Father's Land Mother's River

Chapter 114

In a blink of an eye, it is the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month.The altar that was put away after sending off the gods on the second day of the first lunar month was placed again today. After tonight, the year will be completely over, and today is the last time of the year to worship the ancestors.

The season has come to eighty-nine, the days are getting longer, the temperature is getting warmer, the ice and snow are beginning to melt, the geese flying south are returning north one after another, and in the mountains and fields, you can see the figure of the slow-moving cattle everywhere.The busy season of farming has arrived, and people are about to start a new round of busyness.

Waking up early in the morning, Yue Xuelian started to pack her luggage.The holiday is coming to an end, I will go back to my father's house tomorrow to stay overnight, and return to Bincheng the day after tomorrow to visit the leaders and colleagues, and then I will prepare for the start of school.

She sorted out the clothes that the two of them were going to leave behind, and put them into the cabinets by category. After that, she was busy cleaning up the hygiene inside and outside the house.In her subconscious mind, she has regarded this place as her permanent home.

During the Spring Festival, Liu Xiaonan and Yue Xuelian lived at home most of the time.On the second day of the first lunar month, I went to my grandma's house to pay New Year's greetings, and on the third day of the first lunar month, I went to Fuzhou City.After living with Yue Zifan for two days, Yue Xuelian felt bored and bored, and secretly begged Liu Xiaonan to go home.

Liu Xiaonan found an excuse and told Yue Zifan that she wanted to help her father manage the vegetable greenhouse and sell vegetables, and that she couldn't live in the teacher's house all the time.

It was his daughter's idea that Yue Zifan knew that it was his daughter's idea not to stay in college.When she was single, her daughter was not willing to live at home for a long time. After getting married, her heart flew away early.It's understandable when you think about it, whoever likes to live with a lonely old man for a long time, let them go back to Liuzi Street.

Back at Liuzi Street, Liu Xiaonan followed his father's instructions every day, rolling up the straw curtains on time in the morning and putting down the straw curtains on time in the evening.Yue Xuelian lingered in the artistic conception of rural life, exercising, reading, cooking food, doing some farm work, comfortable and leisurely.

Every morning, both go out for a run as usual.The air is cold and fresh. Running along the river to the point where hot air rises from the forehead, exhaling stale air while panting, and inhaling the fresh and cold air is refreshing.

What attracted them both was a group of adult gray cranes staying by the river for the winter.

There were more than 20 gray cranes in that group, and they sometimes gathered on the river bank, sometimes on the ice of the pond, and sometimes in the winter wheat field.It is more than one meter tall when standing, and has a wingspan of two meters when flying, with a graceful and strong posture.

What attracted their migrating wings to stay here despite the severe cold?

The two often stopped to watch, Liu Xiaonan said: "They are nostalgic for this vast and fertile land with abundant aquatic plants."

Yue Xuelian said: "They failed to live up to that pair of healthy wings."

The observation angles are different, and the views are naturally different. The two of them did not discuss it in depth, fearing that it would cause unnecessary disputes.

One day, when I was digging the ground in the vegetable greenhouse to transplant cucumber seedlings, I accidentally found more than a dozen red earthworms.Liu Xiaonan asked Yue Xuelian to go home and find a canned bottle to put it in, and planned to take her fishing in the ice cave.

Yue Xuelian was elated, and Liu Xiaonan advised her not to be too happy.It is still unknown whether he can catch fish, because he has never fished in an ice hole, and it is only a practice.

After spring, the ice layer becomes loose, and pieces of ice balls stand upright side by side. The ice surface often cracks and cracks, and the criss-cross cracks are like spider webs.

This is a signal that the river is about to thaw and open. The river flows under the ice surface, and the ice surface can no longer support the walking of people and animals.

The willow branches turned from dark yellow to bright yellow, soft as whips waving gently.Under the river bank on the north bank, the ice surface more than a foot wide has melted, and in some places where the river water is deep and whirls, ice holes of different sizes and shapes have formed.

Liu Xiaonan selected a gloomy ice cave at the bottom of the water, tapped the surrounding ice layer with a long wooden stick to further expand the ice cave, and built a fish nest with rice bran and cornmeal.At noon when the weather was sunny and warm, he took Yue Xuelian to go fishing.

A thin bamboo pole that my father used to insert the cucumber frame, tied with a fishing line and hook, and used a small piece of plastic foam as a float.Hang the earthworms, throw the hook with a swing, throw it into the ice hole, and wait quietly for the fish to take the bait.

Yue Xuelian squatted beside Liu Xiaonan, afraid of disturbing the fish, she asked in a low voice: "Your fishing tackle is too simple, can you catch fish?"

Liu Xiaonan said: "When I was young, fishing was not as good as this one. Jiang Taigong fished, and those who wished were hooked."

