I often vaguely see my hometown in my sleep, as well as the merchants selling along the street, as if I saw my father carrying a burden through the streets and alleys.
The hometown is in an ancient town in the southern Anhui Plain, with a history of thousands of years. The old-fashioned Hui style dwellings are lined up one after another, scattered, the old walls with a sense of age have faded to pink and white, and are covered with layers of gray mist by the years, and the dark roof tiles and light gray horse-head walls are connected together, and everywhere is full of the atmosphere of ancient vicissitudes.
The town is old and fragrant, with a large scale of buildings and more than 1,000 households, and it is like a labyrinth with countless alleys. The alleys are connected everywhere, and there are exits only after seven bends and eight turns, which are more than 100 meters long and less than one meter narrow, forming the characteristics of "a line of sky" in many places. At your feet, there is a long stone street that you can't see as far as you can see. You might as well go and walk around these alleys, stand in the alleys and look at the sky, the blue sky becomes a long and narrow one, stretch out your arms and you can touch the towering stone walls on both sides, quite a bit of "deep courtyard" taste.
Every day, my father carried a hundred pounds of goods and shuttled between the streets and alleys of the ancient town and the village houses and roads in the suburbs. He had reached the age of sixtieth year, his body was thin, and the large beard on his face made him look old and vicissitudes, but his eyes were bright and his spirit was shining. He often wears a blue and black cloth hat on his head, a coarse cloth short coat, leggings, and cloth shoes. The ups and downs of the merchant's career made his back a little hunched, and he carried the burden while walking, waving the rattle, making a "poof, poof" sound. In the alley, the bluestone slab often sounded the familiar footsteps of my father's "pop, pop", as well as the slightly hoarse shouts: "needles and threads, brain ......", "cigarettes, fire, osmanthus candy......".
In the seventies, the rural areas were closed to traffic and the market was scarce. It can be said that the merchant is "setting up a stall" in the process of moving, and a pair of goods is a small "department store". They not only bring the goods needed to the remote villages, but also all kinds of new things. On the load of goods, there are many items, all kinds of things, not to mention hundreds, from pots and pans to needles and threads. There are flower threads, buttons, wooden combs, hairpins, scissors, white copper top fingers, shoe awls, etc., which are used by country women; There are men's cigarettes, razors, etc.; There are tumblers, clay figurines, masks, marbles, kites, tin whistles, etc., as well as a variety of delicious sweets and sweets. All kinds of small commodities gather, and some of the quality of the goods is good, the color is beautiful, the style is new, the price is cheap, or exquisite, or delicate and small, it is sold from thousands of miles away, such as Zibo glazed hairpin, Taiyuan willow leaf scissors, agate small ear rings, high and low plum petals, etc., it is really dazzling, dizzying.
"The merchant is not happy, and the children's poems are dingdong. Slip round jelly bean chicken feathers change, angry at ease when the flower is in the mouth. When the children heard that the merchant was coming, they cheered one by one, and they ran to tell each other and call for their friends. Before the burden of the merchant could be put down, many women and children, old and young, had already gathered around. The hat worn by the merchant is full of all kinds of small objects, including bright little red flags, small windmills that rotate in the wind, sweet and delicious sugar gourds, and small toys such as monkeys, starlings, small drums, axes and other small toys made of brown and yellow maltose silk, which are fixed on a spring at one end, and the other end of the spring is fixed on the hat, jumping up and down with the swing of the merchant's head, vivid, vivid, attracting women and children.
Several country women approached, one of them holding a nursing baby in his arms. "Poof, poof" a drum sound, causing the chubby baby in his arms to stop sucking, tilting his head curiously to look at the rattle, grinning and giggling, dancing with his hands, suddenly reaching out to grab the merchant's rattle, the body suddenly tilted and hung in the air, the child's mother was so frightened that his face turned pale, screamed at a sharp voice, the merchant hurriedly turned around, and helped hold up the child with his hand, there was no danger. The three difficult children all pointed to their favorite things on the burden, and quarreled to buy them, and the merchant was stunned, and for a moment he did not know whether to agree to this one or the one first, he habitually pulled out the rattle on the burden with one hand, and waved it in response to them with the other, looking very tired, but his face was full of wrinkles and blooming like flowers, and he kept laughing. A naughty boy took advantage of the adults to discuss business with the merchant, and took the merchant's rattle and slammed it, only to hear a tight drum sound, which amused everyone in the village and alley to go out and watch. The merchant got up to leave with his burden, and the three little children couldn't wait to pounce on the basket when they saw this, and a few pairs of little hands kept rummaging and grabbing, eager to carry all the things in their arms. The merchant hurriedly put down his burden, "Hehe, don't crush the basket!" He smiled with a hint of sorrow, protecting the basket with one hand and selling toys with the other, his expression was very dramatic.
