The old town of Fengzhen has been renovated several years ago. But Laofeng Town from my childhood has always been buried deep in my memory. Sometimes I think of it like an old movie. Although the pictures feel old, they are still clear.

1.

One winter, just after the Spring Festival, my sister and I took a car from our hometown to the county town under the guidance of a fellow city man. Due to motion sickness along the way, we finally got there. Arriving at the county seat.

The streets in the county town are not very wide. They are paved with bluestone slabs, which are covered with muddy water formed by melting ice and snow. On both sides of the street are simple wooden buildings painted red. Walk from the bus station past the No. 1 Hotel, No. 2 Hotel, the old post office, the old cinema... and then you will reach the main street of the county. Walking around the cross street, I saw guards standing guard in front of important departments such as the county government, revolutionary committee, and court; a few shops and non-staple food stores were among them.

Walking east along Cross Street, not far away is Xiaodongmen, where my uncle lives. The aroma of soy sauce filled the area near Xiaodongmen. In that era of food shortage, soy sauce was probably the most luxurious condiment at that time. Following the narrow streets and alleys, the siblings arrived at their uncle's house in the county town, carrying a week's worth of rations including rice, flour, oil and meat brought from the countryside. My uncle's family, who had returned from the war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, lived in an Agricultural Bank of China family room of less than 20 square meters. Fortunately, we were all still children at that time. At night, 6-7 children and uncles and aunts would squeeze into this big Kang along the mountain.

As a 6-7 year old child, I am always excited when I come to the county for the first time. At that time, in my eyes, Fengzhen County was probably the only city smaller than Beijing. During the day, I secretly went out alone and walked for ten minutes to the train station to watch the trains. I also paid attention to the building signs I passed along the way to prevent me from getting lost. A person walks around the khaki-painted outer wall of the train station, approaches the platform, stands on tiptoe, and waits for the train to arrive. Whenever the sharp whistle sounds, it will bring bursts of excitement and excitement, but it will often be followed by continuous Frustrated, I stood waiting for a long time in the cold winter. Most of the people waiting were Hei Junjun's wooden trucks or military columns carrying artillery tanks. I rarely saw passenger buses carrying people. Occasionally, a long passenger bus passed by. , passengers wearing blue and yellow clothes on the train will wave and smile to you through the window. At that time, I thought that these people who can take the train must be officials or the most knowledgeable people in the city.

In the ice and snow, sometimes you will hold your breath for a long time and stare at the train going away. The long train carries a young man's dream to a distant place. At night, we, my siblings, would sometimes run out to look at the red lanterns hung at the entrances of various stores, among which the marquee lanterns caught our eye the most; sometimes we would also squeeze into department stores to watch the bills and currency clips flying above the counter. . When I came to the county town that time, my sister was not able to find a suburban home as she wished. The only thing left as a souvenir was the group photo that my uncle took us siblings to take in the county photo studio to record my youthful youth.

2.

I came to Fengzhen County again during the summer vacation after experiencing a disaster at home. I took a coal carriage from my hometown and traveled 7-8 hours with my third uncle to the county seat. After entering the West Pavilion of the county, I went with my third uncle to the only Muslim canteen in the county near Xijieer. Each of us ordered 3 bowls of shredded pork noodles. After the meal, we went to the County People's Hospital located at the foot of the mountain in the north of the city. It was already dusk when we arrived at the hospital. My father was on the verge of death due to severe bleeding due to gastric perforation a month ago. When I came here, my father's illness had already improved. At night, I squeezed into the same hospital bed with my father. When I had nothing to do during the day, I passed through the pig pen alley on Wulong Street in front of the hospital and went to the street to sell nickel-and-dime goods. If you only have popsicles, go to the nearby Xinhua Bookstore to buy a few dimes of Little People’s Books, or browse through various literary books. Sometimes I would go to the light field (county sports ground) on the right side of the hospital to watch the employees playing basketball and the children practicing table tennis; sometimes when it rained, I would go to the Donghe Bay to watch the spectacular scene of the rolling floods.

When I lived in the hospital every day, I could not help but witness all kinds of painful patients and injured workers being rescued here. Every day, I come into contact with doctors who come for ward rounds. They wear white coats and have stethoscopes in their ears. Every examination movement and comforting words are elegant and admirable. At that time, I secretly made up my mind to be a doctor who could save lives, cure illnesses like my father’s, and bring happiness to the family; sometimes I would see a heartbroken family follow a stretcher being carried out into the southeast corner of the hospital. A small door, probably the entrance to heaven. More than 20 days later, my father was discharged from the hospital and boarded the car home with large packages of medicines and luggage. On the way, a young man got off the car and took away Dad's medicine bag. It was the lifeline of Dad's medical treatment. I didn't care about motion sickness and chased for half a mile before I recovered the bag.

3.

