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Head east from Dazu County and take an hour's bus ride to Huilong Town. Huilong Town borders Xiaolin Township, Tongliang County in the north, and is about 30 kilometers away from Tongliang County. In 1989, I took my students to visit the memorial hall of martyr Qiu Shaoyun, the hero of the War to Resist U. S. Aggression and Aid Korea. The martyrs' monument standing in front of the memorial hall is 15 meters high. On the top of the monument is a 5-meter-high bronze statue of the martyrs. The title of the monument was inscribed by Commander-in-Chief Zhu. It is adjacent to Baoding Town and Zhifeng Town to the west. Baoding Mountain in Baoding Town is the main location of the world-famous Dazu Rock Carvings. It has the largest, highest artistic value and best-preserved Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara statue in the world. I don't know what Zhifeng Town is about, I only know that it is the hometown of Master Zhao Zhifeng, the founder of Dazu Rock Carvings. It is adjacent to Jinshan Town in the south.

Hunger can drive you crazy and lose all passion. Indeed. Rural cartoonist Liu Depu used to be very good at talking to himself, talking to himself like a lunatic. This may be inseparable from his career in artistic creation. But my once wild imagination suddenly became dull. I don't know if it was due to my recent bad mood or hunger. In short, the several selves that could be separated in my heart were nagging each other so much that I don't know where they have shrunk now. Only the original aging self is left, abandoned at home by my wife who has been living in her parents' house for half a month. Every day, my stomach is empty and I am too lazy to cook. I glance at my face in the mirror on the wall, and it is all yellowish. So I smiled bitterly, laughed at myself secretly, and went to cook.

In the evening, the bell rang, emitting a breathtaking buzzing sound that rippled and swirled in the village, in the ravines, and could be heard on the entire plateau. This bell hasn't rung for almost a year. Why is it ringing now? People in the ancient plains felt more cordial after hearing this. The old people felt even more excited. Because, most of their lives are spent with the sound of bells. Therefore, they miss the sun and moon that ring the bell. But since the old village chief left for work last spring, the bell has lost its sound. The villagers went straight to the place where the bell was ringing in twos and threes. The village is located on the plateau and has a nice name: Guyuan. The village is not small, and it occupies a lot of land. It is almost covered with a ditch. Said to be a ditch, it is actually a plateau between two plateaus.

Later, I often thought that if it weren't for Song Sannizi and Song Chunli, my second brother would have gone to the city to work as a worker. His fate might have been different, and he wouldn't have done that big thing that shocked the world. Later, I often thought that if that big thing had not failed halfway, my second brother would not have eloped with Song Sannizi, and she would eventually become my second sister-in-law. Song Sannizi is a flower in Jiaopo Village. Song Sannizi's beauty lies in her waist and swollen breasts, which make all men's imaginations flutter and their hearts flutter. In fact, when my second brother was about to do that big thing, Song Sannizi already had a husband, and her fiancé was Jiao Yuzhu, the son of the village party secretary Jiao Laoliu.

It was the autumn of 1977 when Zifang joined the medical team organized by the Second Hospital and came to Songkuo Town. By September of the following year, it had already been a year. When they arrived in Songkor, the Songkor People's Hospital had just built a new inpatient department and dormitories, which were clean and spacious. Therefore, the living conditions of this batch were much better than those of the previous batches. It's just that as time goes by, I want to go home. Zifang was on duty the night of the accident. After eating and taking a shower, she went to the ward. At that time, they all loved to study, and the books they read became thicker and thicker. Zifang was also reading a large medical book at that time. By 8:30, they had been sitting for two hours. There was no wind in the room, and when Zifang went to the corridor, there was no wind either. Outside the window was the hillside in the dusk. In the open space where the hospital connected to the hillside, a row of jagged dark gray dots were members of the medical team.

As soon as she arrived at the office building in the morning, Lin Li heard someone shouting, telling her to go to the director's office quickly. Lin Li murmured in her heart, wondering if it was because she didn't have morning exercises this morning. Early winter came early in Shigatse, Houzang. Lin Li, who graduated from Military Medical College, was assigned to the field hospital here for a year and four months. She always felt that she had not had time to truly adapt to the plateau climate here. There was a strong wind howling all night last night. This morning, although he heard the sound of the trumpet, Lin Li felt a little cold and hesitated for a moment without getting up. Lin Li stood timidly by the door of Director Zhang's office. Director Zhang looked at her, smiled and whispered, Xiaolin, sit down. After a pause, Director Zhang said again, I want to inform you to go to the division in the morning. What's up? Lin Li asked nervously.

