At that time, when I came home from school, the warmest thing was to sit in front of the stove and help my cooking mother add firewood and make a fire. Of course, this trick is mainly to steal a bite, especially those mouth-watering delicious meals, such as fried kidney, shredded pork with sauce, braised pork noodles and so on. I always start swallowing as soon as the food is ready. In fact, my mother knows what my greedy baby thinks, and often acquiesces in my help and lets me eat more meat. There is nothing we can do about it. At that time, the family was difficult, and I rarely ate meat for a long time, and I fried a little every time. At that time, our four children had a hard life at home and were all malnourished. Especially, I was as thin as bean sprouts, and my mother had to secretly increase my nutrition.
At that time, there were oil tanks, salt tanks, spoons and shovels on the stove; There are tongs and wooden knives in front of the stove. Hay and corn stalks are often used to light fires for cooking. If the firewood is wet and refuses to burn when it rains, you should blow it with your mouth, sometimes it hurts your cheeks and your eyes are full of tears. But once you think that there will be delicious food soon, you won't feel bitter again.
The most unforgettable thing is that it is snowing heavily outside. I sat in front of the stove and made a fire while reading comic books. The flame in the fireplace made my face red and my body warm. Sometimes, I help my mother cook Chili peppers with burnt firewood ash as a dipping dish. I put five or six dried peppers with tongs and barbecued them on firewood ashes. Soon, the surface of the pepper turned brown and gave off a fragrance. Clip it out and pat it with both hands to remove dust. Add half a handful of fried peanuts and mash them in a garlic mortar. Dig it out and put it in a plate with soy sauce and mud. Spicy and fragrant, very delicious.
Sometimes we will invite a few intimate friends to climb the hill on the west side of the village, sit on the big stone on the top of the mountain and look at the village below in the afterglow of the sunset. The trees and houses in the village were stained with golden brilliance. At this time, the smoke on the roof of every household curled up like a beautiful freehand painting, and the scene was very charming.
I feel that I have been in the city for more than 20 years, far away from my hometown, far away from the countryside, and far away from that smoky day. But childhood, the day when the smoke curled up, often appeared in front of us like a movie. That unforgettable stove; Mother's loving eyes by the fire; There is also a hot and delicious kidney flower; A piece of Sichuan style stew pork or half a bowl of pork stewed vermicelli; It often tempts me to look for the past. I will never forget that smoky childhood.
Author, Zhang Zhaozhun, pen name: Bauhinia vine, Zijin vine, Shanshan stone, etc. Young writer, member of Prose Association, and member of Network Poetry Association. Freelance writer, senior editor, published more than 200 thousand words of literary works, and now works for Shanglin Bank.