Chapter 7 Stimulation of onset
The carriage run on the bumpy mountain road for more than two hours and arrived at a small village located at the foot of a hill and surrounded by mountains. There were only about thirty households in the village, and most of their houses were still traditional house.
The first things they saw after entering grandma's house were cowshed and horse stable, the kitchen on the right, the warehouse on the left, and the second-story main house in the center, with a patio of about 10 square meters enclosed in the middle. The main house was made of wood as the frame, with earthen walls separating the rooms and a tiled roof on top. The first and second floors were separated by wooden boards. There was eaves outside the house, and under the eaves was a wooden ladder leading to the second floor.
In the middle of the first floor was the main room, with two bedrooms on the left and right sides. The second floor had no partitions, there was only a large and spacious room used to dry grain. The kitchens and warehouses on the left and right sides had earth walls and flat roofs. The walls were tamped with yellow mud, and then the wood was put on the earth walls, and the roofs were smoothed with thatch and yellow mud.
At this time, Heimu Village seemed poor, backward, and dilapidated to Yang Jiabo. But the surrounding vegetation was dense and lush. Unlike thirty years later, basically every house was a two-story building, but the surrounding hills were bare. The dense woods around were a treasure trove in Yang Jiabo's eyes.
The carriage was driven into the courtyard. Yang Jiabo jumped out of the carriage and rushed in with his short legs. "Grandma, grandma, I'm here to see you."
"Slow down, don't fall." Grandma stood at the door of the kitchen and looked at them with a smile. She was wearing toujin, blue homespun blouse, and brown wide-leg pants. Just like the image in Yang Jiabo's memory, she looked really kind.
[头巾 tóu jīn: head-covering (for men in ancient clothes)]
"Grandpa, grandma." The other cousins also chased after him at this time.
Only then did Yang Jiabo see his grandpa sitting at the door of the hall, so he also greeted him sweetly. Then he happily took his grandma to see the things they brought, including biscuits, cakes, fruits, vegetables, rice and flour. Grandma's family still ate rice with cornmeal. It was a big burden for them to have so many children staying for so many days, so each family prepared a lot of things.
A group of children chattered around their grandparents, and after lunch they ran around the village. At this time, most of the adults in the village had gone to the fields, and the children were either mowing hogweed or herding cattle. They went out in the morning, brought along their lunches, and didn't come back until the sun went down.
When the sun went down in the west, they could hear the sound of cow bells and laughter from far away. The second cousin Li Wen drove the cows while carrying a bundle of firewood on his back and two quails in his hands. Behind him, the fifth cousin carried ragweeds on his back, and the second uncle and second aunt walked at the end carrying hoes.
The aroma of food wafted from the kitchen. Grandma was busy in front of the stove, and grandpa was responsible for keeping the fire. Although grandpa couldn't see, his familiarity with the surrounding environment had long been engraved in his bones, and it didn't affect his daily life at all.
Of course, sometimes there were unexpected situations, and that was the arrival of children like Yang Jiabo, who often disrupted the order at home and caused accidents. So every time they came, grandpa would be extra careful.
The second cousin knew how to have fun. As soon as the other cousins saw him, they surrounded him, looked at the quails he caught, and asked him when he would take them to the mountains to play. If it were the old Yang Jiabo, he would definitely rush over, but now he just sat beside his grandpa obediently and was lost in thought. In fact, he was wondering what to do in the next few days?
According to the normal routine, tomorrow he should go herding cows with his cousins, and then played crazily in the mountains and fields. However, the places where cows were grazed were mostly grasslands with few trees, and there were no medicinal herbs as far as he could remember. If he wanted to dig medicinal plants, he had to go to the forest. There were a lot of honeysuckle in the mountains, his grandma would pick some, dry them, and sell them. There are also white hyacinth, lily, etc.
"It's time to eat."
For dinner, grandma steamed a lot of rice, stewed a large bowl of meat with cabbage, and cooked a pot of pickled cabbage and potato soup. Although there were only three dishes, the portion was sufficient.
Because Yang Jianguo had a powerful father who doted on his son, Yang Jiabo was famous for being picky eater. At this time, the Yang family's conditions were good, and it didn't matter if they had good food. But there was little food to eat in the mountains, so every time grandma would try her best to get them some delicious food. She would often secretly gave Yang Jiabo special treatments, cooked a poached egg for him, hiding it quietly at the bottom of the bowl.
Yang Jiabo saw it and felt moved in his heart. This feeling of being cared for gradually disappeared as the people who loved him passed away one after another. Then faced with the ridicule and malice from the outside world, he finally couldn't help but collapse. He also hated his weakness and wanted to be strong, but his mental illness was beyond his control.
After repeatedly losing control and committing suicide, he had to endure more accusations and misunderstandings after being rescued. Once again, he collapsed and committed suicide uncontrollably. This was a vicious cycle, and he was trapped in self-loathing and couldn't extricate himself. Yang Jiabo shook his head, suppressed those dark memories, and found a corner to eat.
When it was time to wash face and clean mouth in the evening, Yang Jiabo took out his washing tools, which again attracted ridicule.
"Jiajia, you are indeed very squeamish."
"I'm a good boy who pays attention to hygiene." Yang Jiabo gave them a cold look, secretly despising their sloppiness.
"Jiajia is becoming more and more particular." The second cousin Li Wen lamented.
"He's just being picky." The third cousin Zhang Qiang laughed.
Yang Jiabo ignored them, and a group of children fought and cleaned themselves up.
Early the next morning, the children got up excitedly before dawn. Grandma and second aunt obviously got up earlier than them and served them noodles. Second uncle had already filled the water tank. After breakfast, a group of children, big and small, drove the cows and horses and set off.
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