The sky in the city was covered with ashes, and the sun hadn’t smiled for three months. The people on the side of the road are walking fast, their masks cover half of their faces, and when they meet them, they ignore them. One car after another crawled around, crowded in front and behind, unable to move forward, babbled and barked, and the crossroads were just like the fence of a horse ring. The green light was on, let go of a group, and the red light was on, circled a group.
Shougen was suffocated, so he carried his luggage and left. It’s not that easy to go. As soon as I entered the subway, I was stuck. Fortunately, his son was superb to lead the way, burrowing through the cracks, and getting into the car. The carriage is more sticky, like a pot of Laba porridge. The white face, the black face, the smell of perfume, and the smell of sweat are mixed, and the breath inhaled may be caused by who. Shougen held the tab with one hand and the luggage with the other. His nose was itchy, and he couldn’t move his hands to rub, and he sneezed. A group of people covered their mouths with their hands and cast their eyes on him. Shougen’s baggage drum originally took up space and owed others. This ignorant sneeze made him even more unbearable and his face flushed. Shougen didn’t know who to apologize, so he looked down at the shoes. On the floor of the car, there were a pile of shoes, messy, and he didn’t know which pair belonged to him.
After six stops, Shougen did not get a seat either. I watched as a wave of mermen filed out, made room, huffed, and another wave came up. The door of the car is like a cow’s mouth. Chaoqun moved to the vacant seat to occupy the seat, the crowd rushed, and then staggered. Shou didn’t even plan to sit. The country folks squatted to eat, so why sit down on the road. It was superb and more real. He wanted his father to walk more easily. Since Shougen entered the city, there was no place to go. The superb home is naturally a concrete box hanging in the air, not to mention being clamped up and down, but also separated from the front and back. For a house of more than 20 square meters, the sun can’t get in, the food can’t get out, and the landlord collects rent in time. I have been squeezed like a sardine for four years, but I am used to it. As soon as Shougen came, the layout was messed up. After pushing for a long time, Shougen put the folding bed in the bathroom. Although the old man said he was old, he had to avoid his daughter-in-law. The whole house, the living room, bedroom and kitchen were connected together, and the bathroom was relatively closed. The taste is a bit worse. Shougen can bear it. He said that he used to sit on the field for the production team to graze and often sleep in the stable. Fortunately, Shougen has the habit of getting up early, which does not delay the early defecation and washing of his son’s family of three.
Excellent and filial, I want my father to live in the city for the elderly. The medical conditions in the city are good, and there is a short stirrup for a horse. The daughter-in-law is also good, not only does not make a face, but also serves three dishes and four bowls in a different manner, Xi Hanwenwen is very polite. Doudou is cute and cute. She puts a pigtail in the sky, enters and exits the kindergarten, and takes her grandpa’s hand. She is like a little sheep. Shougen has many reasons to stay and many reasons to leave. There is no iron job these years. Since the young couple graduated from university, they either changed jobs or got fired. A few days ago, Shougen couldn’t rest, and followed his son to watch the job fair. The battle was much more noisy than the temple fair in the countryside. If a pregnant woman enters, he will crowd out the child. In the venue, there were all white young people, most of them wearing glasses. The son is also fair, but the color is a little worse, his face is yellowish, and there are few circles on the glasses. Shougen understood now, why such a big city can’t accommodate such a learned man as his son. It turns out that there are many wolves instead of less meat. At that time, my son did not find a satisfactory job and failed to change his job, so he could only work in that company. The salary is supposedly not low, but the son is still too low. It’s no wonder that at the end of the month, the accounts were settled, rent, water and electricity, peas, tuition, food, drink, and other miscellaneous activities were spent. The young couple’s income plus the income would not be left. My son’s dream of buying a house can only be realized in the year of the monkey. Days have been tight, but now I have added another mouth. How can Shougen feel at ease.
It’s hard to decide whether to walk or stay. It’s like standing at a crossroads. You can go wherever you go, and it’s hard to go anywhere. Until that night, he dreamed of Hanako, who was suffocated by Heizan riding under him. After waking up, the old tears flowed down and the pillow was wet. Shougen’s steel frame, easy not to cry, a few months ago his wife passed away, uncomfortable as a cat scratching heart, did not cry. Unexpectedly, a shocking dream made him cry. Tears were first-rate, and Shougen figured it out. If he wants to live well in his entire life, he still can’t do well. It’s time for a 70-year-old person to be self-willed. Having made up the idea of going home, even Doudou couldn’t keep it. The son had no choice but to buy good things in large and small bags and send his father on the road. Along the way, the father and son were speechless, rushing through the races, climbing the bus, squeezing the subway, jumping in line to buy tickets, and keeping roots behind, it looked like he was his son.