Doctor of Philosophy Jiang Gongzhi sat in front of the large glass window of the Provincial Party Committee Building, holding his chin with his hands, staring at the various cars on the street outside the building, closing and closing the corners of his mouth, and closing and closing his mouth. He could not control the joy in his heart, but he still laughed out loud. He was completely unprepared for this sudden news. He would never have imagined that he, a stubborn, self-deprecating, stubborn donkey, could actually become a county-level leader. Although Nuwei County is the poorest mountainous county in the province, being sent there as deputy secretary of the county committee can be regarded as a sign of ancestral virtue and Bole's insight. It is because of my father's lifelong integrity, his scholarly demeanor as a teacher, and his ancestors' practice for three generations that this tall and green wormwood tree grew in the graveyard. I heard that there is a river called Nan'er River in Nuwei County that flows through the whole county. Nan'er River in Nuwei County is very romantic. There must be many strange legends here.

The area where the old street is located is called Nancheng. In the early years, the so-called Nancheng in Beijing was also called the Outer City. The east and west cities in the inner city are inhabited by people of status and respectability. It is said that at that time, most of the residences of princes and nobles were located in the West City, and wealthy businessmen mostly lived in the East City; in the South City, it was the territory of ordinary people. Small businessmen, hawkers, actors and actresses, as well as escorts and porters, all gather here. The old street is located at the junction of the inner and outer cities and has always been the liveliest and most prosperous place. At the northern end of the old street, there is Yueshengzhai, which has been famous for hundreds of years. Legend has it that the Queen Mother's favorite food was Yueshengzhai's sauced beef. Every New Year, Yueshengzhai would send dozens of boxes of sauced beef to the palace as tribute. Walking south, you arrive at Dashilan, an old commercial district in Beijing that is famous both at home and abroad. No matter how famous Wangfujing Xidan is, no matter how luxurious Set Yansha is, people in old Beijing still have a soft spot for Dashilar.

Set off early in the morning and return in the evening. Brave hunter, you have walked through two thousand mountains and five hundred rivers, and seen three hundred wolves and fifty foxes. If you want to tell people stories, tell them about wolves, because wolf stories are the best. The dire wolf didn't eat me. I'm alive. He climbed up from the snow, rubbed his eyes with his hands, and slowly opened them. It was still dark, but he was still alive and he was no longer afraid. Just now, a wolf yelled and jumped out from behind the tree. He screamed and collapsed to the ground like a ball of mud. The wolf jumped out so fast that the ice on the branches was thrown out like a shining knife. He saw the wolf pounce on him, he instinctively closed his eyes, and the world turned into darkness. It was already dark, but after he closed his eyes, everything became dark.

After dinner, the landlord Li Baotang was sitting in an armchair in the main room, holding an exquisite purple sand cup in his hand, drinking tea slowly. The doorkeeper hurriedly ran in: "Master, there are three people outside the door, saying they are here to pay back horse money..." "Come in, please come in." Li Baotang waved. Indeed, there are several buyers who still owe money to the Li family for horses. When the Li family sold horses, acquaintances often took the horses away because they didn't have enough money. Most of them gave away their money one after another, but only five or six buyers have not paid back yet. The servant brought Sun Dachin into the yard, pointed to Li Baotang who was waiting at the door of the main room: "The master is waiting, please invite me." Then he turned and went back. Sun Dachin led two people towards Li Baotang.

Now, Yan Snake has an extra bargaining chip in his hand. Yan She bought a minivan two days ago with her lottery winnings. This silver-gray van is now another bargaining chip for him. His first bargaining chip was that he was good at playing the flute. That was five or six years ago. In that urban-rural fringe neighborhood, girls who could play the flute were very popular there. At that time, girls often stopped and watched in front of Yan She's bedroom window. The girls asked the neighbors about Yan She's personal situation. They wanted to get to know Yan She, but Yan She was timid and shy. Before she even spoke to anyone, her face turned red to the root of her neck. The girls liked Yan She in their hearts, and they would go outside Yan She's house to listen to him play the flute whenever they had time. Of course, I have already explained that this was five or six years ago. In the past five or six years, this city has completely changed.

Although Yan Lianke and I are from the same hometown, we are not familiar with each other. I only remember meeting once in the late autumn of 1999 at the "Central Plains Forum" seminar held in Xiaoji, Xinxiang, Henan. We went back to attend this conference as writers from Henan Province working outside the province. In late autumn in the north, the chill is already very obvious. Yan Lianke walked towards him. He was of medium height, with a mature face and a solid build. He was dressed thickly and not neatly, giving people a very heavy feeling. His expression was not alert, he looked gloomy and clumsy. When he stood there, the colorful light shone on him through the gaps between the trees. It was thick and heavy like a rock, but not so hard and cold. In silence, behind him was the desolate and ancient countryside of the Central Plains. The sky is still blue during the day, but you can feel that after the sun disappears, the incomplete night, the moving shadows, and the sleepless sadness are swaying.

