Chapter 8 man and land

It is recorded that "Dongting has a lot of tangerines", the place where tangerines are produced is in the southwest of Dongting Lake, in the upper reaches of the Yuanshui River, especially in the middle of the Chenhe River.The tree is not very tall, and the leaves are green all the year round.Zhongfu blooms, the flowers are white and small, and the fragrance is intoxicating.After the frost falls in September, the fruit is attached to the branches and is infected by severe frost. The red vermillion is bright yellow, dazzling the eyes, and it is bright when viewed from a distance.Whenever oranges are picked, the accumulation of this product can be seen everywhere by the small docks along the river, just like piles of flames.Strangers pass by on Linheguan Road next to the Orangery, and when they see this situation, they will inevitably get greedy, or ask casually, "Hey, do you sell those oranges?"

The owner sitting on the pile of oranges or among the branches of the tree will happily answer, saying clearly and clearly, "I don't sell these oranges." "Really not for sale? I'll pay for it!" "When the president pays for it, he doesn't sell it." "Hey baby, I wish your..." "It's not rare, so it won't be sold!" The ancients said, "Ask the vulgar when you enter the country." If you know that "not selling" and "not eating" are two different things, then after you hear that they are not sold, you can just pick them and eat them. The owner of the orange orchard will not interfere.

If a stranger arrives at this place for the first time and sees that the negotiations cannot be handled well, he will walk away disappointed.The host could tell from the accent and back that it was a stranger, knowing that it would be wrong to say that, he must have a good look, and happily stopped the stranger, as if the two of them hadn't finished talking, and asked him to come back and explain clearly. Walk. "My folks, I don't want to sell these oranges. If you want to eat them, just eat them. How much can you eat by yourself? Ten or eight are nothing. You can take a rest before you go on your way. The weather is getting early. "

When the oranges are full, I naturally understand another reason for "only eating but not selling".It turns out that the local area is a place where oranges are produced. There are orange orchards everywhere along the river. There are too many oranges, which are not worth much and are not easy to sell.And according to the custom, peaches, plums, oranges and grapefruits get more and more delicious, so you should not take money on the spot.The middle class in the big cities, with some new education, know that oranges are extremely beneficial to the development of children, so oranges have become a necessity and a luxury.Four taels of oranges cost one or two cents to get.And most of the food they eat is shipped from the United States on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.As usual, Chinese textbooks or other research reports rarely mention how many places in the southern provinces of China produce oranges. The quality and color are very good, far better than those produced by foreign orange orchards.Experts and businessmen don't pay much attention to it, so the value of local oranges is only slightly more expensive than carrots and pumpkins.Four or five catties can be bought for ten cents in the place of production, and two or three catties can be bought for ten cents after being shipped to a city three hundred miles away by boat.Eating oranges or eating carrots has almost the same meaning, that is, to quench thirst.

As the saying goes, "When the goods arrive on the ground, they will die", so oranges cannot be bought wherever they are sold; in fact, it turns out that oranges cannot be sold.Sometimes there are too many crops, and there are wars along the river. It is inconvenient to ship, and they don’t know how to make wine. The small ones are not good enough to be transported to the small wharf. .When faced with such a situation, the country people would say mockingly: "If it grows in the soil, let it rot in the soil. If it doesn't grow this year, it will be better next year!" Watching children throw oranges like stones and ignore them, the days are endless. That's how it went.

