Although my childhood hometown has been reclaimed by modern times, the traffic is very inconvenient. The nearest school (Chongkong Primary School) is three kilometers, and the nearest highway (Tiankou Road Class) is four kilometers, all of which are gravel roads and mountain roads. The shape of the village is W-shaped, with the sea in front, mountains in the back and shrimp ponds, paddy fields and sloping fields in the middle. Near the seawall is a big pond. I remember it was rented to Guangdong people to raise shrimp. From the dam of the reservoir to the foot of the mountain is the field of the whole village. Because it is saline-alkali land, the grain output is naturally not high. Whenever the green and yellow seasons fail, people will use sweet potatoes to cook porridge and vegetables to make up for the difficulties.
The houses in the village are all next to the hillside, from east to west, namely Dongtou House, Zhongfang House and Xitou House. My home is in the middle house. There is an old fence between Dongtouwu and Xitouwu, called "Guling". There are sloping fields and paddy fields on the left side of the ridge, and a flat slope on the right side, called broom flat. There are many shrubs and a few slopes. When we were young, we herded cattle and beat wasps there and had a good time.
Macun is small, with a total population of 200-300. There are many miscellaneous surnames, mostly Huang, Lin, Miao and Li. The main business of villagers is farming, and most of them go to plow the sea during the slack season. It is said that in the old days, the Feng Shui master said that Ma Ryan belonged to the tiger land, and the women in the village confirmed this: the women in the village are the masters of the family, and men must obey; Women are also experts in work and quarreling, and quarreling and doing farm work will be more efficient.
At that time, the villagers' culture was not high and the traffic information was blocked. People believe in ghosts and gods, and adults often ask immortals. The female fairy is called "Aunt Fairy" and the male fairy is called "Master Guy". Once you ask fairies, most of them will give you a little goat or a white fox. In this case, raw chicken and pork are indispensable, and you have to give welfare, ranging from tens to hundreds of yuan. People are reluctant to spend money on food and clothing, but they dare not neglect it for fear of offending the gods.
What can make Qi Xin, a villager, work together is to "be a cooperative". Commune refers to Tian commune, which is the land god who bless the whole village with good weather and abundant crops. People draw lots to determine the person in charge of the club, and the person in charge of the club organizes and selects people of all colors, such as collecting money, preparing sacrifices, accepting worship, distributing pork and so on. Every year, on the second day of the second lunar month, the dragon heads up as a cooperative, and each household sends a person, led by the believers who sacrifice collectively to pray.
Ma Ryan, my hometown, has no historical sites and princes, but it carries all my wonderful childhood. Today, Ma has completely changed his face and become the center of the city. His childhood past can only be found in his memory.
Grandfather and grandmother
My grandfather and grandmother came from the old society. They were born poor and illiterate.
Grandpa is the second child and has five brothers and sisters. At that time, grandpa's family was poor and it was common for children to starve. In order not to starve to death and have a mouth to eat, Grandpa joined the army and became an artillery with Bobby Chen's troops.
I like listening to grandpa tell the story of marching and fighting. Grandpa said that for a time, in order to maintain its strength, the troops went to the deep mountains and forests bordering Vietnam to "hide", where there were many grasshoppers that could fly and suck human blood. It was horrible, but grandpa persisted. On one occasion, the troops were cooking in a pot. Just after the meal was cooked, before they could eat it, they received the news of the Kuomintang calling. They had to dump all the rice, sprinkle sand, pack up their weapons and evacuate quickly to keep their strength. Grandpa said he wouldn't let them eat, and he wouldn't leave it to the Kuomintang.
What is most worthy of grandpa's glory is that grandpa joined the party in the line of fire. During the war years, * * * produced party member, which was tested by blood and fire. In the battle, grandpa is always in charge and not afraid of sacrifice. Grandpa has been deaf for a long time, which was caused by gunfire. Grandpa said it was a mountain gun (field gun). Because of his special loyalty, the army asked him to take care of money and food. After liberation, grandpa could have stayed in the army, but people at that time were more eager for land. Grandpa decided decisively: demobilize and go home to farm.
Grandpa looks a little old when he is sensible. After work at ordinary times, whenever he is free, grandpa sits under the longan tree and lets his grandchildren tickle him, then laughs happily. Grandpa's skin is dark red, like roast duck skin, and his hands and feet are thick and hard. When we tickled him, we found that his nails turned black, and everyone was surprised. The children complained to him: Grandpa didn't take a shower and was covered in mud! But grandpa still smiled happily and said "smelly place (naughty)" to the children.
Grandma's life is not much better than grandpa's. Starving to death and freezing to death are common in the old world where people are naked and hungry. There are many grandmothers and sisters, few brothers and only one younger brother. Sadly, in order to save more food to feed her younger brother, her parents sold her as a child bride. Fortunately, after liberation, grandma, as a child bride, got a free body, which is the combination of grandpa and grandma.
