I went back to my hometown during the Qingming Festival, and saw the gloomy streets, narrow cement roads, congested vehicles, empty alleys, dry and shallow rivers, old and shabby old bridges...
Standing on the bridge of Xiaogang, pressing the bridge pole with both hands, the April breeze blows on the fingertips, stirring the time. Looking down, looking out from a distance, they are all flowing years, a river that has been transformed by time.
The river divides and closes, forming a boat around Chishui Old Street, a boat traveling upstream. The bow of the ship is the General Temple, and the stern is the town government. A treasure land of Feng Shui, a rising tide lifts all boats.
Looking back at the time, the old people will always shed turbid tears and recount that period of history movingly: In the fourth year of Xianfeng, floods hit Guangchang County...only Baishui (Chishui Town was once called Baishui) was safe and sound. It also comes with a touching story of "selling side dishes". The older generation who have read books have ink in their chests. They always have endless topics to talk about, including their hometown and Chishui. On summer nights in their childhood, children always loved to sit on the stone bench at the foot of the wall and listen to the old people talking about ancient times, gods, ghosts and people. It's a pity that most of these old people who love to tell stories have passed away now.
The years are long and indifferent to human affairs. Only the memory still flows gurgling in the narrow and shallow river beach.
The river in my hometown beats the waves of happiness
The water comes from the source, reaches the bow of the ship, and is divided into two rivers, one is called "Little Harbor" and the other is called "Dagang". In the past, Dagang was so full of water that it reached the pier paved with hemp strips. Women liked to be naked. They squatted together on the hemp stones or sat on the laundry bench to wash clothes and chat about their families. Xiaogang has a beach with a central water flow. In the era when there was no running water or even pressurized water wells, people dug manholes on the beach with iron spoons and carried water with buckets. The beach left our footprints, and the river washed them away. These two rivers were also important waterways at that time. People used small harbor water transportation to transport wood for building houses. When I was a child, I often saw a raft on the water with one person and two cormorants on it. The pair of cormorants were particularly beautiful and good at pecking fish.
The beaches of Dagang and Xiaogang have witnessed our childhood, as well as people's labor and joy. On summer mornings, my sister and I carried benches and washboards, carried the family's clothes, and stepped on thick and fine gravel. The girls sat down in a row, half in the water and half on the sand, and started washing. Brush or even hit with a wooden hammer. I still can’t understand why my clothes were so dirty before. As you wash, the stool or the stone on which the washboard is built will sink, and the river water will slowly rise. Therefore, the bench and washboard will continue to move up.
We always talked and laughed while soaking in the water. The laughter lit up the waves and attracted swarms of small fish. The fish’s small mouths sucked our feet soaked in the water, making them tickle and rush. If you don't walk, you can only keep kicking and hitting the waves.
At noon, girls always like to take advantage of the adults' lunch break and pretend to wash them with a pair of sandals or a handkerchief. In fact, they secretly run to the river to turn over rocks, touch sand and catch fish. The boys would put the rice with oil in a basin, cover it with a piece of gauze, cut a small slit in the gauze, put it in the water to soak the fish, and wait for the shy boys to get into the dish, then quickly lift it up to drain the water. We touch the sandfish just for fun, and they do it for a delicious meal. No matter what, this river is our paradise, it soaks our childhood.
The beach is most lively in the evening. The river was full of adults and children bathing and playing in the water. Courageous boys, and some women, would run up to the bridge pier, jump into the water with a splash, and make a huge splash, which would also evoke bursts of screams. Of course, there were also shouts and scoldings from adults, and many naked little boys jumped from the piers into the water. The river beach is full of adults and children, those collecting sheets, digging manholes, carrying water, carrying dung buckets to water vegetables, and taking care of children taking baths...
In the small harbor in summer, even the river beach is exposed to happiness.
There was a yellow dog that followed its owner into the river to bathe, and always liked to ride the waves across to the beach on the other side. There were lots of footprints on the beach and it was very lively. The swaying buckets and heavy poles not only staggered the steps, but also bent the newly growing spine. Therefore, most underage girls bathed in the river because they could avoid the hardship of carrying several loads of water.
Dagang and Xiaogang are not quiet even at night. There are also men who come back late after finishing their work. They dive into the water with their shirtless arms and make splashing sounds. Adult girls also occasionally invite a few companions to hide and play in the small harbor at night. This place is more remote, unlike Dagang, where pedestrians sit on the bridge piers to enjoy the cool air. Through the night and lights, the scenery in the river can be seen unobstructed.
