Photo by Gao Fengtang
If it weren't for the green sprouts of the mountains and branches, the soothing wind and the warm sunshine, you wouldn't have felt the sound of spring.
Tung-chun-hsien
This spring, I returned to my hometown in the mountains and enjoyed a rare peace in the small courtyard.
I like to walk in the morning light, and every morning it is the sound of my footsteps that wakes up the dawn and brings the east to a red glow. There are many more people who have traveled with me. People in the mountains get up early, especially when they wake up in spring.
We walked briskly through the village, walking through the different streets, and let the golden dawn reflect on us, looking dazzling. The dew on the roadside lawn sparkled, and the last star on the pale blue canopy was slowly losing its luster as it was baked by the morning glow.
The sun is out.
A faint breeze carried coolness, and the water swept over. The sunlight rushed diagonally into the alley, and a thin mist flew in this ray of sunlight. There are also birds, bathed in the warmth of the morning sun, flickering their wings wantonly, fluttering the mist, and kicking up small clouds of smoke and dust. The clear river at the edge of the village trembled and rippled, and a large fiery red, blinding shadow shook - it was the deepening sun. The upside-down golden filaments of the willows shook patiently, shaking the leaf bones little by little. The river water has become crystal clear, a few groups of women in red and green clothes gathered by the river, a few white geese in the red light and green shadows scratching their white feathers to lead their necks and chirp, not far from the water surface, a group of geese and ducks in the heart of the river stirring, leisurely.
The wind was no longer so harsh, the earth was no longer so stiff and cold, and there was a slight fragrance, and the branches of the trees became soft, and the leaves of the poplar branches were blooming and scattering their young wings. I suddenly had a lot of feelings: It's the early spring of another year, how much do you know about the flowers blooming and falling?
Walk into the mountains. In front of me to the distance, there is a green carpet of wheat fields, and brown fog bands cover the sky above the distant village like a quilt, and when I look back, there is curling smoke wafting above the village, and the white smoke ribbons linger and merge together, weaving a thin veil covering the village.
The sun in the wild is even brighter and more dazzling, shining on the awakened field, and birds are playing. The Wulong River in the distance, the quiet river water soup goes south, the cherry blossoms are full of mountains, and the poplar forests by the river are full of delicate greenery, everything is so harmonious and beautiful.
The revived life brought me out of the past, reminiscing, trembling with excitement.
The birds sang and danced happily among the branches of the trees, as if singing about the arrival of spring. There are only colorful shadows printed on various objects on the ground, and it also gives people a bit of a winter feeling. I walked straight to the steep ravine in the east of the village, where there was an acre of fertile land for my family.
The wind was blowing, and the breeze was blowing gradually, so wanton and even a little violent. But there was no cloud in the sky at this moment, and because of the wind, the birds had to rest on the shaking branches.
I can't help but think of Zhu Ziqing's "Spring", the spring breeze is indeed like a little doll, rolling from one end of the field to the other, rolling into the river, rolling into the woods, rolling into the wheat field, rolling into the crowd of vehicles. As a result, there was an inexplicable roar all around, and it was impossible to tell whether it was the singing of airplanes soaring in the sky, or the sighs of vehicles running on the ground, or the noise of factory machines. Either way, the sounds don't sound boring, they feel more intimate.
The villagers appeared in different places in the mountains in twos and threes, busy with different tasks, watering wheat, preparing the land, sending fertilizer, digging piles...... Even on the steep cliff mountain road, where pedestrians are rarely seen on weekdays, there are many people passing one after another, and the pretty faces of the women and the fashionable dress are particularly poetic in the green field.
I stood on the top of the steep cliff, surrounded by endless spring feelings, and the soil under my feet was loose and wet, and they were revived and sprouted with life. Looking into the distance, the banks of the Wulong River are gradually turning green, draped in a layer of light, pale green yarn, which spreads to the hills, gradually covering the distant mountains, and also reviving them, rejuvenating and rejuvenating, and the bottom of the ditch is a continuous canopy, showing the green of life, which is the youngest and most vigorous green, covering my village, my big river.
