My hometown is called Nanhu, so named because it is surrounded by mountains and rivers.
My birthplace is an inconspicuous village called Laojie under the jurisdiction of Nanhu Town. As the name of the village literally means, it was originally the busiest street in Nanhu and the only gathering place for merchants.
It is said that since the Tang and Song Dynasties, this village has begun to take shape. A street paved with blue stones is less than four feet wide. There are many businesses on both sides of the street, and there is an endless stream of small merchants and hawkers hawking along the street.
With the change of dynasties, in the late Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, this place also reached its peak. The west end of the street faced the branch of the Huaihe River. Thanks to the clear water and the depth of the river, a wharf was built to dock large cable ships. All kinds of goods were handled from here, going north to Shandong and south to southern and northern Jiangsu. Traveling from south to north, both land and water, it was considered very prosperous.
It is in such a land that my family has experienced countless ups and downs in the past one hundred and two years, and has become the subject of my writing today. The past merits and demerits are left to future generations to comment on...
