I was born in the urban-rural fringe of a county-level city in the central plain of Henan Province. When I was a child, there were no dazzling array of toys and snacks, no merry-go-rounds and Ferris wheels, and no mobile phones or computers. Now that I think about it, it was inevitable that I would It was a bit boring and shabby. But at that time, what my friends and I loved most was the "Blower".
In our place, when someone dies, it is not said that the person is dead, but that he is "old." When people get old, they have to give a "ring ring". If they don't invite a "ring ring," it won't be lively. The farewell atmosphere will be too weak, and the family members of the deceased will be stigmatized as unloving and unfilial.
The so-called "Blower" is a mobile "country music group" composed of six or seven people, four men and two women, or other numerical combinations. "Blowing the instrument" mainly takes place in the evening, starting at eight o'clock when the sky is long, and starting at seven o'clock when the sky is short. A naughty little kid got the news and immediately ran from house to house in order to strengthen the team of "watching the fun" at night. The adults also cooperated, making dinner early, and after eating, either accompanied the children, or simply let the children and their friends go crazy.
The host family also made preparations early. They found an open and flat land near their home, used white cloth or red, blue and white plastic cloth to support a square shed, and placed a square shed under the shed. The table is sharp-edged and painted with red paint. There are several round plates on the table. There are various bulk snacks on the plate, including fried peanuts, melon seeds, cat ears, fruits, glutinous rice sticks, small oranges, apples, bananas, etc. It is very elegant. Some people will also put a bottle of liquor. Everything is ready, and all kinds of spectators, men, women, old and young, are here, waiting for the "blower" to come.
The "blowers" usually arrive at the host's house in the evening. After arriving, the host will give each of them a bowl of large pot of food for guests, and a white steamed bun. After drinking and eating, the actor usually lights a cigarette, puffs away and squints his eyes, perhaps recalling the lyrics of the song he will sing later. The actress was sitting at the square table with her legs crossed. The muddy black high-heeled shoes were detached from the heels and hung from the front paws, swaying rhythmically, and the melon seeds separated rapidly in her mouth.
When the audience got impatient, the host asked to start quickly. At this time, the people who played the "sound instrument" took out their own players one after another, including those who played the suona, those who struck the gongs, those who played the clappers, those who pulled the strings, and those who specialized in singing.
"East, West, North and South Wind" is the usual opening song. The pop music played by native instruments lacks the tenderness and tenderness of love and love, and has more of a sad and lonely meaning in autumn. Immediately afterwards, traditional repertoire such as "I Really Miss You", "The River Flows East", "Nine Sisters", "Moon of the Fifteenth", etc. were performed by the performers in various ways. Sometimes they removed the trumpet in front of the suona and only blew the bare whistle at the back; sometimes they blocked the mouth of the trumpet with a small bowl, making a strange sound like a donkey braying; sometimes with the cooperation of big gongs, small gongs and small drums, the rhythm became cheerful and lively. nervous. The wild children watched with great interest, clapped their hands and shouted "Okay, okay". Some even gathered around the "sounder" table, and the cats turned their heads slowly in circles. If they were lucky, they grabbed a handful of cats. He stuffed his ears into his pockets and ran far away, followed by a group of soldiers shouting: "Give me a little, give me a little."
Where are the older men and ladies? They didn't want to hear about this "irregularity", so they all asked for a joke. In response to the audience's request, "Blower" wrote and performed a gag drama sketch, interspersed with dirty jokes that were not suitable for children, or burdensome jokes with unclear logic, which made the old guys' lips tremble and wrinkles on their faces. Shrink a little, it’s so interesting.
Another actress who "plays the trumpet" brings everyone the classic Henan Bangzi. Before singing, she drank some water to moisten her throat and pulled the turtleneck sweater around her neck with her hands, fearing that it would affect her performance. She turned her wrist, frowned, opened her red lips, and suddenly heard "Mother-in-law, calm down your anger and stand at the intersection." She spoke in a smooth voice, and the euphemistic sadness suddenly rose, winning waves of applause.
After three rounds of pop-style, popular-style, and opera-style performances, it was almost midnight. The neighbors who didn't like the excitement were gnashing their teeth at the trouble, and the ones who liked to join in the fun couldn't get enough of it. The child king, who looked like a monkey in the sky, couldn't stand it anymore and collapsed in his mother's arms.
After a tight and rapid symphony of suonas, gongs and sticks, the surroundings suddenly fell into dead silence. The crowd dispersed, and the old people walked their separate ways, tremblingly, holding a chair with a backrest in one hand and holding on to the wall with the other.
The children were carried on the backs of the adults, and they muttered as they walked: "The sons of this family are so filial, and the 'sounder' they hired is really good."