# Homecoming Notes # Hometown! You keep our hearts, but how to keep our people!

When people ask about my hometown, I will answer it like this: Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Chifeng City, Wengniute Banner, Wutonghua Town, Toupaizi Township, Zhaojiawopu Brigade, Xiaoheishanhou Village, Dong Nationality. Is the place name long? Yes, I think so, too, but this is where I was born and raised.

Now, with the joint efforts of my parents, my wife and I, I finally left there, shortened my residence address and settled in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia. It can be regarded as fulfilling my parents' greatest expectation when I was a child: even if I go to the city to be a watchdog, I have to leave this dead ravine!

Whenever I recall what my hometown used to look like, I can't think of a more representative word except poverty and gully.

It is a traditional custom of our Chinese nation to go back to our hometown to worship our ancestors during the Spring Festival, and so is our place. The so-called returning home to worship ancestors here is to buy some incense sticks and paper money, light them in front of the graves of the deceased ancestors, and bow down to pay homage.

This year is no exception. On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, I drove back to my hometown from Chifeng to worship my ancestors.

Before I left, I called my uncle. He said, "Come back, the road is easy now."

My father, four brothers and one sister, my father is the boss. In my life, I am the only boy. I am the boss and have ten sisters. When grandpa was alive, he called me "a seedling in various poses". Today, there are only three uncles and aunts in my hometown. My other uncles and aunts and my ten sisters are out of town. Therefore, every time I go back to my hometown, I always go to my uncle's house. Of course, I never forgot to call my aunt and invite her to my home.

As soon as I got off the highway, I felt that the road was really much easier. The "Ten Full Coverage" project in Inner Mongolia has made the rural dirt roads from Wengniute Banner to their hometown become cement pavements, which are spacious and flat, without potholes and dusty.

The first feeling of entering the village is that the house is neat and beautiful. According to his uncle, last year, the government paid for the repair of all the houses in the village, tearing down the original mud courtyard wall and repairing it into brick walls. Solar street lamps were installed on both sides of the road. The village is also connected with running water.

Then I feel very quiet, I can't hear the crowing of chickens and dogs, and I can't hear the bustling voices. Speaking of this, his uncle can't help but sigh: "Although the houses are well built, there are not many people in the village. If you die, you can go, and the rest can be counted with a snap of your fingers. " There are four families in the west of the village. A little more east, seven households. The total number of people at home, that is, less than 20 people, a family can not stand two people! "

In the cemetery, my uncle and I lit incense, picked up paper money, burned them one by one and worshipped them. Every time I visit the grave, my uncle will introduce me to the ancestors in this grave. To tell the truth, even if it is launched every year, what I can remember as a black sheep is limited. Looking at the new grave in the cemetery, his uncle will inevitably feel some regrets.

After coming back from the cemetery, my uncle and I went to my neighbor's grandmother's house.

Grandma is over eighty years old. One eye is blind, but the other eye is still on. I just walked into the house with my uncle, and she recognized me sitting on the kang and said excitedly, "Ah! If it isn't Xiao Yulong (my real name)! Hey, there's hope again, still raising people in the city! "Since I left the village as a teenager, I'm not confused now. That's what her old man says every time he sees me.

I stepped forward to hold her dry but warm hand, sat down beside her and said, "Grandma, you are still so tough, and you are in good health and spirit!" " "

Hearing this, she burst out laughing and said, "Hey! Look at my grandson, he is really good at talking, hey! I can't! I'm dying! From the east of this village, I will be the next person to die! No, waste food, damn it! "

I quickly chatted with her about the weather, rain, food price and harvest this year, and changed the subject.

Speaking of the changes in my hometown, although I haven't come back for only a short year, I can still describe it as "great changes".

The hillside field behind the village was rented by a listed company in Henan Province for a long time to build a large farm. Raise pigs and produce fertilizers. Although there are few families in the village, they are all connected to the mobile network. Mobile phones can surf the Internet, watch short videos of Aauto Quicker and karaoke online. In the evening, some villagers will go to Little Square in the middle of the village to dance square dance.

"Six people, four old ladies, two old men, three leaning to the left, two swinging to the right, one twisting twice and having to sit down and rest, haha!" Three uncle said with a smile.

The most talked about is the farm of this listed company. After all, this is the biggest new thing that has happened in the village for many years. It is said that a lot of money has been invested and many pigs have been raised in it. However, it is difficult to recruit workers.

I am very surprised, listed companies, good treatment, how can it be difficult to recruit?

His uncle smiled: "They only need young people under 45, so there are no young people in the village. Then, they went to the city to recruit people. I heard that it is a listed company, and many college students have come. Look here! Oh, my God! I spent half a day feeding pigs, giving injections, raising pigs, delivering babies, bathing pigs, massaging pigs and cleaning up pig manure in the ravine! Ha ha! Some can last for three months, and some leave without putting down their luggage! "

After hearing what he said, everyone laughed again.

