Three days later, Li and Lin drove towards Li Shaohui's hometown. My hometown is about a three-hour drive from the city. At this moment, it is early autumn and August, the fields are full of life, the country roads are not wide and narrow, and there is no end in sight, and the roads are lined with endless green crops, green corn, yellow sunflowers... They all stand firm with heavy fruits. The frogs in the fields are also jumping up and down to hunt for food, and occasionally cooing contentedly, and the cicadas and birds on the trees and the rustle of the autumn wind through the leaves form the most beautiful autumn music in this outer plateau.

In the crisp autumn day, Li and Lin also had an indescribable autumn mood in their hearts, which was a kind of pleasant scenery, a joy of the harvest season, and a kind of leisurely landscape and pastoral.

The two traveled all the way, playing while walking, and it took twice as long to return to their hometown.

Since the death of Li Shaohui's grandmother, Li Shaohui has not come back for about two years, one is busy with work, there is no time to come back to waste time, and secondly, among relatives, it is not as close as in the past, except for the unfamiliar politeness, talking about some topics of money and power, there is nothing else, and in recent years, great changes have taken place here, most of the young people have long been unwilling to succumb to this, go out to work, only the old and children stay here, there is no excitement at all.

Li Shaohui took out the key to the gate and turned the rusty lock a few times before opening it.

With the sound of "squeak" opening the door, the scene in the courtyard came into view, and the memories of childhood were also awakened one by one, the most memorable of which was the kind smile of grandma.

Grandma is a person who loves cleanliness, not only the room is spotless, but even the huge courtyard is refreshing. Because grandma is old, it is not very convenient to move, so there is no other poultry at home except for a dog and a cat, although this is less lively in the countryside, but at the same time there is a lot less dirty.

Li Shaohui still remembers that he was often forced by his grandmother to clean the yard when he was a child, because this side is located in the north of the country, and there will always be sandstorms flying in the sky when spring and autumn come.

Sandstorms are violent, obscuring the sky and the sun and lasting for a long time, often in the early morning and not stopping until the evening.

So as soon as the wind stopped, grandma would nag Li Shaohui to take the broom that was more than twice as big as him to clean up the courtyard.

"Tomorrow, the wind will blow again, and it will be in vain if it is swept away. At that time, Li Shaohui was cunning in defense in order to be lazy.

"Then you have to eat tomorrow, will you eat for nothing today?" grandma criticized-for-tat.

The two grandparents and grandchildren, who have a huge age difference, are working and fighting at the same time, which has become the warmest scene of Li Shaohui's childhood.

Li Shaohui's grandmother is also a very affectionate person, every time the sowing season comes, she will divide the huge yard into several areas and renovate and cultivate.

On the south wall, there is an apricot tree with lush foliage, under which you can carry a few shade-loving flowers and plants, the east side of the yard has a good wind direction, you can plant corn and sunflowers, and in the middle of the yard is the place where rainwater accumulates, you can insert a few tomato seedlings...

Under the careful care of grandma, these flowers and vegetables often break through the soil and grow young shoots soon after, with a little new green, pretty and lively, bringing a little spring to this loess courtyard.

When it is time to bloom, these plants have to wait to welcome the spring, often one night later, when Li Shaohui wakes up in the bright morning, to the chirping of birds, he finds that these flowers that were still budding yesterday have quietly bloomed overnight. Yellow, white, red... At that time, Li Shaohui often didn't care about dressing and shoes, only wearing shorts, and ran out barefoot in the affectionate scolding of his grandmother.

In the early morning, the cool breeze is very pleasant, bees collect honey, butterflies flutter, and Li Shaohui is also helping to pinch branches and pollinate among thousands of flowers.

"This year's peppers are growing much better than last year's, and the fruits must be spicy and spicy, but the tomato flowering is a little slow..."

When the early autumn came, grandma's hard work also paid off, and the flowers and vegetables in the yard were grateful to bear fruit, such as sunflowers as big as basins, red tomatoes, and green peppers...

At this time, in this yard, which was originally nothing, a lifelike botanical paradise was quietly formed.

Li Shaohui often entertains himself during the boring moment, hiding during the period, listening to the flowers blooming and the leaves falling, silently watching the green leaves and yellow leaves, or simply picking a tomato and tasting it with relish.

At that time, the enthusiastic neighbors liked to visit each other, and when they saw this luxuriant scene, they couldn't help but be amazed, and then spared no effort to praise each other, and the smiling grandmother would also pick fresh fruits and vegetables in return.

It's just that the years have passed, and now my grandmother has long been resting at the foot of Nanshan Mountain, accompanying my grandfather to bury in the soil, quietly looking at this Loess Plateau where she was born and raised.

"Let's go and say goodbye to grandma!" Lin Yue'er held Li Shaohui's arm and said softly.

"Well, I also mean that, my grandparents are very kind people, and they will be very happy to see that I have brought such a beautiful and gentle niece and daughter-in-law as you. Li Shaohui's words made Lin Yue'er very useful, and she smiled: "When the time comes, I will definitely complain to my grandmother that you are very dishonest, and I will bully me, and let her warn you in her dreams." ”

Li Shaohui smiled: "Don't worry, my grandmother loves me very much, she sees a girl like you, she will not let me let you go, and she will definitely let me pester you for a lifetime." ”

"That's good, I'm afraid you won't be able to persevere, and one day, when I get old and become that yellow-faced woman, you won't love me as much as you do now. Lin Yue'er's soft words were like a yellowed slender willow leaf playing with the calm water, touching the softest place in Li Shaohui's heart.

