Village Collection丨Hometown Series 2

Village Collection | Hometown Series 2

Text/Yu Changcheng

1

One of the reasons for China’s language aesthetics is that there are a large number of vivid adverb. We say that articles should be written vividly, and many adverbs themselves are vivid, such as hurry, hurry, hurry. There is a word "hurry" in the adverbs, and this word "hurry" is a verb. Among the verbs composed of the word "hurry", the most common ones include "hurrying", "driving a car", "driving horses, cattle and sheep", "going to the market", "going to the temple fair", "going to the exam", "going to the mountains and the sea", etc. When I was a child, I was most familiar with "going to the market".

Going to the market is also called going to the market or going to the market in some places in southern China. Both the market and the market have the meaning of the market. Anyone who has traveled to Guilin and rafted on the Li River must know that there is a Daxu (ancient writing market) wharf, which is next to Daxu Ancient Market; Daxu is Daji, and later developed into Daxu Ancient Town.

In ancient times, temple fairs were also markets, so they were called temple fairs. The temple fair is not like the market all year round, but only once a year, but it is large-scale and later evolved into an agricultural and business exchange meeting. In the 1980s, commodity exchange meetings expanded and were no longer limited to temples, but moved to the edge of the city or even in the city. Commodity exchange meetings were held every year in rural markets.

I am lucky enough to be born in an era, but after all, I have no memory of the village fair in the late 1970s, or my memory is not very deep. One is that my memory was shallow at that time, and the other is that the market in the 1970s was relatively boring. In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, private commerce was not allowed. The main body of rural markets was supply and marketing cooperatives. Although the markets still existed, they mainly sold vegetables, fruits, snacks and breakfast. The 1980s and 1990s were an unprecedented period of prosperity for markets. Markets of all sizes were flooded, with many fruit and vegetable markets or commercial streets popping up in cities, and many facades also being built in rural markets. But the good times did not last long. As a large number of people from rural areas, especially young people, moved into cities, village markets gradually became useless, as if they had returned to the depressed scene of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

The village fairs that I remember include the late 1970s and the entire 1980s. I left my hometown in the autumn of 1990. I only returned to my hometown during the winter vacation of 1990 and the summer and winter vacation of 1991, and saw the final prosperity and prosperity of the village market.

2

Among all the natural villages, I think my mountain village is the best. It has shallow mountains, streams, large ponds, deep wells and ancient trees. , there are old houses, and most importantly, there are ancient collections. It is better if the mountain is shallow, it is better to climb up, and it is better to go deep; it is better if the stream is small, so you don’t have to worry about crossing the river; it is better if the pond is big, and besides the scenery, there are also big fish in the big pond; It is better if the well is deep, because the well is deep and the spring is cool. ; The trees are old and good, as ancient trees are like sacred trees, which can protect the villagers; the houses are old and good, century-old houses contain ancient traditions and gather ancestral spirits. The market is a platform for the village to communicate with the outside world and to obtain daily necessities. Although every village goes to the market, only a few villages are close to the market. My mountain village is one of the very few villages close to the market.

The reason why it is called going to the market is because most villages are far away from the market, and life is busy and heavy, so you need to rush. The village market is mostly a dew market, and if there is a slight delay, we will be unable to catch up. Before ten o'clock, the market has completely dispersed and the dew has dried. For our village, which is close to the village market, although it is also called going to the market, the pace is slow and leisurely, and there is no need to rush. Only when I go to a rural market farther away will I sometimes be in a hurry and count the time.

Generally speaking, village fairs are relatively rare. They can be said to be very few. Ancient villages generally existed in Bao. Ancient Bao was like a modern village, but its area was as large as a modern township. In ancient times, after modern divisions were divided into towns and townships, ancient jis generally became the current town jis and township jis, and only a few Baoji jis became village jijis. However, the initial formation process of the market was mostly due to the natural formation of population settlement. Only when there is a market, there are streets. Many towns, towns and even cities were developed from ancient markets.

