The depths of Xihaigu Mountain are where my life begins

The emotion for my hometown is a heavy love, and I can only keep it silently in my heart. Caring for one's homeland is the most difficult feeling to let go of. Living in a bustling and noisy city, I often miss the tranquil mountains, the blue sky, the rolling clouds, the hazy fog, the endless love, and the love that warms the soul.

Some people say that those who cannot go back are called hometowns, and those who can go back are called hometowns. And this is my hometown that I go back to but don’t often go back to—Ningxia Guyuan City, Pengyang County, Chengyang Township, Yangping Village, Shigouqu.

When I tell my friends about my hometown, most of them are unfamiliar with Ningxia, let alone Guyuan City, which is as small as deep in the mountains. It can be said that many friends have heard of Xihaigu.

Guyuan, formerly known as Dayuan, Gaoping, Xiaoguan and Yuanzhou, or simply "Gu", is located in the southern part of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and is a provincial sub-central city. Founded in 114 BC, the city was a must-pass for the Silk Road and one of the nine important towns in the Ming Dynasty. "The left controls Wuyuan, the right leads Lanhui, the Yellow River flows around the north, and the Kongtong blocks the south. It holds the back of eight counties and is the key point of Wansan Town." A battleground.

It is located on the Qingshui River at the northern foot of Liupan Mountain on the Loess Plateau. Located in the center of the triangle formed by the three provincial capitals of Xi'an, Lanzhou and Yinchuan, it is one of the five prefecture-level cities in Ningxia and the only city not along the Yellow River. The central city of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia revolutionary base revitalization plan, the central city of Ningnan region, the political, economic, cultural center and transportation hub. The ethnic minority areas, the largest Hui inhabited area in the country, have been interdependent with the Han people since their settlement during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. One of China's four major potato planting bases and a characteristic seedling base in northern China, a distribution center for northwest characteristic agricultural products, a product base demonstration area for the Silk Road Economic Belt, and the birthplace of Fangqi. The famous red tourist city is one of the ten potential cities in the Long March. (The above is the online encyclopedia’s introduction to Guyuan.)

Xihaigu is located in the southern part of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in western China. It is the loess hilly area of ??Xiji, Haiyuan, Guyuan, Longde, Jingyuan, and Pengyang. The collective name of six national-level poverty-stricken counties was identified by the United Nations Food Development Program in 1972 as one of the most unsuitable areas for human survival.

But I was lucky enough to be born in the deep ravine of a small mountain village in Pengyang County, Guyuan City, the most unsuitable area for human survival. It gave me life and gave me the soil to grow. My ancestors have lived here tenaciously for several years. They were not afraid of the hardships of the living environment, and used the unique willpower of their generation to constantly struggle and create their own miracles and the miracles of life.

Stone ditch, deep in the mountains. In my memory, there is a doorway at the entrance of my cave dwelling. There are several apricot trees outside the doorway. The apricot flowers are particularly beautiful when they are in bloom. A few steps away is my grandfather's house. The yard of my grandfather's house is larger, there are more cave dwellings, and there are many fruit trees in the yard at the door. I followed the path and walked in two directions. On one side was my eldest son's house, and on the other side was another cousin's house (this old man was one of the grandpas I liked very much when I was a kid. Now it's not far from my mother-in-law's house. I was my neighbor when I was a kid. , not far behind when you grow up). In this way, you can walk from the deepest part of the mountain to the front pass. There are various cave dwellings at different locations along the way, which are all extensions of the relationship between grandfather and cousin.

Living in the mountains is hard. Although my parents shouldered the hardship, I still have some fragmented memories. At that time, people had to rely on oxen, donkeys or mules to carry water from far away ditches. Children were always playful, jumping around after adults to carry water, and occasionally they could ride on the back of a donkey or lie on the back of an ox. superior. It wasn’t until we were a little older that I realized that adults taking us to carry water were not to play, but to recognize the way, learn, and take over. From then on, my brother took me to carry the water.

Later, when I was about seven or eight years old, I moved away from the mountains. My mother should be the "Mother Meng" in real life. She moved countless times for the three of us to study.

