A few years have passed, and times have changed in the village.
There is a large river to the west of Panlong Village. When viewed from a high altitude, it meanders through the plain from the northwest to the southeast. It is said that this is a branch of the Huaihe River Basin. The water in the river flows from there, silently nurturing the villagers on both sides of the river.
The drought has been going on for almost three years now. There is almost no water in the river, and the wheat fields in the distance are withered and yellow.
This early summer, the sun is scorching hot. In the deep ditch in the river, there seemed to be a few grass carp feebly spitting out hot bubbles. A group of sunburnt children came next to them. The oldest one was about seven or eight years old, and the youngest one was about four or five years old. There was a tall little boy who couldn't wait to roll up his trousers and wade into the water to catch fish. His name is Pan Liang, he has a cruel temper, and he is considered the boss of these children.
"Xiao Liang, get the plastic bucket quickly, there are so many fish," Pan Liang ordered to his brother next to him.
"I'm so scared, there are leeches." Xiaoliang backed away reluctantly, with a sly smile on his face. "Guo Yang, hurry up and pass this little plastic bucket to my brother," and ran away in a hurry. .
Guo Yang hesitated while holding the plastic bucket, and looked at Pan Tianyi who looked calm next to him, as if he was unwilling to get the sandals on his feet wet. Pan Tianyi, who is six years old this year, looked at him with disdain, took the glue bucket and threw it at Pan Liang. Unfortunately, the plastic bucket fell right into the dirty water in front of Pan Liang, splashing mud all over his face. After several young men saw it, they couldn't help laughing.
"Tianyi, you want to be beaten, don't think that you dare to do whatever you want with your sister behind your back." Pan Liang was so angry that he stamped his feet when he saw everyone laughing at him, staring at Tianyi.
"Tch, who are you relying on my sister?" Pan Tianyi didn't bother to explain, "Obviously I threw it incorrectly, that's why it happened like this," he said while apologizing with a playful smile. He turned his head and looked at his sister on the shore from a distance. She was wearing a light green skirt and was hiding under a tree with her best friends to cool off. She seemed to be discussing study matters.
"I'll go down too and see if I can catch some wild shrimps." Pantian rolled up his trouser legs and called Guo Yang down: "Aren't they the foam-soled sandals your mother just made? Take them off and come down together!" .
"Look, there are many holes here. A small fish got into it..." Pan Liang seemed to have discovered a new world, calling Tianyi to come over and take a look.
"Hey, I touched a loach in the hole." Pan Tianyi walked over and stretched out his hand to touch the hole. At some point, he took out a large plastic bag with his left hand and put the large loach as thick as his finger into it.
Everyone saw that Pan Liang and Pan Tianyi seemed to have caught a lot of wild fish and shrimps. Not to be outdone, the boys took off their sandals one after another, wore shorts, took plastic bags and plastic basins and started to catch fish in the water. Every time a fish or shrimp is caught, everyone will report the number to see who catches the most. Joy and excitement broke through the blazing sunshine and rippled around.
The scorching sun was shining high in the sky, and the figures were hiding under the paint. A hot wind blew across the bank, and the withered yellow leaves swirled and fell on the cracked grass.
Sister Pan Tianyi was on the embankment, her green skirt fluttering in the wind, waving her hand from a distance, "Tianyi, it's time for us to go home."
"Okay!" Pan Tianyi proudly carried most of the bag of fish, adjusted his clothes and pants, put on his sandals and walked to the shore. Then he turned around, showed a malicious smile, and shouted to everyone: "It's noon, the ghost is coming out, a water ghost is coming, run away!"
"Damn, there are still a few loaches, I don't know where they went..." Pan Liang cursed anxiously, feeling uneasy and had to leave quickly.
Several younger children nearby had already dropped their water bags and ran towards the shore, wiping their tears and crying. The Panliang brothers carried small buckets and staggered behind, running wildly with sweat on their backs.
