LeonQi's Blog

Published on 19/July,2020 but realized maybe chanslate to English for easy reading by more people. (it was done automatically in Google translate if anything wrong please be tolerant.)

I was born in a small town by the Qiantang River in Zhejiang, and I can't remember my childhood. This is a big family. The father has three brothers and three sisters, and the mother has three brothers and one sister. The ancestors fully responded to the call of the Mao Zedong era. I don’t have the slightest impression of my grandfather in my mind now. Maybe it was because I was too young at the time. I heard from adults that when I was very young, my grandfather fell off a ladder to help me get something from a height and passed away soon after. Whenever I think of this, I am very sad Guilty. It was too poor at that time, and it was impossible to leave any pictures of my grandfather in the thatched house. It was always a regret in this life. There are many family members, and it is difficult for the grandparents to take care of our juniors like they are now. My mother said that she was very afraid of my grandmother when she was young, which is a typical mother-in-law relationship.

Changshui Cao Village is in the southernmost part of the town. A Duotou River runs straight from the southwest corner of the village to the northwest and then joins with another east-west cross-cun River. It is said that this river can reach the Qiantang River. Because it is called Shuicao Village, one can imagine how small this river is. To the east of the village is a stone road called Zhenxing Road, which has not changed its name for decades. There are fields to the south, which are very large. About 2 miles away, there is another slightly larger river. After crossing this bridge, you will arrive at the village where the grandmother lives. In the 1980s, the reform and opening up, our parents' life was still relatively hard, but they have moved out of the thatched house and have their own tile house. Dad worked in a cotton factory to resist 200 catties of cotton bales, and my mother worked in a "very fierce" master's factory. will give me a look. Before I reached school age, I had no conditions to go to kindergarten. My mother was afraid that I would run out and have an accident, so she had no choice but to lock me in this tile house. I have nothing to play, what can I do? The left hand of the tiled house's entrance is the stove. There is a window on the stove. Although it is blocked by a wooden fence, you can still see the window. I climbed onto the stove, sat in my pot, and stared out the window. Now I'm curious why the pot didn't break for me. Occasionally, people from the village pass by and talk to me, which is also a great comfort.

      When I was about 7 or 8 years old, the family let me go out to the wild, and my life seemed to be open from then on.

In spring, the spring silkworms spin silk and rapeseed flowers bloom, and they walk for more than ten miles with a child who is slightly older than me in the same village to the mountains to pick mulberry leaves and pine flowers. Make some dumplings and eat them. The soft and slightly sweet dumplings are wrapped in golden pine flowers. It is delicious in the world. Even if I don’t like sweets very much, I can’t help but eat a few more. When the wind picked up, I went to the village to find bamboo, cut it into 3 slender pieces, tied it into a "dry" shape with sewing machine thread at home, pasted it with newspaper, pulled two threads down at the two intersections of the "dry", and tied it into a shape. Triangle, the most important thing is this triangle, the angle must be just right, the kite can fly far, and I am the best at doing this. In the end, it was made into a kite with the tail on it. In my impression, it is carried out every year almost every year. On a spring day, sitting in the grass seed field and flying a kite until it became a very small point, it was a carefree good time before going to school and having no academic burden.

In summer, when the grapes, melons and fruits are gradually ripening, they will touch other people's fields and steal a few melons back. Some farmers in the rice fields and sugarcane fields will sprinkle some melon and fruit seedlings, and pick them together when the crops are harvested. Let me tell you, I saw the field where the vines are emerging, and I got into it and found it. I can't forget a green-skinned vegetable melon. It's not sweet, but it's very refreshing. When I take a sip, the water can easily be squeezed out of the melon and into my throat. It quenches my thirst immediately, and I can burp when I'm full. It was hot and we could go down the river. At that time, the river was always clear. We stood in a cement boat under the bridge. The boat was loaded with some large stones picked up from the road and smashed it on the water peanuts growing on the water. , The big fish hiding below was frightened and jumped into the boat. What a big fish, I can't hold it alone.

At that time, it was very hot, and the river was often almost dry. The little friends, each with a big bag, went into the river silt and felt the mussels happily. They would not hesitate to fish for the small ones. Treasure hunting with your feet in the mud, if you step on something that is smooth and a little flat, it is probably a mussel, and you can touch a big bag in an afternoon. Take it home, make the fat into fragrant pickles and copy the mussel meat, and basically feed the rest of the meat to the ducks raised in the house. Those ducks should not be too happy. When they see the mussel meat, they will flap their wings and fight for food, with their flat mouths from the ground. The piece of meat raised his neck and swallowed it whole, and he would stretch his neck to fight when he was in a hurry. After driving so many mussels, I have never seen any pearls, which shows how difficult it is to naturally form this thing. There were times when I was unlucky when I touched the mussels. Once my feet were cut open by the glass in the mud, and the blood was gurgling. Fortunately, I was close to my grandmother's house, so I quickly went ashore to bandage.