The old street is like the appendix of the city, with low walls and gray tiles, and smoke curling up from cooking stoves. I will live here for the rest of my life, grow up here, and be different from here. The past events are vivid and my dreams are lingering in my soul. The saying is: The most beautiful thing is the Mid-Autumn Moon, and the closest friends are the people in the streets. It is reported that the old streets will disappear soon due to the renovation of the old city. After hearing about it, I tossed and turned for a long time, unable to let go. My old neighbor's voice and appearance were the same as yesterday, so I jotted them down and talked about them. People in Jingshuiyue Street call their wives not "wife" but "wife". Jing Shuiyue is Zheng Laohan's wife. The moon in the well water looks like a curved moon in the water. It is watery and white. But Zheng Laohan is taller and thicker than Li Kui with a black face. The two of them were sitting together, just like the old saying: "Flowers are stuck in cow dung." But when the bastard looked at the mung bean, the two of them had an eye for each other. "What do you want me to ask about Laohan? I just want him to be a good person!" Jing Shuiyue said.

Village Chief Long thought for a night and decided to change the name of his youngest son Long Tongsuo. Early the next morning, the village chief went to the village primary school to find Teacher Tang. "Let's call it twist lock." Teacher Tang guessed the village chief's thoughts and pretended to read a few dictionaries before saying, "It means transfer." Hearing the name, the village chief laughed loudly. The two of them stood under a row of poplar trees, and suddenly they felt a tremor on the ground, and even the leaves of the poplar trees could not stop themselves from trembling in pain. "Old guy, you're beating Hu Ji again." "Isn't Zhou Shuyi's house built yet?" Teacher Tang looked in the direction of old Zhou's house on the opposite hillside. "It should be soon, Lao Zhou's Hu Ji has been fighting for three years." The village chief's smile became more meaningful.

A bowl of old soup is the treasure of the Chen family. A bowl of old soup has been stewed over and over until the Republic of China, and from the Republic of China to yesterday. The sauced meat stewed in the old soup is famous at home and abroad. How many vicissitudes of the world have been stewed in the old soup? Mr. Chen's sauced pork tastes different from other people's sauced pork. When I was old, the shopkeeper wanted to eat soybean meat, so he sent his apprentice to buy it. The apprentice was lazy and found a nearby place to buy it. As soon as the shopkeeper ate it, he slapped him in the face: "This soybean meat tastes like wood residue. Buy half a catty of Chenji soybean meat!" You see, Tianjin people can't live without Chenji soybean meat. What is the difference between Lao Tianjin Wei Chenji Sauce Pork and other people's sauce pork? I can't say it's famous, but it just tastes different. Chen Kee Sauce Pork tastes just like Chen Kee Sauce Pork. The sauce pork sold by others cannot produce this taste.

A long time ago, my family lived in a remote mountain village in the middle of the "Yishunzhao" wilderness. The so-called "Yishunzhao" is actually an irregular wasteland in the west of the Songnen Alluvial Plain, which is now the land in Datong District, Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province. I heard from my grandfather that they migrated from the south at the beginning of the last century. At that time, there were only five households living together in the village, so it was named "Five Big Households". Although it was already in the early 1950s when I remembered, the beautiful scenery of the grassland, the life-threatening battle between humans and wolves for territory, and the ghostly performances of the "Two Immortals" in the human world are still vivid in my mind. Although the grasslands at that time were sparsely populated, thrilling noises could be heard from every remote village from time to time.

When I was twelve years old, I could just turn the wheel. A dark, thin and frail boy cannot yet be called a man. If he can turn the wheel, it means that he has begun to do the work that a man should do. In our dry and heavy loess plateau, it is a heavy physical labor to pick up a bucket, turn the windlass, and carry water from the well platform. In any house, if the men are outside and the women are walking down the alley with hunched shoulders, staggering, and splashing water, even the houses on both sides will cast pity on them. When a man comes back, the first thing he does is carry a bucket to the well to fetch water. A man who lives not far from home must fill up his water tank when he returns home after a while before he can leave with peace of mind. To measure whether a man is diligent or lazy, just look at the water in the tank.

When the light spot climbed up the street, the reflection from the ice sheet dazzled Wu Chengshui's eyes. At this time, Wu Chengshui finished the last hammer blow and put away the stove, and the day's work was completed. But the day's schedule is not over yet. Since the Yuchuantan Hydropower Station began to store water, he and Heizi would come to the embankment of the Zhong Pier on time every day to look at the waterline, the way the Youshui gradually became plentiful, and the motor boats in the river and the birds on the water. Usually at times like this, he would light a cigarette and squat on the stone bench, and Heizi would come forward and squat with him, watching honestly. People who like to joke say that Heizi and Mr. Shui are in love with each other. Wu Chengshui was not angry after hearing this, thinking that a dog with human nature is better than a wife with no human nature. In fact, upon closer inspection, the place where Wu Chengshui squats now was not the river embankment, but his family's old house.