Two thousand years ago, Chu State expelled Qu Yuan, traveling up the Yuan River in a small white wooden boat, he must have seen this kind of orange grove before he wrote the "Ode to Oranges".Although the living conditions of the people in this place have changed somewhat over the past two thousand years, people and trees are still parasitic on the land along the banks of the river, fed by the land, and in the alternation of the four seasons of sunlight, rain and snow, they die of old age and reenter the land. Soil, the new growth, seems to grow from the soil. Some people are tired of living on the ground, so they cut down a few big trees from the mountains, saw them into many boards, buy thirty to fifty catties of old crow's mouth long iron nails, find hundreds of catties of hemp heads, and beat them several times. One hundred catties of tung oil and lime, using the old method taught by the ancestors, according to the inherent style of the local village, build a strong and strong sailing boat with a high head and a tail on the river beach.After the ship was completed and oiled, it was added with a few tents, a mast, four oars, and all the necessary equipment on board, and with a helper, it went down the river and rowed to the downstream city.From then on, this person has become a "waterman", eating fish, eating shrimp-eating rice on water.Facts are the same as fish and shrimp, wandering around without restraint.If his boat goes up the Chenhe Donghe River, he can go to Fenghuang County and Tongren Mansion in Guizhou Province where the Miao people are concentrated. He can clearly see how the cinnabar mercury opium smoke grows from the rocky soil.Walking down the Yuanshui River, you will arrive at the famous Taoyuan County in history within 600 miles. The mouth of the river where ancient fishermen went to Taoyuan Cave can park at will.After walking another 500 miles, the boat leaves Dongting Lake, and you can also enjoy the sight of 100,000 wild ducks flying to cover the sky and block out the sun.Seeing the sun and the moon more broadens the horizon and mind, and often drags a woman into the water to come to the boat to cook and raise children.Two years later, the luck is good, the boat does not splash soup, and after two to three hundred foreign dollars, it is replaced by a three-cabin double-sculled boat... Therefore, half of the local people have taken root on the ground, and half of the people are floating around on the water.People take root on the ground, entrust their physical life on pastoral production, entrust their spirit on all kinds of gods and taboos, and entrust their fantasies on the water, and live their lives through hard work.Follow the seasons in the almanac, take care of the mill orangery and the melon field vegetable garden, use rooster, carp, and knife-head meat, seek wishes from various gods, and drive away evil spirits.When luck and life are reversed, some unjust lawsuits, some minor mistakes, or half-year-old malaria, misfortune strikes and the wives and children are separated, so I have no choice but to think: " Let’s get a boat, and never come to this ghostly place again!” Many, many people uprooted themselves like carrots, and threw them far away, not returning for five or seven years, or never returning for life.Drifting outside is not enough luck. When poverty and illness can’t support me, I lie down in an old empty boat to catch my breath. Although I have nothing around me, the orange grove in my hometown is clearly in my memory.So he took a sip of long running water with his hand and swallowed it to moisten his dry throat.Since the water flows from my hometown, even though the distance is 810,000 miles, you can still hear the moaning sound of the water wheel on the bank of the river in front of the house, so I sighed and died. The world left with lively misery, wiped out.

Those who have lost their fortunes by eating water and rice often return to the original land to find a place to stay. Donate a sum of money to repair the ancestral hall of the clan, and then spend 23,000 foreign dollars to buy a piece of land and burn a few kilns of large bricks. Ask Mr. Yin Yang to see the meridian, choose an auspicious day and a good day to break the ground, and build a seat in the newly purchased garden "Fenghuo Tongzi" has a big house with high walls, buys another three or two big-necked fat and strong yellow cattle, hires four or five long-term laborers, and cultivates the land.Raise a flock of chickens, a flock of ducks, and raise two fierce and barking watchdogs to increase wealth and guard it.So I often put on a mandarin jacket with large sleeves in black and green feather silk, carry sheep and wine to visit the patriarch and in-laws, socialize and celebrate, and work as a small country gentleman in the local area.Use the social etiquette learned from the water to build your status and reputation in your hometown.All local public welfare activities, such as sobriety, holding land fairs, boat races in May, and playing lion and dragon lanterns during the New Year, are usually meaningful, so he is very generous to be a leader and show his face. The donations written by himself must be better than others some more.When the army crosses the border, entertain them in a fair and orderly manner, without panic and delay.There are good opportunities for people to escape, and after a year or two, they might make up for the shortage of Baochangjia and become local dignitaries.From then on, I will live steadily and wait for the opportunity and fate.Or the family is prosperous, the career is smooth, the sons and daughters are capable, they open a big oil factory, the money flows in and out like water, and they become the richest members of the village.In three to five years, a big house was burned down, the cattle were plagued, the fields were hit by water and the sand was stagnant, and the orange trees were all frozen and destroyed in the severe cold.What's more unfortunate is that he was involved in a lawsuit, went to the city and was imprisoned, dragged back and forth, and was finally unable to step down in the middle of the county government's bad regulations.After much deliberation, the best plan is to go with thirty-six strategies, so I have to go into the water for the second time.But the age has passed, and the energy is about to be exhausted. It is impossible to compete with the young and vigorous man and fight the world from the water.Back on the water just to escape the memory of past life failures.It's just like farmers pull out old hollow radishes and seedling amaranth roots from the soil, throw them on the water, and let the running water wash them away.Of course, some of them will plan to arrange, and the children are enough to distribute. They manage orange orchards on the ground and boats on the water.There are also those who have made money on the water, but are envious of oil merchants, so they come to open small farms and do tung oil business.There are also some who, because of a successful career, set up a regiment defense in a local area, brought 30 to 50 variegated guns, and participated in several small civil wars. When the army disbanded, he took a handful of ill-gotten gains and went home to enjoy the blessings. He was called a detachment leader and commander in the village.There is also a man who never leaves the land or the water, and his family business has never prospered, but there are a few more males. Affected by social trends, he has taken a fancy to scholars and believes that "everything is inferior, only reading is high." Go to the righteous school in the clan to receive education.The child is still willing to improve, his heart is opened by the book, and the opportunity is good, and he is admitted to the provincial normal school. As a father, he lives more diligently and frugally, but at the same time, he dreams of boundless absurd dreams on his son.