Li Shaohui's voice was faint but extremely sincere, and said: "Silly girl, you have always laughed at me for being stupid and stupid, and now I have found out that you are the stupidest woman in the world, after so long, don't you understand my mind?"

Growing old with you is my biggest dream in this life, not only do I want to watch you lose your face and slowly become a yellow-faced woman, I also want to watch your hair turn white, your teeth fall out, your back is bent, and you become a full little old lady, but you can still smile at me, coquettish me, accuse me of not listening to you, and make you angry. ”

Lin Yue'er blushed and said angrily: "I hate it, why do you always look for people to hate like this? ”

"Only when you are ugly can I put my mind at ease!" Li Shaohui teased, and told Lin Yue'er in detail the distance he needed to walk to visit his grandmother.

If you want to visit the grandmother buried at the foot of the South Mountain, the journey is quite tortuous, first you have to pass through the main road from south to north in the village, the end of the road is an endless ravine, the ravine is gradually deepening, about a few kilometers long, the end of the ravine is a small temple, the back of the temple is a long slope, along the slope for a quarter of an hour, then turned out of the ravine, to the small forest under the mountain, through the small forest, Li Shaohui's grandmother and grandfather's cemetery is there.

Li Shaohui thought that if he wanted to visit his grandmother, the distance was far away, and he was quite tired, how could Lin Yue'er's delicate body withstand the pain of crossing mountains and mountains, so he had what he said just now, which was intended to dispel her thoughts, but he looked at Lin Yue'er's resolute and expectant eyes, and he could only follow her.

When the two of them walked on the main road in the village, there were unfamiliar faces in the people coming and going, even if a few elders looked at Li Shaohui, they were slightly surprised and thoughtful, but in the end they didn't dare to confirm it. Most of them were surprised by Lin Yue'er's beauty, thinking that they were visiting other places again.

Li Shaohui smiled bitterly in his heart, I don't know when he started, he became a stranger in the eyes of his hometown.

Hometown, already in their own thoughts, is gradually drifting away and becoming more and more strange. Looking up, the grandfather's three dilapidated caves are long gone, replaced by a village cultural square, the square is not lively, a few cars are parked, and a group of people are surrounded in the middle, it is estimated that they are basking in the sun again, wasting their time.

Entering the ravine, there are cliffs on both sides that are dozens of feet high, and at the foot is a stone path washed out by the rain, which is rugged and uneven, and stretches out into the distance with twists and turns.

"It's so cool here!" Lin Yue'er marveled at the beautiful scenery in front of her.

"Well, it was a summer resort when we were young. Li Shaohui replied with a smile: "The heat here comes and goes quickly, especially at night, when the cool breeze is blowing, that is the beginning of our children's day!"

Lin Yue'er was curious: "Then what do you often play?"

"It's the most ordinary entertainment activities, such as catching crickets and listening to the big drama and crawling holes (it is said that it was dug by the Eighth Route Army when it resisted Japan, in order to avoid the massacre of the Japanese army) or something, in fact, there is not much fun, now I think about it at that time it was really naïve, at that time, in order to play these with friends, sometimes I didn't even have time to eat. Li Shaohui shook his head and smiled as he spoke.

"Isn't a happy childhood spent in these childlike activities? It's not like me--- hey..."Lin Yue'er sighed, her face was very lonely.

"What's wrong with you?"

"When I was young, I lost it once, so my aunt and uncle never let me go out at night, and I could only sit in the yard after dinner every day, listening to the crickets chirping or counting the stars in the sky, which was very boring and lonely. But the night was so beautiful, and the stars were shining like jewels, and I often counted them and fell asleep. Lin Yue'er was melancholy and sweet reminiscing, and Li Shaohui's hand holding her tightened a little.

The two walked to the end of the ravine, a small temple came into view, Li Shaohui introduced: "Don't look at this temple small, I heard the old people in the village say that the peak under the temple is where the dragon head is, it is an excellent place for feng shui, and the temple can be built here to keep the village in good weather, so every spring ploughing time, people in our village will come here to burn incense and pray." ”

"Since it's so spiritual, then we may have a wish!" Lin Yue'er said and pulled Li Shaohui to kneel down in front of the temple.

Li Shaohui thought that he didn't have any wishes, so he dealt with things hastily, and after making a wish, he opened his eyes and looked at Lin Yue'er beside him, she was reciting words with a reverent face, but her voice was too small to hear clearly, and after a while, Lin Yue'er finished making a wish, and kowtowed respectfully three times.

"What kind of wish did you make? It will take so long? If you make too many wishes, the Buddha will not be happy, but it will not work. ”

"If I don't tell you, what do you wish?"

Li Shaohui said with a smile: "Of course, let the Buddha bless us with love for a lifetime, and then give birth to a litter of cubs, and watch them grow up slowly, while we slowly grow old." ”

"What litter?" Lin Yue'er couldn't bear Li Shaohui's teasing, and stood up to fight, but Li Shaohui had already taken a step ahead and ran away laughing.

The two played for a while, and Li Shaohui said, "I can tell you my wish, what is yours?"

"My wishes are indeed a bit much, and it is really possible that, as you said, most Buddhas would not agree. Lin Yue'er's tone changed, and there was suddenly a faint sadness.

"What's the matter? Why is it so difficult? If you leave it to me, I'll help you make it happen. Li Shaohui didn't know what to do.

Lin Yue'er didn't speak, she smiled, her flower-like smile was clearly laughing at Li Shaohui for being a complete fool, Li Shaohui became more and more confused, but Lin Yue'er insisted on not saying it, and he was helpless.