Prose on the Past in Tiansheng Street
In the past, we shared a two-story wooden house with my uncle. This was built by the two companies after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945. When I was very young, I was in a panic when I heard the screams of "fire fighting dragons" (fire engines). There are many wooden houses in the small streets and alleys, and they are on fire. Once, I suddenly heard someone shouting in the street: "Fire, fire!" " My brother quickly opened the box under the bed, pulled out the drawers of the five drawers, poured the clothes on the sheets, tied the four corners, slung them over his shoulders with his hand, pulling me at the age of four or five like a fugitive, and quickly went downstairs and ran outside. People in the street are in a panic, and they are shocked: "The fire is here!" The crowd flooded into the opposite street; After a while, someone shouted, "The fire is over there!" The crowd poured back. Sometimes it is misinformation, and people start to complain breathlessly and noisily: "Which one is' reporting water panic' (in hankou wharf's language, it means disturbing people for no reason), so annoying!" Living in a reinforced concrete brick structure, I feel much more down-to-earth and can sleep well. I graduated from high school in 1972 and moved to a farm in jiangling county. Since then, I have rarely had the opportunity to go to Tiansheng Street. In 8, my grandmother, who lived in my uncle's house, passed away a few years after my uncle's death, and I went there less. In a blink of an eye, I am almost sixty-five. When I am old, I like nostalgia, and the past of my childhood always lingers in my heart. Although the weather is very hot nowadays, it is not difficult to spend the summer: living in a high-rise building, cooling down with electric fans, refrigerators and air conditioners; There are several kinds of fruit shops near antipyretic; There are cool cottages and resorts everywhere in summer. These superior material conditions have never been dreamed of in the past, and they are far from being compared. However, in the era of planned economy, people's mental state seems to be fuller than it is now, and their lives are also full of flavor. Their faces are filled with happy smiles of contentment, and their eyes reveal their longing for a better tomorrow. What follows are some past events in Tiansheng Street in the early 196s, when the people just survived three years of natural disasters and recovered. Of course, summer events are indispensable.
Strange to say, there are no mosquitoes in Tiansheng Street, so you don't need mosquito nets in summer. When I was in high school, I went to work in Dongxihu Farm. Because there was no mosquito net at home, I went to Chezhan Road Department Store to buy a bed. When I was a child, I often saw people from neighborhood committees organize the masses to do sanitation. My parents, who came from the old society, loved the new China. They thanked the government and listened to the leader of the residents wearing red armbands. Needless to say, family health, public health also actively participate in; Adults and children at home on Sundays are no exception. The courtyards and ditches in front of houses are cleaned and washed every day. Beating flies, catching mice, spraying chemical water to kill cockroaches, spraying bedbugs in the seams of bed boards with boiling water, sprinkling Didi Wei on fiery coals (placed in broken bowls on the ground) to smoke mosquitoes, and wrapping Liuliu powder in straw stalks to smoke sewers, etc., will be carried out all the year round by simple methods. I remember that in early summer, the straw that is no longer used for mattress laying (farmers will pick new straw and sell it in the city after the end of autumn) will be burned in the street, and miscellaneous straw is not allowed to be piled up. I still remember that the sanitation workers who cleaned the main road began to work at two or three in the morning. At dawn, the street was already clean and tidy. The pavement of small streets and alleys is either cleaned by sanitation workers, or the front and back of the house are contracted by pieces and assigned to households. The sanitation worker in charge of garbage disposal pulls an uncovered van on time every morning and afternoon and turns around the streets. While walking, they shouted loudly: "Pour the dregs, pour the dregs ..." After hearing the sound, the nearby residents quickly walked out of the house with wooden (iron) dustpans. It is common for aunts who like to pull their parents. They don't return immediately after dumping the dregs, and they don't put down the dustpan in their hands. They have a chat with the great-grandmother of the Zhang family or the aunt of the Li family, and they can't move for a long time. No one at home, either put a dustpan on the aisle, or the door is left unlocked, and the neighbors entrusted in advance will do it for them. I often think that the good sanitation at that time was probably the main reason why mosquitoes didn't have living conditions. In those days, sanitation was called patriotic sanitation, and later it rose to the height of patriotic sanitation campaign. Moreover, everyone voluntarily participates, worthy of the name, and there is nothing vain. In addition to hygiene, the neighborhood Committee is also in charge of public security in the streets and lanes, as if the masses are involved in everything.
At that time, there were very few floating population in the city, and they were occasionally seen in the station docks. Foreigners who had nothing serious to do and were stranded were collectively called "vagabonds". The shelter managed to get them from the street to the station one by one and then sent them back to their hometown. At the train crossing on the right side of Laohankou Railway Station, on Stadium Street, not far downhill, next to Jiefang Avenue, there is a reception station under the Civil Affairs Bureau. People in our area may be confused with the temporary detention center, thinking that they are holding prisoners, and they are used to calling it "No.5 Stadium Street". It's quite impressive to mention it here. It is also the time to learn from Uncle Lei Feng. The folk customs in the old street are very simple and people live and work in peace and contentment. In summer, local residents sleep in the streets with bamboo beds, wooden beds and recliners, which are usually closed at night.