The two of them carried their bags and shuttled in the crowd of cars. At that time, the city hadn’t been hot, and the morning peak had not yet arrived. Most of them came and went after night shifts and early shifts. There are also passengers like Shougen, who are rushing to the east, west, north and south stations, walking in a hurry and looking tired. After tossing for an hour, I bought a long-distance ticket, and looked at the wall clock in the waiting hall. It took 50 minutes before the bus started. I tried to persuade my father again, but it was still too late. Chaoqun said, Dad, do you really want to be isolated from the world? Although it is short, the weight is not light. Shougen’s fingers shook like a tree branch, and the ticket also shook. The waiting hall is spacious and brightly lit. If you don’t have these seats, you can race horses. In such a big place, the noise is naturally heavy, and it makes Shougen annoyed by the noise. I wish I could enter a quiet place immediately. With a word from his son, the noise was blocked, and Shougen felt that his eyes were empty, as if he had entered a winter forest. This emptiness in the noise is an illusion of Shougen, but it is also an advance of the future. Once embarked on the journey back to the hometown, it also went empty. The crowding in the city is terrible, but the emptiness outside the city is even more terrifying. It is a graveyard-like silence. Shougen is good, the scars are forgotten to hurt.
two
The sky in the country was clear, and when the car got on the dam, there was a large tile of blue outside the car window. That’s called the sky, it’s round, coming down from the sky, brushing the edges against the ground. The grassy beach in June is not yet green, it is inlaid in blue, and it is fresh and bright. The wild flowers are sitting in the womb, and after another month, the dots of the golden lotus will spit out the stamens. The flowers are only on the dam, and they are golden. After getting off the car at the fork in the road, Shougen walked along a dirt road. It is said to be a dirt road. There is an inch of grass growing in the soil, there is no rut, and no dust. There are not many such access roads in the county. After the implementation of the village-to-village project, all the villages with human population have built cement roads. In a crowded village, a small square was built, and the village aunt was full, twisted her hips with a fan, and walked on Yangko. The street lights are on all night, and you are not afraid of using electricity. A photovoltaic panel on a pole is enough for a lamp. In Futian, the villagers played cards and chess under the street lights, which was a scene in the village. Shougen admired the popular village, and when he was free, he walked over and felt that it was not his own territory, so he stopped walking.
The land on Bashang is wide, and the land is divided by head. One person can divide 20 to 30 acres. The village is far away from the village, so it is impossible for a chicken and a dog to hear about it. With a bag of cigarettes, Shougen walked halfway down the road. If you go further, the road will become steeper and your waist will need to be bowed forward. Shougen did not expect that after living in the city for three months, it would be difficult to walk this way. Seeing the village from a distance, Shougen’s legs became weak, and the place where he had lived all his life was like a graveyard. The surroundings were also exceptionally quiet. Shougen could hear the wind blowing in his lungs, and his gasping noise was no less than the sound of cars passing by in the city at night. Where are the birds of the past? There were no screams in the eyes of the knots, driving away the silence.
Shougen touched the half of the stake, which was a withered elm tree, and the person who built the house took the waist and made a beam. Unexpectedly, this saw hurt the elm tree, and after the seedlings came, the roots that were not completely dead in the ground grew half way above the top of the child’s head. This elm tree, which grows alone on Naobao Mountain, is indeed eye-catching, and it is inevitable that it will be felled brutally. But since you can monopolize the mountain, you must have aura, and this aura will not be discovered until the tree is felled. It was the time when the tree was cut down, and the people in the mouth couldn’t survive, so they looked for a place outside the mouth. Shougen’s grandfather, when he heard about the aura of this tree, set up a shack on Naobao Mountain and carved four large characters on the stump, Yushugen Village. My grandfather was a native of Yuzhou under the dam. He was proficient in calligraphy and painting. He fled to the dam and settled in the roots of elm trees. He lived by painting Kangweizi for others. In the year he passed away, the village had gathered into more than 20 families.
