At that time, children were bitter, but they could also have fun in suffering. We have many cousins. I am the youngest girl and the most favored one. I have been mowing grass with them since I was a child, saying that work is actually play.
There were many unknown flowers and plants in the country at that time. At that time, there were no pesticides and fertilizers, and weeding was all done by hand. At that time, it was still a big group. In order to increase nutrients, a lot of safflower seedlings (clover) are planted in the field, which is convenient for composting seedlings.
It seems that at the end of March, red flowers are in full bloom everywhere, and pink and purple are everywhere, which makes people shudder. How beautiful! I can't describe it! We children say that we are looking for pig grass in the field, but we are actually pretending to be crazy.
My sisters picked a lot of flowers to weave garlands on my head, and then they circled around me like monsters. I dressed up like a silly girl and giggled with them.
Sisters danced hand in hand in circles, lost their handkerchiefs, and the fields were badly ruined. They are always looking for pig grass in the well-meaning shouts of adults.
There is always a lot of grass in the field. From spring grass to rice fields, there seems to be endless pig grass. There are wild vegetables (shepherd's purse), grass, plantain growing on the ridge of crispy rice grass, and a hemostatic grass called Malantou, which we use to knead into juice and apply to it when we cut our hands.
In addition, there are convolvulus, Tongquan grass and hairy rabbit ear grass, all of which are favorite foods for pigs, unlike the fast fattening now.
Sometimes we will look for pig grass on the ridge of the wheat field. There are still wisps in the wheat field, which can also be used to feed pigs. The children hid on the edge of the wheat field and said they were looking for pig grass, but they couldn't help picking green broad beans (we called them big green worms) to eat. It is a little astringent, but it is definitely a green product.
If we really can't find pig grass, we will cut mulberry leaves and pick some mulberry fruits to eat, sweet and full of purple.
We also catch some grasshoppers when mowing the grass, tie them to branches with thread, and catch some unknown small fish, which is a feeling that children can't understand now.
In May, the fingernail Sophora japonica bloomed, and a string of white Sophora japonica hung all over the branches, lush and green, looking so cute.
Clusters of flowers are crystal clear and white, so we can't help taking them home for pigs to eat. In fact, I didn't even know that Sophora japonica smells good when making cakes!
It's almost summer, and a lot of grass grows in the sweet potato field, including the lantern grass, the old woman, and grandma grey grass who took me to clean up the weeds in the field.
Most children don't like being with adults, but I like listening to grandma sing local songs, and I can still remember those lyrics.
In "The Names of Ancient People in December":
In the first month, plum blossoms are reported in early spring, and Taishan Bo is welcomed in Hangzhou. Hang Cheng has studied for three years, but he doesn't know English and the beauty of Taiwan Province.
"Cross" is also a minor that Grandma often sings:
Write a word and a gun. One day, Emperor Yang Dalang put a vertical in the middle of the word, which ambushed the overlord of Chu.
From these ancient tunes, I know a lot of historical stories, folklore and the truth of being a man.
Now grandma has been dead for many years, but I often dream of being with her and don't want to wake up. Grandma is wearing white home textiles, and the scene of grandparents singing and playing in the fields will always be fixed in my memory!
There was no grass at the turn of summer and autumn, so our sisters went to the riverside aunt's house to cut grass with baskets. There is a wicker beach on the river bank, where unknown waterfowl and wild ducks fly (we also come in spring, and there are many small crabs that we take home to make cakes. Now that I think about it, killing people is a crime. There are many wild Artemisia (now it has entered the dining table and boarded the elegant hall), Sedum sarmentosum, Oenanthe javanica and duck grass on the river beach.
We have a mysterious feeling about this river, and we always want to go deep into the depths of the wicker beach, but our sisters are in charge. Finally, once my brother and I sneaked into the depths when they were not looking, and only saw the bone of a sheep, which scared us to hurry back.
When we approached the shore, the tide just came in, and the water in the channel was very fast. At that time, adults were too busy to care about us. In order not to let the children go to the river, they all scared us: there are hairy monkeys and ghosts in the water, so be careful that ghosts pull your feet.
Every time I go to the river, I'm afraid of being caught by a hairy monkey. My brother dragged me to run like hell. When I fled to the shore, the wicker beach by the river had flooded into the middle!
In this way, childhood faded away in the wild play of cutting pig grass. At that time, we went to many surrounding areas by mowing grass. I heard that a child behind the village actually got on a flight to Shanghai with a basket on his back and showed it off for many years after returning home!
At that time, unlike today's children who are obsessed with the internet and have no toys, we cut a dagger and gun with wood and made slingshots to shoot birds. Girls can play with paper happily all day.
Time is like the water of the Yangtze River, and life is like four seasons. The fragrant and beautiful spring has gone, and the lush summer has just passed. Now it is the autumn of life, far from the cold winter.
At that time, that person, that thing will never happen again. Rural land has been expropriated and replaced by high-rise buildings and factories, inhaling pm2.5, eating plants and animals that are said to accelerate growth and ripen with edible oil, and childhood will always remain in deep memories.
Author: Gao Gang/Lu. (WeChat official account: Huangqiao Literature)
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