In the blink of an eye, it was 1979, the year I took the college entrance examination. Spring is still cold and windy, and thick ice and snow cover the 10-mile mountain road from home to Sanyiquan Middle School. Riding on the sunset, a person staggers on the mountain road, and from time to time, a long-tailed fox or melon appears from the mountain col. The squawking pheasant. The teacher at the beginning of the semester recommended me to participate in the Autonomous Region Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry Competition. Unexpectedly, I was shortlisted for both mathematics and physics. I came to Fengzhen County again and reported to the County Culture and Education Bureau alone. After meeting the teachers, students and leaders, I vaguely read everyone's admiration for me, a rural student, from the strange looks in the eyes of the people around me.

This is the first time for me to sit in the spacious classroom of County No. 1 Middle School with my classmates from the city and receive training from famous teachers in the county. A few days later, he represented the county middle school students in the autonomous region competition training. This time I finally got on the train, stayed in a high-rise hotel, and ate delicious food in a restaurant. Occasionally, I even get a little carried away and almost forget the important task of the college entrance examination.

At that time, the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam was in full swing. In Jining City, which is known as the outlet of the North, strong winds wrapped in white snow were raging on the streets. The results of the war against Vietnam were broadcast over and over from loudspeakers on the streets, and songs such as "Goodbye, Mom" ??and "Black Triangle" were sung everywhere on TV. During the day we received training at a middle school near Wuma Road, and at night we stayed at the Xiaobailou Hotel in the League Office. Before the college entrance examination, I was able to listen to the mathematics, physics and chemistry training given by Mengli teachers, which was like nectar. At the same time, I also met more outstanding students. When I returned to Fengzhen from Jining again, I found that there was not a building with more than two floors in the county. Compared with Jining, I suddenly felt that the county was nothing more than a combination of several market towns. I couldn't help but sigh: How wonderful the outside world is! The trip to Jining opened a window to my knowledge and soul at the same time.

A few months later, we came to Fengzhen County due to the college entrance examination. Our college entrance examination team from Sanyiquan Middle School camped in a classroom of No. 3 Middle School. The school leaders accompanied us like parents. The fat Master Ji Bailian cooks sweet and delicious meals for teachers and students every day. Even though I was recognized by the school as the student most likely to enter college, when I got the test papers for that year, I still felt strangely unfamiliar. I couldn't help but regret that I was stuck at the bottom of a well and didn't know enough, but what about that? What can I do? That year, I stumbled into Inner Mongolia University of Technology, but I was also one of the five students in this rural middle school out of more than 100 candidates who were admitted to university that year. After graduation, I left Inner Mongolia and traveled around the country and abroad, but my heart never left this place.

In the past, Fengzhen was a treasured place where merchants from all over the world gathered. The industry is not very developed, with long drought and little rain, extensive planting and poor harvest, and there are only some handicrafts and workshops. It is rich in alpine crops such as oats, flax, potatoes and wheat. In the past, the main street of the old county town was Cross Street, extending to National Highway 208 in the east, to the railway bridge hole in West Street (gai) to the west, to Nancaiyuan in the south, and to the north of the city from the mountain in the north. There is a mountain in the east called Xuegang Mountain. It is said that Xuegang once stationed troops here.

In the past, Laofengzhen hotels were commonly known as canteens, arranged in numerical order, canteen one, canteen two…. Even though hotels are called hostels, they are also arranged in numerical order, from Hostel One to Hostel Three. The most famous canteen is Dongfeng Canteen, and the largest hotel is Yi Hotel. The most famous middle schools are No. 1 Middle School, No. 2 Middle School, No. 3 Middle School and No. 6 Middle School. The most famous elementary schools are Ma Primary School, Mao Primary School, Ju Primary School, etc. The most famous delicacies are moon cakes and roast chicken, and the most famous shochu is Fengzhen Daqu. There are also Fengzhen’s copper hotpots, which are also gifts for relatives and friends. The only bathhouse on the street is the Fengzhen Bathhouse next to the train station. Most Fengzhen people only take a bath during the Chinese New Year or when they get married.

Later, because my parents followed me to live in Northeast China, I did not return to Fengzhen for about five years. In 2002, my parents returned to Fengzhen to settle down. During the National Day, I returned to Fengzhen again. When I got out of the car, I suddenly realized that the Fengcheng town of my childhood had almost disappeared. The wooden houses left over from the ancient Feng Town have been replaced by modern reinforced concrete buildings. Seeing all this, I was shocked at first, and then regretful. My hometown seemed to have evaporated and disappeared overnight. Now the only memory of Laofeng Town is the bell tower and the old bell standing in the County No. 1 Middle School.

Today’s Fengzhen is expanding westward every year. With the railway as the central axis, a new Fengzhen City rises to the west of the railway in proportion to the old city. Only the fireworks of Laofeng Town are missing.