At that time, my brother was old enough to study, and the children in Shigougou were assigned to Beiyuan Elementary School. Not only did they have to climb mountains and ridges every day, the snowy roads in winter were particularly dangerous.

On Children's Day, my mother took me to see the excitement and experience it in real life. Halfway through, I began to regret following me, and I couldn't walk because I was yelling. I also realized how hard it was for my brother to go to school every day. I remember another time, the snow was very thick in winter, and my eldest brother and my uncle came back, but there was no sign of my brother. My mother got very worried and sent my father to look for him along the path to school. Fortunately, my brother was just curious. He lay on the mountainside watching a family dig a well and forgot about the time. But it was this episode that made my mother even more determined to move. I remember what she often said was, "For the sake of my three children, I have to move out of this mountain no matter what. Otherwise, there will be two younger ones." How could a child survive five or six years in primary school? He was so scared every day.”

With my mother’s insistence, we finally moved out of the mountains and lived near the school in Yangping Village. Although they moved away from the stone ditch, they did not lose contact with the depths of the mountain. Every year during the farming season, I still have to go back to the mountains to work. When the apricots were ripe, my mother took the three of us brothers and sisters and pulled a cart back to the mountains to pick up apricots; the crops began to grow, and we had to go back to weed with hoes; during the harvest season, we had to go back to cut the wheat, and finally we had to carry the wheat on our backs. As far as the car can reach... every once in a while, we have to go back to the mountains to see grandpa; every year to worship our ancestors, our fathers and brothers have to go back to visit the graves... Later, the farmland was returned to forests Weeding, every acre of land is dug into 60 large holes to plant trees. Every year the task of weeding becomes more arduous. I feel tired even walking into the fields, let alone working.

We are inextricably linked to the mountains, and we are constantly cutting them. At that time, my biggest dream was to "fly out of this mountain nest." There was a mountain behind our cave house, like a snail's back, coiled around in circles, and each circle was cultivated land. My family's land was at the end of the snail's back. The small circle at the top - called the "cap". Every time I climb to the top of the "hat cap" to do farm work, I always look at the mountains in the distance and think, "I wonder what the other side of the mountain is like? When can I get out of this mountain?

Although I moved out of Shangougou, my new home only has smooth roads and slightly better conditions. I haven’t left the embrace of the mountains. My childhood life was full of pains of growing up in poverty. In addition to going to school, there was endless farm work.

At that time, the family conditions were poor, and the three brothers and sisters wore clothes that their mother had changed into smaller ones, or clothes given by relatives, and they had little to eat. The three of us also shared the food. Occasionally, we would kill a chicken, and the three of us would eagerly wait around the pot. Mom would always bring a bowl of chicken necks, chicken heads, chicken feet... to eat the meat. The extra money was given to the three of us. At that time, we couldn’t afford the electricity bill of three to five yuan a month, so we had to borrow money from here and there. The funniest thing is that my younger brother has graduated from elementary school and still owes the tuition for preschool... ..For today’s children, these things are just stories read in books, but for me, I was the protagonist in the story.

At that time, my father and mother were both poor. The most painful memory was when I still had fifty yuan to pay for my tuition. My father was working outside and the money hadn’t arrived yet. My mother tried to borrow money everywhere, but she kept her head down and didn’t get it. I felt wronged. I watched my mother come back from the road crying, secretly wiped away her tears at the door of the house, forced a smile and said to us, "It's okay, you study hard, I will help you even if I sell the iron." ”

Maybe it was at that time that I became more determined in my goals and never relaxed for a moment.

I was lucky, I was picked up by my uncle in Qinghai in the first or second grade of elementary school. The conditions at my aunt's home in Qinghai were much better. I stayed in Qinghai to study for two years before returning to the mountain village where I grew up, where I experienced poverty and low self-esteem, and experienced both happiness and pain. I spent my childhood studying hard here.

