The villagers in the mountainous areas have more or less a few pigs at home, and on the one hand, the family and leftovers can be used to feed the pigs, so they will not be wasted. On the other hand, there are many weeds that can be collected in the mountains and can also be used to feed pigs.

This kind of wild grass is called pigweed by rural people, and it is one of the labor items when we are young, such as "pen grass", "lantern grass", "weed", "wild celery", "wormwood" and so on, and we can still distinguish them one by one.

At that time, there was no pig feed, and it was all fed with leftovers and pigweed, and a pig often had to be fed for a year or two before it could grow to be slaughtered and slaughtered. Pig farming also has the benefit of being able to make rational use of rice bran.

At that time, there were already electric rice mills, but there were no rice processing equipment like today. After the rice is harvested, the husk is peeled off with a rice mill. A funnel with iron sieves and bearings that turn by bearings, iron sieves filter, stripping the chaff.

This stripping method is not thorough, there is coarse bran, fine bran, which will be mixed with fine rice, pigs are particularly interested in bran, sprinkle a handful of bran when feeding pigs, pigs eat quite happily.

I often do the work of feeding the pigs, and from small to large, the young body carries a big bucket, walks to the pigsty, and then skillfully "purs" a few times, and the pigs will gather in groups.

There is a kind of gourd that can grow very big, when it just grows up, the skin is green and astringent, very fresh and tender, it is one of the common fruits and vegetables in the countryside, after it is fully ripe, the skin is completely wooden, showing golden yellow, particularly hard.

The fully ripe gourd is cut in half, because it is hard, it is generally sawn with a saw. Hollow out the sac inside, make a gourd scoop, and become a common container in rural families, and there are several in rural homes to hold different things.

For example, when feeding pigs, it is used to scoop up a spoonful of pig food, pour it into a pig trough hewn from a large miscellaneous wood, and several pigs "hum" squeeze together.

There is a proverb in the countryside, "a piglet is not big", that is, pigs must be raised at least two to compete for food, and then they will quickly grow fat. Therefore, rural areas are often used as a metaphor for families with children and many children, and the children grow strong, and there is no disease or disaster.

At that time, I didn't have enough to eat, there wasn't much leftovers to feed the pigs, and there was not as much pigweed in the wild as expected, it was so easy to pick, and there was not so much free time to pick pigweed.

Therefore, there are not many pigs raised by the farmer, generally only two or three, and four or five pigs, and the housewife of this family must be quite capable. Raising pigs is not so easy, if you encounter diseases such as swine fever, several pigs are raised in vain, no disaster, often make the farmer sad, housewives so choking.

The wild nature of the pig is actually very large, the pig's nose loves to arch everywhere, arch the ground, once the arch out of a hole or gap, it will escape from the pigsty. This kind of thing happens often, and you can often see mountain people chasing after each other. Once you run into the mountains, you are likely to be eaten by wild beasts.

It is not easy to raise a pig, so a solid pigsty will be built, and if possible, it will be built with granite walls, or with thick adobe bricks, and almost with thick and strong miscellaneous wood, to form a pigsty.

At that time, the farmer could not bear a little loss, not to mention the pig running away or dying of illness, even the kittens and puppies, if they died unexpectedly, it would also make the family sad for many days, because it was not easy to raise.

Rats are rampant in rural areas, and generally every household will have cats. The usefulness of raising dogs is even greater, it can prevent weasels from stealing chickens, it can prevent thieves from stealing, some dogs are particularly spiritual, and they can also prevent chickens and ducks from getting lost, prevent livestock from leaving the circle, and even take care of children.

Comparatively speaking, it is easier to have a dog than a cat because the dog is able to go outside on its own to find food, while the cat is to be fed. I have the impression that the cat should be specially fed to it, and a piece of bamboo can be cut open to make a container for feeding cats, and we call this container for feeding cats "cat roots".

After the rice is harvested, the straw cannot be wasted, but must be bundled, which we call "tie the pole". If you have the skill of "tying the pole", you will take a small handful of straw and use it as a bundle, and after binding, you will stand in the rice field one by one, and the rice field will be densely spread.

After drying in the sun, it is piled up in the rice field to prevent it from being corroded by rainwater, and is called "pole pile". When the farm is over, it is generally after late autumn, these straws are picked up and then piled into large straw piles, which are called "pole piles" in the same way, but the size is different.

In the late autumn morning, the frost and dew hang on the "pole pile" in the field, and can produce ice edges. After the rain in winter, the "pole pile" is piled with a thick layer of snow, like a snowman towering over the field.

After late autumn, the frost and dew rain and snow fall, the weeds wither yellow, until the spring of the next year, the grass that cattle can eat in the wild is very scarce, the forage is not enough, it is necessary to rely on the "pole pile" to maintain, the golden straw is the feed that the cattle particularly love.

The ox is the farmer's most loyal partner, and the land depends on that cow. Therefore, straw is particularly valued by farmers, and "pole piles" are also particularly valued, which are generally piled up near the cattle pen.

A pole is erected in the middle of the tree, which is generally made of slender cedar wood and is used to hold the "pole pile". The bundled straw is stacked alternately around the pole, and the height can be more than ten meters.

The pile of "pole pile" is skillful, and the center of gravity cannot be deviated, otherwise it may fall down even if there is a wooden pole. It is also necessary to prevent rainwater from penetrating, slightly higher inside and slightly lower outside, and the last bundled straw is spread out and inserted on the top of the pole, and the point will be sealed with plastic film to ensure that water will not penetrate into it.

Such a "pole pile", the inside is always dry. The winter is long, the cattle eat a lot, and one "pole pile" is not enough, and some families have several.

