Chapter 1 Boiling Coconut

Section 1 The length of the river in Kushiba

A.D. 1978, early summer.

In northern Jiangsu, warblers sing and swallow dance along the Kushiba River, birds sing and flowers are fragrant.

Before Marinsi walked out of the city, the Kushiba River was the largest of the rivers he had seen. The widest part is dozens of zhang wide, and the people on the other side of the bank are so shadowy that they can't hear the shouts clearly, so they have to resort to some exaggerated gestures.

The river is very full, and there is only a small drop between the water surface and the farmland. During the rainy season, the swelling water often pours into the farmland, and people have to build sluices at the harbor leading to the mouth of the river, and build polders along the river, and the river rises to the warning level, and as soon as the sluice gates are closed, the enclosure is safe. Sometimes the torrential rain pours down, the river rises too violently, and there is no time to close the sluice, and the farmland is a vast ocean, even overflowing the seedlings, and the cotton in the peak budding period is only a little bit of spikes, floating on the water surface. As soon as the water receded, then in the fields and ditches, it was the world of these children in Marinxi, and it was a great pleasure to catch fish in the ditch naked.

As a child, Marlinsi longed for the summer rainstorms, so that he would not have to go to school, and the task assigned to him by his grandmother to pick pig vegetables was very easy to complete. The weather was humid, the temperature was high, and the wild vegetables that fed the pigs grew like crazy, watery, numerous and large, and supported in baskets. Stuffed with baskets, Marlinsi has plenty of time to catch fish and shrimp.

At the moment, although it is also summer, the expected rainy season has not arrived. Ma Linxi is no longer an ignorant teenager, a person in his early twenties, and he no longer looks forward to the heavy rain in his childhood, and sometimes even hopes that it is better not to come, otherwise, the rain will seriously affect the harvest of the year.

The current Kushiba River is completely different from the feeling that Ma Linxi saw when he was a child.

Except for some green stemmed aquatic plants on the shore, and occasionally there are clumps of green reeds, marangs, and calamus, there are white flowers on the water surface, and the clear river center does not even have a splash of fish. The only thing that attracted him was the fleet, which was full of long roads, the five-star red flag planted in the bow of the ship waving in the wind, and the turquoise tarpaulin covering the cabin tightly, grain, lime, coal, maybe all or nothing. Seeing this magnificent fleet, Marlinthi felt an inexplicable impulse in his heart to watch them disappear into the distant bay.

This kind of scene is really rare to encounter.

The great river runs through the city, and Marinsi only occasionally feasts his eyes when he enters the city and passes over the bridge. How can a countryman who is dozens of miles away from the city have the opportunity to see this long fleet of ships full of loads every time he enters the city? If he encounters it once, it will be a lucky and luxurious scenery. More scenery is in his hometown, in Gaoling, where he was born and raised.

Gaoling is located in the southwest of Nandun Commune in the east of Hedong County. The east of the Kushiba River is the territory of the Namdun Commune, which is the geographical and administrative dividing line between the urban and rural areas. From the county seat, I crossed the Dongfanghong Bridge on the Kushiba River, and stepped on the land of Nandun. Standing on the Dongfang Red Bridge, few people will know where the Kushiba River comes from and where it is going. For Ma Linxi, the land east of the river is more dear to him.

The Dongfanghong Bridge was only opened to traffic. When Marlinsi left home last winter, it wasn't the road. I haven't seen him for half a year, and the old look has changed into a new look. After crossing the bridge, a large road goes straight east to reach the location of the Nam Dun commune. According to the tricycle just now, this road was paved when the "Chaoyang River" was excavated, and the earthwork excavated from the river was used as a roadbed, and it borders the neighboring county to the east. However, Ma Linxi does not need to go to the end, let alone go to Nandun Town, where the commune is located, so there is a detour.

At six kilometers, Marlinsi got out of the car.

Section 2 The Sissijia is Coming!

The six-kilometer coach is a hailing stop here, named after the exact six-kilometer journey from Nandun. Aside from a trampled open space on the side of the road, there are no signs to prove that it is a famous station. In Ma Linxi's impression, there was a log sign that said "six kilometers" on the side of the road, but it was gone. However, the presence of no stop signs does not affect people getting on and off the bus here.

