My hometown is the northern countryside in the 1980s, where I spent an interesting and happy childhood.
When we were young, all the children in the village could gather together and play in the village, running around in groups, free like a bird, flying around happily.
Land is the root of rural areas, and it is also the land that children love in their childhood. People of the older generation say that playing with dirt may seem like making children dirty, but it can make children's bodies stronger, which means they are healthier. I think it makes some sense. In rural areas, people roast the soil in a large pot, then turn it into powder and collect it. If the child's skin has skin discomfort such as prickly heat, the application point will be effective. Today, when prickly heat powder has become all the rage, some older people still do this. Then play with mud, pour water into the mud, shape it into various shapes, whether round, flat or long, use the mud to imitate making various meals, or shape it into clay dolls. There is a children's song about clay dolls, clay dolls, clay dolls, they also have eyebrows and eyes that do not blink; they also have noses and mouths that do not speak. Presumably, the author of this song also loves soil very much. In short, too much fun, just like today's plasticine is to the children in the city.
Land gives humans and various living creatures the natural conditions for survival. In nature like the countryside, nourished by the land, there are all kinds of little lives living there. For small living species, humans are obviously huge, and children must be like little giants in their eyes. For example, among small ants, there are small black ones and larger ones that are slightly yellow. When I was a child, I liked to watch groups of ants, always running around non-stop, as if they were safe only when they entered the hole. When going out to look for food, it was as if they were ready for battle. They did not dare to be lazy for a moment. Life It's always on the line. Either they were accidentally stepped on, or they were tortured by the little giants using various tools, such as tree branches; or they were submerged by sudden water. Then observe them struggling in panic when encountering such an emergency. Not only that, sometimes they also carry out various attacks on their nests.
There is a vegetable garden in front of my mother's door. My daughter often plays in it. When she sees little ants, she will show her powerful deterrence in various ways. I tell her to cherish the little life, and she Shi'er talked with them, but Shi'er still couldn't restrain her sense of superiority as a little giant.
Silkworm rearing is also an annual event. Buy some silkworm eggs. The black dots are like black sesame seeds, densely covered with paper. The hatched silkworms are called ant silkworms because they resemble ants. The little black body, the head pulled hard and the body was probed around. I am very timid and dare not touch it, so this time of year also makes me panic. Because some students raised silkworms in pencil boxes and brought them to school. When the black silkworm babies came out, my little head was confused, let alone the white fleshy silkworms that grew up. To me, it was like a nightmare. Silkworms grow very fast. We can find mulberry trees in rural areas, so we have sufficient reserves of mulberry leaves. When they grow large enough, they will start spinning silk non-stop to build their own houses. As the saying goes, "The silkworms will not run out until they die." The silkworm turns into a chrysalis in the cocoon, then turns into a moth, bites the chrysalis and crawls out. The female moth begins to lay eggs. The eggs are yellow at first, and the yellow eggs turn brown. A new life is being nurtured, and they return to the densely packed black sesame-like dots at the beginning. Silkworms use their small bodies to work hard throughout their lives in spinning and weaving, benefiting us humans. The spirit of selfless dedication is worthy of our study and respect.
The fear of silkworms does not completely end in the countryside, because there is another species very close to it that we often face, that is, the insects in cotton fields, which can never be overcome. The fear of bugs. In the 1980s, there was a lot of cotton planting in rural areas, but now it is basically gone. At that time, there were so many bugs that they were a pest. Even pesticides had no effect. Everyone just used bottles to catch bugs. For me, that was the most terrifying thing at the time. Whenever it's time to pick cotton, take a cage and pick the flowers and buds together, or hang a piece of large square cloth around your neck and tie it around your waist, and then put all the picked cotton in it. Even if you kill me, I don't dare to go in. That's up to me. It's simply life-threatening. I do the logistics at home and am responsible for cooking.
