People in Shi Jian Village must go to Dajing for the fair. Dajing market has a long history. There is not much supply, just daily necessities and daily needs. When did people get into the habit of shopping on the street? I don't want to explore All I know is that the villagers and I love Dajing.
People who grew up in Dajing will never forget Dajing's common name "Dai Ji". They used to hear people say, "Go to Dai Ji", "My baby is studying in Dai Ji" and "Dai Ji Street is playing with dragons". The villagers changed the name of Dai Ji to Dajing, perhaps because the town government wanted to facilitate publicity and management, or perhaps it was the superficial impression that Dai Ji was full of thorns, so they didn't know that in a certain year, Dai Ji became Dajing.
My impression of Dajing began with Shaanxi Opera, which was a play sung by my second aunt's father-in-law under the starry sky. I was about six or seven years old at that time. In the evening, my parents took me to the stage of Meng Village in Dajing Town. When I arrived, I found that it was dark in front of me, and the people behind me could not squeeze into the stage at all.
The old man dressed as Chitose, wearing a golden crown and embroidered robe, and his every move was particularly imposing. As soon as he appeared, even if he didn't talk, he took a few steps and the applause was deafening.
I don't know opera at a young age, but I'm only interested in its luxurious costumes. The stage is heaven and the stage is earth. There is a gorgeous brilliance on the stage, which is too dazzling. Although it is close at hand, it abruptly separates the people who watch the play.
I was fascinated by the splendor of heaven, and I always wanted to be closer to it, closer to it, and keep those carefully drawn faces in my heart.
In order to see the play, many people climb to persimmon trees around the stage, some simply sit on the straw like a hill, children ride around the necks of adults, and some simply stand in the back seat of bicycles.
That play left an indelible impression on me, and I even dreamed of watching it.
Later, I don't know which year, my mother took me to my second aunt's house to play. Goodbye to the old man who can sing Shaanxi opera, I have an indescribable admiration. He is no different from ordinary people without clothes. The most unusual thing about ordinary people is that people who have seen him will think he is unusual.
The old man and his wife often sell sesame candy in the street. The gravel road leading to Mengcun is wide, but not very flat. Dajing Street runs north and south, just perpendicular to that road. The old man put the stall at the exit of that road. I remember it was a wooden board covered with a layer of cloth and supported by an iron bucket. Sesame candy is fried at home. When it is cold, put it on linen that is not too white but starched very clean.
The eyes of the old couple are like monitors installed on street corners, and all the excitement in the street can't escape their eyes.
An old man who loves singing opera usually sells sesame candy. This world of difference is really much more interesting than Shaanxi Opera.
My mother took me to my second aunt's house in summer. It's hot, and my mother-in-law has a group trip. I am small, so they still serve it to adults in enamel bowls. Half a bowl dipped in water, golden oil beads rolling. Stir-fried garlic seedlings, garlic paste that will swallow saliva and oily spicy seeds will make people sweat.
Spoilers are not like toads and fish. You have to eat them while they are hot. I don't care about ironing, so I immerse a knot on chopsticks in some water and send it to my mouth.
In the afternoon, I ate noodles. Noodles are slippery, and fried green peppers are refreshing. After eating noodles, I began to doubt life, thinking, how can I taste such delicious things in the world? It must have been for nothing a few years ago.
The market in Dajing Town attracts me. Food and fun are on the street leading to Dajing Middle School. I pestered my mother to go shopping in the street. She said there was still a long way to go, so you can say whatever you want. If she won't let me go, I'll pretend to be a dead dog and follow her with a pout. She was tired of my "hum" and finally got over it. I saw her rummaging through the closet looking for clothes for me. She was so happy.
When you go out on the street, you should always dress decently. If you cross the street in rags, others will treat you as a beggar. I am young, and my mother is already considering my face. Seeing that I put on my new clothes, she dragged me to braid my hair. At that time, my mind was full of bean jelly and cold rice noodles, oil cakes and sesame sugar, fried dumplings and steamed buns.
Mom can't ride a bike, so I can only follow her to Dajing Street. To the east of Dajing Street is Zhouling, to the west is Mengcun and to the north is Houcun. My mother and I must walk into Baozigou, cross Baoziling, cross Shang Ping Village and continue northward to reach our destination.
There is a river in Dajing Town, which originates from Qinling Mountains, runs through Dajing from north to south, flows through Yanchuan and Liwan, and flows into Danjiang River. When my mother and I came out of Shang Ping village, I had to take off my shoes and cross the river. The water in the river is neither deep nor shallow, and there are rocks in it.
