The day of chopping wood

In my hometown when I was a child, coal was still in short supply, so firewood became the main energy source for cooking and heating in rural areas, and straw was only available after double cropping rice was harvested, so chopping wood became one of the main daily jobs of farmers.

At that time, there were no private hills, and the hills were collective. Collective closing hillsides to facilitate afforestation, trees cannot be cut down. Only those shrubs that will never grow into trees can be cut down, or leaves falling from deciduous broad-leaved forests in autumn can be raked for firewood.

At the junction of our village and Ningxiang, all the shrubs in our village have been cut down, and we often steal things from the mountains near Ningxiang. There are more mountains in their territory than ours, and they are tall and have a relatively small population, so there are relatively many firewood left.

When it comes to stealing, it is because there were forest guards in every village group at that time. They often patrolled the mountains to prevent villagers from stealing trees and foreign invaders from stealing firewood. So if you want to go to other people's mountains to cut wood, you can only cut it when the ranger is not there. I was often caught, but as a result, the firewood was not cut, and even the knife and pole were confiscated, so I had to go home dejected and scolded-

I am too timid to go up the mountain alone, for fear of meeting the "Fox Fairy" in "Chopping firewood with bangs". Every time I chop wood, I go with my friends. Generally, there is no firewood at the foot of the mountain, because it has long been cut down by those old people who have no strength, so we often climb to the top of the mountain. A wood knife and a two-pointed pole are our tools for cutting wood.

A group of four or five friends walked up the hill talking and laughing. When they climbed halfway up the mountain, there was an empty house. People call this place "Xieqiping" because it happens to be halfway up the mountain, just for people who are tired of climbing mountains to catch their breath and have a rest.

The partners have always regarded this place as a paradise. When we come here, we always stop to play games, that is, build a tripod with three branches, and then stand in a fixed place far away and throw stones. Whoever falls on the tripod wins, can get a handful of firewood temporarily cut by other partners, or win prizes such as dates and wild fruits in his pocket.

Every time my friends play games in Xieqiping, I walk alone and find a place with firewood to cut first. Because chopping wood has always been my weakness,

I have to chop a stick with thick fingers three or four times before I can cut it off. My friends laughed at me for chopping wood like "playing cotton". The knife cut on the stick, leaving only a shallow mark and bouncing back.

You should also choose the object of chopping wood, such as those plants with thin stems and well-developed leaves. These things are easy to break, fluffy and heavy, but if they are not burned, a load of firewood may not be able to cook a meal. Therefore, in order to resist burning, we have to cut down those tough and dense shrubs.

The village is full of smoke, so it's time to go home for dinner. Friends who have had enough fun rush headlong into it, only to hear the sound of a pot knife, a bag of cigarettes and a load of firewood. Looking back at me, I was still sweating "playing cotton" there. So, everyone gives me a hand and adds it to my woodpile. Finally, I collected a load, tied it three times and two times, and carried it on my shoulder with a brand. Finally, I can triumph.

Everyone is singing folk songs and laughing all the way home. It's easier to go up than down. The mountain road is steep, not to mention the burden on your shoulders. Once, when my feet slipped, I sat on the ground and the firewood on my shoulders was separated. A bundle of firewood crackled along the hillside. Fortunately, my friend tied it tightly for me. Although the firewood bundle didn't disperse after many twists and turns, it was a pity that it didn't roll in the direction of my house, but it still landed in a graveyard. I also forgot to be afraid, so I drove another bundle down, and finally got together and took care of it again and went home.

Nowadays, firewood is no longer burned in rural areas, but coal, biogas and liquefied gas are burned, and various rice cookers, induction cookers and electric hot pots are also popular. Straw is cut with a harvester, and if it is not tied, it will be thrown into the ground as fertilizer for the coming year; No one cut wood, branches fell to the ground and no one checked home. Slowly, the roads on the mountain are gone. Weeds in rice fields, on the ridges of fields and beside canals have also grown to more than one person's height.

Going back to my hometown on holiday, walking on a country road, watching withered weeds swaying in the wind. I wish I could cut them down and take them home to make a pot of firewood. It's just that farmers are too lazy to cut ridges now, and most of them are burned. As an organic phosphate fertilizer, firewood ash will keep the ridge green in the next spring.

Eating the rice cooked by my sister-in-law with modern energy and cookers, I still often miss the delicious rice in the past.