But it’s not over yet. Those cottons with flowers and bones went home and fell into the mountains. After dinner, it got dark, and the lights were turned on. The ceremony of peeling cotton officially began, as if the night shrouded in lights had just begun. At the beginning, every family sat around the hill and started the next work on the cotton. I heard that my grandma is my grandfather’s father. He knows Feng Shui and makes mats. He likes to drink, smoke and chat on weekdays. In the end, he passed away while peeling cotton. Murakami said, look at this person, he has accumulated merit, he has been carefree all his life and did not like farm work, but at the last moment he stuck to his job. I was so nervous that I had to join this huge army. I walked on thin ice and checked for bugs before peeling it off, for fear of touching that soft, devil-like little thing. I remember one time, a little bug crawled onto my leg out of nowhere. I jumped up and screamed in fear. Since then, my status in farm work has been downgraded.
After peeling, there is a big scene of cotton drying. At the door of every house, stools are used to prop up mats made of rice straws, and then the cotton is dried on it. The snow-white cotton shines in the sun. Under the illumination, it becomes more and more plump and rich. The dried cotton can be directly sewn into quilts after processing. Rural people sew their own quilts. Plop it on the ground, put on the thimble, and start processing. Spinning threads, weaving cloth, and using sewing machines to make clothes, the scenes are still vivid in my mind. There are also cloth shoes with thousand layers of soles and cotton shoes, which are good companions for our flying steps in childhood. When I was a child, in my eyes, people of my parents’ generation were fully capable of having enough food and clothing, being self-sufficient and capable of anything. They use their hard-working hands and hard and simple life style to show the rural people's life full of nature.
In the countryside, every child has to go to the fields to help with work, hoeing the ground and pulling weeds. It is one round after another, endless work. Every time I go there, I grab a hoe and sit quietly under the apple tree, scratch the ground with a small branch, or sit there and think about the troubles of young Werther. When I felt that my mother was coming, I lazily picked up the hoe and started working. When the apples are ripe, while working, if you are thirsty, you will pick an apple that will make you eat water. Or pick a watermelon from the watermelon place, smash it open and eat it directly. The wild energy is really enjoyable. When people sell out the watermelons, sometimes there are still some small watermelons in the field, so I go and pick them up. At that time, there was a melon room in the watermelon field, which was dedicated to watching watermelons. It was probably because the children were afraid of being naughty and causing trouble in the melon field. I love watermelon the most. I often wonder how there is such a delicious fruit in this world.
One of the eight eccentrics in Shaanxi does not sit or squat when eating. We have followed this folk custom here. When I was a child, people in the village would eat. When the rice was ready, the adults would take the bowls to the door to eat, or take them directly to other people's homes and chat while eating. The closeness of the neighborhood and the countryside is really missed. The whole village The sky above is filled with this strong sense of nostalgia. No wonder people say that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors.
The memories of picking wheat ears are scattered. The wheat that others pulled over would more or less fall off, so we, the children, gathered the wheat ears together and tied them together, like big and small wheat flowers. At that time, I felt it was very beautiful. Now when I go to a flower shop, I find that they are selling dried wheat ears like this and put them in vases. It seems that all art comes from nature. To dig wild vegetables, take a small melon and a small basket, and go shoveling wild vegetables together.
There are also red wolfberry-like things. I can’t tell what they are called. They are made of thin branches and are very beautiful. There are also sweet potato leaves in the ground, which are also a tool for us girls to decorate themselves. Take off the leaves, fold the roots of the leaves left and right, and hang them on your ears as earrings. Sometimes the leaves are connected and used as pendant decorations, or even longer to make a necklace.
Every year when henna blooms, girls are very busy. All preparations are done, such as alum, crushing the henna, wrapping the nails, and taking a night's sleep before taking them off. , red nails, everyone is following the trend of dyeing them. In the countryside, everything is original, but it never stops people's love for beauty.
There were very few snacks for children at that time, and sugar was a rarity; popsicles could be exchanged for empty bottles. There is also tofu. I remember when I was very young, my family seemed to have ground tofu. Later, I used soybeans instead of tofu. The black old candy is very long when you pull it, sticky to the teeth, and very delicious. Eat Lingzao, a small jujube, sour, sweet and crunchy. Be careful when there are thorns on the edge of the ditch.
