Text/Yao Xiuxiang
When Grandpa was sixty-five, I was fifty-six days. My mother went to work after taking less than two months of maternity leave, and from then on, my grandfather held me in his arms, and one "hug" was fifteen years.
Grandpa died at the beginning of 1983 at the age of eighty. One day in June, I bought money and food for my grandfather on my first unemployed salary, as well as my grandfather's favorite cake. I piled the grave high and high with my strong arms, reminiscing about the days when I followed my grandfather, and I didn't feel the sun setting.
I often think of me picking up cigarette butts in front of various cinemas in Boshan, and the hut of less than six square meters, and my grandfather's gray-black cotton coat. At the time when my grandfather was alive, he often mentioned to me in the 1980s that his grandfather gave him lychees, jackfruit, mangoes, da hong pao, Wuchang fish, Zhuangyuan cake... At that time, I didn't know anything about these things, let alone ate them. But when Grandpa and I said these words, there was nothing I wanted to eat.
Grandpa told me that when he was young, he did a coal business, pulled two trains of leather coal to Jinan, and it turned out that it was the period of the Liberation War, and there was a war in Jinan, and the car escort ran back to save his life, and the coal was lost, which was all of Grandpa's belongings, so by the time Grandpa told me these stories, the family had not turned over. Grandpa is one meter and eight heads, the body is good, buy grandpa good food, even once, I failed to do so. In my grandfather's time, when I was young, I had prosperity, but I didn't live a good life later.
Only I know best the story of my grandfather when he was a child. Grandpa is a native of Dongguan Village, Boshan Mountain, his grandfather's grandfather is a former Qing Wuju, a large family, I examined how the Boshan Wenshi, Daoguang Tiliang Kettle, Old Yantai, Stone Mill, Shoe Bazi, etc. inherited to me by my grandfather came from, and I only knew part of the story of my grandfather's predecessors.
Grandpa relied on a bowl of porridge to feed three sons and a daughter and a grandmother and a large family. By chance, I saw an article about the "Story of Boshan", which mentioned "Yao Family Porridge", that is, the traces left by my grandfather in the guancun village of old Boshan Mountain. Grandpa's stone mill of grinding millet was passed down to Grandpa by Grandpa, and I still enshrine it in the exclusive courtyard and become the treasure of the town house.
Only I know the bitterness of my grandfather's heart best, and only I understand my grandfather's extraordinary mental journey in the early nineteenth century. Grandpa's thousands of teachings enabled me to thrive, Grandpa's survival secret benefited me for life, and he became the capital of my eternal life, only my belongings.
Grandpa was literate, doing poetry, singing opera, and telling old jokes, which made people feel particularly kind. Grandpa has no teeth in his mouth, but he loves to nibble on pot cakes, wear them, and are clean and tidy inside and out.
Grandpa loves me the most, and the most "unaccustomed" is my father, just as my father "can't get used to" me, and I "can't get used to" my son. When fathers and my son are together, their pleasure allows me to share as much as possible—at this time, like a grandfather sitting next to me, and his special smile and kind eyes. Thirty-nine years are fleeting, and scene after scene of the past is like being in front of you...
My name was given to My Grandfather, and my height, looks, and personality copied Grandpa's powerful genes. From grandpa to my son, according to the Chinese tradition called four generations of single transmission, this is the reincarnation of grandpa's life, is an infinite non-cyclical concept.
Is it inevitable or coincidental that a reproduction of history is an inevitable or a coincidence? The only difference is social progress, economic development...
I never wanted to hold on and stagnate—except when I was thinking about grandpa.
About the author: Yao Xiuxiang, male, Boshan Dongguanren, number: Xiangyi Xuan Lord, has a special interest in poetry and literature, carved porcelain wood carving, stone and wood collection, etc. Department: Member of Boshan District Writers Association, Member of China Wenshi Bonsai Art Research Association, Member of China Carrier Pigeon Association, Member of China Institute of Electronics, Unit Propagandist. Articles and engraved porcelain works have been published in the inaugural issue of Zibo Evening News, Qilu Evening News, Jinan Railway News and other media.
One point number Boshan District Writers Association