Prose beyond the mountain

I have been living in a small county surrounded by mountains since I moved to Jilin in 2005. Every day, as long as you look up, you will see towering mountains. The scenery on the mountain is beautiful all year round, and there are countless wild vegetables and fruits on the mountain. Stand in the empty mountain and shout loudly, and you will immediately hear the enduring echo. Although the scenery in the mountains is beautiful and life is good, I still miss the other side of the mountain, because it is my hometown and all my relatives are there.

I remember a famous sentence in Wang Wei's poem "Mountain Holidays Miss Shandong Brothers": "Being in a foreign land, I miss my relatives twice every festive season." I am familiar with this poem now. Every holiday, I feel sad and want to cry when I see someone carrying something and holding their children to visit relatives in the street. Living in a strange city and wandering among strange people, this feeling of loneliness can only be truly realized after personal experience. But in order to create better living conditions, I can only endure this loneliness without friends alone.

Whenever I am in the dead of night or alone, I often think of those unforgettable things when I was a child.

I 197 1 was born in a poor peasant family in the northeast in December, with two sisters and two brothers. Because of poverty, it snows heavily in winter, there is no firewood, the house is very cold, and I always cry day and night when I was born. My mother told me that my eldest brother, who was six years older than me after I was born, said to my mother, "It's another little girl movie. I cry in the dark during the day and then throw it out of the window. " My mother scolded my eldest brother, then unbuttoned two cotton-padded jackets, held me tightly in her arms and stuck me on her stomach to keep warm.

My parents work in the production team every day and don't want to rest for a day. But there are many people in my family who eat and few people who work, so there is still no money left all year round, and life is still very difficult.

Hard-working mother, taking advantage of the farmland and woodland behind my house, hatches a nest of chickens every year. Every morning, the mother who gets up early will go to the back of the house, open half a blank on the wall and block the ditch. Then the old hen will lead a group of chickens out along the ditch, catch grasshoppers and insects in the Woods and bring them back when she is full. As the young birds grow up day by day, they start to run away day by day. In autumn, the crops in the field are all ripe, and chickens will go into the field to eat the new crops. Of course, they will pay the price. Occasionally, a chick will lose one or be broken by throwing a stick and then fly back. My mother saw it and asked me to grab the injured chicken and take it away. At the same time, I found two short sticks and ropes. Mother clamped the chicken's injured leg with two thin sticks, then tied it tightly with a rope and fed it some old cucumber seeds. After a few days, the chicken's paws can walk on the ground, and then the wooden clip tied to the leg can be taken off. In a few days, the chicken will fly away as usual.

Just after the next spring, the hens began to lay eggs. In addition to making an egg sauce for the family occasionally, my mother saves all the remaining eggs, takes them to the supply and marketing cooperative for sale during lunch break, and buys back some necessities such as oil, salt, sauce and vinegar. Because my mother lived frugally, she was poor but happy at that time.

In my deep memory, the most unforgettable thing is throwing my newborn out of the window. When I was five or six years old, every spring, there was a strong wind in the north. Sometimes it was dark and the swaying branches flew about. Big brother has a holiday on weekends. In the early morning, he will run to the grass behind the village with his father's bird rack made of no.8 wire, and then run to the Woods to scare birds after the clip comes down.

Hardly had my mother finished breakfast and put it on the table when my eldest brother came back from the gate. As soon as he entered the room, he put his hand in his pocket and asked me with a smile, "Sister, guess what's in my pocket?" When I was young, I only knew how to eat, but I guess it was sugar and biscuits. Big brother shook his head and smiled: "None of them are right." "Then would you like me to put my hand into your pocket and feel it?" I started cheating. Eldest brother saw that I really couldn't guess, so he showed a crack in his pocket. I reached out my little hand and touched a furry thing. I was so scared that I quickly pulled my hand back and screamed and asked Big Brother what it was. The room is full of laughing people. Big brother said, "I'll take it out for you, and then you give big brother a bowl of rice." In order to see what's in Big Brother's pocket, I quickly put a bowl of rice on the table for Big Brother. I saw big brother take his hand out of his pocket with a smile, and there was a furry little head in his tightly held right hand. I was so excited that I jumped into his hand and grabbed it. My eldest brother said, "Stop grabbing, sis, you must find a rope quickly, and I will tie it for you, otherwise I will fly away and you can't catch it." I quickly found the wool rope used by my second sister to knit a sweater. My eldest brother tied the rope to a bird's leg and gave it to me. I looked at the bird in my hand carefully. It is so small, and its feathers are yellow. Because it was scared just now, it curled up its head and turned around with a pair of small eyes. I liked it so much that I asked Big Brother what kind of bird it was. How did you catch it? Big Brother told me, "This tiny bird is called willow leaf. Because it is small and light, it can't fly high on windy days. Just chase it for a while and you can catch it. " That day, I just looked at the birds and forgot to eat.

