Prose on the Past in Tiansheng Street

47 years ago 1970, my family moved from Tiansheng Street next to Laohankou Railway Station to a nearby alley called Furen Village. This is the 20-square-meter house where my brother got married. He doesn't live in it. Because he is in the army, the object is the only child, and the wedding room is in the woman's house. This four-story house was enviable at that time, although it had five kitchens and bathrooms (all abandoned and used as public toilets). My family lives on the third floor. 1968 My sister went to Xiangyang, and every night my sister went to Tiansheng Street to sleep next to her grandmother. My brother and I live in the second half, barely crowded. At that time, many families were not as good as this.

In the past, we shared a two-story wooden house with my uncle's family. This was built by two companies after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945. When I was very young, I heard the sound of "fire fighting dragon" (fire truck), and I was very panicked. There are many wooden houses in the small streets and alleys, which are on fire. Once, I suddenly heard someone shouting in the street: "fire, fire!" " "My brother quickly opened the box under the bed, pulled out all the drawers of the five drawers, poured the clothes on the sheets, tied the four corners, slung them over his shoulders with his hand, and pulling me like a fugitive at the age of four or five, I quickly went downstairs and ran outside. People in the street are all panicked. They are shocked: "The fire is coming! "The crowd poured into the opposite street; After a while, someone shouted, "The fire is over there!" " The crowd poured back. Sometimes it is misinformation, and people begin to complain breathlessly and noisily: "Which is' reporting water panic' (in hankou wharf's language, it means disturbing people for no reason), so annoying! "Living in a house with a reinforced concrete brick structure, I feel much more practical and can have a good sleep. 1972 graduated from high school and moved to a farm in jiangling county. Since then, I have rarely had the opportunity to go to Tiansheng Street. In 1980, my grandmother who lived in my uncle's house died a few years after my uncle's death, and I went there less. In a blink of an eye, I'm almost sixty-five years old. When I am old, I like nostalgia, and my childhood memories always haunt me. Although the weather is very hot now, it is not difficult to spend the summer: living in a tall building, using electric fans, refrigerators and air conditioners to cool down; There are several fruit shops near the fever; There are cool huts and resorts everywhere in summer. These superior material conditions are unimaginable in the past, and they are far behind. But in the era of planned economy, people's mental state seems to be more substantial than now, and life is full of flavor. Their faces are filled with satisfied and happy smiles, and their eyes reveal their longing for a better tomorrow. The following are some past events in Tiansheng Street in the early 1960s, when ordinary people just survived three years of natural disasters and recovered. Of course, summer activities are indispensable.

Strange to say, there are no mosquitoes in Tiansheng Street and no mosquito nets are used in summer. In high school, I went to work in Dongxihu Farm. Because there was no mosquito net at home, I went to Chezhan Road Department Store and bought a bed. When I was a child, I often saw people from neighborhood committees organize the masses to engage in sanitation. My parents come from the old society, and they love the new China. They thanked the government and listened to the resident leaders wearing red armbands. Needless to say, family health and public health are also actively involved; Adults and children who are at home on Sunday are no exception. The courtyard and ditches in front of the house are cleaned and cleaned every day. Killing flies, catching mice, spraying chemical water to kill cockroaches, spraying bedbugs in the seams of bed boards with boiling water, sprinkling tiny drops on charcoal (in a broken bowl on the ground) to smoke mosquitoes, and wrapping willow powder in straw to smoke sewers, etc., will be carried out in a simple way all year round. I remember that in early summer, straw that is no longer used for mattress laying (farmers will pick new straw and sell it in the city after the end of autumn) will be burned in the street, and it is not allowed to pile up miscellaneous straw. I still remember that the sanitation workers who cleaned the main roads started working at two or three in the morning. It's dawn, and the streets are clean and tidy. The pavements of small streets and alleys are either cleaned by sanitation workers or contracted by pieces before and after the houses are distributed to households. The sanitation worker in charge of garbage disposal pulls an uncovered van around the street on time every morning and afternoon. As they walked, they shouted, "Pour the dregs, pour the dregs ..." After hearing the sound, the nearby residents quickly walked out of the house with wooden (iron) dustpans. It is common for aunts who like to pull their parents. They didn't come back immediately after dumping the dregs, nor did they put down their dustpan. They chatted with Zhang's great-grandmother or Li's aunt for a while and couldn't move for a long time. There is no one at home, so they either put a dustpan in the aisle or leave the door unlocked and entrust their neighbors to do it for them in advance. I often think that the good sanitary conditions at that time were probably the main reason why mosquitoes did not have living conditions. At that time, sanitation was called patriotic sanitation, and later it rose to the height of patriotic sanitation movement. And everyone is willing to participate, worthy of the name, and there is nothing vain. In addition to sanitation, the neighborhood Committee also manages the public security in the streets and lanes, as if the masses were involved in everything.