I know that my arrival will interrupt Lao Yu's memories if I am not careful. To put it more seriously, it will add unknown fine sand into Lao Yu's rough narrative, but I have to say that I did not mean it. In the summer of 2017, as a tourist, I came to "Shui Mo Ningxi" and met a monk named "Yumu" who had returned to secular life. We visited, chatted, and ate wine and meat together. We also chatted with Siwaniang for a while on the verandah beside Ningxi. When she heard that I was half-understanding about stones with Yamu, she took out her mobile phone calmly and generously, picked out a picture and pointed it out to us. It was a stone dug out of the foundation when their family built a house. She looked very proud. I looked at it carefully for a while and felt that the shape of this stone looked a bit like a Bodhisattva. Of course, I dare not say that the village woman in front of me also has the charm of a Bodhisattva.

Xia Laoyu woke up from his sleep at ten o'clock, pulled on his shoes and walked to the well in the east of the village, where he washed his face and drank some water. There was a stone as big as a millstone beside the well. He sat down and took out his cigarette bag. Nowadays, no one rolls dry cigarettes in the village. The old people over seventy years old are holding Zhongnanhai. If it were not for the divorce, Xia Laoyu would not pick it up again. It's a February day in early spring. Everyone in the village went to the ground to check the moisture. A few sparrows were chirping in the trees. When Xia Laoyu accidentally fell to the well to drink water. Xia Laoyu stared at the mouth of the well in a daze. A pair of young people in the village passed by, holding hands, without even looking at him. When he raised his head, the sparrow flew away. A woman as fat as a bucket walked quickly by the well and looked at the old fish with a strange look. When she saw that the old fish looked at her, he immediately turned his face away. This is the wife of the village accountant Han Erwang.

As the saying goes, if you are ignorant, you will plant seeds in the clear. After Li Yangzai threw the rice into the rice field, he turned around and hurried home. Before he entered the house, he heard his six-year-old grandson shouting one after another, "I'm done with my voice, I'm done with my voice." From a distance, Li Yangzai saw this little guy squatting under some old trees in front of the house with his butt stuck out and a pile of feces under his butt, shouting and playing with a small bug on the ground without raising his head. Li Yangzai also saw his father, who was in his seventies, sitting at the gate and playing with a pair of steel balls to practice his hand strength. His eyes were looking at the peach blossom tree on the side of the house. Like an old scholar who had learned a lot, he sang with a very expressive voice: " Last year, in this door, the peach blossoms reflected each other's faces. I don't know where they are, but the peach blossoms are still smiling in the spring breeze." Li Yangzai dismissed his father's detached attitude of not eating the fireworks of the world and having nothing to do with himself, and walked straight into the house.

At the beginning of the century, rural China was undergoing a far-reaching green revolution. For thousands of years, farmers have cut firewood and gathered grass for heating and cooking, which is almost natural. No one connects it with "energy consumption". Compared with the huge industrial energy of petroleum, coal and electricity, rural energy consumption seems insignificant and no one takes it seriously. People have ignored common sense. Just because rural areas rely on the consumption of bioenergy, the energy supply in rural areas completely depends on nature. With demands increasing day by day, the environment's ability to withstand it is approaching a crisis point. Green mountains and green waters are all in the countryside, which conserves the land and protects the environment. The atmosphere, water, sunshine, and the countryside are their patron saints. Once the rural environment is destroyed, a terrible environmental crisis will inevitably break out.

On the twelfth lunar month day, the mountains were covered with brown and yellow dry wormwood. The snow that had fallen a few days ago was stuck on the mountain trail, making the sound of bones breaking when stepped on. As the New Year is approaching, some people order tofu in the evening, carry a wooden bucket, and use a horse spoon to ladle the slurry water into the steaming iron pot. There was a sound of pigs squealing in the open space in the distance, and people who wanted to see some tofu flocked to that open space. The pig was hung under a pear tree that stretched upward like a dragon's claws, and its disembowelment was opened. A group of children gathered around to play with pig urine. When the little girl named Chou Chou saw a lame man walking down the road carrying a yellow canvas satchel, he shouted: "Dad, grandpa wants you to cut the meat."

On the morning of the 16th day of the first lunar month, we met Chai Xiaoshui again. In Chaiyao Village, everyone will feel that something is missing if they don't see Chai Xiaoshui one day. There is nothing special about Chai Xiaoshui himself. In the plains of eastern Henan, you can easily see such farmers. They are thin, dark-skinned, and have eyes that look like they have just woken up from sleep, but are gentle, bright, and make people feel friendly. But for some reason, whenever Chai Xiaoshui is mentioned, we always have endless topics to talk about. When Chai Xiaoshui appeared at the entrance of the village, he must have a shovel on his shoulder. Wherever Chai Xiaoshui went, as long as the road surface was uneven, he would use the shovel in his hand to dig out soil from nearby, lay it on the low-lying areas, and then trample the new soil firmly and level it. Chai Xiaoshui is a restless person. You can say that Chai Xiaoshui is the labor force of the whole village. Even a three-year-old child can call on him at any time.

