Author | Zhang Yukui
On the fourth day of the first lunar month, it happened to be beginning of spring, and on the ninth day of June, I revisited my old haunt and went to turn eighteen in Yiyuan County. After living in this place for three years, I feel cordial in my bones and regard it as my second hometown.
Compared with previous years, it is colder at this time. The sky is cloudy and there are showers in the north wind. There are no firecrackers in towns and villages, and there is no appearance of the New Year.
There are few people coming out from the village head and the village tail, and there are relatively few vehicles and people on the road. Mihe River flows quietly, with a wide river and water in the middle, reflecting the blue sky. The newly-built Mihe Bridge in the middle line of Qing Ji Expressway is still under construction, the pier has been built, the bridge deck has been laid on the river bed and has reached the east bank. In the contiguous ponds on the east coast, the clear ice is mottled among the dry reeds, reflecting the blue sky, obviously reducing the number of waterfowl in summer, and almost no egrets flying with wings can be seen.
The car left Linqu County and headed for Xishan along a straight road. The rolling peaks in the western mountainous areas show a cold appearance, with thin ridges, dark sky, strange rocks on the mountains and Berlin on the hillside at a glance. There are few pedestrians on the road, the road is very wide and easy to walk, and the car has increased its horsepower, running all the way.
My heart is hot. I'm going to the place of my dreams. I have met many acquaintances. I am going to see some of them today. Because of time, some people may not see it. The first thing to look at is Tang Zhaogan, an identity teacher with beautiful writing style. Now he has been teaching in Pu Qiu primary school for 40 years. He is an old teacher. When I was there, I discussed literature together and often talked late into the night. He carefully read every one of my works, and often commented and suggested changes, which was very helpful to me. He is my best friend. After I returned to Linqu, he invited me again and again the day he came back. Today, half of them are for this reason. I am very excited.
Don was a neighbor. He is simple, strong and full of endless power. In his early years, he worked as a production captain on the farm and was a good cook, although he was old. We get along very well. Although we are brothers, we should call our uncle by age. At that time, when I was free, I often used to sit in the past. When I had dinner, I would also take his job, try the old sister-in-law's farmhouse meal, eat her pancakes, drink her hot sweet potato rice, drink and talk loudly at their house. This feeling is affectionate and real.
I have a special friend in that canyon. His name is Don. He is sixty-eight years old. He is herding sheep and herding a flock of white goats. He hangs out on the hillside every day. I sit in the weighbridge room and drink tea. From the back window, you can see him herding sheep on the hillside in front of Tuanshanzi. Goats and monkeys, covered in snow-white fur, jumped over and walked over the big stones on the hillside. Some of them stood upright, and one got into another goat and collided with the four corners, making a loud noise and shaking the cliff.
Every time Tang drives the sheep home, he will come to my place, make a pot of tea and talk about the history, people's stories and customs of 300 years. We drank wine and had dinner together, and often walked out of my room at ten o'clock in the evening and walked to his home in the east of Tuanshanzi, where there were three small brick houses. I collected all the stories he told and wrote a novel of 200,000 words, The Days of Eighteen Rounds.
It is said that Tang Zhaoan's home moved away, and Zhang Yuqing closed the stall in that place. When I was in the quarry, whenever there was a shooting incident, I would tell him in advance to remind him that there would be a shooting incident, because his home was very close. I also want to tell Tang Shen about his former neighbors and beekeepers. I have run a lot of errands, and I am familiar with them. I feel something in my contact. Back in Linqu County, I often think of them.
Among the local people contacted at that time, there was an old man named Xu, who was over eighty years old. He is an old Chinese doctor and a native of Meng Po village, and he has won the respect of the villagers. He often put the cross bench in his arm's nest, or put his hands upside down, put the cross bench behind him, bent down and walked a few miles to the stone yard, holding a stethoscope, and gave free medical examinations to the workers in the stone factory. He also does physical examinations for workers in state-owned forest farms.
Several employees of the state-owned forest farm live on the roadside in front of the quarry, and our two units are on the same line. He will not deviate from the road when he comes here. The old man gave us many remedies to treat diseases, letting us know that Ziziphus jujuba seeds are all Chinese herbal medicines.
In winter, our hands are broken. He taught us a folk prescription, wiping our hands with sheep oil, which is the best medicine. Rub your hands and put sheep oil on the stove, and the effect is very good, which is more effective than buying any skin care products.
Regarding his medical skills, the villagers said that although the hospital did not have advanced instruments and equipment, everything he checked was the result. Try going to the hospital if you don't believe me. The insurance doctor said the same thing to him! He also said that every old man in the village was going to die, so he was invited to see it and said that he would live for a few days if he lived for a few days. Basically, good, that's it!