The farmland needs to be irrigated. There is a pumping station at the head of the village. The pumping station is about 50 meters away from the cement canal. When the pumping station is turned on, the waves are surging. That is our playground. , don't have to work hard, the back is pushed away by the water waves, and it can slide out a long way. One time I played too much, and the pants on my butt had two big holes in the cement canal. I found out when I got home, and was scolded by my mother.

There are cattle in the village, which are used to cultivate the land. Usually, each family takes turns to take care of them. The family entrusted this honorable task to me. The morning cow walks on the country road, the big copper bell-like eyes stop to nibble when the grass is fresh, and I will drive it into the canal, so that I can stand on the ground and then climb on its back and sit . The cow is very docile, you can sit and eat its grass on its own. Later, there were tractors in the village, and there were not many opportunities to use cattle. Some private people built a cattle slaughterhouse on the other side of the village river. They stunned the cattle with electric rods before slaughtering them. Cows are also human. Seeing that they are about to be killed, their big eyes will cry, which is really pitiful! This kind of situation will never be forgotten in a lifetime. I don’t know how these people did it, but then again, the beef soup in the cauldron of the slaughterhouse is so delicious, my mother will often go back to scoop a bucket and cook noodles for us, that The fresh aroma is a hundred times more delicious than the beef noodles on the market today, but unfortunately I can't eat it anymore.

The family also raises rabbits, sheep and pigs. The rabbits are kept in the rabbit cage. They usually have to pull the grass to feed and clean the rabbit cage. The feces are really smelly, but they are also very fat. There are several peach trees next to the farmhouse, and I cover them with rabbit dung. Keeping the peaches that grow are big and sweet.

The pigs slept in the pen to eat, eat and sleep, only when their father grabbed their two big ears and pulled them out to slaughter, would they scream like a heartbreaker.

The sheep had to be led outside to graze, and they had to tie a rope and find a stick to stick in the field, otherwise they would run around. I also like to tug-of-war with a sheep, find a stronger one, grab its two horns with both hands and pull it to my side, and it will instinctively retreat in the opposite direction, with great strength, and each other wins and loses, sheep are never more arrogant. Will deliberately rush towards you and make me fall on all fours. A few times, the big-bellied ewe suddenly fell out of the back of the butt, and when I saw it, my God, it was a lamb, and I didn’t know how to do it. I quickly asked my parents to come over and be a midwife. When the lambs grow up, they have some hair, and it is very fun to baa and baa when you hold them in your hands and brush their hair.

I also had a dog named Da Huang, who was very obedient and clever. Later, it accidentally ate the poisonous fried dough sticks that were thrown on the ground by the dog dealer of the medicine dog. My parents went out to find it, but when I got home, it was dead, foaming at the mouth and crying. Wang Wang, heartache! Dad found a place to bury it, and since then, the family has never kept a dog.

When the rice is ripe, I have to help my family to cut rice. At that time, there were no small jobs. It was this family that wanted to collect grain and asked a few relatives to come over and make an assault together. I'm impatient, and having me cut a line of rice in an afternoon is killing me. But I didn’t dare to disobey my parents’ orders. After all, my parents worked harder. After a piece of rice was cut, the field was much refreshed. Many big frogs had nowhere to hide, so they jumped up and down next to the rice that had just been cut and lay down. , hurry to find the net pocket and catch all the frogs. The frogs end up miserably. They are peeled and made into a dish, which is chopped and fed to the ducks, but I like to use the frog meat to fish for crayfish. There is a pond at the north corner of the village. When it is hot in summer, those lobsters will spit bubbles and float to the surface. Find a bamboo pole, peel the frog and hang it on it, and dip it into the pond. The frog meat is really fragrant. In the blink of an eye, a crayfish swims over and grabs it, and when you raise your hand, you catch it in the bucket. It's really stupid. Knowing that he is caught out of the water and does not loosen his claws, he deserves to be eaten. In fact, it is best to use snake meat for crayfish fishing. Occasionally, a water snake will run into the field and be killed by me, skin it and put it in the pond. That time, I can catch 5 or 6 lobsters, which is quite spectacular.

