Story: Now, I am grateful for that afternoon many years ago and for everything I have experienced.

People's maturity and understanding, sometimes just a moment.

After work, as long as there is no interference, I like to walk west along the road in front of the door in the autumn evening and cross the central avenue of the park, which is the place called Taiji Lake. Sitting or walking by the lake, bathing in the quiet corner of the sunset and occasionally touching the wind below, like a reminder, will remind me of my father's gentle and loving eyes in the same season many years ago. I am mature and sensible, and that should be when I started. That year, the village went it alone. That year, I drew lots and got two cows, one big and one small. That year, I went to junior high school.

For rural children at that time, eating and playing were far less diverse than children now. Now at home, it seems that my son can grab any toy at will, but at that time, such a situation was an unreachable dream. When I first entered junior high school, it was also a time to play, often at the beginning of school, looking forward to the next holiday. The content of the play is mostly shooting birds with slingshots or fishing in ditches and ponds. But it is also an unavoidable responsibility for every child to help his family do what they can.

There are two cows at home. For the rural people at that time, cows were the baby bumps at home. The grass should be chopped and fed, and the water should be pressed out of the well and put into the basin to warm up and drink. Every day, we must feed some corn and beans. All these jobs are indispensable to me. When all these activities change from the initial novelty to the boring repetition day after day and conflict with play, boredom, conflict and escape will take root in the heart. And those two cows seem to have eaten too much. They often just cut a shed of grass and ate it all in two days. They have to start all over again and deprive me of my freedom and fun endlessly, which makes me angry and hate those two greedy and hateful guys. At that time, there was no machinery such as hay cutter at home, so only two people could pick it up with that mouth, almost as high as my hay cutter, and cut it out one by one. Kitchen knives are also shared by several families. It's annoying just to go door to door looking for a chopping knife and carry that heavy big guy home, not to mention the hard work of cutting grass. You can save some energy when you mow the grass. It's not an easy task to cut hay, except that your back is sore and your legs are weak, and you have to endure the dust flying in the hot sun and sweating. Once I really couldn't help muttering from my cleverness that I couldn't throw the grass directly to the cows. Father replied tepidly and boiled the wheat directly. Do you want to eat? I was speechless, but I was also a hundred unconvinced.

Like cattle, more than 20 acres of land in the family also need careful care. After the summer harvest is completed every year, the stubble needs irrigation. After the land turned a little white, the work of arable land began. At this time, two cows at home came in handy. Farming land is my father's and my task. My father walked behind with the plow, and I walked in front with the cow. In the morning or afternoon, I work hard at the slow pace of cows. The days seem as long as the footsteps of cattle.

At that time, the land had to be plowed at least twice. The villagers who were used to digging in the soil regarded it as a sacred duty to help with farming, unlike the tractors that can plow the land now. If anyone doesn't have enough plows, he will be regarded as lazy and ridiculed. Yes, for people who have worked on this land for generations, land is all their sustenance and hope, and all the expenses for food, clothing, housing and even schooling come from the soil. What can I do if I don't handle it carefully?

One afternoon, because my neighbor couldn't do the work, I switched with my father. My father helps my neighbor with his work, and my neighbor helps me plow the fields. There are four brothers in the neighborhood, surnamed Xu. In order to save trouble, the villagers called their brothers from Xu Da to Si Xu in order of birth, and their neighbors ranked second among the brothers, so they called them Xu Er. Xu Er is a short temper and has a bad temper. Xu Er worked in a coal mine in the county town in his early years, and left home to farm. Xu Er is tall and stocky, and his dark face is very suitable for his previous job. His big eyes are not smaller than those of my cows in Shuang Yi, and he is unsmiling. Eyes usually scare me.

I heard that I couldn't bear to plow with him, so I asked someone else to shoot pigeons. It's just that my father's words made me have no resistance. Reluctantly, I brought the cow and Xu Er to the ground with uneasy heart.

