My father spent most of his life in the old society. In our poor mountainous areas, the cultivated land is barren and the grain output is low. Even if a peasant family plants a few acres of land, it is difficult to maintain a family's livelihood with a year's grain harvest. This is our family. In order to supplement the lack of family income, my father had to engage in the tertiary industry in his spare time. When I was in my twenties and thirties, I was strong and went out to support others. He has been to Sichuan, Hubei, Henan and other places, taking the goods back there to earn some strength and money for buyers. Later, he couldn't stand it anymore, so he went to the market at home and started a small business. At first, he sold zongzi. Every time it is wrapped in the afternoon, made in the evening, and sold in the local town the next day. Once he comes down, it won't be a problem to make some oil and salt to reconcile money. During this period, I was also a teenager. I often try my best to help him when I come back from school. After a long time, I also learned to make zongzi. Now, on the Dragon Boat Festival, I make zongzi for my family. Zongzi was sold for several years, and then it stopped. Later, my father went to sell Ma Xie. Before and after liberation, our local farmers liked to wear Ma Xie. It is made of hemp, which is light, economical and durable. My father saw this market and sold it in Ma Xie. Business is good. My mother and I often help him twist the hemp rope. My father is like this. He can't do this job. He never stops fighting for survival. Our family lives a life of neither wealth nor hunger.
My father is a very diligent person. He never sleeps late. Every day, he works in the fields, or engages in sideline business at home, or takes shovels and dung baskets to collect dung eggs on the roadside, around villages and places frequented by livestock to accumulate fertilizer for crops. Father not only does not sleep late himself, but also forbids his family to sleep late. He takes others as soon as he gets up. After school, I always want to sleep more on Sunday morning, but my father always wakes me up early, either to help him or to help my mother with housework. I am very unhappy about this, but how can my calf twist my thigh and how can a child's family be listed as an adult? Speaking of it now, it's not bad. At that time, I got into the habit of not sleeping late.
My father is a man who will never be idle. I remember that autumn before liberation, it rained in Mao Mao for many days, and the work in the fields could not be done. Most farmers stay at home during the day, or sit around chatting or sleeping. My father has been idle for a few days and has no job. He said that he didn't work for a few days, and he felt uncomfortable, so he borrowed a gold pot from his relatives and friends and learned how to pan for gold. He worked in the river in front of our house for several days and found no gold. I advised him not to do it again so as not to waste time. However, he said, "Ten days of waves in Jin Jiu will make up for ten days of work in one day." He still kept on working, but he really succeeded. One day, he came back in the afternoon, holding a' gold plate' like wheat bran in his hand, and later took it to the market. With the money, he can buy 100 kilograms of corn. Now I understand that work has become my father's hobby and fun. This is the true nature of working people.
No one in our family can read, including my father. When my father was young, he was outside, running a lot and seeing a lot. He deeply understands that in the vast world, there is no culture. Therefore, he is very supportive of children's reading. He often says, "Even if I suffer a lot, I will let my children go to school, and they will become educated people in the future." Under his care, my brother finished junior high school and went out to make a living in society. I am very lucky. I went from primary school to university and became a national cadre. I became the most educated person in our family. Everyone in the village praised my father for raising a good son. My success and my father's contribution are indelible.
Unfortunately, shortly after I graduated from college and went to work, my old and frail father died of a serious illness due to long-term fatigue. After liberation, farmers' lives improved day by day, but my father lived a good life for a few days and left forever. I feel deeply sorry for his father.
I often think of my father. I often tell my children about my father's life, especially the annual Duanyang Festival. When the family eats zongzi, I think of my father's voice and smile when he wraps zongzi. I can't forget the years when I sold zongzi. I always eat zongzi wrapped by my father before going to school every morning, and I am elated all the way.
My father's hard life experience and hard-working and simple style are deeply engraved in my heart.