The March sun shone on the island city, but my heart was cold. I took a few books of poetry and a few changes of clothes and boarded the shuttle bus to Lingshan at the East Bus Station. I didn't even have the intention of waving my hand to become an escapee from this city, and I suddenly understood Liu Daxia's state of mind when he fled from this city.

Liu Daxia is the only poet and drinking friend I can sympathize with in the island city, he is a very talented reporter of our newspaper, interviewing, writing, drinking, all-round. His poems are wonderful and are often published in the supplements of our island city newspapers and provincial newspapers. Heroic bachelor, I don't want to go home. So, after work, we often get together, a few bottles of refreshing Qingdao, a butterfly spicy pig ear, half a bag of peanuts, and we can chat all night. We talk about poetry, about wine, and about scolding. One night, we had just sat down at the coconut tree food stall downstairs at the newspaper office when Daxia's cell phone rang, and he answered for a while, and his swarthy face suddenly turned pale. After answering the phone, he scolded his mother, got up and left. A few days later, I found out that one of his manuscripts reporting on the urban construction of the island city had gone wrong, and the hero truthfully exposed the corruption shady scene in a certain bureau. That night, the leader called him back and scolded him, and the manuscript was immediately taken down. Soon after this, Liu Daxia resigned, saying that he was concentrating on writing poetry. I sympathize, but I am powerless to help. Because the hero's family was in the outskirts of the city far away, and they were busy with their own affairs, they lost contact. Later, someone told me that the hero went to the United States. I was surprised, but I also felt inevitable.

One day, MSN was flashing on my computer screen. I clicked in, and the hero's avatar jumped out: "Can't you think I'm running away, right?" I immediately replied to him: "yes, I really didn't expect it!" The hero asked, "How are you doing?" I said, "No, I want to run away, but I don't know where to run." The hero said, "Come to me!" I said, "I haven't thought about it." "The hero told me that he left without saying goodbye because he had lost confidence in the island city, "It is uncomfortable to stay for an extra day," he said, "and I came out to know that the moon in a foreign country is indeed rounder than that in the island city." "He described to me what life was like there, he worked hard in a Chinese company, but the income was good. He looked to me about the future and said with confidence that he would get a green card in five years. I asked if he still wrote poetry, and he said that he would not write it, and devoted his spare time to patriotism.

"How to be patriotic?" I asked.

"Now that transnational love is in vogue, I also found a girlfriend from the United States." He said.

"Congratulations." I laughed. But I don't understand what this has to do with patriotism, he enlightened me: "Think about it, how many of our young compatriots have been tossed by the devils of the United States? ”

So, I understood that Wei Bei didn't dare to forget the country, and he could finally be ashamed of the country.

I'm running away from this city, too. It's just that I can't go across the ocean and go to a foreign country like a hero, my homeland is difficult to move, and I love the mountains, rivers, and villages of my motherland.

The place I'm going to is called Lingshan.

A few years ago, the island city launched a readers' activity of "looking for the most beautiful countryside", and our newspaper arranged interviews and publicity, and I was in charge of page editing. My eyes fell on a place called Lingshan in the western suburbs of the island city, a meaningful name, a remote natural ancient village, according to people who have been there: the village is very beautiful, just because of the remoteness, inconvenient transportation, has been raised in the deep boudoir people do not know. In that propaganda, the above requirements were illustrated. I can handle words, and I am a layman in photography. I wanted to take a photojournalist down, but unfortunately, several old photographers were busy with another interview, and besides, they still thought that the weather was too hot, Lingshan was remote and far away, and the road was difficult to walk, so they didn't want to go with them. I had to ask for help from a photojournalist I knew from the city's propaganda department. The officer said: He was outside to accompany the leader to investigate, and he couldn't go down with me. The officer gave me the village chief's phone number and told me to contact the village chief first. I called, and it happened to be the village chief. Listening to the voice, the village chief is quite young and bold. I said that I was a reporter for the Island City Daily, and that our newspaper wanted to interview their village. He was very happy, "Come on, our village is a peach blossom paradise!" He shouted over there. I asked if there were peach blossoms? He said that there were no peach blossoms, and there were many triangular plums. Later, because he was busy with other things, he went to Lingshan Village to do an interview, which can be regarded as passing by Lingshan Village. However, Lingshan - Peach Blossom Spring, I remember.

I tried to call the village chief, "Who?" On the other end of the phone was the unfamiliar but familiar voice of the village chief. I said, "Village Chief, I'm a reporter from the Island City Daily, do you remember?" The village chief also heard my voice and said, "Remember, remember." That year, you said you were going to come to interview our village. ”

I smiled and said, "You have such a good memory." ”

The village chief asked, "Is there anything you want to do with the reporters?" ”

I said, "I have made a wish and go to your Peach Blossom Garden." ”

The village chief laughed and said, "Okay, welcome!" ”

"But—" I thought to myself, "I want to live in the village for a while, I don't know if it's convenient?" ”

The village chief paused for a moment and said, "Okay, the house is a little broken, I'm afraid you won't be used to it." ”

I said, "That's okay, just clean." ”

The village chief pondered for a moment and said, "By the way, there is a pleasant village on the edge of our village, and there are better houses there, you can live there." ”

I said, "Please." ”

"When are you coming?" The village chief asked.

