Late appointments
Lan Jianjun
Uncle Hazi finally returned, returning from the summer pasture to his home in the settlement. Uncle is dark, at least darker than in the photo, but more energetic.
Located between the Sayr Mountains and the Hatong Mountains, the climate is cold, windy and changeable. In late spring, it is warm and cold, and the grass sprouts stretch their waists before they sprout. From the snowy sky to the grass growing warbler flying, we have been stationed in the village for more than three months, and we can't wait to put away our winter clothes and change into comfortable spring clothes, and it is already a luxury to go out for a walk while the weather is clear.
The first walk was on a bright morning, when I met an uncle at the turn of the pasture, leading a beautiful black-maned horse with a leather whip to drive the sheep, and after turning the corner, he quickly stepped on the horse's back, and shouted his sheep to the grass coulomb to the north. I stood in the breeze and looked at my uncle's back for a long time, for a long time...... Let this beautiful picture freeze in my mind until my uncle and his flock fade out of my sight.
The next time I met my uncle was a few days later in the evening.
It was still early after dinner, and I walked to the edge of the grass coulomb, and saw an old man looking into the distance, the sun was setting, and the afterglow of the setting sun illuminated the sky. At this time, heaven, earth and man are so harmonious and unified, the grass under their feet, the golden sunset, the dreamy sunset, the old man waiting for the pasture to return, this picture is so beautiful, at this moment, the familiar picture resurfaces in front of me, isn't this the uncle I met a few days ago, hurriedly opened the mobile phone and pressed the shutter.
When my uncle found out about me, he thought that someone would be angry if he secretly photographed my uncle, but my uncle happily came over to greet me and asked with a smile: Let me see how beautiful the photo is?
We hit it off and talked happily, and the uncle was followed by the sturdy black-maned horse. The uncle is a Kazakh, whose home is in a neighboring village, is a wanderer who went out from this steppe, and returned here in his later years to enjoy idyllic songs, fluent in Chinese and unhindered communication. The uncle was waiting for his beloved sheep to come home, and when he saw me, he was happy, knowing that I was from the village-based team, and he was happy, knowing that I had never ridden a horse, and he was even happier, and pointed to the horse behind him and said, "Then come up and try it!"
The song and the horse are a pair of Kazakh wings, and the uncle asked me to try it on his beloved black-maned horse. At first, he was timid, but the uncle tightened the reins and hugged the horse's neck and said that it was okay, it was okay, my horse was the most well-behaved. I was moved by my uncle's enthusiasm and boldly stepped on the horse. The uncle led the horse for a long distance, and I really experienced what it was like to be on the back of a horse. I'm so impressed! When I opened my phone and wanted to take a selfie, I couldn't take a selfie, but my uncle helped me take a photo and freeze this beautiful moment.
The sheep has gone far away, and the uncle should go home, and I repeatedly promised before leaving that the photos would be sent to the uncle when they were washed out in the next few days. We talked as we walked and forgot it was dark. At that time, I was so excited that I forgot to ask the specific address of my uncle's house, and I forgot to ask my uncle's name, but fortunately, there was a photo of my uncle in my mobile phone!
Due to work reasons, it was delayed for a few days, and when the photos were washed and brought back from the photo studio in the county seat, it was in the afternoon, and I couldn't wait to run to the edge of Caokulun, but I didn't see my uncle for several days. After inquiring, I learned that this uncle named Hazi had transferred to a far away summer pasture, and he could only come back here in the autumn!
I'm so ashamed that I didn't show up. Looking at the photos, I am even more ashamed when I look at this amiable old man in his old age!
Summer is by the blue. Today, I finally met Uncle Hazi, who was still in good spirits and seemed to have forgotten about taking pictures. When my uncle saw the photo I brought, he was very happy, and happily took the photo to look left and right, nodded and praised, and we took a photo again.
The late agreement was finally completed. The ancients said: Don't take the good as small, don't take the evil as small, give people roses with a lingering fragrance, and promise the uncle I did it. Tonight, no longer worry about it, you will surely fall asleep peacefully!
(About author: Lan Jianjun, male, from Linze County, Gansu Province.) Like paper-cutting, love literature, member of the Paper-cutting Art Committee of Xinjiang Folk Literature and Art Association, member of Tacheng District Arts and Crafts Association, paper-cut works are seen in local newspapers, and in 2023, paper-cut works will be selected into the "Tacheng District Arts and Crafts Collection". ）