"A man in a lonely boat and hat, fishing alone in the cold river and snow. Although there is artistic conception but no fun, how can it compare with this situation."

"Of course. If Liu Zongyuan had a confidante by his side, like me, he wouldn't have written such lonely and poignant poems."

As soon as the words were finished, the float shook a few times and suddenly sank.Liu Xiaonan flicked the bamboo pole, and a big crucian carp was caught, its pale yellow scales shone silvery white in the sunlight.

Regardless of whether the fish can be caught or not, Yue Xuelian brought a small bucket, which was just in use.

Liu Xiaonan took the crucian carp from the hook, put it in the bucket, and said with emotion: "I started fishing when I was four or five years old, but I never thought that I could catch fish in winter, and the elders didn't pass down this saying." Saying. In people's inherent concept, fishing on the ice is not allowed. If you don't dig earthworms in the vegetable greenhouse and try it out of boredom, that inherent concept will never be broken. Really I want to thank my dad for the vegetable greenhouse."

Yue Xuelian said: "If you knew that you could catch fish in the ice hole, you wouldn't have to break through the ice to catch fish and lie on the ice hole like a big bear."

Liu Xiaonan said: "The third uncle is right, the transformation of people's inherent concepts is the most difficult."

"The group of gray cranes are also bound by their inherent concepts. They don't know how exciting the outside world is, so Bai has grown a pair of wings to fly."

"From this point of view, Mr. Xiaoyue is deeply concerned about the group of gray cranes, and truly feels sad for them."

That being said, his hands are not idle, and there are more and more fish in the bucket.Seeing the lively fish, Yue Xuelian wanted to try it too.Liu Xiaonan handed the bamboo pole to her, and hung fresh earthworms on the hook again.

With someone pointing at her side, Yue Xuelian swung her club and threw the hook in a decent manner, shouting excitedly every time she caught a fish.

After using up a dozen earthworms, two people caught half a barrel of crucian carp.Liu Xiaonan picked fish and hung earthworms with his bare hands, the backs of his hands were red from the cold, and his fingertips were numb, but he didn't care. He was able to break the routine and catch fish in the ice hole, which made him very excited.

Yue Xuelian was also interested. On the way back, she said: "Find a way to dig some more earthworms, and come fishing tomorrow."

Liu Xiaonan said: "Go home and ask your father-in-law to see if he allows us to dig around in the shed."

Yue Xuelian smiled and said, "Forget it, the vegetable greenhouse is the base for your father to show off his ability, and it is the eyeball of the whole village."

Back home, Yue Xuelian followed Liu Zhixin to learn how to cook freshwater fish, steam them with sauce, or make soup.Drink a little homemade rice wine at dinner to relax the tendons, activate the blood and dredge the collaterals.

Playing poker for a while after dinner, Liu Xiaonan and his mother, Yue Xuelian and Liu Zhixin, three decks of poker rollers, drinking blood and laughing constantly.Yue Xuelian witnessed what her parents said about Liu Zhixin's superb memory, three decks of playing cards, a lot of them in her hand, what cards were played and what cards were left, she could remember clearly.

The peaceful and happy days just slipped by day by day, and it was time to leave in a blink of an eye.Yue Xuelian is somewhat reluctant to part with her. A healthy family brings her too much joy and touch.

The uncle and aunt of the Liu family have lived apart for 30 years, and their relationship is as ordinary as a steady stream of water. It is no wonder that Liu Xiaonan values ​​relationships so much.How she longed for herself to have such a home.

After cleaning her future rural home, Yue Xuelian stood in front of the west window, staring blankly at the thawed and muddy rice fields outside the window.There is a question that has been stuck in my chest for a long time, and I still can't find the answer. It's time to ask Uncle Liu for advice.

After taking a nap after lunch, the family started making dumplings.Yue Xuelian was making dumplings, hesitated in her heart, and finally asked Liu Zhixin: "Uncle, based on what you know about my parents, is it possible for them to get back together?"

Liu Zhixin couldn't bear to tell the cruel truth, he said: "I also had similar thoughts, this matter can't be rushed, after all, there is more than [-] years of estrangement between them. This is what I think, the turning point should be yours After the two get married. When you two get married, they will have a chance to meet each other. At that time, I will find a way to make peace. Don't worry too much about it. "

"Thank you Uncle." Yue Xuelian said: "I have always wanted to look forward to the day when my parents and I can live together as a family."

Jiang Changling said to Yue Xuelian: "After you two get married, hurry up and have a baby. After you have a grandson and granddaughter, your parents have to compete to coax your grandson? People become cheap when they get old. If they are relatives in the next generation, the grandson and granddaughter will be able to treat the two of you." Together, it is more effective than persuasion from outsiders."

Yue Xuelian bowed her head and said nothing, Liu Xiaonan smiled and said, "Mom, are you in a hurry to have a grandson? Don't worry, in another year and a half, I finish my junior year and return to the textile factory, and we will get married. As for whether to have children, I can say no."

