My Family's "World" (Part 2)
(Series 9)
Yang Yajun
Ten
Students in the seventies
At that time, I was very envious of other people's children, wearing student blue clothes. I often wonder when my mother will make us a "student blue" dress, and I look forward to that day.
Mothers taught us when we were very young that to live, we must have backbone and aspirations; Angry, it is better to fight for anger.
My mother, due to family hardship, lost the opportunity to go to school. Let the second and third aunts go to school, and they themselves become illiterate.
Although her mother was uneducated, she had a flexible mind, quick thinking, and general knowledge, rules and foresight.
Mothers attach great importance to their children's learning. In his concept, with culture, being able to read words, and being able to settle accounts, it is called having an income. It will not be like her, becoming blind and panicking.
Motherly love is deep
In our mother's plain language, we gradually understood the truth that knowledge changes destiny.
Every step of our growth is inseparable from the teachings of the elderly.
Under the influence of their mother's words and deeds, her children gradually understood a lot of principles of life and slowly saw the wonderful world outside.
The family is poor and filial piety. The story of Meng's mother and godson is playing out in my house.
The mother began to use literary skills and reasoning; But when we really make her angry, it is inevitable to use martial arts and burn fire sticks to serve.
Mother started to move, it was a real beating. The stick hits the body, it really hurts. I have beaten my mother's club, and I have personally tasted the power of burning sticks. I can't remember once, and I can't remember it for a long time.
Therefore, it is not necessarily a bad thing for disobedient children to get two slaps from their parents. Master Mei Lanfang, a famous Peking opera master, also received corporal punishment when she was a child.
Of course, I am not saying to advocate scolding children, but to always remind children of the seriousness of mistakes and the need to correct mistakes in time. Instead of letting the child do whatever he wants, let it go. Eventually develop bad conduct. It has an important impact on a child's future prospects.
On the country road
The upper beam is not correct and the lower beam is crooked, which is the truth. Here, I put forward this point of view only for the reference of readers and friends.
My mother also scared us, and that was the "hunger strike."
After we made mistakes, after we were punished by our mothers, things are far from over. The mother cooked for the children as usual, often feeding the pigs and chickens, but the mother began to not speak and began a "hunger strike" that lasted for several days.
The mother's angry behavior scared the whole family, and at this time, the family was silent, and they did not dare to breathe out of their noses.
After her mother had cooked the meal, she began to feed the pigs, still silent, working silently.
We all quietly served the bowl of rice, found a place to eat, carefully put the dishes and chopsticks, secretly carried our school bags, walked out of the house quickly, and ran to the school. I wondered when my mother would be able to calm down.
At this time, we looked forward to my eldest sister coming home soon after work and persuading my mother not to be angry with us again. We don't dare to make mistakes again.
In the end, it was the eldest sister's face that was great, and the mother finally persuaded the eldest sister to calm down this war without gun smoke.
Our brothers let out a long sigh of relief. Thankfully, my mother finally spoke and began to eat.
Village friends
Years later, I reflected on my mother's excesses. Suddenly understood that it may be related to the mother's experience when she was a child, she hoped that her children would not follow her old path, and live with ambition and backbone!
I am grateful for my mother's ardent expectations, but I categorically disapprove of my mother's scary approach, it is too terrifying.
At the urging of their mothers, the children lived up to expectations, their youth and the times, and they all achieved success in their studies and made progress in their careers. In their respective fields, for the country, for the society, for the people of the original intention, forge ahead, compete to shine!
Of course, this is an afterthought.
The mother became the children's first initiation teacher.
Thank you to my amiable and gracious great mother!
Mother is receptive to new ideas and things, and also cares about social affairs and national affairs. Therefore, in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, he joined the Communist Party of China early and became an excellent Communist Party member in Nanshui Doujian Village.
Countryside in the seventies of the last century
Eleven
After the liberation of New China, the new life of Chinese peasants began, and a good life came for the people of Quyang.
The life of my grandfather's family has also changed dramatically. The third aunt studied until she finished graduating from elementary school. At this time, her mother also returned to Nanshui Doujian Village from a relative's house, and she had grown into a big girl.
The uncle returned from studying art in Sunjiazhuang Village and began to prepare for business. The uncle is six years older than his mother; He was twenty-two years old that year, and his uncle married his aunt back home from Baijiawan Village through a matchmaker's introduction.
(Note: In 1958, due to the construction of Baijiawan Reservoir, or "Chaoying Reservoir", some villagers in the surrounding villages of Sulphur Temple, Donghaizi and Baijiawan formed the current "New Village" of Hengzhou Town, Quyang County.)
The uncle learned the craft of "hanging palms" for livestock, and it can be said that this craft has a good future and earns a lot of money. Until the end of the last century, this craft was also very popular, after all, rural China accounted for a large share of livestock, had a vast consumer market, and had considerable incomes. Every year the working cattle need to correct their hooves and nail them with iron palms.
"Hanging palms" for livestock
There are many kinds of iron palms used on the hooves of animals, horses, donkeys, cows, mules, etc., and there are many models, and iron nails are also divided into sizes. These accessories are all made by the uncle and these craftsmen themselves, just like the Quyang stone carvers, not only can carving, but also steel brazing, steel hairpins and other carving tools must be repaired.
After my mother returned home, she had a new "job" of pulling bellows and helping my uncle with iron.
So, the uncle went out during the day to hang the palm, and came back at night to work overtime to make iron palms and nails.
The uncle and grandfather wore anti-spark aprons on their chests, and the uncle used tongs to grip the red-hot iron bar with his left hand, and skillfully beat the anvil with a small iron hammer in his right hand, mastering the fire.
Grandpa wielded a large iron hammer, "click, click, tatata", rhythmically smashing the reddened iron bars.
When the color of the iron bar changes from red to dark, the uncle puts the semi-finished "iron palm" piece back on the fire and continues to heat.
At this time, the mother was constantly pulling the heavy bellows, "clicking, clicking" and constantly supplying air to the stove.
Iron bars and iron palms, under the blowing of the mother's bellows, turned into pieces of iron palms and iron nails on the ground.
Strike the iron and sonor
In the old days, iron was used to supply air with an oversized bellows.
Not a general small bellows for cooking in the countryside. This kind of bellows is large, windy, and forceful. Without a handful of strength, ordinary people really can't do it, no more energy than swinging a sledgehammer.
In Donghe Village, Quyang County, there are many carpenters and belong to the family lineage.
There are carpenters who specialize in bellows. It is said that there are unwritten rules for bellows-making craftsmanship, which is passed down from male to female.
I am afraid that the craft will be transmitted to outsiders and my job will be lost. Many craft trades in old China had such traditions.
Author Yang Yajun
(The author is a director of Quyang County Writers Association)
(To be continued)