Chapter 2 oil mill

If the south of the Yangtze River is regarded as the center of the country, there are people who are not afraid of the distance, the remoteness, and the excessive rain and mist. If you go south and west, and walk three thousand miles, you can reach a place, which is the place I mentioned in this article. .There was an oil mill in this place, and a group of characters which I shall mention. Let me talk about the oil workshop first.Oil mills are more elegant than people, although the people here have not yet learned to tell lies. The oil workshop is on a slope, the slope is a dirt slope, like steamed buns, and the name is Yuan'ao.Opposite to Yuan'ao, Da'ao is the two dangerous passes in the east and west of the village.Da'ao is just a slope.There are ancient watchtowers on Da'ao, which are built with square stones. Grass and trees grow on the watchtowers, which shows that the world has not needed military beacons for many years.On the Ao Diao, those who are good at drilling rocks can hit the side of Yuan'ao Oil Factory after hitting a rock.It turns out that this village is not very big.Looking at the oil mill in Yuan'ao from the side of Da'ao, looking at the roof and sides of the oil mill, it seems that this thing is older than the watchtower.In fact, Youfang is a newcomer.The watchtower is a century-old antiquity, and the oil workshop is only half the age.

Although this place is peaceful, everyone lives and works in peace, there is no banditry or war, and the revolution does not come to this place, but five years ago, another big county was once harassed by stragglers, which taught the local people a lesson Therefore, if a village is a city, this oil workshop already looks like a pass.Youfang is the pass of the village, which is not bad.The local government has not forgotten the benefits of stragglers, and has increased caution. It has been five years since the guard regiment was trained.The wall of the oil workshop was originally made of stone, and holes were drilled in the wall so that guns could be fired. When the wind was bad, the guard team would come here to fire guns and cannons.In fact, if the place is not suitable for rushing, there will be no bandits, and if the place is not rich, soldiers will not come.It was March at this time, when the oil factory was busy pumping oil.The mountain peach blossoms are all over the village, and it’s time to make peach blossom oil. The workers are still busy after changing shifts.

Although the oil workshop was busy, the tung seeds were sent from all over the place, and the tung seeds piled up outside the oil workshop was like a hill. As usual, those who come to deliver the tung seeds can see the owner of the oil mill, and see this man in dirty clothes full of oil, and his helper, busy enough to write books, too busy to smoke, too busy to talk, and too busy to talk to the young man. The woman was making out, talking about raising pigs and chickens, and it seemed that he was really worried that he would get sick and have a fever at night.If he continues to be so busy, whether this man has time to eat and sleep every day seems to be a problem.However, this man is still busy all day long.Probably born in a place and at a time, the energy of some people is particularly amazing, just like the laziness of another person in another place.Therefore, the villagers who cared about the master just smiled when they saw the master was busy, and then left the master's side and went to the oil workshop.

It's a strange place only when you first arrive at Youfang!The dome alone, and the light coming in from the roof, amazes strangers.This group of light helps us understand everything inside the oil workshop, adding to its magic. First look around, you can see thousands of oil dry.Youku, like pancakes, like big money, is stacked on stilts as high as the top of the oil mill, all around the house.Secondly, there is something in the middle of the room; a round milling pond made of stones on the ground, at least three feet in diameter, taking up a quarter of the whole room. Three oxen circled in a big circle, dragging the thin There are two cyanite milling discs, the first and the first milling pool are filled with sun-dried tung seeds, and the tung seeds are in the milling pool, and after being grinded back and forth by the discs, they shatter to pieces with a crunching sound.

It is the job of two young people to dispose of the crushed tung seeds.They are like many hard-working people in this room, with their shirts on and their arms bare. They swung a pair of strong and powerful hands in the air, wrapped the end of tung fruit with a large square cloth in such and such a very deft manner, lifted their hands up and put them into a pot, which was boiling at this moment. Pot of hot water.There is a raised iron net on the water surface of the pot, and Tongmo is steamed in the pot, and there is a large wooden cover on it.Tongmo was in the pot, and soon it was steamed through and cooked.When the two young men saw the fire, they quickly took out the large bag of tung seeds with big iron tongs, and took the raw materials with a shovel into the pre-tied straw bag. , The size has iron hoops.After wrapping it up, kick it with your feet and beat it with a big mallet to flatten it, and then carry it to the press to suffer.

The oil press is in a corner of the house. In a relatively dark situation, with the light from the roof and the fire from the stove, the large and thick wooden pillars are arranged vertically and horizontally. The iron skin and iron nails emit a blue and slippery reflection. It reminds people of the majesty of the "human squeeze" that punishes sinners in ancient stories.When some cakes made of grass bundles and iron were put on the shelf in an order, the oilman was bare-chested, with a leopard-like animal skin around his waist, and a small bun. , inserted wooden wedges of different sizes into the squeezed space one by one, held the long hanging mallet with one hand, sang a simple and long song, let go of the hammer in a loud voice, and hit the hammer with all the oil. .

