Novel Serial: Things in the Village (3)

Novel Serial: Things in the Village (3) I’m afraid that God will not be kind to me. Let’s talk about being the village official of this Sesame Mung Bean. However, don't think that becoming a village official at that time...

Afraid of God’s failure

Let's talk about being a village official like this Sesame Mung Bean.

However, don’t think that becoming a village official at that time will give you the power to dominate. No, no. Outside the siege, you can comment as much as you want on how your predecessors have no vision and courage. You can also retain your cultural nobility with a little knowledge of the educated youth, and feel secretly proud in your heart. But in front of hundreds of people waiting for food, the captain at that time still had to handle everything carefully and be worried all day long.

In fact, farming is still very enjoyable without responsibilities and helpless expectations.

>The farmers who have been idle all winter have accumulated enough energy and energy, and of course they have also accumulated enough fertilizer, just to grow these seedlings in the spring. The best land, the best fertilizer, the most convenient water flow, and the most diligent farmers all belong to the rice seedlings. Can the rice seedlings feel uncomfortable? In the blink of an eye, the green-white seedlings turned into a soft, fluffy green blanket, which looked so comfortable. If you hadn't gently brushed away the dewdrops covering the tops of the seedlings in the morning light and leaned down to catch the faint fragrance of the seedlings, you would have missed the purest and most natural and innocent fragrance in the world. Children who grew up on breast milk can still smell the fragrance of milk until they are ten years old. The same goes for the fragrance of seedlings. Smell it, it makes people intoxicated and full of reverie.

After being planted in the field, the seedlings were renamed He Miao, and their temperament became wild. That one exposed its white tentacles, testing Ba Xia's larger territory. The stems and leaves that have received fresh water and fertilizer also stretch out their fingers, like the peacock dance, wanting to get everything in the world, but not knowing what they want.

If there is a hint of wind, the young and proud seedlings will become even more unrestrained, or they will hug each other and make trouble, or they will gather in a group and talk about topics that they can never laugh enough. The breath rippled with the wind. It is a fresh scent full of rich vitality, like that crazy middle school student with a cute face but a head full of oily smell, whether you want to smell it or not.

>The real beauty of the seedlings is during the booting period. The narrow leaves slowly became wider, and each one became longer than the other. The originally invisible stems also became thicker and taller. Farmers often say that toads have no necks and xinu (dialect refers to children) have no waists. Now we can no longer talk about the crops. The shy yellow and light green have been completely replaced by thick dark green. Looking around, the green waves are rolling, reflecting the dazzling golden light of the sun from time to time. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a green ocean.

After that, the green ocean was replaced by a round of light yellow waves set off by the ears of rice, immediately filling the fields, river valleys and mountains with the fragrance of rice flowers, and then the land was filled with golden harvest. You see, the hard work can easily be overwhelmed by the poetry.

But if the weather is not favorable, that is another story.

Somehow, there was no rain that spring! The scene mentioned in the ancient poem "The scorching sun is like fire" actually appeared in spring. Not to mention the lack of water to clean up the fields, even the rice fields turned into cracked turtle shells. The poor rice plants were like dry grass waiting for God's mercy. The old farmer was banging the dry smoke pot there, and told his descendants with great vicissitudes that there had been such a severe drought in the past, etc. The old woman was at home, having no obligation but piously placing a few sticks of incense for God to bless her peace. The irresponsible young man also came to join in the fun. He said that one night, a big python as big as a bucket came down from the mountain to drink water from the stream. It scared him so much that he did not dare to take a bath and left his pants by the stream.

Later, the creek ran out of water, and the only well in the village became the favorite of the villagers. Although this well is very deep, it is a good Feng Shui location from the topography. Although the height is a bit higher, it is the intersection of two high slopes. The water tastes cold in summer, but steaming in winter. A whole village relies on this water to survive. Now even the leaves on the mountain are as dry as firewood. If there is any kind of fire, they will burn. Is there still water in the ground? So grabbing water late every night has become a routine thing. No matter how good the farmers are, they will turn into crazy buffaloes when there is no water. Generally, a bucket of water is enough for the whole family of farmers, but a dozen of us educated youths need a lot of water a day, so there is a bit of conflict. When someone complains, we can only pretend not to hear it, because no one wants to die of thirst. In the face of the bottom line of survival, humans and animals are all the same.

As a team leader, I sometimes have to mediate water conflicts, such as Kuozui throwing the papaya queue's bucket away, Changxing smashing Gouzai's bucket, and other trivial matters. However, they united and retorted, "You have too many people and robbed us of water. I was often speechless." But our buckets were thrown far away, which made me angry. I ignored my respect as the captain and yelled, are we willing to come here? Are we not going to live anymore?