Since Shougen was born, he hadn’t distinguished the name of the village on the tree stump. The older generation didn’t know that the cracked bark was the word. The stumps become thicker every year, and the bark becomes rougher year after year, and the pieces that fall to the ground are like pieces of hard soil. Nowadays, anyone who wants to say that there are words on the stump must be dizzy, but the village name of Yushugen Village cannot be faked, and people have been screamed for generations. The tree stump’s waist is wide enough to a certain extent, the annual rings are widened, and the tree core becomes a big hole. When it rains, water accumulates in the cave, like a well. Shougen often tied the horse to the stump after the rain, and the horse bowed his head to drink. The horse is not picking food, hungry in winter, wandering into the forest belt, throwing away the snow on the front hooves, and eating rotten leaves. Horses should not be vague about water. If the water is dirty, it is better to be thirsty than to drink it. In the area of the elm tree roots, there are five large and small nao moorings. According to legend, the Mongolian army and horse places are located. Perhaps it is because of tradition. For a long time, people here have cherished these water nao very much. They don’t do laundry by the water, and there is no swimmer in Futian. The water is clear and can be drunk, which attracts a large number of waterbirds and becomes a good place for sightseeing. Especially in recent years, tourism on the Bashang has risen. When summer arrives, tourists from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area flock to it. Naobo is no longer a naobo, but a grassland lake. One by one, they have changed their names and surnames. For example, the Yushugen Village in Dongshilidi, Yushugen Village, is called Swan Lake because swans live there every year.
Leaning on the stump to rest, Shougen walked into the village. There was a dirt road in front of the house and the back of the house, with sheep’s intestines stumbling around. It had rained a few days ago, and the low-lying place had two feet on the mud. Since Shougen entered the city, his shoe uppers have been clean, and now he writhes on the dirt road. The households in front of them are familiar and unfamiliar. They haven’t seen them for three months. Those courtyard walls and houses seem to be peeled off again. People in Bashang have a large site. In addition to building the main warehouse, they can also raise cattle and grow vegetables. The courtyard in Yushugen Village is old. Most of the courtyard walls are sow walls made of loess. The wall is not deep enough for one person. It is not to guard against thieves, but to trap one’s own livestock and prevent other livestock from entering. Inside the courtyard wall, most of the sunflowers are planted, and if you stick your head out, you can make a tooth sacrifice in autumn, and for a good-looking in summer. In the other piece of land in the middle of the round, bamboo poles are picking up beans, and the ground is crawling with watermelons, rooted leeks, and young green onions. Pick a pit in the soil and put on the seedlings of fine vegetables. You can eat cucumbers, green peppers and tomatoes from the previous season. Fine vegetables can’t be stored, few people grow them, just try to taste them fresh. There are also people who grow strawberries and watermelons, which are purely fun for children. Strawberries and peas are big, and watermelons have big fists. After a small period of freezing, the seedlings will wilt. June is the time to be alive, but Shougen can only think about what it was like before. The courtyard in front of him is a mess of things that can’t be taken away, such as rolling plates, lumps, and old tires. Some courtyard walls have been in disrepair for a long time, and have collapsed, like the teeth of old people. The empty houses were even more miserable. They were dejected because they were left unattended. The doors and windows were sealed with broken bricks in the lower half, so that only the brows and eyes were exposed to light, so as not to mold the house. Shougen glanced at these houses and felt gray when thinking of the masks of the people in the city.
Bypassing the Niu’s, Ma’s, and Yang’s, Shougen’s eyes widened. The courtyard of my house is regular. The walls of the yard with dry stone chips have been washed in white after the rain. Sunflowers have formed seeds and melons and peas are growing. The four main rooms are covered with bricks, the red tiles on the roof warm the heart, and the newly replaced plastic steel doors and windows are bright and shiny. The two warehouses on the east side are a little bit different. The roofs are made of alkaline soil, covered with a layer of plastic cloth, and then a layer of flax knots with old tiles, but there is still smoke and fire. Last year, when renovating old houses in poor villages, as long as the houses were rebuilt, a subsidy of 28,000 was given. In Yushugen Village, there were originally more than 20 households, and they gradually transferred their land out. After going out to work, only one household was left. Shougen insisted on being a landlord, received the subsidy, and cleaned up his house, and it was much easier to live in. Shou fundamentally planned to live to death. He never thought that the house was repaired and his wife suffered a myocardial infarction, leaving him alone. His wife loved cleanliness before he was alive, and was neat inside and out. Shougen picked up the broom and was upset, put down the dustpan and was confused. There was a woman’s shadow in everything he saw, and he was worried everywhere in the courtyard and outside the room. Around the village, there is not even a person to speak, and I have to go home like a gourd to suffer. Shougen was really suffering, so he called his son and got another kind of suffering in the city for three months.
three
After June, the tour of Swan Lake will start, and Hanako must be there. Hei San is a fan of money, earning money is desperate, and Hanako follows him, and it can be considered as a stepmother. Having not seen her for more than three months, Hanako could not figure out how thin she was. Shougen got up early and wandered out of the elm tree roots, traveling ten miles east, when she saw Swan Lake, the young woman had just appeared. The morning light hit the lake, splashed Venus, and flew into the eyeball a little hot. Shougen’s eyesight is worse than every day, but he is sure that as long as Hanako is by the lake, he can see at a glance.