My father was an honest man with a good temper. He loved to drink a sip of wine. His kindness and simplicity made me both love and hate him at that time. . But now I think about it, maybe it’s because of my father’s character that he raised the three of us. Although the three of us are not very successful, we are all kind-hearted people with strong character. In today’s society, character is the most important thing. Heavy.

My father’s generation has a lot of cousins, and I still can’t list all the uncles. When we meet, we always call each other by name first and then add uncle. Most of our parents are simple and hard-working. Whether they are working outside or farming at home, most of their generation are diligently working hard for our generation.

What impressed me most was that when I was a child, the family would always unite together on any important matter. No matter whose family is getting married or something important is happening, the uncles always get together to discuss and allocate work... The eldest uncle and second uncle in the third grandfather's family are also the eldest and second among their parents. Due to the uncle's work, the second uncle is basically in charge of all major family matters. Maybe it's because many younger uncles are his students, and everyone respects the second uncle's decision. No matter how big or small, they work together and often solve it very well.

The Spring Festival is even more lively. People shout and go in groups to pay New Year greetings. They go from house to house to pay homage according to the ranking of grandparents or the order of geographical location. At that time of year, there is a room full of uncles drinking and playing cards, and a yard filled with dolls whose pockets are filled with walnuts, melon seeds, and sugar. After I came back from Qinghai, I didn’t really like to go with my father to pay New Year greetings, but I had to go with him every time. Because he will definitely get drunk. If I don’t go, no one will care about him. He will definitely get drunk without eating and stagger around...

My favorite place to go in Shigouqu is Third Grandpa and Third Grandma’s family, Third Grandpa and Third Grandma are very nice people. I remember the year when I first came back from Qinghai, Third Grandpa was the first to see me and stuffed me with a full bag of walnuts. In front of his yard There are many date trees and walnut trees. During the Chinese New Year, I went to my third grandpa’s and grandma’s house to pay New Year greetings. Third grandma quietly called me back to the kitchen, took out a plate of her fried twists, and said lovingly: “Eat quickly, you kids have good teeth and you all like to eat these. Those naughty boys, you can eat here!" After a while, the third grandfather also came in, secretly stuffed me with a few New Year's money, and muttered "This woman is not easy, take it quickly..." .."

Although so many years have passed, the amiability of the third grandfather and the third grandmother is the warmest memory imprinted deep in the mountains. Later, I became the first person to discover the death of my third grandpa. When I was walking to school that day, I saw him sitting alone on the sidelines of my second uncle’s house with a cane and smiled at me. After school in the afternoon, he was still there, but he had changed his position and was lying there holding the crutches. I was with my neighbor's brother Ning Ning. We thought Grandpa Third was asleep and were afraid that he would fall, so we shouted a few times. When I got closer, I noticed something was wrong and quickly shouted. There was an uncle's small shop on the side of the road. He and the other two uncles strode up to the store door, only to realize that the third grandfather had been gone for a long time. I was only in the fourth grade of elementary school at that time.

Grandpa Ninth passed away in July and August this year, and Grandpa Eight also passed away some time ago... There was a sudden sadness among relatives and friends. Several uncles expressed their feelings about life, and shared precious photos In the group. I was originally translating the conference journal, so I stopped what I was doing and quietly saved a few of them. Their thoughts were pulled back. I simply asked for a few more photos of my hometown and tried my best to record the memories of my hometown in my mind. Whether it is bitter or happy, it is the place where my life began and where my dreams began.

The place I once tried so hard to leave is what I miss the most now. What I miss is the feeling deep in the mountains, the familiar taste, the feeling of family, the intimacy of words... More and more of our young people, because of life and dreams , had to "escape" from their hometown and embark on their own journeys to distant places, and I was no exception, traveling around in foreign countries all year round.

Let me ask, if our generation is still in the same condition as our parents, can we be as united as them, as brave and strong as them?

We were born and grew up in our hometown. Just like silkworms, we metamorphose layer by layer until one day, we turn into pupae and become moths, fly out of the cocoon that tightly wraps us, and fly to distant places to take root, sprout, and bloom. Gradually, my hometown becomes blurry in my eyes, but becomes clearer and clearer in my heart.