There are two factors for the formation of ancient Ji. One is that it can bring together a large number of people from the surrounding area, and the other is that logistics and transportation are convenient. In ancient times, people and goods flowed either by land or by water. Most people travel by land, because walking is free, there are often inns along the road, and there are many shops and shops along the road; bulk freight mostly travels by water, and shipping carries a heavier weight than cars. People usually call the main roads with post stations, passes or checkpoints official roads. The residences of Li and Bao are mostly located on the official roads, and the post stations are also mostly located in the residences of Li and Bao. Therefore, the posts or the residences of Li and Bao are called official roads. A market was formed.

For a market that can continue to grow, in addition to the official road, there is usually a waterway port that can be navigable. It is difficult for a market with only land routes to develop and form a scale, and it is also difficult to develop into a large-scale market. Big towns. Where there is a river, there are banks, and where there are rivers there are residents. Pedestrian roads will naturally form on the banks. This kind of road along the river can also be opened into a road, allowing waterways and land roads to develop in parallel.

After the large market streets took shape, there were many merchants. In order to prevent bandits and soldiers, they even built walls and gates to form fortresses. In these larger market streets and villages, at least one side is surrounded by rivers, and some are even close to mountains and rivers. A more complete defense is to build a moat-like river protection - some of the rivers themselves are natural ditches.

Guang (zhou) Huang (zhou) ancient road, there are three main official roads passing through Guangshan County from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Qing Dynasty. The two Guanghuang ancient roads of the Tang and Song Dynasties mainly follow the Bailu River, a tributary of the Huai River, to the Jianghuai watershed. , a Guanghuang Ancient Road in the Ming and Qing Dynasties mainly followed the Huanghe River, a branch of the Huaihe River, to the Jianghuai watershed. Xinji Town, the seat of present-day Xinxian County, was originally named Xindian, due to Changtanli and Changtanyi in Guangshan County. In the mid-Qing Dynasty, it developed into Daji and was renamed Xinji. In the late Qing Dynasty, it was founded by Zeng and Liu. The wealthy gentry built the village walls and gates, and it was first called Xinji Village. In February 1931, regiment commander Wang Shusheng (who was awarded the title of general in 1955) led a regiment to capture Xinji Village with only guns and artillery. Later, a coffin of explosives was dug into a tunnel and transported to the foot of the village wall before it collapsed the wall and destroyed the village. Capture Xinji Village. Lijiazhai, sixty miles south of Xinyang City, was not able to be breached by the Nian army in the late Qing Dynasty. Sanlitian Village across the river to the south of Xinyang City also had strong walls and gates. In October 1938, the Japanese army stationed troops in Sanlitian Village after they captured Xinyang City. Xinjizhai, Lijiazhai, and Sanlitianzhai were all developed from post stations and markets. The market is adjacent to the river and on Juguan Road, with convenient water and land transportation. National Highway 107 passes through Sanlitianzhai, Lijiazhai, and Jinghan The railway has Lijiazhai Station, and Wusheng Pass is next to Lijiazhai.

3

The Shenliuqiao Ancient Collection is located at the Shenliuqiaobao Station, with a small river flowing through it. In the old days, Shenliuqiaobao was about the same size as a township today. However, when the new county was established in 1932, Shenliuqiaobao was not completely transferred from Guangshan County to the new county. Therefore, when the townships and villages were divided after liberation, Shenliu Qiaobao, which was originally assigned to the new county, was reduced to a village, and the township government was located in Balifan Market. Fortunately, the Shenliuqiao Ancient Market has been preserved as a village market, and there may be only one such village market in the entire township.

The three markets around Shenliuqiao Market are all township markets or town markets, namely Balifan Township Market, Huwan Township Market and Popihe Town Market. Without exception, these three township markets all have waterways. The Huanghe River, a tributary of the Huaihe River, flows through Huwan Township, which flows through three counties; the Pobei River flows through the Pobei River Township, and the Pobei River Reservoir was built in 1972; it flows through Balifan Township (renamed in 2001 Town) is centered on the Changzhou River, which flows into the Popi River Reservoir. In 1972, the Changzhou River Reservoir was built in the upper reaches.