When I grow up, I know that frogs cannot be harmed. After all, they help us catch pests. However, in those days, the material was poor, and everyone did this, and it was understandable.

The sacrifice of the frogs was exchanged for a large bucket of crayfish, washed and braised, and it was the most suitable for Dad to drink.

      Autumn is the time to harvest. Needless to say, rice has to be harvested for another season just like summer. Sugarcane and sweet millet stems (sweet millet in Shanghai dialect) also grow to the height of one person. Rice is a large-scale seed in paddy fields, and sweet crops are generally contained in their own plots. When you want to eat sugarcane, you usually grab a few (Bah-Simen dialect), cut it off with a kitchen knife and take it home, cut it into pieces, and bite it directly without peeling it after washing. In a time when candy was hard to come by, this was the sweetest thing I've ever eaten. By the end of autumn, there are still a lot of sugarcane in the private land, what should I do if I can't eat it? Dad had already figured out a way to dig a big hole and put a felt cloth on it. The sugarcane is dug out from the ground and piled up and put into the soil pit, covered with soil, and then plucked out in the spring of the next year to continue eating. Generally, it is not bad.

I actually don’t like autumn very much. When the autumn wind comes, my lips are about to crack, and it hurts so much that I can’t help licking it with my tongue. In the end, it looks like a sausage mouth. There was no lip balm to sell at that time, and it was a pain to go on like this for an autumn.

After harvesting the crops, the haystacks protrude in the field, one to the other, sometimes I will pull out a few bundles from the middle, hollow it out, then climb in and seal the outside. Lying inside daydreaming, no one can find me. At that time, I got a football, the one with poor rubber leather, and I threw it in the field and kicked and ran. The whole field was my playground.

     Burning wildfires in autumn is also a must. Find one or two companions and bring fire tools. In the fields, where the grass is withered by the ditch, light the fire, and watch the beeping, beeping, and blazing, and you will be happy. Sometimes I bring a few raw sweet potatoes, throw them in the fire, and when the fire is finished, I can eat the fragrant roasted sweet potatoes.

     The cold wind from Siberia blows, and all things need to recuperate. The roots left by the rice in the autumn in the farmland form a thick frost, and winter comes quietly. The adults have been busy for three seasons, and it is time to take a good rest. Warm a pot of old wine, fry some stinky tofu, and chat with the wine to tell us the truth of life. The sky was getting colder, and soon the snowflakes were falling, and in just one night, thick snow had accumulated on the ground on the eaves.

Just this article to mourn my parents July 2020

我出生在浙江钱塘江边上一个小镇，已忆不起太小时候的事了。这是一个大家族，爸爸有三兄弟三姐妹，妈妈有三兄弟一姐妹，祖辈们充分响应了毛泽东时代人多力量大的号召。现在脑海里没有对爷爷的一丁点印象，也许是当时太小了，听大人说，很小时候爷爷为了帮我从高处拿东西从梯子上摔下来，不久就离世，每当想起这我就很内疚。当时太穷，住的茅草房也不可能留下爷爷什么照片，总归是这生的遗憾。家族人多，爷爷奶奶辈很难像现在这样照顾到我们小辈。我妈说年轻时很怕我奶奶，比较典型的婆媳关系。

长水漕村在镇子的最南面，一条断头河从村西南角直通到西北然后和另外一条东西向跨村河交汇，据说这河可以一直通到钱塘江里。因为叫水漕村，可想而知这个河有多么小。村东面是一条石子路，叫振兴路，几十年到现在也没改名字。南面都是田，很大一片，大概要走2里地就是另外一条稍大的河，过了这个桥就到外婆家的村子了。八几年刚改革开放，我们的父辈生活还比较苦，不过已经从茅草房搬出来了，有了自己的瓦片房。爸爸在棉花厂抗200斤的棉花包，妈妈在一个“很凶”的师傅厂里打工，都很辛苦，我老是要粘着妈妈，跟在她做工的厂里，那个“很凶”的师傅就会给我脸色看。没到学龄的我没条件上幼儿园，我妈怕我跑出去出事，无奈就把我反锁在这瓦片房里。什么玩的都没有，我能怎么办呢？瓦片房的进门左手是灶台，灶台上有窗，虽然给木栅栏给拦起来了，不过还是能看到窗外。我就爬上了灶台，坐在自家锅里，呆呆的看着窗外。现在很好奇为什么这锅居然没给我坐坏,偶尔有村里人路过和我说说话,也是莫大的安慰。