At that time, the floating population in the city was very small, and it was occasionally seen at the station pier. Foreigners who stay without serious business are collectively referred to as "blind flow". The reception station managed to send them one by one from the street to the station and then back to their hometown. There is a reception station on the right side of Laohankou Railway Station, on Stadium Street, not far from the downhill, next to Jiefang Avenue and under the Civil Affairs Bureau. People in our area may be confused with the temporary detention center, thinking that they are holding prisoners, and they are used to calling it "No.50 Stadium Street". It's quite impressive to mention it here. It is also time to learn from Uncle Lei Feng. The folk customs in the old street are simple, and people live and work in peace and contentment. In summer, local residents sleep in the street with bamboo beds, wooden beds and recliners, which are usually closed at night.

The same is true during the day. There is no need to lock the door if there are no old people at home. Everyone knows the people in this street, and the people passing by the next street are familiar with it. Even small businessmen who don't walk in the street often know each other. For example, a man in his forties sells printing oil. He always shouts: "buy printing oil, buy printing oil!" " "Three short notes, a long note, a beautiful drawl at the end, and every word is in my heart. Canna seller (soaked in water, its juice is slippery), a thin man in his thirties, walking unsteadily with a wooden box on his shoulder; The lifelike "aunt" (a man called a woman) looks like a sissy, which makes people feel that this business is not like this, but it is not worthy. Naughty children think it's fun and imitate the walking posture and selling of "Aunt". Several mother-in-law in their fifties in the neighborhood (my grandmother combed her hair with canna juice and tied it into a typical mother-in-law hairstyle-"Babatou") didn't care, so they chatted around the "aunt" for a while. Scissors, bowls, pots, rags, etc. There are different shouts, and they are all long (like the voice of sharpening a knife in the Beijing opera "The Red Lantern"); There is also a voice as clear as fried broad beans: "Make up the pot! "Unlike in Hunan, they don't play gongs. Therefore, strangers can't escape the eyes of adults and children in the old streets. In modern terms, it is called "neighborhood watch"; I used to do this, but I didn't say so.

When I was very young, I never saw mosquito nets, but I saw locks. However, not on the door, but on the old wooden box painted by the old country. A slightly longer brass lock has one end fixed and two copper bars on the base at the other end, which can be locked only after being put in, and the two can be separated; The key is like a long hook. Now, this is a rare thing. It is common for short children to stand on tiptoe when they come home from school and hold the virtual lock hanging on the door with their small hands (this is a new type of marble lock at this time). There are also cautious families who are afraid of their children hanging keys on their chests (when they were young, classmates often teased each other: "Hansen, you are very happy to hang keys on your chests!" " ") After I finished, I locked the door and handed the key to my mother-in-law father who walked close to me next door. When they leave home, they will tell their children, "Dear son, Mrs. Xiao has the key next door. You can get it after school. "It is said that the key is saved, but it is actually the old man who has to take care of lunch. They will help to heat up the leftovers for the children to eat. This is the way that ordinary children deal with lunch when they are studying. People often say that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors, and that's how neighbors took care of each other at that time.

This summer is particularly hot, with a high temperature of 4 1℃. It used to be hot, but people don't hate and complain about God as much as they do now. With the autumn wind, I am still a little reluctant. People here came to Hankou to make a living from the rural areas of Huangpi and Xiaogan decades ago. After earning a few dollars, they built a house and took root. They have many connections with their hometown, and from time to time there are relatives from the countryside. After a long time, everyone knows them. Someone was sitting at the door and saw a guest coming next door. He shouted to the host who cooked and washed clothes in the room, "Mrs. Zhou, the nephew of Shekou (a little before Daijiashan in Hankou), has come to see you!" The neighborhood is very enthusiastic! My aunt's father lives in Wutongkou (Huangpi Wuhu Farm), and he often comes to Hankou's daughter's house by a small flat-bottomed boat between Yuehan Wharf and Wutongkou (stopping at Chenjiaji Wharf on the way). He always comes in with a sack on his back, and sometimes he doesn't pack anything. Every time I come, my uncle will accompany him to drink at the square table and talk about some old rural sayings or things that children are not interested in. At that time, children were not allowed to eat on the table, put some food on the small bench or eat in the street. But relatives from the countryside must say hello, or they will blame adults for not being sensible. People who care will sulk and take it out on adults. Therefore, even if my head just exceeds the desktop and I see a guest coming, I will definitely shout "Dad!" " "Children are sweet, is taught by adults. When I was a child, my father had a long beard. Why do children who are just sensible hesitate to ask when they call their father? I've never seen a beard, so I'm afraid I'm not sure. People in Laojie have lived in the countryside since childhood, and generally know the 24 solar terms, let alone farming. There is no Nanyang wind in hot summer. How can crops be pollinated, headed and filled? Besides, I am also a laborer, and the work in the city is much easier than the farm work in the field. Therefore, they don't hate the heat, but find it interesting to sleep in the cool in summer. Needless to say, children can play with water, somersault, catch (beat) crickets, stick cicadas, read picture books and play with beads ... There are so many things to play this season! Anyway, heatstroke prevention and cooling in midsummer is always a big deal. Let's talk about it