Flowing through the Shenliuqiao Market is an unknown river, which flows into the Popi River (reservoir). At least in the early Ming Dynasty, the Shenliubiao Market had been formed, which can be known from the records of some local family genealogies. Shenliu Bridge is named after a bridge. The ancient bridge was built in the 11th year of Dade in the Yuan Dynasty. The market was formed on the north side of the bridge head. Within one kilometer around the market, there are at least four larger villages, namely Dingliwan, Dayuwan, Caiwa, and Zhangwa (including Qianzhangwa). A little further away there are larger villages such as Song Xujia and Tuzhuang. In the 1980s, these villages had a population of 400 to 500, and Dinli Bay had a population of more than 700.

The reason why the small river flowing through the Jinribashi Market has no name is mainly because it does not directly pass through or surround a village, but is two to three hundred meters away from each village. , because the villages are built along mountains rather than rivers. In mountainous areas, fields along rivers are at a premium. In the local area, creeks are generally named after villages or village surnames. Even if Dingli Bay is called "Dawan", the creek is not called Dingli River. Therefore, this nameless river is called "Hegou"; "Hegou" is the local general name for the creek.

The river ditch can be navigable to the Popi River, and then to the Huaihe River via the Huanghe River. Therefore, after the Shenliuqiao Market was formed, there was no problem with water transportation. After the Popi River Reservoir was built, it was said that the journey by boat from Guji to the reservoir dam dock was eighteen miles. The first four or five miles of the journey were originally the old channels of the river ditch and were submerged in the reservoir.

After the four or five miles upstream of the river ditch were opened up into terraces and the four or five miles downstream were submerged by the reservoir, the entire river ditch was only two or three miles long.

In addition, due to the construction of the reservoir, the original villages near the lower reaches of the river were relocated. The Shenliuqiao Market was facing the vast ocean to the north, and the market spanned two counties. Therefore, the Shenliuqiao Administrative Village decided to relocate the market to Qianzhangwa. Bay, there is a newly built road there, and the supply and marketing cooperative was built at the entrance of Qian Zhangwa Bay Village.

It’s not funny to say that when Xinxian County was separated from Guangshan County and established, Shenliu Qiaobao and Shenliuqiaoji were cut in two like a piece of fat, and most of the ancient market street was in Xinxian County Within the territory, less than half is in Guangshan County, with one street spanning two counties. After the abolition of the ancient market, the original market street became two villages, one is Shenliuqiao Bay in Xin County, and the other is Guangxin Bay in Guangshan County.

Although there is no market in Guangxinwan, in the 1980s, some families still opened private dealerships or butcher stalls, and the prices were cheaper than at Jinryukashi Market.

Starting from my village, we walked about 150 meters north to a highland beside the river. That is the name of a place called Xiaomiao, and another 50 meters to the river. Across the three stepping stones on the ten-foot-wide ditch, less than 200 meters to the northeast is Jinli Bridge Street; if you go straight north along the river bank, you will reach a new bridge over the ditch about 150 meters away. Go straight along the river bank for 100 meters to reach the Shenliuqiao Ancient Bridge. Cross the ancient bridge and walk 50 meters to the main street of Shenliuqiao Ancient Market. The main street of Guji is about two to three hundred meters long. The road is paved with bluestones. There are houses on both sides of the street that have become residential buildings. Most of the houses facing the street have windows. In the 1980s, shop windows were formed, most of which sold fireworks. Go through Guji Street to the ferry, take a boat to Popi River Pier and transfer to the shuttle bus. To the south you can go to Huwan Township Market and Xinxian County. To the north, you can go to Pobi River Town Market four miles away. To the north you can go to Guangshan County. , Xinyang City.

