Narrator: Wang Qiang
Source: Contributed by netizens
My name is Wang Qiang, I was born in the late 60s, my hometown is on the bank of the Huai River, the village is very large, there is a big river flowing from south to north in the west of the village.
In my memory, the river did not bring benefits to the people, but every summer the river raged, flooding the crops and making life difficult for the people.
Therefore, the people on both sides of the river are very poor, and it just so happens that my home is on the east side of the river, and my grandmother is on the west side of the river.
I was not far from my grandmother's house in a straight line, but to get to my grandmother's house, I had to go around 10 miles and cross a small bridge to get there.
My grandmother had three sons and a daughter, my mother was the youngest child, my uncle joined the army at the age of 17, and after changing jobs, he went to work in a coal mine, ate commercial grain, and married a wife and had children according to his own ability.
The second uncle and the third uncle were not so lucky, because the second uncle fell down when he was a child digging a bird's nest on a tree, and his shoulder blade was split, and he was not treated in time, and one arm fell into a problem, although it was not serious, but because the family was too thin, he could not find a partner.
So the fate of the mother was tied to the second uncle, and the grandparents didn't want the second uncle to be single, so they wanted to exchange their mother for their daughter-in-law, we called "two parents", and this marriage model was very popular in that era.
My mother has not studied, and when she was 18 years old, someone came to the door to propose marriage, but my grandparents said: My girl is to change her daughter-in-law, who has this idea to become in-laws, although my mother disagrees, but there is no way.
So under the matchmaker's peace, Mom and Dad met.
Grandma has two sons and two daughters, the aunt and the uncle are married, because the uncle got married and took out the family, and when the father reached the marriageable age, the family really couldn't get a penny, so the two families hit it off, fortunately, the father looked good, the sister-in-law did not dislike the second uncle, and the mother was not easy to say.
Mom is the only girl, the uncle is 12 years older than the mother, the uncle loves the mother very much, I heard the grandmother say that when the uncle walked around when he was a child, he carried his mother on his back, for fear that his mother would be tired.
The uncle did not approve of this marriage, but the grandfather spoke: If you have the ability to get a woman for your brother, you have the final say in everything, and if you don't have the ability, shut your dog's mouth, and it is not your turn to call the shots when I am alive and married, so the uncle and grandfather have a stalemate, and the uncle has not returned home for several years.
In the end, the uncle failed to convince the grandfather, the mother still married the father, and the sister-in-law married the second uncle, because the old people of both families were worried about extraneous branches, and it took three months from meeting to marriage, and the uncle did not attend the wedding.
After my mother and father got married, they gave birth to three children, I am the eldest, and there is a younger brother and a younger sister below.
Fortunately, the parents first got married and then fell in love, and the people of that era were simple-minded, that is, they worked at sunrise and sunset, and they couldn't work when it rained, so they spun and weaved cloth and did needlework, and the only idea was to be able to fill their stomachs, and they could eat a meal of white flour steamed buns and burn a bowl of radish and roast meat during the New Year.
When I was a child, I was really poor, three seasons a year to play barefoot, my brother and I took turns wearing three torn pants, the little boy was naughty, sometimes he got wet and his butt was bare, the weather was cold, the pants were wet and sun-dried, and he sat on the quilt and waited, there was no firewood in those days, and adults were reluctant to use firewood to bake.
Meals are even more eaten, but not the next meal.
I remember when I was 7 years old, there was a flood again, the crops were all flooded, after the flood, I temporarily replanted carrots, and planted sweet potatoes, because the growth period is short, it grew bigger than a finger, and the family divided a bunch, which is the winter ration for five people.
My father hid carrots and sweet potatoes in the cellar for the winter, and my mother took me to dig wild vegetables every day.
The family eats wild vegetables every day, and their faces are green, and they walk with both legs dragged.
The children were looking forward to the New Year with their fingers every day, but they didn't even smell the meat during the Spring Festival, because every household had nothing to eat.
Seeing that it was the New Year, my parents were relatively speechless, sighing, and my mother said helplessly, "People can go back to their parents' homes to borrow food, and my mother also lives by the river, and she has nothing to eat when I stop it." ”
Dad said, "That's it for this year!" There is meat and no meat for the New Year.
A few days before the Chinese New Year, my mother took half a bamboo basket of wheat from the earthen hoard, dipped it in water with a towel and hured it over and over again, dried it and ran to the mill to grind it into flour.
On the 28th day of the lunar month, my mother steamed a pot of wheat flour steamed buns, even if it was the New Year, the steamed buns were black, but they tasted numb and fragrant.