During the Chinese New Year, the river beach is the busiest. The adults were frying peanuts, making candied beans, pressing fried rice, grinding frozen rice cakes, etc. at home, while the children went barefoot and took all the movable things in the house to the river to wash. Throw the unwashed items on the beach, grab a handful of straw, dip it in washing powder, rub it vigorously with the sand to remove all the stains, put it in the water, wash it clean, and place it neatly on the beach. If it's a sunny day, the pot lids, tables and stools will be shining white, making people just want to grin when they look at them. There were two such large-scale cleanings at the end of the year. One is the Yangqin Day before the 15th day of the twelfth lunar month, and the other is the New Year's Eve. In short, on the day before the New Year, you have to wash everything again, wash it thoroughly, and welcome the new year. When the doors and windows of the house are cleaned, the children wash their hair and bathe, and put on clean clothes, then the year will be clean, practical and complete. Looking at the white and shiny pots, pans, spoons and spoons, sitting around the table, the New Year's Eve dinner was particularly delicious.
The beach and waves make memories full of smiles. I followed my mother across the river to collect the sheets on the beach opposite. The beach was covered with all kinds of neat sheets. Standing between heaven and earth, I felt that the whole world was a colorful and fragrant dream. The fragrance comes from white clouds, from the sun, from washing powder, from colorful reverie. That scene, that grand occasion, will never be forgotten. I found my own quilt, and my mother and I each held the two corners of the quilt, shook it up and down at the same time, then merged the four corners and folded them in half until they were only a small piece. Then I held the fragrant quilt close to my nose and smelled it, carried the bucket with my mother, waded across the river, stepped on the waves, and my heart was filled with achievements and happiness.
On the night of staying up late, lying on a quilt that exudes the fragrance of washing powder mixed with the smell of the sun, resting on your parents’ New Year’s money and receiving blessings, all the beautiful longings for the New Year will fall into your dreams.
On the old street on the market day, the crowd squeezed the schoolbags
Thinking about it now, I feel very shocked. How could there be so many people on the street in Chishui at that time? Why was it so lively and prosperous? I always feel that the scenes depicted in Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" are far less prosperous than the prosperity of Chishui when I was a child. As long as it's a market day, school is over at noon and school is in the afternoon, you have to squeeze in the crowd and you can't find any gaps. It's like a war. When you get out of the crowd, your hair will be disheveled, and if you don't hold on to your schoolbag tightly, the strap of your schoolbag will be squeezed and broken. Yes, from all directions, business people and non-business people, men and women, old and young, all came to the market. On every market day for five days, we always stock up on eggs, fruits and vegetables and go to the street to exchange for daily necessities such as oil, salt, matches, or "luxury goods" such as cloth, shoes and socks. In addition to the households in the villages of the town, the surrounding counties and towns such as Shicheng, Ningdu, Yiqian, Tangfang, Dazhu, and Xin'an, including small vendors in the county, came to set up stalls for the market. There were so many people at that time, especially between twelve and one o'clock at noon, all the people gathered on the street, those who bought quickly bought, those who sold quickly sold, so as to rush home. For a while, you squeezed me, and I squeezed you.
There are two rows of stalls facing each other on the main street, and there is a row of stalls in front of each stall, with various kinds of radish and baskets. The ground is so crowded that only the entrances of other shops leave gaps. The squirming flow of people mixed with the noisy sounds of buying and selling, bargaining, shouting, and even swearing in the street market.
The shops were crowded with people, and the business was overwhelming. Especially in snack bars, you can exchange money for cigarettes, and then exchange the cigarettes for gouache or fried dough sticks. What a pleasure and satisfaction it is. Most of the luxurious mainland noodles are only eaten by men. Some men who like to drink a little wine sit on the small square table in the pig house, warm a bowl of wine, order a portion of peanuts, and drink while chatting, with their faces all red. Most people who open shops, set up stalls, do business or do crafts have no time for lunch. He had to wait until all the people going to the market had dispersed before he could grab a few bites of food to satisfy his hunger.
At that time, families with storefronts were the most popular. Sitting in the store and watching the crowded flow of people, especially the staff of the supply and marketing cooperative, I don’t know how aloof they are. They always look at the customers entering the store arrogantly and never take the initiative to ask: "What are you buying?" Instead, they lazily pick up the food. Products, put on the counter. It is inevitable to have a few quarrels with customers, it seems that this way you can show your identity. The store has a wide range of products, including cosmetics, cloth, shoes, socks, clothing, etc. There are many counters. The supply and marketing cooperative's store almost occupies half of the street. Opposite is a shop that fixes scales, repairs watches, sells snacks, sells fried dough sticks and gouache, and several southern goods shops are connected together. The shop is next to the shop. The boss is standing inside the counter, and there is a bench outside. There are all people walking around and leaning against the counter, leaving no gaps.