Wolf Chengfan's son was bitten by a wolf when Wolf Chengfan was chasing that damn rabbit. The rabbit noticed that someone was quietly approaching it, raised its two pointed ears, and then squatted on the ground, raising its body high and watching the person alertly, ready to escape at any time. At this moment, he raised the shotgun, aimed at the rabbit's front blade and pulled the trigger. There was a "boom", and the smoke from the turret and gun barrel blocked his sight. He quickly tilted his head and saw a cloud of dust rising around the rabbit, and the rabbit was limping out of the smoke and escaping with one leg.

Bitter Oak Valley got its name from the bitter oak tree at the entrance of the village. There are only two families in Kuyugou, one with the surname of Liu and the other with the surname of Lin. It is said that their ancestors were Taiping Army soldiers. After their defeat, they hid in this isolated place in order to escape the pursuit of officers and soldiers. Later, they cut grass and built sheds, opened up mountains and opened up land, and later retained those begging, fleeing, and crazy women, married them, and produced offspring. Just die and marry. By the 1980s, there were still only two families in Kujugou, with a total of four people. There is only a hurdle between the two families. In the upper house lives the Lin family, whose mother's name is Chunlan, and whose son's name is Qingmiao; in the lower house lives the Liu family, whose mother's name is Fengmei and whose daughter's name is Cuiyue. Fengmei and Chunlan are like sisters. They fled the famine together and married to Kujuegou. Unfortunately, their men were both "short-lived ghosts" and they left one offspring and hurriedly "returned to the west". The two sisters had no choice but to rely on each other, help each other, maintain their lives together, and raise their children.

Lao Han has had bad luck in the past five years. The people said it was bad luck. Lao Han originally had a pretty good family. Five years ago, on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, the only son got married and married a pretty young daughter-in-law. The little daughter-in-law is handsome, hard-working, and has a sweet mouth. There is a father in one mouth and a mother in the other, which makes the old couple feel happy. The old couple is looking forward to having a fat grandson in the next year. But who would have known that one evening in late autumn of this year, my son drove a farm tricycle to deliver goods to a small machinery parts factory in the town. When he came back, it was already dark. At a corner of the road in the west of the town, I was hit by a large truck that was speeding by. The person and the truck were thrown seven or eight meters away and fell into a ditch. The ditch wasn't too deep, but my son was hit by the car and couldn't get up. The big truck didn't even stop and stepped on the accelerator before running away.

My name is Wang Liangliang, and I like to be called this name. But the people in the village don't call me Wang Lianglang, but call me Wang Mute. Yes, I was born unable to speak. My parents took me everywhere to seek medical treatment, but found nothing. This makes them feel sad and angry, always raising their voices and shouting that I am a mute king. People in the village followed suit, including a three-year-old child. Later, there was only one person left in our Nanshan Village who called me Wang Liangliang. That person is Wang Sangong. He is an old bachelor, eighty-nine years old, and there is no remaining tooth in his mouth. However, that waning mouth still calls my name from time to time, making me always believe that one day I will be able to speak loudly, so I like this old bachelor from the bottom of my heart. Therefore, when I pass by Wang Sangong's house, I always hit the trees on the roadside with the whip, stones or other objects in my hand, making a banging sound.

Mr. Lang's surname is Cao and his first name is Dalang. Dalang is 1.8 Meters tall, and he is quite energetic: thin body, straight waist, regular facial features, thick eyebrows and big eyes, big ears, big mouth, and two thick eyebrows that are a bit longer than others. It would be better if his face was shorter - unfortunately, his face is a bit too long. In addition, Lang and donkey have similar pronunciation, so some people call him "Big Donkey" behind his back. Dalang usually speaks in a high-pitched voice and is very popular in the village. He maintained his straight back until 1971, the late period of the Cultural Revolution, when he was kicked to pieces by the then village party secretary. From then on, Dalang's waist never straightened up again. The older people in the village still remember the reason why Dalang was kicked. There is an ancient building in our village, and its builder is Cao Hanlin, a man from our village.

These are the five large north rooms, which were built a year before marrying the second daughter-in-law. This house was originally built by the family for the boss Tian Zhu to marry his wife. Unexpectedly, the second child got married before the eldest child. It's not that the second child deliberately wants to get married before the eldest brother, it's Tian Zhu, the eldest son of the family, who is sincere. Nowadays, girls are engaged, unlike in the past, who just married a young man if he saw that he was honest. Today's girls marry based on which young man is smart. Tian Zhu, the boss of this family, seems to be an unintelligent person at first glance. He has lived in this village for almost thirty years. When he met the girl, he couldn't lift his head. As soon as he met the girl, it was like a golden living treasure appeared in front of his eyes. He kept his head lowered and his face was suppressed. His face was so red that he was either about to hit someone or was hit by someone. The boss doesn't follow trends either. He only had two coats. He took off this one and replaced it with that one. Both of them were worn to the point of being worn out. The boss is concentrating like this, still thinking about marrying a wife one day.