In the blink of an eye, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month has arrived, and our hometown has the custom of getting married to go back to send wild goose buns, and to send wild goose buns to send a hanging of meat, which can make my mother sad to death.
When my grandmother saw that my mother was worried, she said: Chuanlan, don't worry, or you wait for Xiufen (my sister-in-law) to send things over, and then you take the things she sent back to your parents' house.
Mom was embarrassed, but she couldn't think of a more suitable way, so she had to agree.
So I looked forward to the stars and the moon and waited for my sister-in-law to send something over.
But until the 17th of the first month, I didn't see the figure of my sister-in-law, and my mother didn't dare to wait, so she took out the two scoops of white noodles left last time, steamed two old goose buns, and steamed 4 old goose eggs.
The steamed buns were so fragrant that they attracted us to swallow saliva around the pot, and my mother was not willing to give us any of them.
Early in the morning of the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, my mother carefully put the wild goose in a bamboo basket, covered it with a lamb belly towel, and went out on her shoulder.
At that time, children liked to go to relatives, I cried and chased after me, my shoes ran away, and my mother couldn't lose me, so she took me away.
It was very cold in the first month, the river had not yet frozen, and many children were playing on the ice, so my mother took me to take a shortcut to cross the river on the ice.
When I arrived at my grandmother's house, I realized that my grandmother's house had nothing to eat, and there was no white flour at home, so my grandmother and grandmother wanted to be together, so she asked my sister-in-law to wait for my mother to go first and take the things my mother sent to see my grandmother.
A few people laughed, but in fact, it was sad to think about it later.
Grandma put the old goose bun into her own bamboo basket, covered it with a lamb belly hand towel, and hung it on the beam, seeing me looking at it with a blank eye, my grandmother said: Wait until tomorrow your sister-in-law will go home and go through the motions, and then break some for you to eat.
Seeing the white and soft old geese, how long I have been flowing.
At noon, my grandmother rolled out two large doses of noodles, washed some small sweet potatoes and put them in the noodles to cook together, put a little oil for the first time, everyone gathered in front of the pot and earthen stove, I haven't eaten noodles for a long time, sighing and snoring a big bowl.
When I was eating, my uncle came back suddenly, my uncle worked in the coal mine, and he rarely came back, so my mother quickly filled my uncle with a bowl of noodles, and when I saw my uncle, I immediately squeezed into his arms.
My uncle asked me how many words I knew, and I said, "How can I know words before I go to school!"
My uncle turned around and asked my mother why she didn't let me go to school, and my mother said, "I don't have anything to eat, where can I have money to study!"
The uncle was very angry when he heard this, and he said to his mother: Do you want the child to be blind like you?
Mom said: I also want to send him to study, a penny is hard to die a hero!
Everyone was silent, and when I saw that my uncle and mother stopped talking, I rushed to say: Mom's words are not counted, and I said that I would buy meat for the New Year, but I didn't drink the broth.
Mom sighed and said, "You think it's just your gluttony, I want to eat it too!" There are still a few months left before the wheat harvest is harvested, so it would be nice not to go hungry.
The uncle waved his hand and called his mother away, and the two of them ran into the room without knowing what to say, and my mother's eyes were red when she came out.
On the way back, my mother cried all the way, I thought that my uncle scolded her, and I hated my uncle very much.
Early the next morning, my mother went to the market.
My younger siblings and I waited at the entrance of the village to see if my mother had bought anything good.
At noon, I saw my mother coming back from afar, carrying something in my hand, and I took the lead to run to my mother, and my younger siblings also ran over.
My mother was carrying a piece of meat, which was tied with a hemp rope, and it was very white and thick, and it was shining, and my mouth was already drooling, and I sucked it hard.
I still remember my mother's expression when she entered the village, she held the meat high, for fear that others would not see it, and when she met people, her neighbor Aunt Zhang saw it and said loudly: Xiaoqiang,, why do you have money to eat meat without a festival?
Mom said proudly: The money given by Uncle Xiaoqiang asked me to open meat for my child.
At noon that day, my mother asked me to call my aunt to come over for dinner, and by the way, I called my grandparents over.
Mom put the meat in the pot and boiled it, the broth was clear and clear, with nail-sized oil flowers floating on it, Mom gave each of us a bowl of broth, sprinkled a little salt, stirred it with chopsticks, the broth was so fragrant, attracting a group of wild dogs to gather around the door and bark.
Before the rice was cooked, the broth was drunk.
My mother burned cabbage and roasted meat, and she told us: I didn't eat meat during the New Year, so you should eat it well, and I don't know when I will eat meat next time.