Yue Xuelian's attitude was very clear: "I listen to Auntie."

After making the dumplings, the sky was getting dark, and Liu Xiaonan went to the grave alone to deliver the lantern.During the Lantern Festival in the world, there should be some light in the underworld. According to folk rumors, lice are caught once a year.It is still the men who go up the mountain, offer incense, burn paper, kowtow and set off firecrackers, and light a red candle in the gate of the tomb.

Between the mountains and fields, the candlelight flickers on and off, like a blue will-o'-the-wisp jumping.

Cities have noisy lantern festivals, and rural people have their own traditions.After eating dumplings and Lantern Festival, every household lit red candles on the stove, water tanks, grain storage, pigsty and chicken coop. All brighten up.

Children carried paper lanterns in the yard and played in the street, innocent laughter and firecrackers filled every corner of the village.

Liu Xiaonan took Yue Xuelian to light a few candles in her father's vegetable shed, so that the candlelight on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month could illuminate her father's hopes.Walking out of the vegetable greenhouse and looking at the candlelight in the village as dense as fireflies, Yue Xuelian lamented that the Lantern Festival in the countryside still has connotations and charm.

Back home, Liu Xiaonan set off all the remaining firecrackers and fireworks.The year is over and we are looking forward to the beginning of the new year.

Play poker for a while as usual, but with a different opponent, a young couple playing against an old couple.The young couple's tacit cooperation and techniques are dominant, but the old couple has no choice but to catch good cards, and they are always in a situation of falling behind and being beaten.After playing poker and watching TV for a while, Liu Zhixin urged the two of them to rest early, calm down, and return to Bincheng to work and study hard.

Liu Xiaonan followed her father to inspect the vegetable shed. When she returned to her room, she saw that there was no bedding on the kang, and Yue Xuelian was leaning on the head of the bed to read a book.

Yue Xuelian didn't understand: "What is Zhuantan?"

Liu Xiaonan said: "This is a word I learned from Li Hongxia. It cannot be found in a dictionary. It is a vocabulary in daily life. She told me that a few years ago, a large and delicious yellow clam suddenly appeared on the beach. No, it probably drifted from other sea areas. Later, due to overfishing, one day, almost overnight, there was no trace of the beach, and there was no more yellow clams. People said that the environment on the beach Unable to satisfy the survival and reproduction of yellow clams, they fled collectively, and the term Zhuantan came into being. You slept well on the heated kang, and if you move to the bed, what is not Zhuantan?"

Yue Xuelian held the book in her hands and pretended to fight: "You have the ability to connect two unrelated things together. This is what I admire most about you. See the big from the small, whether it is a human or an animal, the living environment It's the most important."

Liu Xiaonan cleverly turned Yue Xuelian's thoughts around: "You turned from the kang to the bed, do you also want to change the environment?"

Yue Xuelian covered her slightly blushing face with the opened pages of the book, and laughed softly.

The two of them who were frolicking at this time, how could they know that there was a more important matter waiting for them to make a decision.

The next day when I returned to Fuzhou City, I saw Yue Zifan walking around the alley restlessly with his head bare.I was startled at first, thinking that he was mad at someone, and his old illness had relapsed, but when I got closer, I realized that there was a strange expression of excitement and solemnity on his face.

Back home with the help of Yue Zifan, the two of them knew the ins and outs of the matter slowly.

Two days ago, a long-lost old friend suddenly came to visit Yue Zifan.Yue Zifan could hardly recognize that the man in front of him turned out to be his former friend who framed him and put him in prison.

It turned out that his friend immigrated to the United States ten years ago, shortly after Yue Zifan was rehabilitated, and was doing business in medical equipment.As I grew older, I often thought of the friends I had framed, and had trouble sleeping and eating, so I went back to China to look for visits.Seeing Yue Zifan's current physical condition and living conditions, he felt even more sinful.

Yue Zifan said: "In that special age when demons danced wildly, everyone sought self-protection, and no one could control himself. I forgave him long ago. But he couldn't forgive himself. He cried bitterly at my place and stayed for one night. Talking about a lot of past events, I want to pick up the friendship between us again."

"That's the crocodile's tears." Yue Xuelian said angrily, "Dad, you can't trust him anymore. Isn't he hurting you badly enough? Let him bring his sins to his God."

Yue Zifan said: "I believe in the sincerity of his remorse. However, he must take me to the United States for recuperation, and he will be responsible for all the expenses, just to regain friendship and atone for my sins. I don't know whether I should agree to him and tell him He needs to discuss it with the children. He has other things in the country, and he will come back in a few days to hear my answer."

Yue Xuelian was very surprised, her eyes widened, and she looked at Liu Xiaonan inquiringly.

(End of this chapter)