Father's taste

Text/kevin huang

Go back to my hometown for a short stay during the Spring Festival and chat with relatives and friends in my parents' room. The second brother suddenly said, "Brother, look at our parents. Although they are over eighty years old, there is no smell of old people in the house or on their bodies. " I paused and thought about it carefully. That's true. My father is hard of hearing in recent years. I talked to him almost face to face, but I couldn't feel the heavy breath and smell of some old people at all. Their room is refreshing all year round. Recalling the dribs and drabs of his life with his father, I suddenly realized that this refreshing taste is not the taste of his father. It tastes like the spring of childhood, the newly broken branches and leaves on the old locust tree in front of the door. Fresh and natural. Although light as water, it is full of fragrance and permeates people's hearts.

Father is a clean man. No matter how tired you are when you come back from working in the fields or mountains, you should always wash your face and feet before going to bed. Sometimes, we will be dragged up by him one by one and scrubbed with his rough hands. Every year, the first day of the first month is the day when more than a dozen people in the whole family get together. Father always stews ribs and chicken pieces in advance, and the soup is pure as water. With a handful of coriander, it tastes clean and full of fragrance. According to his mother, he would walk the meat in boiling water three or five times to remove blood stains and dirt until there was no floating foam, then add water and spices and cook it on the fire. My mother is a careless person, and everything she used is randomly placed. My father always keeps the house clean and spotless in his spare time. One year, after my father was seriously ill, the doctor asked me to stay at home in the county for observation for a period of time. During that time, he insisted on going to the public toilets outside the community. My wife and I refused to listen to him because he recovered from a serious illness and could not walk too much. Later, he said to me, "Your home is so small, it is convenient at home and you are afraid of leaving a bad smell." My wife has always kept this in mind. She often says that it is our blessing to meet such a kind, considerate and self-disciplined old man.

Father's heart is pure as water, and there is no room for any pollution. I remember that when he was in his fifties, he often went to the river to dig sand. The dug sand is piled up in the river and then sold at a price of more than RMB 0/0 per vehicle. One day, after he went to work in the afternoon, he found that the sand pile seemed to be getting smaller. After lunch at noon the next day, he didn't take a lunch break as usual, but went directly to the river. He saw someone loading sand with a tractor in the distance. My father was a close relative of ours when he came to see us. His face was flushed and he argued that he was in a hurry to use sand to install it first. In fact, this relative is only a few tens of meters away from our home. Seeing that the situation was not good, the father ordered his relatives to unload the sand loaded with half a car. My relatives said they would give me money, but I won't sell it to you no matter what my father said. Later, this relative was completely broken because of this incident. I once blamed my father. Why should I care so much about a load of sand? However, I know that his heart is transparent and straightforward. He hasn't read a book and doesn't know what the golden mean is. He believes that wrong things cannot be condoned and tolerated. In the 1990s, my father used to manage materials in a township repair shop. In the original factory, management is lax. The worker took a steel plate today and a bundle of wire tomorrow, and the director was miserable. After he took office, he was serious and responsible, acted in strict accordance with the regulations, dared to be serious and dared to face difficulties. His view of things is wrong, even the factory director can't violate the regulations. He was given a box of cigarettes and a bottle of wine, but he resolutely refused. He thought that even smoking a box of cigarettes would disturb his mood, and if he was upset, he would lose his concentration and his work and life would no longer be peaceful.

Father loves money, but he is aboveboard. When I was a child, it was difficult at home, and the furnishings at home were very simple. My father wanted to get some wood to make some furniture, so he used his time on duty in the lime kiln at night to dig the roots left by the production team in the depths of the mountains a few miles away. It takes several nights to dig a tree root, and it takes a pit 1.5 to 2 meters square to take out the whole tree root. After hanging for a few days, he called on his friend Uncle Panorama to carry him back together. Qibali Mountain Road is full of potholes. When I was a child, I shone with a flashlight and saw some trees that had been dead for many years by the roadside. I asked my father, "These trees are no longer in the team. Can't we cut down some trees? " How hard it is to dig roots. "The father said," the things in the team, even if they are not used, are in the team and cannot be used. It must be remembered that we can't ask others for anything, and we can't give our own things to others casually. "I remember when I was in the first and second grade, it rained continuously in the dog days, and the outer walls of our house collapsed. It cost a lot of money to repair the roof of the outer wall, and my father borrowed dozens of yuan in foreign debt. After the production team paid dividends at the end of the year, my father insisted on paying off all dozens of dollars, and my mother wanted to pay back half of them first and save some money for the New Year. They had a big fight about it and paid off all their debts for the last time. During the Spring Festival that year, no one in my family bought new clothes, but my father left a deep impression on me. My father worked in a lime factory all the year round, and he was famous for working overtime, but he was also famous for scrimping and saving. He is selfless and open-minded, and feels that his hard-earned money is spent with peace of mind.

My father's life is quiet as water, and he does not seek wealth. In the early years, my third brother and I both passed the school, arranged jobs and became public officials. Our position is often promoted, and the villagers cast envious eyes. Father is as low-key and cautious as ever. He often tells us that it is best to do things with peace of mind and peace of mind, and never wants us to be big officials and earn much money. Sometimes when I give him some good cigarettes, he always goes to the agency quietly and changes them into ordinary cigarettes, and never shows them off in front of people. For a time, I worked in a town not far from my hometown. One day, several village cadres and government colleagues chatted in my office. They said that there will be a temple fair in my hometown tomorrow and I want to have a drink. I think it's not far from three townships and five miles anyway, so let's treat everyone as guests. On the day of the meeting, many people came and brought a lot of alcohol, tobacco and drinks. In the evening, my father said to me seriously, "We are not allowed to go home for entertainment in the future. It's not good for you to make such a fuss. Besides, these cigarettes, alcohol and drinks are worthless, and others will become red-eyed after reading them for a while. We must remember that we cannot do things that make others jealous. "

My father is 82 years old. It has been more than 20 years since he was 60 years old. We three brothers take our relatives and children home every year, have a simple meal at home, have never been to a restaurant, have never invited outsiders, and have never received a penny as a gift. This is the principle and bottom line that my father set for us, and we have always adhered to it. Eighty years old, according to the custom of the village, a grand birthday party will be held. I know his temper and dare not speak frankly. Many friends tried to persuade him and make him angry, so we had to give up.

"Ask where the canal is so clear, because there is flowing water from the source". Father's fresh and natural taste stems from his usual good hygiene habits, but also from the externalization of his inner world. His heart is a pure spring, nourishing the nobility of bamboo and the looseness of character. He is like a drop of water in the sea and a grain of rice in the granary. He is ordinary, but he is a thoughtful man. His thoughts are short-lived in his parents and his daily life. He never wanted to do anything for society, but he really influenced our children and everyone in the whole family. Let's try to be a fresh and natural person and a person who is beneficial to society. Lin Qingxuan once said, "It is not the monopoly of politicians to work for the well-being of people and society. Everyone is in his position, and the best way is to work hard with his own self-help. " . I think my father is such a person. In the street talk, we often hear people talk about "human touch", "nobody's taste", "scholarly" and "copper stink". Everyone will leave their own unique "taste" in the world. I hope to add a fragrance to the society with my own taste.

Brief introduction of the author

Kevin huang, a native of Wu 'an, Hebei Province, is an academician of Shen Zhi. I have worked in townships and municipal units for many years, and now I work in the East Taihang Management Committee.