My hometown
My hometown, a small remote village in Lichuan County, Jiangxi Province, has mountains, fields, streams, worries, and my unforgettable childhood!
When a winding country road extends to the mouth of the village, there is an old tree that always stands tall like an elder, always looking forward to the return of the prodigal son outside; a small river gathers the babbling water around the mountain to irrigate the fields and nourish everything.
In the spring, the spring girl took a light step, carrying the spring wind to wake up the earth, a few old pear trees on the edge of the field bloomed with snow-white pear blossoms dotted in the fields, and the branches of the trees on the hillside sprouted with young leaves, which were particularly pleasing to the eye under the morning dewdrops and the sun. In the rainy spring, industrious people barefoot, wearing bucket hats, cloaks, holding old cattle, carrying farm tools began the Spring Ploughing of the New Year, the fields were full of farm figures, some whipping the land, some sowing seeds and fertilizing, some carrying hoes on the field mounds and blowing whistles throughout the open fields, cow dung birds standing on the back of cattle "chirping" and singing spring. Under the clear sky, after the clear paddy field after cultivation, like a mirror reflecting the blue sky and white clouds, after nightfall, the cries of field frogs rise and fall, sounding one after another.
Moths fluttering oil lamps (there were no electric lights when I was a child), people who worked hard all day inhaled the breath of spring, listened to the sounds of nature and fell asleep, the night sky was densely lit by stars, setting off the bright moonlight through the doors and windows, sprinkling the sleeping and childish face of childhood, people can't help but ask: Is it dawn!
In the summer, the rice in the rice field grows from the grass seedlings to the ears of rice, the red dragonflies fly in the pond in front of the old house, the light hands and feet on the way to school hold their breath to catch the dragonflies and butterflies on the grass leaves, the occasional missing hand, the sense of loss instantly fills the real face of childhood!
In the hot summer, the most desirable place for the little friends is to secretly go to the river dam to swim before the afternoon class, with the dog planer-style swimming posture always carrying the courage to wade into the deep water to show off the swimming skills; or counting three, two, one: start diving competition; from time to time there will be a small partner stunned in the middle of the water silently peeing; the teacher also raids the river dam from time to time to catch swimming, the little friends simply have no time to go ashore to get dressed, the teacher wears pants and takes away, a group of small partners only have a bare ass, Naturally walking in a row on the path to the school, the old farmer in the distance will always smile and count the shy faces, thus achieving the first naked era of life! On the way out of school, in addition to peeing farther than shooting, the little friends often encounter the morning glory baby of the tile kiln factory riding the mud cow leisurely to the kiln factory, following the morning glory baby to the kiln factory to play with mud, plastic clay people, pinch mud cows, morning glory baby pinched mud cow looks very similar, so that the small partners worship endlessly! During the summer vacation, the hot summer, it is the rice "double grab" (grab a season of rice, grab the late season seedlings), during the period people are almost every day is wearing the stars and wearing the moon, the dew is soaked through the pants, sweat soaked through the back clip, the whole field is the speed of the threshing machine, the urgent sound has a kind of urging people to run, now in retrospect is still clear into the ear, when I was a child, I also went down to the field to help my brothers and sisters run in the rice field to deliver the grass stack, this work is still the most suitable for children to do, and they are not tired of running non-stop, From time to time, stepping on a pool of mud will go straight to the cheeks through the slits of the feet, and the mouth full of mud is still lingering! "Cows are trapped and hungry, the day is high" Father dragged his tired body back to work, the first thing is to take his shiny copper shisha pot, fill it with tobacco, light a fire, smoke deeply, relieve the smoke for a long time, relieve some fatigue! The sun was scorching, knowing that the red date tree in front of the door "squeaked" non-stop, the mother wore a wet towel on the sunbathing flat holding a wooden rake to rake the rice on the bamboo pavement, so that the rice could be dried evenly. However, the weather in the summer often changes suddenly, and whenever the sky is suddenly covered with dark clouds, the day is suddenly as dark as day and night (in our hometown dialect: it is going to fall!). The mother would shout that it was going to rain heavily, and while carrying the empty basket to the valley flat, quickly collecting the rice into the basket, and rolling up the bamboo shop under the eaves to avoid getting wet, at this time the father and brothers would run back from the field to pick up the rice harvested by the mother home to avoid the rain and moisture. "Plough a thousand acres of solid thousands of boxes, exhaust the exhaustion of who is injured", parents and parents you have worked hard!