"Tomorrow afternoon." I say.

"Okay, I'll pick you up at the entrance of the village!" The village chief said.

Deciding where I was going, I became a fugitive from the city.

It was a country road that was poorly maintained, potholed and dusty. The car squeaked all the way, I was sleepy all the way, I don't know how long it was bumpy, and I heard the driver shouting in a daze, "Lingshan has arrived!" ”

I wiped my eyes, picked up my luggage and got out of the car.

As soon as I got out of the car, I was dumbfounded, and in front of me was a reckless green bush. What about the peach blossom paradise? Where I was standing was a turntable, a circular fork in the road, to be exact, along which three paths were divided: left, right, and front.

"Which way?" I'm confused.

When I looked up, I saw a decayed wooden sign turning over from the weeds on the side of the turntable, and three mottled and recognizable words were written crookedly with a brush: Lingshan Village. An arrow is drawn below the word to indicate the direction. I hurried over to pick up the sign, but I couldn't figure out which direction the arrow was pointing. I turned around in all three directions, left, right, forward, and finally had no answer. I looked up and saw no one. I decided to make a bet with myself: choose the first feeling and turn left.

It is a narrow country road with weeds and bushes on the side of the road. The further I went, the more bottomless my heart became—behind the weeds and bushes, tall wild pineapples covered the sky and the sun, and the air became cool and humid, with a breeze. I shivered three times in a row, and my heart was terrified. I looked at my watch, it was already half past four in the afternoon, and I didn't know how long it would take to get out of this trail. However, I can't go back, I can only move forward firmly - why do I always unconsciously lead a path to the dark? I thought a little sadly.

After half an hour's walk, the weeds and bushes became more and more sparse and low, and the tall wild pineapples gradually disappeared behind me—and suddenly my eyes opened up: white clouds drifting in the blue sky, green waves rippling in the vast fields, and cattle and sheep grazing leisurely. On the right side of the field, there is a hilly land of dozens of acres, and there is a small river not far away, and there are more than a dozen graceful coconut trees dotted by the river, and behind the coconut trees is a dark green bamboo forest; On one side of the bamboo forest, there are clusters of chaotic and huge triangular plum trees, and thousands of plum blossoms are burning into a sea of fire. In this red and green shade, I can vaguely see the old and low black tile gray walls - I know that it is the beautiful Lingshan Village.

At this time, I saw a man standing under a leafy Indian rosewood tree on the side of the path in front of me. I quickened my pace, and before I could speak, the man came up to me—"You're talking about reporters, aren't you?" ”

I laughed, stepped forward to hold his hand, and said, "I'm just talking, you're the village chief, right?" ”

He nodded: "I guess you should have come by this bus, so come out of the village to have a look." ”

The village chief, surnamed Lin, is in his thirties, with a square face, a tiger's back, dark skin, and a loose plaid T-shirt on his body. I said, "You're young." He looked honest and said, "I'm not young." I said, "Usually people your age work in the city." Village Chief Lin may have an itchy nose, he pinched his nose with two fingers, and then, smiling at me, said, "No way, everyone chooses me as the village chief, and I can't get out." I said, "Yes, it's popular for young people to be village officials." ”

"Let's go into the village." Village Chief Lin said to me. I nodded and followed him. The young village chief Lin walked with his two thick arms and shook one after another, and the wind was whistling, which was very overwhelming. He took me into Lingshan Village.

Lingshan Village is not big, with more than 30 households. As the sun sets, a clear river passes through the village, and a few village women wearing coconut leaf hats are washing their freshly used farm tools by the river, and their legs are still a little mud-stained. In front of the village, a crumbling ancient wall made of volcanic stone glows dark in the sunset, showing the age of the village. On the side of the ancient wall, there is a land temple, and a red couplet is pasted on the door frame: Descendants pass on incense, and the generations will always bless it. In the village, the ancient trees are vigorous and the new trees are verdant. On the roofs of the houses with black tiles and gray walls, there are some green vines with small pale white flowers, which shows the simplicity and coolness of the village. It seems that every house has a small fence yard with green beans and red pumpkins hanging from the fence. There is a large drying ground in the village, and there is a huge banyan tree that can be seen everywhere in the island city, and the dense aerial roots are like the beard of an old man falling down. At the foot of the banyan tree sat a group of villagers, looking over to us.

Village Chief Lin said to me, "Brothers, waiting for you to drink!" ”

Walking over, more than a dozen villagers sat around a huge stove with a large teacup in their hands, sweating profusely. There was a huge iron pot on the stove, and a strange fragrance was boiling in the pot. After Village Chief Lin arranged for me to sit on the main seat, he said something to the villagers in Lingshan dialect. I didn't understand, but I felt that Chief Lin was introducing me to the villagers. "Welcome reporters to visit us in Lingshan Village!" Village Chief Lin picked up a large teacup and said to the villagers in Mandarin.