In another three years, my son will finish his studies, kill pigs to worship his ancestors, and put a large plaque with red and gold on it in the ancestral hall.During the summer vacation, when the son wears a white uniform and returns to the countryside with a basket of books and newspapers, the whole family will be in awe of him.The mother cooks two poached eggs for her son every day for breakfast to replenish his energy; the father dares not speak nonsense in front of his son.The son thought he had received a new education, so he naturally looked down on everything in the family, thinking that corruption was trivial, and often shook his head in front of the old man with an air of "enough is enough".Although talking about things in the city can satisfy the curiosity of the elderly, it always seems a little annoying.Later, he worked as a primary school teacher in the school or in the county, was promoted to the principal, or became a member of the Education Bureau, or a member of the county party committee. "Qi, when you encounter any case to petition the county, you have seen your name on the letter, or when the committee member went to the countryside, he served as a representative in the reception; it is obvious that he has become a local celebrity.

So the old man really became a feudal old man, and was treated differently in the countryside.If you are sailing a boat, you must be different from others. The world is changing, and so is the boatman's family.When the son becomes famous, the youth achieves success, and the thinking is new, of course there is a "revolution".Accepting the influence of social liberation and transformation since the "May 4th Movement", the revolution does not come up with the following two formulas: If the old man has a claim, he wants to find a wife for his son; But as usual, they disagreed, and most of them wanted female teachers hired from the province by the county girls' schools.Because the hair has been cut off, and there is a fountain pen on the skirt of the shirt, there are "thoughts", "modern", and understanding of "love", so that love can occur, and a man of talent and beauty is worthy of it.Opinions were so different it became a family revolution.

Or marriage is not a problem, and the old man worships and flatters his son, and the son decides everything.Or, although the son reads "Liberation" and other magazines, he doesn't really dislike the mill and the orange orchard as dowry.My son had other ambitions and came back to his hometown to reform the society, so he acted as a representative, set up a society, sued the local public education special fund custodian, suggested the use of ancestral temple industry, and made a very angry discussion in the county lithographic newspaper, After the newspaper was printed, I bought a lot and gave it away to others.

