The mountains are soothed, and the clouds are rolling and the wind is slanting.

The weeds all over the mountains have begun to turn yellow and wilt, and as soon as the autumn wind passes, the golden leaves dance with the west wind and gently spread over the mountains.

The pine tree had become deeper, and the dwarf bush foliage had long since disappeared, and its dense branches stretched out like thorns in all directions.

On the ridges of the mountains, patches of oak trees are mixed with mulberry trees and neem, and the branches are caged together with a faint purple color, which looks like a fog from a distance. When the morning fog rises, the sun shines on the extremely beautiful scenery.

The mountains are silent, and occasionally a bird flutters by, leaving a crisp cry.

The goshawk hovered high in the air, like a kite, paddling a soothing circle with the wind.

There was a fragrance in the air, and I don't know where it came from, but it made people feel refreshed and quietly went again.

On the edge of the mountain forest, patches of sorghum corn have withered, branches and leaves are intertwined and standing in the fields waiting for the final harvest, and most of the other fields have been harvested, revealing the black earth, and a fertile field is divided into fragments.

Zhang Xingming and Zhang Xingbing, who came back to see his mother on leave, accompanied their grandfather to stand on the edge of the national highway and watch all this.

The house is gone, the entire foundation including the yard has become a vegetable patch, only a few foundation stones are exposed there, the old walnut tree where the original fork of the road is on the side of the national highway is still there, standing tall, whether there is an owner or not has no effect on it.

On the slope a little down from the walnut tree, there is a hawthorn tree with knotted branches, not red in the mountains, but a real hawthorn, and a huge bluestone lies there under the hawthorn tree, which is the hotbed of Zhang Xingming and his brother in the summer when they were children.

The whole back garden is gone, there is no boundary with other vegetable fields, the original plum tree on the edge of the ground is no longer there, I am afraid that it has become a firework under someone's stove, the apple and pear tree is still there, and a few branches have been cut off, standing tenaciously on the edge of the ground.

It turned out that the road at the other end of the yard was already overgrown with wild grass at this time, and a few tall poplar trees on the side of the road were still so straight, piercing into the sky like sharp swords. The original families had moved to the fort, but the houses were still there, and the black thatch on the houses was shaking in the autumn wind.

The small bridge connecting the courtyard of Zhong Laosi's house to the dirt road here has collapsed, leaving only a crooked bridge pile standing by the river, Zhang Xingming remembered the scene of his brother beating it with a small stick: "Changhong, Zhong Changhong, come out." I have a younger brother, can you believe that we will cut it together?"

"Let's go pick spicy peppers, I know where they are, but if we do, we'll divide half of them. ”

"I only have about a dozen, and I will give you seven, and I don't believe you turn it over. ”

……

The four of them stood on the edge of the national highway and watched quietly, while Li Chun, Wang Honghua, and Zhang Qisheng stood on the side.

After standing for a long time, Grandpa sighed softly, he was born here, grew up here, became an adult, married a wife and raised children, and lived for nearly seventy years, just now on this piece of land of less than three acres.

Now, it's just a vegetable field from someone else's house.

Grandma suddenly said: "Is the vegetable cellar still there? There are still radishes in it, more than 50 catties." Then he sighed and said no more. After staying for a while, she turned to Zhang Xingming and said, "You can't take a bath in the ditch yet? The water is not as cold as in summer, right?"

Grandpa raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the well and said, "Then, that tree was planted by me and my brother, and it has become a forest, and my brother's grave is in that forest, and now it is all overgrown with grass, right? I was taught by my brother to weave baskets, and I was lazy and didn't want to work at that time, so he used this to play with me." ”

Zhang Xingming said: "Grandpa, it's too barren over there now, people can't get by, wait for me to go back and call someone to come over and repair Grandpa's grave, clear it up over there, and we'll come back next year." ”

Grandpa's cloudy eyes blinked, and he said, "I'm not going to see it, I know I can't get by." I'm telling you that in the future I'll die and bury me next to your grandfather. I have such an older brother in my life, and my daughter-in-law has not married me and brought me up, so I have to accompany him. ”

Zhang Xingming asked: "Has my grandfather never been married in his life?"

Grandma said: "When I came over, I was the eldest child, but I married the second child when I passed the door, who knows what their buddies think." At that time, your mother and uncle were going to starve to death, so I thought, whatever the eldest and second child are, just be able to eat. ”

Grandpa laughed, laughed silently, and said, "With that little rice at home, you can ask for a daughter-in-law, but my brother said that he is old and doesn't need it." He's sixteen years older than me, and he said he's afraid we'll not be able to live if he's dead. ”

Grandma said to Zhang Xingming: "Your mother should still be able to remember, your grandfather loves the child, he is closer than his own, and he carries it every day, if your mother cries, he will be anxious like something." It's a good person, and if you can't say it, you leave, and you don't have a word. ”

Zhang Xingming asked, "How did my grandfather die?"

Grandma said, "I can't remember the name, so I asked a barefoot doctor to come to my house for treatment, saying that I had to cut it and dig a hole in my stomach." Then I had a fever and lay down for a few days before leaving. A good person can dig a hole in his stomach?"

Grandpa said: "That's called surgery, if you don't operate, you will die of pain, and if your life is not good, you will catch up with the fever." ”

Zhang Xingming asked, "Where was the surgery done?"

Grandpa pointed to the foundation below and said, "It's in the house, lying on the edge of the kang, and the needle and thread at home are still used to sew the belly." I didn't dare to look at it, so I stood outside the window and listened, my brother had a stick, and he didn't scream in pain, and he didn't make a sound at all. ”

Xiao Bing said on the side: "Fuck, there is no anesthetic or sterilization and there is no sterile room, can this not cause a fever?"

Li Chun sighed and said: "That era, you haven't experienced it, it's good to be able to find someone to see when you're sick, and you still hope for what anesthetic disinfection, survival is fate, death is fate, it all depends on God's eyes." ”

Grandpa walked over and touched the old walnut tree, so he looked up and said, "It's so high, when I carry it back and plant it, it will come to my waist and carry it out of the golden ditch. You and your brother didn't eat less when they were young. ”

Zhang Xingming nodded, remembering the scene when he and his brother squatted under the windowsill with a small hammer when they were children, smashing walnuts on the foundation stone of the house, and smiled, as if he heard the cry of the chicken grabbing the walnut pulp in his ears. Since he was a child, he has not been treated by chickens, he said in his heart.

Grandpa held the old walnut tree, looked left and right, patted the walnut tree, and said softly, "Let's go, let's enter the castle." The soldier still has to see his mother, and we don't have anything to watch. Let's go. ”

Zhang Xingming asked, "Grandpa, do you want to take a picture here?"

Grandpa shook his head and said, "You don't need to take a photo, it's all in your heart." ”

The two old men walked to the car with each other, and their grandmother's gray hair was blown away by the wind and shook in the wind.

Zhang Xingming suddenly found that the backs of his grandmother and grandfather were so obvious at this time.

In the wind, I heard my grandmother say softly: "At that time, it's good not to sell it." ”