After getting out of the car, Ma Linxi got on a two-wheeled car to go to Gaoling. In this area of my hometown, bicycles are called two-wheeled bicycles, and only people in the city can speak of bicycles. If you say it, others will definitely laugh at you for being "foreign".

Six kilometers from the brick arch bridge over the Chaoyang River, to the south is a straight asphalt road. In the countryside, this kind of black and oily road is definitely high-end. Of course, this is the light of national defense preparedness.

In the late 1950s, Nandun built an airfield for war readiness. The airport is about two kilometers north of the Chaoyang River, and the runway is parallel to the Chaoyang River, so you can see planes taking off and landing. This road to the south is where the division headquarters and depot of the air force stationed in the area are located. Now, the troops are gone, and the airfield has been converted into an aviation school.

Ma Linxi didn't have to go to the division headquarters to go home, and the six kilometers down the station were the Glorious Brigade, the Beiling Brigade, and the Xinfeng Brigade. Ma Linxi went down from the intersection of the third team of the Xinfeng Brigade and went straight to the east, and a red brick paved path led directly to the brigade headquarters. Of course, there is another road to go, that is, six kilometers from the station to the south, the road faces east, there is a gravel road, which leads to the ammunition depot of the garrison troops, and there is a small road behind the ammunition depot to the northeast, and across a small river is the Beiling brigade. Then go east along the path at the entrance of the Hebei farm to the Yuejin River, turn along the road of the embankment on the west bank of the river and turn to the south for a short distance, cross two cement bridges, and you will reach the territory of Gaoling.

A few hundred meters east from the farm of Xinfeng No. 3 Team, crossing a small river running north-south, east of the river is the western boundary production team of the Gaoling Brigade. Next, there are Xigang, Xiling, and Zhongxi production teams. The Gaoling Brigade Headquarters is the territory of the Chinese and Western production teams, located in the north-south Yuejin River and the northeast corner of the east-west Xinfeng River.

When Marlinsi walked to the brigade headquarters, the sun was already in the west. There are five brigade headquarters with blue bricks and tiles, and both doors are locked. He glanced at it with great nostalgia, and then walked north from the alley at the head of the west hill. Behind the brigade headquarters, in the two classrooms lined up, there was the sound of reading aloud. On the playground, there was not a single figure.

Further back, behind the school kitchen, there is a row of newly built farms along the river, the first of which is the house of the eldest brother Ruizhi, the accountant of the production team, the door is half open, and it is obvious that there is no one in the house. All the way down, Zhu Yu's family, Jinshan's family, Fumin's family, Dehong's family, and Yiqing's family are all gone.

Now is the time to do farm work.

Marlinsi continued to walk north along the path east of the farmstead, the fragrance of which filled his face, and his heavy backpack suddenly became lighter. As he walked, he greedily breathed the air of his hometown and feasted on the long-lost idyllic scene.

He clearly remembers that when he left home last year, the rice had been harvested, and he was preparing to plant wheat. Turned over, black clay, like oil. Cotton is starting to spit out, and broad beans and green manure are being sown.

In front of me, waist-high wheat is turning from green to yellow, and the breeze blows, rippling in the wheat field. A swallow swept over an ear of wheat and drew a graceful arc. The dragonfly stood on the wheat mangs and fluttered in the wind, and the two dragonflies moved from time to time, and refused to leave. The sun shines on the fields, and the wheat fields are like heavy oil paint.

Across the wheat field, across the road, is the cotton field. This year's cotton has been changed to a transfer, knee-high cotton seedlings are sturdy, green, row, straight in a line, stretching out to the north of the row of farms. The farm is not far to the east, and you will reach home.

The path of the farm is like a gorgeous colorful stream, and broad beans and rape plug the path into looming crevices, and golden rape flowers, black and white broad bean flowers, mixed with colorful crops.

Ma Linxi, who was carrying it on her shoulders, wandered in the colorful stream, looking at it while walking obligently, and her body was covered with the fragrance of pollen......

"Xixijia is coming! Xixijia is coming!" suddenly there was a happy silence in the empty field.