The ancestral tomb of the Yu family is located in the back hill of Shenliuqiao ancient collection. It is the tomb of Xian Yigong, the fourth generation of the Yu family in Henan who originated from the Yu family in Changmao, Jiangxi. He was also the Yu family who moved to Shenliuqiao collection. The first generation of the family, he was posthumously named the grandson of Shaobao Yu Siming by Zhu Yuanzhang. In my generation, I have lived in Shenliuqiaoji for twenty-three generations. In the late 1980s, a family named Cai built a house close to the Yu family's ancestral grave in Shenliuqiao Bay, causing a small-scale armed fight between the Cai and Yu clans. The house owner surnamed Cai was beaten to death, and the four servants surnamed Yu were imprisoned.

4

The year I was born was the year when the Popi River Reservoir was built. Shenliuqiaoji had long been reduced to Lushuiji and was surrounded by three powerful township markets. Shenliuqiao Village Market and Huwan Township Market meet on even days, while Balifan Township Market and Pobihe Town Market meet on single days.

The new village after liberation is located at the entrance of Qianzhangwawan Village. There is only one small street less than 100 meters long, but it is usually very wide - it can be used to show outdoor movies, but it is only a little crowded in the twelfth lunar month. . The most conspicuous and unparalleled feature of the market is a row of supply and marketing cooperative houses, not counting their backyards and warehouses. As far as the houses in the supply and marketing cooperative are concerned, they are all brick houses with one-meter-wide eaves and three or four steps.

There are three magnificent buildings in the entire Jinliqiao brigade. One is the brigade headquarters, the second is the supply and marketing cooperative, and the third is Jinliqiao Middle School. Most of the houses in the village have adobe walls. Although there are many brick walls of ancient buildings in Dingli Bay, most of them are from before the Qing Dynasty and are quite dilapidated. Usually, three or five families live in a large house yard. Although Jinryubashi Junior High School is a brick building, many of the large blue bricks are said to be grave bricks, and it can be seen that some of the bricks still have white lime left on them. The brigade headquarters is a huge courtyard house, but the row of houses in front are made of small red bricks and glazed tiles, which is the most elegant. I can’t remember whether the supply and marketing cooperative’s facade is made of big blue bricks or small red bricks, glazed tiles or blue tiles, but it can always be ranked second.

The front room of the supply and marketing cooperative is divided into two areas. One area is a purchasing station that also sells oil, salt, pickles, and bulk wine. The other area sells various in-demand items. Being in short supply means being fashionable, and fashionable things are only available in supply and marketing cooperatives, because many supplies are supplied by tickets, and if you don’t have tickets, you have to pay a high price. This is called being in short supply. When I wrote the township chronicle a few years ago, I learned that in the 1960s, there were more than 20 commodities supplied by ticket, including sugar, cigarettes, wine, pork, cloth, knitting, cakes, watches, bicycles, leather shoes, matches, soap, and toilet soap. , enamel cups, enamel basins, batteries, mirrors, cattail fans, mats, water bottles, iron nails, etc. The only "tickets" I saw when I was a child seemed to be cloth stamps and food stamps, but the supply and marketing cooperative no longer sells food, nor does it sell pork. The purchasing station purchases poultry eggs, fish, shrimps, turtles, loaches, tortoises, snakes, etc. It also purchases agricultural products such as cotton, hemp, castor, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, red beans, mung beans, etc. It also purchases Chinese medicinal materials such as Qianhu and Adenophora. , Plantago, honeysuckle, kudzu, etc.

The village supply and marketing cooperative does not sell valuables such as watches, bicycles, and radios. The main commodities include sugar, cigarettes, alcohol, non-staple food, cloth, shoes, water bottles, mirrors, cattail fans, flashlights, batteries, matches, soap, Soap, towels, washbasins, jars, bowls, chopsticks, pots, kitchen knives, scissors, needles, threads, tin buckets, iron nails, etc. For me personally, when I was a child, the most common thing I bought at the counter of the supply and marketing cooperative was candy, no matter how much it cost. When I grew up, I bought flashlights, batteries, water bottle bladders, bottle stoppers, matches, salt, soap, etc. Soap, etc., and I also helped my father buy cigarettes and drinks.