"Rattle, here comes the merchant." After three or five days, the merchant came to the village as if he was going to celebrate the festival, and the children boiled like boiling water, and those who bought or did not buy would come over to take a look, play and play together, and be happy. There are also adults who come in twos and threes to buy some daily necessities. Don't say it's a child, you see that the big yellow dog and the little black dog all rushed over with the little masters of each family to coax, raised their front paws, jumped up and down on their bodies and beside the load, shook their heads and tails, and occasionally barked twice to join in the fun. A vivid, simple, and interesting "Merchant Picture" is presented in front of people's eyes.
The most attractive and tempting to children are the osmanthus candy, villain books and toys in the caravan. Osmanthus sugar is beautifully packaged, green, sweet and delicious; The villain book exudes the fragrance of ink, the characters in the book are lifelike, and the storyline is fascinating; The toys are exquisitely chic, and the birds, kittens, and puppies are lifelike, to the point of being real. The children's love for them is like Kong Yiji's love for fennel beans. Sometimes they couldn't see the merchant for a few days, so they anxiously asked their mother why the merchant hadn't come. When he heard the familiar slightly hoarse shouting in the alley, he jumped around happily, pulling the skirt of his parents' clothes and urging them to hurry up, for fear that if he went too late, the other children would snatch up what he wanted. The alleys of his hometown, as well as the "old merchants" who carry the burden, are the lingering memories and nostalgia that accompany the growth of the children.
There are three main types of merchants, one is the bracket type, the other is the cabinet type, and the other is the basket type. My father's cargo load belongs to the latter type, two large cylindrical baskets about one meter high, on top of which are two large bamboo plaques, and there are also plaques in the middle as partitions. These bamboo plaques where the goods are placed are like plaques in life, and they have a perimeter around them and have a certain depth. The larger and heavier goods are placed on the lower floor, and the small and light ones are placed in the middle and in the plaques above, and the side of the cargo is also full of small items and a small bamboo hat. Although there are many varieties, they are miscellaneous but not messy, and they are directly tiled on the plaque, which fully displays the various items in the basket, which is amazing. This load is lightweight, simple and very practical.
My family has been a merchant since my grandfather's generation, and my father inherited my grandfather's mantle, and the family mainly made a living by selling needles and threads. Don't underestimate it, he has a variety of goods in his load, and everything is complete. Because his father has a kind face, greets people when he sees them, always has a warm smile on his face, treats people sincerely, and the price is fair, so he has won a good reputation from everyone. One summer, my father was walking on the alley of a village with his burden, and suddenly saw an old lady in her seventies accidentally falling down the stairs in front of her house, and her head was bleeding. But it was the season of "double robbery", and the villagers all went to work in the fields, and no one was seen. The father was in a hurry, so he left the load of goods and ran to the village clinic with the old lady on his back, and was treated in time. Later, this incident spread in the village, and for a time there was a lot of noise in the local ten miles and eight villages, and the villagers admired his father's personality and helped take care of his business, and the family life was also passable.
However, when I was in the fifth grade of elementary school, my father fell ill, and the doctor said that he had rheumatoid arthritis and might not be able to stand on the ground. My father got up early every day and was greedy for darkness, coming and going in the wind and rain, whether it was the red-hot summer or the bitter winter, he ran around for many years. Whenever he encountered a change in the sky, his "old problem" was that the joints of his legs were swollen and painful, but he still endured to carry the burden and go out, and the accumulated overdraft, coupled with the lack of attention to treatment and maintenance, led to the root of the disease. At that time, I didn't understand anything, but I looked at my father who was tossing and turning in bed and my mother who was sitting on the edge of the bed crying, worried that my father would be paralyzed or die.
After a while, my father's illness miraculously improved, and he was able to get out of bed. The doctor repeatedly told my father to rest more and get out of bed as little as possible. But his father couldn't be idle, and a large family of five or six people was counting on him, as well as three children who went to school, which made people anxious, and the burden of life overwhelmed him. Every day, he carried groceries, shook rattles, shuttled through the flow of people, back and forth, and shouted loudly. For a country woman, the family planted four or five acres of land, but also laundry and cooking, planting vegetables and feeding pigs, mending clothes and making shoes, etc., inside and out, working day and night, overwhelmed, not to mention that the mother suffers from anemia, often dizzy, weak and weak, the body is weak, and the person is so sick that the chest is close to the back, which makes people feel distressed.
