Author: Wang Hongliang
Under the soaphorn tree
Spring is coming, everything is revived, everything is renewed, and the breath of spring is everywhere.
The towering summit is full of flowers, grass, and trees, making people fully enjoy the scenery of spring.
The saponaria tree in the village that has survived for a hundred years is still vigorous, towering into the clouds, with the advent of spring, the branches are luxuriant, fruitful, and the spring breeze blows, and there is a sound of sighing. It is still fresh in people's memories and unforgettable.
Ten meters away from the saponaria tree, there is a five-meter-wide river. The river is not deep, and the bottom and surface of the river are more than a meter high. In those years, the environment was not polluted, and the river surface was sparkling and crystal clear. The people of the village could stand on the shore and see the fish swimming in the middle of the river. Of course, there is silt near the river ladder, wild loaches, crabs and a wide variety of other animals. The children in the village would take advantage of the lack of school to go to the river to touch wild fish, shrimp, loaches, crabs and other aquatic products, and then take them home for their grandmothers or mothers to cook and eat. When it is hot, the male compatriots in the village will bathe in the river every day to relieve the heat and cool off. When the weather is hot, the female compatriots in the village will also take advantage of the night to bathe in the river to relieve the heat and enjoy the coolness. The female compatriots of the village, all year round, wash their clothes by this river.
The ancient bell hanging on the soaphorn tree is still there, and when the wind blows, the ancient bell will make a pleasant sound, which is both thick and loud.
It's a different kind of sound that has become a lifelong memory for the locals. It is also an object that haunts the soul of local people working outside, and it is an indelible concern in their minds. In fact, there is nothing wrong with the locals doing this, who does not love their hometown, who does not say that their hometown is good, and who does not miss and worry about their hometown? It can be said that it is a nostalgia that will not linger in a lifetime.
The round grinding pan under the soaphorn tree is still there, and it is placed on the triangular wall built with bricks by the masses, which is about one meter high in general, and there are four stone benches one meter long and half a meter high around the grinding pan for the masses to sit on the stone bench to eat, enjoy the cool and chat. Two round-shaped stone stones, vertical, stand by the soaphorn tree, old, steady, without losing the traces of time, people can also sit on it to enjoy the coolness, chat, and eat.
When the masses eat, they will invariably carry bowls and come to the soaphorn tree to have a lively time. It is not an exaggeration to say that under this soaphorn tree, it should be a rice market, it is absolutely appropriate.
Of course, during the slack season, the adults in the village will gather under the soaphorn tree to play chess, poker, and mahjong. The scene was very lively. Of course, when the farming season is busy, the men, women and children of the village are working in the crops, and there is no such scene under the soaphorn tree.
Sometimes, the male compatriots in the village will prepare a few dishes, carry wine, bring cigarettes, sit under the soaphorn tree, look at the scenery, drink and reminisce, and get closer to each other.
What a beautiful time this is, what a dynamic picture scroll this is, what a pleasing scenery this is, it is worth people to collect, cherish and remember for a lifetime!
In those years, the village held mass meetings attended by all the villagers, but there was no suitable site, and most of them were held under the soaphorn tree.
During the New Year's holiday, many people in the village bring out the eight-pointed table at home, take a long bench, put meat and vegetable dishes on the eight-pointed table, put wine and tableware, and other daily necessities, and the masses shout to drink and talk freely to congratulate the festival.
When the people in the village encounter weddings and funerals, most of them will open the field under the soaphorn tree, set up a banquet, and entertain the guests and the people in the village. In this way, people put on a feast to congratulate weddings and funerals.
Under the soaphorn tree, there is another function, which is an ideal place for young men and women, infatuated men and women, to talk about love at night, and to date lovers.
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It can be seen that this place under the soaphorn tree has a large open space, flat ground, fresh air, and close to the river, which has become a very widely used place for the locals. Its practical value, incomparable, irreplaceable, is definitely a piece of feng shui treasure.
You're a turtle grandson
One year, after the beginning of summer in the twenty-four solar terms, it was not yet dog days, and although the weather was hot, it was not too hot. People's senses are able to accept such weather and temperatures.
Most of the adult male villagers in the area are busy, what are they busy doing? They are busy going to the temple fairs in the countryside to buy some sickles, brooms, mulberry forks, whetstones, hemp ropes and other agricultural tools to be used when harvesting wheat. Adult male villagers here have been doing this for many years. They should do the same. Of course, the women of the village don't care about these things, they have what they have to do every day.
The second-rate son is lazy all day long, and he is not good at work, of course, he does not pay much attention to personal hygiene, and he keeps his home like a pig's nest.
Therefore, he is in his thirties, and he has no wife or heirs.
