Cold rain
In the countryside, every family has its own sweet potato cellar, which is specially used to store their own sweet potatoes.
The sweet potato cellar is a valuable asset for the countrymen. These sweet potato cellars are carefully constructed, with a complex structure and a decent size that is large enough to hold a few sacks of sweet potatoes. The temperature and humidity in the sweet potato cellar are well controlled, so that the sweet potatoes can be stored for a long time in such an environment and are not easy to spoil. When autumn comes, the sweet potatoes in the sweet potato field are ripe, and the villagers will get busy, digging up the huge sweet potatoes from the ground, washing, peeling, drying, and then carefully putting them into their sweet potato cellars.
I can't forget when I was a child, when the wheat was fragrant, a group of us friends often went to the sweet potato cellar to pick up sweet potatoes. Those red, soft and glutinous fruits are the delicacies of our time, and they are also the purest memories of our childhood. At that time, the sweet potato cellar seemed to be a mysterious world, deep and full of temptation. The entrance to the cellar is narrow enough for only one person to pass through. We always walk into this dark world with torches in hand. Every adventure is full of unknowns and excitement.
The sweet potato cellar is filled with the scent of earth, mixed with the sweet aroma of sweet potatoes, which is a long-lost, familiar smell. Step by step, I felt like I had stepped into a hidden time tunnel. Here I heard the story of the wind, saw the traces of the rain, and felt the passage of time. Those red potato wedges are like the imprint of life, each of which is a memory and a story. Here I heard my inner voice and felt the weight of life. Those sweet potatoes that have been precipitated by the years are like the palette of life, each piece exudes a different color. I saw the ups and downs of life here, and felt the ups and downs of life.
Every time we find a sweet potato, we cheer with excitement. Carefully peeling away the dirt to reveal the ruddy flesh, a faint sweet fragrance fills the air. We can't wait to take a bite, and the sweet glutinous sweet potato and the wheaty air are intertwined, as if the whole world has become sweet. We played hide-and-seek in the sweet potato cellar, laughter and shouts echoing through the cellar.
Sweet potatoes stored in sweet potato cellars have become a year-round delicacy for country people. When the harvest season comes, families will bring out their own sweet potatoes to entertain friends and family. Sweet potatoes can be eaten in a variety of ways, such as steaming, boiling, roasting, frying, and can also be made into dried sweet potatoes, sweet potato flour and other delicacies. In that era of material scarcity, sweet potatoes became an important ingredient on the table of rural people.
To the west of the village was a sweet potato cellar, in a mixed forest, an earthy yellow building, with a deep mouth like a cauldron, surrounded by walls of hard earth. It is there silently, blending in with its surroundings, giving it a sense of serenity and mystery. Every autumn, the people of the village get busy and start preparing the sweet potato cellar. The fresh soil was picked up by the workers and filled into the cellar piece by piece. After that, the villagers bury the huge sweet potatoes in the cellars and let them survive the winter in the warm soil. At that time, I always liked to stand by the sweet potato cellar and watch the busy figures of adults. There is always a smile of satisfaction and anticipation on their faces, as if those sweet potatoes are the culmination of a year's hard work. At this time, I also silently make a wish that I can harvest more sweet potatoes in the coming year.
In the sweet potato cellar, time seems to slow and long. After the cold winter, when the warm spring breeze blows through the fields, the sweet potatoes in the cellar slowly sprout and grow. At that time, I would always run to the sweet potato cellar and use a small shovel to dig out the sweet potatoes hidden in the soil. At that moment, I felt as if I could feel their freshness and vitality. The sweet potato cellar is a part of the life of the countryman, carrying the memories and emotions of countless people. For those who have lived in the countryside, the sweet potato cellar is a source of childhood joy and a place of gratitude and nostalgia for them as adults.
Over time, the function of the sweet potato cellar gradually changed. Today, it is no longer just a place to store sweet potatoes, but a place for leisure, entertainment, and gathering. In the sweet potato cellar, we can taste fresh sweet potatoes, we can gather with family and friends, and we can share stories and memories with each other. This exchange and inheritance of emotions makes the sweet potato cellar a place of special significance.
The sweet potato cellar has witnessed the evolution of the way of life and traditional customs of the countrymen, and it is the crystallization of the wisdom of the countrymen. It is an emotional sustenance. In the sweet potato cellar, we can find those good memories and emotions, and we can feel the warmth and happiness of life.