In the silence of noon, the sun shines through the gaps in the wide loquat leaves in the courtyard.

I came back from work and crouched under the loquat tree to repair a hoe with a broken handle.

Nini lay quietly at my feet, watching curiously as I fiddled with my hoe.

The second uncle was cooking in the kitchen, and I could clearly hear the sound of gongs and drums choking the huqin from the radio around his neck, and the woman sang bitterly:

Still deep and timid,

The warm wind blows the dream to Lin'an......

After squatting for a long time, my legs and feet are a little numb. I stood up and looked out over the lotus pond – it had only been a few days, and it was already green. The breeze is coming, and the green lotus is rising and falling, and the wind is surging. Under the blooming lotus leaves, there are occasionally half-open and half-closed small lotuses, which are extremely shy and green, just like the little girl next door. I looked around, but I still didn't see the lotus flower, and the legendary fairy flower has not yet appeared. But I could already smell the damp and faint scent of flowers, and I could hear the hurried footsteps of the lotus fairies. Like a certain scene in the early summer lotus pond in my hometown, a feeling, familiar and intimate.

There was a burst of dust on the bridgehead path.

Nini quickly stood up, her ears erect, her eyes fixed on the trail.

"Master Huang is back!" I shouted.

Nini swooped like a yellow arrow towards the bridge.

Huang Zhuang opened the driver's door, he held the door with one hand, the car held the seat, and jumped off the car with two legs very agile. He called Nini, and Nini jumped over the low fence gate like a fly, rushed over the small bridge and threw herself at the feet of the Yellow Farmer, erected her forelimbs, and made a whining purr from her mouth, wrapping around the Yellow Farmer's trouser legs. The owner of Huang Zhuang looked at Nini, leaned over, touched Nini's head, and said, "Good Nini, don't worry, I'll bring you something delicious!" ”

Dressed in the silk island suit, wearing the black gold-rimmed top hat, and carrying a large and heavy canvas bag in his hand, the owner of the Yellow Village limped into the noon garden with a smile and a smile under the guidance of the little dog Nini.

I put down my hoe and went up to it.

"Hello Master Huang!"

"Hello big reporter!"

"Master Huang Zhuang has worked hard!" I shouted.

The owner of Huang Zhuang was stunned, and immediately smiled and saluted me back: "Serve the people!" ”

I was stunned for a moment, and I also laughed loudly, and I didn't dare to go any further, so I changed the subject: "Master Huang, it's time to call me a farmer!" ”

The owner of Huang Zhuang smiled and said, "Fake style, or call the reporter natural." ”

I took the canvas bag from the owner of Huang Zhuang, "It's so heavy!" I said, "You're not going to move the island city back, are you?" ”

"It's all daily necessities." The owner of Huang Zhuang smiled, "It's hard to go back to the city in a month, so bring more things back." ”

The second uncle came out of the kitchen and said, "It's been a few days, and I'm counting the time when you will come back!" ”

Applejack also finished work and walked from the other side of the vegetable garden with a hoe on her shoulder, shouting from afar, "Brother Huang, have you bought me black toothpaste?" ”

"Bought it." The owner of Huang Zhuang said to Ajie: "Five branches, enough for you for a few months!" ”

Applejack smiled, walked over quickly, threw the hoe, stepped forward and hugged the owner of Huang, saying, "Brother Huang still loves me!" ”

Huang Zhuang took out a beautiful packaging box from the canvas bag and opened it, "This is for Nini to eat." As he spoke, he took out a few pieces of food from it, squatted down, and handed it to Nini, "Eat, the taste of your childhood." Nini sniffed and bit down on it. The food is like animal bones, but also like children's toys, and the smell of barbecue hits our noses. Applejack says, "I'm hungry too, give me a piece." Huang Zhuang said with a smile, "Don't say it, your treatment is really not as good as Nini's." Huang Zhuang expressed disgust, handed five toothpastes to Applejack, and said with some distress: "Look at your stinky sweat, go wash it quickly." ”

Applejack happily leads five black toothpastes back to her room.

Nini finished eating the pieces of food after dividing five by two, and then stared at the box in the hand of the owner of the Huang Village. The owner of Huang Zhuang smiled, and simply poured half of the food in the box in front of Nini, he touched Nini's head, looked a little sad, and said, "Nini, I promised to give you the best food, but I never fulfilled it." Now, eat more. Nini whimpered twice at the Huang Zhuang owner, and then lay on the ground and gnawed seriously and happily.

I found the content of pity, pity, guilt, and affection in the eyes of the owner of Huang Zhuang looking at Nini, and I vaguely felt that Nini should have an untold story.

The owner of the Huang Zhuang seemed to notice his gaffe, and the smile on his face quickly returned. He stood up, looked at me, and said, "Ninitong's humanity! ”

I helped the owner of the Yellow Farm carry the canvas bag into his stone room.

"Let's eat!" The second uncle shouted in the kitchen.

Applejack washes up and returns to the loquat tree and sets up the table, chairs, and chopsticks.

In order to celebrate the return of the owner of Huang Zhuang, the second uncle made several specialty dishes: fried tilapia, stir-fried chicken offal with chili, green beans in a dry pot, cold wild coriander, and stewed papaya soup.

The midday sun shines through the loquat leaves, and a few butterflies dance and shuttle between the leaves. Everyone sat around the wooden table under the loquat tree, eating lunch, while listening to the owner of Huang Zhuang chatting about the island city. Pleasant Manor is back to the bustle of the extended family.