It's the same during the day. If there are no old people at home, you don't need to lock the door. Everyone knows the people in this street, and the people passing by in the next street are familiar, even small businessmen who don't walk around the street often know them. For example, the man who sells printing oil (for stamping and pressing fingerprints) is a man in his forties. He always shouts, "Buy printing oil, buy printing oil!" " Three short sounds, a long sound, a beautiful drawl at the end, and every word is in the heart. Selling canna (soaked in water, its juice is smooth and smooth), a thin man in his thirties, carrying a wooden box on his shoulder, walking and shaking; The vivid "aunt" (a man who is called a woman) looks like a sissy, which makes people feel that this business is not like this, but it is not worthy. Naughty children think it's funny, and they will imitate the walking posture and hawking of "Aunt". Several fifty-year-old mothers-in-law in the neighborhood (my grandmother used canna juice to comb her hair and then tied it into a typical mother-in-law hairstyle-"Babatou") didn't care, so they gathered around "Aunt" to talk about this for a while. Those who grind scissors, fill bowls, be covered with pots, collect rags, etc., have different shouts, and they have a long cavity (like the voice of the knife sharpener in the Beijing opera "The Red Lantern"; There is also a crisp voice like fried broad beans: "Make up the pot!" Unlike in Hunan, they don't play gongs. Therefore, strangers generally can't escape the eyes of adults and children in old streets. In modern words, it is called "neighborhood watch"; I did it in the past, but I didn't say so.
when I was very young, I never saw mosquito nets, but I saw locks. However, not on the door, but on the old wooden box of the old national lacquer. A slightly longer brass lock, with one end fixed and two copper bars on the base of the other end, can be locked only after it is put in, and the two are separable and separable; The key is like a long hook. Now, it's a rare thing. It is common for short children to stand on tiptoe when they come home from school, and take the virtual lock hanging on the door with their little hands (it is a new type of pinball lock at this time). There are also cautious families who are afraid of children hanging keys on their chests (childhood classmates often amuse each other: "Hanson, you are happy to hang keys on your chests!" " ) after playing, I locked the door and put the key in the hands of my mother-in-law dad who walked close to me next door. When they leave the house, they will tell their children, "Dear son, the key is in the hand of Mrs. Xiao next door, and you can get it after school." It's about storing keys, but in fact, the elderly have to take care of lunch. They will help to heat the leftovers and give them to the children. This is the general way to deal with children's lunches when they are studying. People often say that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors, and that's how neighbors took care of each other at that time.
This year's summer is particularly hot, with the temperature reaching a rare 41℃. It used to be very hot, but people don't hate and complain about God as much as they do now. With the autumn wind, there is still a little reluctance. People here came to Hankou from the countryside of Huangpi and Xiaogan decades ago to make a living. After earning a few dollars, they built houses and took root. They have a lot of contacts with their hometown, and from time to time they have relatives from the countryside. After a long time, everyone knows them. Someone was sitting at the door, and when he saw a visitor from next door, he shouted to the host who was cooking and washing clothes in the house, "Mrs. Zhou, my nephew from Shekou (a little in front of Daijiashan in Hankou) came to see you!" The neighborhood is very enthusiastic! My aunt's father lives in Wutongkou (Huangpi Wuhu Farm), and he often comes to his daughter's house in Hankou by a small flat-topped ship with no floor between Yuehan Wharf and Wutongkou (stopping at Chenjiaji Wharf on the way). When he comes in, he always carries a sack on his back, and sometimes he doesn't pack anything. Every time I come, my uncle will accompany him to drink at the Eight Immortals table and talk about old sayings or things in the country that children are not interested in. At that time, children were not allowed to eat on the table, put a little food on a small bench or eat in the street. But relatives from the countryside must say hello, otherwise they will blame adults for not being sensible. People who care will sulk and take it out on adults. Therefore, even though my head has just exceeded the desktop, when I see a guest coming, I will definitely shout, "Dad!" " Children have a sweet mouth, and they were taught by adults. Childhood impression, dad's beard is long. Why do children who are just sensible now hesitate to ask when they call their father? I've never seen a long beard, so I'm afraid I'm not sure. People in the old street have lived in the countryside since childhood, and generally know the 24 solar terms, not to mention farming. Without the Nanyang wind in hot summer, how can crops be pollinated, heading and filling? Besides, I am also a laborer, and the work in the city is much easier than the farm work in the field. Therefore, instead of hating the heat, they find it interesting to enjoy the cool and sleep in the summer. Needless to say, children can play with water, somersault, catch (fight) cricket, stick to cicadas, read picture books, play with beads … There are many things to play with this season! Anyway, heatstroke prevention and cooling in midsummer is always a big deal. Let's talk about it.