As early as in the collective, Shougen was a well-known horseman, no matter what kind of horse, he would surely get fat. In the early years, all the horses on the dam came from the north, pure Mongolian horses. Mongolian horses have endurance and can run for a few days without eating or drinking, but they are small in size and lack energy. People from the roots of the elm tree call it a monolithic horse. At that time, there were no tractors, and horses were raised for plowing the land, so we could only improve the single-chip horses. There is a kind of big-butt horse in Russia, which is big and strong. When Shougen puts horses in the production team, he often leads the big-butt horses to bred with Mongolian barley horses. The roots of the elm trees are sometimes used as mounts for the militia. The barley horse is also a Mongolian horse, and the Erma is another breed of high-horse horse. The tall horse has long legs and runs fast. After the tractors were everywhere, the horses were useless and they were going to be extinct. It was the tourism industry that saved the horse’s life. After the villages around Swan Lake built farmyards, the villagers started raising horses again, just to make money for tourists. Better horses cost 30 yuan to ride a circle. Tourists don’t understand horses, so as long as they are beautiful, they are willing to pay to ride them. The photos taken are majestic. There are almost no purebred horses in this area nowadays, all of them have been improved, with different body and coat colors. All the horses are beautiful, but nothing more than a beautiful horse. Huazi horses are also improved horses, and the hair is divided into two colors, which is considered to be a cow from a distance.
Among the Hanako horses in this area, Hanako is beautiful. The back is snow-white, the belly is black, and the white and black hairs are all shiny. When the horse was a foal, I didn’t see it well. At the age of three, people began to show off. People from far and near were envious, saying that Shougen had raised a horse for a lifetime and raised a horse spirit. Shougen takes care of it more meticulously, and he is determined to raise Hanako into a red rabbit in Mazhong, so that the people of ten miles and eight villages will open their eyes. Horses are exquisite, water horses and dry sheep, horses love to eat aquatic plants, and aquatic plants induce fat. The aquatic plants in Wugeng are the tenderest, with dew drops. Sheep tends to go out late and return early. Sheep-husbands go out of the slope, millet out of the pot, and horses are different. It is important to go out early and return late. Keep the roots and let the horses go. The kang is the first to rise from the roots of the elm and the latest to go home. Horses can’t eat well, they can eat into a pot-bellied pot, and they must walk every day. A good horse does not lie down and a good boy does not sit. Shougen Dongxiawuchang held Hanako around the grassy beaches in this area, his knees were gone, and the problem of arthritis fell. Horse skins need to be brushed frequently to make the horse comfortable. Ponytails shouldn’t be too long, as they can easily catch the hind hooves. Cutting a ponytail is a fine job. As soon as a rough person cuts it down, he looks at it and brushes it down. The hairs stick to each other and it is not smooth. Shougen cut the ponytail, cut from the inside, cut all the bumps inside, and then smoothed it with a comb, and it was just one. Bristling is once a year. The most important thing about horseman’s craft is to keep roots and bristles. Use splints to clamp the horsehair and cut it. Not only is it neat, but also the front is high and the back is low, leaving a bunch of long hair on the backbone. The cage can also have a gripper. Ma fell in love with diphtheria before he was three years old, and after he was three years old, he suffered from No. 4 disease. Hanako never suffered. Shougen wouldn’t even let a mosquito fall on him. He walked around and took a flies brush made of horsetail and slapped it. That year, Hanako got up a little bit more vigorously, and her small intestine turned tendons. Shougen quickly led the horse to Badaogou. Standing on the edge of a ditch, he whipped his butt fiercely, Huazi neighed, and jumped up to Lao Gao, crossing the ditch, the intestines came along, and the horse shit came out. The horse-raising system survived for nine years. Shougen raised a flower with a smooth hair and a smooth body. Wherever he took it, he was applauded.