      大概7，8岁起家里就放我出去野，我从此人生似开了挂。

春天，春蚕吐丝油菜花开，走十几里地跟着同村比我稍大的孩子去山里采桑叶，采松花，桑叶喂自己养的几百条蚕幼虫，松花弄来交给妈妈给做些团子蘸来吃，儒软微甜的汤团裹上金黄色的松花，送到嘴里就是人间美味，连我不怎么喜欢吃甜食的也忍不住多吃几个。起风了，就去村头找竹子，削成细长3根，用家里缝纫机线绑成“干“字形，糊上报纸，在”干“的两个交叉点引两根线下来，绑成三角形，最有讲究的就是这个三角形，一定要角度，长度刚刚好，这风筝才能飞的远，而我是最擅长做这个。最后沾上尾巴就做成风筝了，印象中几乎年年做年年放。春日，坐在草籽田里放风筝，直到它变成很小一个点，那时还没上学没有学业负担真无忧无虑好时光。

夏天，葡萄，瓜果渐渐成熟，会摸到别人家田里偷几个瓜回来，稻田甘蔗田有些农户会撒些瓜果秧苗，等农作物丰收了一起采下来。告诉你，看准了有藤苗冒出的田地，钻进去找准没错。最忘不了一种绿皮菜瓜，不甜，但是很爽口，一口下去那水就很容易从瓜肉里挤出来进到喉咙，立马就解了渴，吃饱还能打个嗝儿。天热还能下河，那时候的河总是清的，我们立在桥下水泥船里，船里装了些从马路上拾来的大石块，往水面上长着的水花生上面砸，躲在下面的大鱼受惊，尽然蹦到船里来了，好大鱼啊，我一个人都抱不过来。

那时天真热，河水往往有几近干涸的时候，小伙伴们一人一个大麻袋，进到河水淤泥里，愉快的摸起来河蚌，小的都不惜捞，大的有肉的才行，用脚踩在泥里的寻宝，如果踩到一个光溜溜有点扁的东西，多半就是河蚌了，一个下午就能摸一大麻袋。拿回家，肥的做成香喷喷的咸菜抄蚌肉，其余基本都取肉喂给自家养的鸭子，那些鸭子不要太开心，见有蚌肉吃都扑扇着翅膀过来争食，扁嘴巴从地上夹块肉昂起脖子囫囵吞，弄急了还会伸长脖颈打架，鸡就文明的多，挑一块闪到一边慢条斯理的啄。开了这么多河蚌从来也没见到过有什么珍珠，可见这玩意要天然形成有多难。摸河蚌也有倒霉的时候，有次就被淤泥里的玻璃划开了脚，血汩汩流，还好那次离外婆家近，赶紧上岸去包扎。

农田需要灌溉，村头有个泵水站，泵水站出来大概50米左右的水泥渠，泵站开启时浪花翻涌，那是我们游乐天地啊，就穿的短裤立在水流最大的地方趟倒，不用费劲，后背被水浪推着走了，能滑出好远。有次玩的太嗨，屁股上的裤子给水泥渠磨了两个大洞，到家才发现，被妈妈一顿臭骂。

村里有牛，用来耕地，平时每户人家要轮流照看，家里就把这个光荣任务交给了我。牵牛走在乡间道路上，铜铃般的大眼看到哪里草新鲜就停下来啃啃，我还会把它赶到水渠里去，这样我就可以站在地上再爬到它背上坐着。牛是很温顺的，任你坐，自顾自的吃它的草。后来村里有了拖拉机，用牛的机会不多了，还有私人在村河对岸建起宰牛场，他们用电棒击昏牛再宰杀。牛也是通人性的，见到自己要被杀掉，大眼睛就会流泪，真正可怜！这种情形一辈子也忘不了，不知道这些人怎么下的去手，不过话说回来，宰牛厂大锅里的牛肉汤真好喝，妈妈会经常去舀一桶回来给我们煮面吃，那个鲜香味比现在市面上的牛肉面美味百倍，可惜再也吃不到。

家里还养兔子，羊，猪。兔子给关在兔笼里，平时要去拔草喂，还要清理兔笼，粪便真的很臭，不过确实也很肥，农舍旁有几颗桃树，我都用兔粪盖在上面，保管长出的桃子又大又甜。

