Explore the old place in prose and see the years lightly

Pictures and Texts/Yingying Shuijian

The sky is a wash of light blue, and white clouds of different shapes set off the sky. The earth was scorched by the sun, and the hot air spread from the soles of the feet to the whole body. No birdsong was heard, and I don’t know where the birds were hiding to escape the summer heat. Only the cicadas screamed hoarsely at the top of their lungs, their cheers burning and cheering up their hearts. The short stone hills, exposed purple-red shale, and large gravels exude the momentum of a flaming mountain. The withered and yellow hay is chaotically crawling, as if if the temperature is higher, it will reach the ignition point. The wind blew the corn leaves that had been curled by the high temperature, making the crisp sound of fallen leaves crunching under feet in autumn. The corn leaves were yellow and withered, and some of the fruits had failed. The vines of cantaloupe and watermelon are intertwined, clinging to the ground and extending into the distance, as if they are eagerly looking for a moist soil where life can grow. The melons and fruits have lost their moist deformity. The plants and trees all drooped their heads, withered, depressed, and dying. I heard from villagers that there hasn’t been a drop of rain here for more than two months, and the temperature continues to be high.

Looking around, the green crops in the rice fields are rolling with heat waves, which hit my heart. Unscrew the cap of the water bottle in your hand, gurgling, gurgling, and pour it down your neck. Still feeling hot, it seems like the big beads of sweat are the water from your throat swaying out due to the heat. All over your body, It's like being dipped in chili pepper water. Grandma was lying quietly on the wicker chair at Grandma's house. The watermelon she had just picked from the field was taken out of the refrigerator. It had not yet had time to cool down, and the bright red juice was still warm. A hometown with four distinct seasons, each season gives people such strong feelings, and the summer heat is the same. The husband held up a parasol, took a bamboo hat from his grandmother's house and put it on, just like that, he broke into the heat where there was nowhere to hide even if he tried to hide.

Along the street, there are double-storey buildings arranged in an orderly manner. The doors are locked and almost deserted. It is no longer like the old summer afternoons, when people leaned on the promenade. A pillar, shaking a cattail leaf fan in one hand, and a Longxiu popsicle, a specialty of the hometown, in the other hand. The family is short-lived, laughing and chatting happily. Wherever my footsteps passed, my floating thoughts also marched towards the place where I was born, the ancestral house of my grandmother's house, the stilted building. As I followed my steps closer, I couldn't see the stilted building at a glance. The pumpkin vines spread freely, decorated with orange pumpkin flowers, and the flowers were wilted and expressionless. Standing quietly on this piece of land, I suddenly heard the creaking sound of the floorboards of the stilted building, which seemed to lead to the years and pass through the gaps in time and space. The raindrops hanging with raised legs dripped down the eaves and fell into the lotus pond in front of the building. The small person leaned on the window lattice, holding the lattice wooden window bars tightly with his small hands, climbing with the simple joy of a little macaque.

I often sit on the second floor and look down from the window at the fish in the lotus pond, swallowing duckweed and playing in the clear water. The duckweed covers the green lotuses that stick to the water. Green flies squirted in the water and stood on the small lotus leaves that had just begun to show their sharp corners. Frogs squatted on the lotus leaves, croaking and singing summer songs. They flew downstairs in the early morning to drink the lotus dew. Little people can also climb up and down the thick wooden suspended stairs, take off their shoes from their feet, throw them down through the huge gaps in the partitions of the stairs, pick them up again, and throw them down again, and so on. Simply repeat the cycle and enjoy yourself. Or just sit on the floor, play a role in the TV series, and experience the feeling of overlooking from a high place. From time to time, there is the sound of grandma's footsteps going upstairs: "Hey, baby! Sit inside and let grandma pass." There is no guardrail on the stairs. In my memory, it seems that I have never fallen down. The wooden ladder extends from top to bottom, leading to the door on the first floor, facing the high wooden threshold and facing the innocent time. My mother told me this. At that time, I often sat on the high threshold and counted the ants crawling by. There is an Eight Immortals table in the hall on the first floor, with four long benches surrounding it. When sitting around the table, there are elders and younger ones in an orderly manner. The elders and those with higher seniority sit at the table, although I have not yet learned how to do it. Distinguish the seats, but when you sit around the table, let yourself learn to respect the old and love the young. There was a black-and-white TV set on the round-corner cabinet near the Eight Immortals table. At that time, I would watch the TV on time every night and watch the weather forecast at 7:30. I could recite the city broadcasts in order, which made my grandfather smile. When there is no program on the TV station, a map of the earth will pop up on the white screen.

