Childhood memories

The word "stealing" is always indispensable in the childhood memories of those born in the 1970s and 1980s, especially in rural areas. At that time, most of the children had little snacks to eat and little pocket money in their hands. Although the family left the best food to the children, the "little greedy cats" who had no fat in their stomachs would still eat it. He tried his best to "steal" whatever "delicious food" he could find into his stomach.

In the past, there was a saying in rural areas: "If you are not afraid of eating secretly, I am afraid of disaster." As long as you don't waste anything, no one will care too much about picking a cucumber or a tomato from someone else's house. , especially for the children in the village.

I asked any child at that time, what is their favorite season? The answer must be: summer and autumn! Because, in summer, you can bathe in the river and hunt for fish and shrimps. As for autumn, it is the harvest season, and it is also the day when children have a "big harvest of snacks"!

Beijing’s autumn brings the fragrance of fruits and vegetables, and there are many gifts from nature. Although there are not as many types of fruits here as in the south, there are still many children's "favorites", and jujube is one of them. I remember that the most delicious and sweetest jujube in the village was the "Ma Ya Gaga Jujube" from the yard of "Bai Shenxian"'s house in the south of the village. As the name suggests, this jujube looks like a horse's incisor, which is better than the ordinary "Steamed Bun Jujube". They are quite long and have a pointed end. The ripe dates taste crisp and sweet. It is said that this kind of jujube is specially used to eat crisp jujubes. It is generally not used to dry red dates. Instead, it is eaten directly while being crispy and sweet or used to make drunken jujubes.

The "White Immortal" among the villagers is actually an old man with white hair and beard. He is a five-guaranteed household in the village and a lonely old man. It is said that he practiced martial arts when he was young and even fought against Little Japan. However, this old man is withdrawn and rarely interacts with others. He is almost eighty years old. He is deaf and blind, and his voice is like thunder. Even the naughtiest children in the village are afraid of this strange old man.

The dilapidated yard of Bai Shenxian's house is surrounded by a low earth wall with or without "grass growing on the head". Close to one side of the low wall is the "famous" tree. Horse tooth date tree. The elders in the village said that jujube trees grow very slowly because of their hard texture. Trees as thick as a bowl have to grow for decades. The jujube tree in Bai Shenxian's house is as thick as a small basin, with luxuriant branches and leaves. The big umbrella opened almost covers most of the earthen courtyard. I'm afraid it won't grow like this in a hundred or two hundred years, but it is similar to the owner of the courtyard. The name "White Immortal" goes well with it.

However, no matter how afraid of people the Bai Shenxian is, he cannot stop the temptation of the crisp and sweet horse tooth dates to children near and far. Every year at the turn of summer and autumn, this usually lifeless, remote and inconspicuous run-down courtyard begins to "It's getting lively", from dawn in the morning to sunset, the greedy little cats who come here to "steal jujubes" don't stop "patronizing".

A glance at the jujube trees laden with fruits seems to be waiting to catch these greedy little cats stealing jujubes!

However, even so, the old man has never "succeeded". The children knew very well that the old man, who was eighty years old, did not dare to chase after him with his life, so the more he "stealed", the more courageous he became. Even if Bai Shenxian got up and stood at the door of the house, the children under the tree, on the tree, and on the wall would not He ran away immediately, but stopped what he was doing and looked at him silently, as if in a confrontation. At this time, if Bai Shenxian remains calm, the children will continue to do what they are doing after a while and ignore him; but sometimes Bai Shenxian will also shout in his thunderous voice: "How many of you are there?" I'm a little bastard! I'll fall down and kill you! Or will I get diarrhea after eating too much?" Those children who have blatantly stepped on the wall and climbed to the tree fork to pick dates should be careful. They'd better get down quickly, otherwise the old man will It’s time to “copy the guy”! But Old Man Bai never really hit him, or really flew the thing in his hand over. Instead, he just bobbed there, blowing his beard and staring. Sometimes, those brave children who have eaten enough dates will deliberately tease the old man and make faces like him, which makes people laugh.

Later, one year, Bai Shenxian died of illness. The children who stole the dates did not expect that the "god" would also die.

Later, the dilapidated courtyard was bought by people from other villages, the jujube trees were cut down, and the entire courtyard was almost turned into a masterpiece of reinforced concrete, with a three-story small foreign-style building that stood out from the crowd, a tall red brick courtyard wall with barbed wire, and From then on, the heavy iron armored security doors were placed all over the "little paradise" of my childhood.