The black wild grapes were so delicious, sweet, and delicious that I poured them into my mouth in large handfuls. Sometimes, when I come back from school and catch up with the busy farm work, I make steamed buns with spicy food, drink a bowl of cold water, and go to school. The spicy dish of the Eight Great Weirds of Shaanxi, steamed buns with spicy food is the favorite of many people in Shaanxi. No matter where you are, the love for this classic pairing will not be diminished or replaced in the slightest.
I remember when I was a kid, when a baby was born, I always liked to go with my mother when I went to see the baby, drinking brown sugar and eating stone buns. At that time, the stone buns were all made by my own family. I love to drink that red brown sugar water, we call it brown sugar.
For weddings and funerals in rural areas, mobile mats are made at home, and the whole village is dispatched. The women are responsible for cooking, and the men are responsible for serving the dishes. The whole family's affairs are handled by the whole village. The lively scene and the simple relationship between people really brought the villagers and neighbors together, and the villagers above and below were excited.
Rural fairs are also a major feature. They are so lively and lively. Everything is sold, including food, clothing, and supplies. There is music and shouts. There are a lot of people and joy in the air. It's filled with a strong sense of nostalgia. Everyone's face shows the simple and lovely charm of rural people. Wandering among them, enjoying the festive gifts brought by this casual gathering. For young boys and girls in their prime, this place is a feast full of expectations and yearnings. Everyone carries their own little feelings of adolescence, wandering there, lingering, maybe they or they are looking forward to the back figure in their hearts, maybe, even Even if it's a glance, even a shallow smile, even a glance that sees it but quickly avoids it, even if it's a little thought of looking around, even if it's discovered and secretly hiding in the corner, the joy and nervousness in the heart can't be concealed, that All the beautiful feelings can be displayed in a small way under the lively cover, and displayed in a small way. Presumably, the words "go to the market" must be filled with our beautiful memories of youth.
In addition to the excitement of going to the market, children’s favorite thing is the Chinese New Year, which is simply the most important festival of the year. The Chinese New Year means you have new clothes to wear, you have lucky money, you don’t have to do any work, and there are too many delicious foods. All you have to do is wear new clothes and show around with your friends and have fun. It is simply a paradise of freedom. Wearing new clothes is commonplace for children today, but for us at that time, it was a rarity. For adults, it's different. The whole family goes into preparation and cleaning before the year. Regarding food, there is a process, and this process still needs to be discussed. Steaming steamed buns, setting up oil pans, and filling bowls are all big projects. It is too laborious for a family to do them, and everyone usually divides their time. Open, help each other, talk and laugh, and get the job done.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the whole family eats dumplings. The dumplings usually have coins wrapped in them. Whoever eats them is happy and it is a good start. After eating the dumplings, we put on new clothes and happily started the door-to-door New Year greeting ceremony. Going from house to house, no exaggeration, with the home as the unit, the mighty formation exudes the majesty of the home, and the happiness of the home is revealed on the face. Brand new lucky money, no matter how much, brings happiness and memories to children that will be unforgettable forever.
When I was very young, there were few electrical appliances in every household. When television first arrived in rural areas, there was only one television in each village. Adults and children would go to the brigade headquarters with stools to watch TV. I remember that it was relatively early for me to have a TV at home. At night, everyone would sit around and watch TV. It was so lively. I remember that "Joking about Qianlong" was very popular at that time, and we loved Zheng Shaoqiu and Zhao Yazhi very much.
There are also movies. When the movie is shown, it is a big reunion of the whole village, old and young, especially in winter, everyone carries small benches and small mattresses. Boys and girls should not be able to restrain their youthful hearts. This charming festival-like night, under the dim light, becomes more and more intriguing. At that time, in rural areas, if there was a funeral at home, showing movies would be part of the process. As a timid person, I always felt that watching movies at night and under such circumstances would inevitably add a touch of terror to my mind. It doesn't have the cheerfulness of a festive movie at all.
I like rainy days best, because there is no need to go to the fields on rainy days, and adults can also rest, play mahjong, play cards, or gather together to gossip, which is very lively. It seems like it’s raining, the whole world has quieted down, and everyone can relax.