From the chat between my mother and my father, I learned that my uncle gave my mother 10 yuan to buy some meat for the children, and kept the rest of the money to send me to study in the autumn.
My uncle was very hard to go down the well, but every day there was a lunch allowance for the class, and the uncle was reluctant to eat, so he saved the lunch for me and my younger brothers and sisters, and occasionally squeezed out a little food stamp to my mother to help us get through the hardest days in those years.
In those days, no one's things were saved by tightening their belts, and my uncle worked very hard in the mines, but he saved money to subsidize us.
Uncle has always been worried about the change of parents, she feels sorry for her mother, so she tries to make up for us.
In fact, my mother has been very happy all her life, although the first half of her life was hard, but her father was good to her and followed her in everything.
After the implementation of the production responsibility system in 79 years, life has gradually improved, although the economy is embarrassed, there is no big problem to eat well.
All three of us were studying, and when it was time to pay the book bill, my mother was worried.
When I was in the third grade, I had no money to pay for tuition, so I dropped out, and when my uncle found out, he took me to school without saying a word, paid me the book fee, and stuffed me with a few dollars to go back and give to my mother.
My uncle always gave half of my family's food during the New Year's holidays, and saved the work clothes for my father to wear.
When I was in junior high school in '83, my uncle bought me a permanent bicycle, which is said to have been bought from Shanghai, but he didn't have a bicycle to ride, and every time he came to my house, he walked.
My uncle has always taught me to study hard, find a job in the office in the future, the wind does not blow my head, the rain does not hit my face, and I don't want to be absent from work without education like him, it is dirty, tiring and dangerous.
I haven't been reading material since I was a child, I feel uncomfortable sitting in the classroom, and I dropped out of junior high school before I finished it, and I can see that my uncle is very disappointed.
The younger siblings studied well, but there was a shortage of teachers at that time, and the two siblings were both studying teacher colleges, which was already remarkable in the countryside at that time.
Mom and Dad are happy, and Uncle is no less happy than Mom and Dad.
I got married at the age of 22, my lover was a junior high school classmate, and I was still very poor in the early 90s.
I have been working outside for a few years, and I have savings in my hands, because I don't worry about my wife and children at home, I go back to my hometown to learn mushroom cultivation techniques.
At first, I was worried that the technology was immature and I didn't dare to do more, so I got a greenhouse, but I didn't expect that the supply of mushrooms was in short supply, so I slowly increased the planting area.
In 12 years, my hometown opened a mine, built a large farmers' market not far from home, and I built two greenhouses, started mushroom wholesale, and earned more than my younger brothers and sisters with my husband and wife's hard work.
The days are getting better day by day, and the uncle who once loved me like his life has also been devastated by time, and his originally tall body has become more and more rickety.
It has been more than ten years since the uncle retired, and the two sons are working in other places, because of the pressure in the big city, not only can they not take care of the uncle these years, but the uncle has to subsidize the brothers.
My uncle has been working in a dark and damp environment all his life, and he has suffered from leg pain, and the older he gets, the more serious it becomes, and he can't climb the stairs, so he goes back to his hometown to care for the elderly.
I often go to see him, help him with his work, buy him some daily necessities, my uncle is still so real, every time I send him something, he gives me money, my uncle said: Daqiang! Uncle can't help it, how can I let you post kung fu and pay money? Take it! Uncle is not short of money.
I took my uncle's hand and said: Uncle, you helped me so much when we were young, I remember your kindness, the eldest cousin, the second cousin are far away, and something will squeak in the future.
Uncle Hehe smiled and said: If you don't bother, try not to bother, you are busy.
I said, "Uncle, I don't allow you to say the word trouble, I should take care of you."
My uncle's legs are cold, and I took him to the bathhouse to take a bath in the winter, and even the boss said: Lao Zhang, your nephew is more useful than his son.
As he grew older, his uncle's old cold legs became more and more serious, my cousin took him to Shanghai for treatment, and I also took him to several hospitals, but it didn't work, and then he was in a wheelchair, and his life was taken care of by his aunt.
One day in the first month of the 17th year, my aunt went to the vegetable garden to get vegetables, and suddenly suffered a stroke and fell and was not rescued.
The two old watches handled the funeral of their aunt at home, and then took their uncle into the city, and the uncle went to the city for half a year, because of his inconvenience, he was disliked by others, and he was noisy to come back, he said that he would die at home, and there was no root in the city.