There is a deliveryman who specializes in transportation for the village supply and marketing cooperative. He uses a donkey to pull a frame cart and transports the items purchased by the village supply and marketing cooperative to the village every day, and then transports the items for sale from the village to the village. Supply and marketing cooperative. When the truck is on a flat road and empty, the freightman sits sideways on the frame truck, shouting "boo" and "drive" while waving his whip. It's a very comfortable sight.

Adjacent to the side of the supply and marketing cooperative is the health center. There are three traditional Chinese medicine doctors, two of whom are about 60 or 70 years old, and one who is about 40 years old. The three Chinese medicine doctors take turns to work, but people who go to the market to see a doctor always want the eldest Chinese medicine doctor to see, hear, and ask questions, and do not have much trust in the 40-year-old Chinese medicine doctor. Before the establishment of the health center, the two old Chinese medicine practitioners were barefoot doctors who walked around the countryside and knew many people. Doctors usually stay at home and prepare medicine kits. If someone gets an emergency illness at night, they still need to visit.

Opposite the supply and marketing cooperative and the health center is a row of low-rise houses. In front of the houses are meat stalls, fried stalls, tofu stalls, and noodles stalls. It seems that these can be privately owned. In the 1970s, local married daughters celebrated birthdays for their parents. The three most common birthday gifts were noodles, fried dough sticks and pork, filled in a bamboo basket, and of course chickens, ducks, fish eggs, etc. could also be included; while in rural areas, when entertaining guests, Tofu is essential, after all, meat is expensive, but the types of tofu include water tofu, qianzhang (dry tofu), stinky tofu rolls, tofu dregs, soybean oil, spicy tofu cubes, etc. In the era of poverty, there was a saying in rural areas of "eating tofu during the Spring Festival". Tofu is simply a special type of vegetable between meat and vegetables, neither better nor worse. Among fried foods, cabbage corners and thousand-sheet fried dough sticks should be eaten while hot, while fried dough sticks, twists and dumplings can be stored at home for a long time. Cold fried dough sticks should be soaked in boiling water or hot porridge and eaten by the elderly, while small twists and dumplings should be eaten while they are hot. A children's favorite. Later, I tasted Tianjin’s hemp flower, and I felt it was far less good than the small hemp flower from my hometown.

As for dried noodles, they are a must-have for every household. Vermicelli, also known as longevity noodles, and "egg vermicelli" are standard birthday treats for both the elderly and children. In addition, when guests come to the house or people are hired to do work, they usually have to invite people to "spend noon" or "spend evening", which requires noodles. Rolling noodles is not enough, and making dumplings takes too much time. Therefore, when people need to hire people to do work or help for a long time, such as building a house and need a lot of noodles, they usually ask people to come to their homes to make noodles.

In addition, the items that are not fixed in the market are firewood loaders, vegetable loaders, melon and fruit loaders, egg baskets and duck egg baskets, sellers of fish, shrimps, tortoises, chickens and ducks, etc. Farmers produce it themselves or fish it from rivers and ponds. There were no breakfast stalls at the village market, selling steamed buns, soy milk, dumplings, noodles, porridge, etc. Those would not appear until the 1980s.

5

The market did not become prosperous until the 1980s, and it was so crowded that the supply and marketing cooperative was closed down. Overnight, the low-rise houses opposite the supply and marketing cooperative were renovated, brightened, and turned into dealerships. Breakfast shops have also appeared, street stalls have appeared, and even barber shops, credit unions, and cattle shops have appeared; temporary vendors that were originally irregular have formed fixed areas, including aquatic products area, vegetable area, and firewood area. All crowded onto the main road. The market expanded into a T-shaped street.

Nearly half of the families in Qianzhangwa Village are engaged in business. Grandma’s two brothers have opened dealerships, and some families have built houses for rent. Residents from nearby villages also came to set up street stalls. Street stalls are not spread on the ground, but on two benches with a bamboo sheet on top, and the items are placed on the bamboo sheet. Bamboo thin is simple and easy to make, and is available in every house. It is made of more than a dozen thin bamboos connected in series with hemp ropes. You can sleep on it to enjoy the coolness on summer nights, or you can move it to the yard or drying field to expose crops. It can be rolled up when not in use. Get up and stand in the corner.