He was angry and scolded him, but the person in charge still wanted to find a way, so he called in the well digger. It is said that the wells dug here are famous for their distance, and they can read Feng Shui and know where the water is by looking at the hole in the ground. But after he found the well, I realized that blind worship of authority is actually very sad.

The village we live in is located on a hillside. Down the slope are public toilets and a pond. Although the toilet is right next to the pond, the villagers are washing vegetables, rice and laundry in the pond. The women see no one at night and wipe their bodies a few times. No one is surprised and no one gets sick. So when the old mage who dug the well chose the water hole at the bottom near the toilet and the pond, the villagers rejoiced devoutly and happily, because everyone was frightened by the lack of water. We educated youth say that water sources may be contaminated, etc., but it is useless to object.

When the well was dug, water came out in a steady stream, and the thirsty villagers couldn't wait to fetch water for enjoyment. But within a few days, the water level in the pond above dropped. No one wanted to verify whether the public toilets had dropped. However, the villagers were talking privately that the water from the new well was not as sweet as the water from the old well - so naturally we drank it for a few days. Having water is better than dying of thirst

Water from the fields is more difficult to get than well water. The production team I work for has 800 acres of paddy fields, which basically depends on the weather. The climate there is subtropical, with constant rain from February to June every year, which basically meets the needs of paddy field operations. But there are always a few years when God loses his temper, and now it is called the Erno phenomenon. Then God will always stare at blue eyes from spring to summer without shedding a drop of tears. At that time, the farmers were on the verge of tears. Without water, paddy fields will become deserts, and strong winds will blow sand everywhere. The seedlings that have been planted have turned into turtle shells because there is no water to maintain them. The poor seedlings are like the grass threads on the green turtle, swaying feebly.

Fortunately, there is the largest reservoir in the county near the village. Whenever the reservoir comes during the dry season, water is released to save the fields and crops. Although the reservoirs were built by local people for free, they still had to pay for water use. Because the calculation was done at the end of the year, no one cared about money at that time. As soon as they heard that the water in the reservoir would be used by their team tonight, the farmers in the team were as excited as if they were going to the market. At that time, every farmer still had some private land, where he could grow vegetables or rice. Without water, everyone would be unlucky. But with water, farmers were like night elves at night. Even without any light, they could do everything possible to divert water from far away to their own one-third of an acre. When you divert water, you must be especially careful and watch it, otherwise, someone will quietly intercept the flow for you and enrich other people's fields.

>But those in charge are not so blessed. The release of water from the reservoir is limited to a limited time. If your team's canals are not dredged all year round and you have water rights but no waterways, then you can't blame others. Therefore, the male laborers walked along the channel that night, cutting down the kudzu vines and digging through the siltation. The water in the reservoir is released from the bottom of the reservoir. The water is extremely cold, even in May and June. It is bitingly cold at night, and I have been wading in the water all night. The happiness cannot be described in words. Later, when I got older, I always had pain above my ankle, which must have happened at that time.

This is not the scariest thing. When there was no water in the channel, there were shrubs above and grass below, making it a good place to live in the shade. Muntjacs and pheasants would come here to seek comfort. Of course, snakes and frogs also like this kind of ecology. But once the water is opened, it is no longer happy. Those who can fly and run quickly go up the embankment, and those who can't run and jump go down the river. There were no flashlights at that time, and we couldn’t bear to give up batteries if we had them. It was usually a few people carrying a kerosene lamp for lighting. I just heard the other side shouting happily, I caught an eel! Everyone was worried about having no fun, so they stepped on the water and walked away. When they saw it, they saw a thick-wristed thing in the hand of the person. The eyes are sharp and the mouth is quick, shouting is a snake. Then there was another burst of crackling, and all the good people who came to take advantage of the excitement suddenly dispersed. In fact, there is no such thing as such a good thing. After working in this channel for so long, who would rest here except snake gods and cow ghosts? Fortunately, it was a non-venomous green snake.

In the novel, I saw farmers fighting for water sources, even using force. I thought it was the writer adding plot to the story. After going to the countryside, I realized that this plot was not fabricated at all. In order to survive, farmers will indeed do anything. The mountainous area where I live is also a place with a vast land and few people, so if you want to immigrate to any place, you have to go through certain procedures and spread a few pieces of land to several surrounding teams to become another village. At that time, a large water conservancy project was launched in Xiangtan, Hunan, and many immigrants from Xiangtan settled near us. The people in Xiangtan are all strong-willed, hard-working and willing to fight with others. Just like the great savior, they happily clash with the locals at every turn. For example, when the reservoir releases water, each team has a first-come, first-served basis according to the commune's layout, but they are lawless. As long as you are not there, they dare to dig your channel valves and let the water flow to them.

