Ba Zong's rural life [farming]

Just after the first month, the mountain villages in the south are immersed in the continuous drizzle, the sky is gray all day long, and the mountains and trees in the distance are shrouded in thick rain and fog, giving people a feeling of dampness and depression.

Although it is said that spring rain is as expensive as oil, such continuous rain makes people not happy, and people's hearts seem to be covered by a layer of dark clouds, and they are not in a good mood.

The old man herding cattle was wearing a coir raincoat and stood on a piece of wasteland that had not yet been plowed. The tall and strong buffalo lowered its head in the field and used its big tongue to pick up waves of weeds and eat them into its stomach. Affected by this bad weather, I only occasionally flicked my tail and shook my head to shake off the accumulated rainwater on my body.

The old man didn't even bother to pull the rope, so he threw it on the ground. He took out the pipe that had been filled with tobacco from his waist, took out a lighter, and put it on the pipe to light it.

In this humid weather, even the tobacco in the pipe was wet, and the lighter was lit several times before finally igniting the tobacco.

The early spring in the south is wet and cold. The period after the first lunar month can be said to be the coldest time in the south. Now it is acceptable. If it is colder, even the cattle will not be released.

The old man tried his best to shrink his body into the wide coir raincoat to keep out the wind and rain outside. Fortunately, the pipe was warm, so he smoked it like a treasure.

There is a mountain at the end of the field, and around that mountain, there is a road with few cars. There is no way, the place where this village is located is too remote, and it is estimated that there is no name on the satellite map.

But that road was once the hope of many people. Some people came in from that road and never went out again. This poor and peaceful mountain village is nothing more than that.

The old man was smoking a cigarette, and the smoke filled his eyes and blurred his vision. He had to squint his eyes and look at the mountain in front of him.

It is said that places with mountains and water are suitable for people to live in. People drink water and rely on the resources of mountains to survive. They cut trees and open mountains, generation after generation, thus forming a village.Now this mountain has lost its original function, and people have all lived on the ground, and what remains on it are the bones and graves of generations after generations.

Every year, many old people who died in the village are buried on it. In their words, it means that the fallen leaves return to their roots, which is extremely peaceful.

The old man looked at that mountain with fascination. He thought that there were many friends who were herding cattle with him when he was a child lying on it. All these years, everyone left, only one or two remained. No charge, so he can stand here day after day, year after year herding cattle.

But maybe it won't last for a few years, the old man smiled frankly and shook the ashes in the pipe.

Suddenly, a thin figure appeared on the road from the field to the foot of the mountain, holding a basket in his hand with difficulty. It may be because the load was too heavy, and he walked crookedly. After a long journey, he finally arrived here.

People in the mountains have very sensitive senses, probably because the living environment is too difficult, so you have to find out and feel it yourself to avoid the damage caused by nature. It is also possible that the life here is too quiet and the sound of existence is too monotonous, so even if You can feel something even if you don’t try to feel it.

The old man saw that figure from a distance, and when he was ten steps away, he finally figured out who that person was. He turned his pipe, pointed to the mountain in front of him, and smoked with a hoarse voice. Asked: "Shi Zai, how about going to your grandfather's grave?"

The man named Shizai was a young boy, still very young, less than [-] years old, with a small body and pale skin, completely different from other boys of the same age in this village.When other boys were his age, they were already three or five years old, rough-skinned and thick-skinned like a man in his prime.

But it's normal when you think about it. His only family member is the most educated and refined person in the village. Even when he goes to work in the field, he works slowly and methodically. teacher.

Mr. Ruan is one of the few people who came in from the road outside the mountain and never went out again. In the 60s of the last century, suddenly there were more gentle and cultural people in the village. He holds a chopping knife in one hand and a heavy box in the other, but the scholarly demeanor exuded under the glasses cannot be concealed.

There was chaos outside. Suddenly such a person came to the village. The people in the village were a little flustered. They talked all day long before and after tea and dinner, and walked around when they saw people.

The village head—it is said to be the village head, but he is a person who is more convincing in the village. Out of kindness, he saw this young man from outside as if he had not eaten or slept well for several days and nights, regardless of the opposition of other people in the village. , left him at home, cooked the few potatoes and sweet potatoes to fill his stomach, and placed him in the woodshed to make do with rest.

The people in the village are actually very simple and kind, because they have never been in contact with the colorful world outside, so they have a kind heart towards people and things, although they say that this person has an unknown origin and may be a murderer or something. , but I also knew that I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, so I didn’t dare to take it to the stage and say that their malice towards strangers from outsiders was just to protect themselves.

Later, when the village head asked, he realized that this young man from outside was a college student. College students were so rare and precious at that time. Even in the backward mountain villages, everyone knew this. How come here.

Teacher Ruan pursed his lips and was unwilling to answer this question. Instead, he started bargaining with the village head. He said that he wanted to live in the village, and asked the village head to buy him a house and give him a few pieces of land. Teach children to read and write in the village.

This condition is too tempting. The village chief has lived most of his life, and he doesn't know a few big characters, let alone other people in the village. There are more and more young people in the village. The village chief can't bear to let the children be like They were so illiterate that they agreed to it.

When the villagers heard that the mysterious outsider was a college student, they changed their previous attitude of shy away from him and began to greet him with care.Hearing that he was going to stay here to teach the children how to read, he was even more excited and excited. The village head didn't give any orders, so they went home to get tools, those who carried materials, and those who delivered food. Food, within a few days, a new house was added to the east of the village.

In this way, Mr. Ruan took root in the village. He also fulfilled his promise and set up a school in the village. Sometimes he gave lessons to the children in the shed of the village head’s house, and sometimes he taught lessons on the ground where the millet was drying in the village. During the class on the floor, the surrounding villagers who were doing farm work gathered around during the break, fanning the wind with straw hats and learning along with it.