猪在圈是睡了吃，吃了睡那种，只有到被爸爸揪住两只大耳朵拉出去宰杀时才会撕心裂肺般的叫。

羊必须牵到外面吃草，还得系根绳子找个小棍插到田里，要不然会乱跑。我还喜欢和羊拔河，找头壮实点的，双手抓住它两个角往自己这边拉，它就本能的往反方向退，力气好大，互有胜负，羊比较耿从来也不会故意朝你这边冲，让我摔个四脚朝天。有几次大肚子的母羊突然从屁股后面掉出来团东西，我一看，天哪，是小羊，不会搞，赶紧找爸妈过来当接生婆。小羊们等长大些有些毛，抱在手里撸一撸毛它就咩咩叫很好玩。

还养过一只狗，叫大黄，很听话聪明，后来不小心吃了被药狗的狗贩子丢在地上有毒的油条，爸妈出去找回来,到家已经不行了，口吐白沫，泪汪汪，心痛！爸爸找了个地方埋了，从此后，家里再也不养狗。

水稻熟了要帮家里割稻，那时也没小工，都是这家要收粮找几个亲戚过来一起搞突击，收完这家换那家。我没耐心，让我一个下午割一行稻真是要了我的命。但我也不敢违父母命，毕竟爸妈更辛苦，一片稻割完，田里就清爽很多，不少大青蛙没地方躲了，就在刚被割下躺倒的稻子旁蹦来蹦去，赶紧去找网兜，把青蛙都逮起来。青蛙们下场都很惨，剥皮做成一道菜，切碎喂给鸭子吃，不过我最喜欢用蛙肉去钓小龙虾。村北角有一个池塘，一到夏季闷热，那些个龙虾就嘴里吐泡，浮到水面来。找个竹竿，把青蛙去皮吊在上面，浸到池塘里，蛙肉是真香啊，一眨眼功夫，就有小龙虾游过来就夹住，一扬手就钓到桶里，它真蠢，明知被钓离水面也不松爪子，活该被吃。其实钓小龙虾用蛇肉最好，偶尔有水蛇跑到田里被我打死，剥皮放到池塘里，那一次能钓起5，6 个龙虾来，挺壮观。

长大了知道不能残害青蛙，毕竟它是帮我们捕害虫的。不过那个年代，物质贫乏，大家都这么做，也情有可原。

青蛙们的牺牲换来了一大桶小龙虾，洗净红烧，给爸爸过酒是最合适不过的。

      秋天是收获的时间，稻子自不必多说，和夏天一样还得收一季，甘蔗，甜粟梗（上海话甜芦粟）也长成一人多高。稻子是水田里大片的种，甜作物一般载在自家自留地里。甘蔗都是平时想吃了就去捉（拔-泗门土话）几根，拿切菜刀齐根砍断抱回家，切成段，洗洗不去皮直接开咬，甘蔗水甜到心里，在糖果难买的年代，这是我吃过最甜的东西。到秋末，自留地甘蔗还有很多，吃不掉怎么办？爸爸早想好办法了，挖了一个大坑，垫上毡布。甘蔗从地里连根挖出来摞好放入土坑，盖上土，来年开春刨出来继续吃，一般都不坏。

我其实不太喜欢秋天，秋风起，我的嘴唇就要开裂，火辣辣的疼，干了忍不住用舌头舔，最后像香肠嘴，找了家里的猪油涂，也不管用。那时没有润唇膏卖，这种情况要持续一个秋天，着实痛苦。

收完作物草垛突起在田里，东一个西一个，有时我就会从中间拔掉几捆，把它掏空，然后爬进去，外面在封起来。躺在里面做白日梦，谁也找不到我。那时得了一个足球，橡胶皮质比较差的那种，我就扔在田里到处踢着跑啊，整个田地都是我的运动场。

     秋天烧野火也是必须的活动，找一两个同伴，带上火具，田野里，沟渠旁哪里草枯干的地方，点上火，看着噼噼叭叭烧起来，就开心起来。有时还带几个生红薯，丢在火堆里，等火烧完，就能吃喷喷香的烤地瓜。

     西伯利亚来的寒风吹起，万物要修养生息，农田里秋天稻子留下的根结起了厚厚的霜，冬天悄然而至。大人们忙碌了三季，该好好歇歇。温一壶老酒，炸些臭豆腐，佐酒谈天给我们讲人生道理。天愈发冷，不久纷纷扬扬的雪花飘下来，只消一个晚上，在屋檐上，地上积起厚厚的雪。

仅以此文悼念爸爸妈妈 2020年7月