The deputy county magistrate gave him two cows to help him get rid of poverty and become rich. Unexpectedly, the cow became sick and he couldn't even pay for the cow's medical treatment. What should he do? He was in a dilemma about the choice between poverty alleviation and cattle raising, but in the end he found an ingenious way to deal with it. What was it? I took two team members, Shen Jianguang and Xie Yunyun, to the bureau's poverty alleviation point. After dinner, I walked out of Hekou Village alone, keeping in mind the two cows given by Deputy County Magistrate Liu. Deputy County Magistrate Liu is in charge of agricultural and rural work. Before the Spring Festival, he spent 3,000 yuan out of his own pocket to ask comrades from the animal husbandry department of the bureau to go to Henan to buy back two cow calves. They made a special trip to Hekou Village and handed them over to the poor family He Zhaoye.

In the spring of 1994, I was transferred from the Organization Department of the Provincial Party Committee to Changshan City as deputy secretary of the Municipal Party Committee. On the second day after taking office, I went downstairs to familiarize myself with the situation. Among the six counties under the city's administration, I chose Licheng first because I participated in the "Four Cleanup" movement there thirty years ago. I have indelible memories and longings for those years, and my desire to revisit my hometown is naturally very strong and prominent. The streets in the county are no longer the cross-shaped streets of the past, nor are they narrow, short, low-lying and uneven streets; there are wide and flat asphalt roads with five vertical and five horizontal directions, rows of unique buildings, parks with lush flowers and trees that are pleasant all year round, and lively and bustling scenes with busy traffic, all of which make it difficult for me to find the shadow of the small town back then.

Jincheng City, located at the top of Taihang City, has been home to outstanding people since ancient times. It is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization and is known as the "Hometown of Coal and Iron". Thousands of years have passed, and the sea has changed. From an inconspicuous small city in the past, it has developed into a thriving modern city. Especially in the past 20 years since it was changed to a prefecture-level city in 1985, Jincheng has undergone earth-shaking changes: from 8 square kilometers at the beginning of the city's founding, it expanded to 26 square kilometers in one fell swoop. The urban population also increased from 100,000 to 310,000, like a bright pearl embedded in the land of southeastern Shanxi.

Starting from Hami, the first oasis in eastern Xinjiang, passing through Shanshan, Turpan, Urumqi, and ending in Karamay. The journey is not too long, but it is not too short either. The length is just as long as the human body can bear. Wandering all the way, being egged on by gas stations all the time. Those uniform red commas connect a long sentence together, closely focusing on the central word oil, and the meaning of the sentence cannot be clearer. Yes, oil is everywhere today. When they lurk underground, they are like dormant snakes. Once they break through the earth's crust and rush out, they wrap tightly around the neck of humans. With a force that cannot be argued or hesitated, they powerfully stir up a whirlwind. Its power is like the ripples in a washing machine, and the whole world is saturated with it. My journey was upstream, heading towards Karamay, the birthplace of oil.

In the early morning of spring, when my mother opened the door and looked up at the sky, she saw colorful clouds floating on the top of Damiao Mountain. The glow filled the top of Damiao Mountain brilliantly. A pair of larks flew diagonally over the dense tallow trees on the mountain ridge and landed on the thousand-year-old cypress and redbud trees in front of the ancient temple. My mother suddenly became happy. She smiled and said, "What a great day." The mother's face looked even more charming under the glow of the glow. My mother is preparing to go up the mountain to offer incense. As soon as they finished eating, my mother led Zhuer up the mountain. The temple is not far from home, the straight-line distance is only four or five miles. But the mountain road is rugged, and the journey is detoured as soon as you enter and exit, and you have to walk for a while. The sedan chair can only stop in front of the mountain gate, and people have to climb up the stairs. It was the beginning of spring and there were many pilgrims coming and going.

Don't think that I am ugly, don't think that I am rustic, don't think that I am not good at speaking, and don't think that I carry the earthy smell of the Qinba Mountains around me. I look at the world through the eyes of a poet. As long as there is some poetry in the world, I can grab it and penetrate it into all kinds of colors. Nothing else is good, that's all I have. Therefore, my friends who deal with me increasingly feel that I am a decent person and that I am a smart and trustworthy person. They like to treat me like old wine. This is how old wine tastes to me. Being happy with friends is one of the most basic pleasures in life. So I take it very seriously. However, it won't work as soon as June enters. The children have a happy festival and leave all their troubles and paleness to the adults. Life is like a piece of dry land, not to mention that it cannot grow good crops, and even grass does not grow.

As soon as the Qingming Festival passed, the weather stabilized, the wind no longer blew as hard as it did a while ago, and the sun no longer hid in the clouds as it did a while ago. As long as it popped up from the distant mountains, it hung so brightly on the horizon, illuminating the vast mountainous field brightly. Mozi felt that his body was getting a little warm. The miller bent over, stuck out his butt, and buried his head in hoeing in his wheat field. Miso - miso - miso - Mozi drooped his two huge ears, and he clearly heard the crisp sound of the hoe blade cutting grass roots and other debris in the soil. This sound seemed to be a kind of retribution to him, and it invisibly added some strength to him. He moved his arms and carefully but powerfully pulled the hoe handle, letting the hoe surface sink into the soil between the rows of wheat, pull, cut, run, and recover...