So taking care of the drain valves is a job of courage and intelligence. Although there is no need to wade through the water at night, the villagers are reluctant to go anywhere, saying that Hunan people are good at "picking" (pointing acupuncture points), and if someone touches it, they will be injured. In fact, that is also the timidity of Jiangxi veterans. Hunan people are tough, but not everyone can do this, just like foreigners think that Chinese people have kung fu. To embolden myself, I have no choice but to take up the post in person.

As expected, a Hunan man sat at the gate of the canal diversion gate, with a curved hatchet lying beside him, and he greeted me eagerly. Looking again, I saw that the man had dug a hole in the ditch, and filled the entrance leading to my village with shrubs and branches, and the water gurgled toward their fields. I politely explained to him that today's water rights belong to us, trying to defuse the dispute, and also let him take a look at the demeanor of the educated youth from Shanghai. But the Hunan people don't appreciate your kindness, and they still argue with you in high-pitched Xiang accent. At that time, other dialects were not understood, but the Hunan accent of "The Chinese people have stood up" was familiar to people across the country. So I also know a little bit of Hunan accent, which is probably why the commune did not arrange a time for water supply for them today.

What the hell, that's a matter for an official. Now it's my territory and I have the final say. Besides, I'm already polite. I picked up the branches blocking the water and threw them away. The Hunan master didn't show any weakness and came to stop him with his scimitar. Poor me, the tiger's mouth was right at the edge of the knife, and blood suddenly flowed out. On this battlefield, some people faint when they see blood, and some people go crazy when they see blood, even more desperate. I am the latter. When I saw the blood from my parents flowing like this, I picked up the hoe to resist it. There is a story about the ancient bronze hammer and hook and sickle spear. As a result, the guy realized that he was wrong and left in despair. So the channels are smooth and it's a no-brainer.

The next day, an old farmer came to see me and took the initiative to ask me to guard the channel. Seeing that he didn't have four ounces of meat in his hands, I felt a little bit down on him. As a result, during the few days he guarded the canal, there was no fighting on the Western Front, but the water supply continued. Asked him why, he smiled sinisterly and remained silent. It turned out that when he arrived at a battleground for military strategists, he first found a shady place to rest and lurk in the distance. He could see others, but they couldn't see him. He figured that the Hunan man would do some private work while guarding the canal, such as cutting some firewood and bringing it back. Taking advantage of people's slack in doing private work, he moved the obstruction to the gap in Hunan and restored it to its original state before the people came back. As soon as the Hunan man saw that the water flow was as good as before, he went home relieved. Unexpectedly, the latent sentry in our village was dispatched again at dusk and blocked the Hunan man's breach. As a result, the water flowed all night, nourishing our fields.

There was no direct contact, but he did something that a brave man could not do. It is no wonder that in ancient times Jiangxi produced all the bachelors and Jinshi, while Hunan only produced warriors. This dispute between Hunan and Jiangxi is really endless fun.

However, the weather was not good enough, and little tricks would not help. Two hundred acres of the eight hundred acres of paddy field were harvested that year, and the rest was half dead. Despite the natural disaster, public grain still needs to be paid, so farmers really don’t have much left. After that, I ate pumpkin, taro porridge and oil-free vegetables for a year. Now that I think about it, they are all healthy food, so I have no complaints. Only the familiar peasant woman joked to me with a wry smile, "Boss, what should I do with Chani? What's going on today (what will I eat today)?" It still lingers in my ears. People in their early twenties today are still considered children. How could the captain of Lao Shizi become the boss at that time? Later, when I saw that person, I understood it as soon as I became a big person and was called a big person. The people have insufficient self-confidence and expect you to lead all sentient beings to have enough to eat.

Cough, but no matter how much you call me boss, you still can't win.

About the author

Shang Huiming, currently living in Tucson, Arizona, was born in Shanghai and went to the countryside in the Jinggangshan area of ​​Jiangxi, China from 1968 to 1978. After resuming the college entrance examination, he entered East China Normal University to study. After graduation, he worked in schools and publishing houses. He was the editor of the Chinese Dictionary, edited "My Name is China" and "Shanghai Life Yearbook", and published dozens of professional papers and millions of words of articles.