At the age of 75, he started writing articles for the first time
When the child is just born, he spends most of his time sleeping, when he seems to be asleep, his eyes seem to be closed but not closed, and the two eyeballs roll back and forth in the eye socket, like a dream. Sometimes the mouth is grinning, and the corners of the two mouths are upturned, like a curved crescent, smiling and dreaming happily. Sometimes the mouth is pouted, the corners of the mouth are drooping, and the nose is sobbing, as if I have a nightmare or something unhappy. Adults often say that children are doing things while sleeping, that is, they are dreaming.
When the child grows up slowly, when he is seven or eight years old, he will be in a cluster of three, a pile of four, holding a hedge, carrying a small basket, and going to a small ditch and a small bay to catch fish and touch shrimp. I often go into such dreams, and I see the water in the small bay clear and cold, and the fish and shrimp swim in groups. Gluttonous old pot (gluttonous ghost, Gaomi dialect), the mouth is too gluttonous, can't help it, go down to the bay to catch fish and shrimp. You fight for me, and you catch all the fish and shrimp, and I also catch some, enough for one meal.
I went to school for six years, graduated from elementary school, and didn't go to junior high school because I was overage. I always feel that I have learned too little knowledge, thinking about it day and night, and haunting my dreams, all of which are about reading. After falling asleep, I often carried my schoolbag on my back, from the east end of Zhuangtou, along the ditch, all the way to the school, and I was familiar with the road. Every time I enter the classroom, the teacher is not familiar with it, and the classmates do not know it. The teacher lectured, but he couldn't understand it, and he couldn't complete his homework, so he was very anxious and woke up in a hurry, and it turned out to be a dream.
This dream was carried out for a long time, from the age of sixteen to the age of thirty-six. Fortunately, between the ages of 20 and 24, I studied with my children and made progress together. I reviewed and consolidated the knowledge I had learned for another four years. Later, I often dreamed that when the school was recruiting teachers, there were others every time, and without me, I was so envious and disappointed.
Growing up, I didn't know how to ride a bicycle. It's very greedy to watch other people ride, thinking during the day and thinking at night. In the dream, I pushed the bicycle and lifted my right leg into the car. Hold the handlebar with both hands, step on the pedals with both feet, and cooperate well with one up and down, one in front and one behind. With a hard kick, the bicycle runs far away, and the handbrake is gently pinched downhill, running fast and enjoyable.
In my dreams, I also went to Waizhuang to watch movies and plays, and I had companionship when I went and company when I left. Entering the village, the acquaintances around me walked home one after another. When I went home alone, I either took the wrong road, or I ran into a river, and there was a lot of water in the river, and I couldn't cross it. Turning left and right, I finally found a shallow place, and waded to the other side in fear. When I came home in a daze, I had no one to accompany me, and I was so scared that I was sweating.
When I went back to my parents' house in my dream, I often walked until it was dark and entered a long row of houses. The middle wall doors are open, and there are kangs in the north and south of each passage. I found my mother's house, walked down the small alley, and when I got to the door, I called to open the door. Mother, brother, sister-in-law, are still working overtime. I finally found my relatives and found my home, this is the hometown where I was born and raised, the old base, I think about my dreams every day, and I will never forget it.
Sometimes I dream that my mother-in-law is doing needlework, making shoes for herself, sometimes chopping cabbage leaves, and eating pigs. My mother-in-law is an idle person, and every time I see her, I am busy with housework. lived hard, pulled his five children, and helped his two sons raise six grandchildren. I was not idle all my life, and I worked hard until I died at the age of ninety. I went over there, and I was also a diligent person.
Such a dream, the life I experienced, I have long wanted to write it down. But my cultural foundation is too thin, I want to write but can't write, I dare not write, it's like a dream, I want to pursue but can't. Five years ago, with the encouragement of my family, I picked up the pen and started word by word. I can't write a good article, so I can only boil boiled water and keep a running account. I forgot to write a word, every time I write a sentence and I encounter a word or homophone that I don't know, I am not sure of the meaning of the word, so I stop, look up the dictionary, or ask my wife, he can answer, most of them help me look it up on the Internet. When I write an article, I don't know how many times I turn through the dictionary, and the corners and corners of the dictionary make me feel the thorns about about (rough, uneven, not smooth, high-density dialects) with my hands, like jagged teeth.
When I was younger, my eyes were clear and clear, and my vision was not hindered. Now I have cataracts, inverted eyelids and eyelashes, even if I have surgery, irritating the eyes, frequent tears, and water in the eyes. Seeing things blurrily, reading or writing for a long time is uncomfortable. While I can see with my eyes, I will record the things I have heard and seen, the ups and downs, the bitterness, the bitterness and saltiness that I have experienced in the past 80 years, and the dots and dots, so that future generations can see them, so that they can understand the family history that is difficult to see in textbooks, television, and the Internet.