I said, "If the young people outside don't come, isn't it good for our local young people to find jobs nearby?"

"Ha ha! Why? Going home from college to raise pigs and serve pigs? Who did this? Even if the children are willing, we parents will not do it! Not interested! " Three uncle said with a smile.

There was another burst of laughter.

The so-called everyone, in fact, is because I, a "city dweller", have returned to the village, and everyone who can leave home in the east of the village has come! Just seven or eight!

My uncle and grandfather chatted with me on the kang, while my aunt and grandmother prepared food in the outhouse. Now the living standard in the village is no worse than that in the city, and it is full of fish. We will warm two bottles of Erguotou in a big teapot, and soon we will all drink too much. Then, take the chopsticks off the kang table, wipe them with a rag, and the poker will come up. All right, landlords.

Speaking of landlords, my aunt's family is now a veritable landlord in the village. Most people in the village went to the city, and there was a lot of idle land, so my aunt contracted some. Plus her own home, a total of more than 200 acres of land, of course, most of them are mountains.

Speaking of aunt, the landlord, she is also very calm. She said: "There are many fields, but because most of them are mountains, farming is a bit like gambling. Whether to make money depends on luck. Good luck, catch up with a good year, abundant rain and a good harvest. Bad luck, drought, hail, pests and diseases, not only do not make money, but also lose seed fertilizer and labor costs Now the labor cost is very high. When busy farming, go to villages with few plots of land to pick up workers (uncles and aunts with few plots of land), pick up cars to deliver goods, and take care of meals at noon. I only work nine hours a day and earn more than 100 yuan a day, even if it is only a dozen meters away from Lingtou. I quit as soon as I saw the time. It is said that I rushed back to the square dance! Hey! What a luxury! We farmers, it is not easy to dig in the soil! "

But when it comes to the days in the countryside, everyone is very happy. It is said that the rural policy is good now, and farming is not only free of wages, but also subsidized. Even in times of disaster, we are not afraid. Together, agricultural insurance and various kinds of relief are more than the income in good years, and we are not worried. You can't make a fortune, and you can't stand being poor.

I said, "In the past, we all kept donkeys, pigs, sheep and chickens at home. At least we should have a dog, shouldn't we? Why not raise it now? "

While fighting the landlord, his uncle said, "Well! Donkeys used to be raised for farming, but now tractors are used. Once the donkey was idle and jumped high in the circle. Liao Yang, the head of the west village, let the donkey kick off his ribs and almost died in the hospital. It's troublesome to raise pigs three times a day. Sheep used to be raised in the mountains, but now they are not allowed. It's quite troublesome to keep them at home if it destroys the environment. There are eight roosters in my family this year, and I plan to kill them during the Chinese New Year, but just in summer, five of them were killed by weasels. I quickly killed the remaining three, otherwise they would all be mine. It's no use keeping a dog. I used to be a janitor. Now there are only a few people left in the village. All the money is in the bank. There is only one bag of rice at home. You give him a bag of rice to carry. You are too lazy to move! Yes, two! I shovel shit every day, so I don't raise anything. It's quiet. Working when you are busy, playing mahjong, fighting landlords and exchanging notes in your spare time (a poker game in Chifeng area), except for a few people who are not good at making up the game, everything else is good! "

I couldn't help laughing when he spoke in the same way.

At present, rural children do not spend money on studying, primary school students have school buses to pick them up, and not only do they have student loans when they are admitted to universities, but villages and towns also give scholarships ranging from tens of thousands to thousands of dollars. Hey! Really sigh that I was born a little early and didn't catch up with these good things! But the children in the countryside are not in the village now, but live in the town with their parents.

Speaking of rural development, everyone laughed.

Three uncles said: "the development of rural areas depends on what resources there are in the village, relying on mountains to eat and water to eat." . We have no water, haha! What development? How to develop? Those who have reached the age of farming are old and dead. Young people, not to mention farming to make money, even if they go back to the countryside to collect money, they may not come back! Oh, of course, I can't say absolutely, but, less! Hmm! Your aunt has developed and will definitely become the biggest landlord in our village! Don't touch the bomb! Ha ha! Won! "Say that finish, he dropped the card in his hand on the table.

There was another burst of laughter.

As night falls, the street lights are on and the village is quiet!

I'm lying in the quilt. There is heating in the room, but my nose is very cold. I tossed and turned, it was too hot on the kang! Listening to the jokes of the big stars on TV, listening to the snoring of his uncle, it is difficult to sleep for a long time.

The next day, the morning sun rose and the distant mountains were still there. I drive away: my hometown! See you next year!

The car stereo is playing Zhao Lei's Chengdu, and my heart is really hard to calm down: hometown! You have kept our hearts and given us so many eternal memories, but how can we keep our people and let the children who leave home come back happily and never leave!

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PS: I heard that I will write a note about returning to China. My uncle sent me some photos of his hometown in autumn taken by his mobile phone. I think this is a good shot, so I am happy to use it.