It turned out that it was really home. It's only a hundred and ten steps away from home.

Marinxi looked for prestige, and in the wheat field not far behind him, a tall figure watched him. It turned out to be Wang Aiqin, the fourth mother of the neighbor Fuyou, who transplanted Fangu on the edge of the field.

"Fuyou's fourth mother. Marinsi's heart was hot, and he stopped and waved at her with a grin.

"Sissy, you're here!" said Mom, who suddenly appeared in front of Marinsi.

She's shoveling haystacks. All of a sudden, more than a dozen heads popped up in the field, all of them walking towards Ma Linxi.

"Ah, I'm thin. ”

"My face was blackened, too. The sun is poisonous over there, right?"

"How many days have you been on the road?"

"They all want us to die. ”

"You're a representative, you don't know, we're all voting for you. ”

"I'm sure I've brought a lot of new breeds. ”

"Well, this cigarette is high-end, and it has a sponge mouth. ”

……

When the neighbors heard the news, they rushed to Marinsi's house and surrounded him in the middle, "Sissy" was long and "Sissy" was short, and they were gossiping about this and that.

Marlinsi brought happiness to his family and happiness to his neighbors. It was only after dark that people reluctantly left.

"You rest first, and we'll come back in the evening. Brother Jianhua chewed the coconut candy that Ma Linxi gave him and said happily.

"Just eat at our house. Ma Linxi's wife, Yu Xinhong, kept him.

"No, come and play at night. Jianhua picked up the shovel outside the door and carried it on his shoulder.

After returning home for half a year, the family is very affectionate. While her mother was busy in front of the pot, she asked Marlinxi about trivial things. His wife helped him pack his things and sort out the big bags of odds and ends.

"The letter says the tenth," the wife said, "what time do you get to the street?" and the "street" she asked was the county seat.

"The ship I took from Suzhou yesterday went slowly, and I arrived after lunch today. He took the towel from his wife and rubbed his face.

"What's not in Nannan?" Mom grabbed two cotton stalks and broke them on her knees, and sent them into the stove, pushing it in with a fire fork with her left hand, and slowly pulling the bellows with her right hand. Then tell him: "Dongdong and Zhu Geng were on a business trip last time, and they were on the south side." ”

Dongdong is Ma Linxi's eldest brother, a technician at the commune's agricultural science station. Zhu Geng is a colleague, they are good friends. Zhu Geng is responsible for crop cultivation and plant protection of crop diseases and pests. Two months ago, they went to Hubei to transfer corn seeds, and when they came back, they passed through Anhui and stopped by to see Nannan, the third brother who was a soldier in Lu'an. When Ma Linxi came back this time, he also approached Nannan's side, and the third brother mentioned this matter to him.

"Close. Ma Linxi said, "I also recorded the voice." ”

"What is the recording?" asked Mom.

Marlinsi wanted to tell her that he had recorded his brother's voice with a tape recorder and had brought it back. But when they think about it, how do they know what a recording is? In the countryside, people have never seen what a tape recorder is.

"Nothing. Marlinthi prevaricated. Explanations are useless, but they will be more and more confused, and it is not too late to let them see the tape recorder after dinner. Marlinsi thought.

It's rare for a family to get together for dinner. There was no grandmother who died at the end of last year, and the third brother who had just been a soldier for a short time, but no one touched on this sensitive topic, and warmly asked Ma Linxi about what he had seen and heard in Hainan, and Ma Linxi also asked about the changes in his hometown.

The reunion after a long absence, what a blessing.

After dinner, no one put away the dishes and chopsticks, and continued to ask Ma Linxi all kinds of strange questions, after all, he is the farthest away from home, the biggest person in the world, and the longest time away from home in the whole family so far. It's not just their family, in the whole production team, the whole team, and even in the commune, Ma Linxi's southern prosperity this time is also a big thing. From the envious eyes of people when they talked about Ma Linxi's trip to Hainan Island, he had already felt it.

Before the dishes and chopsticks were finished after dinner, the neighbors gathered at Marinxi's house.

"Come, come, please come and sit in the hall. Marinsi's dad greeted warmly, handing the cigarettes with filters to the neighbors.