The villagers stood up one after another, raised their big teacups, and shouted to me, "Drink and drink, big reporter from the city!" ”

I also stood up, thanked him repeatedly, and picked up the large teacup in front of me—it was a full glass of wine!

The village chief asked, "Can you drink it?" ”

I said, "Drink a little." ”

The village chief said, "We'll do it in one bite, you can do it at will." ”

I nodded, and as soon as I brought the cup closer to my mouth, I smelled a strange mellow aroma. I thought it was the island Li Shanlan wine, so I took a sip - a mouth full of sweetness, and when I went down my throat, I felt slightly bitter; After the aftertaste, it is salty, spicy and astringent.

"It's not like Shanlan." I smacked my lips and said.

The villagers looked at me and laughed happily.

The village chief said, "This is not Shanlan wine. This wine is made by the villagers with their own sweet potatoes, which is comfortable in the mouth, but has enough stamina. It's only a few dozen catties a year, which is rare, and you can't drink it in the city! ”

Since it was a rare wine, I took two more sips.

After taking three sips of wine, I immediately felt that the village chief's words had come true—this wine was extraordinary. I was dizzy, my limbs were weak, and I almost collapsed.

When the villagers saw that I was too strong to drink, they stopped respecting me and drinking, "Eat more meat and eat more meat!" The villagers shouted with a laugh. This makes me quite comfortable - unlike us island city people, drinking is not tolerant at all, and you can't show that you are brothers if you don't drink to death.

"Eat meat, eat meat." The village chief pointed to the boiling hot pot and said, "You must not have eaten this kind of meat. ”

I looked at the squealing black, shiny pieces of meat in the pot, and the smell of strange smell rushed into my nostrils. I instinctively sniffed and lifted my chopsticks to pick up a piece of meat and put it in my mouth. I chewed and tasted it, and I felt that it was delicious like I had never tasted before. "What kind of meat is this, so delicious!" I asked one of the villagers next to me.

The villager smiled at me with a proud face: "Big reporter, I haven't eaten it, this is called the Dragon and Tiger Banquet." ”

Dragon and Tiger Feast?

Seeing my puzzled face, the village chief explained: "Big snake stewed wild cat, our Lingshan special feast!" ”

When the village chief's words fell, I only felt that my stomach was turning over the river and the sea. I rushed to the other side of the barn, opened my mouth, and a mouthful of wine and meat came out of my mouth.

Seeing my embarrassed appearance, the villagers laughed.

After I vomited, I came back and sat next to them, and I didn't dare to move my chopsticks anymore, I couldn't enjoy this dragon and tiger meat.

The village chief looked apologetic and said, "What should I do, if you don't eat something, you will be hungry at night." ”

I said, "It's okay, it's okay, I'm not hungry." ”

The village chief still felt that he couldn't go, so he called a villager to go home and cook a big pot of wild vegetable noodles for me. "You can't drink wine or eat meat, so you can eat a bowl of noodles to fill your stomach." The village chief said to me with a smile.

I took a look, where is this noodles, it is clearly a pot of vegetable paste.

I don't know if I'm really hungry or if this wild vegetable noodle is delicious, I actually ate a bowl in two bites. Village Chief Lin said, "Another bowl!" ”

Village Chief Lin told me that the people of Lingshan are very hardworking, and of course, sometimes they are also lazy. They are accustomed to looking at the face of heaven and earth: there is no drought or waterlogging, and they are energetic; When there is a drought or flood, I don't want to work that year. They don't have a sense of time, and they never remember specific dates. You ask him when he was born, and he answers: the year of the typhoon; You ask him when he goes to school, and he answers: the day he harvests sweet potatoes; You asked him what year he got married, and he replied: Grow rice stubble. Village Chief Lin said that in the eyes of Lingshan people, time is always long and sufficient, just like the water in the ditch and the sand in the soil.

As I ate the wild vegetable noodles and listened with interest to the village chief's story, I felt that I had traveled to a distant and mysterious tribe.

"Talking about reporters, you haven't heard spiritual songs, have you?" The village chief asked me.

"Spiritual song? It's the first time I've heard of it. I said.

"Then listen to it." The village chief laughed.

"Okay, this is rare!" I say.

A few villagers blushed and raised their throats and began to sing, "Ahhh——............h But from the melodious melody and the extremely solemn and pious demeanor of the villagers, I felt that it should be a ballad in praise of their ancestors.

The setting sun burned the last touch of rose red in the western sky, and the villagers sang endlessly. The village chief stood up and said to the villagers, "It's not early, I'll take the reporter to Yirenzhuang." The villagers stopped singing and got up to say goodbye to me, "We have a good mountain and a good place, so you can live in peace." They said.

I nodded and said, "Definitely." ”

After walking a long way, you can still hear the singing and laughter of the villagers. Lingshan, I fell in love with it all of a sudden. I understand that life is really not only the glamour of the island city, but also the wine and wild vegetable batter of Lingshan Village. I imagined that one day I would be one of them, shirtless, dark-faced, drinking and eating meat, singing at the top of my lungs.

At that time, will my heart be as comfortable and bright as theirs?