On the eve of entering the city, Shougen asked his son if he could raise horses in the city. The son laughed and said that people are about to become ants, and he can afford to dismount. Shougen had no choice but to find a new master for Hanako. Nowadays, farmers don’t raise horses anymore. In the scenic spot, they all say that the horse is good. When they negotiate the price, both sides shook their heads. Shougen is rare money, but now there are social security and medical insurance, land transfer fees, and pocket money given by the son. Shougen felt that the sale was a loss, and he was sorry for this horse. Turning around, he was watched by the black three. Hei San has a beard and a fierce look. He hung a flower when he stole a fish that year. He was injured in his left eye by a slingshot from the Baoding contractor who contracted the reservoir. The glass eyeball was extremely scary. Hei San pulled on the reins, broke Hua Zi’s mouth to look at the mouth, and after reading it, he said, “This animal is a good-looking animal, and it doesn’t look good, so the Kui fat guy has to climb the egg when he rides it.” Shougen did not answer, grabbing the reins to go. Hei San didn’t let go, he still said, shook his head, and pulled the seam at the age of nine. Look at this molar, the seam is a finger wide, and after the fall, it becomes a face, who wants it? Shougen still ignored, pulled the rein and walked away. Coming to Swan Lake again the next day, everyone saw Huazi and went away. Shougen thought that Huazi should die, so he cruelly smashed his horse to Hei San. Hei San used to be the guts of the livestock market, so he is naturally sophisticated at lowering prices. Two people made gestures to make a move, hook nine, squeeze eight, pinch seven, scratch six, catch five. After a few rounds, Shougen was defeated. Shougen was not reconciled, thinking that back then, he was also number one in the livestock market, and he often bought livestock from the Mongolians. Shougen did not lose to experience, but lost to time. His son rushed to the phone so that he could leave soon as he had time to pick up the station.
After selling Huazi three months ago, Shougen became Yang Bailao. Thinking of the appearance of Huazi and Hei San, he really drank half a bowl of brine. Shougen wanted to see Hanako, and he really saw it from a distance. Among the horses by the Swan Lake, there is only one horse with black and white flowers, and the color and appearance of the horse can be recognized even when it turns into ashes. Hanako has a human nature and often uses her lips to roll over her old face, and her tail swayed, it was the horse laughing. Shougen wanted to leave as soon as they saw each other from a distance, so as not to be sad for each other, but at a glance, his legs could not help, and the meteor strode past and his knees no longer hurt. Huazi’s head was buckled with a cage, a bit was hooped in her mouth, and a rein was stretched straight and tied to the iron prong. Twenty steps away, Huazi raised her head and hurried forward to meet her, standing up with her forefoot, screaming non-stop. Hei San, who was soliciting guests on the side, saw Shougen, as if he had met an enemy, roaring loudly, the old immortal, and went away. The animal was shocked. Can you afford it? Shougen didn’t seem to hear it, and strode over in two steps and put his arms around the horse’s neck.
four
The upper and lower floors of the kang are clean, and the wife is gone, and the spirit of the villager cannot be lost. Two of the four main rooms are empty, and I hope that my son’s family will be able to live in just a few minutes. In the two rooms, the outhouse is where the cooking is done. With a wok table and a large iron pot steady, steaming rice and cooking are fast. Whether it is burning straw, cow dung, or burning coal, there is no dust on the pot, and a rag is wiped back and forth to make the tile surface shiny. The window sill of the inner room is connected to the big kang, and the kang gang is also tiled. The kang wall is a layer of printed plastic cloth. The half-finger felt is spread on the surface of the kang. There is still a layer of printed plastic cloth on the surface of the kang. The kang tail is neatly lined with bedding, and the partition wall of the kang head is the pot stove. Sleeping people are easy to get angry. Press a wooden board and sit on a flower pot, Clivia and Hydrangea. My wife is most welcome to see the flat-topped beads and pink flowers. It was covered with branches and opened his brows and eyes. A three-section red cabinet stands on the north wall, the paint surface is old and not black. Above the cabinet, a photo mirror is hung, and a family photo is inserted into the frame, taken last year. Sitting in the middle are Shougen and his wife, standing behind is Chaoqun and his wife, Doudou leaning in her grandma’s arms. The person taking the picture shouted, eggplant, and the whole family grinned. Shougen has never advocated taking family photos. The eldest and second child died, how can they take all of them? The wife found out that he was sick, the hospital pushed his hand, Shougen changed his mind, it was better to take a picture.
