In mid-September, I returned to my hometown.
Another year has passed in mediocrity, this year in the city, I learned two months of short video production, friends who are tired of being together every day are scattered, income has been reduced by half, the previous lettuce has been eight yuan a catty, go to the bank to withdraw their own money is limited, someone in the South China Sea outside throws a broken broom to occupy the mill, the Russian-Ukrainian and Palestinian-Israeli conflicts seem to have not considered stopping, Chinese football was beaten seven to zero in Japan, the city management continues to play hooligans on the street, stars are busy touring to earn money, Huludao flooded farmers are asking for food……
The autumn harvest is imminent, the corn is fixed, the grass has already appeared yellow, the traces of heavy rain are still not gone, the river is gradually clear, and the autumn water is already full of fallen leaves.
2024 is coming to an end, and this year is very difficult!
Two of the mulberries planted in the spring are tall, and they are bullied enough by the nest melon seedlings. The larch trees are quietly luxuriant, and the ground is covered with pine needles. Most of the cucumber seedlings are yellow, the cabbage is very tender, and the small passage behind the house is covered with moss. All the paths were covered with cobwebs, and I suspected that they were not catching flying insects, but were ambitious and preoccupied with people.
The house is not afraid to live, once there is no one, it will not be long before it is full of vicissitudes and decay. Now my home is a paradise for autumn insects, and their singing can be heard from all corners.
It turned out that when my dad was alive, there was not a single weed in the yard, not a single fallen leaf, and in the past ten years, my dad was not there, less angry, less soulful, less heartfelt, and less direction of effort.
This should be the face of all rural hometowns.
Over the years, I don't feel like I belong in the city, and I feel like I'm losing my spiritual home.
Sometime to spare, I want to clean out my dad's most intimate drawer. It was locked, and it took a lot of trouble to find the key. When I was a child, I always felt that the drawer was the most mysterious and incomprehensible, it was my father's personal space, where his old man's work, life, thoughts and souls were stored all his life, and no one dared to open it in his life.
My dad has a habit of keeping a diary, and I once peeked a few times, and it was all a running account, which was a life memo. The notebook is mostly a small red plastic diary from the early days, with photos of great men printed on it. Dad writes diagonally, quite a leader, interspersed with many simple characters, very historical.
The top of the drawer is a little messy, all of which are bills, and it is obvious that as the health deteriorates in the later period, the maintenance of the position is no longer so careful. I couldn't help but feel sad.
There were a few envelopes, one containing the past flow of the steel window factory, he had been the director of the township steel window factory; One was actually a student's essay assignment when I was teaching; Open another one, and it's a big and small photo of me of all ages. I couldn't hold back my tears anymore and cried. ，
A few fountain pens, a set of small soldering irons and lead bars, a bicycle license, an old house certificate, my "Teacher's Professional Certificate", household registration booklet, ID card, various bills one by one, and more than 200 old money banknotes, it is estimated that it cannot be a personal small treasury - my father does not have that habit.
I dug through the drawer five or six personal seals, and a letter from the past, and a handful of one-and-a-half-cent coins, all of which I packed into an iron box to take back to my current place of residence to treasure as a memorial.
I emptied the drawer, wiped it down carefully, and said to my mom, "Give me this drawer!" ”
I put my miscellaneous things neatly in it, and said in my heart: Dad, I will inherit your mantle now, just like you are still by my side!
It was late at night, and I was reluctant to sleep. Life passes, passed down from generation to generation, and in the end, how much can belong to us!