He was the only one who erected a monument for himself when he was alive. He said that the inscription was written by himself, and others carved it, so he liked it. When my physical strength is good, I will ask someone to transport the stone tablet from the county seat and stand in the ancestral grave. Repeated research, no regrets when you die.
His woodland is on the old floodplain with eighteen turns, backed by the stone cliff of Dongping Mountain, and facing the road in the lee. I've seen him standing there focusing on his stone tablet. It's an autumn morning. It's cool and sunny. The jujube trees on the hillside are red and clear, and the poplar leaves on the river beach are more golden, one by one, and hardly fall, just like the ginkgo leaves that were full of trees at that time, they began to fall in the autumn frost, and there was no wind to fall slowly, which was beautiful. When I came back from the county seat, I looked at the old Chinese doctor in awe. He is really a man of personality and thought!
This man has already left. The last time I went to 18, I heard that he left. That was two years after I left 18. He told me many stories. He told a very good story about Han Xin, which was very touching. He said he heard it from his old father, and he also said that all the stories about Han Xin in Zhuanli were told by others from his father's mouth, almost a version.
He also told me that when he was a child, he unearthed a Ewing, a kind of pottery. He didn't know what it was. Later, he heard the old people say that it was called Ewing, which was a token of the engagement of young men and women in ancient times. Because of its age, few people know it, and I think it is extremely precious.
I miss him very much. He always comes to see me in the quarry every other day. He is very modest and polite. Whenever he comes to my door, he puts down the bench, knocks on the door with his hand and gently calls me in a nice voice: "Mr. Accountant? Mr. accountant? " It seems that I am his young bookkeeper, which is a respect for my good feelings. This man is doomed to never see him again. He has hurried to the underworld.
The car sped away and Songshan Reservoir appeared in front of us. The Songshan Mountain on the other side stands tall, and the mountain shadow beside the warm water is collected in the reservoir. Songshan reservoir is a long and narrow mirror, reflecting the sky, peaks, villages, winding lake patrol roads by the water, thick persimmon trees sparsely distributed on the shore, and branches like dragons. The scenery here is very beautiful. This is Songshan Scenic Area.
Several brothers in the same trade were attracted by the beautiful scenery here, and they couldn't help admiring the size of the Blue Reservoir. I said, it's not called Songshan Reservoir now, but longtan lake. A good sightseeing road was built along the lake on the east coast. When we come back, we will take you to the east coast to see the scenery there.
While speaking, we arrived at Xijing Village. I introduced him first. I said, this is Xijing, and the village opposite the reservoir is Tokyo. There are only a dozen families in Dongjing Village, and almost all of them moved away when the reservoir was built. The rest of the families are very rich. They have a lot of land and grow Songshan peaches. Every family has money, just like Gouhe Village.
I pointed to a village above in the car and said it was Gouhe Village. I said, I have been there several times, and the hillside is covered with peaches. The path leads to the hillside, turns in the peach forest, goes around the mountain for three rounds, sprays medicine to pick peaches, and is located on the front slope of the main peak of Songshan Mountain. This village is the most famous, and its per capita income ranks first in the town. Over the years, there are many households in the village who grow peaches with an annual income of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan. For several years, it has been stable and high-yield, and the price remains unchanged. Although it is a village in the corner of a mountain, people's happiness index remains high.
The more I talk, the more I like to talk, and I want to keep talking. I suddenly realized that it was not good. I can't just listen to me. Everyone should express their opinions. I swallowed the saliva in my mouth.
Almost all the peers are small bosses, and no one is greedy for the 300.2 million earned by farmers. Someone raised his eyelids from the water and suddenly said cheerfully that there should be big fish in the water, and it must be a big deal! Wild fish growing in large waters are delicious!
"You guess, there should be a lot of more than one hundred jins of big fish in the reservoir? It should not be a problem! " Some people don't look up, stare at the water and talk in their sleep. They are asking themselves and answering questions, which is quite certain.
Suddenly thought of a topic. I took a ride when I came back from Yiyuan County in a big truck that year. Passing through Songshan Reservoir, there is also this topic, asking how many big fish there are. Comrade driver actually held out five fingers and said, guess. I said 50 Jin? Guess again. 500? I guess it's my lack of confidence, not the number he is satisfied with. He's amazing. Holding the steering wheel in one hand and a cigarette in the other, he looked ahead and honked the car horn from time to time. Let me take a wild guess.
