Late autumn, dragon sleep, beautiful Shuimo Bay.

Autumn is a season suitable for travel. Every autumn, I look forward to traveling again and again. Even if you revisit the old place and the scenery is the same as before, you will never forget every ray of warm sunshine and breeze you have passed.

I like to wander around the country alone, especially to go for a ride in the mountains by motorcycle. Ride if there is a way, and abandon the car and walk if there is no way out. It's quiet in the mountains now. Many people bought houses in the city, and most young people emigrated to the mountains. Only old people who love mountains, land and old houses are used to living in the mountains. One is to plant crops in spring and harvest in autumn, and the other is to make the air fresh and quiet.

? Shuimo Bay, located in the hinterland of Longmian Mountain, is such a beautiful, quiet and idyllic ancient village. Surrounded by mountains, a wide and narrow river winds out of the mountains and slowly bypasses the villages of more than a dozen families. Tracing back to the river to find the source, and then to the northwest of the village, there is a vast mountain, and the other side of the mountain belongs to Huangcaojian in Huangjia Town.

? More than ten years ago, I took a bus to Huangjiashi Banqiao and started walking. I remember walking along a small river, leading to a small mountain village called Peng Jian in the valley. A local friend surnamed Peng who accompanied me at that time told me that the mountain in front of me was Shuimo Bay. Unfortunately, it didn't happen that year. I just want to get in and out of such a high mountain, not to mention the danger. It must be too much trouble. This makes me have a mysterious and yearning psychology for Shuimo Bay in the depths of the mountains.

Later, I entered the mountain from Longmian and walked slowly along the highway around the lake. After Longmen, Jiaoyuan, Shuangxi and Huangmailing, directly turn 90 degrees south from Hulaowu and head for the shallow river. There are as many bends in the river as there are on the road, sometimes hiding behind the hillside on the right, and sometimes suddenly turning out from the foot of the mountain on the other side. The continuous small bridge flows, turning and turning again. When the same antique small village "Shiwan" appears in front of our eyes, the artistic conception of "mountains and heavy waters have no road to doubt, and the willow blossoms are bright and another village".

It's only about a mile from Shuimo Bay. In autumn, the water level of the river is not high, and pebbles of different shapes and sizes can be clearly seen on the riverbed and floodplain, which is also the name of Shiwan. When the river winds between the mountains and flows from the mountainside to here, it is said that it has turned a dozen bends, so someone gave it a poetic name: Ten Bends. As for the exact name "Shetan" marked on relevant historical materials, what is the profound connotation? No one answered.

? Cross the Stone Bay and turn a hill to the northwest, which is an open valley: the panoramic view of Shuimo Bay can be seen at once. Old houses are faintly visible, and people are busy harvesting in the fields of the valley. Isn't this a natural "dragon sleeps in Shan Jutu"? I fear heaven and earth, love mountains and rivers, and know the joys and sorrows of nature, so I can live in harmony with every grass and tree here. In these years, only remote places can preserve this most authentic and pristine scene and let people breathe freely and feel happy. ......

Maybe my talent is limited, or maybe it's just because I'm in this mountain. I want to write an article for Shuimowan every time in recent years, but I dare not write. I'm afraid my poor writing has violated its purity and tranquility, and I can't speculate and imagine its origin and history. I was asked to find an old man named Cheng Yinsheng who lives in Shuimo Bay. It is said that it is about Shuimo Bay, and all his old people know it.

The original residents of Shuimo Bay were people surnamed Cheng, and later, foreign surnames such as Huang, Cao and Zhang were added one after another. Their ancestors didn't know whether they were hiding in the mountains because they were fleeing war or bandits. It may also be because I love Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Garden too much, so I came to the depths of the mountains to build a peaceful home.

I tend to agree with the latter statement. Because there is an old courtyard with Ming and Qing architectural styles that left a very deep impression on me. In the middle of the yard, there is a flower pond made of blue bricks, and a peony with the thickness of a bowl is planted on the flower pond. According to reports, this peony has a history of hundreds of years. Unfortunately, when I came this year, the owner of the old house had moved to the city, and both doors were closed. It makes me a little angry, but my heart is unwilling.

There is a well-preserved quotation wall in the old hall in the center of the village, which records that the "red" years have also had an impact on this remote mountain village. Above the house in the south of the main room stands a pine tree about one person high. The ancient tree protection sign on the doornail of the forestry department says "Luohansong", but it has nothing in common with the Luohansong I know. Professionals in professional departments don't deliberately play a little joke on themselves, do they? Here's a question.

The southernmost tea factory was transformed from the original Shuimowan Primary School. Several hospitable old people, mostly seventy years old, are sitting on a big stone next to a tea factory and chatting in the sun. Among them, there is an old man named Yin Sheng. I have been there several times, but I have never seen him.

He devoted his life to rural education. At the age of 78, Cheng Yinsheng studied in Bronze Bell from 1957 to 1960. He told me about the former headmaster, Mr. Shi, and the head teacher. And his classmates, Tang and Du ... The old man took out one of his honorary certificates at my repeated request, but politely declined my request for a photo, simply telling me that all his old documents and photos were lost, and none of them were kept.

I can't wait to ask him: Why is the river that flows around the village to the outside of the mountain called the Yellow River? The old man said that there was no correct answer. The most reliable reason was that there was a small village called Huang Zhuang behind Shuimo Bay, and the northwest of Shuimo Bay was the tip of yellow grass, which should have a far-fetched connection with the yellow of the "Yellow River".

As for the origin of the name Shuimo Bay, the old man said that it was named after Shuimo Bay hundreds of years ago. And more than 20 years ago, I stumbled upon the former site of Shuimo. He guided me to find the location of the water mill: "Rice milling, flour milling and car washing are all driven by river water, and no manual work is needed." I imagine the creaking and grinding sound day and night during the busy farming season, and I can't help feeling the wisdom and skills of our ancestors. At that time, the river surface was much wider and the water flow was much faster to drive the rotation of the water mill. I am very glad to verify the real origin of Shuimo Bay, which satisfies my curiosity to the greatest extent.

Every time I come, I will always encounter different scenery and feel the most primitive, simple and authentic beauty. It is completely different from the ancient villages in Jiangnan. Simple and low-key, there is no domineering gatehouse, and there are no finely carved stone carvings. Some of the remaining old houses, such as wooden columns, earth walls and small gray-black tiles, just correspond to the soft and undulating hills around them, giving people a just right sense of existence and comfort. Of course, if you can decorate one or two exquisite ancient buildings, you should be able to make the finishing point. But this is not a style, it can also be said that it also highlights the pragmatic, thrifty, introverted and implicit personality of our ancestors.

It is this kind of scenery that nature and tradition, nature and modernity tend to be perfectly connected, which is the most desirable and pursued artistic conception of the soul. Just because it comes from the beauty of the senses, it can't move the heart, and it can't make the heart live, what to experience and what to expect.

You can lie on the sunny hillside, taste the ripe wild persimmons and chestnuts, enjoy the beautiful mountains and rivers, take photos of yourself, and conceive the words "Deep autumn sleep, beautiful Shuimo Bay" ... A beautiful day will be very comfortable and pleasant in the past.