There are family photos hanging on the wall and flowers growing on the kang. It is said that these days are moisturizing enough. Why is it that there is a shortage of people and a horse, so you can’t get through every second? Only a few days after returning from the city, Shougen couldn’t sit still in this house. He turned around and couldn’t hold on to his knees before entering the house and lying on the kang. In the village, don’t expect to stop by. Every family is closed, and once the food is removed, there are no rats. Fortunately, there are cats that can’t be taken away, looking for them from the empty house, and staying at Shougen’s house. Shougen counted, eleven large and small, rushing around. Shougen gave each cat a name, and fed the leftovers. After three months of walking, there was not one missing. I really don’t know how to survive. Shougen asked the cat to scratch when he was a child, and he did not want to see the cat. It’s the horse that I like to see, especially Hanako, who is with him day and night. These days, Shougen did not go to Swan Lake less, and when he went, he could only look at Hanako from a distance. You can’t get close. When you get close to Huazi, you will slap you, biting, kicking and kicking. That time, he even knocked a tourist to the ground. It was a city man. He broke down and couldn’t eat it. Fortunately, the man was engaged in geological prospecting, and he was sturdy outside all year round. He stood up and patted his butt, twisted his sun hat, his body seemed okay. Hei San was bold and scared into a cold sweat, and stepped forward to pay for it. Not only did the man fail to slander him, but instead wanted to ride it again, saying that the strong horse was just enjoyable. The man said he still wanted to ride a horse. Hei San saw it, the rein was already in Shougen’s hand, and the animal had left the old owner regardless. The fright turned into anger, and Hei San jumped over, slapped according to Shougen. Shougen’s eyes darkened, Venus stared wildly, and his left cheek was hot, like pickled pepper water. He staggered back home, took a picture in the mirror, his face was swollen, and his left eye circle was black. Shougen said to the photo, my wife, I won’t go to see Hanako anymore, I will guard you at home.
After the mang species, the weather is falling, the house is overcast in this solar term, and the courtyard is warm. Shougen moved a stool to sit down and looked up at the sky. The sky is so good, Walanwalan, if it weren’t for cotton-like clouds, it would be more like a swan lake hanging upside down. I can’t keep looking at the sky, I’m dizzy after watching for a long time. Shougen bowed his head to tease the cat, took off his shoes and let them grab. The shoes are cloth shoes, not torn, besides, the insole is taken by the wife, and a pair of mandarin ducks are embroidered with needles and threads. Snatch it from the cat’s mouth and put it on. The cat still wants to play, but Shougen doesn’t want to. Shougen thought of a good place, this solar term must have opened his eyes. Shougen walked to the fence gate, feeling weak, his knees aching, and his face still hurting. There was five miles of land there, and it was ten miles back and forth, so let’s go another day. Shougen turned back and sat down on the stool, looking at the sky and teasing the cat were both boring. People are really weird. I just don’t want to do the things that I have just done. What if I do it again? Can die? Shougen did not believe in evil, and then teased the cat, teasing and teasing, and then remembered one more thing. This was something that should have been done long ago. Shougen came to his spirits and immediately got up and went into the warehouse. It was dark in the barn, and just came in from under the positive mother-in-law, and couldn’t see the objects for a while. Shougen settled for a moment and touched the big porcelain jar. Reached out, took out a woven bag of old cotton, and then took out, what you were looking for came out. Shougen held this sagging object and put it in the yard. The cats gathered around, sniffed and scratched with paws. Shougen is to let cats see this saddle, which is a full set of saddles. Shougen fiddled with it piece by piece, and said to the cat, this is a saddle bridge, made of mahogany; this is a horse trembled and made of cowhide; this is a stirrup, you can’t bite this one, it is made of iron and fangs. Shougen picked up his girth, speechless, and his heart was sour. The girth is ponytail braided, strong and durable, perspiration and breathable, and elastic. That is Hanako’s tail hair, which was made up from the age of five to eight. After the girth was knitted, Hanako hadn’t been used for a few days, just like a saddle hadn’t been used for a few days. Shougen bought this saddle back from Ximeng, but felt that a good horse should have a good outfit, and shouldn’t it be left out. Keeping the roots and raising horses, usually without saddles, horses are horses, buckling something on the spine is always a burden.
