Text: Epic long
The spring drizzle is quietly sprinkled on the Biandan River, and there are faint clouds and smoke on the river surface, and the villas are built near the river, one after another; The branches of the oak trees along the river grow tender buds, fluttering in the wind; On the riverbank, a few buffaloes are munching on the young grass that has just grown, and a flock of feathered ducks are foraging for food along the river, sometimes leisurely swimming in a long queue...... All this is reflected in the clear river water, like a beautiful Jiangnan "shepherd boy" ink painting.
It's a completely different look than when I left my hometown more than 50 years ago. That year, I enlisted in the army and walked on the embankment of the Biandan River, where the crops lived near the water, scattered with blue adobe walls, straw huts, and villages of various sizes every few thousand meters in the embankment. In the gap between the houses on the outer river is a vegetable patch for the neighboring families. Vegetables are growing well, but life is not rich. Every year when the rainy season comes, the floodwaters in the mountains rush down and the Biandan River rises violently, and everyone is afraid that their vegetable fields and houses will be flooded. But the more worried you are, the faster the disaster will come. In some years, the vegetables that were planted day and night were swallowed up by floods overnight, and all the hard work was "wasted". But when the flood waters receded, the hard-working farmers picked up nails and shovels to plough the ground, dry the soil, and began to grow all kinds of vegetables again.
The Biandan River in the hometown, like a long Biandan River, lies on the ground in the east-west direction, the total length of the river is only seven or eight roads long, the widest river surface is less than 100 meters, the narrow place is only more than ten meters, the upstream water collects from the mountainous area of southern Anhui, flows into the Biandan River, and then flows into the Yangtze River tributary Shuiyang River, it is a river channel for flood discharge and dredging. According to the record of Zhengde Gaochun County Chronicles in the ninth year of Zhengde, in the fifth year of Zhenghe in the Northern Song Dynasty (1115 AD), Song Huizong ordered Prime Minister Cai Jing to recruit a large number of migrant workers in five counties to start building Yongfeng Wei, and took soil from 30 meters away from the polder to build the polder, and after the polder was built, the river was naturally formed. For thousands of years, as the river flowed day after day, year after year, the river became wider and deeper, carrying heavy boats from east to west, bringing sweetness and satisfaction to the farmers on both sides of the river, and sometimes bringing disaster. I remember in the summer of 1954, when I was five years old. It rained for several days, and the flood water rushing down from the upper reaches rolled and surged, and the downstream river water rushed backwards, surging together to the Biandan River, the flood raged, the huge waves were surging, and there was a tendency to engulf the polder. In those days, the ability to resist floods and prevent floods was very weak, less than 500 meters away from the mouth of the Shuiyang River, the polder began to burst, less than an hour, the polder was torn open by the surging flood water 100 meters long big mouth, the flood poured down, the polder and outside the polder white waves, farmland was flooded, houses were floating in the flood, the croppers could only helplessly watch their houses being flooded, forced to leave their homes, escape to the mountainous area, looking for a place to settle down.
Water, it can be soft to hard, quiet to angry, sometimes like a beast, disaster suddenly comes, but more time brings people peace and unexpected joy. Every year in winter, the river recedes of the Biandan River, the bottom of the river exposes a small pond the size of a basketball court, all kinds of fish and shrimp that grow in the river water as early as possible, naturally fall in the pond when the water recedes, and the crops who live by the river, every family has one or two small ponds, each pond can catch nearly 100 catties of fish and shrimp, if you are lucky, you can catch more, this is an "accidental" wealth of the croppers. They picked up the fish and shrimp they caught and sold them at a nearby market in exchange for a lot of yuan. I remember one autumn morning, when the water of the Biandan River receded, the water level in the polder was higher than that of the outer river, and the croppers drained the water through the earthen throat hole. The water began to grow larger, and the mouth of the cave was washed out into a small pond, and the ang thornfish in the Biandan River were eager to try, and happily ran up the water into the small pond, and as the flow of water decreased, the stingfish stayed in the small pond in groups, making a "mmmmmm" cry for help. I was stunned to see a two-inch-long thornfish, wagging its tail in one direction of the flowing water. I was overjoyed to take off my pants, tied up the two pants, and happily forgot the feeling of the stinger of the ang stinger, and caught it with both hands, and after a while, the two pants were full, more than 20 pounds, and I felt extremely happy when I came home. The mother poured the ang stinger into a wooden basin and picked out some large ones to sell in the town market, in exchange for three five-yuan yuan.
The water of the Biandan River has flowed for thousands of years, experienced the vicissitudes of wind and rain, nourished generations of people, and left countless moving stories and legends. Nowadays, the Biandan River has changed greatly, as if it is a newcomer, I don't know it, and a wetland park has risen at its feet. At both ends of the river, strong sluices were built, and when the flood came, the water was rejected. When the river recedes, the floodgates are opened, and the clear water flows into the river, nourishing the lives and hearts of the farmers on both sides. In order to beautify the environment on both sides of the river, lay a wooden stake at the root of the riverbank, weave a bamboo raft with a bamboo piece and insert it in the wooden stake, block the embankment soil from sliding, and rake up the river mud and fill it into the bamboo raft, the outside of the stake is planted with wild lotus root and water lilies, the two banks naturally form a long walking path, the croppers take a leisurely walk on the long road, enjoy the scenery of the sparkling waves, the moon shadow swaying, the fish soaring under the water, and the changing scenery of the four seasons. In the spring, the grass by the embankment sneaks out of the ground like a turquoise velvet blanket in the sun, and the cattle and sheep happily come to the river to graze and drink; The little lamb "bleated" and jumped beside its mother. On both sides of the river, rows of willow branches hang with long branches, reflecting in the clear river water, like a flowing ink painting; In summer, the river rises, the fiery sun shines on the river sparkling, the blooming wild lotus flowers bloom in full bloom, the lotus flowers and lotus leaves, gently float with the wind, the fragrance is far away and clear, and the pavilion is quiet. The flowers and leaves do not speak, and there is love in the world, so that the crops are open-minded and liberated; In autumn, the romance is engraved, the fish and shrimp in the river are fat, and the croppers carry fish nets on their backs and go to the river to cast nets to fish. Every time I come back, the basket is full of fish and shrimp, and I feel that the autumn sky is high and crisp, and it is full of fruits; In winter, the cold north wind whistles playfully, the yellow leaves fall one after another, some fall on the shore, some fall into the water, the small fish take the fallen leaves as food, happily chase after them, so that you have a relaxed and quiet mood, forget the hard work and troubles caused by the cultivation of the four seasons.
The Biandan River in my hometown, no matter the passage of time, no matter the natural cycle, the river always flows endlessly in my heart! No matter where you are, she calls affectionately, like a plucked string, playing an ancient heart song day and night, full of tender nostalgia, loaded with heavy love, beckoning to you......
【Author's profile】Epic long, Nanjing Gaochun people, because of the work relationship hobby writing, after retirement, like to revel in words, calligraphy, let the fragrance of books soaked in the past time, has published many articles in newspapers and magazines, provincial publishing houses have published many books, online platforms published many essays, essays, chronicle essays and other articles, so that the trickle of time, gathered into a shining bookmark, sandwiched into the pages of life......
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