The round-corner cabinet also serves as a screen partition wall in the main room on the first floor. Behind the round-corner cabinet is a wooden frame bed. At that time, there were many beds in the house, and it was common for guests to stay overnight. One time, I came to my grandma's house with my brother. Grandma was out and not in the house. The two of them hid in the back, wanting to give grandma an unwelcome surprise. They held the corner of the quilt tightly and laughed secretly. I don't know when, Entered into a deep dream. When I woke up, I saw my grandma's smiling face: "I saw your shoes under the bed and wondered where everyone had gone. It turned out that they were hiding in the bed and fell asleep." A burst of laughter echoed in the room.

In the upper left corner of the first floor, there is a coal stove. The coal stove will keep people warm. They can chat and laugh around the stove, bake glutinous rice cakes, warm fermented rice wine, dry squid, and roast oranges. Time and memories are warm, warm a person's life, and warm their heart forever. After exiting the main room on the first floor, two stone staircases intertwined, leading down to a winding path out the door. Climbing up the stairs is the kitchen (kitchen) filled with human fireworks. On the top of the stove, the smoke from the cooking utensils has been filled with the food of the four seasons, dyeing it with a heavy background of life. It is dark, just like my grandmother was smoked by the kitchen. A dark face shows vicissitudes of life, but also has the most beautiful face in life. On the beams of the stove room, there are piles of neatly tied sweet potatoes and cold potatoes, as well as garlic plates and red dried chili peppers.

Why it is hung here, I have never asked, I don't know, I don't have too much understanding, I only know the abundance of food from this. There is no longer a lack of food and clothing, famine, and starvation everywhere, like the historical story of grandma shaking the cattail leaf fan. When children are children, having fun is the first priority, and eating is also the first priority. I like to sit around the big red clay stove and the faucet pot, often around the stove fire, coveting my grandma’s masterpieces, fried twists, fried sweet potato chips, fish skin peanuts, bean cakes, sesame roots, meat cakes, tung leaf cakes... It seems like my grandma has With a pair of magic hands, as a typical woman of that era, she could farm and weave, make shoes, make wine and cook... Grandma could do anything. And the taste of those delicacies made by my grandma that filled my childhood are also the eternal memories of the taste buds on the tip of my tongue. Grandma also taught herself that having enough to eat, wearing warm clothes, and living healthy is already the happiness of life.

The top of the pavilion at the back and top of the kitchen house has completely collapsed. At that time, half of the corner was surrounded by brittle bamboo, and the high roof provided shade and ventilation. It was the only way to go to and from Changqiu Street, and it was also a good place for people to relax and enjoy the cool air in summer. Su Zi said: "It is better to eat without meat than live without bamboo." The pavilion is also the only way to the bamboo forest behind the house. Standing in front of the pavilion, the sun shines through the bamboo gaps, and the dazzling light flickers and blurs the eyes. The white light clearly shows the scene of long gone time. The withered yellow bamboo leaves that have not been swept away by the west wind cover the ground, and the green leaves cover the sky. They can shelter from the wind in winter and cover the sun in summer. In the hands of grandma, the rising and falling of the hammer "washes" the sunflower seeds, and the happy smell of the harvest is rising and falling. The plump melon seeds rustled into the bamboo basket. The sunflower disks that have taken off their fruits are hung by ropes woven from various materials by us children. The two ends of the ropes are tied to the bamboo joints to decorate the small world in our own minds. The knife was held in the hands of the old man, and the thin and long bamboo strips were flying in and out of his hands. Bamboo baskets, bamboo armchairs, tables, bamboo beds, bamboo baskets... each of the exquisite handicrafts appeared and fell with familiar techniques. . Picking peanuts, peeling beans, and threshing corn... it seems that manual farm work can all be done leisurely and carefully in the bamboo forest. The bamboo forest is an amusement park for children. The ability of monkeys to climb poles is revealed. The bent bamboos and the little people jumping up and down are all fearless and brave, and the potential of agility is fully realized.

