School was out for summer vacation, and my father said: "Lengzi, go and look at the melons for me tomorrow, and take some time to read a book." I said a few words in succession, and I was so happy that I curled up on the bed. . Ah, I'm going to the melon garden tomorrow. Watching melons is probably the most comfortable job in the world. When you're thirsty, you'll eat watermelons; when you're hot, you'll lie down under the pergola and take a nap; when you're restless, you'll find a book to read. Think about it, isn’t that a magical feeling?
When I feel sweet in my heart, my temper becomes a little impatient, and I start thinking wildly. Buds sprout in spring and seedlings grow in summer. In this season when even the wind is a bit intoxicating, Guayuan, how are you doing now?
When I stepped into the melon garden, I felt drunk. Green, there is green everywhere, millet seedlings, sorghum trees, bean seedlings, squeezed together, clustered into a sea of ??green; flowers, there are flowers everywhere, pink bowl-breaking flowers, golden wheel flowers, crimson thistle buds Flowers, dotted with stars, decorate the borders and ravines. Surrounded by corn plants with green leaves and strong stalks, the lush green shores of Yasai; the creeping melon vines with flowing green water are the fragrant lake. The fragrance of wild flowers quietly permeates the pure air, and the fragrance of ripe melons flows quietly in the transparent sunshine. The bees among the wild flowers and the butterflies in the melon fields flapped their wings, three or two, cooling the June wind. The big-bellied green grasshoppers in the grass and the short-tailed brown doves in the willow shade sang their little songs passionately, singing three or two times, making the time in June soft. In the melon garden in June, every ivy is a painting; every clump of flowers and grass is a poem.
The tall and spacious pergola and the short and narrow Gua'an are two in one, facing north and south. The nunnery provides shelter from wind and rain, where you can sleep and rest. The pergola covers the sky and the sun, and you can enjoy the cool view. Land is the most valuable thing for farmers, so we can't waste the land like the pergola and Guanzi, and we planted a few seeds at the beginning. It must be a pumpkin. Now this fat vine has climbed up to the roof of the shed. There are leaves as big as cattail fans, flowers the size of wine glasses, and tender pea-green melon buttons, which are really eye-catching to look at. Hey, several grown-up pumpkins have slipped down from the top of the pergola. When the wind blows, it sways back and forth. The flat and round pumpkins are called Dizier pumpkins, which are noodles and sweet when cooked in porridge; the sub-waisted and slender pumpkins are called thin dog waist pumpkins, which are sour, spicy and refreshing when stir-fried in vinegar. I suddenly had a whim, if I dig a small hole in the pumpkin, take out the flesh, catch a grasshopper and put it in. How wonderful it would be to let it sing me a lullaby while I lie on the couch with my eyes closed and meditate! Alas, it's good, but I just can't do it because I'm no longer the prankster I was a few years ago.
Pumpkins cannot be eaten raw. The best thing to satisfy your craving is melon, so go to the melon field. The melons in the melon field are so fragrant that if you snort a few times, your mouth will water.
Under the oily green leaves, there are round and round melons. Look here, there are patches of white snowflakes exposed in the dark green, like jade rabbits sleeping in the green leaves. This is the famous goose feather white (also called white sand honey). This kind of melon has the thinnest skin, the most juice, the sweetest flesh, and the reddest seeds. Take a bite and it looks like a crispy pear. If you are thirsty, try it. It is more refreshing than popsicle and sour plum soup. The big black one, which looks like a child's pillow, is called Brown Sugar Bucket (also known as "Old Man Fun"). This kind of melon must be eaten when it is ripe. When cooked, red from the inside to the skin. Take a bite, it's sizzling, chewy, honey-sweet, and fragrant. The old man loves this one the most, but the children dislike it. Children don't know whether melons are raw or ripe. They go to the field and just pick up the big ones and touch them, but they turn out to be big but not ripe. When I took a bite, it was astringent and strong, so I dropped it. Hey, it’s broken. Without taking a step forward, he stepped on a melon until its eight petals burst into pieces. This kind of melon is nicknamed "Thieves don't steal" and its scientific name is Niujiaomi. It looks the ugliest, not too long, not round, with a pointed end and a slight tail, with no trace of dust left behind, like an old cucumber head. Not to mention the thief who doesn't steal, anyone who sees it will kick it all the way. But this melon is crispy and sweet. After eating this, I want to eat that. Children love to eat it most. They bite the lower half in one mouth and it crunches like chewing a crisp pear. Unlike the big melon, it is not easy to eat. There is also a kind of hairy cucumber, also called Qingyu. It is neither crispy nor doughy, but a bit soft and glutinous. It is so delicious when you eat it that it is so sweet that it can make people shiver. There are so many melons, with toad skin, golden rake teeth, old and tender, angry pears...each has its own merits, but they are all delicious.
But I don’t care to eat these melons, but I find this kind of melon all over the ground. This melon is called "Jingde Visits White Robe". Why does the melon have such a strange name? Let me tell you, there is an interesting story involved. During the Tang Dynasty, Turks invaded, and Hu Shuai Gesuwen was unrivaled. If you want to retreat from the enemy, you must take the young general Xue Rengui in white robes. The old Yuan Rong Jingde, who visited the general for the country, went through all the troubles, and finally hugged the white-robed general on a moonlit night. The white-robed general certainly lived up to expectations. He defeated Gaisu Wen and returned to the court with his troops. On the way, the general was thirsty and watched the old man pick melons to offer tribute to the hero. When the general ate it, he kept saying "wonderful, wonderful" and asked what kind of melon it was and why it tasted so sweet. The old man said that this melon is called "Jingde visits white robe". The general laughed when he heard this. I said the old man was making fun of him. Why did he get such a strange name for a mere melon? The old man replied, "Look at this melon, with its black skin and white flesh. Isn't it the Duke Jingde (nicknamed Heitantou) who hugged the white-robed general?" After hearing this, the generals praised and said, yes, yes, good melon, good name, good name for the melon is even better! From then on, melons became famous all over the world through heroes; heroes relied on melons and their fame lasted forever. Melons and heroes complement each other. To say that this melon is by no means in vain, it truly deserves its name and can be called the King of Melons.