"The Century Bridge has been built," Mr. Huang told us, "and Haidian Island is about to be fully developed." ”

The second uncle interjected: "Isn't the land price of Haidian Island going up?" ”

"That's inevitable, once the Century Bridge is passed, the distance between Haidian Island and the city center is one step away." I say.

"I heard the village chief say a few days ago that Lingshan is also going to be developed, is it true?" The second uncle asked.

"That'...... It's a matter of time. Master Huang took a sip of papaya soup and said in a flat tone.

"Then will our Yirenzhuang be developed?" Applejack asks.

The owner of Huang Zhuang smiled and said, "I don't want to plan to go in, I still want to stay here for a few more years!" ”

"That's, that's," Applejack said, "I'd love to stay here, too." ”

"It can be seen that the owner of Huang Zhuang is still thinking about the changes in the island city!" I smiled.

The owner of Huang Zhuang shook his head and sighed: "It's not a longing, after all, I have lived there for many years and have a feeling. But every time I go back to the city, there is always a strange feeling. ”

I nodded and said, "It is understandable that the owner of Huang Zhuang has regarded Yirenzhuang as his home, so the island city is in the past tense, and it will become more and more strange - I feel that the island city is far away from me now!" ”

The second uncle said, "Me too." I don't like Island City either. ”

Applejack is a little frustrated, and says, "You're all from the city, and I'm the only one who has never been a city dweller." ”

"It's better to be in the village." The owner of Huang Zhuang pointed to the food on the table with chopsticks and said, "Let's just talk about eating, everything eaten in the city is less flavorful, and the food in the village is fragrant!" ”

I nodded and said, "That's true." The second uncle's meal was delicious. ”

Hearing our praise, the second uncle was like a chef and said, "I used to be a cook in the city, and when I saw the master cooking, I knew that I was fooling the guests. It's just about taste, not about nutrition at all. Actually, you don't have to fry what can be served cold, you don't have to cook what can be fried, and you can eat it whole without chopping......"

Applejack says, "You're bragging, aren't you?" You often can't cook your meals. ”

The second uncle glared at Applejack and said, "I'm talking about health." ”

Applejack refuses to admit defeat and says, "What is health, I only know that meals must be cooked before they can be eaten." ”

The second uncle explained with a serious face: "In fact, the human body is a processing machine, which will process what is eaten according to its own needs, and then generate the nutrients that the body needs......"

The owner of Huang Zhuang applauded, "Second Uncle is worthy of being a health chef!" But ......," he smiled and said to the second uncle, "Applejack's opinion is right, the food still needs to be cooked before it can be eaten!" ”

The second uncle nodded and said, "It must be cooked in the future, it must be cooked." He was obviously a little unhappy, his face darkened, he took two mouthfuls of rice, threw away the dishes and chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and moved a chair to the other side of the loquat tree. Sitting there, unscrewing the radio switch around her neck, the gongs and drums choked the huqin, and the woman sang bitterly:

Still deep and timid,

The warm wind blows the dream to Lin'an......

Applejack tilted her head to look at her second uncle and sneered, "Your play has made us hear the callousing!" ”

The second uncle turned down the sound of the radio, glared at Ajie and said, "You kid doesn't know how to play, so you can't talk about play." People, you have to have a habit, what's wrong with listening to dramas? ”

I think there's nothing wrong with the second uncle liking to listen to dramas. "There is no TV in the village, there is no Internet, and there is no entertainment in the city." It was only when I heard my second uncle's radio singing that I felt that we were still living in modern society! ”

The owner of the Huang Village laughed and nodded thoughtfully.

The second uncle's black face was also relieved, and he smiled, he taunted Applejack and said, "You kid has no habits, you have lived for more than 20 years in vain!" ”

"Who says I don't have a fetish?" Applejack put down the dishes and chopsticks, stood up, and retorted to the second uncle: "My habit is to love famous brands!" He puffed up his chest, "Look at it, I'm wearing authentic 'brand' goods, pedaling 'brand' Wenzhou sandals, and the whole body adds up to at least 200 yuan!" And ......," he continued, "I don't even have toothpaste, not for non-'blacks,' look at my teeth—" He grinned at us, showing his teeth, "If these teeth were in the island city, I don't know how many girls would be killed!" ”

Listening to Applejack's words, I almost squirted. I really glanced at Applejack and felt that his words were quite valid: he was a "famous brand" all over his body, his skin was dark, and his teeth were white and shiny. Huang whispered to me that Applejack only likes to use black toothpaste, so he stubbornly believes that white teeth are the miracle of using black toothpaste.

Applejack pulled out a flat leatherette purse from her pocket, shook it in front of us, and said, "Look, this is also a foreign 'brand' product, look at this foreign language-"

I looked at it and saw a row of pinyin printed on the wallet: Gaojiqia

bao (premium wallet).

The owner of Huang Zhuang and I were already laughing and leaning back and crying

……

Pleasant manor, simple surprises, simple happiness, this is our life.

I sniffed the scent of lotus in the wind on the lotus pond, I watched the white clouds drift past the clear blue sky, the natural breath flowing between my nose and viscera, and my whole body and mind seemed free and unrestrained—I tried to control my memory and not let it connect with the past. You don't have to think about anything, you don't have to worry about anything, and you don't have to worry about grief. The island city is so far away from me, and fame and fortune have nothing to do with me. My feet fell to the ground, and my soul rested here—and I told myself ecstatically: this is the state you dream of living. What the island city can't give, Yirenzhuang gives it to you!