The willows are new green, and it is another year of Qingming. Grandma has also been away from us for almost two years. "The intestines in the old garden are broken, and the wicker is new day and night." Because of the severe situation of epidemic prevention and control this year, it is difficult to achieve the wish of returning home. So, in one early morning or dusk, on the edge of the ancient city of Yangliuyi, wandering in the moss-covered cobblestone streets and alleys. Only in the deepest recesses of the soul, for the deceased who have left us, with a kind of inner compassion to remember their voice.
Willow Yiyi. Photo/Lower Official Baiping
Grandma's mother's house is on the Zijiang River, and my great-grandfather is a person who has read some books, which has a great influence on Grandma. I remember my aunt and grandmother told us that when they were very young, my grandmother liked to practice writing and reading, and when she grew up, she begged her great-grandfather, saying that she would not have a dowry in the future, but only wanted to study in private school for three years.
My great-grandfather agreed to my grandmother's request, and at the age of seventeen, my grandmother married into my grandfather's family, a family with the surname of Wang who made a living from fishing.
Grandma had a large group of children in her life.
When I was a child, I listened to my grandmother say that your children now live a fairy day! She said that when she married her grandfather, the family of more than a dozen people ate at a table. The rule of the elders is "eat without speaking, sleeping without speaking". Everyone clamped their arms tightly, ate some of the dishes in front of them, and got up. She married from a family that had read books to a fisherman's family, and gradually adapted to the new environment with a nervous heart, and finally took root here.
Grandma married Grandpa at the age of seventeen to the time she left us at the age of eighty-nine, and never left the village in her life.
At that time, Grandma was a "big beauty" among the four townships and eight neighbors, and she also had a good craft, and was a famous tailor in the township.
I remember when I was very young, I saw my grandmother making dog skin coats for others. She cut the dog skin piece by piece, and then sewed it together piece by piece. I was too young to understand why I was doing this. Grandma told me that if I don't cut it open and re-sew it, the lines of the dog hair don't match, and when others put on the dog skin coat, they will feel that the clothes are deformed, bulging here and bulging there. As for how to deal with the order of the lines of these dog hairs, it is all up to her own feelings.
Grandma was a master chef who worked as a tailor, and when she was a child, her family sometimes brought a dozen apprentices with her. It is through these crafts that a large group of children are supported. However, because of years of hard work, I have fallen ill.
When Grandpa was alive, he also took good care of Grandma. It is said that Grandma has given birth to so many children and has not had a good rest. Sometimes, just a few days after giving birth, many people come to the house to wait for new clothes. I had to wait for the child to fall asleep and secretly get up at night to rush to work.
Grandma has studied in private school for three years, and she can also be called a reader among her peers in our hometown. In the nine years after Grandpa Xian's death, Grandma's daily routine was to read Buddhist scriptures.
In my mind, she is a master at handling civil disputes. When the neighborhood is not harmonious, Grandma is like a righteous village judge who will mercilessly criticize the unreasonable side. In the village, she was highly respected. Later, in the years when she was seriously ill, many people in the village came to visit her. No matter how sick she was, she always liked to sit up and say a few words of self-respect to the people who came.
From the time grandma was eighty-five years old, her mother served her in front of her. At this time, her old man could no longer take care of her own diet and living. Counting up, her mother is also her "apprentice". So in those years, she nagged me again, saying that she had been a tailor all her life, or earned a private room, her eldest daughter-in-law was her "private room", her sons had left home and had a job, only the eldest daughter-in-law accompanied her, and this apprentice was the "private room" for the elderly.
Looking back now, she raised her children to adulthood and also raised college students like her uncle in the days of slowly getting older. Later, the children left her and went to work for a living in other places. She thought about her homeland and said that since the death of her grandfather, she would never leave home to enjoy the blessings of her children.
Her wish is to guard this old house, to keep this picture full of children and grandchildren until the end of her life. She did not want to cause trouble for her children, she held the book in her hand, with a kind of spiritual sustenance, and spent the rest of her life in the house of her hometown.
Silent courtyard. Photo/Nine white
Perhaps, one night, she will also remember the old days, remember the old times she walked with her grandfather, think of the group of children she raised...
All memories are a proper consolation. As a result, the pain in her body will be alleviated a little.
When Grandma was alive, she was a very polite person. Every time I brought her some snacks and daily necessities, she would tell me that when I wanted to go back to my mother-in-law's house, I should also buy more to give to my in-laws, and I should have a courtesy for my mother-in-law's family and in-laws' family.
When my sister got married, my grandmother had been telling her that the children of the Wang family were going to marry each other's surnames, and sent her granddaughter eight words "filial piety and faithfulness, courtesy and honesty", and later my sister became a well-known good daughter-in-law in a neighboring village, which was inseparable from grandma's education.
The rain of the Qingming Festival is always so fine. Pedestrians on the road, on the way to remember their ancestors, always walk heavily. Our roots are in our hometown, and when the willows in our hometown are new and green, we always think of someone in our lives.
The days of departure are heartbreaking, and the thoughts left behind are an indelible imprint. On the way forward, we are grateful for the teachings of our ancestors, inherit the good family style, and live ordinary days with taste. Because there is love and inheritance, there are dreams and prospects. Harvest happiness in a life that is not afraid of floating clouds to cover your eyes.
The grass is green every year, and this month has not been illuminated by the ancients. In the fertile soil of Jiangnan, we have planted eternal dreams and rooted in the love of Chinese children.
Text/Wang Zhengying