What I write about is every person, everything and everything in rural life, which is the real experience and personal experience in life, and they all have to be explained. Wheat and corn are crops that have been planted for many years, so you should write about them, and you should also write about millet and beans that have been planted once. Chickens, sheep, cats, dogs, rabbits, pigs, cows, all kinds of household items, the same.
In September 2020, my wife and I were drying wheat in our hometown. Courtesy of the author
The biggest success since last year has been to drive my wife to pick up a pen and record old things. He has experienced more things than me, and he can write more; he graduated from a secondary school and has a higher level of education than me; he has never stopped writing and practiced more than me. He didn't write articles before, he just wrote the title for me, so it's hard to start everything. My son asked me to "interview" him and write it out. I think it's better for him to write by himself, more direct, more realistic, and more natural, so I continue to "stab" him.
The "radical method" worked, and my wife finally began to write articles. First write about digging the Jiaolai River, this was a big project back then, and my wife, as a young adult, was the main force of the husband, and I really felt it. I participated in a total of three times, each time for fifty or sixty days, and wrote the first time, and the title was naturally "The First Digging of the Jiaolai River". For my wife, writing it is also a big project, recalling it for many days, writing for many days, revising and transcribing it for many days, and my son said that his father was "holding back a big move". It is more than 4,000 words, there are stories, feelings, interesting, and sent out, and netizens and teachers gave affirmation and encouragement.
Next, it is "The Second Digging of the Jiaolai River", the third "Digging and Digging in the Jiaolai River", the childhood "escape" experience "The Great Grandmother Killed the Thief", the "Illuminating the Heart" in elementary school, etc., as well as the contemporary teacher for more than 20 years, the accountant of the production team for a few years, participated in the town's military recruitment and other affairs several times, and also went to the Northeast once, all of which are worth recording. Although they are a family, they have suffered the same hardships, suffered the same sins, and are enjoying the same old age, but each person's specific feelings are still different, each writing its own and each with its own characteristics.
In July 2020, I pasted the revised sentence on the transcription. Courtesy of the author
The running accounts I wrote were all about the Tu Qi La, the affairs of the villagers, and there was no literary style, no taste, and it was the lowest level of articles. What I can describe is nothing more than a real farmer, a sincere nostalgia, and people with the same identity, the same situation, and the same feelings can resonate. These friends don't bother me with my lack of culture, don't hate yelling (disgust, Gaomi dialect) these blandly little articles, patiently read them, but also like, add "fans", leave valuable comments, and some friends also forward to the circle of friends, which really makes me panic! Since the WeChat public account of "Riding Horses into the Forest" published my article, the number of "fans" has increased from more than 300 to more than 1,300. Increasing one by one, just like a seedling, growing a little bit up every day, is gratifying and encouraging.
I was so tired that I bent over when I worked in the fields, but now I am so busy writing articles on the table that I am so busy that I lose my hair. There are things on the mind, and the mind is pressure. Although no one is urging and there is no manuscript fee to earn, it is worth writing one article after another. Not only my wife and I are writing, but my grandson, who is practicing calligraphy, began to inscribe titles, my second son, who loves to draw, drew a lot of illustrations, and my eldest son, who was an editor, has been an editor.
The dreams are gone, and I daydream. Life cannot be without dreams, and dreams are interesting. How could I have thought of writing an article before? I can publish it and publish a book, but it is as unreal as a dream after the future. The dream is very illusory, but the daydream can be grasped and realized. My dream is very small and humble, but it is also a dream, an ideal that I have pursued all my life.
It's spring again, and my wife and I have almost collected another book. The first volume is called "Flower of Life", which means that after experiencing the suffering of life, we can appreciate the beauty of life, the plants and trees bloom with life, we live with life, we endure hardships and hardships, and we work hard to grow and bloom like the forgotten thistle (small thistle, a kind of wild flower) in the field. The middle roll is called "hot kangtou", which means that everyone needs food and clothing, warmth, and warmth, which is the basic goal of life and the common ideal of every farmer and every small family. What is the next volume called, let's talk about it. We have struggled all our lives, and the children continue to work hard, all in order to live a happy and beautiful life. It is still meaningful to write out this process, and it is still meaningful for relatives and friends to share, encourage and make progress together.
(The author is a native of Gaomi, Shandong Province, and used to be a substitute teacher in primary school.) ）
Gao Xiuhua
Editor-in-charge: Wen Cuiling