Nongben is passionate

Xie Xuan's life became richer and more colorful. In summer afternoons, when the sound of cicadas was loud, he would play with Zhou Nansheng and other village children without getting tired.The originally slightly pale skin was tanned within a few days, and there were small bloodstains on the knees and calves that were scratched by the edge of the hard blade. They would stay there until the sun slanted to the west and the weather cooled down. One yelled to go home to eat, and then returned with hot and humid sweat.

Sometimes, the old lady would sprinkle well water in the yard and serve dinner in the yard.When eating, someone would come to visit you with sunflower fans and slippers to see your dinner dishes, and then sit on the slightly hot bluestone bench to talk with grandpa about the weather, the harvest in the field, and new things in the village.Grandpa is used to drinking some white wine before meals, and there are always various seasonal appetizers on the table - fried snails, sea melon seeds, fried shrimp skin with winter melon, pork with dried plums and vegetables, salted duck eggs cut in half, a piece of pickled winter melon or a bowl of amaranth Terriers, they are all very delicious.

Grandpa sometimes asks Xie Xuan to drink with him on a whim. The high-strength baijiu always makes him teary, and then makes the old man laugh happily.Xie Xuan's drinking capacity was developed from that time.

It takes two hours to eat a meal, chatting while enjoying the shade, and when the sky is completely dark, I leave the table full of wine and food, lie down on the rattan lazy chair, and shake the fan to repel mosquitoes to enjoy the cool, recalling the past, When I am in a good mood, I will tell Xie Xuan the stories of his wars in the past, as well as some weird folklore.The old man had limited patience, so he rushed Xie Xuan to play after talking for a while.

At that time, the rural areas were short of material, and almost every family was not well-off, but life was still full of taste and richness.Neighbors have a close relationship. If a family cooks delicious food, or just collects some fresh fruits and vegetables from the field, they must distribute some to the neighbors.The relationship between man and man, man and nature is intimate.

At that time, the transportation in the countryside mainly relied on boats, and waterways extended in all directions.Before the bride gets married, she carries the dowry by boat to her husband’s house. This is a big event in the village. People always go around to tell each other, and children also join in the fun, standing on the shore and pointing at the furniture and utensils. , a party of joy.People back then were always full of affection.

Zhou Jin’s family owns a boat. Their family is a typical farmer. The boat is used to transport the crops collected from the field, and also transport them to other towns for sale.The biggest use of summer boats is to hold watermelons—he and Zhou Nansheng once followed Zhou Jin and his parents to the field to pick watermelons, and they sat in that small cement boat—

Zhou Jin's father was rowing at the stern of the boat, and Zhou Jin and Zhou Nansheng stood side by side at the bow of the boat to pee into the river to see who peed farther away.

Zhou Jin’s watermelon field is growing luxuriantly, and the round and huge watermelons lie among the green leaves.Zhou Jin's parents bent down in front and cut off the ripe watermelon vines with scissors, and the children followed behind to carry the watermelon back to the shore, waiting to be loaded on the ship together later.After a few trips back and forth, they were already drenched in sweat, and everyone's faces were flushed, and they were so hot that they could boil eggs.The adults hung a wet towel around their necks, which they used to wipe off the sweat from their faces to cool down from time to time, and the children could only lift up their clothes and wipe their faces indiscriminately.

When he was tired and thirsty, he stopped. Uncle Zhou would find a watermelon that was ripe enough to crack, and with a light break, it would split into several petals crisply, revealing the bright red flesh, which was sweet and attractive.The three children held a large piece of watermelon, buried their entire faces in the flesh of the watermelon, and gorged themselves on it. The flesh of the watermelon was warmed by the sun, and their faces were covered with juice and seeds. There are also pink watermelon stains on the skirts, laughing at each other.The so-called helping means half an hour at the beginning, and after that, they just ran around and played like crazy.When it was hot, he jumped into the river to play in the water. At that time, Xie Xuan hadn't learned how to swim, so Uncle Zhou threw the oar into the river and let him lie on it to play.

After eating too much watermelon, Zhou Jin wanted to have a bowel movement, so he squatted in the edamame field to solve the major problems in life, and because there was no toilet paper, he wiped his butt with edamame leaves.This matter was laughed at by Zhou Nansheng for a long time later, until he grew up, he often turned it up to enliven the atmosphere.

When the sun was hanging in the west and only half of their faces were exposed, they returned to the village with a boat full of watermelons.The three children finally got tired of playing, and sat on the edge of the boat, their feet dangling slowly, occasionally touching the river with their toes.It is cool and slippery, very comfortable, and the sunset glow is reflected on the river surface, dyeing the river red, like silk and satin, and the boat passes by, and ripples appear in circles.

Xie Xuan carried a big watermelon given by Uncle Zhou, walked over the high courtyard threshold, and entered the courtyard, and saw a six or seven-year-old strange child squatting by the flower bed of Violet, holding a handful of golden tinfoil in his hand Wrapped Chocolate.Hearing the sound of someone coming in, he raised his head and looked over - with clear eyebrows and pure eyes.

This is Feng Kailuo, the son of his aunt. Before this, he had never met his cousin. His mother and aunt were not close. He never had this cousin, but his memory of Feng Kailuo started from this moment.

At that time, Feng Kailuo was a sensitive and slender child, because he had no playmates of the same age, no one to talk to him, and always played with himself, so he seemed particularly silent and precocious, too well-behaved, reminding Xie Xuan of himself.

The seven-year-old stared blankly at Xie Xuan who was holding the watermelon, a little confused and curious.

Xie Xuan walked over, glanced at the broken tiles he had turned over, and asked, "What are you doing?"

Feng Kailuo said: "I am making a promise with the ants. I want to give them a chocolate ball and let them go home with me."