The second level is the stall setters. They get up early in the morning to set up the stall and stand in a good position. During the New Year, they have to set up the stall frame the night before, which is two benches and a door panel. There are also those who set up stalls in front of their homes and rent them to others to sell things. Also set up your stall early. The saddest thing is to sell it temporarily on the ground. When you arrive late, there is no place to put it. Even a basket can't be accommodated. If you lean against the front side of other people's stalls, you can't block people's sight and space. You should also leave some space at the entrance of the store. For others, it is really difficult to find a place, but in the end they always find a way to squeeze in their own products.
The most prosperous and grand season is the season for selling kudzu. People in Shicheng have the largest yield of kudzu, the thinnest skin, and the sweetest taste. They always go to the streets the night before the market day, what a guy! An aisle in the middle of the street is filled with kudzu, piled high by each family, and the street forms a long chain of rolling white hills, from the entrance of my alley to the end of the street bridge. They slept in front of the kudzu at night and kept watch until they went to market the next day to sell them. By afternoon, the streets were empty except for trash. The sales volume and business are so good that I marvel at the spending power of old Chishui people.
The buildings on Hengjie are the most distinctive. Just one Zhang family ancestral hall is home to more than a dozen families. Nowadays, the high gates and deep halls with broken fences, crumbling walls, and grass growing on the lintels were once so beautiful! The Zhang family, the Luo family, the Li family...every family is well off. The ironwork club used to be located in Hengjie. In the winter, most people made popcorn in Hengjie. People shaved their heads, trimmed their noses and picked out their ears in Hengjie. Hengjie was an old craft street. Chishui was once famous in Guangchang for its watch repairing, dental implants, haircuts and nailing scales. The houses on the side streets all have long wooden doors, with multiple connected doors and locks on the outside. There are long door bars inside, which are used to bolt the doors to block thieves at night. Entering through each door, you will see a huge family inside, a deep and long house, in which many families with the same surname live. There is an upper hall and a lower hall, and there is a patio between the upper and lower halls. The front door is on the side street, and the back door faces the small harbor. There are pig pens beside the door. There is a window sill on both sides of the front door, with two trap doors that can be opened and removed for displaying merchandise. There are no stalls on the side streets, only baskets, earthen baskets, etc. are placed on both sides of the street. It is still lively and crowded, with people squeezing each other and clothes rubbing against their clothes. In the era of walking on two feet, even if there was no transportation on the street, it was still crowded. The fried dough sticks at Hengjie are very big, the gouache is very slippery, the glutinous rice cakes are very greasy, the spoon cakes are very thin and fragrant, the noodles are very tough, and the cloth insoles are very thick and strong. There are also fortune tellers and calligraphers in Hengjie. Of course, Chishui is a region with profound cultural heritage. There are two calligraphy stalls during the New Year alone: Zeng's calligraphy on the street is the most famous, followed by Luo's calligraphy on Hengjie. Calligraphy enthusiasts from other towns and villages often come here to ask for calligraphy. There are also many family calligraphers like my father who write New Year couplets, wedding couplets and birthday couplets for themselves and their relatives.
The cross street is very long, leading to the primary and secondary schools, connecting Baichi Bridge to the east and Yaojiafang Bridge to the west.
The Grain Management Office on Hengjie is a pain in the memory. The difficulty of queuing up to buy rice with food stamps, the horror of climbing up to the granary to push rice, the disappointment of not being able to buy rice after queuing for a long time, and the pain and suffocation of grinning under the weight of two baskets of rice that exceed your body weight. gasping. The most painful memory is that the rice is crawling with small white bugs, and there are even rice bugs lying in the rice bowl at every meal that cannot be washed away no matter how hard I wash them. My father always comforted us: "Rice worms digest food and are nutritious." Of course, we also have endless happy experiences with rice, that is, going to the grain management station in Yanfang to pack chaff and watching the grains quickly flow into the funnels and pipes. Immediately separated into rice and shells, I thought it was a miracle! We often ran to the barn to push the grain into the funnel with a wooden rake. In my memory, the barn was tilted, which was very slippery and exciting. Picking chaff is also an easy and happy thing, because chaff has no weight, but the journey is a bit long, but compared to going to Shangping to chop firewood, it is simply a magical job.
The most crowded places on market days are the bridge ends of the streets and the alleys of the cinema. I don’t dare to squeeze in those two places. Except in the afternoon, people were satisfied and went home with their burdens on their backs.
Take back the memory and let the prosperity go away.
After the Qingming Festival, the streets and alleys are silent and the villages are silent.
I look forward to returning to my hometown and encountering prosperity.
