In the sound of chanting sutras, people took the holy fire from the Chanlong Temple and ignited the fire dragons in each square in the open space. Then the statues of Beidi, Dragon Mother, Monkey King, and Hua Tuo were taken out of the open space in front of the temple; when everyone gathered and the flames were strong, people pre-selected in the village were responsible for carrying the statues of Beidi, Dragon Mother and other gods, and each The villagers selected more than a dozen strong young men to carry the fire dragons in their respective villages. After the deacon gave the trumpet, they marched towards the village under the guidance of gongs, drums and lions.
Along the way, someone sprinkled water to clear the road in front, followed by the incense carrying pavilion, the lantern plaque "Jinli Village Celebrates the Lantern Festival", and the lantern float, carried by four people, followed by the treasure mirror, the dragon mother, the maid, the great sage, The statues of Hua Tuo and other gods, as well as plaques celebrating the Lantern Festival and fire dragons from each lane, slowly moved forward surrounded by the crowd. As the lights flickered, words such as "Lantern Festival in Jinli", "A round moon in the sky and thousands of lamps in the world", "Celebrating the Lantern Festival", "Peaceful country and people's peace", "Fruit harvest", "Prosperity of livestock" and so on were reflected. Under the guidance of the "Lantern Festival Plaques" in their respective houses, people followed the blazing fire dragon parade. The women in the village are responsible for carrying firewood, while some men carry firewood and follow the fire dragon or wait at the intersection, adding firewood to the fire dragon at any time to keep the fire burning vigorously. Every time they go to open places such as archways and ancestral halls, the fire dragons are danced and performed under the guidance of the dancing lions. While shouting loudly, they raise the fire dragons high to compete with each other to see who can lift them higher; some hold up the fire dragons and spin and dance to see whose fire dragon The flames burned brightly. The more people watching, the louder the cheers, and the more energetic the fire dragon dances.
…
The colorful lanterns and floats are twinkling with lights, reflecting the words "Lantern Festival in Jinli, a moon in the sky, thousands of lanterns in the world, celebrating the Lantern Festival, national peace and prosperity, good harvest, prosperous livestock" and other words.
In order to have a complete view of the entire team's march, Lu Huilan climbed up a big tree by the village. Under the cover of night, a team of about 20,000 people was seen in front and behind, like a long fire dragon, traveling between heaven and earth, majestic and spectacular. This situation aroused her enthusiasm for poetry, and she composed an impromptu poem:
After all, the customs in Qiu County in early February are different from those everywhere.
The holy fire connecting to the sky is infinitely green, and the fire dragon in the brocade is uniquely red.
After the fire dragon dance team entered the village, every household would add pre-prepared pieces of firewood to the fire dragon every time they passed by, and set up pavilions in each workshop or in front of the ancestral hall, with offerings on them and light them. Incense and candles are used to pray for good weather, peace and prosperity for the country and a happy life; the young man dancing the fire dragon dances several times in the square, while the villagers burn firecrackers, fireworks, and burn incense. After the above ceremony, the statue is returned to its original place and placed. .
Finally, each village gathers its own fire dragons in the open space in the village, or performs lion dance, martial arts, or continues the fire dragon dance until all the firewood is burned out. At this point, the fire dragon dance activity ends.
…
Suddenly, a burst of "cracking" firecrackers sounded in the village...
Listening to the bursts of "cracking" firecrackers, Zhang Shaofei remembered the scene of spending the Spring Festival with his father and mother...
But now, my father is no longer in this world. After his father passed away, every Spring Festival, Zhang Shaofei would recall the Spring Festival he spent with his father and mother, hoping that such a scene could reappear and freeze time at that moment.
This year's Spring Festival is no longer the Spring Festival spent with my father and mother in the past.
Watching the fire dragon dance with Lu Huilan should have been a joy, but Zhang Shaofei's melancholy could not dissipate.
It's exactly this: When the ends of the earth are endless, there is only endless love.
…
Besides, since Zhang Shaofei inadvertently spied on the natural law of "the situation arises from the heart, and everything will be settled according to the circumstances" in the mountains, he seems to be a different person, returning to his true nature, with a normal heart, returning to the way he was as a teenager. those happy days.
At this time, Zhang Shaofei was already a young man full of youthful vitality. Although his injuries had not fully recovered and he could not go up the mountain to collect firewood, he was smiling all day long at home. Sometimes he dug out the books left by his father from the bookcase. I would read the Four Books and Five Classics; sometimes I would take the book and go to the small river by the village and sit under the shade of the canopy-like longan tree to read. When I was tired, I looked at the small river, thinking about the Xijiang River and the big rivers in a daze, thinking about the spectacular scene of the Xijiang River breaking through the barriers of the mountains and meeting the big rivers...
Thinking and thinking, you will naturally think of the joys and sorrows of life. It is also the heart that distinguishes, experiences and determines.
People with affluent lives can certainly enjoy the delicious food of big fish and meat; however, whole grains like roots and vegetables also have a unique fragrance. The key is the experience of the heart. Enjoying leisurely life, you can enjoy the breeze and the bright moon; while collecting firewood in the mountains, you can enjoy the chirping of birds and the fragrance of wild flowers while working hard. The key to everything is the change of heart...
During Zhang Shaofei's recovery season in autumn, he thought a lot and seemed to have gained a lot.
On this day, Zhang Shaofei finished reading a book at home. Wang Shaoxiang stopped the loom and said to him: "Fei'er, taking advantage of the good weather these days, go to the nearby fields or mountains to pick some 'Hedyotis diffusa', Please come back with raw herbs such as 'Tian Qi', there are not many raw herbs at home anymore."
