At the end of the year, there seem to be a lot more things to worry about, both in work and in life. While I was busy, one day I suddenly felt as if I hadn’t gone out to take photos for a long time. One weekend afternoon, when I was alone in my office looking at the beautiful sunshine outside the window, I said to myself: Tomorrow, I must go for a walk in the countryside, even if it is just for an hour or two. Maybe I can use photography as a way to go there. In name, I often joke with myself like this, but maybe, walking in the countryside can have nothing to do with photography.
At around ten o'clock on Saturday, several friends who had made an appointment took their cameras and set off. When the car was driving on the road, several people still hadn't decided where to go. One by one, you asked me, and I asked you whether you could make up your mind. To be honest, our group of people have almost completely visited the surrounding villages, and we have even visited some places three or four times. While refueling the car, I received a call from my friend. They were returning to the small town from Yan'an and were planning to visit somewhere. A friend also brought two friends from a newspaper company in Yinchuan, hoping to go to the countryside together and see them off in a place called Zichang County.
Ten minutes later, we met at an intersection smoothly. Then, three cars carrying seven or eight people were riding like the wind in the sunny winter wilderness. A cold wave just passed through northern Shaanxi a few days ago, so these two days can truly be called clear skies and the air transparency is also excellent. Sitting in the car, listening to the noisy pop rap songs, although it makes people vaguely irritated, but seeing the sun-bathed mountain villages, snow, and fellow villagers chatting at the entrance of the village flowing everywhere in front of me, those unhappy nature I was silently overwhelmed by these touching scenes.
Probably my friends from far away were in a hurry to get on their way, so they didn’t stop much along the way and just rushed all the way to Zichang County. In a small restaurant in the county town, my friend ordered several local specialties to entertain guests from afar. While joking, he picked up two bottles of liquor and put them on the table with a clang. This move really made me a little bit uncomfortable. Because we had just finished breakfast, drinking liquor at such an early hour is probably a rare thing in many places. My friend is a cheerful person. He picked up the wine bottle and poured wine into the teacup. At the same time, he responded to the guests' refusal and said: "How can we have a banquet without wine!" Except for the three drivers who cannot drink, the rest of us Five people became the enjoyers of these two bottles of wine. After taking a few sips of the strong drink, I felt like there was a fire in my throat and it went straight to the top of my head. A young waiter in the small restaurant is a cheerful and humorous woman. From time to time, she interjects some dialect-rich words and makes the people at the table laugh. This fills the otherwise cold room with excitement. A strong aroma of wine and an earthy warmth. In less than half an hour, the two bottles of spirits turned into a scent of wine amidst the shouts of five people guessing at each other. The remaining two empty wine bottles with exquisite workmanship, in the words of a visitor from afar, said: "That's very sexy!" I stared at the transparent glass bottle and thought about it for a long time, not to mention, how can this saying be applied to this wine bottle? It has a different taste!
With a wave of the hand, the guests’ cars brought up a puff of dust and disappeared from our sight in the blink of an eye. Presumably they were laughing and chatting with each other in the car about their many feelings about coming to northern Shaanxi. Perhaps what they took away was a strong memory filled with the aroma of wine.
After leaving the city, we headed north. After more than ten minutes, the car turned around and headed straight for the rural road. Taking advantage of the remaining alcohol, the chatter and laughter in the car hit the laughing nerves of several older men one after another. It seemed that there were suddenly many interesting topics, which made the already loaded car suddenly become more cheerful. It just adds a bunch of old men to be happy.
When passing by a poplar forest, everyone seemed to be attracted by the slender and sexy trees in front of them, so a group of people of all ages posed in this small forest and took photos with each other. At that time, I couldn’t say whether I was happy or not. Anyway, people in their dozens of years were still skating on the ice of the river with their waists bent and shouting, which made passers-by look at these seemingly drunk people in surprise. The guy was a little puzzled, and maybe a little envious. What’s ridiculous is that someone made a conscious decision and asked everyone to pose in a classic Once Upon a Time pose for a group photo. So, that moment became the most classic momentary memory of our day.