Grandma is famous for her talkativeness in the village. She is nicknamed "talkative mother". No matter when and where, no matter who you meet, you can talk for a long time. At that time, the village was far from the county seat and it was difficult to get out of the street. Every time grandma goes to the street, our brothers scramble to follow. Finally, it was my turn. I chased my grandmother, set off before dawn, turned over several ravines, climbed several big hills, and finally got on the bus and came to the county seat. When grandma got off the bus, she kept greeting people, sometimes talking for three to five minutes, sometimes for half an hour, stopping and going. Seeing that grandma stopped talking, I also looked around. When I looked back, my grandmother was gone. I was in a hurry, so I tried my best to find her. Soon, I found her talking to someone somewhere, gesturing or something.
Grandma is the king of quarrels, which I witnessed with my own eyes. When I was a child, when I saw my grandmother, I often talked to myself. It was very strange at that time. Now that I think about it, is it "practicing eloquence"? Grandma quarrels in the village ranked first, at least in the top three. Quarrel with my daughter-in-law, with the women in the village, and with my grandfather all day. She quarrels while working, which is even worse. In a blink of an eye, the pigs were fed, the vegetables were watered thoroughly, the grass was cut and the firewood was picked. The worst time, I quarreled with "Chili rice" (Sixth Aunt), only to see their voices getting louder and louder. Finally, both of them jumped up and clapped their hands and quarreled, which made me nervous like a fight. Finally, grandma won, from trivial matters, scandals between men and women, to 18 generations of ancestors, until the other side was silent.
Grandparents are a pair of hard-working mandarin ducks. They never flirt, and the way of emotional communication is a bit unique: when they are busy with farming, they talk about everything, work together, and have nothing to say; In the off-season, we make much ado about nothing, talk back and fight. Grandma made things worse. Her pet phrase is to call grandpa an "old turtle" and then curse. When I heard it, I didn't know. I thought there was a deep hatred. Grandpa is also assisted by God. From time to time, he comes up with a "sudden material" to further arouse her anger. At this time, we should either remain silent or try to escape and try not to be "angry". Because no matter how noisy they are, everything will be as usual the next day.
Father often says that grandma is "the one who can sleep with tigers". In fact, this is not too much, because grandma is warm-hearted. No matter who has a happy event or a funeral in the village, grandma loves to help. Grandma can't hide other people's pain. During the Cultural Revolution, she didn't have much food in her own house, but she secretly gave it to those who were criticized. The uncle of the People's Liberation Army came to fill the breach of the seawall, and the grandmother warmly entertained him. Several brothers surnamed Miao in the village bully others and often bully their grandparents. Later, they fought among themselves and even had a big fight. Grandma was the first person to go to Indiana.
Grandfather and grandmother are hardworking farmers. If grandparents don't work hard and earn work points, six children will definitely go hungry. Although grandpa is too honest, he devoted himself to harrowing fields and pear fields all day and occasionally went fishing in the sea. Because of this, rice, sweet potatoes, taro and peanuts at home are piled up in Man Cang, and chickens, geese and pigs are raised to ensure that they are not worried about eating.
Father and mother
My parents are ordinary farmers, and they have never done anything vigorous in their lives. There are only ordinary people's daily necessities and vinegar tea. Parents love our brothers more than their lives. For the sake of their son, they worked and dedicated their lives, endured all kinds of hardships in life, but had no regrets.
Father's height 1 m 68, very gentle, high school culture (there was not much rural high school culture in the 1970 s). My grandmother told me that my father was going to be a soldier, but he was replaced by someone else. My father is very sophisticated, eloquent and has a certain degree of education. Many people who met him for the first time thought he was a cadre or a teacher.
When I was a child, my father was omnipotent in my eyes. Whenever I ask my father a question, I always answer it patiently. For example, sometimes I ask him a sentence on the banner, sometimes I ask him what Vietnam is like across the sea, and sometimes I ask him some unconstrained questions, and he can answer them like a stream. My father never preached to me and asked me how to study and get ahead. I think he doesn't want to put pressure on me to develop freely.
Although my father can read, he can only be confined to being poor at home and farming at home without guidance. He even had to do some hard work to make a living. About four or five years old, the village seawall burst and recruited migrant workers, including my father. That day, my father was wearing a red (faded) vest, squatting and hammering stones, sweating profusely. Father didn't say he was tired, and he didn't stop. He just looks up at me from time to time, or lights a cigarette in his mouth and goes on working. The scene of my father's hard work will be imprinted on my mind forever.
My mother is not tall, about 1 m 55. When she was young, her skin was dark, which may be related to farming and going to sea. About when I was over one year old, my mother gave birth to a second brother. That morning, my mother was half lying in bed wrapped in a headscarf, and my second brother slept next to her. Father is busy in the kitchen, and the firewood cauldron is cooking chicken soup. The smell of chemical reaction between ginger and chicken makes my mouth water. I ran in and out with a tin bowl with a green pattern in my left hand and a porcelain spoon with only half a handle in my right hand. I am very happy. I didn't know until I grew up that it was the most difficult time at home. I am too poor to buy lard. I killed the only old hen to make up for my mother.