A catty of tea with big leaves and red flowers at 36 cents is a necessary herbal tea for every household. There are also people standing at the door in the street and selling them to passers-by. Generally, it is a large cylindrical glass with a square thin glass cover (drawn by glass cutter); Put a penny on the table, take a cup, lift your neck, gulp it down, put the cup aside and leave. There are also small cups of tea for a penny (square feet below the top circle), which are not cost-effective and don't sell much. I remember occasionally seeing the free tea in the neighborhood Committee, the "free" sign written with a brush on the carton, leaning against the tea bucket on the table, next to an enamel washbasin filled with clear water. Passers-by who want to drink water, take the cup by themselves, fiddle with the mouth of the cup in the water, and then drink the tea by themselves. This is usually the case when a big activity is held to help others. Most of the tea in the house is filled with dark brown earthenware bowls, but also with black clay pots without wok (it is convenient to carry them in when enjoying the cool), and there are also large bowls and jars, not necessarily. According to the book, flower black tea is a plant of Qiang family, and the leaves on the flower red tree do not contain caffeine or tannic acid. Its efficacy can clear away heat, relieve summer heat, relieve swelling and pain, promote blood circulation and dredge menstruation; Can reduce blood lipid and cholesterol, and prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular sclerosis; You can also get rid of beauty and lose weight. It is no wonder that the big sister and little sister in the neighborhood are full of water, and the little jasper is not empty talk. I think, the role of flower black tea is not small, although we didn't know that such a cheap thing had such great medicinal value.
Children like to drink black tea to quench their thirst, but they prefer to eat popsicles, watermelons, cantaloupes and melons. Eating one popsicle for three cents a day is not enough for many families. At that time, there were many four or five children in a family, and it was not easy to give a dime too early, let alone eat cold drinks. I remember eating popsicles when I was a child. There were always children around me and I wanted to try them. Two or three children get together, take turns to lick each other once, and open your mouth and lick it all over. There are also stingy people who are reluctant to share. At this time, the children next to them will be close to their ears: "You won't give us food or play with you!" Children are afraid of loneliness and have to obey. When I was a child, I also participated in such a thing, which was much more than this "appetite". In the alley on the right side of my house, there is a chubby, nicknamed "small landlord", the eldest son, who is spoiled by adults at home. On one occasion, he was stewing spine lotus root soup at home, and three or four children two or three years older than him stood under the rain awning at the gate of Gongan Road Primary School and asked him for food. The small bowl can't hold much, so each person has a lotus root and a small bone with meat, which is almost the same. The "small landlord" soon went home to add it. When he returned to us again, his father suddenly appeared at the opposite alley, looked around casually and turned back. We children were so frightened that we dared not beg any more. As far as the speed of his eating is concerned, it won't be so fast anyway, and his father knows this better than anyone. Come out and shake it, which means to remind us a few greedy children: "almost!" " It is more interesting for children to beg for food from each other, or to share it with each other, or to eat and drink together, than for an only child to be picky about food and anorexia at home. We were not like this when we were young. In an age when we were short of food and drink, adults also wanted to have a rare tooth sacrifice, let alone children whose self-control had not yet formed.
Three-point popsicles can meet each other from time to time; If you want to change the taste of a five-cent ice cream popsicle, it is not difficult to spend two cents more; It is not easy to eat melons, especially watermelons. I remember when I was a child, I had a big water tank at home. When I had watermelons, I would dip them in the water. It was not often that I could see watermelons floating in the water tank. It's funny to say, even counting the people in my uncle's family, there are fifteen people who eat watermelon once, and each person has a thin book; There is not much time for two films, which is usually the case with other people. Melon seeds are reluctant to throw away. Everyone eats around a washbasin with half an inch of water, and the melon seeds are thrown into the water. After washing and drying, it has been put into the New Year. It is not enough to eat a few watermelon seeds at home. When I was a child, I went to Hankou Railway Station to pick up melon seeds, and I often went to the waiting room. The fruit line will also go. If you are lucky, you will get a lot of harvest when you meet a watermelon that has been thrown in the trash can at the door. Guapi has also been used, just two or three years ago.
during the three-year difficult period, melons and fruits are good things. Watermelon seeds and pumpkin seeds can be kept, and melon skins will not be thrown away. In the past, the skin of watermelon was thick, and the skin could be used for cooking. The skin of winter melon is the same, cut into filaments and stir-fried green peppers, which can be crisp! Later, when things got better, I stopped eating. Now, I have seen many people talking about pickled smelly watermelon skin, and they are very happy and talk about it; Seeing others eat it, the aftertaste is endless and the joy is endless. It seems that it is not "annoying (pretending)", but I really like it, nostalgia, or returning to the park. I don't know. People in old streets are very good at living. What I remember most clearly is that many adults use bamboo-shell thermos bottles in dog days.