My hometown is in western Henan, a small mountain village in Dabie Mountain area, at the southern foot of Qinling Mountain and the upper reaches of Hanjiang River.
Behind my hometown is a lush hill, and in front is a gurgling stream, with beautiful scenery and no worries about drought and flood.
Many childhood memories are closely related to this place.
The important thing is that the roots are here, everything is pleasing to the eye, everything is kind and everything is delicious. ......
But this time, suddenly some changes, some lost, some melancholy.
Thirty years ago, as one of the few college students, I flew out of the mountain nest.
I am the boss. My father sent me to the village on a borrowed bike. It is about 10 mile. We walked all morning.
The road is not long, just stop and go. My father didn't talk to me much. He just looked at each other, smiled, sat down to rest, got up, looked at each other and smiled.
When we arrived in the villages and towns, we had a bowl of Lamian Noodles together, each meeting his own way. My father said that he was not hungry and that he would go home soon. He will eat when he gets home and say that his mother is still waiting.
Speaking of my mother, I remember very clearly. I was afraid that my mother would be in a hurry and was outside all morning. I didn't give up with my father because I was afraid she was worried. I peeled all the noodles and drank all the soup at one sitting.
When I looked up and saw my father's smiling face, I also giggled.
Suddenly I saw my father staring straight at the empty bowl I had just eaten, and his creeping Adam's apple. I felt ashamed at once. I ate all the noodles by myself, leaving nothing for my father.
Because he has eaten breakfast until now and nothing else. I whispered:
Father cracked chapped mouth, with a smile on his face, waved and said:
I saw my father's joy and his wrinkles. Joy is my father's heartfelt joy, but wrinkles are always engraved in my heart.
Forty years later, I still remember the empty bowl, the smile on my father's face and the wrinkles on my cheeks.
In the following eventful autumn, I graduated from college, got married and had children, traveled all over the country and enjoyed countless delicious foods, but that bowl of noodles was the most fragrant and that face was the closest.
Also, the smile on that face appeared in my dream countless times, but when I called him excitedly or timidly, he suddenly disappeared, and then I was left alone, waking up from my dream with tears on my pillow towel.
I went home this year and went to the place where I used to eat noodles. The former stall has now built a restaurant.
In the lobby, I asked for a bowl of noodles, sat down and waited for the noodles to be served. I looked at the other side quietly. I was eager to see something, even a call and a smile.
But there is nothing. I closed my eyes and let the tears fall slowly, but the picture in front of me was very clear: my father's smiling face was deeply wrinkled, almost wrinkled.
The waiter's voice woke me up.
I looked at the steaming face and felt particularly sad. In my eyes, there are still only empty bowls and my father's eyes.
I couldn't eat any more and left the hotel.
In the evening, I drove to my parents' grave.
My hometown is a hilly area, and cremation has not been fully implemented. My parents have been buried.
I came to my parents' grave, put a fruit bowl, knelt down, kowtowed and said hello:
In my hometown, you can burn some paper when you go to the grave.
I took out my paper and lighter, ready to light it, my hands shaking badly. I called several times, but it didn't work.
I continue to light the lighter, just to give them some thoughts, which is just a statement and a sustenance.
When parents were young, there were many sisters in the family, poor economic conditions, lack of food and clothing, and no shortage of hardships.
When the children are old and the economic conditions are good, they don't want to leave the countryside, saying that they don't want to cause us trouble.
When I first got married, my mother gathered all her strength to take care of my children.
When my daughter-in-law was eight months pregnant, my mother went to the city where I lived, brought diapers and clothes that the child needed, and waited for the baby to be born.
Unfortunately, my mother is not used to the climate here. She always has diarrhea when eating, and she has lost weight for half a month 10 kg. In addition, my family lives near the train tracks, especially the sound of train horns and tracks at night. My mother couldn't sleep all night, so she stayed at my house for a month and left.
When he left, the gray-haired mother bowed to her daughter-in-law and said:
As a result, the daughter-in-law and her mother hugged and cried into tears.
My daughter-in-law is very grateful to her mother for her honesty and kindness. When her mother died, she had a high fever and still insisted on going back to her hometown with me to attend the funeral.
"Eldest brother, you came back, why didn't you tell me ..."
Third brother's voice brought me back to reality.
"I'll go to your house later." I reply to my brother.
After my brother arrived, we worshipped our parents together and then went down to my brother's house.
Twenty meters next to my brother is the house in my hometown, where my parents lived before their death. I drove until I stopped at the door.
My brother and I got off the bus. My brother opened the door and said to me:
I walked straight into my parents' room. My brother is also a dutiful son. The facilities in the room have remained basically unchanged, except for a layer of dust.
The bed is empty, the table is empty, and the dim light replaces the kerosene lamp of my childhood.
I am the eldest son. Before I was 6 years old, I lived in this room with my parents. There are two beds inside. I live in a bed by the window sill.
The summer scene only remembers that it is too hot, and my mother shakes a banana fan to coax me to sleep almost every night before resting.
In winter, there is a pile of firewood in the middle of the house. Every morning, my mother heats up her clothes and shouts, "Baby, get up." I just got out of bed and put my legs into my warm cotton trousers.
To tell the truth, it was very hot at that time, and I still remember it now.
However, the people of Sri Lanka have gone, leaving only melancholy and acacia.
I came out from my hometown and drove to my brother's house. As a result, my sister-in-law went to her mother's house and my nephew worked in the county. There is no food to eat. As a last resort, my brother and I drove into town.
My little sister lives in the county seat. On the way to the county seat, my brother called her.
My little sister heard that I was back and booked a hotel in the county.
The meal was eaten in the hotel. There are three members, my brother, nephew and little sister, and everyone is very happy.
Accommodation in the hotel, after satiated with food and drink, I sent my brother and sister away and left them alone in the hotel.
My sister is a family of five, I am in Jiangsu, my second brother works in Zhengzhou, my third brother works in my hometown, my fourth brother works in Guangzhou, and my sister lives in the county.
My second and fourth brothers heard that I was going home and called all night.
We haven't had a party for two years because of the epidemic.
When my parents were alive, no matter how far away we were, we all went home. When everyone was here, there were four generations and 26 people living under one roof. Daughters-in-law cook around their mother, and we accompany our father to drink. Because there are many people, we often have to take turns to eat a meal for about 3 hours.
One meal that day, only six people, one meal 1 hour.
Without parents, they lie quietly on the mountain not far away. .......
That night, I felt busy all night: I went shopping with my father, helped my mother cook, and took my brothers to dig vegetables in vegetable fields. I am always busy.
But it was dawn, so I got up and looked around. There is a man in the room. I am lonely and quiet, only myself, with tears in my eyes.
The next day, I drove to my parents' grave again. This time, the lighter was lit, the paper was burning, the red and yellow flames were jumping, a breeze was blowing, and the smoke swaying with the flames slowly rose and vacated, rising higher and higher, drifting into the distance and the sky. .......
Mom and Dad, I miss you. hello ......