The old bungalow of childhood
Wang Dapeng
I'm not afraid of your jokes, I can't figure out what a bungalow is for many years, because when I was a child, there were already houses with flat tops in the countryside, such as small south houses, so my subconscious thought that only houses with flat tops were called bungalows. Later, it was learned that whether it is a flat top or a roof ridge, as long as it is a building with only one floor above ground, it can be called a bungalow.
In the early 80s of last century, I returned to the city from the countryside and came to my mother's place again, and moved into my mother's unit, Zibo No. 4 Middle School. The two bungalows allocated to the unit are actually the kind of row of houses, with neighbors on the left and right, and at first there are no courtyard walls, they are completely open, and there is a small kitchen in front.
My father was a big worker and earned a lot of money, and our family was the first to buy a TV set in the unit. Every day after dinner, we would move the TV to the open space in front of the house, and the neighbors would come to watch the Western scenery, or concentrate, or laugh, or have a lively discussion, and the front of my house became an open-air screening room. At that time, the Hong Kong TV series "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was broadcast on the mainland, and there were many people in front of the TV every night, which could be regarded as enriching the amateur cultural life of the people. However, there was no mother in the audience, and she was reading ancient and modern classics in the house at this time. The mother literati must be different in the absorption of literary knowledge.
Later, the unit was planned and a fence was built, so the rows of old houses became exquisite small courtyards, which felt more homely, but the open-air screening hall was disbanded. Now that you have a private territory, you can do whatever you want.
Her mother was not a good farmer, she was assigned to teach in a school before the age of 20, so she escaped the fate of a lifelong farmer, but her mother was a very romantic person who longed for an idyllic life. In the past, Tao Weng had a poem: "Under the east fence of picking chrysanthemums, you can see Nanshan leisurely." "Today's oil is served to the mother:" Under the sowing south window, the greenery reflects the east. At that time, my mother opened up less than two square meters of land, small and chic, and ploughed it.
Although her mother is also a Peugeot woman, she does not like purple and red, vulgar powder, and the flowers she raises are mainly bamboo, mountain shadow and orchid, the more subtle and elegant, the more favored she is, so the land will never grow flowers.
Peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, and potatoes were planted in that small patch of land, but I don't know if it was because of the soil quality or the lack of nutrients, but the fruits were all pocket-sized, and the potatoes were not much larger than grape particles.
But the shelves were plump, loofahs, pumpkins, lentils were harvested, and there was actually a big winter melon, and my mother was also very puzzled, because we did not sow winter melon seeds, it seems to be a godsend. The most meaningful thing is the morning glory planted by the mother, yes, the mother will actually plant the morning glory, the flower is blue, majestic and high-spirited, as if it is playing the music of a better life.
Pushing the door into the house, there is the residence of the parents and all the belongings. A curtain was drawn on the outer room, and it was divided into two rooms. There are two small beds and a small table on the north side, I sleep in the west bed, my brother sleeps in the east bed, and the south side is both the living room and the dining room. Thanks to my mother's ingenuity, the two-bedroom apartment became a three-bedroom apartment, which is wonderful!
At that time, the old bungalow had no supporting facilities, and we had to go to the public tap to fetch water, and we had to go to the public toilet to go to the toilet, but we didn't feel any inconvenience, because we never thought that the faucet and urinal could be installed at home.
At that time, I was about eight or nine years old, and I was very diligent, emptying the bedpan in the morning and carrying water in a small bucket was a daily obligation. In order to exercise me, my mother often gave me a large basin with a pair of cloth shoes or a small clothes or two in it, and I ran to the public faucet to wash it. On the east side of the faucet is the girls' dormitory, and whenever a girl sees me, she will exclaim: Ouch! It's not easy for such a young child to brush the shoes of an adult!
The old bungalow is also home to many anecdotes. Influenced by my mother, I started writing a diary in the second or third grade, but the writing was so clumsy that I couldn't even count the ledgers, and there were many jokes. For example: "When I'm done with my homework, I'm done." The "play" of "play" is written as the "end" of "finished". Another example: "Today, the second uncle came, and my mother washed the apples for the third uncle to eat." "That winter night, I slept recklessly, dragged the cotton boots out from under the bed in a daze, and soaked the urine inside, but no one splashed on the ground. Once, my brother bought sheep eggplant, that is, balloons, without permission, and his mother interrogated him: "Did you buy it?!" The younger brother replied, "I didn't buy it." The mother asked again, "Is it a snap?!" The younger brother replied, "Smack." "Looking back now, my mother was very cunning, and my brother was very honest.
In the autumn of 1988, five years after I moved into the old bungalow, my family rose to the top and moved into a building. My childhood was also coming to an end, and I wrote my last diary entry for the old bungalow: "I have lived in your belly for five years, and now I am leaving, and I am really a little reluctant. ”
After moving into the building, it was really convenient to have running water and toilets at home, and I quickly left my nostalgia for the old bungalow behind. Isn't it human nature to like the new and hate the old?
July 31, 2024
Wang Dapeng
Born in Zibo, Shandong Province in December 1976, he is fond of literary creation and songwriting. 【Xiamen Academy】1989 student, member of Zichuan District Writers Association, former lead singer and creator of "Gu Worm Band". In the 1999 "Gu Worm Band" album of the same name, he was responsible for the songwriting of most of the tracks. Over the years, he has written nearly 1,000 poems, essays, novels and other works, and composed more than 100 original songs in various styles. His literary works have a unique style, similar to each other, and are good at using humor, self-deprecation, philosophy, absurdity and other writing techniques, and perfectly combine realism and romanticism, which is a unique taste to read. His music works cover a variety of styles such as popular, ethnic, rock, and Chinese style, with simple lyrics and beautiful melodies, which are worth listening to. Self-evaluation: The wind and snow have been in the snow for a long time, and they are only half a bucket high. There is no fame and fortune, and there are poems and essays. Raise your wings and soar into the sky, but the east wind is soft. The prodigal son's heart, ask the gentleman to know his sorrows. Life motto: sweet and sour, bitter, spicy and salty, red dust and five flavors. Joy, anger, sorrow, and resentment, without regrets for a hundred years.
Wang Dapeng's original music works: 7 songs of "Wang Dapeng and the Gu Worm Band", 5 songs of "My Stage", 5 songs of "Invite Li Bai to Wine", 5 songs of "Ghost Dream Club Du Fu", 5 songs of "Revisiting Li Houzhu", 5 songs of "Meeting Su Dongpo", 5 songs of "Reinterpretation of Film and Television Golden Melodies", 5 songs of "Singing Huai Great People", 5 songs of "Literati Companion", 5 songs of "Love in the Green Field".