Repeated and continued, the sound of the oil hammer rippled into the distance along with the long singing. On one side is the stone mill in the middle of the house, turning slowly under the slow steps of three yellow oxen. The wood swayed in the air; so the small seeds of tung seeds sent from the villages near and far from everywhere turned into a thick, yellow, translucent yellow stream, flowing into the underground oil tank. This oil mill, like a living being, is full of chaos and great harmony, making people realize how important this whole responsibility is.There are more than twenty characters in total, from the master to the bull boy.These twenty or so people are in one room, doing various things because of their different duties, each exerting different physical strength on different tasks, and exchanging conversations, expressing the leisure of mood. A group is still one, and it seems that it cannot be explained clearly with simple words.

However, if we leave this oil workshop for a mile or two, we can know that this oil workshop is alive, has a life like a human being, and continues to repeatedly produce a useful thing, where will we know it?Once we are far away, we can't see the mountains of Tongziren, and we can't see the strange house.We also don't know if there are three bulls dragging the big stone millstone in that strange house. I don't know if the fire in the stove is still roaring.I don't know if it's empty and dead there or everything is full of life.That's it, we have only one way, and that is to listen to the oilman singing, and listen to the powerful voice that rises and falls with the song as if it is a beat for the song.

From the singing and the muffled sound of the oil hammer hitting, we can see that everything in the oil workshop is coming.The sound of singing and cheering can sometimes be heard two or three miles away. It is the solemn music in the mountains. It is so solemn that it is more moving than a Buddha bell. It can give people strength, serenity and peace.From this sound, one can understand the passing of the severe winter and the beginning of a new year, because oiling begins in February.And you can know that this place is safe and free of police, and everyone lives and works in peace and contentment, because there is no more oil in the place when there is a warning.

Youfang has been briefly introduced.There are several people related to this oil workshop. The people I want to talk about are not some great people. We are already tired of seeing the faces, lives, thoughts, and actions of all the rich and important people who are meaningful in history in the daily newspapers.For those who are always interested in such people, he might as well become a petty official and try to get close to these people.I'm only talking about the unpleasant, ordinary-living, simple-behavior, simple-minded country people.However, this kind of people, in many people's lives, are as distant as classmates asking this thing.

