My hometown's annual prose

Anyone who comes out of the countryside always feels that returning to his hometown for the New Year is a pilgrimage mission. Wherever he is, he always remembers the warm smell of that year in his childhood village.

My hometown is under the dam of Sanlizhuang Reservoir in Zhucheng City, not far from the hills of Shandong Province. In the south of the village, the mother of my hometown, Henan River, flows day and night. Although she has lost the wealth of being able to carry a boat in flood season and the splendor of grassland in drought, she is still a holy land in the eyes of every hometown wanderer.

It was here more than 30 years ago that my sister with ponytail and runny nose broke my finger while skating on the ice. There are still a few days to celebrate the New Year. When counting fingers stretch less and less, when grandma's old voice begins to set the rules for us to pay New Year greetings, we children clearly know that this year is finally coming. So my sister and I changed from initial excitement to piety.

Whenever the year is approaching, the scenes in my mind, like electric lights and stone fires, are always unbearable, nested in the homesickness that fills my heart. What haunts my eyes is always the joy of setting off firecrackers with my elders 30 years ago. Firecrackers burst outside, and the room was warm and harmonious.

Strictly speaking, the year of hometown is slowly brewing from the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month. I don't know whose naughty children are playing in the alley, throwing firecrackers in twos and threes, and the banging sound plays the prelude to the New Year in the village: the chimneys of every household smoke all day; In the spontaneous market, people are getting thicker and thicker, and the bargaining for buying new year's goods is one after another; At home in the village, people began to take time to clean; The village Committee began to call on everyone to clean the streets voluntarily. The once cramped street gradually widened under the cleaning of villagers. When colorful flags are planted on the gate of the village committee, it shows that the village has made all arrangements for welcoming the New Year.

In my hometown, such a tense and cheerful atmosphere of preparing for the New Year will last until the 30th. On the afternoon of 30th every year, adults and children should finish bathing and prepare for ancestor worship ceremony. When offering sacrifices to ancestors, there are various scents floating in the streets and lanes, and long firecrackers are one after another, announcing the arrival of the New Year. In Zhucheng, Weifang, people attach great importance to ancestor worship, which is a memorial to ancestors and the ownership of roots. Because we know that no matter where we are, our hometown will always be our root, because under this hot land, our ancestors have been buried for generations.

On New Year's Eve, the villagers cooked the most expensive food in a year, and the family sat around the table, and then talked about the harvest of the year. We listened to our father's teachings and mother's nagging, and felt the affection of our family. After dinner, women usually watch men do housework while chatting happily. In this warm atmosphere, the New Year bell rings on time.

Early in the morning, before dawn, my parents packed up and took their children like Hua to pay a New Year call. Every household, adults sit cross-legged on the kang and wish each other well, while children are very active. After collecting the lucky money, they began to chase happily in the yard. At this time, simple meals in the countryside are the most basic way to entertain guests. The hot air curled up and chatted in the faint fragrance of tea. Tea is strong and weak.

In our hometown, there are often intertwined relatives in Shiliba Village. Thanks to this seemingly complicated relationship, compared with the city, it effectively extended the villagers' festive time. Usually, when all relatives are gone, this strong flavor of the year lasts until after the Lantern Festival.

I have traveled for many years to make a living. In order to travel, I traveled all over the country, and for business, I crossed foreign lands. I have seen the gorgeous neon lights flashing in the bustling city, and I also appreciate the extraordinary beauty of nature and the beautiful scenery of Zhong Ling ... But for a middle-aged person, the scenery in other places is not as beautiful as every corner of my hometown that is full of years.

The red couplets in the old house in my hometown and the powerful blessings on the ancient well have become a cinnabar in the hearts of wanderers, making every corner of my hometown the most beautiful miss.

(Photography Cao Xinqing)

About the author: Dongmen Xuefeng, born in Zhucheng, Weifang after 1980s, now works in Dongying Technician College, engaged in the teaching of college entrance examination in spring.