Oh, my God. Let me guess. I dare not guess. He was silent for a while, which looked like a cannon to me. Tell me, five thousand catties!
After listening, he went on to say that it was catfish that ran to Shouguang and found that the water in the river was very shallow. We learned about it in Linqu and bought it at a big price.
I couldn't say what I said, because I was surprised, suspicious and afraid of being laughed at by my brothers, so I swallowed it hard.
My head has been very active, and another story has come up. I believe this is a true story, so I decided to tell it. Drum drum courage to say, I have a good friend named Liu Wanjiang in Songshan, who is often a family member. He used to work in this river for many years and is very familiar with this area. He said that a master who was repairing cars here was walking on the dam of the reservoir and saw a big fish floating at the water's edge. A very big fish, whose stomach was turned upside down and floated, looked like a dead fish. He was very excited. He ran down quickly and stopped at the water's edge. He stretched out his hand to catch it, but the fish pretended to be dead, deliberately luring people. He took the opportunity to throw people into the water with his tail and was eaten by fish.
People have been fishing since ancient times. Where can fish catch people? One by one, they were fascinated and shook their heads in disbelief. I have to waste my breath and argue, but people say, how can this happen? What a fish demon!
Longmen River Bridge stands in double rows, and the old bridge in the west has been invalidated, nobody walks. The water under the bridge is very deep, which is the highest water level I have seen for many years. It is sparkling and leads to the river upstream.
After crossing the Longmen Bridge, there is a village on the left, called Xiacun, and a mountain road leads to three villages, which are called Shangcun, Zhongcun and Xiacun, or Kaminakamura for short. The village at the bottom is on the side of the highway, and there is a road in Zhuangtou, which leads to Lake Patrol Avenue on the east coast of longtan lake. I traveled many times in those years.
Looking up, there is a cable in the sky in the mountains, the sun has come out, it is another sunny day, and the giant cable is bright. The steel turret stands on the top of the mountain, and huge cables connect the spires of the two hills.
This area is the site of the Great Wall of Qi, but I have heard of it and never seen it. I believe it is on the mountain not far away. I still say that the oldest site of the Great Wall is in the mountains around here. Let's have a look together sometime. This place should be the dividing line between Qi and Lu.
Sanchadian is an ancient place name. There are mountains and waters and beautiful scenery here, and its strategic position is very important. War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation are the focus of the struggle between the enemy and ourselves, and many wars have been fought in this area. There is no other way to go in the mountains, from south to north, from east to west, only through this fork in the road is the traffic artery.
There is a road to the west of Gusanchadian Village. There is a river to the west of this road. The water is clear, and it flows northward into longtan lake. It turned half a circle around Sancha Store. The village is surrounded by mountains, with steep slopes and lush trees on the floodplain. In the evening of summer, the house is covered with forest, and the smoke from the kitchen is curling up. The shepherds who came back at dusk drove the sheep across the ancient small stone bridge on the river, and the geese and ducks screamed and rushed ashore to go home, swaying their fat bodies in rows. That's the scene etched in my mind.
There is a cement bridge in front of Sanchadian Village. After crossing the bridge, the highway is still extremely flat, and it was only built in recent years. The river is near the road, the teaching building of Sancha Middle School is in the Woods on the river beach, and the two roads leading to the school cross the road. A little further on, I met a bridge, turned west and led to Boshan. At first glance, the road disappeared into the continuous mountains. Located in Lushan area, close to the state-owned Lushan Forest Farm, the mountains and green waters are endless and the ecology is extremely good.
The front is the largest village in Yiyuan County. Her name is Pu Qiu. At the eastern end of the village, there is a huge yellow lotus tree, which is over 1000 years old. Several people can't hug each other and have been protected. A fence has been set up under the tree, a stone tablet has been erected, and the dry branches are fixed on the ground with brackets.
The riverbed where the northstream flows into Linqu is wider and has more water. There is an asphalt road by the river in Puqiu village, and many houses are listed on the roadside. When driving to the center of the village, another river killed in the northwest and gathered in the river in front of the village. I don't know how big this village is. It is said that there are seven thousand people. Once upon a time, there was a beggar in this village who was very famous. His story has been passed down to this day, just like this river.
In the last century, when the village was a large group, the people in the village were very poor. He wants food to get rich first. How rich is it? He couldn't afford a tractor in the village, so he bought it, not for farming, but for begging. He begged in Yishui, rented a house, filled his house with pancakes, and came back with a tractor. Pulled to Pu Qiu, and fed five cows at home, more than a production team. They eat well and have flat spines. Three sons also beg for food, but one of them is better off than others without being single. The eldest daughter rushed to the door. Every time his son gets married, the old shopkeeper always asks the new in-laws, "Do you want to beg?" His begging is glorious!