Dealer shops have also appeared in various villages. In my village, which is only 500 meters away from the market, my grandfather opened a dealership. I once doubted whether my grandfather's dealership could make money. Facts have proved that human beings are lazy, and most people would rather spend a little more money than walk more, or save time to go to the market.

Grandpa's dealership only sells a very small number of daily necessities, cigarettes, and alcohol. The main income comes from tobacco and alcohol, even though my village only has a population of 150 or 60 people. In the 1980s, when food and wine usually sold for only four yuan a bottle, and a pack of cigarettes usually only cost more than one yuan, my grandfather's dealership was passed down to three generations, from his grandfather to his second aunt, and from his second aunt to his third aunt. It was passed from the third aunt to the elder sister until they got married.

After the market became popular, many people went to the market purely for fun, especially for the elderly or children who had nothing to do. Even children who had work to do in the morning, such as herding cattle, would still be crowded. Taking time off to go to the market and watch the excitement is one of the few inherent joys for Chinese people. Those children who go to school and pass by the market must waste a little time in the market. Years later, the memories will not be a waste of time, but a kind of visit and excursion.

The principal also has to pass by the market every time he comes to school. Once during a lecture at the school meeting, he told us about an experience at the market to prove the importance of learning extracurricular knowledge. A beggar playing Allegro to beg for money said to a stall owner who refused to give money: "You respect me as Yang Liulang, and I respect you as the Eight Wise Kings." What is the relationship between Yang Liulang and the Eight Wise Kings? Yang Liulang is the brother-in-law of the Eight Sage King, I am your sister!

It seems that after the market became popular, the beggars also became entertainers. When they came to the village to beg for food, they were either playing Allegro or playing the erhu, or they had a non-venomous snake wrapped around their necks, and they would stand on their shoulders. Watching a myna that can learn human language. Children welcome such beggars, they no longer drive dogs to bite them, and they give away more rice. Sometimes he deliberately scoops a bowl full of rice and holds it in his hand to let the beggar sing in front of the door for a while longer.

There are two old men in the village who must be seen in every episode. They are brothers, both in their seventies, and have not interacted with each other for most of their lives. When the younger brother was captured as a young man, he entrusted his wife and children to his elder brother, but the older brother sold his sister-in-law. Every time my brother goes to the market empty-handed, he always comes back with a piece of meat. My younger brother always carries a bundle of bamboo on his back every time he goes to the market, and when he sells the money, he cuts a piece of meat and buys a bottle of wine. During the winter and summer vacations, he often takes his two grandchildren with him. Sometimes he also carries bamboo on his back to sell at the market in Pobihe Town. His two grandsons live across from me and often brag to me about how good the Popi River Town Market is. It is many times bigger than the Shenliuqiao Town Market. However, going to the Popi River Town Market requires taking a boat and paying the boat fee. I haven't been there. Later, my sister often followed the villagers to the Popihe Town Market and sold some fruits at the Shenliuqiao Market. During the summer vacation, I often went to the pier to pick her up. The second aunt had the hardest time running a dealership. There were no bicycles at home at that time, and in order to save money, the second aunt often went to the market in Huwan Township, more than 20 miles away, to pick up the goods. She usually picked up the goods on Sundays, bringing her big bag with her. My six-year-old uncle and our three siblings were carrying it on their shoulders and were extremely tired. My uncle was very strong. When collecting firewood for the school, he once carried back 185 kilograms, which broke the school record. Each time he had to carry three or four boxes of liquor.

6

My uncle later worked at the Township Grain Management Office. My aunt was from Xiangjie Street and opened a clothing store on Xiangji Street. Every late lunar month, my uncle would also bring goods to the village market to sell and set up stalls. After the market was over, he would store the goods in his uncle's dealership.