After breakfast, eldest brother found a small basket woven by his father with elm strips and walked the birds on the grass. When he went out, he said to me, "Little sister, the wind will blow down soon. You go to the corn stubble at the gate and pick up some corn worms for your brother to use to shoot birds for you. " "Remember." I answered without looking up.

The sun is about to set, and the strong wind that has been blowing all day has stopped. The sun made the western sky red, and a gorgeous sunset hung in the sky. Mother came back from pouring water outside the door, entered the room and said to herself, "It rains in the morning, it will be sunny at night, and it will be sunny tomorrow." After playing with birds all day, I've had enough fun at this time. I eagerly looked at the gate, hoping that my eldest brother would come back soon. Finally, Big Brother came back with a small basket in his right hand and some bird clips in his left. I got off the kang and ran out to meet my eldest brother. Brother handed me the small basket and I took it. I saw a basket of big and small mountain birds in it. Of course, they were all killed by big brother's bird trap. In the early 1970s, there were many mountain birds in the wild. At that time, there were no bird medicine, no sticky nets and no shotguns. Therefore, several sets of bird traps are not very destructive to birds that breed in the north in spring. At that time, there was no bird protection law, so every spring, half the children would go out to catch birds. However, I was forced by the poor life of that era and wanted to shoot some mountain birds for the children to eat.

I walked into the room happily with a small basket on my arm and followed my eldest brother's ass. Then I put the small basket on the kang and began to count one or two birds and take them out at the same time. ...

Mother said, "after dinner, there is no fire in the stove." What should I do? " Father said, "Put the bird in the basin, and then pour the boiling water from the thermos into the basin to scald it, and the bird's hair will be pulled out." Mom said, "Then you can do it." Father put on his shoes and walked to the ground. Soon, he brought a plate of birds with no hair and internal organs into the house. Then he said to his mother, "I'm all ready." You can pour some soybean oil for your child when cooking tomorrow morning. " That bird was so greedy that I didn't sleep well all night. I eat birds in my dream.

I remember that at that time, as long as the big brother called back the birds, no matter how many, my mother cooked them in the stove with torches, and a fragrance floated out. After a while, all the cooked birds entered my stomach like greedy cats, and my sisters and brothers stopped quarreling with me.

At the age of ten, my father got stomach cancer, and twice a year's gastrectomy made the family heavily in debt, and life can be imagined. 17-year-old eldest brother began to drop out of school and go to the production team to herd cattle. Because he is young, he can only earn half a penny a day grazing. A year later, the production team implemented the system of land contracting to households, and my family divided eight acres of land to grow corn and peanuts. At that time, there were no mechanized machines, and everything was done by hand.

Autumn is coming, and every household is busy collecting peanuts. My father is ill and can't work. My elder sister and my second brother are both at school, and only my mother leads my second sister and my eldest brother to work. Pulling peanuts is hard work. Peanut seedlings after falling leaves in autumn are not only short, but also dry up and prick their hands under the irradiation of the hot sun at noon, just like thorny roses. When pulling peanuts, you have to bend over and grab the peanut seedlings with both hands and pull them up hard. It will take several days to pull them out. You can imagine how tired your mother and big brother and second sister are! Looking at the pile of peanuts received from home, the tired and emaciated mother and the second sister smiled and put their hands on their tired waist.

Early this winter, my father, whose condition deteriorated again, left us. In order to pay off the foreign debt caused by treating his father as soon as possible, just after the Spring Festival next year, eldest brother and several men in the village will go to Xiandong to unload the train. As we all know, the truck will stop at any moment. As long as the train stops, even if you are asleep, you have to get up and unload anything, such as reinforced concrete, gravel and wood, grain and coal, and pull whatever the train pulls. The two of them must be unloaded when they arrive in a carriage, and the departure time of the train must not be missed, otherwise they will not only make money, but also deduct money. Therefore, my eldest brother, who has just turned eighteen, has to work hard. Because I was tired from work, I didn't have a good rest at night. I only kept working for half a month and came back. We were dumbfounded the moment Brother entered the room, but now a man who was quite energetic when he left has lost a lot of weight, his face is sallow, his eyes are deep and he has no spirit. Mother quickly took the luggage from her eldest brother, who pretended to smile and sat on the edge of the kang. Mother looked at eldest brother lovingly, and then poured him a cup of hot water, but his hand was bent stiffly. Mother put the cup on the edge of the kang, and then grabbed Big Brother's hand. Suddenly, tears came down. I saw big brother's hands were red, and his palms were all cocoons and blood bubbles ground by shovels. Some cocoons were broken and red blood oozed. No wonder big brother's hands are stiff and can't stretch straight. There is hardly room for one pair of hands. Seeing his mother's distressed tears, Big Brother quickly drew back his hand, and then comforted his mother and said, "Mom, it's okay. I will keep it for two days. " Mother said lightly to eldest brother, "I told you when you left, and you will come back if you can't work there." Don't be brave. You see how thin you are now, your hands are broken and it hurts like hell. " Well, you lie down and have a rest, and mom will cook for you. "Mom went to the kitchen with tears in her eyes to cook for her eldest brother.