In the late 1970s, there was no entertainment at night in the countryside, except for a few open-air movies a year, and a few square dramas performed by the brigade's literary and artistic propaganda team during the Spring Festival. There was no electricity, not to mention the few televisions available only in the city, and the radio was only three times in the morning, noon and evening, and the total broadcast time of the day was only three or five hours. Peasants have to work, and no one can listen to the radio for hours a day. Watching the excitement is the best entertainment pastime. If there is any turmoil in the neighborhood, even if the husband and wife quarrel, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are angry, there will be uninvited neighbors to persuade and help, and hold the grievances. The people of this farm where Ma Linxi's family is in are very united, starting from the easternmost Jianhua family to the westernmost Ruixin family, whose family has any happy events, lively events, and happy events, all of which are indispensable to the neighbors to share.

Dad invited everyone to the hall.

Section 3 Nannan in the tape recorder

The old house of the Marlinxi family was still built in the hands of his grandmother, and it is sixty or seventy years old, and it is a pier on higher ground. I heard my grandmother say that in the 20th year of the Republic of China, there was a big flood, and many houses in the vicinity were flooded, but Ma Linxi's house was safe and sound (I later learned that it was a natural disaster caused by the flood in northern Jiangsu in 1931 and the flood of Hongze Lake in the upper reaches). The "two-in-one" house is at right angles, the main house has three rooms facing south, the brick walls are tiled, the partition walls are all wooden boards, the five pillars are on the ground, and the horizontal fence is finely raftered, which is the best structure in the whole production team. There are three kitchens, the doors face east, the two houses are surrounded by green brick dripping eaves, and the path connecting the doors of the two houses is also paved with broken bricks. The bright room of the hall is also paved with bricks, which are the best square bricks.

In the middle of the hall hangs a painting written by my father, which is a poem "Lang Tao Sha Beidaihe":

The heavy rain falls on Youyan, the white waves are surging, and the fishing boats outside Qinhuangdao are held. I can't see an ocean, who do you know?

The past is more than a thousand years, Wei Wu whipped the whip, and there is a posthumous chapter in the east of Jieshi. The bleak autumn wind is now again, and the world has changed.

The couplets on both sides are the two sentences in the words of "Man Jianghong and Guo Moruo":

The four seas are churning, the clouds and water are angry, and the five continents are shaking and the wind and thunder are fierce.

Although Ma Linxi's father was not a calligrapher, he still had a good knowledge of calligraphy. Below the central hall is a five-drawer cabinet, the crimson water chestnut paint is shining, and the bronze corners, trims, buckles, and handles are also bronze. In the center of the cupboard, there is a small mahogany pedestal that is less than a square of four corners, and on top of it is a white plaster statue of the chairman. On the left and right sides are large pen holders from the official kilns of the Qing Dynasty. Further east is a three-foot-tall blue and white porcelain vase. On the far left is the wooden table clock, which is the only relic left by my grandfather.

After being defeated by the National Revolutionary Army in August 1927 and occupying Hedong County for the second time, my grandfather took off his military uniform and stayed and married his grandmother who worked in the city. Later, in order to avoid the bombing of the Japanese devils, he fled to his grandmother's maiden Xinfeng Brigade, and later bought real estate and settled in the northwest area. At that time, the northwest tip was now Gaoling. Grandpa as a soldier and battalion commander, in addition to being able to lead soldiers to fight, there is also a hand of exquisite carpentry skills, the local people call this kind of carpenter "fine carpenter", the frame of this table clock is made by his own hands, there are delicate carvings on it, the pattern is complex, beautiful.

The siding panels of the wings on both sides of the hall are covered with glass frames, many of which were gifts from relatives and friends when Marinsi's parents got married, and some were birthday gifts from relatives and friends on her grandmother's 60th and 70th birthdays. The following is plastered with the awards of their brothers. In the middle of the hall is a square table with white wood thread, surrounded by grooves to prevent things from slipping, and the pale water chestnut red paint is still shining with time.

The house was packed with neighbors. Everyone chatted enthusiastically, munching on their mother's freshly fried sunflower seeds, asking this and that, and his wife stuffed the various candies he brought back from Hainan Island into people's hands.

