Spring in the disaster area
Author: Du Shuwen
The Qingming Festival is here again, and I miss my deceased parents, and even more so the people in the disaster area of my hometown in Huaxian County. After the harsh winter, what are the lives and emotions of those who have experienced the floods?
On both sides of the road leading from the county seat to the Weihe flood control embankment, there is a bright spring light, willows and wild flowers. Large patches of pink paulownia flowers cover the villages near and far. The waist-high flood marks on the trees have not yet receded, but the branches have grown goose-yellow leaves. During the Spring Festival, the couplet "Wipe the Flood Demon with a Pen and Write the Wine for the New Year" posted on the door is still eye-catching and shining. The Qingming Festival has arrived, and the victims have not forgotten their deceased relatives because of the disaster. They took their children, carrying incense watches, paper money, thousands of silk willows, and sprinkled golden cypresses, looking for and identifying the graves of their relatives in the flooded cemetery. On the small mounds that have almost been razed to the ground, strings of paper are inserted, graves are built, kowtows, tears are shed, blessings are given, paper money is reverently burned, and some even set off a string of firecrackers to drive away evil from relatives and homes.
After all, the harsh winter has passed, and the old people have stepped out of the relief tents covered with window grilles and basked in the warm spring breeze. A few peach, apricot and pear blossoms shimmer in front of the tent, decorating the farmhouse after the disaster. A few ostriches walked with their heads held high. A herd of Boer goats leisurely nibble on the tender grass in the village yard. The old man told me that these were all sent by the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry after the disaster, and that the ostrich laid eggs on the first day of the new year, and the Boer goats gave birth to lambs during the Lantern Festival. Soon the second generation will start breeding.
A Pekingese puppy is spreading joy in front of his eyes. The old man pointed to the puppy and said, "When the flood came down, it was not yet born." The person was transferred, and the pregnant old dog, in order to protect the little life in its belly, was forced to the roof platform by the flood. On the third day, she gave birth to two cute puppies. However, there was no food upstairs. For seven or eight days, the old dog was hungry and fed them with shriveled milk. But milk is limited after all, and the old dog's desperate barking is extremely miserable. When the people on the assault boat climbed to the top of the building, they found that a puppy had died. Only the old dog and the puppy were still lying there. When they held the two dogs in their arms, the old dog closed his eyes forever. The puppy miraculously survived. Now it's bouncing around people to their heart's content. But how did it know the calamity and sorrow brought to the world by that terrible flood...... and perhaps only it could give the old man the most spiritual comfort.
As he was talking, a couple of newcomers walked out of a peasant household with big red happy characters. My younger brother told me: "This is Xiao Zhou, a technician from the trial park of the County Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau, who met and established a romantic relationship with Xiao Wang in the village two years ago in the promotion of new varieties of fruit trees. After the flood, she did not abandon her original intention because of the destruction of Xiao Wang's home, and resolutely held a happy event during the Spring Festival as scheduled. and vowed to rebuild his home with technology with Xiao Wang. After listening to his younger brother's introduction, Xiao Zhou and Xiao Wang both blushed. Xiao Zhou said shyly: "It's the emotional bond that binds us together." ”
At this time, there was a loud sound of books in the village. Oh! It's a makeshift elementary school set up in relief tents. Humble and orderly. At this time, the bell rang for the end of class, and the students crowded out of the tents. Because the playground was occupied by tents, the students had to move around in the village yard.
It coincided with the Qingming Festival, and the school set up several swings in the village. With the swing with colorful streamers rising and falling, the laughter like silver bells echoed in the spring breeze of peach and plum, adding infinite vitality to the tent primary school. I walked into a few classrooms and found slogans prominently displayed: "Hold up our backbones, produce to save ourselves, rebuild our homes!" The teachers said that this is a lesson they must teach to the students every day, and Premier Wen instructed him when he inspected the disaster, not only for adults to know, but also for children to keep in mind!
I didn't know it was time for lunch. But few people in the fields came home, and it was women or children who brought food to the fields. A villager nicknamed "Lao Qiangniu," who was eating in the field, told me: "During the autumn sowing, the ground is full of silt, and the wheat seedlings are not good, so I am anxious! The old people have to change the season, their children have to go to school, they have to plan to build houses, pay off loans, and have to wait for state relief. In the past six months, the party and the government have done enough for us, and we have to think about the country too!" The younger brother said with a smile: "'Old Qiangniu' is really a cheerful person, during the Spring Festival, he insisted on beating gongs and drums, putting up lanterns in the tents, inviting several hard-hit households, preparing thin wine and drinking freely, he said, 'We must not lie down, we must support the government, cheer up the villagers, and encourage everyone to grit their teeth and tide over the difficulties together.'"
"Old Bull" listened to his brother's words and laughed heartily. Said seriously: "Greenhouse vegetables cost a lot of money, and it is difficult to recover for a while, so start with the greenhouse." No, the high-quality new vegetable varieties supported by the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry have emerged, and the fresh spring vegetables are growing. As long as there is income, life will be lively. We have to rebuild our homes! We have to ...... them in a down-to-earth manner."
From the words of the "old bull", I clearly feel that the victims who have received the party's disaster relief blessings have deeply understood that any waiting and reliance is empty, and only creation and possession are the most reliable and solid. Let the hope in the hearts of all the victims start this spring!
7 April 2004
Original source: "Dream Collection"
Original author: Du Shuwen
Collation and editing: Huazhou Literature and History