In my memory, my hometown is not evil at all. On the contrary, it is a place with a long history, rich products, beautiful scenery and outstanding people.
In the long river of history, a number of county capitals have gradually formed in the border of Anhui and Hubei, among which Tongcheng, Huaining and Qianshan counties intersect in the green grass, but before the Song Dynasty, there was no such place name as green grass, and commercial activities began to form here in the middle and late Yuan Dynasty. There was Qingcao Street in the Ming Dynasty, which was quite prosperous until the Qing Dynasty. During the Republic of China, Qingcaoda Street was officially named "Yongqing Hengjie", and Qingcaoda entered the most prosperous period in history. In my memory, Qingcaoda has become an important town with three or four streets. The northernmost one is called Hengjie, which extends from north to southwest and is about two or three hundred meters long. The road is paved with granite, smooth and shiny, and every stone is full of historical vicissitudes. The street is narrow, only about two meters wide, but there are rows of houses on both sides of the street. Cross Street turns southeast to a place called Shuiximen, which is called Middle Street. The middle street is not long, but it is divided into two streets at a distance of 3500 meters. One is to the west, not far from the street, and the other is to the southeast. This is Xia Jie. The appearance of Xiajie is similar to that of Hengjie. Each street is also connected with many alleys, which can be described as the intersection of streets and lanes.
This small town with three or four main streets has left many legends in the continuation of a hundred years, one of which is widely circulated among the older generation in my hometown, but it is not clear. It is said that when Liu Bowen, the founding strategist of the Ming Dynasty, helped Zhu Yuanzhang conquer the land, he marched to the green grass one day and rested here. His men tied the horse that the strategist rode to a tree in the street. Liu Bowen is not only a strategist, but also a prophet. He also predicted that grass would go upstairs 500 years ago and become a sandbar 500 years later. I wonder if this prediction will really come true in the end. It's just that the tree where he tied his horse is still growing tenaciously in the street today, with lush foliage in summer and withered skin in winter. With the passage of time, year after year, it witnessed the prosperity and romance of the old street in the past, and also witnessed the aging of the old street day by day. Nowadays, there is no longer the bustling scene of the past. It's just that this sandbar is rare in other places except Dashahe near the old street, where yellow sand was once everywhere. Dasha River was once as famous as its rivers. The river is full of gold and Huang Chengcheng sand, paved all the way from the upper reaches. The sand is thin and symmetrical, like flour and golden sand. When you step on it barefoot, you will feel soft and comfortable. Standing in the middle of the river on a dry evening in winter, looking around, it is quite a bit like "the desert is lonely and straight, and the long river sets the yen". The sand in Dasha River is a good building material. In the 1980s and 1990s, large-scale mining began. Every day, Lasha's big truck shuttles back and forth, which is very lively. The pulled sand was sent to various construction sites, and it is said that it was exported to Japan as much as possible. After decades of uncontrolled use, the Dasha River is now riddled with holes and muddy riverbeds can be seen everywhere. It is a long river, the sunset is still there, there is no desert-like yellow sand, and the sandbar is only presented in the dreams of fellow villagers.
Speaking of Dashahe, the prosperity of the old street cannot be separated from him. The old street is at the foot of Dabie Mountain, near the mountain and bordering on the plain. Several rivers meander out of the mountain and flow through here. Dashahe passes through the old street in the north of the old street, winds eastward and turns to the Yangtze River. In the era of underdeveloped transportation, water transportation is the most convenient. Therefore, the villagers in Hubei Buried Hill, Yuexi, Lu 'an and even Yingshan all use bamboo rafts to transport the mountains, and when they go back, they will bring some necessities such as porcelain bowls, rice and salt outside the mountains. The most ideal trading place is green grass land. There are three counties in Ji Ming, with land extending in all directions and convenient water transportation. After a long time, businesses in the old street are one after another, and shops are connected to shops, selling mountain products delicacies and crock teapots, opening jewelry stores, hardware tools, rice shops, wood and bamboo wares. You really have everything. There are many businessmen and developed service industries. Shops are mixed with teahouses, bathhouses, hotels and restaurants, as well as barber shops and shoe repair shops. Every day before dawn, the crowds in the old street began to be bustling and endless. The shouts of buyers and sellers and the greetings of neighbors are endless. On holidays, it is even more crowded.
