Spring is coming

After the rain, everything is full-bodied, the nearby vegetation is deep green, the yellow leaves are washed and shiny, the weeds that have not been trampled by people sway in the cold wind, and the white mist rises from Mount Dai in the distance.

Whenever she sees this scene, Xueli has to silently recite "There is Yushan Wearing a Hat" in her heart. '

Sure enough, Chun Xin said, "You Yushan wears a hat."

A wooden house at the foot of the mountain, with a small courtyard surrounded by a bamboo fence, the grandfathers from far away started shouting: "Cripple!"

"The cripple--the lame--"

The mountains can't stop echoing.

The lame old man quickly opened the door and came out to welcome the group of young and old.

He was wearing an old lady's floral padded jacket and a dustpan hat with ear protectors. I don't know who gave him old clothes.

He sleeps in the kitchen where he cooks in winter. There is firewood under the stove, but it is not cold. Four old men squeezed in, and one of them took out a bag from his pocket to eat. It was full of fried peanuts in plastic bags, Fried soybeans.

The hut was filled to the brim with five adults, Chunxin and Xueli were leaning against the door, and the lame old man entertained them with wild oranges from the mountain.

"Be good, eat."

The one with the green skin is cool to hold in the hand, Chunxin has no nails, and Big Thumb digs in from under the orange's buttocks, and the bitter juice of the orange peel smacks his face.

She peeled it off and gave half to Grandpa first, Grandpa shook his head, "I don't want to eat it."

Chun Xin handed it to Xueli again, and the two of them stuffed a piece into their mouths at the same time, their back molars were ground twice, their mouths were grinning, orange juice mixed with saliva, and their faces were wrinkled into rags.

The grandpas laughed triumphantly, "An Yi!"

Five old men closed the door and drank in the house, Chunxin and Xueli wanted to go out to play.Of course it is cold, the mountains are colder than other places, but as long as you can play, the cold is nothing.

Grandpa didn't control her so strictly, he just told them not to run far and just play in the yard. Anyway, children can play with many things, playing with mud and bugs can last a whole day.

After eating the sour wild orange with a bitter face, Chunxin threw the orange peel away vigorously as if venting his anger, the two put their hands in their pockets, and left to play.

There are steep stone hills and gentle dirt hills, just find one that looks easier to walk, and two people plunge into it.

This place is not too remote. People often go into the mountains to collect herbs and poach. There are small paths in the mountains. As long as you walk along the path, you will not lose your way when you come and go.

Xueli also came here for the first time. Many times in the past, Chunxin asked her to go out to play, but she was reluctant. Chunxin couldn't go alone, so he could only climb over the wall and stay with her in the room.

In the deep mountains, you can hear all kinds of wonderful birdsong. If you are lucky, you can also see pheasants with bright feathers. When they are frightened, they flutter their wings and fly low. A black shadow flies across the head, which is a squirrel.

After drinking, the grandpas went up the mountain to gather some branches and firewood. Next time, the lame old man carried the bundled trees and sent them from door to door. When he left, he carried rice, beans, or half a bottle of wine.

Grandma built a small shed less than one person tall in the backyard, covered it with canvas, and hung strings of bacon and sausages inside. Chunxin and Xueli helped move the branches into the house. When she bent down, the smell of the mountains rushed over her.

For half a month, you can smell pine branches and firewood wherever you go, and you can see curling green smoke everywhere.

Those from Grandma’s house, Yin Yuanping’s house, Jiang Mengyan’s house, and teacher Wang’s house next door also smoked for a week.

Yin Yuanping's family lives in Building [-]. He came over two days before New Year's Eve and asked Jiang Mengyan and grandma to go to the supermarket, and grandpa was going too.

They didn't bring their children with them, so they told them to watch the fire. The firewood was basically burned out, and it would be almost the same after another night of boredom, so they asked their children to watch.

He also smiled and said, "Sit by the fire and keep warm."

Chun Xin had already changed his clothes and shoes and was waiting by the door. He was not happy to be told not to go to the supermarket at this time, pouting.