The bamboo forest has bamboo shoots in spring, shade in summer, autumn wind rustling and falling leaves in autumn, and snow-covered bamboos in winter... The scenery of the four seasons is bright, and there will always be various and moving places, nothing to worry about. Stepping lightly in the bamboo forest, listening to the wind, letting the sun and stars shine, or like Su Zi said: "I can live my whole life under the mist and rain." When I was in that place, I didn't know that I could have such a beautiful state of mind. I lacked a lot of profound joy, but there was also Endless simple joys. People often talk about gains and losses. Judging from a person's life, they are always in direct proportion. If you know your gains, you will be happy. It can be said to be content and happy in the true sense. The bamboo forest has been trampled by the footsteps of time, turning it into a secluded path that winds in all directions. The secluded path must lead to the secluded place, and it also connects to the path to the side of the stove house on the stilted building.

It is made up of stone slabs, with furry moss on the corners. He scratches the small wooden stick in his hand to remove the moss from the stone slabs, and occasionally encounters earthworms and unknown insects. Listening to the cries of earthworms, you feel like a warrior fighting bravely. You use a small wooden stick to tease the insects, and you spend a lot of time having fun with them. The most eye-catching thing on the path is undoubtedly the old big dead tree. In spring, the trunk of the tree sprouts a little bit of new green, but it is not so vigorous that the branches are like an umbrella canopy. From the first time I remember it, the big dead tree has always been bright. Bald head. On the top of the dead tree, there stands a huge magpie nest with a mouth as big as a pot, which seems to express the meaning of: "withered vines, old trees and crows, small bridges and flowing water, people's houses". Sitting on the stairs of the stone road, holding my chin with my hands, I would sit there for a while, listen to the chirping of magpies, wake up my ears, and look up to see the magpies jumping and dancing happily among the branches. This little person only wants to have a pair of free wings, fly with the magpies, and look at their love nest, just like Thumbelina, sitting on the magpie's love nest, sitting in the blue sky. In the evening, smoke from cooking pots curled up, lingering around the dead trees, and the magpie's nest was filled with human fireworks. It's just that the good intentions that I didn't understand at that time are hidden in the memory of time, waiting for time to ferment and give life an extra fragrance and warmth.

Climbing down the stairs along the path, you can still see the palm trees that come into view. It is undoubtedly that you are seeing an old friend. And the old palm trees in front of you are also as excited as you are. The ground, but greeted gently. At that time, the palm trees were wrapped with thick vines and hung with small fruits the size of passion fruit. Adults often warned children that the fruits were highly poisonous and should not be touched. Only now did I realize that what had been hanging on the vine were jelly fruits. There are also brown bags hanging on the palm trees, which are also wonderful edible ingredients. Children always have endless curiosity and want to pick them up and taste them. However, the information at that time lagged far behind what we have now. In the story of Wanwanhua, adults always protect children in their own way. The aunt handed the picked fruits to herself one by one and put them in a golden bamboo hat. The milky white juice swayed in the air along her daughter's young hands. Through the light and shadow between the trees, she knew that time could not go back, but The fragrance of time cannot be taken away by time! A small fruit ran away and rolled down in my aunt's hand, chasing it down the slope to the river. The water smells fishy, ​​duckweeds are floating all over the river, and it is difficult to see the color of the water. On both sides of the river, cement strips are neatly repaired. The river is still and silent. It is no longer the gurgling water in the four seasons of the year. From top to bottom, the winding river flows leisurely, clear and cheerful. In the clear river water, you can see the gravel on the bottom of the river, and all kinds of pure white and colorful river shells, hidden in the river sand, nodding playfully.

