Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 252: The Village Blown Yellow by the Autumn Wind (Two Chapters Combined into One)

Zhang Chao hadn't had such a sweet sleep for a long time. It was like a stone tablet sinking to the bottom of the lake and gradually being buried by mud and sand. Even the brightest sunlight could not illuminate the thoughts engraved on the surface.

It was not until a series of barely perceptible "clicking, snapping" sounds gradually intertwined into a net, covering the entire village, that these fine silk threads pulled him out of his deep sleep.

Zhang Chao took out his cell phone to check the time and found that it was already past 9 a.m. He quickly got out of bed, washed his face with the spring water he had drawn last night, and went downstairs.

He threw his cell phone into the room. There was no signal anyway, and the cell phone was just a large watch.

There was no one in the village committee office. There was only a familiar basket lying on the desk. It contained two corns, an egg, and a small bowl with a plate covering the rim of the bowl.

There was a piece of paper under the basket, with a few crooked but clear words written on it in pencil: Uncle, your breakfast.

Zhang Chao knew it was sent by Wei Guangli's child. He took off the plate on the small bowl and found it was a bowl of sweet potato porridge.

Zhang Chao felt a little guilty, thinking that he got up so late and didn't know how anxiously he had made others wait. But he didn't want to disturb them, so he asked the child to bring the meal to him.

After quickly finishing his breakfast, Zhang Chao went to the gutter behind the house to rinse the dishes with spring water. Then he picked up the basket and went to Wei Guangli's house.

When he arrived at Wei Guangli's house along the familiar village road, he found that the door was bolted from the outside, and it was obvious that no one was home. Zhang Chao hung the basket on the pillar at the door to prevent it from being dirty by chickens, ducks, cats or dogs.

Only then did he notice the shouts that came through the gaps between the wooden buildings. Zhang Chao suddenly remembered that the village chief had said yesterday that the rice would be harvested in the next two days, so he took two quick steps, climbed to a higher place, and looked in the direction of the terraced fields.

I saw that the golden rice waves had receded a little, revealing the black chest of the land. In the sunlight, the undulating rice waves were still shining with stars.

Zhang Chao knew that it was the farmer's sweaty back and the freshly sharpened blade of the sickle.

Zhang Chao did not hesitate, following the spring and the stone road, down to the edge of the field. Deep in the field, he saw small dots, densely packed, intermittent and disorderly; loud shouts were transmitted to the distance like a relay.

Men, women, and even old people who still had strength, all hunched their backs and bent their waists, cutting non-stop.

Zhang Chao was at a loss what to do. Being idle seemed like a sin here. He wanted to go back, but felt embarrassed. Staying here seemed unnecessary.

At this time, someone in the rice field waved in Zhang Chao's direction. Zhang Chao looked carefully and found that it was the village chief. He might have stood up to drink water and found Zhang Chao standing awkwardly on the ridge of the field.

The village chief tied up the rice at hand, put down his sickle, went up to the ridge, walked to Zhang Chao, and asked with a smile: "Are you up? Have you had breakfast?"

Zhang Chao nodded. The village chief continued, "It takes two days to harvest the rice here... We are at a high altitude, the weather is cold, and there is not enough sunshine, so we can only grow two crops of rice. After this season's harvest, we have to wait until next year."

Zhang Chao was eager to try, "Do you have any extra sickles? I'll give it a try too."

The village chief looked Zhang Chao up and down. Seeing his face which was much fairer than the villagers', he said with some concern: "It's too hard to harvest rice. Why don't you help with the rice stacking or threshing?"

Zhang Chao said stubbornly: "How do you know if you haven't tried it?"

The village chief nodded, said nothing more, and took Zhang Chao to a rice field and called out to the people working there. A young girl with a childish face looked up from the rice waves. Seeing that it was the village chief, she immediately came over.

The village chief spoke to the girl in dialect, and the girl looked at Zhang Chao and waved her hands repeatedly to refuse. The village chief said a few more words, and then she looked at Zhang Chao embarrassedly and handed the handle of the sickle to Zhang Chao.

The village chief said, "Her name is Liang Ximei. Her parents and brother work outside, so she stays at home to take care of her grandmother. Their fields are not big, so they are easy to harvest."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chao nodded to Liang Ximei in a friendly manner, pointed at himself and said, "My name is Zhang Chao. Teach me how to harvest rice." Then he took off his coat, rolled up his trouser legs, and went down to the field with high spirits.

After half an hour.

Zhang Chao held his waist and sat down under a tree beside the field. His ambitions had long been forgotten. He had never expected that there was such a back-breaking job in the world. Looking at the skinny Liang Ximei, who was working as if nothing had happened, he could only silently say in his heart: "Every profession has its own specialty... Every profession has its own specialty... Every profession has its own specialty..."

But he finally understood why many writers missed rural life so much.

The heavy agricultural labor is indeed exhausting, but it can also make people feel the existence of the body and the value of creation very vividly.

It seems as if the waist is about to break at any moment, the neck is sore from the sun, the eyes are stinging from the sweat and can't be opened, the arms are so sore that they can't be lifted... The body uses the most real reaction to remind the mind of its own condition.