"No, no, yes. ”

"Xinhong, you're busy with yours, we have to eat and take it ourselves. ”

"Don't drink tea, you're so polite. ”

"I haven't smoked this cigarette yet. Rest sir. ”

Ma Linxi's father went to private school, worked as an elementary school principal, and now works for the county cultural center, has published many novels and big plays, and is a serious playwright. Ma Linxi's mother worked as a teacher for a few days before liberation and stayed in the district art troupe. Therefore, the neighbors called him his mother "Master Niang" and his father "Mr. Big".

Ma Linxi took out a luminous watch with a calendar from his bag, handed it to Brother Jianhua, and said, "Look at this watch." ”

"Hey, there's a day of the week in there. Jianhua is a Shanghai devolved household in the 50s, tall man, although he has worked in the countryside for many years, he still does not lose the Sven of the city people, he took off his highly myopic glasses, looked at it for a while, and finally found its difference: "This costs a lot of money, right?" ”

Before he finished speaking, Brother Ruizhi, the accountant of the production team on the side, snatched it up.

"You estimate. Marlinthi made a fool of himself and went out of his bag to get something else.

No one has ever seen a watch with a calendar and a day of the week, so it is natural to assume that it is expensive, and no one has guessed how much it is worth. Or Marlinsi told them: "It's not worth anything, one silver coin can be exchanged for three dollars." ”

"Good boy, it's so cheap. "Everyone was surprised.

"Smuggled here, cheap. Marlinsi said and pulled out a palm-sized plastic box filled with digital buttons.

In front of everyone's eyes, Marlinsi turned on the switch, and a row of emerald green numbers immediately lit up on the display, shining brightly. Everyone was dumbfounded, and the fourth master of Fuyou first asked, "What kind of play is this?"

"You can use it to settle accounts. Malinsi said.

"Can you still settle accounts?" asked Ruizhi, an old junior high school student who has been an accountant for decades.

"Yes, ten-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, including square root conversion, comes out at one point. ”

Ruizhi immediately reported a string of numbers for Marlinsi to calculate, and as soon as he finished speaking, Marlinxi's button ended, and the calculation result was displayed on the screen.

"This little abacus is really God. Jianhua asked for the electronic calculator from Ma Linxi's hand.

"Be careful, this thing is precious. Fifth Master Fuquan said while snorting melon seeds.

Jianhua counted a few sets of numbers according to the method of Marlinsianism, and said, "This is a real god." What's it called?"

"Don't break it, hurry up and put Sissy away. His wife Qian Jindi reminded.

Ma Linxi took the calculator and said, "This is called an electronic calculator, and it is smuggled in, except for Hainan Island, and even Guangzhou cannot buy it." "Ma Linxi didn't tell them the truth, this calculator was brought by Cheng Tingrong, the head of the county seed station, and he had the financial resources to buy this thing.

Hearing Ma Linxi say this, his eyes widened, full of surprise and envy.

"Please look at this again. Marlinsi gently placed the sea stone flower in the center of the table, and under the light, it was even more delicate and clear, graceful and delicate.

"What kind of play is this?" Jianhua's son, Ma Linxi's hair Xiaojinshan, suddenly rushed to the table and reached out to touch it. Because the speed was too fast, it was stung by the sharp edges and corners above: "Yo yo yo, it's still biting." ”

There was a burst of laughter in the room. Marlinsi held it up high and said, "This is the sea stone flower, which is a stone tree that grows in the sea, called coral." ”

Everyone sighed: "There are so many treasures in Hainan." ”

Finally, Marlinsi took out the bombshell to be displayed tonight - the VCR.

The VCR was a silver-gray cassette cassette machine, more than a foot long in shape, like a small explosive packet, with a row of buttons on top.

Ruixin, a classmate of the same age as Ma Linxi and a junior high school classmate, rushed to say: "Good girl, this radio is really big!"

"Hey, why don't you have anything to adjust the platform?" Jinshan, who is also a classmate of Ma Linxi's junior high school, watched it for a long time before saying a word.

