A leisurely walk in the alleys, left to look at the right look, of course, no longer see the past unique atmosphere of life. I remembered that at that time, due to most of the city people housing conditions, the light is not enough, so families are open during the day, the day does not close the door. Occasionally pass by, you can side-eye to see which old mother sitting at a small square table wearing presbyopia glasses in the choice of vegetables, a leek a handful of watercress combed more and more watery and more attractive, the doorway there is a chubby grandfather also wearing a pair of presbyopia glasses nestled in the doorway of the old rattan chairs buried in reading the newspaper, may have seen a piece of news of interest to the presbyopia glasses after the two eyes opened wide. Which the aunt in front of the door to build a coal stove it, make the whole mess in the smoke and fog, passers-by had to frown and lowered their heads to cover their noses to accelerate the pace to the smoke drilling ......
Looking up to see the alley above the line of sky, and suddenly met with one or two sparrows swiftly flew by, noiselessly, as if for a moment the heart was taken away from them. What's that? A cluster of upright in the corrugated, gray. I looked at it again, but it was the familiar corrugated grass. I thought I would never see corrugated grass again. The old-fashioned houses of the past have been transformed into high-rise buildings in the new round of urban redevelopment, and it is absolutely impossible for corrugated grass to set its feet on the flat roofs of reinforced concrete. The corrugated grass is a unique product of the old house, and it stubbornly believes that the old house corrugated room is where it belongs.
Seeing it - corrugated grass, my memory immediately fled to the rural home that only appears in my dreams today. A small curved river, the river bank north and south sides of the staggered two rows of Jiangnan farmhouse. The houses are all colorful green bricks and tiles, no one remembers that these old houses have been passed down for several generations. The villagers are living a quiet idyllic life, no competition, just like the water in the river, year after year, day after day, noiselessly, quietly flowing.
The field of fruits and vegetables, wheat and rice need to be managed diligently, when it will be harvested, but there is one thing do not want anyone to spend a little effort labor to care, it is in full swing, the growth of people. It is the corrugated grass in between the corrugated roofs of every house. As far as the eye could see. At that time, there was no house that didn't have that stuff growing on the corrugated boards, and it was gray. As a child, I couldn't figure out how they could be rooted in the corrugated area without being planted, and how they reproduced year after year. Even they are a little poke gas in my eyes, such as if it can be like the moon phoenix, open a two beautiful flowers, but also to delight us country children have felt the heart of the bitterness okay, but it? It is always gray, dirt, usually adults are busy with farm work, not to mention the children, who will pay attention to them ah, let a person look at the gas.
What makes people most angry is that it doesn't matter if the sun is shining or if it's freezing in the middle of winter, it can't be helped, and there's no one to take care of it, and it grows uncontrollably year after year. Seeing that other people's homes are old houses demolished and rebuilt with new tiled houses and even big buildings, looking at the village, only my family's corrugated grass is richer than other people's. I felt so inferior that I could not even look at it. I felt so inferior that I became as unattractive as the corrugated grass. My little heart was always worried that my house would not be able to withstand the erosion of corrugated grass for years and years, and one day it would suddenly collapse. Of course, time proved that all my worries were unfounded, and with the corrugated grasses, we were able to live in peace, and the whole family spent one day after another in the old house with the corrugated grasses, which was a bitter but joyful day.
When I think about it, the reason why my family was able to weather the storms and still feel peaceful and quiet was because I had a mom who was as tough as corrugated grass.
My mom was the backbone of the family, a young single mom (my mom was only in her 20s and 30s at the time) who had to carry the heavy load of supporting her family of five. My grandparents are old and my brothers and I are still in school. In order to ensure that the whole family can at least be fed and clothed, but also to ensure that the two of us go to school to study tuition and book costs, she did everything, in addition to taking care of the brigade was given an acre of three acres of land, it is thinking of ideas for what to do to earn money to support a large family. Although the bitter, but never in front of us to say a word, just a person alone silently bear. I still remember the words she said to me: to survive, first wipe away the tears!
Later, my mom met an old classmate and talked to her about the situation over the years. I didn't realize that she is now in a social factory as a secretary, after all, is an old classmate, is also a mother, knows a single woman to support a family of five people's lives how easy it is, for the sake of sentiment more sympathetic from the sympathy of the immediately arranged my mother into her factory into a town social factory official employees, by only 30 yuan a month's salary barely to maintain a family of the `basic life.
To the town, occasionally found that the original everywhere there is a doorway to earn money, even if people discarded in the garbage cans of cardboard pick up can be changed for money, the factory leadership has seen the expired newspaper collection can be changed for money, and then later, see the market to sell fish, shrimp, chickens and ducks can be sold to earn more money. So, in addition to work, before going to work, she got up in the morning large frozen warehouse wholesale some frozen prawns frozen sea fish, what the scallop, green scurry fish. At first she was borrowing other people's tricycles to go, and then due to the inconvenience of frequent borrowing, she bit the bullet and bought a pedal-operated small three-wheeled. A plate car frozen sea fish at least one hundred pounds, in order to do business, sometimes fitted with two boards of frozen fish and shrimp on the tires are flattened, in order to catch up in the market early in the morning before people buy food to arrive at the market to seize the best time to sell goods, she stepped on the car hard in the winter and the sweat of the sweat are moistened with close-fitting clothes, but to see the final goods are sold out, she smiled and thought that he could earn more money to feed a large family, felt that the suffering are worth it. Those sufferings are worth it, it's nothing. A few trips to do business down, found that all of a sudden earned more money than a month's salary in the factory work.
