The Autumn of Matriarchal Society (Novella) Zhang Baotong 2018.10.10

The weather in early autumn is still hot, the afternoon sun is like a huge fireball, roasting the whole mountainous area into a fiery fire, and the long wind slowly blows away the heat, slowly dissipating in the boundless distant mountains and rivers. Judging by today's geographical location, this place should be a mountainous area in northern China. It is naturally impossible to verify which mountainous area it is. The years have been long, the mountains and rivers have changed dramatically, who still remembers the sun, moon, stars, and things that were human and wrong 10,000 years ago? These are just a few waves in the long river of time, and they have long been fleeting in the barren desert of history.

However, I still have a glimpse of the waves from the long river of history, and I want to take a closer look at its situation and its appearance. Looking at it, I was sad, and I cried, because I saw that this was my ancestor.

My ancestor was called Wu Ma, and it was not her name, but the children called her Wu Ma Wu Ma, so we called her Wu Ma. Wu's mother is about thirty-four or five years old, but in fact, this is not her actual age, and no one can remember her actual age. Apparently she was not so young anymore, there were some wrinkles on her forehead and at the corners of her eyes, and the skin on her face and body was not so shiny and delicate. Her bare arms and thighs were tanned by the summer sun, and her once full and solid breasts had fallen weakly, especially her face, which was like a frost-beaten sycamore leaf, full of the vicissitudes of time.

She sat on the grassy slope of the mountain, illuminated by the slanting sun countless times, staring longingly at the riverside path between the hills and the forest. It was the only way for the men to cross the creek and go into the forest to hunt. And this is also the time for the hunters to return home with a full load and joy. Strictly speaking, men have no home, they only have a cave or tree pit to live alone, but after they have caught the prey, they can take the prey to a woman's house and share the fruits of their labor with them, and then they will have a temporary home.

She was waiting for a man named Leopard. He is called a leopard because he has the robustness and agility of a cheetah, and is a good hunter. She has been in a relationship with the leopard for nearly seven or eight years, and over the years, as soon as the leopard catches prey, she will come to her house, share food with her family, and then live with her for a day or two before leaving. Recently, however, the leopard had not been to her house for several days, and her family had not eaten a meal of meat in several days. Therefore, she is very much looking forward to the leopard, and she still misses it a little.

She had been sitting here since noon, watching the sun slowly move from overhead to the western sky, but the path by the riverside forest was still silent and blurry in the light of the sun. The trail leads steeply down a steep slope from the top of her house, connecting with a north-south path by the river. The south side of the trail leads to the other side of the mountain, which they call the back mountain. And the north side of the path leads to the north side of the mountain, which they call the front mountain. It's been almost two hours, and not even a single figure has been seen on the path.

This made Wu Ma's heart very worried, and she was a little panicked, wondering if the leopard was killed. Because men hunt in the forest all day long, it is common for them to encounter jackals, tigers and leopards, so it is not uncommon for people to die. Thinking like this, she couldn't help but shudder, and the feeling of extreme hunger was suddenly frightened away.

She just sat like this, waiting, expecting, looking. Until the sun moved above the western sky, a cool breeze blew on the mountain river. Wu Ma knew that the leopard would not be able to wait, and besides, in another hour or two, it would be dark. As soon as it got dark, wolves were everywhere, and the outside of the cave at the top of the hill was full of eerie howls. However, the family has not eaten since the morning. She decided to go to the pulp forest right away and pick some pulp leaves so that her family could fill their stomachs.

With that in mind, she got up from the grassy slope and began to descend a steep slope toward the river. When she came to the river, she took off a piece of clothing woven from leaves and a hide on her upper body, took it in her hand, and went down into the river. The river was shallow, only up to her waist, and the current was gentle, but the water temperature was a little cool. She bathes and fishes in this small river all year round, and crossing the river is like walking on a flat river for her. So, she walked through the creek with two clicks.

When she went up to the shore and was blown by the cool breeze, she still felt some coolness, even some chill. She put her clothes on and ran down a grassy path into the woods. The trees in the forest are tall, and under the tall trees are patches of jungle and bamboo forests, so the forest is so dense that you can't see the daylight. This is a primeval forest, and there are no roads in the forest, but there are roads everywhere. Therefore, when entering the forest, you must know the direction and know which way to go. Otherwise, you will lose your way in the forest, and as long as you can't get out of the forest for two or three days, your life may be lost here.

The further inside, the denser and darker the forest becomes, making people feel that danger lurks, and tigers, leopards, and wolves will appear at any time. She knew that the forest was deep, how deep it was, she didn't know, because no one had ever been to the end of the forest. But she had heard the leopard say that he had walked in the forest for a whole day without coming to an end. This not only gave her more mystery about the forest, but also some eerie fear.

In order to give herself courage, she kept running. After running for about half an hour, I came to the edge of the pulp forest. The pulp trees bloom in spring, and the trees are full of flowers, densely red all over the sky, and it is very beautiful and spectacular. But she never came here to see the scenery, but to pick food. These pulp tree petals are a great food. Especially in the spring season, food is still relatively scarce, and you can eat such food, at least not to starve. Moreover, the tree bears fruit, and the fruits and leaves are edible, and they are plucked and dried in the sun, which can be used as food for the winter.

This pulp forest is next to a low-lying watery area, which stretches along the watery depression in a large area, high and low, so that you can not see the edge. In short, this large area of forest is what the family can never pick from spring to winter. There are large and old trees that have grown for decades, as well as small and young trees that have just grown into the forest. In order to pick them faster, she only picks the fruits and leaves of the low trees. Because it is early autumn, the fruit is not yet ripe, but it does not affect the consumption. So, she picked the leaves and the fruit together.

However, she did not bring a basket, and there was nothing to hold the leaves and fruits she had picked. So she took off the skin that was wrapped around her upper body and put it with leaves and fruit. After a long while, the leaves and fruits of the pulp tree were picked a lot, enough for the family to eat deliciously. At this time, she looked at the sky. The sun had already set over the western mountains, and it was only half an hour before it got dark at most. She had to leave immediately, for it would get dark quickly after the autumn sunset. If she can't get out of the forest before dark, then she will be really lucky.

At this moment, she vaguely felt a breeze quietly passing by, making her shiver. She subconsciously turned around, and the person almost fainted.