...The lively "big era" that these young people dreamed of finally arrived. When it came, the pressure was too intense and it was difficult to adapt. In the end, they had no choice but to flee to other provinces and never return to their hometowns; He was called a "reactionary element" by the local military police and bad squires, and his fate was inevitably the same as that of many vigorous young people in the interior of this era in China.Where there is a conflict between the old and the new, there is a social revolution.Whenever a revolution is involved, disputes follow, and tears and blood are shed everywhere.The most important meaning is to promote the metabolism of personnel, make the old old, leave the orange orchard he cultivated by himself, use the familiar ship furniture, and at the same time leave his lovely son (most of whom follow him) ), returning to the soil. As for the women, they feed pigs and ducks, carry water and grow vegetables, spin hemp and spin yarn, grind and mill rice, and do everything they can and do.Sun and rain and all kinds of labor make everyone strong and hardy.His body is well developed, he eats a lot of oranges, his eyes are bright, and his blood is full, so he is good at giving birth to boys and girls.There is no habit of calling slaves and maidservants in the village. When a family needs a helper, the parents ask for a child bride-in-law for their underage son, so every family has a child bride-in-law.In other words, it is to exchange children for education, to learn and participate in life and work.These little girls were twelve or thirteen years old, wore a pair of calico trousers, and accompanied a rooster to worship their ancestors. After that, they obtained the status of child brides and became one of the candidates for this family.Even though he was young, he had to participate in all the affairs of the family, within his physical strength.Going down the river to do laundry, and cooking in the kitchen are two more daily tasks.When I have nothing to do, I will act as a substitute for my mother-in-law, and take my two- and three-year-old uncles to play by the well at the head of the former village or in front of the small earth temple. I also take time to watch the excitement.Or every day when you go up the mountain to herd cattle, you will pick a load of loose hair and a basket of fungi, and go home for dinner.When I was fifteen or sixteen years old, I got married with my husband and officially became a member of the family. In addition to the original job, I had the additional obligation of inheriting the ancestors' sons and daughters.This person is either an only child, or the family has a small population and needs helpers who are reluctant to send them out, so they stay at home to raise the yellow flower girl.When I was fourteen or five years old, I learned things as usual, and gradually became interested in it. I learned how to embroider and buckle flowers with my aunt, uncle, neighbors and friends. I used five-color silk thread to embroider mandarin ducks or magpie plums on my aprons. double phoenix.In addition, in the village, you can hear stories about talented men and beautiful women such as "Second Plum Blossom" and "Tianyuhua" by the elderly, myths and legends such as the Seven Immortals descending to the mortal world, and the young man who punted the boat when he went to the river to wash vegetables and wash rice. His eyes are sharp, and when he sees the girl's big braid like a black-snake snake on the bank of the river beside the bamboo garden, her two eyeballs are black and shiny, and if she is moved by it, she will sing a few slang songs to flirt.Going up the mountain to chop firewood and hogweed is more likely to be seduced by the singing of young wild children.In February and August, as usual in the local area, local operas will be sung to thank God and fulfill their vows, and there are many stories about martyrs and beauties in the operas.This is the emotional education of these girls.Anyone who has a master and son, remember that "loyal ministers do not serve two masters, and strong women do not marry two husbands", which is often mentioned in dramas. Although they have many fantasies, they will still live their lives according to their duties.Those who marry late and lose their time, those who are widowed without restraint after marriage, or those who have a prosperous personality and are easily moved by singing, naturally have many opportunities to do things that the locals take for granted.Or go to meet lovers in the bunkers above the mountains, or run away with floating opera actors, or marry veterans.As usual, these soldiers have seen some of the world and learned some of the manners of young men. Yuanqing crepe silk scarves, one foot five feet long, are wrapped around their heads. They wear a gold-plated watch and two gold teeth. They are good at fighting Playing cards, playing the yueqin, and singing dozens of songs in minor tunes.Tired of being in the army, and returning to my hometown to do nothing, there is no chance of going up and down, so I gamble a little, or open a small shop to sell some groceries. Huanxi walks around, with sharp eyes and a sharp nose, she can see and smell what is the way to go, and there will be no big trouble when she walks.If you seduce these charming girls, you can't store them, and you can't support them, so you will take a boat with the girls and run down the river, not thinking about what to do tomorrow.When I went to live in another city, spent