Text | Although Hu Yanping has lived in a high-rise building for many years, I still miss the old house in a century-old alley. The alley is hidden in a prosperous place, which is more than 200 meters long. When I was a child, I liked to play near the alley after school and only

text | Hu Yanping

Although I have lived in a high-rise building for many years, I still miss the old house in a century-old alley. The alley hides in a prosperous place, which is more than 200 meters long.

When I was a child, I liked to play near the alley after school. I only went home after smelling the smell of rice. In the summer evening, I was shaking a bamboo chair on the terrace to cool off, listening to the storytelling radio, and not saying goodbye to my friends until the dew was exposed.

There is a saying in the old alley: living to the age of sixty is only considered junior college students, over the age of seventy is undergraduate students, over the age of eighty is master students, over the age of ninety is doctoral students, and over the age of hundred is postdoctoral students. Most of the elderly here die after they are eighty years old, and the neighbors don’t feel too sad - they are considered a “master” at least.

Every year on Double Ninth Festival, the alleys are particularly lively, with lights decorated, a row of tables are placed, fruits and pastries are placed, and each housewife gives out a specialty dish. The elderly sit on the main table, and the sound of pots and pans comes from time to time, and the fireworks spread throughout the festival.

In order to show off on this day, the housewives also prepare ingredients early, choose good meal plates, learn to place plates, and even practice knife skills in advance. Some people go to their relatives' homes to learn first. If they receive unanimous praise from the elderly, it is a very glorious thing and can be proud for several days.

Crab, chrysanthemum wine, brown sugar glutinous rice cake , lotus root soup, tofu stewed meatballs, chestnut roast chicken, etc. are served in turn. Pour the wine and tea. At this time, some people took out two large plates of longevity peaches and tasted them. They turned out to be steamed buns. They turned out to be made of flour into the shape of peaches and then lit the red color of roses. It's so talented!

Adults and children bless the elderly one by one. Often, starting from the youngest, the babbling dolls will say: "I wish grandparents, good fortune is like East China Sea , and longevity is better than the southern mountains!" With cute actions, they attract a lot of applause. The student doll even prepared the speech in advance. I remember one year when I was in junior high school, I quoted " Mulan generation of fathers in the army", and "Respect the elderly and the elderly" of Mencius . When blessing the elderly, I suggested that everyone "not only care about the elderly at home, but also the elderly around me", which attracted a lot of applause.

Some elderly children have a promising future. They bought a big house outside to take the elderly to live there. They will come back on Double Ninth Festival. Grandma Huang pulled the old neighbors and said, "It's still lively here, and the neighbors on the street are caring. When you go out to live, you will close your doors. I think about it every day."

Laughs, blessings, and clinking cups intertwined into a sea of ​​joy. Even kittens and dogs no longer play and eat quietly. At that time, the supplies were not abundant. A big dish was the food expenses for ordinary families for a few days, but every household was willing to take out the best dishes. These carefully prepared dishes carried not only food skills, but also a traditional virtue of respecting and loving the elderly, as well as a strong neighborhood affection.

The Double Ninth Festival in early autumn is not the hot summer, nor the chill of late autumn, but the refreshing autumn wind. As the afternoon banquet dissipated, the noise of children spread across the alley in the wind. The grandmother on the boss's bench was still smiling so kindly, and the swaying osmanthus tree stretched in the warm sun.

Nowadays, the people in the old house have moved away one after another, bluestone roads, osmanthus trees, bamboo beds... and the fireworks, as well as the interrelated photos between people have become long-standing memories, and it may be beautiful to have these memories.

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