Because his father was sick and could not go out to sell goods, the family's financial income became more and more strained. "The children of the poor are in charge of the house early", I have only been sensible since then, knowing the difficulties and difficulties of life, and gradually learning to do housework. At that time, I was very afraid of my mother, and I thought she was quite pitiful, so I studied hard in school, listened attentively in class, did my homework in time, and when I came home from school, I desperately helped my mother with housework, such as herding cattle, beating pigweed, washing dishes, sweeping the floor, etc., and was very proficient in everything. When the people in the village saw my parents, they gave me a thumbs up and praised, "Your second child is really sensible, he is a good boy!" ”
One night, I was sitting under an oil lamp doing my homework when I heard a cough coming from the house. For a while, I only heard my mother say: "Daddy, I think let the second child drop out of school, right?" ”
What, to drop me out of school? I was so shocked that the pen in my hand almost fell to the ground.
"A country boy, if you can graduate from primary school, you can write a name and count it. Besides, now we need a helper at home. Mother said again.
"No way!" The father's voice was hoarse, but his tone was very hard, and he couldn't tolerate a trace of rebuttal, "Don't worry about the affairs of the family, I'll just try my best to share a little." ”
The medicine in the furnace was sizzling, the steam was boiling on the crockpot, and the room was filled with a strong smell of Chinese medicine, which made people breathless, "Let's discuss this matter slowly, I want to ......" Mother got up and poured the medicine.
"No, you have to read the book!" Her father interrupted her, "You can't let your child drop out of school no matter what!" ”
After a while, my father picked up the decoction of medicinal soup, pouted and blew, raised his neck and drank it in one go, sighed, and wiped his lips with his hand, "Baby, you see that the six sons in the village have been admitted to the secondary school and are now assigned to work in the provincial capital!" When my father said this, his eyes were shining, and he was so envious, "This baby is really angry, and his ancestral grave is smoking!" ”
When the mother heard this, she also praised it, "The people in the village are very envious, his father and mother are very face-saving in front of people, and they speak louder than others!" The father nodded, "It's nothing for us to suffer a little more now, but we must not delay the future of our children!" It seems that the mother was persuaded and nodded incessantly, "Yes, yes, it would be great if the second child of our family could be admitted!" ”
In the room, I heard the conversation between my father and my mother, clenched the pen in my hand, and stared at the oil lamp in a daze, the flame of the wick beating from time to time, like my heart beating, and the tears could not stop falling down the bridge of my nose. I suddenly felt that I had grown up and become enlightened, and I could think of sharing difficulties for my family and knowing how to honor my parents. I secretly competed, I must study hard, get ahead for my parents, and be admitted to the secondary school to work in the provincial capital like the six sons in the village, so that my father will no longer work hard to do the business of a merchant and let my parents live a better life......
After breakfast the next day, my father carried the burden out of the door again, and his legs were still limping when he walked, and the familiar footsteps of "pop, pop" sounded on the bluestone slab of the alley, as well as the slightly hoarse shouting: "needles and threads, brain ......", "cigarettes, fire, osmanthus candy......"
The moon crept up like a silver platter, set in the deep blue night sky. The moonlight fell quietly, and the earth was white, like a dream wrapped in a light veil.
When my father came back with his burden, he heard the "creaking" sound of the flat pole from afar. After dinner, he leaned back in his chair and beat his shoulders and waist with his hands. Seeing this, the mother brought half a bowl of warm soju, "Child, use the wine to make massage for your father, and help him knead and knead it." The father took off his clothes and lay down with an expression of enjoyment. I saw that his shoulders had been ground into a thick layer of calluses, and a large piece was red and swollen. I concentrated on rubbing the wine on my father's shoulders, back, waist, and legs with cotton balls, and reverently pushed and kneaded hard, and muttered in my mouth, "Dad, it hurts, bear with it!" My father was sometimes in so much pain that he couldn't help but hum, "Ouch, ouch! "Sometimes comfortably "Uh-huh, uh-huh!" I silently prayed for my father's wounds to heal soon, tears streaming down the bridge of my nose. My father was skinny, and my hands brushed his bulging sternum like a pilgrimage, as if walking through a mountain of love.
After that, my father got up early every day, went out with the goods, walked in the villages in the countryside, walked in the streets and alleys of the ancient town, shook the drum, and shouted loudly: "needles and threads, brain ......", "cigarettes, fire, osmanthus candy......" Now, I really understand that my father is not only the burden of goods, but more importantly, the responsibility of the family and all the love for us.
There are no longer merchants and hawkers running around, and all kinds of express delivery and takeaway are running in the urban and rural areas. The materials that people need to survive and live are becoming more and more abundant and complex, and the ways to obtain them are becoming more and more convenient and simple. The merchant, the "messenger" who disappeared in time and space, also walked into the streets and alleys of history with his "treasure basket". Many years have passed, but the back of my father carrying the burden still appears clearly in front of me from time to time, and the familiar slightly hoarse shout still rings in my heart from time to time, which is the inexhaustible motivation for me to move forward......