Chapter 26 Ditch Ping and Caohuazhuang

Going back to live in my hometown, I was about to leave home, my mother said: "Stay for two more days! Tomorrow your third aunt is going to marry her granddaughter, so you and I will go to Gouping for a banquet." When I heard "Sangu" and "Gouping", I felt a warm current in my heart, so I stayed. I have five aunts, among which the second and third aunts are the closest. The place where the second aunt married is called "Caohuazhuang", and the place where the third aunt married is called "Gouping". Why are you closest to the second and third aunts?The reason is that the second aunt and the third aunt look very similar to my father, and they are printed out of the same mold.Secondly, these two aunts married far away, and their family has a large manor. If we go to the aunt's house, we can live there, loved and loved, and there is almost no "legal" sanction.

In addition, there is another secret reason. Gouping and Caohuazhuang are extremely beautiful places in my childhood memory, and it is not an exaggeration to describe them as fairyland on earth. I remember that the surroundings of Caohuazhuang will be full of wild flowers when spring comes. Walking through the path of wild flowers and flowers, I will arrive at the courtyard of the second aunt's house. I am a fast guest who rides a horse from afar to pay a visit to the "Owner of Caohua Village".Unexpectedly, the owner of Caohua Village is a fat, kind, middle-aged woman, of course it is my second aunt.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the second aunt's martial arts are strong; they have a vast field, planting various fruit trees, and raising dozens of chickens, pigs and so on.For a while, she was fond of raising guinea hens and turkeys. Every time a martial arts figure approached, she would sing in unison to express her welcome!Aunt's most powerful trick is that she is very good at making kueh. The kueh she makes is often wrapped with lotus leaves, taro leaves, and aunt leaves, and often uses sweet-scented osmanthus and jasmine from the garden in front of the courtyard.Cloves bring a human touch.The kueh she steamed is not an exaggeration, the aroma can be smelled from a mile away.

My brother and I often go to the second aunt’s house. It’s best if the owner has free time. If the owner has no time, we will go to the orchard to have a meal by ourselves, and then lie on the wide chair in front of the west wing to take a nap and calm down. All the grass and flowers outside the village are turned around, butterflies are flying around, and an indescribable fragrance is circling in the village. The second uncle is keen on hunting, and often goes out before dawn, and takes Brother Chaozhi, Ah Quan, Ah Hai, and Ah Shui to hunt wild rabbits in the mountains, and the dinner is always very rich.

Although Caohuazhuang is beautiful, it is still a bit inferior compared with Gouping. The Sangu's house in Gouping is built on the bank of the river. It is a long row of bungalows, with an orchard in front of the house and a garden in the back.Sangu opened a typical grocery store in the countryside. In the era when supplies were scarce, the grocery store was like a treasure, including candy, biscuits and soda. Sangu was generous and generous, and we had everything we wanted. Only when it was full, did we go to the river to play. That river is not like a river, so the sun and the "ditch" are only waist deep, so clear that you can see the bottom. There are loaches, soil lice, big bellies, and shrimps in the river. Occasionally, you can catch big snake shells. The most important thing is clams. We "touch clams and wash pants" in the river every day, having a great time.

Sangu loves me the most, because people often mistake me for her youngest son, but in fact Kun's youngest son is brother Runchun, and Runchun is the king of children playing, and we all follow behind him. Every time I go to the third aunt's house in Gouping, she always holds my hand tightly, hugs me, and says, "I will stay for a few more days this time!" My aunt is the person who knows how to express love best among my elders. Living in Sangu’s house is usually during the winter and summer vacations, and I always linger. I heard that I was dragged home crying every time, and a few times I was secretly carried home by my father when I fell asleep.

My father often said later: "Every time I bring it back from the third aunt's house, it is like parting from life and death." The second aunt passed away when she was 80 years old. It was filled up, and several rows of houses were built. The beauty is gone, and the wild flowers are far away. It makes me sad to see it. At that time, I wondered whether Sangu's "gouping" is still there? Taking advantage of my third aunt's marriage to her granddaughter, I went to Gouping with my mother. Fortunately, Gouping hasn't changed much, except that the bungalows have become western-style buildings.Sangu is eighty-one years old this year, and her mind and body are still healthy, but it is just because she is old that she is not good at walking.Seeing me, she held my hand tightly, as if I was a child coming to stay during the summer vacation.

We were sitting in the doorway chatting, and the third aunt still clearly recalled my childhood, how naughty and how I refused to go home, and suddenly stopped in the middle of the talk, and said to Sister Dadian who was sitting by the side: "Yigui, go quickly. Bring soda and sweets to Ruan Ah Xuanzi!" Everyone laughed, and a noble cousin said: "Mom! Ah Xuan is also forty years old, he is no longer a daughter!" The third aunt also laughed happily and said: " Otherwise, give it to Ruan Axuan's son!" Sangu's grocery store is the same as before, and it has been open for more than a year. The difference is that chocolate has replaced golden light candy, instant noodles have replaced noodles, and foreign tobacco and wine are piled up on the shelves.

I was about to leave, and Sangu took my hand again and said, "I'm free, I often come to see Sangu, I don't know how many times we can see each other again!" My eyes became hot when I thought of my father often saying The words: "It's like life and death." The encounters in life are so impermanent. Decades are like a blink of an eye. I saw a bird named "Impermanence" flying by," making a long and helpless sound. At night, a distant relative came to see me and asked, "Some people learn about the past and the future after two or three years of studying Buddhism. Ah Xuanzi, you have been studying Buddhism for ten years, do you know?" Do you know about the past and the future?" I said, "Of course I do!" His eyes lit up: "Unexpectedly, your kung fu is also good, what do you know about the past and the future?" "I know that in the future we will all die. ! I know that from the moment I was born in the past, every moment is changing!" He was very upset when he heard this, and said, "No one knows such a simple thing!"

Really, everyone knows this, it's just that few see and experience it. Chaocaohuazhuang, like Gouping, have passed away in time, and will only become some fragments of memory in the future, and no one will even know these two place names. I thought, if I have a piece of land in the future, then I will plant acacia trees all over, and name it "Acacia Village" or "Acacia Ping". Miss, thank so many people love each other with profound karma.The impermanent bird flew over, but there was still a kind of tree called "Acacia tree" on the ground. The winter cold has come, and there is still a tree of bright yellow flowers blooming in front of Sangu's house, which is called "jasmine flower".

The jasmine flowers are still in full bloom in winter, and the acacia tree has a trunk that is not afraid of being broken. Every moment experienced in this world has great meaning!