The green aquatic plants along the water flow are soft in the water, and the small fish are swimming among the aquatic plants. The dark green aquatic plants are as thin as hair and cannot be captured by agile hands.

Tie big braids on the water plants, call out to the river girl, splash water and play in the waves, filtering the water with wet clothes and filtering the worry-free. There are canopies of dense knotweed growing beside the river. Before I knew the name of knotweed, it was common for children to mistake the knotweed for Bodhisattva. I like to pull out the knotted grass and put it back together again. I am full of curiosity and play with the fun brought by the knotted grass. It is unknown how many knotweeds the children had pulled out and how many times they had pulled them out. I only know that every time I encounter a knotted grass, I can't help but stretch my little hands towards them and pull out the knotted grass one by one, just like putting together building blocks to join the longest knotted grass. , never tired of it, it has been a long time since I saw the trace of the grass. At that time, I was truly enjoying the joy given by nature. "Compendium of Materia Medica" mentions that Agustium solium is also a herbal medicine. I am not unfamiliar with it. Even after a long time, I can still see its appearance as clearly as when I first saw it. If people learn, they can get as close to natural objects as possible, and it will surely be ingrained in their own cognitive memory.

There are rows of barley plants growing in rows along the small river bank. At that time, people didn’t know that they were barley plants. Among the people’s names, they were a little indecent: “pee beads”. Because the buds of barley are as smooth and shiny as conch shells, even if you try to bite the ripe buds with your teeth, they will be too hard to bite open. Girls like to pick off the buds of barley and string them into bracelets to wear. On the hands, it is strung into a necklace and worn around the neck. In that era when materials were not too developed, nature gave us many toys.

My aunt pointed to the clump of water bamboo shoots in the river and told myself that they were planted by my aunt. This season is the perfect time for the fresh and delicious water bamboo shoots. At that time, we would go into the water, pull out the water bamboo shoots that looked like corns, pull off the layers of wrapping, and let the clear water flow through them, just like water chestnuts and water chestnuts, and then put them directly into our mouths as fruits to eat raw. , with a hint of sweetness and crispness lingering between the lips and teeth. Water bamboo shoots are used as vegetables on the dining table. They smell like fireworks and food in the world, and they are also a delicious bite that people always miss. It was also the small river in front of the door that brought a little richness to life, and I felt that I had the closest connection with nature at that time.

At that time, the river had a pristine environment and a wide variety of creatures. It was common to catch soft-shell turtles and crabs in the river. I also like to follow my brother like a little tail, like the bold boys. On a hot afternoon, seven or eight children gather in groups, roll up their trouser legs, and go down to the river to wade in the river to catch fish and crabs. Collect snails, dig shells and swim in the water. All living creatures, at the moment of being captured with bare hands, feel infinite fun and sense of accomplishment. Everything seems to be disorganized, but there is endless innocent joy. When night falls, the adults take the children to play in the river. The women squat on the big stone slabs by the river, beating the hammers and washing the family's clothes. The water splashes are as solid and crystal clear as the days. . It also seems that in the summer at that time, there was a small river, and countless joys could spread in life.

An egret jumped up and down the river bank, lightly skimming across the surface of the river, swaying away from the green duckweed, revealing the stagnant water, and then immediately floated back up, fluttering its wings and disappearing in front of your eyes. In the early morning at that time, you could always see many egrets crossing the picturesque fields by the river. The river trickled and flowed, creating the most vivid picture of nature. The small river flows through the four seasons and through the endless joy of childhood.

Standing quietly on the river, the only old house on that old street is in ruins like an orphan. The stilted building has collapsed. Everything in front of you is a shadow of yesterday's life. The detached mood also seems like a big dream in life. The Diaojiaolou has disappeared in time, but it is imprinted in the heart forever.