There are nearly 200 households in Yuchi Village, most of whom have the surname Yan. The rest of the surnames Kong, Meng, Han, Wang, and Zhang range from three or four families to eight or nine families, and they are all locals who have lived here for generations. There is only one foreign household, surnamed Niu. It is said that he was a fellow ***** who moved here from far away Hunan.

Yuchi Village is located in Baoji, Shaanxi, and it can indeed be called far away if you want to migrate from Hunan. When Mr. Niu told his grandchildren about the process of leading his family north, his expression was excited. Lao Niu's family has traveled through many places along the way, first entering Hubei, then Henan, then Gansu, and finally settling in Shaanxi.

Mr. Niu's official name is Niu Chuanqing, with a total of nine children, four boys and five girls. At the end of the sixties, when the old Niu family had just settled in Yuchi Village, the eldest son Niu Yongfeng had just gotten married. At first, this large family lived on the Yuchi Plateau behind the village, and successively dug four holes in the loess cliff of the half-plateau.

By the time Lao Niu's family moved to the bottom of the hill and lived in a newly built bungalow, it was already in the early eighties after the reform and opening up. They first built four main rooms and a kitchen next to the main house, and later added two lower rooms and built a wood shed. When a low wall was built, a courtyard was enclosed, and although the courtyard gate had not yet been built, it also had the appearance of a family.

In the winter of 1988, it snowed heavily for several days, and the vast land was a plain white scene. It was a cold day, and with such heavy snowfall, people were reluctant to go out, and if it weren't for the occasional barking of dogs in the village, the feeling of tranquility would really make people a little lonely and afraid.

"Wang...... Barking! ”

The wolf dog in the yard Xiaohei barked wildly, and the chain that tied the dog was pulled so loudly that it was "dangchang", and the old man Niu was about to stand up and go out to have a look, when he heard a crisp voice, which was his almost four-year-old little grandson Niu Cultivator.

"Blackie! Don't scream, call again, hit you! ”

The wolfdog Hei seemed to be obedient, and soon stopped barking and burrowed into the den. A conversation followed in the courtyard, and the sound was the civilized voice of the village.

"Yunyunwa, does anyone play cards on your master's side?"

"No ......!" Before Niu Gengjiu finished speaking, he saw the thick curtain outside the door of his grandfather's room open a gap, and the old man Niu, who had gray hair, poked his head out and answered.

"Civilization! It's snowing so hard, why don't you come in and sit down? ”

"Uncle Niu, you don't have anyone to play cards, so I won't sit. It was too cold, so I went home and went to sleep on the kang. ”

"Alright then, you go back slowly!"

Old Man Niu retracted his leaning body, it was too cold outside, and the cold wind was blowing, so he lifted the curtain and said two words, and the warmth that had been saved up in the room seemed to have slipped away most of it.

"Oh, it's so cold! The Chinese New Year is coming soon, the snow is falling non-stop, everyone is anxious to prepare, who has the heart to play cards? Besides, in my current situation, I can't play cards. Old Man Niu thought to himself, he opened the mouth of the chimney on the coal stove and the air outlet below, and opened the kettle sitting on the stove to look at the fire.

was busy, a small body with a gust of cold wind opened the curtain and jumped in, the old man Niu didn't need to look back to know, at this time except for his grandson Niu Cultivation, there would be no one else, he simply put the kettle aside, vacated the fire, and sat down to keep warm.

"Master!"

Niu Geng called, squeezed into the arms of the old man Niu, sighed in his hand, and then stretched out to roast the fire.

Old Man Niu smiled, his wrinkled face was attached to his grandson's little face, and his rough big hand also shook his grandson's small hand. The little one's face and hands were just as cold, and he seemed to have just returned from the snow, and his short hair and thick clothes were covered with snowflakes. At this moment, it was warmed by the warmth of the house and the heat of the fire, and became small crystal droplets.

"Did you just go out to the bathroom?" The old man Niu stood up, took a dry towel, and asked while dipping the water droplets from Niu Cultivator's body.

"Well, I went out to pee, the snow was too big, and I saw the snow on the wall of our house, almost a foot thick."

"It's good when the snow is heavy! The winter moon wheat covers the three-layer quilt, and sleeps with steamed buns in the coming year. ”

Niu Geng listened to it and giggled, "Master, it sounds like reciting poetry, are there still two sentences?" ”

"This is the common saying of the common people, not the poems you read, just these two sentences, there are no more." The old man Niu said with a smile, he hung the towel on the wire above the stove, and when he saw Niu Geng moving a small stool, the grandfather and grandson sat down next to each other.

"Yunyun, you have also followed your father-in-law Ye to read and write for almost a year, and I heard that almost half of the 300 Tang poems have been memorized, or you will think about it and see if you can make up the last two sentences with these two sayings and make up a poem." Old Man Niu also shook his gray beard, smiled and said, and did not forget to add at the end of the sentence, "If you make it up, grandpa will roast white flour steamed buns for you to eat." ”

Niu Geng said "um" and nodded, this is not because he was tempted by the roasted white flour steamed buns, after all, the old man Niu did not roast for him on weekdays. It's just that he doesn't know why, after listening to the two common sayings of Fang Cai, his young heart has been thinking about what the last two sentences should be.