Marlinsi smiled but didn't answer, and let the room stretch their necks to watch him fiddle with the machine. He opened the battery compartment, installed the new four No. 1 dry batteries, and then put the cassette tape in, gently pressed the playback button, and after a while, the singing voice of the Huai opera "The Legend of the White Snake" came out of the speaker.

"What about the Huai opera sung. Listen, it's Xiao Wenyan singing. Mom preemptively said.

Huai Opera is a famous local opera in his hometown, and Xiao Wenyan, a household name, is a famous drama master on the stage of Huai Opera. This is the third brother of the army's art troupe, Nannan, through a relationship.

Everyone listened, praised, and admired, and even the well-informed father was fascinated: "Singing absolutely well." He complimented his neighbors and gave them cigarettes. Dad is now writing scripts for the Shihuai Theater Troupe, and his words are absolutely authoritative.

Mom poured tea and water for everyone, while his wife was always by Ma Linxi's side, assisting him in his work and sharing the happiness.

After enjoying the Huai Opera tape for everyone, Ma Linxi put a box of tapes recorded in the third brother's army.

"Hello Mom and Dad. I'm South-South ......" As the tape was transmitted, a voice familiar to the neighbors came over the tape recorder.

After people were dumbfounded, they immediately reacted: "Hey, isn't it Nannan? Nannan is in the machine...... Zhang Linsheng said in surprise. He swept his gaze to the crowd and turned to Marlinthi again, hoping to find an answer in his face.

Father and mother listened directly, as if the son who had been in the army a few years ago had returned to his side. The mother also reached out to touch the speaker where her dear son was talking inside, and leaned her head to look back and forth, left and right, as if her son was playing hide and seek with her when he was a child. Obviously, she was completely immersed in the scene of missing her son.

Of course, Dad knew about the tape recorder, but he had never seen this kind of chatter that could be carried in his hand, so he took the corner of his mother's clothes and said, "It's a tape recorder, listen to what Nannan is talking about." ”

"There are also sisters, Dongdong, Xinhong, Beibei, Brother Jianhua, Uncle Fuhai, and Brother Deming...... I'm good in the army in Hefei...... I miss you guys so much...... The wheat at home is almost yellow......" Nannan continued inside.

"Nannan also said your name. Fuyou's fourth mother, Wang Aiqin, touched the eldest brother Jianhua beside her with her arm.

Mom turned her back, quietly wiped her tears, and whispered to Qian Jindi: "It's bitter over there." ”

Qian Jindi nodded: "Yes, it's hard to be a soldier." ”

After Nannan's recording was played, Ma Linxi put on a blank tape and secretly started the live recording, pretending that the machine was broken, and deliberately touched here and there.

"Hey, why is there no sound?" said Brother Jianhua.

"Was it okay just now?" Zhang Linsheng said to Fuquan.

"You say, you say it loudly. Marlinsi said to them.

Everyone felt inexplicable and felt that it was a pity that the machine was so bad. It's even a little embarrassing, because it's because it's bad for them.

Ma Linxi hurriedly rewinded the recorded tape and pressed the playback button, and the sound just now was played out by the original. This time, everyone was incredibly happy.

"Jianhua, you're in there. ”

"That one, too. ”

"Strange, all the voices just now have been taken in. ”

……

Everyone was talking and laughing happily, and the faces of my mother and wife were full of joy. Ma Linxi knows that her son is promising, her husband is capable, Ma Linxi is in the limelight, and the whole family has a bright face.

It wasn't until about eleven o'clock in the evening that the people reluctantly dispersed.

Brother Jianhua didn't know what to ask his father to do, so he left a few minutes later than others. Usually, his family has the best relationship with Ma Linxi's family, so Ma Linxi gave him a coconut that he had brought back from thousands of miles: "This is the best specialty of Hainan Island." ”

Jianhua happily took it, and said repeatedly: "Nanwei Nanwei" (sound, dialect "thank you"), and went back.

Because of his busyness, Marlinsi forgot to teach him how to eat coconut, so much so that he made a joke later. That was a month later, Jianhua told him.

Section 4 Boil coconut

Jianhua said that after returning that night, he was so excited that he didn't sleep well all night. Marlinsi asked, "Why?"