Xie Xuan let out a sigh, and knelt down to watch the ants move with him, "Did the ants agree?"

Feng Kailuo's small face darkened, he shook his head and said: "The ants say no, their friends are waiting for them, there are big blue flowers there, and in the heart of the flowers live the little people who will never grow up. Little girl, swallows are flying around—”

Xie Xuan oh again, and then the two of them just looked at the ants and never spoke again.

The old lady came out and was very happy to see the two children playing together, she pointed to Xie Xuan and said to Feng Kailuo: "Kailuo, this is the brother Xie Xuan that grandma told you, from now on I will play with the little brother—— "

Feng Kailuo looked at Xie Xuan, and obediently called out: "Little brother."

Xie Xuan unconsciously responded, stretching his brows and eyes, and his soft voice pressed his heart.

The old lady told Xie Xuan again, "I will play with my younger brother in the future, and you should look like an older brother, you know?"

Xie Xuan nodded—it was not the first time he was an older brother. The third uncle's child was two years younger than him, but Xie Mingyu was raised by Mrs. Xie's side since she was a child. , do not call him brother.Xie Xuan is also not interested in being his brother.However, Feng Kailuo is obviously different from Xie Mingyu, he makes Xie Xuan like him.

He didn't see his aunt, and after throwing Feng Kailuo to his old mother, his aunt seemed to have no worries and left in a hurry.In this regard, the two sisters are surprisingly similar.The aunt in Xie Xuan's impression works in the family planning office, she is a strong woman who can hold up half the sky, she has clean and simple short hair, speaks and does things neatly, she is more courageous than ordinary men, but she is also different from ordinary women. A piece of softness.Uncle is a high school teacher, a gentle intellectual, ambitious but frustrated, gradually loses the male right to speak at home, gradually ignores everything, and even neglects his only son.Marriage seems to be inseparable.

When they went to bed at night, the two brothers were already very close, sleeping on a big bed, talking with their heads next to each other.Xie Xuan was originally very quiet and didn't like to talk. He just felt responsible for Feng Kailuo who was young and left his parents, so he became more patient with him and took care of him everywhere.

For Feng Kailuo, it was a very novel experience for someone to talk, play and sleep with him like this. He quickly fell in love with this little brother, and the lively enthusiasm in his nature gradually revealed.

When I woke up in the morning, the sky was already bright. The sun shone in through the green screen window and covered half of the bed. The white cotton gauze curtain was floating gently, and the small blue ceiling fan above my head was blowing loudly all night.Feng Kailuo woke up early, turned sideways, looked at Xie Xuan with bright eyes, thin beads of sweat dripped from the tip of his nose, and dared not breathe loudly, when he saw Xie Xuan opened his eyes, he showed a happy smile and called him , "Little brother——"

The two brothers played under the bed tent for a while, until grandma came to ask them to wash up and have breakfast.

Breakfast is porridge and deep-fried dough sticks. The old lady cut a salted duck egg in half and gave half to each of them.Xie Xuan compared it, and gave Feng Kailuo the one with the bigger yolk, but warned, "You can't just eat the yolk, you have to eat the white as well."

The salted duck eggs were salted by the old lady herself, and the saltiness was moderate. The two children liked it very much, and each ate a large bowl of white porridge.After the meal, the old lady let them play by themselves.Xie Xuan went back to her room, climbed onto the bed, put all the marbles in the drawer into her pockets—after several battles, Xie Xuan finally had a lot of "trophies"—then pulled Feng Kai Luo's hand went to the gathering place for the children of the village - a stage in the east of the village.

It is said that this stage has been around for quite some time, and from the remaining exquisite hollowed-out corbels and carved caissons, one can vaguely discern the glitz and dream of the past.Only in the days when opera troupes came to the village to perform operas did the stage play its true role and regain a bit or two of its former prosperity.On weekdays, this is a paradise for children——

When Xie Xuan arrived, many children had already gathered there, and Zhou Nansheng waved to Xie Xuan from a long distance away.

The steps of the stage had been damaged long ago, and it was not easy to climb up. It took Xie Xuan a lot of effort to get Feng Kailuo up, and then climbed onto the stage by himself.As soon as he stood still, Zhou Nansheng pulled him aside, glanced at Feng Kailuo who was curious and excited, and asked, "Who is this kid?"

"It's my cousin."

Zhou Nansheng had an unhappy look on his face, and muttered, "Why did you bring him—"

Xie Xuan didn't speak, but Zhou Nansheng's tone and expression made him a little embarrassed and annoyed, and he couldn't help being a little dissatisfied with Feng Kailuo - he made him "disgusted" by his partners, so he might not be able to participate in their games Medium—In the eyes of the group of children, it is very humiliating to bring a child who is much younger than them to play.

As if to express his dissatisfaction with him for bringing his child here privately, Zhou Nansheng only cared about enjoying himself in the next game, as if he had completely forgotten about Xie Xuan.Xie Xuan had always been with Zhou Nansheng, but suddenly, Zhou Nansheng ignored him, and no one invited him—children have a very strong sense of group, Xie Xuan is an outsider after all.

Throughout the morning, Xie Xuan and Feng Kailuo were like spectators, standing on the periphery of the children's enclosure, watching their flag triumphantly proud or bearing the humiliation and being outraged.

Feng Kailuo has always been used to being alone, sensitive and precocious, and is used to seeing people's faces.Xie Xuan didn't say he was going to leave, he just stood beside him obediently and didn't make a sound even though he was bored and wronged.

Xie Xuan went there enthusiastically and returned sullenly.Feng Kailuo quietly let him lead him home, actually he was a little happy in his heart, he didn't like to play with those people, he just wanted his little brother to be with him, but he was afraid that Xie Xuan would leave him, so he felt uneasy .