some money, and had nothing to do and nowhere to go, my last move was to coax the woman into the hands of human traffickers, mortgage one hundred or two hundred yuan, and give it to my subordinates. A local prostitute, but he just slipped away.A woman may be lured out of her ugliness, with a child in her belly, nowhere to explain, if she wants to leave but can't leave, if she wants to stay but can't stay, she picks up side herbs according to the local prescription, earth dog, spotted caterpillar, poria cocos, cinnabar, dead Eat a piece of it alive, knocking off the blood clot.Or the body is weak, unable to bear the power of the medicine, narrow-minded, timid, unable to make plans, accumulated worries and illnesses, and as soon as the child falls to the ground, he deliberately walks to the big river to drink cold water for a while, then lies on the bed, and after a while , Stomach and intestines colic, insisted on being cornered and dared not say anything, and died a day later.So the family bought a pair of white wood planks to make a funeral and buried it.Relatives cry for a while, neighbors talk about it for a while, scold them for a while, and show pity for a while, and the matter is over.There are also many fantasies, and the youthful and lyrical spirit is particularly strong. When things can't be solved, choose a day, comb and dress up in private, put on clean clothes and shoes, button up your favorite flower apron, and devote yourself to it early in the morning without anyone noticing. Go to the deep pool, feed your body to the fish, and it's the same—it's over.Or there are people in the family who are senior, powerful, and particularly stubborn and domineering. After reading several "Zi Yue", they think they have the responsibility to maintain morality.The enhancement of this kind of moral sense will inevitably become a good person, and he must be particularly excited about matters related to men and women.As soon as something embarrassing happened to a woman in the clan, I would think of various reasons. I would vomit for a while, and then gather the clan members under the anger, tie up the woman with a rope, and perform a lynching. From the situation of women suffering Get a little bit of perverted satisfaction, marry the woman far away, and get back a sum of money as "face money".If the members of this family are deeply sick, morality and sadism are inseparable, and women will inevitably become victims in a dramatic scene.As usual, these men will strip off all their clothes, hang a small millstone around their necks, and take them to Changtan to "sink into the pool", expressing the meaning of abandoning everyone.When several members of the tribe boarded a small boat and paddled silently to the depths of the river in the middle of the night, the woman lowered her head silently, watching the swaying water in the river and the starlight in the water crushed by wooden oars, she thought about two things. The problem of reincarnation in one life, or the story of being molested and not allowed by the elders of the clan at another time, or some small grievances and grievances that were "owed" and "owed" in life.Sitting on the bow of the boat, the elders and troublemakers who are the chiefs of this clan would definitely not even look at the woman, but there was a complex feeling in their hearts, always thinking that "this is what should be done, the whole clan's face is concerned, so we have to do it." So".But naturally, he doesn't really dislike that young, healthy and glamorous body. What he hates, perhaps, is that this body is enjoyed by outsiders.When the boat rolled into the pool, the oarsman pulled out the oars, the boat stopped, and everyone threw the woman into the water without saying a word.Naturally, there was a little struggle during this process, which made the boat wobble, and when people stepped into the water, they calmed down immediately.Because a stone mill was hung around the neck of the person who was sent into the water, he swirled in the water and sank. There was a burst of water bubbles turning upwards, and then the sky was calm.The few people on the boat seemed to have completed a solemn and serious task, and turned the boat around, because even though the dead were dead, the living had to rush back to the ancestral hall to kowtow, set off firecrackers and hang red flags, to drive away evil spirits, and to show their bravery. The act of decisiveness has taken back the lost honor of the clan.In fact, it is to shirk responsibility for the selfish and cruel behavior to the "majority".As for the majority?Because you don't read "Zi Yue", you naturally don't know about it, and you never ask about it. There are also women who are extremely capable. After the death of their husbands, they still manage their lives, drive boats and farms, and start a family.Along the Chen River, there are several large oil houses, several large temples, and several private ancestral halls with grand and gorgeous buildings, all of which are the achievements of such widows. There are also scholars among the girls, most of whom are more enlightened daughters of captains and landlords. They went to the provincial women's normal school or some private middle school to study for a few years. When they returned home, they brought countless novel legends and new myths to the country people Quite different from what the sailors brought.The salary of a teacher in a university in the city is equal to the salary of a long-term worker in the family for a year!Spend