The almanac left by grandpa
More than twenty years ago, when we were young, my uncle contracted an orchard in the north of the village, and grandpa's daily job was to look after the orchard. When I was a child, I remember grandpa riding a bike after breakfast every morning. His wicker basket hangs on the handlebar. There is a radio, a wood knife, a pack of cigarettes, some old newspapers and an almanac in the wicker basket. It happens every day. After dinner, I go home for dinner, and then take these to the orchard by bike, just like city people go to work.
At that time, our happiest thing was to go to the orchard and ask grandpa to go home. Because the traditional Chinese medicine handed down from home and the traditional Chinese medicine fried by grandpa are very famous in eight neighboring towns, many people come here, but there was no telephone at that time, and grandma would send us to the orchard and let grandpa go home. Give us 50 cents to travel. How could rural children have pocket money at that time? This makes us very happy.
Grandpa spends most of his time in the orchard. In order to stir-fry medicine conveniently, he built an earthen stove next to a small house in the orchard. When I was a child, as long as I didn't go to school, we used to help grandpa make a fire and stir-fry medicine. I thought it was fresh at first. I am very excited to make a fire and decoct medicine in the suburbs of Shan Ye. Grandpa will tell us stories while cooking medicine, and teach us some herbs in the prescription, including frankincense, myrrh, Uncaria rhynchophylla, licorice, honeysuckle, scorpion, cyathula, Uncaria rhynchophylla and so on. But then I got bored, especially in summer. Other children either took a nap at home, took a bath by the river, or played games in the village game hall, so we had to sit in the sun and endure the smoky fire. Sometimes we pretend to sleep or lie to him about a stomachache to escape.
Grandpa has several identities in his life, such as primary school teacher, clinic doctor, farmer, martial artist and old Chinese doctor. When he was young, he visited half of China and stayed in a temple. He was also a famous figure in the village at that time!
As time goes by, we grow up and grandpa is old. Now he no longer decocts Chinese medicine. A few years ago, my father took over the job of frying Chinese medicine. With the good reputation saved by several generations, my father has done a brilliant job, even better than grandpa, but grandpa is still not at ease, telling his father this and that all day.
Later, I found that grandpa always forgets something. He can ask a question over and over again for a dozen times. Sometimes even our names are forgotten or confused, and his temper is getting worse and worse. He always quarrels with grandma. ......
Today's grandfather smokes silently and says nothing most of the time. He has been dealing with Chinese medicine all his life and never has to go to the orchard again. When he is free, he doesn't know what he will do. Most of the old people in the village gather at the entrance of the canteen and play cards and chess in the sun, while grandpa just sits in the alley, smoking one cigarette after another or wandering around the village with hemp, visiting his son's house and opening hemp.