Some well-wishers in the village once introduced him to several objects, but they all failed because of his personal problems and failure to grasp them. You can't blame anyone else for this, you can only blame yourself.
Other men in the village went to the temple fair to buy the farm tools needed by the rural farmers. The second-rate people don't do this, they sit under the soaphorn tree all day long, stuck in the old people, women pile, and accompany the old people in the village with nothing to do, and the women chat all over the world.
One morning, just after nine o'clock, the second-rate son played mahjong in the middle of the night, didn't bother to brush his teeth, wash his face, hurriedly took a pack of instant noodles, and a teapot well pulled out cold water, came to the soaphorn tree, ate instant noodles, and drank cold water from the well. Apparently, he was starving.
He sat down on a stone and ate and drank alone.
At that time, there were four women under the soaphorn tree, namely Aunt Zhang, Sister-in-law Qi, Sister-in-law Liu and Sister-in-law Li. The four of them are doing needlework with laughter and laughter, Aunt Zhang is collecting the soles of her shoes, Sister-in-law Qi is unpacking children's cotton clothes, Sister-in-law Liu is collecting the soles of socks, and Sister-in-law Li is putting on the soles of her shoes.
The second-rate man didn't speak, he only cared about eating and drinking, and he was losing his strength when he ate and drank heavily.
Suddenly, Sister-in-law Li joked with him with a smile: "Second-rate, we have an old saying: don't let people eat and enter the anus one bite at a time." ”
The second-rate man rolled his eyes and looked at Sister-in-law Li, and began to scold: "Sister-in-law Li, you said it yourself, who are you talking about farting?"
In a hurry, Sister-in-law Li said: "When I speak, it's you who fart!"
Sister-in-law Li's words caused a burst of laughter at the time.
The second-rate man laughed and threw away the teapot in his hand.
Aunt Zhang laughed and said, "Hey, his sister-in-law Li, why are you not fine, he is scolding you, you are fooled, you are so good!"
Sister-in-law Liu and sister-in-law Qi also leaned forward and leaned back with laughter.
Sister-in-law Li smiled and said, "In a hurry, I said the wrong thing, second-rate son, you turtle grandson!"
Sister-in-law Li casually picked up the dirt on the ground and smashed it at the second-rate son.
Second-rate people dodge deliberately.
These people, just talking, laughing, teasing, time flies.
Suddenly, a man and a woman came
Just as the second-rate people and several women were laughing and laughing, two adults, a man and a woman, each riding a bicycle and carrying a cloth bag, said that they came to these people.
These two people are not locals, they are foreigners, and you can tell from the accents.
The man and the woman were in the open area under the soaphorn tree, steadying their bicycles and squatting next to Aunt Zhang and four other women. The man took out his cigarette pouch, rolled a cigarette, lit a fire, and smoked alone. The woman introduced herself pitifully: "Auntie, hello sisters, the two of us are two people, not here, both from other provinces." It was only because of the disaster in his hometown that he came out to exchange silver dollars for food. Please have mercy on our strangers!" The man's brows were tightly knit, his eyes were full of tears, and the woman cried directly and quietly.
Aunt Zhang wore reading glasses and asked, "How do you exchange silver dollars for food?"
The man's expression looked at Aunt Zhang intently, and he whispered clearly: "Auntie, it's like this, twenty catties of grain, in exchange for a silver dollar." In other words, if you give me twenty pounds of grain, I will give you a silver dollar. ”
The woman cried loudly, and she said, "My hometown was hit by a disaster, and my father and mother and children were starving to death, so I left the two of us behind, and then we came out to beg for food." Please aunt, sister-in-law, have mercy on us strangers!"
Many times, women are soft-hearted, and women's hearts are connected, especially when they don't see women crying loudly, they are sad.
As soon as the foreigner girl cried like this, Aunt Zhang, Sister-in-law Li, Sister-in-law Qi, and Sister-in-law Liu also wiped their tears. Even the second-rate son, who is usually heartless, sighed solemnly.
The foreigner man swore and said: "The silver dollar we gave you is not fake, it is all true, if you don't believe it, blow the silver dollar, put it in your ears and listen to it, it will ring." ”
As he spoke, the foreigner took out a silver dollar from the left pocket of his jacket and handed it to the second-rate man who liked to watch the excitement.
The second-rate son said seriously: "It's true, it's true, if you don't believe it, you four listen to it." ”
Aunt Zhang, Sister-in-law Li, Sister-in-law Qi, and Sister-in-law Liu put down the needlework in their hands and took the silver dollar respectively.
Aunt Zhang wiped her tears and said to the outsiders: "You two are both strangers, your hometown has suffered a disaster, you are all poor people, we believe in you! You two are waiting here, I will go home and weigh twenty catties of wheat, and you will give me a silver dollar." Do good deeds!"
