return home

        Being away all the year round, returning home is almost as rare as traveling. Because of the epidemic, I have not returned home for three or four years, and my desire for homesickness is growing day by day. It happened that it had been almost a month since my mother took my little nephew back to my hometown in the summer vacation. In the name of picking them up, she actually wanted to go back to the hometown where she had been away for a long time, blowing the gentle evening wind, smelling the sweet fragrance of rice flowers, stepping on the solid land, and embracing the long lost relatives!

        I thought that at this age, it was "the heart that has experienced many vicissitudes will not have ripples". I never thought that it would jump from time to time since it got on the bus to home. When I saw the Ma'anshan Bridge through the window in the dark, and when I saw the "Sukang Code" turned into "Ankang Code" in the "Taibai Island" service area, I felt an unspeakable kindness and happiness! After six or seven hours, when the door of the bus opened, my feet finally stepped on the three-way street where I had to go to school when I was a child; When I got on my aunt's battery car and walked along the familiar country road in the dark; When I pushed open the heavy iron gate of my small yard and looked up to see the stars in the sky and the full moon hanging on the camphor tree; When I heard a few dogs barking occasionally, mixed with the cock's crowing... I was finally sure that I was home! Expectations and desires finally come true. Happiness turns into a warm current and turns from foot to foot. This is the peace of mind, sureness and relaxation that has never happened in a long time. I occasionally have insomnia, and I even slept until noon the next day. I think it must be that the air at home is too good, leading to oxygen intoxication!

                Even though the high temperature is unbearable in a few days' holiday, I still can't stop my determination to see all the regrets of these years! When I was a child, I walked through countless muddy roads, but now they are all changed into concrete roads. I have driven geese, pulled sheep, and herded cattle on these roads. I have also hurried past with a sickle for wheat and rape, and a basket for pig grass! The scenes of the past emerge in front of us, which is filled with emotion! The place that carries the whole childhood is no longer the place that was dusty on sunny days, muddy on rainy days, and a few decadent weeds stubbornly surviving. On both sides of the flat cement road, there are hardworking trees and seedlings planted specially by people: mung beans have begun to turn black from green and mature slowly; Beans are only left with residual branches, scattered around the small trees; Clusters of okra can't wait for the master to pick them, and they are regretfully aging; The huge pumpkin cannot be hidden by the thick leaves, revealing its fat body; The small flowers as white as lanterns are neatly hung on the sesame pole, while the red and blue morning glory is dotted with weeds and seedlings... There are a lot of plants crowded around the edge of the road protection foundation. Looking around, in the green rice fields, the yellowing ears could no longer bear the weight and bowed their heads one by one. In the morning, the rice leaves are covered with dewdrops, which are crystal clear under the sunlight. The moisture and sunlight are twining above the rice fields, which are hazy like smoke and yarn, and the immortal atmosphere is curling around; In the evening, the red sunset and the green rice fields set off each other, which is particularly harmonious and beautiful.

        Looking for the faint fragrance, I came to a pond full of pink lotus hidden among the rice fields. In my memory, it was a winter when everyone worked according to their families and people. They dug with shovels and lifted with baskets. They worked hard to build a bigger, deeper and more water holding pond. Persimmons and peach trees were planted around the bank, which was a beautiful scene in spring. Since it was assigned to our family as a contractor, a few years ago, we raised some new year fish on the New Year's Eve dinner table. Later, because our family was away all the year and neglected to take care of it, we did not know when several lotus seeds floated in quietly, but they slowly produced a pool full of lotus flowers. Even the water chestnut seedlings that my mother had put in before were bullied nowhere to be found! For me, who loves flowers, this pond really makes me proud and worried! Pink lotus, green lotus seeds, emitting the scent of the bud, and ripe black lotus seeds, occasionally fall on the lotus leaves, making a slight popping sound, which is very pleasant! The residents nearby were ignored. Only when I, a rural person who came back from the city, picked pots of fresh lotus seeds and lotus flowers and even lotus leaves, like a treasure, came ashore reluctantly with my mother's dissuasion. Dragging wet clothes and mud, you can't jump into the pool like you did when you were young! Because all the ponds in the village are either full of reeds or overgrown with water and grass. On the way back to the village, a light sadness spreads in my heart.

        Overlooking from afar, you can see villages and households built near the road, and villages are linked by the rural road. Almost every household is a brick house, and the road is the only way out. There is no longer the adobe wheat straw house in childhood. Most of them are two-story buildings. Most of the houses are surrounded by square yards, with pomegranate trees, pear trees and jujube trees covered with fruits, as well as vine covered grape trees and loofah. Some people also raise some flowers and plants gracefully, and there are also chickens and ducks in captivity, which are noisy, but few people are willing to raise pigs. Nowadays, there are few people in each household. If you keep one or two smart local dogs, you can not only watch the house, but also relieve the boredom!

        The clothes washed and beaten in the pond are freely dried in the middle of the yard, and you can fully enjoy the care from the sun. In the row in front of the courtyard opposite the building, most of them are bathrooms equipped with solar energy, as well as kitchens that are fragrant everywhere when food is served. I prefer the earth stove that can cook delicious chicken pots to the gas stove; The tap water in the kitchen alleviates the burden of the well in the yard. A modern new countryside that can integrate science and technology is a good place to live!

        Out of the courtyard, it was a small vegetable garden that made me forget to return. Each family planted vegetable seedlings according to their preferences. In this season, chilies and onions are indispensable. One crop after another of leeks will last forever. A few high-yield Chinese cabbage can meet the needs of the whole family. Fresh vegetable baskets can be picked and eaten at any time. There is also a wonderful tradition of giving gifts to neighbors! These days, I've been wandering in my aunt's vegetable garden almost every day. There are red and silky sweet flesh in the golden bell, fragrant and delicious cantaloupe, red and yellow tomatoes, sweet and glutinous corn, and even found a multi petal balsam pear, which is a pure natural nail beauty treasure. It was the favorite of girls in childhood!

        Fresh air, fresh fruits and vegetables, warm small yard, warm neighbors and relatives, free space, and my pond of lotus... This kind of life is the life we once aspired to in a big city! If you can, please pack them all and take them away. I used to think that the village in my hometown was flat and backward, without the dazzling mountains and rivers, without the reputation of places of interest, and without the existence of enough pride. But I suddenly found that the original beauty wrapped in the childhood attachment, combined with some new changes, deepened my nostalgia for the fireworks in the world. As Ai Qing said, "My deep love for this land", perhaps this is where the blood is connected and the root is, Give up!

        Goodbye, my hometown, my village, my relatives! Gathering is always short, leaving is full of sadness, so I can only put it gently into my mobile phone photo album, and try to fill it into my stomach and trunk. Just because I still have some regrets, I believe we will meet again soon!