two yuan to buy a small note, walk into a dark hall, warm in winter and cool in summer, sit down for a while, you can watch the shadow show on the stage, real swords and guns fight and kill people, hundreds of people die Thousands, the dead can come back to life, sitting at the counter and eating orange juice and milk from a wheat tube!There is heaven above, and Suzhou and Hangzhou below. Water is everywhere in Suzhou, and people are all soaked in water.There is a West Lake in Hangzhou, where lotus flowers are planted in the Dashui Pond and the mountains are surrounded by temples. Monks and nuns all wear silk robes, and every morning they knock on wooden fish and cymbals and sing songs along the lake. ...In short, one way or another, when these things are told in the impression of the country people, they are completely like a distorting mirror. Because of the different curvatures, they will inevitably become incredible, surprising and moving scenes. The most ridiculous thing is that people in the city use oranges as a tonic. The price is almost as expensive as bird's nest Korean ginseng, and they are shipped back from overseas.There are foreign characters printed on the oranges, and they are wrapped in paper, and there are also words on the paper, explaining what to eat and how to eat them.If you buy it and squeeze water to eat according to the method, you will make up for it; if you don’t follow the method, it doesn’t count.It was so true, it naturally made the people who came out of the place of oranges not feel it was funny.But it really leaves a fresh experience for the country people!Or the attire of the female students themselves.No more braids, just like men, saying that it saves combing hair and delays time for reading. The arms are all exposed outside, which is more beautiful and hygienic than hiding them inside, and saves cloth when sewing.Not to mention not wearing trousers, at least these female students give the impression to ordinary country people that they don't wear trousers, and they don't understand why.Those women who have already been married will negotiate with their elders as soon as they return home, advocating "freedom" and wanting a divorce.It is said that love is sacred, and family affairs cannot be arranged for life.The way out of life is to work as a teacher in an elementary school in the county, and the way out of marriage is to marry a civil servant who has studied in a private university in Beijing and Shanghai for two years, or a county party committee member, or a school colleague.Most of them have high vision, unattractive looks, unlucky opportunities, no opponents, and no marriage, which is called "celibacy".This kind of "celibate" person eats and uses the house as usual, puts a fountain pen and mechanical pencil on the skirt of his clothes, and has a small leather bag in his hand. There may be a pair of white-rimmed black glasses in the bag. It was also peaceful and pleasant.If you want to improve, but your level is not very good, you can go to some women's sports teacher's school, or a private university that doesn't have to take the exam.If you fall in love with a classmate before graduation, as a rule, you will have a child not long after marriage, and live together, and you will never come back except to ask the family for money.Of course, some of them were well-read, full of thoughts and fantasies, and ran to Jiangxi around 1929, and finally disappeared.As a rule, such people are of no significance to the majority in the country, and have not had much influence. Most of the women in the area can be called healthy and honest peasant women in terms of physical strength and emotion. What they need is not knowing a few hundred words to discuss women's issues, but common sense and beliefs related to daily life, such as vaccinating, curing Malaria, and all that has to do with the household and the harvest.For the longevity of the children, it is still completely paid to the natural elimination.For orange pomelo, although we know grafting and selection from experience, we still believe emotionally that at the end of each year, the roots of orange trees are irrigated with sugar juice, and virgins and virgins are asked under the tree "Is it sweet?" It is!" Next year, the fruit will taste sweeter.All life is a mixture of experience and superstition, so that the progress which can be expected from experience alone is not easy to accept without the mixture of superstition.But the same kind of superstition has a little advantage for this kind of peasant women, that is, it does not decorate life very boring, and adolescent women have fewer mental illnesses.No matter how ordinary and simple their lives are, there is still a sense of fantasy in their lives, or they can be guided to a beautiful and gentle fairyland by virtue of legends, or they can resist all kinds of misfortunes by believing in God's destiny.Another form of superstition is manifested in behavior, such as worshiping gods and performing plays, and worshiping Buddha on mountains. For most women, it can also excrete their suppressed emotions and change their fatigue throughout the year, which is especially important and necessary. This is roughly the situation of the people living on both sides of this river for nearly thirty years.Since everything in this world is changing, and people and things multiply and divide during the changes, it is natural that something close to accidental and coincidental happens, and sorrow and joy have their own unique styles.