Facts have proved how correct my intuition is. When I plow with my father at ordinary times, I lead the cattle in front, and my father walks behind with the plow. My father only occasionally gently reminds me to pull a little to the left or right, and most of the time I just feel that the road under my feet is difficult to walk. I don't want to, but I don't think it is difficult. But it's different under the instigation of Xu Er. I just shouted to the left, and then shouted to the right, another angry expression. Soon my kung fu made me lose my mind, which made my heart tremble with fear. The whip in Xu's second hand kept throwing at the cow, and my feeling was the same as that of throwing it at me. I'm not worried about cows, but afraid. In addition to the whip in his hand, Xu Er also took time from time to time to pick up the dirt on the ground and hit the cow. Surprised, Niu Yi changed his old slow pace and ran in the fields like a madman. At ordinary times, I only feel that the cow is slow, but I can't keep up with the footsteps of the cow and am dragged by the cow. Ploughing is the second crop, and the field is full of clods and empty soil that is deep to the ankle. In addition, Xu Er kept cursing and smashing cows, splashing them on my body and face, which soon made me collapse. Tears and sweat kept running down my face and I forgot to wipe them. I felt panic and fear ... several times, I wanted to leave the reins of the cow and walk away, but my strong self-esteem and fear made me hold on to the reins and be dragged back and forth by the cow. How many tears and sweat you shed, maybe only the land under your feet knows. Several years later, when I came to this land, I grabbed a handful of loess with a relaxed and calm mind and studied it carefully. The grievances and setbacks of that year have long since vanished. I'm thinking, maybe only the things that make you cry and sweat are the most unforgettable.

I usually plow with my father, and the plow will stop for a while, so that people and cows can have a rest. But this is different from Xu Er. He looks stronger than an ox, and he hasn't stopped once in the afternoon. Niu Ben is running, so am I ... Stumbling and exhausted. I don't know when, confused, Xu Er left a word, you wait, let your father pick it up. Just walk away and don't look back. When Xu Er went a little far, an uncontrollable anger made me pick up a huge clod from the ground with my hands, and I was extremely angry to teach this annoying guy who usually made me suffer a lot and now suffered humiliation. The moment the clod fell, I was shocked. Daniel stood there panting, his legs were shaking, and there was long white mucus in his mesh mouth. Sweat covered Mao Ping's whole body, reflecting the color of the sunset, and the eyes of cattle were wet. I don't know whether it's sweat or tears. Although there are many mosquitoes and flies on him, the cow's tail hangs quietly. The calf has also collapsed and leaned against Daniel. If it weren't for the bar on the cow's shoulder, it seems that it might fall down at any time. It is such a glance that my heart, which was hard and dry one second ago, instantly becomes soft. I work hard, and cows work harder. How similar I am to a cow. I threw a clod and sat on the ridge. My back ached and my feet were numb. I don't know when the tears will stop flowing, but I feel my face is very tense, like a piece of paper that has been dried.

The sun leans on the side of the mountain, tired and weak. He seems tired after a hard day's work. My father came from afar in the sunset, but I was surprisingly calm when I thought about wailing. My father probably found my mood, but he touched my head with his rough big hands. Without saying anything, he went to collect the plough and go home. I turned my head away, silently poured out the dirt in my shoes, and looked at the sunset that was about to set.

When school started, I walked into the classroom that I wanted to go out as soon as I entered. Suddenly I found that despite the anxiety of not finishing my homework, the occasional embarrassment when the teacher scolded me, the trouble when I couldn't understand the problem, and the suffering when I was hungry, how happy I was to stay here and study quietly. But compared with the injustice that afternoon, all this seemed so indifferent.

Many years later, when I walked leisurely by Taiji Lake with a relaxed mind, I watched the flowers bloom and fall, the jujube trees wither and the sun set. I always think of that afternoon in autumn. Looking at the hillside under Helan Mountain from a distance, my father slept peacefully on that indigo hillside. Probably, my father is also at ease with my present peace of mind, and an unspeakable softness will rise in my heart.

Occasionally I will think back to your village, and occasionally I will meet Xu Er. However, the thin man who frightened me at the beginning has been eroded by years into an old man. It's still the same black face, but it's gone, and it's not as tall and straight as before. When we meet again, we have lost the fear of that year, only experienced the vicissitudes of life after years of wind and rain. Smile and hand in a cigarette, say "I'm fine" and "I'm back", and between questions and answers, a weather-beaten flower will bloom on the face of the Loess Plateau. You will think of the lyrics, "The beard is full of stories, and the simple accent is buried in the simple smile." Will give birth to a warm touch.

Thank you for that afternoon many years ago. Thank you for everything. If not, I will probably work on this land day after day and year after year like my grandparents, and finally, I will become a part of this land silently. If so, I am not who I am now. I work and study in quiet days, read and write in quiet nights, and the share of live high comes safely.

About the author: Ning Hongwei, now working for Guodian Ningxia Shizuishan Power Generation Co., Ltd., likes to read and write some mood words in his spare time.