Excerpted from my collection of essays "People Walking Out of the Village" published by Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House. There are currently some signed copies, and I look forward to your support.
That day, it was almost twelve o’clock after the Qingming Festival. The younger brother hooked up half a basket of toon heads from somewhere, as well as the malan heads picked by his sister-in-law, and the shepherd's purses dug by his mother the day before. There was smoke from the pot house, and the food was fragrant. A circle of tempting "game" was soon placed on the small table, which also aroused my taste buds.
Holding a piece of fragrant sprouts and scrambled eggs, I suddenly remembered that my father once said that if he didn't like eating this dish, he disliked the unpleasant taste. But I remember that my father loved toon trees very much during his lifetime. There used to be thick shadows of toon trees in front and back of this house.
The trees in the village actually do not require anyone to plant them. Neem trees, willow trees, catalpa trees, water birch trees, and mulberry trees all grow freely from their seeds and are densely packed. When it was about the thickness of a thumb, some were cut off because they were too dense and used as fences and firewood, while others were used to support the weak bodies of beans and gourds. The remaining saplings are all upright and pleasing to the eye. These seedlings grow in the shade of trees and change their shape in a few years, looking tall and green. Houses that are high or low, large or small, delicate or ugly are all wrapped in them, giving it a forest-like feel from afar.
Few of the trees are upright, and even when they are mature, they are of little use. When making furniture, you need to make scraps and crosspieces. For long materials, just take short saws and saw some wooden boards to make the back and partitions. For those who make fabrics, not only will the cracks become warped within two years, they will look so ugly that even I can’t stand them.
When the family was separated, the old house was divided between my brother and I. The father lived with his young son who had not yet married, and they built three bungalows behind the village. In addition to a drying area, my father planted more than twenty saplings of all colors.
When I planted these trees, I was running around in the land of Shanghai.
Once I went home to celebrate the New Year and asked him why he planted toon trees? My father said that the toon tree is of good quality and can be used for sawing boards and making knots. The color is also beautiful, comparable to mahogany and does not require painting. He also said that when the materials are ready, they will build a large table and bench for each of our families in a high-end style.
My father was in his sixties at the time and had a strong body. Although we work hard outside and earn money, our income is limited. When I go home at the end of the year, village cadres have to come to collect agricultural taxes and waterlogging machinery fees. Seventy-eight percent of the annual income will be deducted. I also have to visit relatives in the first month of the year. I have to leave some round trip expenses and a mess of pocket money, so there is not much left. , apart from buying some gifts, there is no money to give to parents. They didn't even ask for it. They planted the land we were allocated, but if it wasn't enough, they planted a few acres of other people's land, even though the income was not high.
My father often looked at the growing taller and rougher Chinese chrysanthemum trees with a sunny smile on his face. But my mother didn't give him face. She said to me, don't listen to your elder brother. He planted trees to make money, and she was worried about your brother.
When I mentioned my brother, I sighed.
When I opened a glass shop in Laozhou, I also allocated part of the capital to help him open a small shop in Laowan. Later, he learned how to make big cakes, and all the wheat his parents harvested were given to him. One morning, as he was preparing to go out, his father came home and asked him for money for wheat. . His father was so angry that he found a tree stick to beat him, but he wouldn't run away. He occasionally raised his arm to block him. Later, the tree stick broke, but his father's anger was still there. I stood on the edge without stopping my father. I wished I could find a stronger stick for my father.
Before the Lantern Festival, he was "kicked out" by his father when he was in his twenties. The first time I went out, I went to Changshu to find him. I followed him to place orders and pick fish ponds. The next year I went to Shanghai, and he was still in Xinzhuang. Later I heard that he went to the suburbs of Changshu again, but no longer shipped goods, and he helped fellow villagers open a coal cake factory. There are people who are doing well and have face and reputation, but when they really need money, they can't come up with it. There are also women, but none of them can take them home to meet their relatives.
A home without women is not a family. The family members were anxious, especially the parents, who asked relatives and matchmakers to inquire. I also thought about raising the bungalow to make the home more substantial. My son is tall and handsome, so it shouldn't be difficult to find a wife.
The Chinese toon tree grows stronger every year. If it is knocked down, it can be used as roof strips.
Every day in the village, there are voices of tree harvesters shouting. Many trees on homesteads and vegetable fields have been sold, and the village suddenly becomes brighter.
These harvesters have a special skill in tree planting. They don't use shovels or axes to twist the roots of trees. They hold their portable chainsaws close to the ground and circle around the tree with a "buzzing" sound. They put on a rope and pull it, and the big tree explodes. Fall down. Then it was cut into sections and loaded onto the tractor, leaving only some scattered branches.
Someone also asked my father whether toon was for sale. The price was much higher than that of water birch. He shook his head.
My father's hair is half gray, and my brother's marriage is still unsettled. Every year when I go home during the Qingming Festival, my younger brother always hooks some toon buds into scrambled eggs. His father doesn't allow him to do so, saying it affects the growth of the tree. He also says that the toon heads have a pungent smell and are not tasty.
But when the younger brother really went to hook the hook, his father didn’t stop him. When a bowl of crispy yellow and fragrant toon scrambled eggs was brought to the table, he really didn't move his chopsticks. He just looked at our happy faces and grinned.
But when he turned around, there seemed to be clouds of sadness piling up on his face like a tree bark again. I comforted him, as turtles have their own paths and turtles have their own path, don't worry, everything will be fine.
One year when I came home during the Mid-Autumn Festival, I found caterpillars all over my house. winter. I just think this toon is a bit annoying. In the winter of that year, my younger brother who ran a logistics company suddenly came home. His bungalow was upgraded to a building, renovated, and he bought a Simmons sofa. After the Chinese New Year, he got married.
None of my father’s toon trees were used. In fact, carpenters no longer made furniture. The finished cabinets were cheap, light, and exquisite. Before the call to harvest the trees could be heard, my father sold the trees. Then a small vegetable patch was opened, and a few loquat and orange trees were planted along the road.
......
On the day of return, I squatted in front of the door and waited for my mother to go to the vegetable field to shovel vegetables and take them home. I accidentally saw the traces of several tree stumps, and the growth rings of the years and my father's smile were somewhat blurred. The past is becoming clearer.