The small stream flows down and around the mountain peaks, and then merges into the big river of Chadong about three miles away. If one crosses the stream and walks over the hill, it will only take one mile to reach the edge of Chadong City. The stream is like the back of a bow, and the mountain road is like the string of a bow, so there is a slight difference between the distance and the distance. The creek is about twenty feet wide, and the river bed is made of large rocks. The quiet water may be so deep that a pole cannot reach the bottom, but it is still so clear and transparent that you can count the fish coming and going in the river.
That was two years ago. On Dragon Boat Festival in May, my grandfather found someone to replace him at the ferry head, so he took the yellow dog and Cuicui into the city and crossed the river to watch the boating. The riverside was full of people, and four red long boats were sliding in the pool. The dragon boat water had just risen, and the water in the river was all green. The weather was so bright, the drums were beating loudly, and Cuicui pursed her lips without saying a word. He said, his heart filled with indescribable joy. There were too many people by the river, and everyone looked into the river with their eyes wide open. After a while, the yellow dog was still around, but my grandfather was crowded out of sight.
Cui Cui is getting older day by day, and she will blush when she accidentally mentions something. Time was growing her, and seemed to be urging her to take some responsibility for another thing. She was happy to see the newlyweds with their faces covered with powder, to tell stories about the newlyweds, to put wild flowers on her head, and to listen to people singing. She could already appreciate the lingering quality of the Chadong people's singing. Sometimes she seems a little lonely. She likes to sit on a rock and stare at the stars in the sky. If her grandfather asked, "Cui Cui, what are you thinking about?" she would say softly, a little shyly, "I'm watching the water ducks fight!"
The weather is getting hotter and hotter. Towards June, when the weather got a little hotter, the old boatman moved a dusty black pottery jar out of the corner of the house. In his spare time, he pieced together a few square wooden boards to make a round cover. He also sawed wood to make a tripod, scraped a large bamboo tube, tied it with kudzu vines, and placed it next to the vat as tea ladle furniture.
Dusk is still gentle, beautiful and calm. But if a person thinks about everything in the present, he will still feel a little desolate in this dusk. So, this day became a painful thing. Cuicui felt as if something was missing. It seems that seeing this day pass, I want to grasp it in a new person and thing, but I can't. It seems that life is too ordinary and I can't bear it.
The moonlight is like silver, shining everywhere, and the bamboos on the mountain all turn black under the moonlight. The sound of insects in the grass around me was as thick as falling rain. Occasionally, from somewhere, a grass warbler would suddenly chirp its throat, "Lulululululuo!" Soon, the little bird seemed to understand that it was the middle of the night and shouldn't be so noisy, so it remained closed. The little eyes fell asleep peacefully.
It rained heavily at night, accompanied by frightening thunder. When the lightning passed over the ridge of the roof, it was followed by an explosion of lightning. Cuicui was shaking in the dark. Grandfather also woke up. Knowing that she was scared and worried that she would catch cold, he got up and put a piece of cloth over her body. Grandfather said: "Cui Cui, don't be afraid!"
A group of transitional people came, with burdens, people who looked like they were running away on official business, and a mother and daughter. The mother wore a tough blue cloth dress that had been washed with new starch. The girl's face was painted red and she wore new clothes that didn't fit well. She went to the city to visit a relative's house to pay homage to the festival and watch the dragon boat.
After waiting for everyone to get on the boat and stabilize, Cuicui looked at the little girl while pulling the boat across the stream. From Cuicui's estimation, the child was about thirteen or fourteen years old, but he looked very delicate, as if he had never left his mother. On his feet were a pair of newly oiled spikes with pointed toes, stained with some yellow mud. The pants are made of purple green cloth. Seeing Cuicui looking at her, she also looked at Cuicui, her eyes as bright as two crystal balls. A little shy, a little uncomfortable, and at the same time a little bit indescribably coquettish.
It is a sunny day after the rain, and the sun is burning so hard on people’s shoulders and back that they already have some strength. The reeds and willows beside the stream, and the vegetables in the vegetable garden, are all flourishing and luxuriant, with a bit of wild vitality. Green grasshoppers were flying here and there in the grass, making a rustling sound as their wings beat through the air. The sound of new cicadas on the branches has gradually become louder. The two mountains are deep and green, and among the bamboo swaths, there are yellow birds, bamboo sparrows and cuckoos singing. Cuicui feels, looks, listens, and thinks at the same time:
When dusk comes, Cuicui sits under the white pagoda behind the house, watching the sky bake into thin peach-colored clouds as the setting sun comes. During the 14th Zhongzhai Festival, many businessmen from the city came to Zhongzhai to buy mountain goods, and there were also many people passing by. My grandfather was busy on the ferry. It was almost night, and all the other sparrows seemed to be resting, except for the cuckoo, which kept calling. The rocks and soil have been exposed to the sun all day long, and the grass and trees have been exposed to the sun all day long. At this time, they all release a kind of heat. There is an earthy, grassy, ??and beetle-like smell in the air. Cuicui looked at the red clouds in the sky and listened to the chaotic voices of businessmen from Piaoxiang at the ferry, feeling a little desolate in her heart.
Dusk is still gentle, beautiful and peaceful. But if a person thinks about everything in the present, he will still feel a little desolate in this dusk. So, this day became a painful thing. Cuicui felt as if something was missing. It seems that seeing this day pass, I want to grasp it in a new person and thing, but I can't. It seems that life is too ordinary and I can't bear it.
The moonlight is extremely soft, and a thin layer of white mist floats on the surface of the stream. At this time, if someone is singing to the stream and singing along across the stream, it is really beautiful. Cuicui still remembers the joke her grandfather told earlier.
He is not deaf, and his grandfather's words are very clear. How can a brother walk on the street and sing to kill an evening like this? She seemed to have been silent for a long time waiting for such singing.
A month passed normally, and all the aches and pains in people's hearts seemed to be cured under that long day. The weather is extremely hot, and everyone is busy sweating, washing rivers with cold water, and eating rice wine. There is no need to worry about anything, because worries cannot be retained in people's lives. Cuicui took a nap under the white pagoda on the side facing away from the sun every day. It was extremely cool at the height, and there were so many bamboo sparrows and other birds in the bamboo bamboo poles on the two mountains that made her feel like the mountains in her sleep. When the birds sing, the dreams they have are often the most absurd ones.