Chapter 2: Those long-lost days

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Those long-lost days Feng Yiping's house is located at the back right of Fengjiachong. It used to be a bamboo garden, and now there are a total of four households. The other three households are in the same situation as Feng Yiping's family. Each has at least two children, and as the children slowly grow up, the original old house is no longer big enough. The old houses are all connected, and there is no place to expand, so three years ago, several families successively built new houses in this bamboo garden.

In the past, in the countryside, to build such an adobe house, in fact, there were very few materials to buy.

There are mainly three materials for such a house: adobe bricks, timber and tiles.

The adobe bricks were made at home. There was a yellow mud pond next to the house, and the mud was dug from there. Some water was added, and the cows were made to trample on it. Then straw was added and the cows were told to continue trampling. After it was well-trodden, the mud was ladled into a brick mould – a rectangular wooden frame – and then a person would stand on it to stamp it down. Then a stone knife was used to trim the surface of the brick to make it even, and finally the mould was removed and left to dry in the sun.

Of course, a lot of wood was used to build a house, and this was also not very expensive. Apart from the fields, every household was also allocated a piece of mountain forest, which was full of pine trees. But the ownership of this forest is even more nominal. Although the mountain is your family's, and the trees are nominally your family's, you cannot move a single one. There is a forest ranger in the village who will fine you if he catches you cutting down trees. The only advantage is that you can prune the branches once a year, and you can take the cut branches home and use them as firewood.

Although it is said that you cannot cut them, every household builds a house, and they all use the trees in the mountains, including the village secretary's house. But since there are regulations there and there is a dedicated person, it is not good to be too blatant when cutting trees.

Feng Yiping remembers that the year he prepared the wood, he was 8 years old, and the family of four got up at 5 o'clock in the morning and rushed to their own mountain forest. When they returned, most of the people in the village had just got up.

Their family forest was at the highest point, against the mountain ridge. They cut three trees in the morning, with each parent carrying one and he and his sister tackling the smaller one together.

Since it was all downhill, his four-year-old sister walked in front, and the freshly cut pine tree weighed down on her shoulders and caused her pain. The two little ones had to bow their heads every few steps to shift the tree to the other shoulder, and then bow their heads again after a few more steps to shift it to the other shoulder. In this way, their shoulders were red from rubbing as soon as they had just walked out of their family forest.

But he could think of a clever way to carry the tree down. So he put the tree on the mountain path, and he pushed from behind while his sister pulled from the front. When they encountered a ditch or a bump in the road, they lifted it with their hands. This was much more comfortable than using their young shoulders.

So, on the way to the tree-cutting site, his favourite part was the big stone slope. They laid the tree horizontally and gave it a push, and it rolled 'gong-dong' 'gong-dong' to the bottom, without having to exert any strength at all, and they had moved it ten metres.

Their parents did not wait for them, but walked straight ahead. So, all the way, they pushed, pulled, lifted and carried, struggling to carry the tree home.

There was a big slope, a stretch of flat road, another slope, another slope, and finally a stretch of flat road, and a small river ahead.

Finally, the two of them were so exhausted that they collapsed to the ground. They pushed and pulled, and finally made it across the river. They were at the top of a stone slope several zhang high, and there was a long stretch of uphill road behind it. They really had no choice.

At this time, the father delivered his tree to the family and then returned to carry theirs back. This was done in the morning and considered to be done.

This was only the first step. After the tree arrived home, the bark had to be peeled off, then it was left to soak in the pond for a few months, then fished up and dried before it could be used to build a house.

Of course, the wood for the house did not come for free. The most important beam had to be a large tree that had grown for many years.

If there is no suitable tree in the village forest, they have to go to the village in the deeper mountains to find one. First, they will go to the forest with the carpenter to have a look, and then they will go to the owner's house with gifts such as cigarettes and alcohol to discuss which tree they want to use for the beam. The owner will usually not refuse, and then they can cut the tree for a few tens of dollars – usually no more than 50.

Of course, for such a large tree and a longer journey, it would be impossible for one person to carry it, so at least a few strong labourers would take turns to carry it.

And, after the house was finished, the family that sold the tree would also come bearing gifts.

Finally, tiles were used, which also cost some money.

In those years, many new houses were built, so the village came forward and built a kiln together.

Making tile moulds is similar to making bricks, except that the final moulds are different.

Once the tile moulds were ready, they were arranged in the kiln according to the instructions of the master, and then they were fired for several tens of hours – so it was necessary to prepare enough firewood, then extinguish the fire, and let it smoulder for tens of hours. Finally, the master opened the kiln, and the tile moulds turned into dark green tiles.

Therefore, although the raw materials used to build houses at that time did not cost much – mainly because there was no money! – the preparation time was very long. His family's house was built when he was in the third grade, and it was probably being prepared when he was in the first grade.

When Feng Yiping arrived home with the two Wenhua brothers, Feng Zhenchang and his good friend Feng Mingzhi were chatting with the village carpenter Feng Chuntang in the main room.