After Pu Qiu, walk along the highway and you will soon get to running water. Liu Shui is the name of a village, which is divided into four parts: East, West, North and South. The entrance of Nanliushui Village is facing the highway, and it is very magnificent, just to the east of the highway. The village has a beautiful environment, clean streets and neat houses, and the streets and surrounding areas are very green. Rivers still surround the village, green mountains and green waters, and fruit trees are planted in terraces. It is said that the leaders of this village won the hearts of the people, wholeheartedly serving the people, and led the villagers to get rich without favoritism. He is a capable real * * * party member in the new period, which is famous far and near, in sharp contrast with an old secretary in Sancha Village.
After the flowing water, a highway bridge came up on the west hill leading to the intersection of the parking lot village, and the mountains seemed to fall from the sky. The mountain pass there has also been greatly changed and a mountain has been opened. The wind power generation equipment on the nearby mountain turns a huge impeller and rotates slowly. Across the road, construction is also under way on the high mountain in the east. There are several piers at the foot of the mountain connecting the expressway bridge here. This change is really great, it hasn't come for several years, and a new expressway is being built! It is conceivable how difficult it is to build an expressway in the depths of this mountain in central Shandong!
Last year, I saw two newly-built expressways on the Internet in Yiyuan County, which seems to have this one. This road was built with beautiful scenery along the way. The western section should be the boundary of the state-owned Lushan Forest Farm. At the back of Meng Po village, it is called ten thousand mu forest farm, which is actually 12000 mu. Tang told me that in the 1950s and 1960s, Yiyuan County organized the people of the whole county to carry out the campaign of "Closing Hills to Afforest and Greening the Motherland", and dispatched forest seeds and saplings from other places to participate in sowing by plane. He personally fought in the mountains and ravines of Lushan Forest Farm, which was founded at that time.
The highway passes through a highland behind Tangjialiu Village. I quickly introduced that the geographical position here is the highest point of this river, which is a watershed. In this way, the water flowing northwards enters Linqu, and the water flowing southwards enters the Mantis River on the edge of Nanma County after eighteen bends, flows into the Yi River, and turns eighteen bends all the way in this mountain, which is called eighteen bends small watershed.
I went on to say that it was our Linqu territory before, and Yiyuan County was established in 1944 and was placed under Yiyuan. Yiyuan County is a county system separated from Linqu and Yishui. At our feet, it is the boundary of Old Linqu County. After that, it is not under the jurisdiction of Linqu.
Tangjia Liu Cun is very beautiful, with two mountains in the middle. The river flows through the village, and the river is paved with stones, forming a wide canal. Several stone bridges span the river. A clear water was intercepted in the canal, reflecting the blue sky. Bright red flowers have grown in the water, but no lotus roots have grown. There are tall weeping willows on the shore, almost hanging to the ground. Near noon, it's still cool in summer, and some places still can't get into the sun, and the mountains block the shadow of the sun-this is my previous memory. Now Tangjialiu River is frozen, freezing a little dry river grass and withering that beautiful big red flower.
Mr. Liu Wanjiang, a native of Songshan, once said that Chang Yuchun, the founding general of the Ming Dynasty, was born in this village. This is his first hometown and Changjiayu is his second hometown. Legend has it that Chang Yuchun's mother lived as a beggar, wandered to her home, and was born in a ruined temple.
There is a big sign on the south road of Tangjia Liucun, which reads the words "eighteen turns and a small watershed", which must lead to eighteen turns. The river flows in the turn, sometimes urgent and sometimes slow, flowing through rocks, beaches, villages and Woods, singing all the way, and we soon arrived at Dapo Village.
This river is still in the middle of Dapo Village. This is a big village. Every Saturday, many people, old and young, men and women in the cave, gather here. This is a lively place. The small collection is full of goods and people are dressed simply, which is a typical image of farmers in the mountains. I have had a life experience here, and I clearly know that simplicity and kindness are the * * * nature of people here, and people in the mountains are real.
Seeing the houses here, the people here, the mountains here and the water here, I feel cordial from the bottom of my heart. This is my home, this is my hometown, and all the people here are my relatives.
Out of Dapo Village, I saw the western hills on the roadside. This mountain is still like that, consistent with my dream. I climbed the west slope twice when I lived here. The top of the mountain is very small, 10-20 square meters of stone roof. The wind on the mountain is very strong and cold. East cliff, it's dangerous to stand on it, for fear of being blown down by the wind. On that day, overlooking the whole picture of Dapo Village, rows of houses, Dapo River quietly interspersed between villages, and several bridges were lying across the river. The mountains on both sides of the Dapo River stand quietly, and Dongshan is so majestic.