When I was a child, people in our countryside talked about Changzhi and called it Lu'an Prefecture. They said it was a very big place. In those days, transportation was inconvenient and few people in the village had ever entered the city. If someone came back from Lu'an Mansion and people gathered around him to listen to what he had seen, that person would be somewhat proud. In the early spring of 1953, when I was twelve years old, my uncle took me to Changzhi, and I left my hometown in Wuxiang at that time. When I set out on the road, I was very excited, but also confused, not knowing how far I would go. I climbed up slopes, climbed over beams, and walked through villages. The names of those villages were very interesting, such as "Zhangzhanggou" and "Luoluowa". By noon, my legs were sore and my excitement had long gone. I remember that I arrived at Xialiang Village in Xiangyuan County and stopped at a small roadside restaurant. I sat down and didn't want to get up.

In the no-man's land of Hoh Xil, between the sky and the earth, there is a cluster of colorful flowers flying through the morning fog. The cluster of flowers was getting closer and closer... And with the sound of "tap-tat-tat"... A rapid sound of horse hooves, the audience finally saw clearly a fierce Tibetan hunter holding a whip and riding a strong dappled horse galloping on the top of the grass. This man has a thick beard, long flowing hair, long Tibetan boots, a fork gun on his back, and hares and snow chickens hanging on the saddle. Subtitles: Hunter No one knows his name. Narrator: "No matter spring, summer, autumn or winter, saints who travel through Hoh Xil to Lhasa for pilgrimage can always see a fierce hunter riding a light gray piebald horse wandering in the desert, heading towards the snow in the north of Tibet, and staying at the source of the Yellow River.

Viewed from a height, the Liujia River looks like a silver thread falling from the sky, tightly connecting the upper and lower Liu families. The water of Liujia River is clear and bright. It is rare to see it become turbid unless there is heavy rain and flooding. The people who live in the Shangliu family and the Xialiu family are all surnamed Liu. The Shangliu family and the Xialiu family are separated by four mountains, a journey of eight or nine miles around the winding mountain road. The Liujia River winds around four mountains and makes thirteen turns. There are several large rocks on each bend, standing proudly like a wall. Over the years, the river water has washed them round and smooth, but they cannot be shaken. Just like the stubborn personality of the Liu family up and down the Liujia River, as long as the truth is correct, they must stick to it.

On the evening when my female neighbor was molested, I, like most of my neighbors, did not know her true identity. The name is Jinxiu, a name that sounds very rustic and grand after thinking about it. When I heard someone calling her, pictures of great mountains and rivers and a great future popped into my mind. He is also open-minded and doesn't look like he comes from the countryside. I moved into Liushuyan a few years ago and rented a house from a meat seller in a vegetable market. You can't tell her age, she can't hear her accent, and her Mandarin is of unknown origin. When he spoke, he gritted his teeth a little, and his mandible swayed a little, making the generous and soft face appear charming. I often meet her when I go out after get off work. She held a bag in her hand and her hair was neatly combed into a bun. The bun was smooth, strong and elegant. I tried it several times but couldn't figure it out.

In the depths of Baiyangdian, is it the infinite scenery in the memory of a Toronto painter, or is it an elegy for the fate of a group of boys and girls from a water town? Is it a haven for life or a habitat for the soul? Facing the boundless water waves, the author gives us an inner feeling as lush as reeds... In my studio in Toronto, friends and gallery owners come in and out, and the paintings on the wall are also changed. There is only one small painting, always staying in a corner. Its background is a field of reeds in the Netherlands, with a Chinese village girl sitting in front of the reeds. "Netherlands" comes from "Netherlands", and the Chinese should really be translated as "quagmire". The God of the swamp must be a woman, like the woman in Vermeer's painting, dragging a fat and heavy cotton skirt, shrouding her territory and people in mist.

Lan Jing lives dormant in Yangping Village, his hometown, and must look at the mountains in the morning and evening. Look in the morning glow. When looking at the sunset in the evening, of course, it is inevitable to make a pot of oolong tea and sip, watch and taste it. The mountain is called Feixianyan, with an altitude of more than 800 meters. Although it is not the highest mountain in the county, Lan Jing feels that it is the king of mountains in the county. It is said to be the king of mountains because the entire mountain contains nearly 100 million cubic meters of granite stone, accounting for one-twentieth of the county's reserves. That granite is yellow, and yellow stone is the mainstream of current and future market consumption. The mountain is exposed, and the rocks are spread out and stand tall, like pieces of rice cake that can be broken off and eaten. The stone cliffs on the top of the mountain are the images of flying immortals created by nature, like Li Tieguai, like Lu Dongbin, and like He Xiangu. Although there are no Eight Immortals, they all have the same appearance and spirit, lifelike, and often appear.