Shougen fiddled with the saddle and returned to the original place. A little sleepy, he moved into the house and lay down on the kang. It is the season when the flowers are blooming, and the flowers on the head of the kang are vying to send the fragrance to the nose. Everyone says that the smell of flowers is similar to the smell of women, and the smell can confuse the mind. Shougen wanted to dream in the fragrance of flowers and see what his wife was doing. I was groggy as if I was asleep, a mess, I couldn’t see the picture clearly, and I couldn’t understand the sound, it seemed to mix all the upsets together, just want to cry blindly. Shougen broke free from his drowsiness, a little scared, if a person fell asleep like this, there would be no one to wake up. Shougen is only seventy years old, and his life span is less than average. He doesn’t want to die. His wife is really there and doesn’t want to rush to meet. Nowadays, there is no need to worry about food or housing, and the days are getting better every day. Maybe a good policy will be made someday, and Yushugen Village will flourish again. Shougen was curious, and wanted to live a few more years to see how prosperous these days are. Thinking that life would be better, Shougen regained his spirit, and put on his shoes to go under the kang, so he went five miles away to see the place.
Fives
After Bailu, the weather had the meaning of snow, and Shougen knew that his body was haggard, and he was wrapped in cotton clothes early. One summer rain washed away the second house of Zhu’s house behind the house and picked out the stone tiles, leaving only a quagmire. Zhu Lao Er is an absolute household. After three years of death, the two earthen houses were totally unrecognizable. Outsiders who have contracted Shougen’s 50 acres of arable land, they planted green corn this year, and there is nowhere to store them after the fall. Shougen came up with an idea to pick up Mr. Zhu’s house and dig a green storage cellar, which can hold ten tons and eight tons. Shougen is an expert at feeding livestock, so naturally he will make a green storage cellar. When I was idle, I was also idle, helping the outsiders dig pits and transporting soil, and kept pouring the broken green corn into the cellar, wrapping it with plastic sheeting, and sealing the soil before completion. In the past few days of work, my knee no longer hurts, and my body has fleshy. Outsiders have to pay for Shougen, and don’t take any money for Shougen, saying that the farmers are afraid of being a little tired. People from other villages are also real, saying, uncle, this year the rain is heavy, I contracted the thousands of mu of elm roots and planted green corn, the harvest was good, and some were tickets. Shougen also knows that this person has made money, but who is not making money now in farming? The land tax was exempted, and subsidies were returned. Even the farmland did not cost money. The village hired a tractor and installed a locator for fear that the driver would be lazy and the farming depth would not be enough. To make money is to make money. If the land is less profitable, it is better to transfer it out to save trouble and get the tickets every year. The roots of the elm trees follow this path, pack the land, take the money and leave, go to work or do business outside, and earn another money. After a long time, the village became a hollow village if he did not want to return to his hometown. This is not the case in Yitan’s places near the water.
The green storage cellar was sealed, and the outsiders left, leaving Shougen alone in the village. This is what Shougen was afraid of, especially after Bailu, the grassland saw yellow and the cultivated land turned black, and there was nothing to look around. Besides, this year’s legs and feet are even worse. My knee hurts as soon as I move around. There are scenes outside and I can’t see it. The village is like a rotten grave, with nowhere to go, so I can only stay at home. A group of cats were really funny. When they saw him, they knew it was the same one, so they lay down as the audience, and he looked like a cat himself. The saddle was taken out and dried a few times, but a few times I thought of Hanako, so upset, she simply hid it in the big tank and stopped letting this thing see the sun. When I entered the house, I spoke to the back wall, and the whole family was sullen, saying that no one would answer for a long time. When I walked around, I was tired. I lay down on the kang and fell asleep. I recognized it even after I died. People are getting older, year after year, not only loses firepower, but also loses energy.
I remember that after planting the mangs last year, I woke up in the afternoon and wandered to my own land five miles away just to take a look at the harvest. The growth of the potato seedlings has stopped, and it’s time for plowing the ground to harvest vegetables, and I thought to myself that the faces of the outsiders should bloom again. The potato harvest was good last year, but the price was low, and the outsiders did not laugh. This is the case with the land contract. You are not afraid of losing money for three years. If you make a profit for one year, you will even get back your profits. Take this year as an example. Livestock feed is expensive, and green corn can naturally sell for a good price. Shougen was wrapped in cotton clothes, lying on the kang and not asleep, thinking about the ground. Can’t figure out why the fertile water from the roots of the elm tree flows into the field of outsiders. Shougen talked with a foreigner and learned that the man was from Datong City. In order to come to Bashang to farm, he quit his good job. People in the city can go to the countryside, why can’t the people in the countryside keep their homes? This person is the same age as Chaoqun, and it was the time when he was working. People could farm and support their families, so why can’t Chaoqun be. Shougen thought of his son, and of the three months of life in the city. Although it was a bit crowded, it was not like now. He wanted to sum up things and didn’t even have a word around him. Whether it’s better to squeeze or empty, the Shougen won’t come out. Wherever you can say anything, lie on this big kang and walk around in the wind, like sleeping in the wild, it’s better to squeeze. Shougen slept on his side, opened his eyes and saw the flowers on the kang head. The weather turned cooler and the petals fell. Only the pot of flat-topped beads hung the flowers, like smoke, and the white powder was filled with gray mist.