Mother decided to have a third child because she wanted a daughter. However, nature plays tricks on people and turns out to be a son. Not only did he have no daughter, but he was also infected with gynecological diseases. The house leaks when it rains at night, and my father has sores on his hands and joints. Due to the illness of parents, the family that is not well-off is even worse. The pressure of life has made these two young couples breathless. Fortunately, grandpa, the butcher, helped at the critical moment so as not to be hungry.
Poverty leads to change. At the age of 8, my parents joined a huge working team like countless rural people. I still remember the morning when my parents left. I chased them all the way, sat on the edge of my uncle's fish pond, watched them, and went home sadly until I crossed the Bones Ridge and never saw them again. Since then, I have become a left-behind child. I have been precocious since I was a child, and I am always unhappy. My parents are not at home, and I feel lost and confused as never before.
In retrospect, my parents were far-sighted. In the early 1990s, they rented a house in the county. I also transferred from a small village to a city, and since then I have been admitted to a university. Father does odd jobs (stepping on human tricycles, working as a porter, etc.). ) to make a living and take care of us. My mother went to Guangdong to work until 2008, and for 20 years before and after, she did the hardest and most tiring work, earning hard-earned money, ensuring our food and clothing and reading.
Perhaps, parents may be extremely ordinary to society, but to me, they are the greatest parents in the world.
Cowboy
On the third day of October, I came to this world with a "wow" and broke the peace of the small village. That day happened to be the day when the village divided the fields into households. Early in the morning, Tanghe (the grain drying field) gathered all the men, women and children in the village and were discussing the issue of dividing fields enthusiastically. Grandma knew I was born and ran to Tanghe, shouting, "There is another person in our family, and my eldest grandson was born." Everyone lamented that this little guy came in time.
The children of the poor have been in power for a long time. Before I was 6 years old, I began to help my family, cooking, feeding chickens and watering vegetables. Of course, I like herding cattle best because I can arrange my own activities.
One early winter morning, the weather turned cold. I put on the relief clothes given by my grandfather and walked to the fish pond. This is a big cow, powerful and powerful. It is eating grass by the pond. I took the cow rope from my father and stared at it. While eating grass leisurely, it shook its ears to drive away mosquitoes and flies, and ate very well. Slowly, I also relaxed my vigilance. Suddenly, the big cow rushed at me, picked me up with its horns and fell on the pond ridge. I haven't recovered for a long time. I dropped the cow rope and ran home crying. My parents were frightened when they saw it. My mother scolded me and checked my injury. Fortunately, there is only one hole in the armpit of the relief suit, and my body is fine. Father said something in a muffled voice, but he couldn't hear clearly. Soon, a cattle dealer came to the door and took Daniel away
After selling Daniel, I bought a cow and put it at home. This cow is very docile, like a human being, and always works hard. The whole family especially likes it. At that time, there was a lot of farm work and time to play at home, and I often struggled to herd cattle. We took advantage of the low tide to drive the cattle to Bolong, a hill surrounded by the sea, where all kinds of grass are rich, so the cattle can relax and eat something. And we can play as much as we like, such as catching crabs, fishing, picking wild fruits, "touching the blind chicken" and "shooting bison". A group of friends always have endless fun together.
One year on New Year's Eve, I got up early. As usual, I know there will be delicious food, new clothes and red collars, so I am particularly excited. My parents asked me to feed the cows first, so that I could go home to take a shower, put on new clothes and have a New Year's Eve dinner. I readily promised, called my friends and took the cow to the broom flat. I fought a small battle, learned how to look on TV, used a wooden stick as a gun and used my mouth as a cannon. A "war" without smoke started, and the lawn was cheering.
We had such a good time that we completely forgot to herd cattle. It was not until my parents called home from home for dinner that they found that the cow was gone. I was very nervous. I was afraid of being scolded, and I was greedy for the meat on the table (at that time, I only killed chickens during the New Year and ate more pork during the holidays). I thought my brother was already eating chicken legs, and I was extremely anxious. I ran around the lawn and didn't find any cows. Grandpa saw that I didn't come back, so he quickly came to ask about the situation and asked me to go home for dinner. He walked to the back hill by himself. We won't see Ah come back until we finish eating. It turned out that the cow ran behind the mountain pond and ate other people's food. My parents didn't scold me, but I compensated them after the Lantern Festival.
This cow accompanied my childhood and had many happy memories, but its death frightened me for a long time. That day, it was raining lightly in the sky, and our family pulled out seedlings on a slope with a ridge of white bones. Everyone was talking and laughing, laughing and working, and the cows were grazing a few feet away. It is raining harder and harder. Suddenly, lightning appeared in the sky. With the roar of life, the cow was struck by lightning and fell on the edge of the slope. The cow died. I can't believe it. At that time, I couldn't understand how the sky was so wide and the land was so big. How can lightning and thunder kill my cow?
At that time, the farm was the busiest and needed cows the most. People are poor and relatives are short, and uncles and aunts are avoiding our house like the plague. Fortunately, the old Miao in the neighboring village offered to borrow cattle, which made him survive the most difficult time.
After ploughing that spring field, my family never bought any cows again.