After a sleep and a full meal, my eldest brother looks full of energy. He pulled his backpack, unzipped it and took out a small box from it. His mother asked, "What do you have?" I also ran to my eldest brother curiously to find out. I saw my eldest brother open the box and take out a golden "Nine Chains" headcard. Big Brother smiled and said, "Sister, what do you think Big Brother bought for you?" I excitedly took the nine-ring chain from my eldest brother and showed it to my mother carefully. I saw that the nine-ring chain was composed of nine iron rings painted with yellow paint. The iron rings on both sides are slightly bent, and a hairpin with a green pendant on its head passes through the iron rings on both sides and is pinned to the hair. Except for the two shiny headbands that my sisters bought me during the Spring Festival, I have never brought such a beautiful number one, so I turned around and played with the nine-ring chain. I really can't put it down. The mother sitting by said, "How much did you spend on this?" The eldest brother replied, "It costs three yuan to buy land. I think it looks good on little girls. When I come back, I will buy one for my sister. Do you think it looks good on you, sister? " So my mother helped me put nine rings on my hair. I shook my head and asked my eldest brother, "Big brother, is it nice?" Big brother smiled and said, "It looks good. My sister looks really good in it. "

It has been more than 30 years since this incident, but I still haven't forgotten the nine-ring chain that my eldest brother gave me with hard-earned money. Even I clearly remember the appearance of the nine-ring chain. At that time, three dollars was more resistant to spending than thirty dollars now, which shows how hard it is for big brother to earn money. Thank you for bringing me a happy and wonderful childhood.

How time flies! In a blink of an eye, I went to the fifth grade of primary school. One weekend holiday, my mother missed my sister for several days, and asked me to visit her home. My sister's house is only one kilometer away from mine. I walked and played for a while, and then I came to my sister's house. My eldest sister's mother-in-law and my mother are the sisters of a grandfather, so I am no stranger to her family. I didn't know until the elder sister's house, because Dajiefu's younger brother had reached the age of engagement and wanted to run away from home. No wonder she didn't go back to her mother's house for days. That day, I had lunch at my sister's house and was going back. My sister sent me to my room and secretly gave me five yuan to keep for school to buy pens and notebooks. I know my elder sister's life is hard, too. Five dollars can buy many boxes of matches or oil, salt, sauce and vinegar. I don't want to live or die. But my elder sister forced the money into my pocket and told me, "If you don't take it, don't come to my elder sister's house again." Seeing that my sister was going to be angry, I had to pocket the money.

When I got home, I told my mother the story in detail. My mother said, "since your sister gave it to you, you can keep it." Don't mess with flowers. " I nodded.

That year, my mother raised a dozen big geese. Every day, I come back from school early. I will look for geese on the grass behind the village and come back when I find them. During the summer vacation, I stayed in the meadow all day and set the geese free. In autumn, the goose has grown to eight or nine pounds, and the male and female geese can see it at a glance. More than a dozen geese have clean and shiny feathers and quack with their long necks every day, which makes people like it.

The weather turned cold and all the crops on the mountain were cleaned up. A farmer who has worked for a year only waits for the cat's winter.

One Sunday, after breakfast, my mother went to the yard to pick out the four largest female geese and a male goose, arrested them and stuffed them into a small barn made of poplar strips. Then I asked my second brother to put on a carriage and carry the small barn with geese to the car. I'm tightening it with a rope, and my second brother is driving. I sat in the car and watched the geese in the barn to prevent them from flying out and running away. We two brothers rushed all the way to the carriage, laughing and sending big geese to our elder sister.

When I was in junior high school, my second sister also married my school, so I had a restaurant and a hotel. I often live in my second sister's house after school until graduation. My second sister and brother-in-law often say to me with a smile, "It's okay. If you don't want to go home after school, you can be satisfied with food." Just don't choose vegetables. "

During school, my eldest brother, elder sister and second sister both got married and left, leaving only my mother to lead my second brother to live with me. Second brother contracts some land with his mother every year to grow melons and persimmons. From busy spring to autumn, he often sleeps outdoors. At that time, I didn't have the ability to work, and I had to spend money on school. If my second brother hadn't worked hard to help my mother support this family and earn money to support me, I wouldn't be here today. Every time I think of the past, I will burst into tears. Without the love and help of my brothers and sisters, I would not grow up happily, nor would I have a happy life now. Thanks to my relatives, although I am busy with business now, far away from my hometown, and rarely go home for a year, I have never forgotten my brothers and sisters who gave me selfless care when I needed help most, and I have never forgotten my mother's kindness in raising me. I believe that I will love and care for my two brothers and sisters who helped and raised me selflessly in the same way in the future, and I will also honor our 70-year-old mother.

As the saying goes, "Blood is thicker than water". No matter how high the mountain is, no matter how far the road is, it is inseparable from the constant call and concern of family members. Dear friends beyond the mountain, I always think of you. ......