The confidence of the pear
Liu Xia
When it comes to perfume pears, it has to start when I was a child.
When I was a child, my village did not finish elementary school, and when I reached the third grade, I had to go to the brigade primary school five miles away, so from the age of eight or nine, I became a day student. Two round trips a day, equivalent to walking about 10 kilometers a day, might be considered unthinkable today – a 9-year-old child walking 10 kilometres.
It was indeed a hard work. Especially at that time, the living conditions in our family were very, very difficult. Realistically speaking, having enough to eat two meals a day is a luxury. So, when I couldn't stand the hunger anymore, I would go to my aunt's house (my aunt's house was not far from the school).
Not only would I be able to eat at my aunt's house, but sometimes my aunt would find me a few old clothes that my cousin had worn. However, what makes me covet my aunt's the most is that my aunt's family has an old fruit - pears. I don't know how many old fruit trees there are in my aunt's house, but I only know that as long as I go to my aunt's house, I can eat the old fruit. In fact, in addition to the apricots in the courtyard of my second brother's house, the only fruits I knew at that time seemed to be the old fruits of my aunt's house. (At that time, I didn't know that the old fruit that my aunt said was a perfume pear)
Strange to say, when I was a student, I often went to my aunt's house, but I never went into my aunt's orchard to see what kind of flowers bloomed on the old fruit trees. Maybe it's because you're too young to care about the things around you, or maybe your stomach isn't full yet, so you don't have the leisure to look at the so-called beautiful scenery. The days of hunger are always long and dull, until later I met "suddenly like a night of spring breeze, thousands of trees and pear blossoms." "I realized that the color of pear blossoms is the color of snow. When the teacher told this poem, he was very intoxicated. However, my emotions are also unwavering - how sweet and warm can every mother's day be.
Snow, is it beautiful?
My mother left us on a snowy day, and it was a goose-feather snowy day.
It was a snowy day in the lunar month, and the snow was so heavy that it was a foot thick on the ground. Everywhere was the white of snow, even in the hut where my mother lived—white paper flowers, white wreaths, white couplets.
- I hate the house and the black, and I can chill everything like snow. Including this snow-like pear blossom. But I never thought that this old fruit that had given me a sweet and happy childhood life was born from this snow-like white.
It is indeed suspected of "eating onions, beards, and avoiding garlic braids". Later, I rarely ate pears, not even for a year. Of course, this kind of non-eating is not because it is produced in white pear blossoms, but because of its own nature - cool. Especially as a woman, in the middle of January, my stomach hurt so much that I had to give up.
But who would have thought that this "culprit", who I regarded as the "culprit" of the holiday stomachache, would enter my life again with the effect of "clearing the lungs, removing phlegm and relieving cough, and protecting the liver" because of a long-term cough.
If you don't eat it, you don't know, but you don't know when you eat it. It's really good, especially pear juice! Especially when you have no appetite after a severe cold, after a few sips, it is very comfortable - the whole respiratory tract feels much refreshed - it is directly a scavenger - the chest cavity is thoroughly refreshing.
I've been to Guanqiao twice. But they were all running to "Hejiabao" - on the way of the Red Army's westward expedition, Hejiabao was the place where the Red Army was stationed. Therefore, I went to Hejiabao purely to feel the pathos of the great man's pen "when the fierce battle was urgent, and the village wall in front of the bullet hole". But twice I went to the destination, and both times I didn't get the kind of spiritual shaking I expected. And every time I go, it almost becomes a walk for the sake of walking. I don't know why, after being there, I unconsciously forgot my original intention - just like most of the people present to catch the boom.
The failure of the two times made me give up the plan to walk into it again - perhaps, I was destined to have no spark with Guan Qiao.
However, many things happen by chance just when you are about to give up. Just when I was about to give up walking into Guanqiao, the County Federation of Literary and Art Circles specially organized members of the County Writers Association, the Artists Association and the Photography Association to go to the Pear Blossom Festival in Guanqiao Township to collect style. Since it was a group activity, there was no reason not to participate, so I set foot in Guanqiao again with a perfunctory mood.
This year's temperature is a little warmer than usual, so this year's pear blossoms seem to bloom slightly earlier than usual. On April 19th, we took a bus to this "pear orchard" that was named "paradise" by the entire Haiyuan people.
Several sessions of the "Pear Blossom Festival" are set on the day of Gu Yu, probably to take advantage of this solar term to express a good wish.
As in previous years, we are here for the occasion. Unfortunately, it seems that we have come at the wrong time. No, it happened to rain moderately yesterday afternoon, and it was quite long. Spring in this place came late, even though the calendar was already rainy. In essence, on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, however, the atmosphere of this place will not really rise. Sure enough, the temperature plummeted today – from 24 degrees yesterday to 17 degrees – a seven-degree drop! Before I came, I guessed whether the pear blossoms of this pear blossom island would end her enchantment in this life because of the moderate rain yesterday. Fortunately, the pear blossoms of this Ewha Island were not unbearable due to the moderate rain yesterday! They have given this Pear Blossom Festival enough face! It made me feel different about them for the first time!
The pear blossoms here really have some confidence!