With the scene still warm in our hearts and laughing secretly, we continued to head towards the countryside in the mountains. We were in no rush and had no specific destination to reach, so the speed of thirty or forty yards allowed us to slowly appreciate everything in front of us along the way. The afternoon sun slants on the loess, just like quietly shining on the old people sunbathing under the wall. From time to time, donkey carts pulling corn stalks passed by in the fields. To be honest, it was quite picturesque and made people feel friendly and warm. When the sky in northern Shaanxi is blue, it can definitely be extremely blue, so blue that your imagination suddenly loses its direction. For a while, the car seemed to be much quieter, and several people looked at the scenery outside the car window in silence. Presumably, we are all experiencing different feelings with our hearts.
When passing an ancient village called Tianjiachuan, we stopped again. Following the sound of cocks crowing and dogs barking, we docked quietly like a drifting ship. This is a village nestled deep in a ditch formed by two mountains. We walked for a long time without meeting almost anyone.
Those dilapidated cave dwellings are scattered on some slopes or in mountain valleys, surrounded by waist-high grass. Many cave dwellings have almost collapsed, and it seems that the laughter of the past has been hidden in the grass. Over time, it has become some luxurious memories that are difficult for us to find. Outside a deserted courtyard, a stone mill and stone roller that had not been used for a long time were still stuck there. The locked door and the owner who went out seemed to have also locked up the smoke and the squeaking sound of the stone roller. The complex that remains unchanged is undergoing weathering in the dust of the years. I remember that seven or eight years ago, my friends and I rode bicycles to this village. At that time, it was completely unlike the village I see now. It was lifeless and even in such a state of decline.
While I was immersed in the smoke and dust of these memories, I didn’t know whose courtyard my other friends went to. I wandered alone in the village, and it seemed that every path, every stone mill, and the old locust trees reminded me of the small village where I had lived for more than ten years. I can't tell whether I should be happy about this? Still feeling sad about the dilapidated scene in front of me. I can probably still realize that all of this is a major change in society and a change that the countryside will inevitably experience, but I don’t know whether this is an opportunity or a catastrophe. I know that the countryside has not only lost its vitality, but it may also have lost the countryside itself or its soul.
In a small vegetable field, a group of roosters and hens were looking for food leisurely. I approached slowly, and they didn't seem to be disturbed. They still walked three steps, one stop, two steps, one step at a time. Looking for food in the grass. The less polluted chicken feathers are either gorgeous red or pure white, and the red combs look like proud flowers blooming, which is really beautiful. From time to time, a beautiful rooster would raise its head and crow happily, which would then attract responses from roosters elsewhere. Sometimes the aggressive roosters will fight with each other to show their majesty, causing the hens to stop foraging one by one and appreciate the majestic appearance of the winner with a judgmental eye. Of course, they will also disdain the defeat. A weakling who gets messed up. For a while, I kept pressing the shutter button for no apparent reason. I couldn’t tell why, but I just felt that I should capture some of these extremely beautiful moments. For a moment, I suddenly wanted to take a photo of them running, so I approached with my camera while stamping my feet and making threatening noises. At this time, an unexpected scene happened. When a group of chickens were frightened and ran around in fear, a rooster turned around and walked towards me fiercely, and sent a challenge signal to me with a pair of hostile eyes. To be honest, when I witnessed this scene, I even felt inexplicably scared. I saw the feathers on the rooster's neck standing up straight like a handful of lush grass, and it was approaching me step by step. . When I instinctively raised my foot in an attempt to stop its attack, it flapped its wings and flew up, pecking at my foot. I raised my foot again, and it still stubbornly launched counterattacks at me. For a while, I didn't care about the cost of nearly five or six yuan in pressing the shutter button, and I finished shooting a film in a short time. In the end, I was defeated in front of this brave warrior. I took a few steps back timidly, and then moved away from its position angrily to show a compromising attitude. When our companions watched our struggle from a distance, they burst into laughter. When the rooster was convinced that I would not infringe on its territory again, it confidently walked towards its companion, swaying and wearing a beautiful shirt. For a while, I couldn't calm down my violent heartbeat. I don't know whether it was because I was frightened or because I was fighting a rooster for the first time in my life. I said to myself: This rooster is definitely the general among the chickens, and perhaps their elder. It fought alone to defend its territory and family, and finally showed me the inviolability of its dignity with a victory gesture.