After the frost, the ground was frozen, and the hands and feet were cold everywhere. Morone crouched and moved the iron stove out of the warehouse and set it up in the house. He also found a bag of dried cow dung from the warehouse, shoveled a dustpan with coal, and lit the fire. A burst of smoke made him cough. Coughing hard, squatting on the ground panting. After panting, Morone was discharged from the hospital and returned the remaining cow dung to the barn. It was gloomy that day, and it might be snowing. A swarm of crows flew up from the sky, croaking, like paper dust from a tornado in the graveyard. Shougen raised his head and watched the last crow pass by, thinking that there is a forest belt in the north of the village. These birds must have found their homes and should go and see. Until Lidong, Shougen did not go to the forest to see the birds. A snow blocked the road, the walkway was slippery, and it was easy to fall. For nine days, I couldn’t get out even more, so I stood by the fire to make milk tea. Thinking that the frozen porcelain of Swan Lake is solid, Huazi should be free for a few days. The milk tea on the stove gurgled, and Shougen lay on the kang in a daze. The clock on the wall is out of power. I don’t know when it will stop. Just stop it.
This dream is crisp, and you can hear the footsteps outside the window, creaking, that is the sound of leather boots stepping on the snow. The door of the outhouse opened with a creak, and someone stepped in, slamming snow. The cotton curtain in the back room was also opened, and Shougen felt that it was not a dream, so he got up. Rubbing his eyes, he saw three people, his son, daughter-in-law and Doudou! The three of them were wearing down jackets, green, red, and yellow, carrying large bags in their hands, with joy on their faces.
Shougen trembled and hurried to the ground, unable to find where his shoes were. The son said, father doesn’t need to come down, we go to the kang. Doudou was the first to go to the kang, and put his arms around his neck and said, Grandpa, good New Year! The daughter-in-law smiled and said, this child, the monkey is anxious for the New Year’s Eve, tomorrow is the first day of the new year. Shougen is a bit embarrassed, so after simmering milk tea for a while, it will make a New Year’s Eve? Yes, the watch stopped and nobody took care of it, and the month card didn’t turn over some days. Shougen patted his forehead and said with a smile, okay, let’s celebrate the new year!
The New Year’s Eve dinner is naturally dumplings, steaming hot. How can one fill up the glass and have a good drink without wine. It was not so hot in the house in the winter, so Shougen unwrapped his quilted jacket and wanted to drink. The daughter-in-law said, father drinks less, and the father and the father will have time to drink in the future. The cup held by Shougen hung above the kang table, staring at his son in a daze. The son smiled and nodded and said, yeah, dad, we won’t go anymore, we will stay with you in the future. Shougen put down the cup and said angrily, are you stupid? What do you eat after leaving the city? What to drink?
The son and daughter-in-law took a look at each other and said with a smile, they were all arranged. Our county’s third elementary school recruited teachers, and Doudou’s mother was hired. Doudou also happened to be able to go to the third elementary school to study. I’m here. Yushugen Village is developing. Next year, our land will have a lease term. I want to try planting nasturtiums. This flower is suitable for the climate on the dam. It blooms beautifully and has medicinal value. It can not only be viewed but also made tea. Once it can be done, Just wrap up the ground of the elm tree roots and work it out. His son’s words made Shougen’s heart open, and a glass of wine was consumed again.
I don’t know how long it took, Shougen woke up in a daze and found that there was only himself in the house. Where’s the son’s family? Is it really a dream? Shougen was not reconciled, and looked around with wide-eyed eyes. The calendar really turned to the twelfth lunar month, and the second hand of the wall clock really clicked. Seeing the minute hand jumped into zero, the window filled with fire, the crackling of firecrackers in the courtyard, mixed with cheers, burst Shougen’s heart. That cheering sound is so familiar, it is the cry of granddaughter Doudou, New Year! Chinese New Year! Shougen turned down to the ground, found the shoes, put them on his feet and rushed out. The door was pushed open, and a whip just ended. Shougen’s eyes widened, and he clearly saw his son’s family setting off a firecracker in the yard. A two kicker rose into the air and exploded, and the empty village was instantly filled with blooming echoes.