Sister-in-law Liu, Sister-in-law Li, and Sister-in-law Qi all hurriedly got up, went home to pick wheat, and said, "It's not easy for you strangers to come out to do business, you two are waiting here, and we will also go home to make wheat, and then exchange it for a silver dollar." ”
Even the second-rate people, who are usually lazy and lazy, were moved by compassion at that time, and hurriedly said, "And me." You wait here, and I'll go home and exchange grain for silver dollars. He stopped talking and hurried home.
The two outsiders, squatting in place and motionless, looked at the backs of the second-rate people and the others, looked at each other, with tears on their faces, showing a strange smile. That smile is very special. It can be said that even the people present have difficulty distinguishing what the laughter of these two people means.
After a while, the second-rate son, Aunt Zhang, Sister-in-law Li, Sister-in-law Liu, and Sister-in-law Qi, respectively took out a bag of wheat from home, and Sister-in-law Li said: "You weigh it to see if the weight is enough." ”
The outsider girl looked at the outsider man cautiously, and asked with a sincere face: "Father, child, look at these wheat, do we call them worth?"
A smile appeared on the face of the foreigner man, and he said loudly: "What to call, there is nothing to call, don't call it! They are all fathers and fellow villagers, and we still don't believe in our sister-in-law and sister-in-law, and this brother! The fellow is busy and pity us, we have to believe in the fellow countryman, and be worthy of the fellow countryman! In my opinion, we can directly put the wheat into the cloth bag we brought. This is what it means to compare hearts to hearts. ”
So, with the help of the second-rate son, the 100 catties of wheat were put into a cloth bag brought by the foreigner, and then the two men carried it and put it on the back seat of the bicycle ridden by the foreigner man.
The foreigner man smiled and said, "it, this wheat is not much or less, just one hundred catties, and my cloth bag is the best one." ”
The outsider laughed along.
The outsider patted the dust on his hands, took out five silver dollars from the pocket on the right side of his jacket, and handed them to the second-rate son, Aunt Zhang, Sister-in-law Liu, Sister-in-law Li and Sister-in-law Qi.
Then the two strangers got on their bikes and ran in a hurry.
Your silver dollar is a fake
After breakfast the next morning, the crowd came to the soaphorn tree in twos and threes to chat.
Among them, there are second-rate people.
The second-rate man held the silver dollar in front of everyone, and he said, "The big guys see if my silver dollar is beautiful?"
Li Si stepped forward and said with a smiling face, "Brother Liuzi, let me see." ”
The second-rate man said: "You can see it, but you can't touch it." ”
Li Si said: "In the middle, I only look at it, not touch it." ”
After Li Si carefully looked at the silver dollar, he praised it, and he said in an envious tone: "This silver dollar, how fine the workmanship is, whether it is the shape, appearance, texture, concave and convex, how beautiful!"
Uncle Liu, who was squatting in front of him, said: "Second-rate, they all say that this silver dollar, after blowing it, you can hear it in your ears." Can you hear the sound of your silver dollar? We want to hear it too. ”
The second-rate man said: "This silver dollar will ring, we all tried it yesterday." ”
Li Si hurriedly interjected: "Brother Liuzi, you try, let's listen to the sound of the silver dollar." ”
The second-rate son Hangerlang said locally: "Listen to it, listen to it, then what does it have!"
The second-rate man hurriedly used his two fingernails to gently pinch the silver dollar, blew it violently, and put it to his ear to listen, but he didn't hear the sound.
He looked panicked and didn't believe himself, so he was dumbfounded and said, "it, we're fooled!"
Everyone blew the silver dollar hand in hand, and the silver dollar did not make a sound at all.
Everyone said babblingly: "What kind of treasure did we think the second-rate son was getting, it turned out to be a fake silver dollar!"
At that time, the second-rate son, Aunt Zhang, Sister-in-law Li, Sister-in-law Qi, and Sister-in-law Liu did not dare to slack off, so they rode bicycles together and went to the county seat to find the master of the silversmith shop to identify the authenticity of the five silver dollars, whether they were true or false.
After many years of experience and technology, and after a detailed appraisal, the master silversmith said with confidence: "What kind of silver dollar are you, it is clearly a round cake made of aluminum, and you will know it when the round cake is sharpened." ”
From that day on, Aunt Zhang, Sister-in-law Li, Sister-in-law Qi, and Sister-in-law Liu, as long as they had free time, sat under the soaphorn tree and scolded the two strangers in front of the masses.
At the same time, it was not only Aunt Zhang and the other four people who scolded the two outsiders with affection, but also second-rate people who were lazy and lazy.
However, scolding and scolding, after all, what is the use of these people doing this!?
The work was completed on April 6, 2024