The leisurely life of rebirth

This county seat in Yunxian County in the north is very small. At this time, there are only two main streets intersecting each other. But it has convenient transportation. The north-south artery and the national highway run across the edge of the city. Densely packed small alleys are mixed in the residential areas.

Fortunately, these alleys are straight and horizontal, and can always lead to the main road, rather than twisting and turning like a maze.

The county is dominated by agriculture, but in those days when it was large and comprehensive but small and numerous, there were still factories, such as machinery factories, textile mills, flour mills, etc. It was basically self-sufficient, but with the changes of the times

, was gradually eliminated and disappeared.

The street where my grandma's house is located is a north-south road, about 1,000 meters long. At the north end of the street is the county government office; at the south end of the street is the county high school.

My grandma's house is in the middle of this street. The old house was originally owned by a large landowner in the county. Later, because my grandpa was literate and worked in the county committee, he was assigned a house.

The neighbors to my grandma's house to the north are the county's Cultural and Educational Bureau, Water Conservancy Bureau, Agriculture Bureau, Commercial Bureau and other bureaus. Although the house is small, it has all the necessary organs. To the south is the residential area.[

Diagonally across the street from my grandma's house, across the road is the elementary school and some small county offices. If this street is mainly about politics, then walk south for a few minutes and reach the intersection. The east-west street is a commercial district.

.

Because my grandma's house was once a landlord's house, it was very grand, a typical northern courtyard house. On the first steps, there were heavy black wooden double doors. There were round rusty iron rivets on them. When you enter the aisle, you can see the walls on both sides.

At the top, Chairman Mao's face is printed.

As you go in, you will see a stone screen wall with a word "福" carved on the stone. As you go in, you will see a pomegranate tree planted in the left front of the main house and a jujube tree planted in the right front. The age of the two trees cannot be seen, but the trunks

It's so thick that an adult can't hold it. It's lush and green, with sunlight dripping from it, and it looks like it's full of nutrients.

The main house is the east house, facing east and facing west, with three main rooms of blue bricks and black tiles, as well as the main room and the south room. The west room is also of blue bricks and black tiles, but has two rooms each.

Fang Monan looked at the two big trees in front of him, and what he thought of was that every autumn, the two trees were full of fruits, which made them full and full. They were indeed foodies.

This was the first time I entered the courtyard in my memory. There was a small garden at the back, and there was another courtyard behind, but it was assigned to someone else. Later, after the housing reform, the two families negotiated and divided the garden equally and put up the courtyard wall.

A separate courtyard house.

The main house obviously has a high foundation, with six floors of steps paved with bluestone slabs. There are black wooden floor-to-ceiling pillars on the left and right sides of the corridor. On the north side of the corridor, against the wall, a simple kitchenette is built with wooden boards.

The door of the main house is a double-open black wooden door, which creaks and is heavy when opening the door. Old-fashioned houses usually have thresholds, which are very high, as much as 60 centimeters high. It is difficult for a two or three-year-old child to

Cross over from above. In my memory, Fang Monan was often trapped by the threshold, and could only raise his hands to let adults carry him over.

Grandma opened the door to the room. Behind the door was a large water tank. Grandma carried Fang Monan across the threshold and there was a living room. In front of it hung a portrait of Chairman Mao, which was a picture of the Chairman standing in front of the Hukou Falls of the Yellow River.

Portrait. On the long bluestone table below the portrait, there is a white porcelain bust of Chairman Mao. On the left side of the portrait is a black and white photo of my grandfather. On both sides of the table are two red vases with the length of a small arm, which means '

Peace and peace, there is an Eight Immortals table placed in front of the long table.

On the wall on the left is a photo wall. There are some black and white photos hanging on the wall, some are family photos, and there is even a photo of Fang Monan as a baby.

Looking up, this house is really high. The distance from the roof ridge to the ground is ten meters. Old houses, especially tile-roofed houses, are like this. However, my grandma’s house is made of many small finger-thick bamboo poles, criss-crossed and woven together to form a square grid.

, covered with straw mats and suspended the ceiling.

The living room was partitioned with black wooden boards, so it became a small kitchen at the back, which can be used in winter and kept warm. However, it is now a utility room because Uncle Dachengzi brought flour from the countryside.

Later, after he finished moving his things, he said goodbye and left to go to the county to do some work. Grandma looked at the weather and asked him to come back for lunch.