Although the temperature at this time is low, there are still quite a lot of tourists. When there are more tourists, there are more private cars. Forcing the already cramped parking lot to look even more cramped (it's a rural backwood, after all), it didn't deter the subsequent parking of vehicles — traffic officers in fluorescent vests — drawn from the county transportation brigade. You see them, even though their faces are purple from the cold, they still stick to their posts. In addition to allocating parking spaces for every visitor as much as possible, he is also enthusiastic about direction navigation for every visitor. So, although the palm is big, it is orderly!
Where the palm is big, there are also rules and management that are the size of the palm! Who says there's nothing big in a small world? Thank you to the fluorescent vests and red vests! Thank you for sticking to your original intention - where there is a need, there are you. Because I still remember, in the snow, there are your clear figures; In the rain, you patrol along the road. Yes, we are here to enjoy the pear blossoms, but I think it is not only the pear blossoms here that stand out today, but also those of you wearing fluorescent vests to clear the traffic in the traffic! You deserve our applause too!
Move on to a change of scenery. There are Hanfu and ethnic costumes for tourists to take pictures in the forest, especially the girls wearing Hanfu walking through the pear forest, posing in various poses, and immersing themselves in their own world. It may be a pear tree planted many years ago, so the pear forest is relatively sparse and not dense. Further down, there are pear trees that have been replanted later, but most of them are pear trees with a year, and some of them seem to be 100 years old. A hundred years is a long time for life; However, for pear trees, it is also relatively long. Over the course of a hundred years, nature has undergone many geological changes, and it is not easy for pear trees to grow all the time. I looked at them humbly, and I believe that at that moment, my eyes were full of respect. - In my eyes, these old trees have already lived into tree spirits. A pear tree can survive for a hundred years, in addition to its own vigorous vitality, it must also be inseparable from the surrounding villagers who love them. Think about it, an old pear tree, even with all its best efforts, will not bear much fruit - if its owner is only for profit, how can it live for so long? It is precisely because of the villagers who love them that even if they don't give much, they can still live in good health - please allow me to use the word "longevity", because this is the only word that can express my high respect for everyone who can still treat every old fruit tree kindly! Only those who love their homeland can take care of every tree, even if it is a tree that seems to be so old that they seem to forget that they are still alive! Therefore, it may be that only the people here can achieve a "Pear Blossom Island", and then become the "Pear Blossom Source" in the hearts of Haiyuan people. Trees, like people, have souls. Trees also know how to be grateful and give back, and every spring, they do their best to produce the most beautiful flowers and the sweetest fruits to repay all those who love them. Old trees are thick and strong, and they grow at will. If you look closely, no two trees are the same, each tree has its own unique charm, and the branches of each tree are adorned with flowers. When the wind blows, some of the long-blooming flowers will fall to the ground with the wind and scatter into mud. There are also very few budding buds waiting to bloom, waiting for the right time to bloom.
The pear orchards are located next to the village and are distributed according to the topography. Under some pear trees are rows of green leeks, which seem to be designed to rival the pear blossoms of the tree. None of the rows are dragged by the county, and the rows are vigorous and full of clusters.
The pear tree, with its dense clusters of flowers, is the most popular, and people take pictures with the pear tree as a backdrop. Under the trees, people look small. Probably because the pear trees are used to seeing all kinds of people hustling together, no matter how noisy they are, the pear trees are silent, just quietly exerting a tree and flowers.
Bordering the pear orchard is a reservoir. The breeze blows, and the water ripples. "Look, duck!" I don't know who exclaimed. Really. I saw that there were more than 100 black and gray wild ducks on the water not far away. They are either in groups, or in groups of threes, or alone, like us on the shore, or in groups, or in twos and threes, or alone.
Just as I watched quietly as the mallard stretched out nearby, there were already many people standing around me. They were either amazed with excitement or excited to take pictures with the wild ducks in the water behind them. In a trance, I felt out of place here - if it wasn't for a friend shouting, I probably wouldn't even want to keep a picture. After a long time in this pear forest, I don't seem to reject pear blossoms very much. However, when too much beauty is packed together, beauty becomes vulgar. I still like the feeling of "three or two branches", just like the few reeds I saw before, standing there scattered, shaking gently, just like a ballad sung by my grandmother, there is no need for ups and downs, just humming gently can make an impetuous heart quiet and stable.
Now, I don't reject pear blossoms, but I don't covet them very much. There was no intention of turning back, so he avoided the crowd, chose a quiet place, and continued to stand near the water. Along the direction of the ducks, as far as the eye can see, I saw the Haiyin Expressway lying at the foot of the mountain not far in front of me, it is not only a highway of geographical significance, but also a road of hope to drive the people of Haiyuan to change their spiritual outlook!
A fresh breeze blew, and I seemed to smell a faint scent of pear blossoms. Needless to say, it came from the pear forest around it, although it carried a slight coolness of the wind. When I raised my head, I seemed to see a woman dressed in white flying towards the highway with the wind, and the figure in the distance was like the petals of a pear blossom, white but not confused, fragrant but not strong. Gradually, gradually, the white and incense gradually faded out of my sight and my sense of smell.
Then, the faint fragrance of the pear blossoms spread on the highway in front of me, and it spread farther and farther......
Turning around, I walked towards the road I came, with the confidence of pear blossoms.
About the Author
Liu Xia, born in the 70s, is a primary school Chinese teacher and a member of the Ningxia Writers Association. Some essays have appeared in the Liupanshan supplement of Ningxia Daily, as well as WeChat platforms such as Yuanxiang Academy and Ganningjie.