It was getting late, and the chickens that had stayed overnight had already jumped onto the low branches, chattering quietly. Niu'er lay down slowly and stupidly, raising his head and pouring foam contentedly, making the corners of his mouth look like he had just brushed his teeth with toothpaste. The horse disdained the cow's laziness, stood strong, sneezed, and fell asleep wagging its lush ponytail. Zhuang Zhou's family had no cattle, no horses, not even a chicken. In the humid room, a few Fuliangzi were hiding somewhere and chirping. When the lamp was turned on, Fu Liangzi stopped barking. Fu Liangzi doesn't bark because they are used to it. In the past, they also screamed when Zhuang Zhou lit the lamp. Zhuang Zhou couldn't stand reading, so he picked up a broom and looked around for him, hoping to kill him. Fu Liangzi later understood and stopped singing when the lights came on, so that Zhuang Zhou could have a quiet study environment.

In the 1980s, there was a hunting village deep in the Daxingan Mountains. "Let me tell you, I don't care about what happened between you and Varoki in school before, but when you enter the forest and come to our hunting village, you have to behave yourself and stop having those thoughts. Otherwise, I, Greena, am not a woman to be trifled with." Greena stopped and glanced back at Chi Yu. Chi Yu followed breathlessly. She was disgusted and embarrassed when Greena spoke to her like this. She slowed down and said, "Glina, you are so weird. Why do you always think so? I have said before, Varoki and I are really normal, nothing happened." Chi Yu spread his hands, and she really didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Li Tiande's jelly stall has truly become an eye-catching sight on the streets of this small mountainous county. When people come here, they can't help but search for it with their eyes. As you get closer, whether you want to eat the jelly or not is another matter, but you have to stand aside and watch. Take a look at the polished and shiny jelly bag and the white and shiny dumplings, smell the fragrance of spicy oil and the refreshing smell of mustard, say a few words to Li Tiande, who is wearing a white hat and white coat, or smile lightly and say hello, and then slowly walk away. Some people have gone a long way and still turn around to take a look. When he was in his twenties, he took on the responsibility of making jelly for more than thirty years. His jelly stall has been on this street for more than 30 years. Because his home is close to the county seat.

N years ago, there was a severe drought in Shuizhen. There was no rain for half a year. The villagers were dying and running away. On the day I was born, it suddenly started pouring rain. Before I was born, the earth was scorching, and the sun, the tyrant in the sky, was baking the earth wantonly. All the rivers had dried up, and there were cracks in the earth. People were dying on the earth. All they could do was pray and wait for the blessing of the gods. The father knelt on the ground and said, God, please let it rain, save my wife, save my son. The entire water town resounded with people's cries of blood, God, please let it rain, save us... Save us... But those voices became smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared into the dust.

A head of cabbage was auctioned for 100 yuan. Two acres of organic vegetables received an order worth 50,000 yuan. When organic farming encounters soil pollution, will everything reverse as dramatically as it does? As soon as the plow passed, my uncle hurriedly grabbed a handful of soil and smelled it. The warm and refreshing fragrance of the soil made my uncle's stomach wriggle unexpectedly, as if he could just eat the soil in his hand. Rubbing it with his hands again, he saw that the soil was soft and easy to disperse. Then my uncle spit out the date core with a "pop" and blurted out, "Great!" In this way, my aunt smiled like the newly plowed land in front of her, and she felt that the good days of the rest of her and my uncle's lives had begun.

Sega doesn't understand why Tibetan folks in rural towns call public officials "Lere". "Lere" translated into Chinese means "someone who has something to do". This title classifies many people without public office, including themselves, as idlers. He also couldn't figure out why they described people who were neatly dressed or fair-looking as "like Han Chinese", as if they could draw conclusions about the differences between the two ethnic groups based on their appearance of being dirty and ugly. With their habitual humbleness, family members and fellow villagers made Sega set such a life goal from the first day of school: to become a "Lere" "like the Han people". On the day when she graduated from junior high school and received the admission notice from the Finance and Trade Vocational School, Sega suddenly had a "Lere" mentality that was once out of reach - the scenery she was used to before seemed to be more colorful. When you look up at Bam Mountain, which is backed by the village, your heart will drift to the other side of the mountain unconsciously.

The soil and water support a person, and Zhang Yuquan grew up eating pasta since he was a child. Among all the pastas, noodles were his favorite, but Zhang Yuquan did not truly understand the significance of noodles to his life until he went to work in the south. After leaving home, he couldn't get rid of homesickness and felt uncomfortable. In fact, he was not afraid of being tired and miserable, but the brown rice eaten day after day at the construction site was really hard to swallow, making his stomach rough all day long. His stomach was connected to his heart, and his heart felt uncomfortable when his stomach was not in good condition. Gradually, he realized that it was not so much missing home, but to a certain extent, he really missed the slippery noodles that moisturized his heart, lungs and intestines. Or on the other hand, wanting to eat noodles became a way for him to express his nostalgia. Later, he ran to the north. He was still tired and bitter, but people in the north liked to eat noodles together.