Even when I miss it, I unconsciously deceive myself, forget the ugly and remember the good...

My hometown must have changed a lot nowadays. I have never gone back after graduating from high school. Pass. The stone ditches that were once deep in the mountains are now empty, leaving only collapsed cave dwellings and tall weeds. Many relatives have moved to Pengyang County or Guyuan and Yinchuan, and some have gone to residential areas in Sichuan... Even if they go back occasionally, they only go to Pengyang. My grandfather passed away in the year of the snowstorm in 2008. My grandfather’s brothers Two, the eldest grandpa and the eldest grandma are in Pengyang. I often went to my uncle's house to see him. I had no worries about going back to the village, so I never went back.

Among the parents, ranked according to the entire family, the eldest uncle is Yang Zhong. This uncle is very respected by us. Both our parents and our younger generations have a very good impression of him. When I was a child, I didn’t have much memory of my uncle. At most, I knew that he was an official in the county. He would give out New Year’s money to all the children every Spring Festival... What I really remember is that after I was in the third grade of junior high school, during the middle school celebration, my uncle As a special guest, he came to Chengyang Middle School to give a speech. His speech was very simple, but also very humorous. That's when I started to notice this uncle. Although he is an "official", he does not have any "official style" or "official airs". Every time I see him, he is almost always dressed like a Chinese tunic suit and old cloth shoes, and he always looks like he is going to work in the fields. . When I returned to the village, I was the same person who picked up a broom and started sweeping the courtyard...

Later, when I was admitted to college and went to high school, I left Yangping Village and went to Pengyang County. I was really interested in applying for the exam. College is too unprofessional, and my class teacher, Mr. Feng Guonian, has so many people asking him for consultation that I can't get through to him. I had to go to my uncle for advice. My uncle is a teacher and he attaches great importance to education. After listening to my ideas, he suggested that I go to a normal college and become a teacher after graduation...

What does my uncle mean to us? For nieces and nephews whose family conditions are difficult, care is also simple and direct - giving money and encouragement. There are at least fifty brothers and sisters in our generation. It is impossible to take good care of every one of them, but he is doing his best to show his concern. My uncle also has a great influence on me. I have seen too many people working outside or doing well in life, and there are also many who are complacent, and there are also some who have forgotten their roots...but my uncle leads by example and teaches us, No matter where you are, no matter where you stand, never forget who you are.

The uncle’s greatest contribution to the family was undoubtedly the compilation of the genealogy. This is of great significance.

Finally, let’s talk about my grandfather. Although my grandfather doesn’t like me very much, he is an amazing “father”. I heard from my father that my grandma left shortly after giving birth to my uncle. What are the details? I probably heard a lot about it for some reason, but I can only say that my grandma didn’t have the chance to see such wonderful grandchildren.

After grandma left, grandpa raised his father’s seven brothers and sisters by himself. Grandpa is a chef and a manual carpenter. Dad learned his woodworking skills from his grandfather. We moved out after we separated, and my grandfather followed his brother-in-law, so we didn’t have much experience living together. Later, when I was studying, I basically lived on campus, and I would only see him a few times during holidays.

In the winter of my senior year in high school in 2008, my grandfather fell ill and lived in the place I rented for a period of time. During that time, my sister-in-law and I cooked for him, and my elder brother, younger brother and father took care of him. he. That period of time was the closest and longest time I spent with my grandfather. He is such an old man who raised seven children as both a father and a mother. No matter what, he is powerful and worthy of admiration...

The memory of his hometown is also After all, it is about memories of people and things. Deep in the mountains of Xihaigu, there are the footprints of the struggle of our ancestors, the marks of the growth of our fathers, and the birth of our lives.

There are so many people and things about my hometown that I can’t finish them all.

The love of my hometown and the sceneries of my hometown are too long and cannot float far away.

As a stranger in a foreign land, you know the beauty of your hometown.

Hometown is the eternal warmth and attachment in our hearts...

My hometown is deep in the mountains,

Deep in the mountains,

This is where my life begins,

Deep in the mountains,

This is where my dreams begin...