The fire began to rise, and faint flames came out of the holes in the honeycomb coal, one hole, two holes, and gradually flames came out of the twelve holes. The red fire reflected the faces of the grandfather and grandson, the old man Niu was full of vicissitudes, and the wrinkles on his face outlined the years, like a picture of thick ink, stubbornly crashing into people's hearts. His hair was gray, about an inch long, neatly combed back, and his roots stood upright, looking very energetic; The cow cultivator is immature, the little face is frozen red by the cold wind of winter, the skin is not very white, but under the backdrop of the fire, it shows a little pink color. The most striking thing is his eyes, which are like a dark and flickering starry sky at this moment, reflecting the light of the fire, like two red stars embedded in it, full of smart and warm brilliance.

"The winter moon wheat covers the three-layer quilt, and the next year sleeps with steamed buns. I often look forward to a bumper harvest in Ruixuezhao, and the grain is full of grains. ”

Mr. Niu didn't expect Niu Geng to really make it up, although he didn't know how to compose poetry, but in the old society, he also studied in private school for a few years, listening to the last two sentences, not only felt that the meaning echoed the previous two sentences, but also seemed to be quite smooth.

"Yunyun, go and call you Grandpa Ye over."

Niu Gengyun agreed and went out, he knew that his grandfather didn't read much, and only Grandpa Ye knew how to make up the two poems behind him.

Grandpa Ye and Grandma Ye were sitting on the kang and talking across the kang table. Ye Gonggong's sitting posture is very straight, his upper body is always straight, his arms are naturally hanging in front of him, and his hands are wrapped around as if he is meditating. His figure was originally tall, and he sat like this, which made people look faintly majestic. Grandma wore reading glasses, did needlework, and was collecting a pair of cloth shoes on the mille-feuille bottom. On the kang table, in addition to the pu luo used by the grandmother to hold needlework, cloth heads, scissors and other objects, there is also a book "Liweng Rhyme". Before Niu Gengyun went out to pee just now, he was sitting on the kang and reading, and when he walked in at this moment, he couldn't help but feel a little timid.

"Cultivator, you are reading a book, and you said to go to the toilet. Why didn't I see you come back for a long time, did you secretly go to your grandfather's room to roast and eat steamed buns again? Niu Geng saw that Ye Gonggong was smiling and saying this, although he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, he was still a little uncomfortable in front of that tall and majestic figure.

For Ye Gonggong, Niu Cultivation is both fearful and worshipy, both close and timid. What I am afraid of is that when Ye Gonggong taught him to read and write, he always had a dignified face, and if he made a mistake, he would be punished, whether he knelt in the Buddha hall or spanked his hand; And the worship was not there at the beginning, it was he who studied with Ye Gonggong, and gradually felt more and more that this tall old man seemed to be omnipotent and omniscient. Sometimes even what he thinks in his heart, Grandpa Ye can say it at once.

As for intimacy and timidity, this is because the adults in the family said that Ye Gonggong was also his grandfather, and asked him to call him father-in-law, saying that father-in-law and grandfather mean the same thing, so he has two grandfathers. But in Niu Cun's heart, grandpa and father-in-law are different, he can be coquettish in his grandfather's arms, and he won't dare in front of his father-in-law. Even his father-in-law has held him in his arms many times, or talked to him in a very warm tone.

Sometimes Niu Cultivator himself also thinks that maybe he grew up with his grandfather since he was a child, and his father-in-law only appeared at the beginning of the year. What's more, his young heart really doesn't understand why the children in the village who are as old as him are free and running around playing. But he had to read, write, read, and memorize every day.

It's all because of Grandpa Ye!

"Father-in-law, grandpa asked you to go over to his side." Niu Geng bowed and said. This is the etiquette that Ye Gonggong taught him, and when he sees the elders, he must bow before speaking, and he will use you.

"Yunyun, didn't your master say anything?" Before Father-in-law Ye could reply, Grandma stopped the needlework in her hand and asked.

"Grandma, grandpa didn't say anything, just asked me to call my father-in-law over." Niu ploughed and saluted back.

"I just heard a dog barking in the yard, is someone coming?"

"Grandma, no one came. Just now, the civilized uncle in the village asked Grandpa if someone was playing cards here? When he saw that there was none, he left. ”

Niu Geng saw that Ye Gonggong was getting off the kang and putting on his shoes, and waved to him, but he reacted a little slower, and by the time he figured it out, it was too late, so he heard that his grandmother was a little angry.

"This old thing, you can't get rid of gambling in your life!"

"You know he can't change it, so don't say a few words, or else there will always be a fight. It's been almost a year since I've been back here, and he's barely playing anymore, which is good. As Ye spoke, he came over and took Niu Cun's hand, "Go!" Let's hurry to your grandfather's side, your grandmother is angry. ”