Walking on a dirt road in the countryside, the tung trees on both sides of the road drooped with withered yellow leaves. When Pan Tianyi was walking in his own field, looking at the patches of dry yellow wheat fields in the distance, he felt inexplicably worried, worried about the failure of the grain harvest, and worried about his mother who was worried and tired all day long. The other children looked at the heat wave in the distance, and everyone seemed to have a look of helplessness and anxiety on their faces.
"The wheat in the field is almost withering. It's so pitiful..." Pan Tianyi said to his sister, "I'm so worried about my mother..." As he spoke, his throat became choked up.
"In a few days, Mom will go to grandma's house to borrow my uncle's sprinkler machine." My sister comforted me, but she was not very peaceful. Mom has been running to my uncle's house recently, but the fields there have not been irrigated yet; recently, my aunt The whole family is also running towards grandma’s house, and seems to be anxious about fighting the drought...
"Pan Liang, why don't we go to Guandi Temple to pray for rain in the afternoon?" Pan Tianyi looked at everyone, with the mentality of giving it a try, to see if anyone was going with him. It was really dark in Guandi Temple. People are so scared!
"That's right! I want to go too, it won't hurt if we kowtow together." Pan Liang seemed to have already planned it, so he agreed.
Guo Yang heard their thoughts from the side and seemed to have a tacit understanding, "And I also want to ask for rain for grandma."
"Okay, after lunch, let's meet next to the big willow tree by the pit!"
Everyone left in silence.
Pan Tianyi followed his sister, holding half a bag of wild fish and shrimp in his hand, and rushed home eagerly!
The Pantian family is located to the east of Panlong Village and on the southwest bank of the pit (pond). A mushroom-shaped willow crown is lush and green, blocking out the sky and the sun. The sparrows on the tree are chirping non-stop.
"Mom, we're back!" Pan Tianyi opened the door from the outside, quickly ran to his mother, reached out and shook most of the bag of fish in his hand. My mother has been tanned and lost a lot of weight in the past few days. Her face is slightly sallow, and there are bloodshot eyes at the corners. She seems to have not rested well in the past few days.
"Silly boy, you caught so many fish, your clothes are all stained." The mother smiled and stroked her head with a teapot hairstyle. "Where is your sister?" His mother found a porcelain basin and poured the fish and shrimp into the water, and asked him worriedly.
"Sister, you're in the back!"
"Mom, I'm back." No, it's Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here. My sister walked over calmly from outside the courtyard, holding a few roadside wild flowers in her hand. There was a big bee buzzing on the petals. My sister has a round face and short ear-length hair. She walks like a cloud, clean and refreshing!
"Wow, the red embroidered shoes I like are ready!" My sister saw several pairs of brand-new canvas sandals placed behind her mother. She ran forward in surprise, holding the red embroidered shoes in her hand, looking at them carefully, and she was very happy. . "Huh? There are two pairs of sandals for my brother, they are also ready."
Pantian ran over to try them on, and saw that each sandal was embroidered with a pair of green dragons and auspicious clouds. These were all sewn by my mother with embroidery needles. She stayed up many nights just to put on the new shoes! Pantian looked at her sister's embroidered shoes again and again. They were also embroidered with golden phoenix-like patterns. Under the sunlight, they were radiant and shining, as if they were alive!
The smoke is lingering and the willow leaves are graceful. The aroma of fried fish fills the entire courtyard.
On the kitchen stove, three large bowls of braised steamed fish with wild vegetables are placed. Pan Tianyi and his sister rushed into the kitchen and saw a bowl full of clear soup and two other bowls full of fish and red shrimp. My sister hesitated for a moment, picked up a fish with chopsticks, put it in the bowl, and walked out without turning the head of the bowl. Pan Tianyi laughed at his sister for doing something unnecessary, turned around and left. Suddenly he thought it was his mother's bowl, so he turned around and quietly took an extra fish and a wild shrimp from his own bowl and put them into that bowl. Turning around, I chased my sister and ran to the big willow tree beside the pit outside the courtyard, slowly tasting...