The wheat seedlings in the field have already straightened their bodies at some point, and they are happily facing the sun, as if they are singing some beautiful song, and more like a group of babies who have just been born. There are more people in the mountains, and people in twos and threes are embellished in the green shadows, as if they are carefully weaving something for the green brocade. There were more cars on the trails, horses neighing happily, and dogs and sheep running and jumping.
I don't know who is singing "Spring in the North".
When I looked closely at the cracks in the stones, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the sprouts of the grass were hiding behind the dead grass with their eyes open, peeking into the world, they were waiting, waiting for a time to come. I am reminded of a proverb: if the spring breeze does not blow, the sprouts will not sprout.
I continued along the steep cliff road.
The wind had stopped, and a faint blue mist gently shrouded the distant fields, and the faces of the steep cliffs and mountains were much softer, and they looked red. The shadows of the distant mountains condensed into a white mist, like a delicate and transparent jade carving. The fog became thicker and thicker, and soon the heavens and the earth were frozen together, and even the Sagayama, Jieshan, and Niangniang Mountains in front of them became ethereal and light shadows. At this moment, I am in the mountain col, but I can still feel the clear flow of the Wulong River, and I can faintly hear the geese and ducks singing passionately and gently by the river.
I walked out of the col, but I felt the wind blowing again. It was a southeasterly wind, strong, cool, damp - it was the wind blowing from the sea south of Niangniang Mountain, and this wind made the mountain grass also soak in water.
Suddenly, the sky darkened, and I looked up to see the light dark clouds in the sky surging in the northwest direction, the sun waiting anxiously behind the clouds, and the indifferent mountain mist filled the mountains and hills, as if a rain was about to come.
Unconsciously, the rain fell, at first shyly, then presumptuously, mercilessly wetting people's shirts and wetting the dirt on the ground...... The mountain birds chirped happily somewhere, but the cattle were quite pleasant, raised their heads and opened their throats, and let out a long roar. At first, the unexpected light rain caused panic among the people on the mountain, and some of them disappeared from the fields, but soon everyone calmed down and went about their work as if nothing had happened. At this time, the geese and ducks resting by the river were extremely excited, and they screamed one after another.
The rain was so sudden that we had to leave the mountains and run to the village, and our steps were eager.
The rain was slow and teased us.
Fortunately, this was the first spring rain, and it fell again during the drought.
By the time we got back to the village, the rain had stopped. The sky is exceptionally clear, and you can see the shadows of the distant mountains in the distance. The mountains were trimmed with gold, and they were much more exquisite, shining with auspicious gold, and they were more and more like the shadows of the poles printed in the sky. Thin clouds that melt gold are written horizontally and vertically in the sky. The sky is blue again. It's windy, but it's not deserted, it's just cool.
Drunken Spring
Towards noon, I returned to the courtyard a little tired.
The yard was very clean, so clean that people's hearts felt empty, the ground was white and bright, and a few old willows outside the door were sleeping quietly with their long yellow hair. There is a faint fragrance in the air, the fragrance of sycamore flowers.
The room is white and bright, and everything is so warm and friendly. I made a pot of tea, and wanted to sit down and drink it slowly, but I was greedy for the sunlight outside the house, so I went to the courtyard, sat on the balcony to soak up the sun, and sucked the breeze, and I had a feeling of intoxication. After a while, the sun was scorching hot, and the wind was a little dim, so I had to go back to the house, and pushed open all the window sashes, and the warm wind rushed in without any worries, and I couldn't hold my feet, and I hit the wall headlong, and a few curtains of ink splashed in panic and made a noise.
Read books, listen to plays.
In the afternoon, there was a drizzle, and soon the sky was clear again, and the breeze blowing in from the window, although it was not yet cool, was no longer mean, warm and refreshing, and the air was exceptionally fresh, and my drowsy mind was cleared, and my mood was extraordinarily high.