Money can support the whole family, more money can let the family live a happier life. Having tasted the sweetness, it was a one-off, and she became even more motivated. Later developed to wholesale chickens and ducks to sell, but the chickens and ducks are not very good, after all, at that time can afford to eat chickens and ducks less people. Later found that fruit is good to sell, then turn to wholesale fruit to sell, what season what fruit to sell what fruit. Good fruit to sell money from their own not to eat, only those who have a rotten bar can not be sold only to bring home to share with us rarely eat fruit. Although eating rotten fruit, but I thought it was the most delicious thing in the world, sweet to the heart, until now still feel that now eat the sweetest fruit is not as sweet as then.
I don't know when she saw the summer street began to popularize eating popsicles. Especially in the summer evening, go to the cinema to see the movie young men and women into the cinema or movie after the end of the movie like to buy a popsicle to relieve the summer heat, those waiting in front of the cinema popsicle business can be good. Maybe I can make some money by taking part in it. Said to do, their own hands made a wooden box, painted green outside, inside nailed on a thick circle of cotton blanket, but also from the carpenter to come to a piece of edge material to do a piece of wood similar to wake up a small piece of wood, that is used to beat the box cover yell to solicit customers, then sell popsicles are so practice. The copy does not go out of shape, all the lines are ready. Wind and fire immediately rushed to the cold drinks wholesale department wholesale a box of popsicles, that night on the profit is not small, in fact, only a few dollars only, but she felt happy, because finally found a way to make money to support the family. So, every night in front of the movie theater another woman figure, she is my mother.
Perhaps doing small business can be "addictive", but of course it is not totally tempted by money, but she didn't realize that the money could be used so much that she couldn't imagine, and that she could actually support her family by her own efforts. So, she felt more and more so busy life has hope, the whole summer, in addition to the night in front of the movie theater selling popsicles, a round to the factory daytime break on the back of the stick refrigerator to go around the village alley hawking, "A want to buy ice - A want to buy ice -" while yelling While yelling, he tapped the lid of the popsicle box with the small square piece of wood, "Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa. " the pounding sound echoed in the nearby villages and hamlets. The sun shines high, sweating, only a straw hat can slightly shield the hot, piercing eyes of the sun, only the tree robin's irritable call and its response.
The tens of pounds of stick ice cream on the shoulder, only a rough cloth strangulation, shoulder hiking, when the family has no money, can not afford to buy a bicycle, can only be used in such a simple and primitive way to start the village of the village of selling popsicles camp life. In summer, wearing thin, every day after selling popsicles back home to put down the box, you can always see one side of the mother's shoulder strangled out a red blood scar. But as soon as she saw that she had sold the whole box of popsicles and earned the hard-earned money she had earned with her blood and sweat, her tanned face would overflow with heartfelt joy. Every time I see that smile, my heart will be filled with full of guilt, hidden heartache, thinking: when can I grow up, the mother shoulders that burden off.
I remember from then on, I learned to daze, standing alone in the patio, looking up at the square inch of sky above the patio, pondering. The first thing I did was to look up at the sky above the patio and think about it. The corrugated grasses were the only thing that brought me warmth and strength. They were firmly rooted in the dusty moss between the corrugated boards with their thin roots, and grew tenaciously by taking in a little rain and dew from nature. In the spring, tiny white flowers bloom on their soft bodies. Some people may never know that they also bloom, but that's just the way they are. They germinate silently, take root silently, draw branches silently, and bloom silently. Although the flowers are small, but still by the sensitive sense of smell of the bees found, flying to the roof of the nectar, do not mind to come to spread pollen for them. Summer is not afraid of the heat of the sun, not afraid of strong typhoons, not afraid of frost and snow in winter, only a dead branch is still tenacious and lonely. Winter to spring, and then rejuvenated, still remain silent ...... although still so gray, still so dirt. But it contains within the perseverance y impressed the young me. I never disdain them is so rustic, so uninviting. Seeing them is like seeing my mother's image, she is like corrugated grass in life on the difficult road through the thorns and thistles, rise to the challenge, quietly firm, with its small body to carry all the bad test from the outside world, writing a wonderful chapter of life, played a piece of inspirational music of life, it is she - my mother, a Single woman, with her thin body a pair of calloused hands lifted a boat that looked to sink in the ocean, lifted a complete home.
Later, I occasionally found out from the book that corrugated grass is actually called "Wasson", and I suddenly felt that this should be its real name, and it deserves its name. It uses its thin layer of waxy outer skin, firmly locked from the corrugated dust moss to draw water, standing roof corrugated between, and the strong gene passed on from generation to generation. Early spring, they come from the fruit of the year like chicks like shells, and then from the remnants of the cobwebs, dried insect carcasses to seize the delicacy, with the feathers, the deposition of dust to build the foundation, a few strands of roots or pounded into the heart of the moss or rooted into the cracks of the tiles. In July and August they blossom with small white or pink flowers; in September and October they enter their prime and are full of fruit. Although their body is less than a few inches high, but to withstand the wind and rain, sun and drought, is not there like the pine and cypress bones? I remember, it is called "Tile Pine", which is a nice name. The name is like this, it is a miniature pine tree standing in the corrugated, so tough, so stubborn, read all the wind and rain on earth.
Nowadays, although the corrugated grass on the corrugated roof of the old house has disappeared in the wave of demolition, it has become a memory that I can never erase, and is y rooted in my mind and in my spiritual world.