One side of the soil and water support one side. In my hometown, there is an old saying: you can't beat Dongxiang, but you can't sue Xixiang. Xixiang has convenient transportation and developed trade. After hundreds of years' immersion, the villagers crisscrossed the north and south, became well-informed and active in thinking, became more eloquent, became outsiders and acted according to the truth. Dongxiang is relatively remote, with a late civilization, tough folk customs and many martial arts practitioners. Qingcaoda is part of Xixiang. It is said that the person who compiled Modern Chinese Dictionary was born here, which is exactly the case. When explaining the word "big", he took the grass as an example. Today, there are three academicians here: mathematician Fang Fuquan, deep-sea ocean and climate research expert Wu Lixin and radar engineering expert Wu Manqing. There are also a large number of top experts and scholars who, although not academicians, serve our country and contribute their wisdom, such as rocket design expert Cheng Tangming, nano research expert and physicist Huang, all of whom are leading figures in their respective fields in China. At the same time, they also have the same name: Grass Man!
For me, who was born and raised in Sri Lanka, when I was a child, I heard people say that "going to the streets" meant going to the green grass. For our parents, the farthest place we have ever been may be the green grass mound, and the most prosperous place we have ever seen may also be the green grass mound, so there is a saying in our hometown: Go to the green grass mound and come back. This means that when you go to Cao Qing Street and come back, you will describe the prosperity and interesting things in the street to your family and even neighbors. Those who say it feel glorious, and those who listen to it feel fascinated. Indeed, grass is closely related to our childhood. To build a new house at home, we need purlins, rafters and other wood, so we all go to the street to buy it. Many shops near Dasha River specialize in timber business. The whole piece of timber is piled in the open air, and only wooden boards are placed indoors. The buyer and the merchant agree on the price and then recite it one by one. Every winter, every household should store some firewood for cooking, especially some hard firewood for the New Year. The so-called hard firewood is to split some trunks that cannot be made into furniture into pieces of firewood. This kind of firewood has strong firepower and long burning time, which just meets the needs of Chinese New Year. There are few trees in the plain area, and firewood is transported from the mountains, so we go shopping to buy it. Other daily necessities, mostly from grass, such as big jars filled with water and pickles, bamboo chairs and beds to enjoy the cool in summer, and cloth buttons to make clothes for children during the New Year.
The first time I saw a motorcycle was on Qingcao Street. That's when I remembered that I was only about three or four years old. My grandmother and I went to the grassland to visit my relatives. Her eldest brother lives in Qingcaoda Street, which was the first time I went shopping since I was born. When I was playing at my relatives' house in the afternoon, I suddenly heard the noise coming from far and near outside. At that time, there were few waiting cars, and there were few cars on the street except human voices, and the noise was louder than cars and urgent. I ran out of the door quickly under the stop of adults. Just as I was going out, a motorcycle passed quickly in front of my eyes. I disappeared before I could see the car clearly. Later, through chatting with adults, I realized that this email was sent from the county seat. Except for rain and snow, every day is rain or shine. It was on that day that I realized that there was another thing in the world called a motorcycle. The first time I went to the street, I was an eye-opener.
The first decent reference book I own was also bought from Qingcaoda. There is a big Xinhua Bookstore at the junction of Zhongjie and Xia Jie. When I was in junior high school, I took a fancy to a dictionary of Ci Hai, but it was very expensive. * * * Cost 13.9 yuan is a huge sum, which I can't afford. However, I didn't give up and began to save money desperately. Usually, I will save a penny. During that time, the eggs at home disappeared inexplicably. Although my mother tortured me badly, I didn't give in, let alone explain. In the process of saving money, I feel more and more uneasy. I'm afraid these books will be bought by the rich. Every time I find an excuse to go to the street, the first thing I do in the street is to go to the bookstore to see if the set of books is still there. Every time I go, it lies safely in the glass cabinet, and I am relieved. About a year, maybe one day on 1987, I finally saved enough money to buy it. I ran to the street excitedly that day and paid the money without hesitation. The book is divided into two volumes, the paper is extremely thin and white, but it is very uniform and delicate, without any flaws, the font size is appropriate, and the printing is very clear. The envelope is hard paper, without any decoration, and the cover is simply printed with two hot stamping characters: Cihai. I put it under my nose and sniffed it hard. The smell of ink is really intoxicating! This book has become my favorite. Until now, it is still lying on my bookshelf. Be careful not to stand on the bookshelf, because some pages are scattered and not suitable for standing upright because of the age. I'll just let it lie there all the time, as if to stay in my hometown for a period of lush years.