"Well, okay, grandma, I'll go right away." Zhang Shaofei put down his book, picked up the bamboo-backed basket and small hoe that Wang Shaoxiang used to collect medicinal herbs in the mountains, and went out.
The autumn sunshine shines on the wilderness at the junction of Taizhen and Houliang Village, making everything appear vibrant.
Unknowingly, facing the beautiful autumn scenery, Zhang Shaofei thought to himself: How great it would be to play with Chen Mushui, Li Zhiwen and Ergou, their childhood friends for a while...
Don't tell me, there is a saying called "God follows man's wishes". Zhang Shaofei just had a sudden thought, no, Li Zhiwen and Shui Lian were driving their big buffalo towards him.
Li Zhiwen belongs to a wealthy family with the surname Li in the village. His father, Li Tianyou, married the Wang family and gave birth to four girls and one boy. Li Zhiwen is the fourth child and is seventeen years old, the same age as Zhang Shaofei. Shuilian's father, Zhang Dazhi, is the mother's mother. Mr. Xian unfortunately passed away shortly after giving birth to Water Lotus. Zhang Dazhi later had a second marriage, and Shuilian's stepmother, Shen, gave birth to four boys in succession. Zhang Dazhi was considered a wealthy sugarcane family in the village, with fields, land and cattle; his two dogs were one year younger than Shuilian. , the poorest in the family, he was not yet a month old when he was born. His father, Liang Caiqing, wanted to go up the mountain to catch some pheasants to replenish his wife's health, but he never came back... Ergou's mother, a widow and an orphan, endured hardships , raising the two dogs into adults.
"Brother A Fei, what are you doing alone on the edge of the field?" Ergou saw Zhang Shaofei from a distance and shouted loudly.
When Zhang Shaofei heard the shouting, he looked up and saw Li Zhiwen and Shui Lian each holding a large buffalo, followed by two dogs, who seemed to be herding cattle.
"I'm collecting raw herbs in the field!" Zhang Shaofei responded loudly.
Li Zhiwen and the others said in unison: "Brother A Fei, the weather is nice today. Let's go to the mountains to graze cattle and collect herbs."
Zhang Shaofei said happily: "Okay!"
Chen Mushui, Li Zhiwen and Shui Lian have often played together since they were young, and Ergou always likes to play with them. Whenever they have fun, they always like to bully Ergou, calling him a follower and a fool. The two dogs didn't care, they always followed them with a silly smile.
After passing the fields in Taizhen Village, we came to the river beach in Houliang Village. The big buffalo saw the green grass on the river beach and lowered its head to eat.
Zhang Shaofei saw that both sides of the river were still full of yellow rapeseed flowers. He thought about people after seeing things, and once again thought of the scene when he met Lu Huilan here...
"The village beauty of Houliang Village is here." Li Zhiwen took Shui Lian's hand, looked at Zhang Shaofei who was bowing his head in thought, and said softly.
"Brother A Fei, look, Sister Alan is here. Why don't you ask her to come over and play?" Shui Lian's crisp voice echoed on both sides of the river.
"Brother A Fei, go and bark quickly!" Ergou barked enthusiastically.
Zhang Shaofei was suddenly awakened from his reverie by the shouts from several of them...
Before Zhang Shaofei could say anything, Lu Huilan came to them with light steps.
"Brother A Fei, are your injuries healed?" Lu Huilan asked with concern as soon as she saw Zhang Shaofei.
Zhang Shaofei patted his chest and said, "Okay. But my mother-in-law said that I can't do heavy work yet. It will take a hundred days for the injured tendon to fully heal."
Lu Huilan blinked and asked, "Brother A Fei, what are you doing out today?"
"I came out to pick some raw herbs and went back. As soon as I arrived at the edge of the field, I saw them herding cattle." Zhang Shaofei looked at Li Zhiwen and the others, and then said, "Sister Alan, I didn't expect to see you here."
"This is called meeting each other everywhere in life!" Li Zhiwen said politely.
Shui Lian approached Lu Huilan and said quietly: "Sister Alan, let's go to the opposite mountain to graze cattle and help Brother Afei collect raw herbs. I really want you to go with me."
Unexpectedly, Ergou Ergou heard what Shui Lian said to Lu Huilan from the side, and also started making noises from the side. He clapped his hands and said loudly: "How wild! The village beauty went to play with us, and she deserves death!"
"Damn paparazzi! What are you yelling about!" Shui Lian raised his right hand, pretending to hit him.
"Brother A Fei, come and save me..." Ergou shouted while hiding behind Zhang Shaofei.
Zhang Shaofei touched Er Gou's hair and said with a smile: "As long as the paparazzi don't talk nonsense, A Lianmei will not beat you." Then, Zhang Shaofei turned to Lu Huilan and introduced, "This is Er Gou from Taizhen Village, the two of them You already know each other, so I don’t need to introduce you." After Zhang Shaofei finished speaking, he said to Ergou: "Paparazzi, please call me Sister Lan!"
These two dogs are not stupid either. They walked up to Lu Huilan, took her hand, and said stupidly: "Hello, Sister Lan! Sister Lan's hands are so white, soft, and fragrant. No wonder Brother Awen said you were a village beauty just now... "
When Lu Huilan heard what Er Gou said, she shook Er Gou's hand away with a swipe. Her pretty face was as red as Guan Gong, from head to ear.
