Experience Zhang Baotong

Twenty years ago, during a winter vacation, I took my son back to the mountainous area of Xiangbei where I used to settle in the queue, and wanted my son to experience the hardships and difficulties of going to the countryside in the past. My son has just entered junior high school, and somehow he has learned the habit of wearing famous brands on pomp, and his life ability is also poor. I told him many times about my life in the countryside so that he could get rid of his lazy habits. However, the son had never been to the countryside and did not experience the hardships and poverty at all. So, I decided to take him to the countryside and experience it for myself.

When I took my son to the small village in the mountain township where I cut the queue, it was the end of the wax moon and the New Year was approaching, and the farmers who had worked hard for a year were buying New Year's goods and preparing for the New Year. After all, many years have passed, and the poverty scene in the mountains has changed significantly, most families have built new houses, and some have even set up small shops. Although the people in the mountains are still poor, they are very hospitable. When they heard that I was coming, they lined up to invite us to be guests, and set up a banquet with big meat and glutinous rice cakes. In fact, even in normal times, it is difficult for people here to eat meat once a year.

I stayed at a friend's house. This friend was a shrewd and bold rural man, who was the first to set up a shop in the village to sell pesticides and fertilizers, so he bought a good piece of land on the side of the road and built a large new house, and the furniture in the house was also purchased from the city. In order to keep us warm and sleep comfortably, he asked his daughter-in-law to light the stove and changed the bedding from top to bottom, treating us as if we were honored guests.

After dinner, I always take my son to the mountains behind the village. Mandarins have been planted in many parts of the mountain, and there are always people casting nets to catch fish in the reservoirs. From time to time, I pointed to the fields on the mountain and the fields below, and told my son about my labor at that time. I was only fifteen years old at the time, and I was doing full-time farm work, receiving half-labor wages, and at the end of the day I was tired and had a sore back, and I had to cook for myself after work. It's like my son, who can't even boil water in a kettle.

We stayed for three days in a row, because it was about to be the New Year, and we were afraid that it would affect the Chinese New Year, so we went back to the city. When he returned to the city, his lover asked his son what his experience was with this trip to the countryside. The son said that life in the countryside is very beautiful, and he travels around the mountains and rivers every day, and he has meat to eat every meal, which is not at all like what his father said. My son's words disappointed me, but they also reminded me that because people have different experiences, you can't let others have the same experience as you.