36 cents a catty of big leaf and red leaf tea is a necessary herbal tea for every household. There are also people standing at the door in the street selling to passers-by. Generally, it is a large cylindrical glass with a square thin glass cover (painted by glass cutter); Put a penny on the table, pick up a cup, lift your neck, gulp it down, put the cup aside and leave. There is also a penny and a small cup of tea (square feet below the top circle), which is not cost-effective and does not sell much. I remember occasionally seeing free tea in the neighborhood Committee. The "free" sign written with a brush on the carton leaned against the tea bucket on the table, next to an enamel washbasin filled with clear water. Passers-by who want to drink water take their own cups, fiddle with the cups in the water, and then drink their own tea. This is usually a large-scale activity to help others. Most of the tea at home is brown pottery bowls, black pottery pots without wok (easy to carry in when enjoying the cool), and large bowls and jars, not necessarily. According to the book, flower black tea is a Qiang plant, and the leaves on the flower red tree do not contain caffeine and tannic acid. Its efficacy can clear away heat, relieve summer heat, relieve swelling and pain, promote blood circulation and dredge menstruation; Can reduce blood lipid and cholesterol, and prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular sclerosis; You can also go to America to lose weight. No wonder the big sisters in the neighborhood are full of water, and the small jasper is not empty talk. I think, the role of flower black tea is not small, although we didn't know at that time that such a cheap thing had such great medicinal value.

Children like to drink black tea to quench their thirst, but they prefer to eat popsicles, watermelons, cantaloupes and melons. Eating a 30-cent popsicle a day makes many families hungry. At that time, a family had many four or five children, so it was not easy to give a dime too early, let alone have a cold drink. I remember eating popsicles when I was a child. There are always children around me, and I want to try them. Two or three children get together, take turns licking each other once, and lick them all over with their mouths open. There are also stingy people who are unwilling to share. At this time, the children next to them will be close to their ears: "You won't give us food or play with you!" Children are afraid of loneliness and have to obey. I also participated in such a thing when I was a child, which was much bigger than this "appetite". In the alley on the right of my house, there is a chubby eldest son nicknamed "small landlord", who is spoiled by adults at home. On one occasion, he was stewing spine lotus root soup at home, and three or four children two or three years older than him stood under the awning at the gate of Gongan Road Primary School and begged him for food. There is not much room in the small bowl, so each person has a lotus root and a small bone with meat, which is almost the same. The "small landlord" will soon go home to supplement. When he came back to us again, his father suddenly appeared in the opposite alley, looked around casually and turned back. We children are too scared to beg any more. As far as the speed of his eating is concerned, it won't be so fast anyway. His father knows this better than anyone else. Come out and shake it, which means to remind us a few greedy children: "almost!" " "Children beg for food from each other, or share with each other, or eat and drink together, which is much more interesting than the only child being picky about food and anorexia at home. We weren't like this when we were young. In an era when we are short of food and drink, adults also hope to have a rare tooth sacrifice, not to mention that children's self-control has not yet formed.

A three-point popsicle can meet each other from time to time; If you want to change the taste of a five-cent ice cream popsicle, it is not difficult to spend two cents more; It is not easy to eat melons, especially watermelons. I remember when I was a child, there was a big water tank at home. When I have watermelons, I will soak them in water. I don't often see watermelons floating in the water tank. Funnily enough, even counting my uncle's family, there are fifteen people who eat watermelon at a time, each with a thin book; Two movies don't have much time, and others usually do. Melon seeds are reluctant to throw. Everyone eats around a half-inch water basin, and melon seeds are thrown into the water. After washing and drying, it has been put into the new year. It is not enough to eat a few watermelon seeds at home. When I was a child, I went to Hankou Railway Station to pick up melon seeds and often went to the waiting room. The fruit shop will also go. If you are lucky, you will get a lot of gains when you meet a watermelon that has been thrown into the trash can at the door. Guapi was used, just two or three years ago.

During the three-year difficult period, melons and fruits are good things. Watermelon seeds and pumpkin seeds can be kept, and melon skins will not be thrown away. In the past, the skin of watermelon was thick, and the skin could be used for cooking. The skin of wax gourd is the same, cut into filaments and stir-fry green peppers, which can be very crisp! When things got better, I stopped eating. Now, I see many people talking about pickled watermelon skin. They are very happy and talk about it. Seeing others eat it, the aftertaste is endless and the joy is endless. It doesn't look like "hate", but really like, nostalgic, or return to the park. I don't know. People in old streets are good at living. What I remember most clearly is that many adults brought ice water home from the factory with bamboo shell thermos bottles in the dog days.

Fifty cents a day, one yuan and fifty cents a year for heatstroke prevention and cooling, for many years. So many factories make their own ice water for heatstroke prevention and cooling. I don't know if it was made up on purpose. Aunt next door always brings a bottle of ice water when she comes home every afternoon. Only at this time will they be particularly happy to meet their children, because they can finally drink ice water.