Spring, summer, autumn and winter in the small courtyard

Article/Sui Guanghua

My hometown has always been deep in my memory.

In late winter and early spring, whenever it snows heavily, my grandpa will hunt birds for me.

On the roof of the adobe house, ears of white corn and red sorghum are dried to dry. Birds that have nowhere to feed after heavy snow will fly to the roof to peck at them.

Grandpa folded the straw into a trapezoidal frame, tied the straw with horsetail hairs to form a sleeve, tied it with bricks, and placed it on the grain. When you hear the sound of corn rolling on the roof, you know that the bird is trapped. Grandpa climbed up the ladder to the house and untied the bird. There were all kinds of birds, including sparrows, magulan, and hubula... Grandpa tied a fine linen rope to the bird's leg and held it for me to play with. Seeing them flailing up and down with their jewel-like eyes, unable to escape, a trace of sympathy flashed through my little eyes, but I still felt at ease - who asked you to eat my food!

In the spring, the old sauerkraut was tasteless, so my grandma gave us soybean sprouts to eat. After being soaked in water, the soybeans become chubby, like small yellow tadpoles. This thing requires no oil, is fragrant and satisfies hunger. Grandma also makes braised spicy dishes - sour and slightly sweet, which goes very well with rice.

Staple food? There is a small stone mill at home, and my grandma makes coarse grains carefully. Every now and then, she will make a meal of baked cakes or a large pot of sweet porridge for the whole family to enjoy. The sweet porridge is made by adding half-cooked millet, corn grits and soybeans, soaking it in water, grinding it into a paste, frying it in a large iron pot until it becomes a golden paste, and finally adding water to boil it. When the porridge is ready, the aroma overflows. When you drink it, it is sweet and fragrant, and your whole body feels warm.

The apricot blossoms bloom first, and the peach blossoms follow. The clouds are steaming in the small courtyard, and the sky is like a cave.

In late spring, the old elm trees in the small courtyard are covered with large and small clusters of elm trees. Grandpa tied the sickle to a long wooden pole, picked out the plump elm branches and cut them off one by one. Adults and children scooped up the pots full of them. In addition to giving them to the neighbors in the east and west, grandma caught the insects and removed the remaining parts. Wash, mix with cornmeal, sprinkle with salt, and steam in a basket. After the water boils and becomes fragrant, you open the lid and the heat dissipates, and the green elm money turns into golden cloth. When you take a bite, the flour is dry, the elm money is smooth, fragrant but not greasy, and has an indescribable herbal taste.

In midsummer, the sun is shaded and even the house is full of green. There are lots of green apricots on the branches, and laughter is heard under the trees. My friends and I put up an old door curtain, picked up a few broken bricks, and played house.

In the dog days of summer, the big mushrooms in the old vegetable cellar are extremely delicious. One bite of a packet of strange apricots with sweet water is also addictive.

In the vegetable garden at this time, purple eggplants, mung beans, white radish, and red spicy anglers appeared one after another, competing for beauty.

The northern geese fly south, and the grains return to the warehouse.

We finished rolling the chive flowers and pepper foam in the milling room. Grandma pickled the small eggplant buns, small peppers, ungrown green beans and green tomato beans with chive foam. It tastes tender, fresh, spicy and delicious. Spread two pieces of Chinese cabbage leaves, smear them with soybean paste, leek flower foam, and chili pepper foam, add coriander, green onions, chopped pickled cabbage, and top with golden millet. Put your hands together, take a big bite, and smack it. Go ahead and enjoy the taste of autumn.

On winter nights, my grandfather and I would sometimes go to the powder room of the production team to eat vermicelli dumplings and drink haggis soup. Or watch the stove, waiting for the sweet, soft baked potatoes to emerge from the ashes.

At that time, I was really looking forward to catching a cold. Whenever I catch a cold, my grandma will make me soba gnocchi soup. That's a delicious taste I still love.

? I often dream. In my dreams, the scenery of the small courtyard remains the same, and my grandparents and I stay together forever.