After the rainy day, we had something to play again, which was to look for the hoop covers one by one along the wall, holding a small stick, lifting the covers one by one, waiting, waiting, waiting for it to crawl out, then grab it, and we caught it I didn't dare to put it in my mouth directly, and it was crunchy. Later, when I saw my brother who was with me, he threw it into his mouth and made a crunchy sound when he chewed it proudly. I was eager to try it, so I closed my eyes and put it in my mouth. Oily and crunchy. It's a bit like the feeling that people nowadays have when eating roasted scorpions. People always have some inexplicable resistance to such small creatures.
In summer, due to drought, irrigation is required. At this time, the large canal near the village fills with water. A group of us girls jumped in with our clothes on in the shallow water and played happily in it. Especially at night, the countryside is very quiet at night, and the stars and moon are clearly visible. A group of us splash water on each other, chase and fight in the water, or just lie in the water, having endless joy. Boys disdain this kind of shallow water area. Generally, at the end of the canal, where the water is deep, we call it "daohong". They practice holding their breath, sinking and floating there, showing their manly bravery. When there was no water in the canal, we ran as hard as we could up and down. It was so fun to have such fun.
Understand, that is the singer of summer, dotting the sky throughout the summer. The deepest memory in my childhood is the endless hissing sound of cicadas in summer, resounding throughout The entire village also resounded with childhood memories. During the noon nap, I lay on the kang and fell asleep to the singing of cicadas. What a wonderful memory. You won't feel lonely in the summer evening because there is the noise of crickets. Therefore, in the summer countryside, all kinds of cicadas and dogs barking bring people symphonies that sing throughout the summer. People are intoxicated by the beautiful music of nature.
When the weather is hot at night, our family sleeps in the yard, looking up at the stars and the moon, looking at the shapes of various stars, and then daydreaming endlessly, letting our thoughts float in the sky, and finally fall asleep without knowing it. . Catching cicadas and cicada pupae is also one of the great fun in summer. We used homemade nets to search tree by tree along the canal in the hot noon. When we saw them, we caught them. The most surprising thing was that I saw one at the lower part of the tree trunk. I crept up to it and grabbed it fiercely. After catching it, I folded the wings and grilled them. At night, small groups of children, holding flashlights, go to find Zhidao, which is said to be very high in protein. It is still a major feature of barbecue stalls.
At that time, I remember that there were jujube trees in almost every backyard. When the jujubes were ripe, adults or older children would climb up, stand on the tree, and shake them hard, shaking the jujubes down. They are all over the floor, and the children below are happily picking them up. Sometimes they accidentally hit their heads. Such scenes are really funny. There are also various fun things every spring. We get twigs of rattan, twist them, and the roots inside can be pulled out. Then we scrape one end of the empty cylinder skin to get a bright yellow edge. Our name is mimi, and the sound can be heard everywhere. Wild flowers in the fields are also blooming. The apple blossoms, peach blossoms and pear blossoms in the orchard decorate the whole world. There were also many sycamore trees in the countryside at that time. There were purple sycamore flowers with green hats on one side. When you pull them, the stamens inside are still connected, which looks more romantic than a single flower. Some children sewed Wutonghua's cuckold with a needle, wore it into a necklace, and hung it around their necks. There is another reason why I don't like sycamore trees. They are the names of east, west, north and south. Thinking about them, I feel a little confused now. That kind of bug is my natural enemy. I feel like I'm going to faint when I see it. I'm scared to death. Sometimes you can even see them falling from the tree. Therefore, I am extremely afraid of walking under trees.
When I was a child, I played with many gadgets, including Ryukyu balls and slingshots. Both boys and girls could play with them. Origami cannons, some thin and some thick, there are a bunch of them for boys. There is also the hoop rolling, which is also a favorite among boys. Girls love to jump with rubber bands, take long strides, and play shuttlecock. Our shuttlecock is made of plastic. Find a piece of plastic, cut it into strips, leave an edge on the top, and finally roll it up and burn it with fire. When it is charred , quickly post a copper coin, in short, something a little more important. When lifting, kick with your legs straight. Some shuttlecocks are cut thin, and some are cut wider.
