(I wish you all a smooth and happy new year!) Thinking of this, my father's expression was a little gloomy.

Yes, people work hard all their lives, from mud to mud for decades, but what is it for, to the point that there is not even a trace left, the predecessors do not know that there are descendants, and the descendants do not know the predecessors, this is this cruel world.

My father thought of my grandfather, my wife, and the old lady, and they were all people who went with the wind, and in addition to leaving this big family, they were silent in this world.

Thinking about it, I feel even more uncomfortable, and sorrow comes from it.

The mother knew his father's thoughts, understood that he thought of his distant hometown, remembered the ancestors who left one by one, and remembered the difficult and lonely livelihood of the family now, so she diverted the topic and persuaded the father, "Old man, don't think nonsense, this place is good for the night, seeing that it is about to get dark, and the children are still busy outside, let's quickly clean up the kiln." ”

A sentence reminded his father, which provoked his father to shudder, yes, the children are still working outside, in this barren mountain and wilderness, safety is the most important, leaving the family safe and secure, and continuing, isn't this the idea of human existence.

He was about to go out to see the situation, just walked out of the kiln door, he saw the eldest son and Manmei carrying a bundle of firewood and walking up hard, the father quickly ran down for a while, reached out to take the firewood on Manmei's shoulder, and walked to the ancient kiln.

Man Mei walked into the ancient kiln, took off the two bamboo tubes filled with water that straddled her body, and handed them to her mother.

Mother hurriedly took it, put it firmly against the wall, and used a few large stones to clamp the bottom of the bamboo tube to prevent it from accidentally knocking down the bamboo tube.

As far as they remember, it would take at least half an hour to find the ditch and go back and forth from here.

Even if the dog and the wolf drink water, they have to let themselves drink it after a while, and these two bamboo tubes of water are only enough for people to drink.

They didn't expect it to be so dry when they went out this time, so they only prepared two bamboo tubes, each as high as a knee and a calf thickness.

Generally speaking, it is enough for five or six people, but if the mouth is very dry, three or four people will drink dry.

Putting down the things, the eldest son and the elder sister turned around and went out to carry firewood again, and a lot of firewood needed to be burned in one night, and the more the better, not to mention that the two big logs that were the top doorposts had not yet been carried.

The mountain is half an hour later than the mountain when it gets dark, judging from this sky, the two of them can probably walk back and forth three times without any problem, plus the firewood carried by the second and third sons when they come back, it should be enough tonight.

My father and mother had nothing to do, so they sat down and started to cook the meat while they lit the fire.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, the father smiled mysteriously at the mother and said that he had gone outside to find something to eat and came back. Mother hurriedly said, don't go far to make everyone worry.

The father said, "It's not far, it's at the door." With that, he picked up his hoe and went out.

The turf outside the ancient kiln grows on the sandy ground, the grass does not grow very densely, and the red gravel is exposed in many places, which is a good place for those who grow silkworms. The silkworm is a half-human-tall rhizome of a sharp-leaved plant, the size of a small finger, white and fat, long and crooked, and there are creases on the body, very much like a silkworm baby curled up to sleep, hence the name.

Silkworms can be eaten raw after washing, and they taste crispy and crispy, and the taste is a little sweet, which is generally something that children dig and play with when they are young children when they are herding cattle and sheep in the wild.

At that time, the situation was good, and everyone was not short of such a few bites, just like tea bubbles just eaten as snacks.

In this season, if the mountain is not so high, the silkworm greasy is estimated to still have a green trunk, but on this high mountain, the trunk is already half withered and yellow, and the silkworm should be the thickest and most flavorful, of course, it can also be used as a seed.

Mother followed my father out of the ancient kiln, and when she saw her father carefully digging silkworms in the grass, she laughed and scolded and said, "You old naughty boy, why did you suddenly remember to eat this."

But my father smiled innocently like a child and said, "How can I give up such a good thing, and I want to bring some back to the little ones in the family, who have never seen such a good thing in their lives."

In fact, my father went out this time, in addition to taking everyone out for activities and hunting, when some of the farmers resumed their lives, don't forget to hunt this business, don't be unfamiliar with the hunting skills, and at the same time can be familiar with the terrain and landforms around here.

As he spoke, the father carefully dug up the mud next to the silkworm tree, and then pried it vigorously, crushing the mud with his hands, and the white and white fat silkworm was exposed. When my father saw this, he was a little anxious, so he put it on his clothes, wiped the pieces of mud, and put them in his mouth, and chewed them rattling.

The mother scolded beside her, she was really confused when she was old, she didn't clean the mud, and she wasn't afraid of eating problems.

The father ignored it, just dug hard with a hoe, and after digging out the clods, the mother cooperated to pinch out the silkworms.

The two cooperated with each other, and after a while, they dug a full pocket of clothes.

At this time, a large pile of firewood had been placed in the cave, including the dry firewood they had picked up, and the wet firewood they had just chopped, which was enough for the night.

The second and third sons also carried a large bundle of firewood to the ancient kiln, and the bundle was so large that they blocked their heads and half of their bodies, and they couldn't tell who was who.

The mother hurriedly shouted, "Old man, go over and do me a favor, the silly boy is not afraid of being tired." ”

When he was done, and seeing that everyone was very tired, the father took out the silkworm from his pocket and teased the children, saying, "Look, look, what is this."

As soon as the children saw it, they immediately rushed over and grabbed it and ate it, so anxious that their father hurriedly said that they hadn't washed it yet, but you washed the mud and ate it again, so you are gluttonous. The father called the eldest son and the three sisters, and went to the ditch below before dark, one to wash the silkworms, and the other to carry two bamboo tubes of water back, and also casually asked some dogs and little wolves to drink water, and when they were about to get home, they let the rest of the dogs and little wolves go down to drink water.

As he spoke, it slowly became dark.

The father divided the work among everyone, and the second son, the third son, and the three sisters ate first, and then the others took turns to eat, and the dog and the little wolf also took turns to eat.

From this moment on, the ancient kiln entered a state of alert, and the people who ate quickly pulled it into their mouths, which was simply devouring.

For farmers, eating is a process, filling the stomach is the most important, there is never idle time to chew slowly, not to mention in this uninhabited place, the surrounding may face danger at any time, it is impossible to savor the taste of the food.

At this time, the vigilant people were also like a great enemy, and while looking at the steel drill burning in the fire from time to time, they pinched the killing knife in their hands and sweated.

Considering that the roof of the kiln was not very safe, and because the ancient kiln was very large and deep, they put the fire at the back of the kiln roof, even if there were clods of soil or something falling on the roof of the kiln, it would not extinguish the fire.