The market is extremely popular every mid to late twelfth lunar month, and after the Chinese New Year, it becomes even more crowded. According to the hometown saying, "the market is overcrowded." Such a grand occasion is crazier than the autumn rural commodity exchange meeting.

The autumn rural commodity exchange meeting is held in September every year, after autumn sowing, during the slack farming season. Because the market street is too small, the product exchange meetings are held in the large open space in front of the brigade department. In order to celebrate the grand event, and because students are not interested in going to class, the school has a three to seven day holiday every year. The brigade headquarters is only 100 meters away from the school. The most sold items at the trade fair were cloth and clothing, all of which were brought from the countryside by the truckload. Every exchange meeting is like the legendary temple fair, with a lot of food and fun. The brigade - which has been changed to the village - will invite a flower drum opera troupe with about six or seven actors. Various fruits and dried fruits were now available, and snacks were also shipped, just for the children to eat.

The twelfth lunar month collection is different, mainly supplying new year's goods. In the early 1980s, when most rural youths had not yet gone out to work, catching up on the twelfth lunar month became the most important pastime. The number of people attending the small gathering exceeded 1,000 people throughout the morning until the gathering ended at one or two o'clock in the afternoon. Many young people deliberately create waves of people, and every time someone is squeezed out, the children are frightened and hide aside.

In every market, there are fights over "squeezing oil". They fight straight into the rice fields and beat them to death. Isn't this what "squeezing their heads" means? Jinliubashi Village Market is small to begin with. I once watched an outdoor movie at the Summer Night Market and was squeezed out of the bench when the show ended. In those years, we were teenagers and half-grown children, and we were very enthusiastic about this "oil squeezing" sport at the twelfth lunar month market.

By the late 1980s, most rural youths went to cities to work. However, when they returned home before the Spring Festival every year, their purchasing power was not what it used to be. If going to the market in the early 1980s was a time for young people to hang out and watch the excitement, in the late 1980s it was a rush to buy in large and small packages. In order to maintain order, the three of us, siblings, help our uncle take care of the stall every episode, and on odd days we go to the township fair to help.

In fact, it is only the main street of the village market that is crowded. As for the secondary streets on the road, it can be stretched infinitely, from 500 meters to 1,000 meters, and then widened to both sides of the road. in the rice fields. At this time, if you want to meet someone you love, go to the market and look for him. You won’t be unable to find him because you don’t have a phone call. If you can't find it once, go back and forth twice or three times; if you don't find it this time, try again the next time. If you are familiar with each other, you can secretly hold her hand; if you are not familiar with her, you can secretly slip a small note to her.

Not only young people, but middle-aged people also like to go to the twelfth lunar month market. Otherwise, what would they do in the long winter? Go to the market and see what's missing from the New Year supplies. There are some items that are not commonly used that I can’t remember, but when I see them, I buy them if I think they are a good deal; they are not necessarily only used during the Chinese New Year, some are only used on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and some are only used in summer but are cheaper in winter.

The people who dislike going to the market the least are middle-aged and elderly women. Firstly, they often don’t care about money or not; secondly, they are all frugal in running the house; thirdly, they are past the age of enjoying the excitement. They only go to the market when they have something to sell, or when they have to buy something. My third aunt loves to go to the market. She is married in a place in Guangshan County, eight miles away from the Shenliu Bridge Market, and she must go to the market almost every time. She has no biological son, and she separated from her adopted son who married a wife early. However, she lives next to the Popi River Reservoir and has planted many vegetable gardens and tea leaves. In every episode, she either carries vegetables or tea leaves to sell at the market, and even sells them in the gods. On the days when there is no market in the bridge, I go to the market in Bali Township, sixteen or seventeen miles away, to sell it. Otherwise, how to spend the long old life? Today, the third aunt is nearly ninety years old. When I met her five years ago, she was still in good spirits. She took a bus from Xinxian County to Shenliuqiaoji alone, and then walked eight miles back to her rural hometown.

I wonder if there will be another gathering at Jinri Bridge?

2021.11.12