Xueli took her to sit by the fire, "I'll play with you, it's so cold outside, why don't we go."

The adults left, and Chun Xin sat on the small bench, poking the red-hot coals inside with a fire hook, "Don't take me! Don't take me!"

The firewood ash was stabbed by her and flew everywhere, and she also knew to poke through the canvas to avoid burns.

The next morning, the fire was already cold, and the adults began to tear down the shed. The meat was brought out. Yin Yuanping said, "This year's bacon is very good! The color is darker than previous years, so it must be more successful?"

Grandparents echoed, "The color is a bit darker, it tastes good."

Chunxin was playing on her mat, Xueli smiled and said nothing.Can the ashes wrapped in firewood not be black?

The New Year's Eve dinner at Chun Xin's family is also very interesting. The dishes are prepared and served on the table. A small bowl is placed on each of the four tables, a little rice and meat dishes are served, and a small glass of wine is served.

Three pieces of yellow paper were burned under the table, and grandma burned three sticks of incense in the direction facing the gate, muttering: "The ancestors of the Yin family and the Fang family, come to eat—"

Fang's family is her natal family.

Then he greeted Chun Xin, "Little mangy, kneel down and kowtow to the ancestors, and ask the ancestors to bless you."

Chun Xin followed Shan Ruliu and knelt down towards the gate, beckoning his head three times, "The ancestors of the Yin family and Fang family bless our family, and also bless Dongdong's family by the way...bless us for health and safety..."

Xueli didn't know if she had said similar things in her previous life, maybe she was too greedy, and the ancestors couldn't bless her.

She was neither healthy nor safe nor happy.

This kind of sacred sense of ritual only exists in the older generation, Jiang Mengyan does not engage in such things, and this year Xueli lives in Chunxin's house, and the two families celebrate the New Year together.

There is also Yin Yuanping's family, Chunxin's eldest aunt, cousin Tao Ran, who is already in the first year of high school.

Tao Ran is favored, studies well, and speaks little.With such a cousin in the family, comparisons are inevitable, both grandparents like her more, and Chun Xin knows very well that he is not liked by adults.

In fact, it's just that people don't like her in Yin's house. Jiang Mengyan likes her very much, as well as other classmates and teachers, including Xueli of course.

Not to mention how popular it is, but it won't be so disgusting at first glance. The good and bad of adults don't conflict.

When the adults went out to set off firecrackers, Tao Ran went into grandma's bedroom, which was Chun Xin's forbidden place, where all delicious and interesting things were hidden, and sometimes Chun Xin would sneak in to find treasures.

The two big bags brought back from the supermarket were full of sugar and biscuits. Chun Xin saw her reaching in at the door and took out two handfuls.

Chun Xin looked up in surprise, Tao Ran remained silent the whole time, and kept a piece of corn candy for himself, and peeled it off in front of grandma when she entered the room.

Chun Xin hurried back to the room, hid the candy under the pillow, followed in Xueli, sat down on the edge of the bed, thought for a while and said, "What's there, I can buy it for you, there's no chocolate in it, it's very sweet." Regular sugar."

Chun Xin said: "Chocolate is the best!"

Xueli said: "I will buy it when I go out to play tomorrow."

After breakfast the next day, Chun Xin came to play with her. The road outside was full of red firecracker crumbs, and a child was lying on the ground looking for the small firecrackers that were not fried last night. Chunxin saw it and followed him.

A few boys of the same age saw them looking for them too, and deliberately kicked them as they passed by, throwing the firecracker crumbs into Xueli's face.

Xueli looked up at them, raised her sleeves and wiped her face, Chun Xin stood up suddenly: "You're looking for death."

A few boys left with a smile on their face, and the two girls didn't speak any more. They continued to look down for the firecrackers, and after a while they found seven or eight of them with leads.

Chun Xin went home and found a lighter, looked at the direction of the people leaving, gritted his back molars, "Blow them up."

Following a few boys from a distance, he found that they climbed over the wall and entered the school gate. Chun Xin changed his mind and complained to Mr. Wang.