Mr. Ruan has been teaching for 60 years. In this village, everyone from the 80-year-old to the eight-year-old has received his education. When mentioning Mr. Ruan, everyone knows everyone. He is very proud to mention it to people from other villages. up.

However, although Mr. Ruan has taken root in the village, he never intended to start a family. The villagers watched him grow up and get old year by year, but he was still a widow, and they all worried about him. He introduced this girl to that girl, but unfortunately they all failed.

Mr. Ruan's excuses for refusing the blind date were similar, they all said that he was a black family with unknown background, no family support and no property, and a girl would be wronged if she married him.But he is so well-born and educated that the girls have already ignored his identity and background, and secretly agreed with him. If they meet Mr. Ruan in the fields on the road, they can't help but call him in the delicate voice of their daughters. With a sound, after he agreed and left, the few of them got together and laughed and discussed which look he was looking at just now.

Even the crazy girl in the village, who was so crazy that her family didn't recognize her, returned to normal after seeing him, looking at him peacefully and smiling at him.

It's a pity that Mr. Ruan's determination not to marry is really firm, and the villagers are afraid of being forced to force him away in a hurry, so the matter is left alone.

It has been over forty years since Mr. Ruan's hair turned gray and his handsome face was wrinkled, but his back is still straight and his noble temperament still exists. More and more people call him a teacher , In an exaggerated family, three generations of the family are his students.

The old village chief stopped worrying about his marriage, and began to worry about his pension. During the village meetings, the village chief always gave instructions to those young and strong young people, asking them to remember Mr. Ruan. Treat him like a second parent.

The village chief was very worried about Mr. Ruan's pension. One day, he was told by his mother-in-law that Mr. Ruan was going to a market, and when he came back, he suddenly picked up a baby boy who was under the age of [-] on the side of the mountain road!

That's okay, the whole village was aroused by this matter, just because of the abandoned baby boy, it was worthy of discussion among the villagers.

In fact, abandoned babies are not uncommon. There was no family planning in the 80s and [-]s, and one after another was born. At that time, they were poor and there was not enough food. Some babies born later were drowned by their parents, and some were thrown into the fields or The curb fends for itself.But this city has already entered the new century. Even though it is just a backward mountain village, the ration problem has been completely solved, and it is unreasonable to abandon babies.

The villagers gathered in front of Mr. Ruan's house, accusing the parents of throwing away the baby, saying that they were goddamn unconscionable, and that such a small child could be thrown away.

Some people said that it would be understandable if a baby girl was lost, but it would be unbelievable to lose a baby boy. That baby must be a sick child.

In the room, Mr. Ruan and the village doctor were examining the body of the baby who was brought back. After some observation and questioning, they came to a preliminary conclusion that the baby boy just had a high fever, and there were no other problems for the time being.

Hearing that the baby boy was not suffering from intractable diseases, the villagers were filled with righteous indignation, accusing the baby boy's parents of leaving the baby alone after birth. How to speak, to bring the baby boy home and raise him as his own son.

Teacher Ruan felt disturbed when he heard the noisy discussion outside. The village doctor was inside to physically cool down the baby, so he turned around and went out. He said to the villagers blocking the door with a bad face: "Fathers, folks, go home first. Come on, it's almost night, so we'll talk about it tomorrow if we have anything to say."

Some people left, and some people still looked at the child in the room reluctantly. Their intentions couldn't be more obvious. Teacher Ruan could only sigh and said: "This child is not from our place. When he recovers, I will take him away." Send him to the town police station to help him find his parents."

The villagers felt that his idea was too naive, and said in an exaggerated tone: "Mr. Ruan, don't waste your time. There are tens of thousands of abandoned babies in our villages every year. If the police station is in charge of everyone, where did they come from?" So much food to feed them. If you still give him to those families in our village who can’t have a son, everyone will keep their heads down all day without looking up, and they will not abuse him if they know the basics.”

Teacher Ruan said, "It's getting dark, let's talk about it later."

After the baby boy's fever subsided, Teacher Ruan made rice porridge for him. He had never taken care of the baby, so he could only take care of the baby with the way he learned from books. I took the ride to the town and went to the town police station.

The police station in the town was short-staffed, and because of poor security, they were busy every day, so they couldn’t handle a small abandoned baby. The policewoman in the office simply asked Teacher Ruan to take the baby boy back to raise herself, and then ignored him. him.

After Mr. Ruan was rejected by the policewoman, he had to go back with the baby in his arms. This was not an option. When he passed by the supply and marketing cooperative, he gritted his teeth, went in and bought two packs of cheap milk powder, and brought the baby boy back to the village. Decided to take care of myself.

The villagers were worried that he would not be able to raise a child as a bachelor, so they tried to persuade him to give the child to someone else, but the village chief really supported him, saying that if he had a child, he would have someone to take care of him in the future, so the matter was settled like this.

The baby boy grew up little by little under Teacher Ruan's careful care. He was indeed a filial child who could help Teacher Ruan with work and take care of Teacher Ruan.

Shi Zai also saw the old man, with a vain smile on his face, and replied: "Yes, today is the last day of the grandpa, I'll go burn incense for him."

The old man said heartily: "Well, you can go, before it rains heavily, go early and return early, be careful on the road, don't fall on the slippery road."

Ruan Xishi responded with a grunt, and carried the heavy basket to the foot of the mountain.

The old man watched him go up the mountain, then shook his head and said to himself: "Teacher Ruan, you are blessed. What will you do with such a filial grandson when he is alone? You are too willing to let him go. went so early."