Feng Chuntang teased him, 'Yiping, have you put the cow in the right place? They don't teach you that at school!'

Feng Yiping laughed, 'It's bulging like it's pregnant with a calf anyway.'

Everyone laughed.

Once they entered the kitchen, Feng Yiping felt self-conscious sitting behind the stove adding firewood while they were busy cooking.

'They're drinking tonight, and it's likely to go on for a long time. Eat your noodles first,' said Mei Qiuping, pouring a bowl of cold noodles into the pan, warming it up and dividing it into three portions for the three of them, Feng Yiping's portion being the largest, of course.

When entertaining guests at home, the hostess and children generally do not sit at the table, and they cannot eat until they have finished their drinks. Mei Qiuping knew that her son was at the age where he could eat a lot, and that he would get hungry quickly. So she made an extra helping in the afternoon, waiting until 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening, when his stomach would already be rumbling.

The noodles were homemade oil noodles, which were introduced on the CCTV programme A Bite of China. This was the leftover from the noodles made in the afternoon for carpenter Feng Chuntang.

In the countryside, craftsmen such as carpenters, lacquerers and bamboo craftsmen who come to the house to work are responsible for preparing both lunch and dinner, as well as providing alcohol and tobacco.

In addition, before the two main meals, in the morning and in the afternoon, the host family always prepares food, usually noodles. Similar to afternoon tea in the UK, but these craftsmen enjoy it even more than the British gentlemen, as they have not only afternoon tea, but also morning tea.

Feng Yiping slurped up a bowl of noodles in a few minutes, and Mei Qiuping scolded him while she cooked, 'No one's trying to take it away from you, why are you eating so fast?'

The two Wenhua brothers laughed next to them, holding their bowls.

Fried peanuts, chili-fried bacon, pan-fried tofu, egg with loofah, cucumber with bacon, and a plate of broad beans. Six dishes, which was considered a hearty meal in the countryside.

They both drank slowly, taking a sip of wine, eating a few mouthfuls of food, and chatting for a long time. When one glass of wine was finished, they would pour another one, and then argue over who should pour it. Their drinking capacity was limited, and they could only drink half a jin at most. Therefore, Feng Yiping always felt that they weren't really drinking, but just using drinking as an excuse to eat and chat.

It was past eight o'clock, and they still hadn't finished drinking. Mei Qiuping served two bowls of rice, put some vegetables on it, and let Wen Hua and Wen Hui eat first. After they finished eating, she found a flashlight and asked Feng Yiping to take them home.

The Milky Way stretched across the sky, the stars gently scattered above the village, the windows of the houses along the road gave off a dim yellow light, the whole village was very quiet, the chirping of insects in the grass was clear, and from the former threshing floor, laughter could be faintly heard.

That was the place where people gathered in the evening to cool off. At that time, televisions were far from being popular in farm households, and electric fans were also a luxury. On such a hot day, it was impossible to go to bed too early and still be unable to sleep. So after dinner, after taking a shower, the families would burn mugwort on the edge of the threshing floor to repel mosquitoes. Then they would carry their bamboo beds to the threshing floor, lie on them, wave big fans, and chat idly while cooling off. Searᴄh the nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Feng Yiping used to love this time of day. There were always old people telling stories about the early years, when they fought bandits, and anecdotes about walking at night and encountering ghosts, monsters, snakes and insects. In an era when there was no radio to listen to, no magazines to flip through, and no TV to watch, this was a rare pastime. Oh, it seems that Pu Songling, the author of Liaozhai, also listened to these stories everywhere and collected material.

After the grandparents finished, it was the turn of the middle-aged people, who talked about when they were young, about the period of ******, about stories of hunger and not being able to eat enough, and about which relatives had been in the county and had been allocated a large house with everything provided, including a TV, washing machine and refrigerator, as well as a telephone. His son studied too hard and became nearsighted in primary school, and it cost hundreds of yuan to buy a pair of glasses. In which village did a bright child get into university? Not only did the parents work hard at home, they also borrowed money from everyone they could find, saying that they wanted their child to go on to get a doctorate in the future.

Of course, in the end, there would be a summary of the main points, mainly aimed at the children, telling them to cherish what they have, to be diligent, to work hard, to be thrifty, to be filial... In concrete terms, in their daily lives, they were told to listen to their parents and do as they were told, and to listen to their teachers and study hard.

However, by the time Feng Yiping finished junior high school, with the popularisation of televisions, the family had a few electric fans, and most young people went out to work. This scene could only be remembered.

After dropping them off at home, Wenhua asked, 'Younger brother, are you going to herd the cows tomorrow?'

'Yes,' Feng Yiping said, 'don't follow me, I still have to chop firewood tomorrow and won't have time to keep you company. In that case, when I come back tomorrow, can I bring you grapes?'

There was a wild grape vine where he kept the cows, and they didn't know what kind it was, but the grapes were very large.

The two men were a little happier.