After enjoying the oil workshop, it is not meaningless to come to appreciate the life of an oiler again——I will tell you everything about oiling. These oilers guard the suspended long log all day long, performing duties similar to executioners, shaking their hands, changing their steps, and walking around with the oil hammer hooked around their waists. They don't know that day What has been done has produced nothing but oil and sweat.Every day when it's time to change shifts, I go home.As soon as a person leaves the hammer, the song also leaves the mouth.The fatigue of the day made him feel that he must drink a glass of very strong sorghum wine, so he seemed to walk faster.When you get home, wash your feet, drink wine, or weave straw sandals by the stove, or go to another house to play some small cards.Those who have a family sit with their wives and daughters on the small wooden benches in the courtyard and chat, and sleep at eight o'clock when they hear the rocks rising.Sleeping, I didn't wake up until the fifth watch of the next day.When I woke up, it was still early in the morning, and it was time to go to work again. An oiler's life is nothing more than that.But as usual, this occupation is a specialized occupation, so the income from the work is unique compared with other businesses in small villages. One season of work in the four seasons can support a year's living, so this kind of person's status in the village is also equal to that of a gentleman. It seems that it is more cost-effective than being a scholar to teach. But such people are really rare in this place! It was getting dark, and the hawks that were fighting in the sky were gradually returning to the forest. The smoke from people's houses everywhere had turned from white to purple, and somewhere there was a woman's shrill voice calling A Niu A in a long tune. Xiaoming, the dog's child, went home for dinner. At this time, the oil mill in Yuan'ao stopped working, and a person walked out of the oil mill.This person walked in a hurry as if he was fleeing from a disaster, and it turned out that there was another boy chasing after him.The person being chased staggered and slid along the very familiar downhill road, and the kid chasing him couldn't catch up, so he called him from behind. "Fourth Uncle, Fourth Uncle, walk a little slower, you won't have a drink with my father, the old man will be angry." He turned his head to look at the black silhouette of the man chasing him, and said loudly as he walked, "No, thank you. Come tomorrow. Wu Ming, tell your father, I will come tomorrow." "That won't work, there is dog meat in the stew today!" "You can eat one more piece. Wuming boy, you can eat one more piece, or save some for me, and I will eat it tomorrow morning." "Then he will be angry!" "No. Tell your father, I have a little matter, and I have to go to the tailor Zhang's house in Xicun." The fourth uncle who said this had already walked down the Yuanao, and then looked back at Wuming where the voice came from, and what he saw was a blurry mass, the sky was really dark. Regardless of Wu Ming and Wu Ming's father, he gave up dog meat and sorghum wine, and must rush home because he missed his daughter at home.This middle-aged man's only daughter, Ah Hei, is ill and has a fever, lying in bed and unable to get up, waiting for him to go home to comfort her.His home, half a mile away from Youfang, already belonged to another village, so by the time he got home it was already time for five tubes of silk cigarettes.He was about to get home, but when he saw that there was no light in the house, the man felt a little nervous.All the way, he shouted his daughter's name loudly. He thought, maybe his daughter didn't even have the energy to get up and light the lamp.If you don't hear it, the man is even more impatient.If it is, when one enters the door, what one sees is a dead person, then this man doesn't have to live.He hurriedly and sadly walked to the front of his house, and opened the fence gate with his hands.The little pigs locked in the courtyard saw someone coming, and thought it was Ah Hei who was being fed, so they flocked there. He didn't open the door for a while, because he heard someone walking on the left side of the house. "Ah Hei, Ah Hei, is that you?" "Father, it's not me." Ah Hei deliberately said it wasn't her, but ran over to her father, holding something that looked like a bamboo pipe.When Dad saw Ah Hei, he was both happy and a little bit resentful. "Why don't the lights go on, why should I call you?" "The rice has already been cooked. I forgot the light. I didn't hear you calling me. I went to the back garden." After the father touched his forehead, Ah Hei opened the door and ran into the house first. Soon there was a light in the small tile house. Not long after, under a small clear oil lamp, the middle-aged father and daughter sat at a small square table to have dinner. While eating, I saw that my daughter's face was still flushed, and her illness was obviously not cured, so my father didn't want to add more after eating a bowl.Ah Hei is seventeen or eighteen years old. Knowing the reason of his father's madness, he said: "A little illness is already cured. At this time, people are not at a disadvantage." "I want you to sleep well, but don't listen to me." "I slept for a long time, because the weather was really nice at night, and there was a cloud in the sky, so I got up and looked, and went to the back garden to cut bamboo, so that Wu Ming could make the flute." "I was worried that you were not well, so I came back in a hurry. Otherwise, Wu Ming will leave me to eat dog meat today, and I will come anywhere." "Father, you want to eat dog meat, let's stew a leg tomorrow." "Where do you know how to stew dog meat?" "Why not? I can ask Wu Ming. Making dog meat is a bit messier and more troublesome. Father, you buy it and take it to the oil shop. Ask the fire burner to help you bake it and scrape it. I will definitely make it delicious." "Let's talk about it when you recover from illness." "I'm fine, really fine." "Fever is terrible!" "If you have a fever, eat some dog meat and fight the fire with fire, and you will recover faster." The well-behaved Ah Hei didn't want to eat dog meat, but seeing his father's love for dog meat, he said he would stew it himself.But soon, without having to do it himself, Wu Ming sent a big bowl of dog meat from the oil shop.After being told by his father for a while that he blamed him for not keeping his fourth uncle, Wu Ming retreated to make up for it, so