In autumn, the weather gradually cooled, flowers and trees began to yellow with the swaying of the autumn wind, the leaves began to drift to zero, the late-season rice in the rice field has matured golden, the wind blows the rice waves "rustling", the old farmer stooped down, did not hurry to start the autumn harvest, the straw was tied into stacks, after drying, for cattle and livestock to survive the winter.
This season, the friends are most looking forward to the temple fair in the village at the beginning of August every year, and the early months are counting the arrival of this day, and the temple fair is indeed a symbol of the village's grand event and religious belief. Dragon dances, singing, swimming gods, carrying flower palanquins, gongs and drums are noisy, firecrackers are sounding one after another, and friends pick up cannons and bamboo to fry cow dung, rejoicing. When I was a child, the temple fair was so lively, the road was full of people, and the temple outside the temple was even more watery.
After the wave of migrant workers set off in the early 1990s, many villagers left their hometowns and went to other places, and there were almost only left-behind elderly people and children in the village, but the temple fair was undoubtedly held as scheduled every year, and many people who worked hard outside would also return to their hometowns as scheduled, which is the charm of faith. Whenever the temple fair is over for a few days, the gongs, drums and screams seem to be still lingering in the ears, and the instant silence in the village makes the friends feel a little lost in their hearts. At this time, three or five small friends will be gathered to tie a sickle to the mountain to play firewood or untie the cow rope to herd cattle, occasionally bring the black and wrinkled playing cards while playing cards while playing cards; sometimes they will do some "bad things", go to the field to steal edamame, everyone also has a clear division of labor, you pick up firewood, I build a grill, and after a while, the spray of incense from the edamame roasting comes to the nose, extinguishes the flames, and starts the "big meal", eating a mouth full of black ash, grabbing two hands of black paint, then the naughty little partner will surprise the "devil claw" on the face of others The teeth of the smiling face like a flower cat looked exceptionally white, and there was still black ash left between the teeth. The ash under the grill is still rekindling with white smoke, at this time there will be a small partner while walking while pulling out the "little brother" with eight legs to go forward is a burst of wild shooting, shooting ash "fluttering" after the smoke, instantly extinguished, natural with its own "fire extinguisher" is so invincible.
Autumn is the harvest season, the old farmer harvested the granary full, the fruit hanging all over the treetops; the earth harvested ten thousand acres of fertile land dedicated to nourishing the cangsheng, and the little friends harvested the childlike childhood!
In winter, the impression is that there is heavy snow, ice and snow, and the chimney of the wood stove is slowly rushing against the thin white smoke. Indeed, this was the case in the winter of my childhood, when the pond was so thick with ice that the stones could not be broken, the surface soil on the hillside was cut by the plaster-like ice and lifted up, and it was "rattled" when stepped on; the roof tiles were hung with ice hanging of different lengths. The little friends snowballed, built snowmen, snowballed, frozen hands were red, two lines of flowing snot was a wipe of the sleeves, the nose was clean, and the sleeves were shiny; the old man leaned over the waist and leaned the brazier he was carrying under his ass with both hands to walk around. On snowy nights, you can occasionally experience "ChaiMen smells dogs barking, and returns to people in the wind and rainy night".
After a few days of clear sky, melting ice and snow, the little friend came to the field, moved the straw stack to chase the vole, then suddenly someone will tell you: Your mother is calling you to eat! The distant mountains are still covered with snow, mist, intertwined with human fireworks at the foot of the mountain, as long as you know how to appreciate, it is a naturally formed ink painting, which is pleasing to the eye and pleasing to the eye!
With the rapid rise of industrialization and global warming, the current ice and snow can no longer taste that scene, perhaps different eras have different mentalities!
In the early nineties of last century, the spring breeze of reform and opening up blew all over the land, and many young rural children, with their hearts and dreams, stepped on the green-skinned train in the mottled night, left their hometowns, went south and north, drank all the sour and bitter spicy, and sighed that the road was long!
Although my hometown is no longer my harbor, it will always be the sustenance of my soul, where there is my concern, there is my childhood, I believe that everyone has an incomparably heavy emotion for the mountains and water of my hometown, and they all love that land with deep affection!
No, it's hard to understand homesickness!
Li Yunlong
2021. 02. 13(Nanjing)