So the eldest cousin sent him back and accompanied him for half a year, but the cousin was too long away from home and couldn't integrate into this place, so he complained every day, and later contacted the nursing home for his uncle, and planned to send his uncle to the nursing home but he was dead.
After I knew, I felt very sad, the older people get, the more they love home, everyone wants to have relatives by their side, the nursing home has no family affection, it is the end of death, the uncle has no problem with his brain, he must not accept it, sending to the nursing home is equivalent to being abandoned, the uncle is so good to me, I can't sit idly by.
That night, I cautiously told my uncle about the situation, and my lover wiped her tears when she heard it, and scolded the two cousins for having no conscience, saying that the uncle was so good, but I didn't expect that my children and grandchildren would be sent to a nursing home when I was old.
I took the opportunity to discuss with my lover, and I said: Uncle is a kind person, he saved money to help our family in those years, my parents are gone, the second uncle and the third uncle are gone, I am also this elder, I want to take over the uncle for the elderly.
The lover hesitated for a moment and said: Uncle has a son, is it appropriate for you to take it? Isn't it the same as slapping two old watches in the face?
I said that I would coordinate with Lao Biao, and besides, Lao Biao is not unfilial, and they also have hardships, so I'll see if I can think of a way to get the best of both worlds.
The lover said, "Look at it!" I know it's not easy to take care of the elderly, but he's an uncle! I can't bear to send that kind of place.
I stretched out my hand to hug my wife, and said with a hippie smile: If you don't object, you support, thank you, my wife, it's so difficult for me to come over, I don't need you to get started.
The lover said: What you say is better than what you sing, and everything at home depends on you.
Thanks to my lover, after so many years of hard work, I don't have to care about anything when I go home except for the mushroom shed.
So I immediately drove my lover to my uncle's house.
When I arrived, my uncle's clothes were all packed, and there were several large bags of diapers, and when he saw me coming, my uncle immediately cried, and I hurried to my uncle's side, squatted down, and comforted him.
The eldest cousin drooped his head and said nothing.
My uncle cried for a long time, he took my hand and said: Wang Qiang, I don't want to go to a nursing home, I don't know anyone there, I watched the video, and I saw a lot of nurses beating the elderly, and tying up the elderly, I don't want to go!
I have never seen my uncle cry, at this moment my heart seems to be torn apart, tears can't help but flow wantonly, and my lover is crying even more.
In this case, if you send your uncle away strongly, is it still a person? The crow feeds back, the lamb kneels to suckle, we are human beings, are we not even as good as animals?
I patted my uncle on the shoulder and said, "Uncle, don't cry, don't worry, I won't send you to a nursing home."
I winked at my eldest cousin, who followed me outside.
The eldest cousin was ashamed and explained to me vigorously.
I immediately told my eldest cousin: Brother, I understand your distress, I want to take my uncle away.
The eldest cousin was stunned for a moment, and he said: This is not a joke, you are so busy with business, how can you take care of him?
I said: It doesn't matter how much money you earn, there is no shortage of food and drink at home, I don't have too good conditions, but I can ensure that my uncle has something to support and that he has no worries about food and clothing.
The eldest cousin lowered his head in shame, and he said: I can't help it, if Dad goes to your house, he will give you a salary card and you will receive a pension.
I said: I don't want money, I have a mushroom shed, which can fully support my uncle, I provide food and drink, and a large amount of money for medical treatment comes from his pension.
I picked up my uncle that day, and my uncle was very happy, and he said that he didn't hurt me in vain.
My uncle has lived in my house for five years, I take care of my lover with good food and drink, my uncle is very good and always thinks about me, I work in the mushroom shed, my uncle is in a wheelchair to talk to me, I take a step, I push a step, do not let him out of my sight.
Every time I cook, my lover cooks according to my uncle's taste, and my uncle praises his nephew and daughter-in-law for beating his nephew, he is happy, and I am also beautiful.
Last year, my little cousin retired, and he wanted to come back to support my uncle, so we renovated the old house, and my cousin took my uncle away, and my uncle spent five years in my house, and I didn't touch any of my pension.
The eldest cousin is old, but also understand the importance of companionship, the two brothers take turns to support the uncle, in case of special circumstances, the uncle will be sent to my house, sometimes I don't see the uncle for a few days I miss him, take the time to see him.
Uncle is in good spirits, ruddy complexion, he says nephew, nephew and daughter-in-law are good, I smiled and said: Uncle, you have loved me so much since I was a child, in my heart you are a father, I am a nephew and a son.
It was very poor in those days, but my uncle was like a light, illuminating those gloomy days and warming my whole life, and my uncle's kindness is worth remembering for a lifetime.