When using, start from the bottom, pull out a handful of hands from the inside, and draw a circle of "pole pile" to naturally drop a little, until the spring of the next year, the straw is used up, and only a pole is left, which is left for continued use after the autumn.

When eating a big pot of rice, the collective will build a cowshed, such as our Phoenix Mountain team, which built a row of cowsheds next to the warehouse. The outside is walled with thick adobe bricks, and the inside is separated by thick wood.

Unlike pigs, cattle must be isolated, otherwise they will fight each other, especially adult bulls, and the fight is so fierce that they often fight to the death, unless they pull away in time, or one side loses.

The ferocious characteristics of bull fighting gave birth to the "bullfighting" competition, and now there are many places to organize such competitions, and even become a profession and a tourist resource.

Perhaps it is precisely because of the fence made of thick miscellaneous wood to separate the cattle that the mountain people call the cowshed, and it is generally called the "cow pen". The fence can also protect the wall, the cow likes to use the horn to top the wall, borrow the wall friction to scratch, the force is too great, and it is very easy to damage the wall all year round.

After the field is divided into households, the cattle are distributed to each family, and they generally use loess to ram their respective cattle sheds, and a circle of fences will still be made inside, and the name of "cattle pens" has been continued.

The reins of the ox are also particularly easy to break, and the rural people are frugal and simple, and often wrap the reins around the horns in the shape of a figure-of-eight. Mature cattle, even when they are raised, do not need to be untied, shouting, slapping, or riding on the back of the cow with a clamp between the legs, and the cow will know where to go.

When he was about eleven or twelve years old, he slept late one morning, missed the time to herd the cattle, and when he arrived at the cowshed, he found that the door had been opened, and the cow was gone.

It wasn't until the footprints disappeared and I found that I couldn't find it that I reported it to my parents in horror. When my parents found out, they didn't ask as much as I feared, and immediately searched for them, and neighbors joined in to help with the search.

I didn't find it that day, and my father judged that it was stolen, and at that time, theft occurred from time to time in rural areas, stealing chickens and dogs, and pulling pigs and cattle, which was not uncommon. It wasn't like now, there was surveillance everywhere, and it was often hard to find it again.

My father even immediately found a way to send a letter to his hometown, because there is a cattle market in Shibi Township, Anyi County, which is adjacent to his hometown, which is the largest cattle market in several nearby counties.

My second and fifth uncles, after receiving the summons, immediately went to the bull market to investigate, and after several days of continuous investigation, they finally found that there was a cow that was very similar to what my father had described, so they tried every means to hold it off, and then tried to inform my father to go there to identify it.

My father and my neighbor's brother-in-law rushed to the scene, and it turned out to be really my cow. The cattle seller still knows us, and he was the younger brother of the captain Lei Bisong, who had already had this intention, and picked the lock at night to lead the cattle away.

After this incident, my parents not only did not ask much about the reason, did not scold, but praised me for being honest, and after finding that the cow was missing, I knew to follow the footprints to look for it, and I didn't come back until I couldn't find it.

Rural families were stolen, once rampant for several years, social atmosphere, many young people strayed into gambling, they steal everything, dare to steal anything, catch the chicken shell in the chicken coop and catch it, put a piece of minced meat sprinkled with poison at the door, and take the poisoned dog away.

At that time, the police force was weak, the means of reconnaissance were backward, and the remote rural areas were simply unable to take care of them, which fueled their arrogance.

Later, the family raised a white dog, which was poisoned during this period, the original yellow dog was too smart to never be tempted to be fooled, and the poisoned white dog was not dragged away, and there was a yellow dog desperately guarding.

My father once got a sword, which is said to have been found in the soil on Phoenix Mountain, which was originally very long, but it was rusted off, and it was made of stainless steel, and it was sharpened by my father, and I loved it very much, and I took it out to show off.

It was probably a sophomore in high school, and I once went home and encountered these habitual thieves. It must have been one winter night, when they were caught stealing a neighbor's chicken, and everyone got up to chase after them, and they had already aroused the anger of the people, and once they found out, they all attacked them en masse.

I picked up my sword and chased after him, and although it was night, the moonlight was shining brightly, and everything was clear. Surrounded by fields and with nowhere to hide, a few thieves fled into the bushes of Phoenix Mountain.

A few dogs roared wildly, and the yellow dog of my house, even burrowing into the bushes, grinned fiercely beside them, and kept getting up to bite, but fortunately, there was a yellow dog that was fierce, otherwise it was really possible for them to escape.

Although there are many people, although they are angry, but they really want to chase after them in the bushes, they still lack the courage to steal and be fierce, in case they meet outlaws, and they fight to the death, and they do not know what danger will appear.

It was also the ferocity of the yellow dog, one of the thieves ran out in a panic, trying to run down the road, I found out and immediately chased after it, only to find out that the body has developed in two years of high school and has been quite strong.

In a few steps I caught up with the thief, wielding a sword in one hand and dragging him with the other, and ordering him to stop, and the boy was not only shorter than me, but also quite mentally retarded, and even grabbed the sword with his hand.

I subconsciously pulled back, the sharp sword, cut his tiger's mouth, a blood rushed out instantly, this is the first time I hurt people to see blood, but I was not lightly frightened, after my father and others surrounded him, I also took out a handkerchief to bandage him. The kindness of the woman was later ridiculed by her father many times.

The thief was sent to the brigade by everyone, and the village secretary handed it over to the police station for processing, and the other thieves took the opportunity to run away, as for whether they were caught by the police station, I don't know, and I returned to school the next day.

After this incident, the thieves converged a lot, and Qingnian Tang was not stolen for a long time. Peace sometimes requires your own bravery to protect it, and it was from that day that I realized the importance of being physically strong.