But when Zhang Chao saw the small piece of rice stubble that he had harvested in half an hour, and the rice plants tied up by his clumsy hands, he suddenly felt an incomparable sense of satisfaction in his heart.

This may be the most primitive labor in the world, with the most direct rewards. You can know the most basic details and secrets of your own existence in a very practical way.

This special feeling is an experience that is difficult to replace with other labor. No wonder agricultural labor has become a long-lasting theme in literature...

"Pfft, pfft, pfft... What are you thinking about literature? Don't be such a jerk..." Zhang Chao quickly collected his thoughts and stopped making excessive associations. This time when he came to Shilei Village, he didn't even bring a piece of paper or a pen, let alone a laptop.

He was just preparing to stay away from literature, which had brought him countless glory and wealth, but also countless troubles.

Zhang Chao had rested enough under the shade of the tree and wanted to stand up again to show off his strength. However, Liang Ximei stopped him and said in a very awkward Mandarin: "I will cut the rice and you will pile the rice."

Liang Ximei actually went to school, so she is not completely unable to speak Mandarin. But because she has been staying in the village for the past few years, her Mandarin, which was not very good to begin with, has gradually deteriorated. Today, she met Zhang Chao and gradually started to speak Mandarin again.

Zhang Chao knew that this was to take care of him, and his face turned red with embarrassment. However, he knew that he was holding others back when he harvested rice, because the rice stalks he harvested were either of different lengths or uneven thickness, and he was often cut by rice leaves.

It takes some skill to pile the harvested rice into a large pile that is more than one meter high. In one's own field, one only needs to pile a dozen or so rice into a small pile with a pointed top and a round bottom. Zhang Chao learned how to do it quickly.

In this way, Liang Ximei was cutting in the front and Zhang Chao was stacking in the back, and soon more than ten short stacks of rice appeared in the small field.

Even so, Zhang Chao was exhausted. The rice ears he was holding trembled with his footsteps, shaking up and down in an orderly manner. The narrow rice leaves pressed against Zhang Chao's neck, leaving red marks. Sweat soaked his neck, causing pain and itchiness.

Time always passes quickly during labor. After Zhang Chao finished piling another stack of rice, he saw Liang Ximei standing in front of him with a sickle in her hand. Her wheat-colored skin was covered with red marks and her clothes were soaked with sweat.

But her face showed a light and happy expression, and she said to Zhang Chao, "Take a rest and eat." Her eyebrows and eyes were not delicate, but at this moment they shone with a moving light.

Zhang Chao nodded and straightened up. He saw that almost half of the rice terraces had been harvested, and the farmers had come out of the fields and were walking back home in groups of two or three.

Wisps of smoke were already rising above the wooden buildings, and even the aroma of food was wafting from the homes near the terraced fields.

The village chief had already come to Zhang Chao and Liang Ximei and said to them, "You all come to my house for dinner today. Ximei, your grandmother asked my mother-in-law to bring you home. Today we are going to eat fish wrapped in leeks!" Liang Ximei blushed and tried to refuse in dialect, but she couldn't resist the village chief and followed him to his house.

Village Chief Wei's home was not "more luxurious" than other villagers', but it was cleaner, as if he had specially cleaned it for Zhang Chao's arrival. The open space at the door was specially washed with water, and there was not a single pile of chicken and duck feces to be seen.

The layout was no different from that of other villagers, with a fire pit in the middle of the main room and a big black pot on top. The sour aroma was already wafting into Zhang Chao's nose, making him feel hungry after working for half a day.

The difference is that on the curved table next to the fire pit, there is a bamboo winnowing basket, which contains the famous aquatic dish "fish wrapped in leeks".

"Fish wrapped in leek" is made by removing the scales and gills of carp or grass carp, splitting it open along the back (but leaving the abdomen connected), removing the internal organs, cleaning it, and then seasoning it with Jiuqian wine, onions, garlic, ginger, and spicy fermented rice to remove the fishy smell.

Then fill the fish belly with washed broad-leaf leeks and cantaloupes, close the two halves of the fish, tie them tightly with glutinous rice straw, and stew them in a large pot or steam them in a large steamer.

"Fish wrapped in leek" is a delicacy that the Shui people must serve when worshipping their ancestors or entertaining guests. Wei Guangli did not prepare this dish yesterday because of time constraints, and asked his son to apologize to Zhang Chao.

Although Zhang Chao had been to Shandu before, this was his first time eating "fish wrapped in leek". He tasted it and it was indeed sour, spicy and delicious. The fish meat became delicate and tender after being steamed for a long time, and even the fish bones became crispy and fragrant.

Zhang Chao, with his voracious appetite, refilled his bowl three times before he put it down contentedly. He burped contentedly, which made everyone at the table laugh.

Liang Ximei looked at Zhang Chao curiously, as if she wanted to say something, but she didn't dare to open her mouth for fear that Zhang Chao wouldn't understand. She finished her meal quietly and didn't say a word to Zhang Chao in the end.

After lunch, Zhang Chao went to the second floor of the village committee for a nap. But at 2 p.m., despite the pain in his body, he came to the edge of the field to help Liang Ximei.