The two rooms on the left and right are bedrooms. Grandma lives in the south bedroom. This bedroom is an old-fashioned wooden lattice room that is very large and takes up almost half of the wall, so it has good lighting and is very bright. The north bedroom is small and dark. It is said that

Back then, Fang Monan and Mobei were disobedient and were often locked up in what was commonly known as a dark room.

Because it is a tiled house, there is an attic above for drying grain.

The floor is paved with bluestone, which has been polished smooth and bright by people walking around for a long time.

Fang Monan stood in the old house in her memory. It was now more popular and not as dilapidated as it had been since it had been unoccupied for a long time. She lived here until she returned to the city to attend elementary school, so she was very familiar with it.

Regardless of whether he has not been back for many years in his past life or this life, Fang Monan is still familiar with this place and looks at everything here with emotion. This life will start from here.

Grandma was busy packing up the things she brought from the countryside and cleaning the slightly dusty house. It seemed that she was not at home, and her little daughter only did the work under her nose. Look at the time, let Dachengzi have dinner at home, she must hurry up

Made lunch.

Unattended, Fang Monan walked into the bedroom. It was the same as in his memory. There was a desk with an alarm clock, a square mirror, and a wooden comb on it. Against the east wall was a large fire kang. In winter,

It is very warm and can sleep four adults. There is a large wooden box placed on top of the kang, a single bed placed against the south wall, and an old sewing machine placed under the large door on the west wall.[

Fang Monan was stroking something familiar yet unfamiliar, and before he knew it, it was almost noon.

"Mom, as soon as I smell the aroma of the vegetables, I know you are back from my second aunt's house." Before anyone arrived, I heard my aunt's clear, sweet and happy voice outside the house.

Fang Monan heard the sound and walked out of the house, stood on the threshold, and saw that the person who came was her aunt. She was as old as a flower, and even though she was covered in dust, she couldn't hide the person's beautiful face.

, very similar to the big picture of my grandpa, with big eyes, slim figure, black hair with two braids, coiled on the top of my head. He was wearing old earth-colored clothes, covered with dust. Fang Monan looked at him with a smiling face.

Said: "Xiao Nannan, you haven't tanned, you seem to have become whiter and more beautiful."

"Xiaoyan is back, hurry up and wash up, you are covered in dust." Grandma walked out of the kitchen, carrying freshly fried vegetables. She frowned: "I went to the county to clean the room again."

"Yes! There is a new leader, so the room is repainted. I will clean it today." The aunt pointed at the dirty road. Then she looked at grandma and said in surprise: "Oh! Mom, I found that not only Xiaonannan's skin

Bai Nen, your face is almost catching up with hers. Aren't you going to harvest wheat? Why are you all so fairer instead of tanning?"

"Uh-huh! I'm already twenty and I'm still not serious. If I want to be like that, I won't be an old monster anymore." Grandma couldn't stand the dust on her body, which proved that even if her daughter worked in the county party committee compound, she didn't sit in an office. He was someone who did rough work in the logistics department. She frowned and urged, "Go and wash up quickly. Your brother Dacheng will probably be here soon."

"Oh! Got it." Auntie walked towards the well in the courtyard with a wash towel in the enamel basin.

"By the way, how are your eldest brother and the others doing when I'm not around these days?" Grandma brought the dishes into the house, came out and stood in the corridor and asked. Although her son did something wrong, the mother thought it was her daughter-in-law who led the way. of.

As soon as the aunt heard that grandma had come back, she was thinking about her precious son. She was so angry that she didn't even call her "big brother". "I've already been kicked out of the house, why did you mention him? I thought that when I got married, I spent all the family's savings. After moving out, , lived a small life of her own, never took a penny back from home, why did she mention him? I think if it hadn't been for him... I wouldn't have been like this..." She was still indignant when she mentioned the past.

When my grandfather passed away, my aunt and my eldest brother had a very unhappy fight over the place to take over. Because of the family's financial constraints, my aunt didn't even go to high school in order to succeed me. Later, my eldest uncle and the others went around talking bad things about my aunt, and everyone was in trouble. You know, until now she is still working as a temporary worker, which is hard and tiring, and the salary is not high.

"You are about to become a regular person now, why do you still want to do it!" Grandma said, closing her eyes in pain, her palms and backs were full of flesh, who could she tell her pain to.

