of Liaocheng, Shandong. Middle School Chinese teacher at Shuicheng Huide School in Liaocheng City. In his spare time, he likes to play with flowers and plants and read literature and history books. Under the appearance of "tenderness" there is a "dying" heart. Live happily according to your true disposition, life is precious in the chest, and that's it.