A Young Man's Adventures in Mowing
Author: Ji Jianjun
The sun was so red that it was about to explode. In order to get food from the dragon's mouth, the adults kept cutting, binding, pulling, threshing and grinding the wheat. , raising wheat, piling wheat straw - there is always endless work to do, and the sweat mixed with the dirt formed by the raised soil is covered with dirt on the body. They are gray-headed and disgraced. They don't even care about their three meals a day, let alone We the dolls. During this special period, we all became left-behind children without exception, and had to take care of eating and sleeping by ourselves.
Scene of people cutting wheat in Huazhou Photographed by Liu Huanmin
The children were left alone, and the school was on busy vacation, so they all spent their time early, but the other living creatures in the house suffered. As soon as they entered the backyard: chickens Flying dogs and jumping pigs grunted, chicken droppings were all over the yard, and the pigs were so hungry that they gnawed the bricks of the pig pen until they were full of tooth marks... There was no way, the adults couldn't take care of it, and the kids couldn't rely on it!
I was eleven or twelve years old at the time. According to my mother’s arrangement, all the dozen chickens, two big fat pigs, and two sheep that we had at home were given to me. Why? Of the three brothers, I am the eldest, the most honest, do not like to cause trouble and have a strong sense of responsibility. The second and third brothers are young and playful, so leaving the livelihood to them is undoubtedly a waste of time. Besides, those two generations of workers have already gone to nowhere when they are on vacation, and no one can be seen. Why do you still want them to work?
I get up before dawn every morning, first boil a pot full of bran and corn husks, mix in the chopped grass, feed the chickens and pigs, and then carry a wheat bran cage and put the rusty wheat bran into it. I put the sickle on my waist, took the two sheep, and headed to the south slope in the cool air.
Why go to Nanpo? The southern slope has the most vines (official name: Humulus ). My two fat pigs and a dozen chickens have the same affection for other grasses, but they have a perverted and stubborn love for vines. Later I learned that Humulus humulus belongs to the same family as hops , and the beer brewed from its flower buds is no worse than hops. The two foodies in the family are greedy for the beer aroma!
玎门子
No matter what the reason is, their lust for words has harmed me, the lawnmower. The whole body of the vine is covered with dense and fine thorns from the stem to the leaves. If they touch the body, they will stick. If they are to be torn off, they will often leave a deep blood mark. It is not easy for a 12- or 13-year-old child to cut a basket of grass like this every day. His body and face are covered with blood, old wounds have not healed, and new ones have appeared. After cutting a basket of grass, his hands and arms are basically gone. Even if some spots are lucky enough to retain the inherent yellow skin color of people, they will be quickly soaked with dark green grass juice, just like the coloring process in art class.
I led the sheep to a wasteland with dense vegetation, then inserted the iron at the front end of the sheep rope into the ground, and carried the cage to the bottom of the ditch next to it. The ditch was half a person deep, and it was covered with vines. I carefully opened a path in the grass, trying to make as much noise as possible to prevent snakes. After making sure it was safe, he used a sickle to draw a piece of bare ground, then put down the cage and began to use a sickle to cut off the young leaves of the vine and the vines like swimming dragons bit by bit. The bloody mark on my hand was already numb, and I couldn't care less about the pain. I wanted to end the battle before noon and go back to cook.
Sweat was flowing down all the time, and my back and chest were already soaked. The shabby sweatshirt did not absorb sweat at all and clung to my thin body, like a greasy towel soaked in water. My eyes were soaked with sweat, sore and painful. I could only lift up my clothes and wipe the sweat from my eyes over and over again. I also had to look up the ditch from time to time to prevent the sheep from breaking free from the rope and running away.
The sun is getting brighter and the temperature is getting higher and higher. I am mowing the grass hard and I don’t feel hungry at all. Because it is too hot, my stomach and intestines have probably lost their ability to work and are in a dormant period. The cage of grass was about to be full, but I could still lift it after trying. I planned to cut some more grass leaves to compact the cage, and then go home.
Cutting the grass
At this time, a strong yet childish voice sounded: "Who is going to cut the grass in my house?"
I followed the sound and saw a young man who was one or two years older than me and dressed in a fashionable manner. He had a sparse beard and a bunch of yellow hair on his head, and he was holding a lit cigarette in his hand. His sudden appearance made my heart skip a beat. I knew that people dressed like this were generally not good-looking! I glared at him and continued mowing my grass.
"Ah! You don't recognize me yet. I'm asking you a question! Why are you cutting the grass in my house?" He refused.
"The grass in your house? Just scream and the grass will promise you!" I said angrily to him.
"It's not easy to be a coward! How dare you stop being angry with me! Leave the grass and the cage behind!"
He took advantage of the situation to go into the ditch. I held the sickle tightly to protect me. When he saw me like this, he took a step back. It didn't matter this moment, he fell into the ditch immediately.
"Oh! Now I've confessed, I've confessed!" he shouted, and it seemed that he was pulled hard by the manzi.
When I saw this, I quickly picked up the cage and climbed into the ditch. Turning around to see him slowly getting up, his body was covered with the slender branches of the vine. He picked the branches one by one, his face full of pain. I was so angry and funny when I saw this, I picked up a tree root on the ground, handed one end to him, and pulled him up.
I helped him clean the scars on his body, and there were blood marks on his body. Only then did I realize that the scars on me were just simple scratches, but on some people, they were not only scratches, but also both. allergic reaction. Moreover, the thorns of the vines should be poisonous. After scratching the skin, not only will the wound become red, but it will also become red and swollen. He grinned and looked at the red and swollen marks on his body, feeling annoyed!
Unexpectedly, he grabbed me as soon as he regained his composure and said viciously: "If you don't give me the cage and grass, you can't leave!"
I was caught off guard by this sudden turn of events. , but I calmed down quickly. I wiped the sweat from my face with my hand and wiped it on the red mark on his arm. He was taken aback and soon let go of his hand in pain. I took the opportunity to pick up the grass and ran to the place where the sheep were tied, pulled out the steel drill, drove the sheep away and trotted down the south slope.
I don’t know how long I walked before I dared to look back to see if he had caught up. It wasn't until I got home that I calmed down completely. By this time, my whole body was paralyzed and I sat on the stone pier at the door for a long time, unable to get up.
Since then, I have never dared to go to the south slope to mow the grass again.
Picture and text source: Lao Wu Storytelling
Original author: Ji Jianjun
Compilation and editing: Lao Wu Storytelling, Huazhou Literature and History Collection