"Yeah, it would be great if I could become a full-time employee." My aunt curled her lips and pointed at the dust on her body, "I wouldn't have to do this all day long." "It's not that easy to become a regular employee."

"Who told you that you didn't have a high degree of education and just graduated from junior high school, so you couldn't go to school? Who can you rely on if you have a degree that has not been regularized for a long time!" Grandma also felt distressed and knew that the real reason why you didn't go to school was because your family was poor. , in order to reduce the burden.

"Humph! I do want to go, but I have to afford it. Okay, let's not mention these things about sesame seeds and rotten millet. What's the point? It's all over." My aunt doesn't want to quarrel with grandma because of these things, so I couldn't explain it for three days and three nights. It's hard for an upright official to take care of household chores. Why bother getting angry because of this? It's not worth it. He changed the subject and said, "Brother Dacheng, why are you here?"

"Uncle Dachengzi came to see us off. Grandma and I brought a lot of things, including white flour, cornmeal, mixed noodles, shoes, and coarse cloth." Fang Monan quickly interrupted, counting the items one by one.

The past has passed, and Fang Monan must let his family live a better life in this life. He no longer wants to be as mediocre as he was in his previous life, making little money and working hard.

Mom, aunt, and their generation will have to worry about Fang Monan and the younger ones when they grow up. The down payment for a house has consumed all the savings of her mother's family and her husband's family. Now that the matter is finally over, you can feel at ease!

But when Fang Monan and his generation grew up, they had to live a life of hardship and simplicity with mortgages on their backs, and finally paid it off. The buildings were brittle, crooked, and thin. The house finally collapsed. It was old, old. , I don’t even have a comfort zone anymore, it’s miserable! There’s really no reason to say anything. It’s terrifying to think about it, and I can’t think of my past life anymore! The most important thing is the present.

"Mom, Xiao Nannan, why did you come back to the countryside and speak so neatly and clearly?" After the aunt finished washing, she opened her eyes and looked at her curiously.

"Haha... there are still many things you don't know! Our little Nannan has grown up. She can dress, eat, and go to the toilet by herself, and she no longer wears crotchless pants. Haha..." Grandma is still laughing when she thinks of this.

Not talkative.

At that time, children were left alone, and the adults in the family were either working or working in the fields. They had no time to take care of the children. In the summer, they even ran around the streets naked.

"Wow! It's incredible. When you go back to the countryside, you are better off than in the city. Your life is easier, but I feel sad. Mom, look at me, I've lost weight." My aunt rubbed my grandma's shoulder coquettishly.[

"Auntie, I'm back." Da Chengzi shouted with a loud voice standing in the courtyard.

"Just in time, let's wash hands and start dinner!" Grandma shouted happily when she saw him coming back from outside, then turned back to the house and set out the dishes.

Lunch is placed on a small square table in the living room that can be moved at any time. It is very rich and includes four dishes: scrambled eggs with tomatoes, fried beans with tomatoes, eggplant with garlic paste, cucumber salad, and rice as the staple food.

Fang Monan has been in the countryside for nearly a month and only eats noodles or noodles in soup for lunch. This is the first time he has eaten rice. Most of the food here is pasta, and rice is also eaten but not much.

"Haha... It's better for Mom to be here. I'll improve the food when I get back." My aunt sat on the small bench and swallowed.

"Come on, Dachengzi, sit down and eat quickly." Grandma greeted.

The weather was very hot, but fortunately there were two big trees to provide shade, but they were still sweating after eating. While they were eating and chatting, grandma asked Dachengzi if the county affairs were done well! He said that he had done it, and after eating

Walk.

After dinner, grandma didn't stay with him. She watched him drive a mule cart and disappear at the street entrance before going back. At this time, Fang Monan was also tired and climbed onto the kang to take a lunch break. After cleaning up the table and stools, the aunt washed

After finishing the dishes and chopsticks, I said hello to my grandma and went to bed. She was almost exhausted from the morning's work.

Grandma looked at my aunt's back and said, "I'm going to wash clothes at the Cultural and Educational Bureau next door. There's running water over there, so it washes quickly. When you wake up, wake up Nannan and bring her over! Don't forget to lock the door."

She gave instructions to her aunt like she would a child.

The aunt waved her hand and said she understood.