At this moment I really smell the smell of spring. Through the window, my gaze fell on the elm trees on the wall, their branches already a hazy yellow, and the plane trees dotted with pink buds crocheted a light and flowing silk veil, mysterious and inscrutable. I felt that the newly born leaf buds on the branches were like the eyes of the leaves, so I went out of the house to the bottom of the tree, and looked up to see them with my heart.
Soon my attention was drawn to the flower branch in the corner. The basal leaves of the moonflowers, which had died in the winter and other flowers, stretched out as small as children's arms, and I seemed to see the thousands of purple and red petals held in the palm of my hand.
When I left the hospital gate, my vision immediately widened. Looking east, I saw the Wulong River, which occasionally showed a corner, and at this moment it had turned into a sky blue mirror, which was smoothly embedded in the valley, allowing the people in the mountains to enjoy it.
There are many locust trees in the village, and the locust flowers are not the same every year. I eagerly await the blooming of the locust flowers, and I love that they hang silently and quietly outside the wall, secretly exuding a fragrance. When I think of Si, my heart is filled with joy and endless hope.
From afar, I saw the old and young masters sitting or leaning under the locust trees at the entrance of the village and at the root of the house walls, gathering together to talk and discuss, and I knew that they were there to talk about things like building roads, watering the ground, houses, and rural history.
What a paradise on earth.
Wash the spring
The sunset dyed the afterglow a magnificent crimson, gradually burning the whole sky red, and the sunset covered the western sky like a huge colored silk. The land became dazzling because of the golden brilliance, and everywhere it shone with glittering brilliance, as if the earth had turned gold, and even the faces of the people who worked in the fields and the bodies of oxen were dyed with this festivity, red and yellow, orange and orange, giving people a vibrant shock.
The red glow faded and finally turned purple and dark black.
Night had fallen, and one or two early stars shone white in the gray-blue sky. When the last piece of brown light was gone, there were more stars in the sky, and the moon also emitted pure light, and everything was covered with a soft moonlight, flowing like cool feng shui.
Gradually, the stars in the sky will become more numerous, covering my house and my treetops, and they will pass through the thick night, weaving a faint night light, and enveloping the mountain village in a mysterious dream.
I don't know when it started to rain again, it was very concentrated, and the rhythm of the crackling horn hit the window vigorously and distinctly, and there was no sound in the small courtyard except the sound of rushing water. Through the windowpane, I saw a lot of misty rain falling on the dark, lead-gray sky.
I'm waiting for the rain to stop.
When the rain stopped, it was nearly midnight, and I pushed open the door and came to the courtyard, and the air was so fresh that my spirit was refreshed. The stars in the sky, strong and weak, are like countless jewels in the sea, shining with an alluring and mysterious luster. Above the western horizon, the first quarter moon is surrounded by a thick, quiet, blue sheen, as if dripping with strings of clear water.
Quiet all around.
Back in the house, leaning on the head of the bed alone, too lazy to move. This is the time when I enjoy it the most, lying quietly alone, staring at the courtyard wall and roof of the house outside the window soaked in the hazy night, listening to those sad songs, immersed in a melancholy and comfortable feeling, lonely reminiscences, longing, and the hope that strikes my heart makes me throb from time to time, and it is difficult to suppress.
Tomorrow I will leave my small courtyard, my village, and return to that busy and busy city.
I don't want to leave, I miss my hometown, I miss the country life, and the days here exude the fragrance of the earth.
Author: Gao Fengtang, formerly known as Gao Fengtang, a native of Laiyang, Shandong. He began publishing in 1988. Poems, essays, novels, stories and other works have been scattered in newspapers and magazines across the country. He is a member of the Shandong Writers Association, a director of the Laiyang Writers Association, and the director of the Novel Creation Committee. He is currently working for Chunxue Food Group Co., Ltd.