When I left the group of chickens with lingering fear, the fighting chicken among the roosters was standing on a ridge, raising its neck and shouting in victory. Seeing it shaking its shiny feathers and standing in a beautiful and majestic posture, I cast a look of admiration from the bottom of my heart. I said in my heart: Any life has its inviolable dignity of the Holy Spirit. Even if it faces an opponent stronger than itself, it will use its will to win the final victory. This is just a little rooster that gave me Enlightenment.
Looking back, not far away, there were several dead willow trees and a locust tree standing quietly in front of a row of dilapidated cave dwellings. Their bodies must have finally turned into a vicissitudes of scenery after dozens or even hundreds of years, stubbornly guarding the piece of soil under their feet with the arrogance of death. Several trees were all uniformly tall and had strange shapes, and their entire bodies were covered with rough bark. Some even split the entire tree stump, as if they had been seriously injured by axes over the years, and even their entire chests were exposed. Facing this rural scene carved by time, I was stunned, and I couldn't help but feel the inexplicable sadness growing in my heart. Perhaps, when I came here a few years ago, the owners of these cave dwellings were still there, and these willow or locust trees were still growing lushly. There must be many playful children chasing each other under the tree, and there are also fellow villagers sitting in the shade of the tree doing needlework and doing household chores with a smile on their face. This is a scene that often warms my heart, a scene of peace, tranquility, and full of neighborly affection.
However, all of this is disappearing quietly, and what comes instead is a deathly silence, these old trees that have died one after another, and those collapsed cave dwellings... I don't know what else will be there.
Before I left, I finally met a fellow villager who was returning home from the fields. While chatting with him, I asked him if he knew if I could buy eggs in the village. He immediately and enthusiastically took out his mobile phone to help me contact the village. After making a few calls, he said to me in embarrassment that there are few people in the village now, and there are not many people feeding chickens. However, there is probably an old man who lives with him, but the old man There was no phone, so he asked me to wait here while he went up to ask for me. When his back disappeared around a corner on the hillside, I suddenly remembered why I didn't even say a word of thanks, and I couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. After a while, an old man came slowly towards me from the hillside carrying a small basin. As she approached, she said to herself, What a good person, she came to my house to tell me that someone wanted to buy eggs. The old man brought only twelve eggs. She said six eggs cost ten yuan, which is how everyone in the village sells them. I didn't bargain with the old man, and besides, I really don't know what the price of eggs is on the market now. While loading eggs for me, the old man told me that after selling the eggs, she would buy two kilograms of pork in two days. The grandchildren would be back from vacation soon, and she had to prepare some delicious food for the children early.
Saying goodbye to the old man, we set off on our way home. Perhaps the companions were a little tired from spinning, or perhaps the strong alcohol had begun to take effect, so they fell asleep with their heads tilted to one side. Along the way, I don't know why, but I suddenly lost interest in seeing the scenery. I just felt that the remaining sunset on the distant mountains was like a sad song. Thinking of those villages, that simple and kind fellow, that kind old man selling eggs, and those simple and kind-hearted words, I don’t know how to cherish the memory of this day in my heart. Now, let's just leave these intermittent experiences in words, just like making a cup of tea in a place outside the countryside. When you are irritable, maybe you can slowly taste the faint fragrance during the drinking.