Look at it, the skin of the melon is oily and shiny, while the flesh is as white as snow, crystal clear as ice, exquisite and clear, just like crystal. When eating, use a knife to peel off the thin black skin, and you will feel like holding "a handful of snow" in your hands. Take a bite and the honey drips down from the corners of your mouth. When you chew it, it becomes crispy, like chewing rock candy. After eating, when the wind blows, the pieces of mouth and fingers stick together and become sticky. Burping, a fragrant aroma rushed straight into the nose. Think about how cool that feeling would be.
Going further, there is a watermelon field. Under the blue melon leaves, there are big watermelons lying one by one. Black-skinned ones, flower-skinned ones, white-skinned ones, just like a bucket. Under the sun, it shines brightly. The watermelons are not yet in season, so I have no interest in going.
Under the cool as ice melon shed, eating such good melons, smelling the fragrance of the garden, listening to the songs of the grasshoppers, and admiring the picturesque pastoral scenery, I just Know what it means to be successful and what it means to be happy. But where did this happy life come from? I thought of my old and sick father. It was He who created this garden full of fruits.
At the beginning of spring, the old man was busy pulling manure, preparing fields, and cutting borders. The spring breeze is getting warmer and the sun is shining brightly. A rickety figure squats in the ground all day long. That is Dad planting melons. He took a long melon shovel, turned over the wet soil, and patted it down. Then draw a shallow ditch, scatter three or four melon seeds evenly, seal it with soil, add another one or two shovels of soil, and then pat it into a bare heap. This is considered as planting a melon. This job seems simple, but in fact it is very learned. For example, if you make a trench, it won't work if it's too deep. If it's too deep, the melon buds won't be able to come out and they will be suffocated in the soil; Another example is why there is a pile of soil on top of a melon plant. That's because the mounds of soil cannot be blown through by wind or exposed to sunlight, so as to preserve moisture for the seeds. But after waiting for four or five days, the pile of soil must be gently removed in time. If you don't peel it open, the melon buds will be crushed to death. In short, growing melons is a lot of trouble and requires a lot of attention. It is a meticulous job. One acre of garden and ten acres of field, growing melons is like embroidery. In this way, my father squatted there day after day, planting trees one by one, which was heavy and tiring, monotonous and boring. The melons are out of the ground, growing leaves, and climbing seedlings. My father is even busier, watering, topdressing, killing insects, pinching the tops, breaking off waste branches, and he is too busy to eat. At this time, Dad was dripping with hot sweat every day, and had bouts of painful moans and heart-wrenching coughs every night. And my heart was spasming in pain.
One day, I remembered a few words said by Jianghu entertainers when performing magic: "My melon seeds are given by gods. When you plant them, they will sprout. When they sprout, you will lay them down. When they lie down, they will bloom." , When it blooms, sit on the melon, and when it sits on the melon, it will be ripe. When it is ripe, you can eat it. After eating it, all diseases will disappear, and you will live forever..." This melon seed he said is really magical. It would be great if I had such melon seeds, so dad wouldn't have to suffer this. When I told my father, he laughed: "Silly boy, that's just a lie. Good things are all earned through sweat. How can there be anything in the world that comes for free without effort!"
Yes, what dad said is so good! Isn't this garden full of melons and honey fruits the result of his old man's bitter sweat? My father’s sweat brought me this melon garden with fragrant fruits, but this small melon garden carries my son’s tuition, my daughter’s colorful clothes, and the whole family’s food, clothing, and happiness! Labor creates the world, and people create happiness. Everyone can say this sentence, but how many people really understand and respect it? How many fruits are wasted by mediocre people in this world? How many fruits have been spoiled by evil men? How many fruits have been stolen by traitors? What is even more intolerable is that someone eats the eggs laid by a hen, and when he has the strength, he goes back to take care of the old hen! Many people hate dogs. Dogs rely on human power, look down upon people, are lapdogs, bastards, etc. However, dogs also have another advantage, that is, they eat their master's food and are loyal to their master. The dog does not think the owner is poor, the dog does not think the owner is ugly, the dog is a loyal minister. But if you eat the people's food, drink the people's food, and in turn harm the people and oppress the people, wouldn't you be worse than a dog?
A gust of cool breeze blew over, and I shivered and got goosebumps all over my body. My mind is clearer. We are human beings, and we should be grateful; we are human beings, and we should do decent things. So, an idea formed in my mind: When the watermelons are ripe tomorrow, I will pick the largest and sweetest watermelon, cut it and place it under the pergola. I will press my father on the pergola and hold a big piece of watermelon in both hands. , let the old man taste the sweetness of this world, and taste the sweetness gained by his own sweat. Then I told him that next year I will take the college entrance examination, and my first choice is the Fruit Department of the College of Agriculture (if there is such a department). When I succeed in my studies, I must research and invent a planting machine so that melon farmers like my father can straighten their backs and work easily. If I fail, then I will take over his shovel. The old man could no longer experience the pain of boiling oil under the sun.