My mother is worried that the gravel at the bottom of the river or the glass slag will cut my feet and let me cross the river on the rocks. I won't listen. After all this walking, I'm sweating and thirsty. The river is clear and cold, and small fish swim around in it. I want to take a bath to cool off. Mom can't beat me, so I have to go.
The banks of the Dajing River are covered with crops, and the corn has grown a beard. The mountains are green, the water is green and the crops are green. No matter how gorgeous the flowers are, they can't stand the contrast. Dark green is overwhelming like waves, and a little delicate and charming will be swept into the whirlpool of green and ignored.
My mother and I finally walked into the street and saw two old people selling sesame candy in the distance. I thought my mother would come forward to say hello, but I didn't know her eyes were dodging, so I came up from that intersection when they were busy socializing. Mother is not a fickle person. All she did was say hello. People will give me sesame candy to eat, and she will never accept money in her life.
Several times, I passed the same intersection. There are few people in the street, so my mother can't hide. I had to urge me to go north and greet my parents myself. The old man will naturally let her eat sesame candy, and she has been humble again and again, saying that she has just come from home for dinner and is not hungry. Naturally, the old man refused. Even after eating, he should be hungry. After that, five pieces of sesame candy have been wrapped in gray paper and tied with thin hemp rope in the middle. Mother insisted on not, and parents forced it into their hands. Mother had to take the sesame candy and quickly took out three dollars from her pocket and threw it away. The old man refused to accept it and picked up the money to chase it. When my mother was in a hurry, she hurried me to run when I was standing in the corner peeking. People who set up stalls on both sides of the street thought that their mother had met a robber and stood up to watch. The thief who pretended to buy something was stealing socks, gloves, pants or other things.
Although Dajing Street is a small market, there are also many mainlanders. From Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Hubei, Yunnan, Sichuan ... Some settled here, some rented shops on the street to do business, and some went through the town to other places.
Beggars, fur collectors, sharpeners, shoe repairers and rat poison sellers.
Carpenter, blacksmith, silversmith, barber.
See Chinese medicine practitioners, photographers, bicycle repairers, yin and yang teachers, tailors.
In such a small town, there is even a cinema.
The tallest building in the town is only gray bricks, wooden floors and stairs, and there is a simple two-story building. The shops on both sides of the old street are all wooden doors with herringbone roofs, and the houses in the nearby villages are also herringbone roofs. Walls are nothing more than mud walls and brick walls.
My mother bought either needle or thread, cotton or cloth in the street. She will never buy anything that is not practical. When I bought what I needed, she took me to a street stall. Eat fried bean jelly and fried rice skin in winter. Eat bean jelly and cold noodles in summer. On holidays, there are dragon and lion dances and acrobatics in the street. If I want to wander in the street, she can only take it with her.
There are many kilns burning bricks in Dajing Town. According to my father, there are sugar factories. However, the glory of Dajing Town no longer exists at my age. The cement road on the old street has been cracked and torn apart after being crushed by tractors. The sidewalks on both sides are worn out and the tiles are covered with weeds. The houses in the nearby villages are also like the dusk of life, showing decadent colors.
Despite this, Dajing Street still lives up to its reputation, and the three-day market every week resolutely shows yesterday's prosperity and excitement.
When I was in high school, a north-south railway passed through the town. Large trucks carrying earthwork materials, engineering departments stationed in the town, foreign private cars driving on that gravel road, and railway workers wearing helmets everywhere. All this vaguely indicates that Dajing, which has been decadent for a long time, is about to reproduce yesterday's glory, and its future is beautiful and bright.
People's prosperity just around the corner, through unremitting efforts, will eventually become a reality. The country has not let the people down, and the people have not let themselves down.
Look at Dajing Town today. It has been more than ten years since the railway was opened to traffic. Who would have thought that the city scene of flat-bottomed tall buildings would appear in this little-known town?
The great development of the western region and the great initiatives of the Belt and Road have finally made people's dream of pursuing happiness come true.
Walking on this old street again, the mood is simply complicated. The roads in the old street have been renovated, and the shops on both sides of the old street are not as shabby as before. Supermarkets, express transfer stations, beauty salons, health centers, maternal and child workshops, home appliances workshops, ceramic tile stores … these emerging service industries have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. When people have money in their pockets, they also steal happiness.
As a great man, this earth-shaking change undoubtedly makes me proud. I believe that in the near future, my hometown Dajing will definitely become more beautiful. Far from home, I hope this day will come soon.
——————————————————————
Image: From the Internet