After a day of cooperation, Liang Ximei and Zhang Chao finally became familiar with each other and spoke Mandarin more and more fluently. Zhang Chao learned from her that their family actually had more fields than these, but because she was the only one at home, she couldn't plant so much, so the other land was given to relatives to plant...

He also knew that Liang Ximei actually studied in the town until junior high school, but because her brother also followed her parents to Guiyang to work, there was no one to take care of the family, so she had to interrupt her studies and stay at home to help...

He also knew that Liang Ximei actually wanted to go to Guiyang to work. If she went there to work, she could marry someone from the city, like someone from the village. When she returned to Shilei Village, she would be dressed in fancy clothes, which was very glorious...

Zhang Chao listened quietly to the girl's vision for the future, and suddenly heard her ask: "We all want to go out, why did you come in?"

Zhang Chao was speechless after hearing this. He thought for a long time but couldn't come up with an answer. He couldn't use the excuse of "I'm crazy" anymore. After all, the other person was not a 10-year-old child.

His "escape" this time was a random act under great impulse. He had not thought it through at all. He just felt that he could not live that busy and depressing life for a while.

However, this kind of "petty bourgeois sentiment" seems so pale and powerless in the face of the simple life aspirations of Liang Ximei, a country girl.

He has talked with the most shrewd reporters and confronted the most paranoid skeptics. No matter how public the scene is, or the broadcast cameras are full of cameras, he rarely makes mistakes.

He is always defending, answering, mocking, arguing, and always cleverly filling in the holes for himself, and also always cleverly setting holes for others...

If people who are familiar with Zhang Chao saw his embarrassment and unspeakable awkwardness at this moment, they would probably be shocked - is this still the eloquent and calm young writer and media trendsetter?
Liang Ximei waited for a long time but didn't hear Zhang Chao's answer. She felt a little embarrassed and said quickly, "If you don't want to say it, forget it. I shouldn't ask."

Zhang Chao waved his hands in a disinterested manner and said, "It has nothing to do with you. In fact, even I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm not as brave and confident as I thought... I'm not sure."

Liang Ximei didn't understand, but she still smiled.

At this time, a strong wind blew through the mountains, and the forest made a roaring sound. Shilei Village was like an island surrounded by dark waves and howling storms. It seemed to be swallowed up at any time, but it was as solid as a rock and remained motionless.

A few lines of poetry suddenly rang in Zhang Chao's mind:

"Years later I was in the pigeon house in the city

The dense serrations on the rice leaves

Still in my dreams from time to time
Sawing the village that was blown yellow by the autumn wind

At night, the newly harvested rice had to be threshed. There was no farm machinery for this job either, so the rice plants had to be threshed manually. The technical difficulty was not high, but Zhang Chao was too tired to do it, so he did not participate.

After dinner, he went to the small square in the village to enjoy some fresh air. During festivals, various sacrificial ceremonies and blessing activities were held here, and at other times, it was a place for villagers to relax and gather.

However, at this time, the adults and half-grown children were busy threshing, so only a group of children were playing here. When they saw Zhang Chao coming, they all stopped and stared at this strange outsider with curiosity.

However, since Zhang Chao also participated in agricultural labor today, the children were not afraid of him. The leader was Wei Guangli's son, named Wei Enze.

He was the most "familiar" with Zhang Chao, and he led everyone to surround Zhang Chao tightly without any fear, and said with a smile: "Uncle, tell us a story?"

Zhang Chao saw that the oldest of these children was no more than 10 years old, and the youngest was probably only six or seven years old. He thought for a moment and said, "How about I tell you a fairy tale? Will they understand it?"

Weinze nodded repeatedly and said, "The youngest one can't understand, but the others can understand a little. However, you said it, and I understood it; so I can say it to them." Weinze didn't understand the word "translation", so he expressed it in the simplest language.

Zhang Chao smiled and said, "Well, I told you - once upon a time, on the edge of the Black Forest, there was a kingdom, and in the kingdom there was a king..."

After talking for a long time, Zhang Chao suddenly realized that not only the other children, but also Wei Enze, who spoke fluent Mandarin, looked confused. Zhang Chao asked, "What's wrong? Don't you understand?"

Wayne Ze said: "What is a kingdom? What is a king?"

Zhang Chao: "... Let's change the story. Once upon a time, there was a little boy who didn't like hygiene. Everyone called him 'the king of sloppiness'..."

As Zhang Chao spoke, he carefully observed the children's expressions and found that they were still confused. He felt frustrated. But he was not discouraged and continued, "Let's change another one..."

Zhang Chao then told two fairy tales that he thought were particularly easy to understand, but the children didn’t really understand them. These stories were too far away from their life experiences…

Zhang Chao shut up dejectedly. Wei Enze comforted him, "Uncle, it doesn't matter if you can't tell stories. Can you tell us something new in the city? I heard that the buildings in big cities are a hundred stories high, right?"

……

That night, feeling extremely humiliated, Zhang Chao knocked on the door of the village chief's house and asked, "Village chief, do you have paper and a pen?"

(Two chapters in one)

(End of this chapter)