The countryside is very cold in winter. When get out of class is over, everyone huddles in a corner to bask in the sun, and shout loudly together, "Squeeze the oil, squeeze it flat, stay in the rat's nest, sunbathe far away." It seems like this, the sun will Be more eccentric and give us more light and heat. I also believe that the sun at that time can also feel our pure happiness.
Jumping rope on campus is also very interesting and lively. Throwing sandbags. At that time, we all made our own sandbags. We cut a few pieces of cloth, sewed them together, left a hole, stuffed things in, and then sewed them all together. There are various ways to play. There is a game called "killing". Several people stand in the middle and run, and one person on each side throws sandbags. Those who are hit by the sandbags come down and throw sandbags instead. Another game is to run a siege and draw a frame, a circle within a circle of squares, with a cross in the middle. You have to go around many circles. At this time, others throw sandbags at you. You can jump, hide, and run to the end. In the middle, jump to the cross grid and you'll be safe. There is also a craft game, east, west, north and south. Write any word on each side: east, west, north, south. When I played games at that time, it was so exciting and tireless.
What impressed me most was the early morning in the countryside. There were no street lights in the village. In the morning, accompanied by the crowing of the rooster, I got up, got dressed, closed the door and set off. Then I put the next door in an alley. Everyone screamed. I remember one time, I went to wake up my brother in the alley. I waited for him in the house and whispered, I took a few cents from my mother today. I thought my aunt was asleep, so when school was over, my mother interrogated me and took it back. There are only five classrooms in our entire school, and one kindergarten class. People who start kindergarten only when they are six years old are in grades one to four. When I went early, the classmate who took the key had not yet arrived, so he sat at the door of the classroom and waited, looking up at the moon, as if expecting the sun to rise.
I like the winter the most in the early morning at that time. The whole village is quiet. We just sit quietly like that, or whisper quietly for fear of waking up in the early morning. , then I must have hoped to just sit there for a while longer, let the sun come later, later, let the quiet dawn freeze at that moment, quietly...after I've always liked to get up early, maybe it's that early morning feeling that keeps lingering in my heart. Every year there is a sports meeting in the school. We wear blue or red sportswear and white sneakers and walk to the countryside to compete. Practice sand pit jumping, high jump, pole vault, and hurdles at school. As soon as the music of the sports meeting sounds, the plot of the annual sports meeting will come to mind.
Every village has a wheat field, because the wheat has to be dried, the wheat stalks have to be piled up, the wheat has to be ground, winnowed, and finally put into sacks. Nowadays, people buy ready-made flour. At that time, we used wheat to process it into flour. When the wheat field is not in use, it becomes a good place for children to learn to ride bicycles. With big bicycles and small bodies, they learn with great expectations, like little fighters. One advantage of riding in a wheat field is that when you can't stop, just lean on the wheat pile. It's really a good idea. At night, no matter spring, summer, autumn or winter, as long as the moon and stars are sparse, it is a good place for children to play. The romantic wheat field has witnessed the thoughts of many children who are in love.
I grew up in this natural world in my childhood. Everything is so simple, so innocent, and kind. We are familiar with the taste of the land, and we are familiar with the soil after the rain. I can still hear the hissing of cicadas in my ears, the buzzing of mosquitoes in my ears in summer, the barking of dogs, the sound of crickets in summer evenings, and all the music of nature. They are all three-dimensional and reverberating in the air. That is the local accent in our hearts. I will always love that land, the land that gave me life, the land that gave me personality, the land that gave me natural aura. Our hometown is our roots, our soul, and a rural sentiment that can never be separated from our lives. No matter where you go, to the ends of the earth, or in any corner of the world, deep in your heart you still have a deep attachment and yearning for your homeland! Although we miss it deeply from afar, that land and sky still remember every bit of our childhood. No matter how many times we go back or run away, what remains unchanged is the deep love for our hometown deep in our hearts. What remains unchanged is the selfless concern and love of our homeland for us.