he hurriedly sent a large bowl of red-braised dog meat with blue and white flowers.Although it was said that he was here to deliver dog meat, it was actually for something else. Uncle Bi seemed to love dog meat even more.Why does Wu Ming have to come in person to deliver dog meat, just like doing a big thing, no matter whether it is sunny or raining, no matter whether it is morning or night, only Ah Hei understands this reason! "Wu Ming, sit down." Ah Hei let him sit, and pushed a small bench over. "I can stand still." "Sit down, this child is always disobedient." "Sister Ah Hei, I will listen to you, don't be angry!" So Wuming sat down.He sat beside Ah Hei and was as tame as a cat.Wu Ming, who was sitting on a white wooden bench, watched Ah Hei eat under the light, and watched Si Bo drink wine and eat dog meat.If the fourth uncle's nose is red with wine lees, making people feel drunk when they see it, then why is Ah Hei's small nose so cute. "Wu Ming, have another drink, and drink with Uncle Si." "My father forbids me to drink." "What a filial son, you can upload it." "I've only heard stories about filial daughters uploading, sister, you uploaded it." "I mean you are fake. Do you think you are really a filial son? Your father forbids you to do many things, and it seems that you have done it behind your back. Having a glass of wine with uncle Si is afraid of being scolded by him, pretending to be the truth!" "I was wronged, what did I pretend?" Seeing that Wu Ming was being cornered by his daughter, the fourth uncle laughed, wriggling his big rosacea, and said that Ah Hei should let Wu Ming go. "Father, you don't know him. Although he is young, he can lie." Probably Wu Ming had told a lot of lies in front of Ah Hei, and Ah Hei got the evidence, so although Wu Ming shouted that he had wronged him, he stared at Ah Hei, meaning to beg for forgiveness. "Wu Ming, what the hell are you staring at me for? I don't understand." After saying that, he laughed out loud.Wu Ming became anxious, and shouted loudly: "Yes, Sister Ah Hei, you don't understand at the moment, I want you to understand later!" "Wu Ming, don't listen to what Ah Hei says, she is very embarrassing, just ignore her." "Ahei," the man said to his daughter again, "that's enough." "Okay, I won't say anymore, otherwise someone will have cat urine in their eyes." Wu Ming said with a burst of anger: "Yes, cat urine, there is a person who sometimes likes to eat other people's cat urine!" "That's a very pitiful situation." "Then it's ridiculous at this time" - saying, don't want the bowl, Wu Ming pulled away and left. Ah Hei chased him out and called him kid. "Wu Ming, Wu Ming, take the bowl! If you want to cry, cry under the lamp, so that people can see it!" Wu Ming, who was walking, did not make a sound or run, but walked slowly. Ah Hei felt sorry, so he followed behind. "Wu Ming, come back, I won't talk anymore. Come back and sit down, I have bamboo, you can help me make a flute." Wu Ming's heart moved a little, so he walked more slowly. "If you don't come back, then... everything will be over." When Wu Ming heard this, he had to stop.He stopped on the side of the road, waiting for Ah Hei who was driving him away.Ah Hei came to his side, took the boy's hand, and walked back.With tears in his eyes, the kid still entered Ah Hei's main room, stood there and forced a wry smile at Sibo. "Sit down, I'm really about to cry, I'm not ashamed." Wu Ming gritted his teeth and remained silent.Uncle Si felt sorry for seeing this, so he helped Wu Ming and said to Ah Hei: "A Hei, you forget about being laughed at by Uncle Mao. Let Wu Ming be more careful, women should not be too pushy." "Father, protect him." "How to protect him? If you are older, you should let him be." "Father thinks he is really an honest person, so he must be allowed. You don't know, Father, there are times when he is really dishonest!" "When?" The father seemed incredulous. "When? How much!" Ah Hei said this, and laughed when he thought of the story of Wu Ming's dishonesty. Ah Hei said that Wu Ming is not an honest person, which is not very unfair.But if it is really a dishonest person, Ah Hei is not qualified to make fun of Wu Ming at this time.The one who said Wu Ming was dishonest was Wu Ming. Although he was young, he knew a lot of things, learned a lot, and wanted to play wild on Ah Hei as soon as he got it. Humans, even if there is no shortage of opportunities to shed cat urine.However, it was useless in the end, so in the end, he was intimidated and sent back to the camp because of irregularities. He was still an honest man in front of the elders.It can really be said that since the idea is dishonest and still can't be done, the only way to do it is to make fun of Ah Hei. What Wu Ming thought about was revenge, but he thought about tomorrow's opportunity.In fact, he unknowingly used his pitiful appearance to take revenge.Because of his pitiful appearance, the oilman wanted to marry his boss, and because of his uselessness, Ah Hei felt very happy with the abused. Wu Ming kept silent, seeing Ah Hei pouring the dog meat from the bowl into the earthen bowl, seeing Ah Hei washing the dishes, seeing Ah Hei... Finally, he handed the bowl to Wu Ming and stuffed another handful of it. The dried chestnuts were in Wu Ming's hands, and Wu Ming laughed. On the pretext that he was afraid of being surrounded by pigs in the yard, Wu Ming asked Ah Hei to send him out of the gate, but when he got out of the gate, he held Ah Hei's hand, intending to kiss him in the dark to make up for the embarrassment.Holding Ah Hei's hand firmly, Wu Ming also felt that Ah Hei had a fever. "Sister, why are your hands so hot?" "I'm sick and have a fever." "Why don't you take medicine?" "A Little Glass" "A little bit, you said it! You are all a little bit, and you are joking with others, and you are also in your own affairs. How can you not take medicine when you are sick?" "Go to bed early today, eat some ginger, sweat and feel better tomorrow morning." "You are a worry!" "Ghost, I don't want you to pretend to be concerned, I will understand better than you." "You understand, yes, you understand everything, you can do anything, what I'm talking about is false concern, and I'm a ghost again..." Wu Ming kid took advantage of this to slander again, and he was about to cry again. Hearing the sobbing, Ah Hei's heart softened, and he hugged Wu Ming and burned Wu Ming's mouth with his mouth, as if feeding Wu Ming a piece of candy. Wu Ming broke free and ran across a field in one go.