Jianhua said: "I'm so happy, Xixi gave me such a heavy gift, I really can't stand it." It's a treasure in Hainan Island, you bring your family thousands of miles away, how hard it is along the way, this thing is more expensive. I was very happy to receive it at the time, but I regretted it halfway, I really shouldn't have asked for such a valuable thing. ”

Malinsi said, "What's this. We're all good neighbors. ”

Jianhua continued, "I want to give it back to you again, but when I think about it, it's so late, let's talk about it tomorrow." The next morning, after Qian Jindi knew about this, she also wanted to return it to your family at first, but then she thought about it, this is a piece of Xixi's heart, it happened to be my birthday next month, she said that you will use it to entertain guests when you are fifty years old, that is all right. I thought about it, so I agreed. Jinshan, Jinfang, and their younger siblings have to eat it alive and dead, and it's too cost-effective to entertain people, maybe they won't be able to eat it when the time comes. ”

"That's what they think," Marlinsi said. ”

"There is still a month before my birthday, I am afraid that it is not safe to put it in a conspicuous place, and they always look at it with their eyes. In the past, they used to eat steamed cakes for the New Year. I secretly locked the coconut in a box and opened it in a few days. Jianhua threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stepped on his toes.

Ma Linxi smiled: "What do you think." ”

"I'm afraid I'll suffocate it," he said. Move it out and flick it with your fingers. Loud, crisp sound. It's reassuring. Open the box every day to see if anyone has touched it. ”

Marlinsi said, "Isn't that for you to suffer?" ”

"Almost. Jianhua smiled bitterly.

"I finally waited until my birthday. Jianhua continued: "A few days ago, I prepared the top firewood. I see that its shell is quite hard, and I am afraid that it will collapse if it is not cooked. I'm afraid that the cotton stalks and tree roots will not have enough firepower. In the evening, I took out the coconut and washed it five times with warm boiled water, and washed the dirt outside with a brush. He filled the pot with water, set up firewood, and burned it over a strong fire. I think it's only delicious when it's cooked. It's like beef, if it's not rotten, what else does it taste like? ”

Ma Linxi couldn't help laughing: "Is it rotten?"

Jianhua said: "Rotten ghost." The fire in the pot hall was not extinguished all night, and I got up four or five times a night and struck it with a shovel, and it was as hard as a bone, and it did not look like it was cooked at all. I guess it's hard to cook, it's like old beef tendon, it's very delicious, but it also takes a few hours to burn. Although I was anxious, I was still patient. ”

Ma Linxi asked, "What's the hurry?" ”

Jianhua lit another cigarette, took a puff, and continued: "Why don't you hurry, I invited four tables of relatives and friends, and I personally went to invite them. Some people were busy and didn't plan to come, but they heard that there were precious specialties from Hainan Island, and they all came. There were a whole table more than the original, not counting the babies who came to see the strange. Oops, it's a big deal. ”

"It's so grand. Marlinsi laughed.

"When it was time for the feast at noon, the thing was still stiff and unmoving. I was already on fire in a hurry, and the sweat on my head was boiling and rising, so I had to put on a smiling face, comfort my relatives and friends, and persuade them to drink so that I could kill time and wait for a miracle to happen. Jianhua looked a little embarrassed.

"And then?" said Marinthie, impatient.

"Relatives and friends are impatient, the banquet has been dispersed for an hour, this dish is still in the pot, how can it not disappoint everyone. I found the axe, the saw, and did it myself. The two sons also came up to help. Pick up a big axe and cut it down, mother's, there is only one seam. After a long time, I only peeled off the brown hair in the middle. Dozens of people surrounded our father and son to peel this play. It was not easy to get the ball like an iron ball. I can't wait any longer, I feel angry in my heart, this is not my foreign appearance? Another axe was cut down, and the iron egg turned into two scoops, and a puddle of water flowed up, and there was nothing in it. I was dumbfounded: How is it possible?" Jianhua looked impatient.

"Oceanic Plate...... Relatives and friends burst into laughter. I was so embarrassed that I wished there was a crack in the ground to get into......"