There are few iron arches at the intersection of Caiyuan Village, and there are couplets on the door, which is full of praise for the geomantic omen of Caiyuan Village. I often went to this village when I was here. There is a river on Nanshan and a reservoir in the east of the village. The primary school is built in the northeast corner of the village, with the highest position. Behind it is the east hillside of Dapo village, where there are fruit trees everywhere. There is water on the mountain and it is irrigated by gravity.
The street in the school climbs, and one side of the road leans against the cliff. There are houses built on high stone cliffs, simple stone houses and some messy trees. On the other side of the road is a cliff slope, with people below, stone houses and courtyard walls. The road turned several times before it passed. In summer, this road is covered with trees. If in the afternoon, the stone cliffs in the west block the sunshine, the road will be dark before dark. My memory is always dark. The slope is steep and curved, and there are many people going to and from school, many cars, many electric cars, and the horn sounds one after another, which is also my unforgettable impression.
It is said that because of good feng shui, most pens in Yiyuan County are in this village.
Walking through the intersection of Caiyuan Village, the road was greatly bent, and the river hit the wall there, forming a cliff more than 30 meters high. By the river, the stone wall was washed out of the stone niche by the flood, and the recessed space was formed by the stone being washed away. The river turned around and built a highway bridge, forming a good scenery in this ravine.
From this, the swift river directly dives into the ground, perhaps karst landform, and there are many caves underground, forming rich groundwater resources. The local Tang said that underground lakes are lakes. The geology here seems completely different from that above. The water can't be stored, and it leaks directly like a funnel. Only in summer, flash floods broke out, and the huge flood was like a runaway wild horse, which could not be stopped. It hit a cliff, rolled wildly, roared out of the eighteen bends and rushed into the Mantis River.
The distance between Dapo and Meng Po villages is about two kilometers. There is a split mountain in the north of the middle road, which splits the mountain into a gap. Mountain people enter and leave the gap, and vehicles come and go, which is a big intersection; The two hills inside, the flood flowing down, also rushed into the 18-turn river through this gap.
Looking at the rocks and pine trees on the chopping mountain, I am too familiar with that scene. This is like my home. I arrived home, lived in it for several years, and felt at home here.
The first time I saw Tang Zuoan's old house, I built an iron house and changed it. Then I saw Don's house head on. Turning the corner, I found that the three brick houses in Tang Dynasty and the kiwifruit shed in front of Tuanshanzi were still the same, without any change.
Entering the original stone factory has changed a lot. The weighbridge house where I used to live is gone, only the weighbridge is still there, which is 150 tons. I have been in business for several years. Most of the tin houses in the north are still there, and the kitchen in the east is also there, but after external transformation, the use has changed, which is not what it used to be.
There are several bungalows next to the Tang family, and two-story wooden houses have been built on the vacant land of the group house. This is a newly built landscape in recent years. A door is closed and unlocked.
There are two courtyards in the west, one of which used to have a dog. The front of the car changed to the south, and the fence was covered with an iron shed, which contained more than a dozen old cars. Next to it is another courtyard, the door of which faces south. It was not built before, but after I left.
Toona sinensis trees were planted here before, but now there are not any left, and the houses are crushed to death. There are still a few artichokes left under the wall of the dog yard, which I planted.
This place, this place where I have spent my whole life, my wife was afraid of being alone, so she came from Linqu to accompany me and spent the next year together. That year, I left several children in my hometown, and I still feel guilty.
I went to the original factory first, climbed along the previously opened mining area and reached the top of Dongping Mountain. The terrain here is high, looking at the mountains in the north and turning south 18, giving the whole factory an unobstructed view.
The water pipe leads to Dongping Mountain, where newly reclaimed fields are scattered with fruit trees. In the past, this was a mine. In response to the government's call, great changes have taken place in dismantling equipment and restoring farmland.
I was about to leave here when I was walking on Dongping Mountain. I was reluctant to leave at that time. I didn't tell anyone, and no one knew my mood. I took one last look at this place on purpose. I'm back, I'm back, I'm back today, I want to go back to my old place and see the people here, the mountains here and the rivers here. I miss you.
A sumptuous dining table is ready. Teacher Tang Zhaogan is here, and brother Tang Jingde is here. We shook hands warmly. Old chap, at noon today, under the auspices of the boss Zhang Yuqing, we won't get drunk!
Zhang Yukui, a native of Dongcheng, Linqu, is a literature lover.