Xiangxing Notes: A Town under the Starlight

Although they all belong to Hunan, the surrounding areas of western Hunan are completely different from those represented by Changsha.

Xiangxi is located in the border area of Hunan. I don't know what impression this place has in the eyes of travelers from other provinces. Perhaps many people think that Xiangxi is Phoenix or Zhangjiajie. It is Shen Congwen. Is it a border town? Or is it a mysterious area about "bandits", "driving away corpses" and "releasing methods"? But for me, an "inland Hunan native", it is just a pure land in a remote place.

On the way to the third arch bridge, I passed all kinds of interesting and strange place names. I just hope I can't take my hand out and write it in a small notebook. The car drove to the entrance of the village and turned several times without seeing the entrance. It turns out that this is a narrow and inconspicuous path. There is a canteen at the door. 10 yuan can buy a lot of spicy strips. There are several "self-help" restaurants at the entrance of the community, and more than a dozen dishes are sandwiched by more than a dozen dollars. There is also the only tea shop nearby with wifi and air conditioning. My little sister is very likable and has a good business.

Uncle, the doorman of Sangongqiao Primary School, speaks Mandarin with an unknown accent. It is said that he used to be an English teacher? Later, when he got old, he became a janitor (maybe the school didn't think he taught well enough). To tell the truth, I don't quite believe that he can speak English ... but I dare not ask.

Here, at dawn, a day of clear river and calm sea began.

After people get up, they begin their faithful life day after day.

In summer, when the sun came out, I carried the quilt to the river and turned on the sun with a big stone. When the weather is unbearable, you can take off your clothes and jump into the river to take a bath. Suitable for men, women and children.

I don't know why, everything here has a sense of healing: with the arrival of night, the faint blue dusk in the mountains keeps rising until the smoke from the kitchen hangs over the whole village, the little boy who goes swimming naked by the river, the shy little girl who meets strangers, the men, women and children holding bowls of rice in front of every door, the big hen who tripped over her threshold, the child who ate food that I respect, and the dark skin of people here, even the wrinkles on the faces of the old people.

There are also the most beautiful walking stars visible to the naked eye in the middle of the night. Time stands still here. No one cares about tomorrow's exchange rate and entertainment news, but occasionally complains about the weather and harvest.

Ahem, explain to everyone in the city: at a fixed time, everyone takes their products to the same place for exchange or sale, which is called "fair" or "fair". There is also a lovely name for the market in western Hunan, which is called "rushing to the market". In this era when you can buy the whole world by taking out your mobile phone, Xiangxi still maintains this folk custom.

It is said that the market in Heku is the most "Miao", which occurs on the first day and the sixth day of the lunar calendar (ahem, explain to people in the city: it is the first day, the sixth day, the eleventh, the sixteenth, the twenty-first and the twenty-sixth day of the lunar calendar every month). Before I went out that day, I flipped through the yellow calendar, which happened to be the 26th day of the lunar calendar. There are no lies in the book!

5: 30 is 5: 30 in the morning, so we will set off in Daiyue. It's early in the morning, and you can still see meteors.

It takes nearly two hours to drive from my place to the barn. Before I woke up from my nap, I was arranged to drive a narrow and winding mountain road. What's it like to drive on this road? It's an unforgettable feeling of stinging your feet when running on a mountain road in thin-soled shoes, and it's also a real feeling of shocking your feet when brushing asphalt with a pair of broken skateboards. Then combine the two kinds of pain.

However, what is suffering for me now is the tire. The road winds to every corner and honks the horn several times, so narrow that it is impossible to turn around. I can only drive forward at the risk of a flat tire. The three girls in the back seat always scream with the ups and downs of the road. ......

At half past six, the sun began to shine on the distant peaks, and we stopped in a clearing to prepare for the dawn. However, at the moment, I only have tires in my heart. ......

At the booth where we stopped, we passed many trucks and minivans, which were full of old ladies who came from various villages to do business in the market. In addition, people walk.

Driving is killing me. What is the concept of hiking? And at this age, this weak body, such a heavy basket. ......

I muttered, do you want to invite grandma for a ride? In fact, everyone wants to, but the space in the car is really limited. But at this moment, an old woman really waved us a ride, and she was embarrassed not to stop. Even though she was crowded, she could still sit alone in it, so we decided to take her up the mountain. Her basket could barely fit into the box, which contained a bundle of firewood.

In retrospect, we started early enough and drove for more than an hour to reach this place. They arrived on foot, too, so when should they start? I dare not think.

However, even if you successfully take this basket to your destination, even if you successfully do a business, is it worth exchanging firewood for enough money or satisfactory goods?

However, I soon felt ashamed of my utilitarian guess. This is their life, this is their loyal life, so there is no need to let you, a tourist tainted by interests, judge yourself.

We passed many grandmothers along the way, but there was really no room in the car. Looking at the disappearing figure in the rearview mirror, I secretly lamented that this is the real trekker and cross-country god. There are no materials, no advanced equipment, a pair of cloth shoes, and we have to carry a heavy load and walk on this road full of stones and dust.

Even the driver felt that we had gone through a lot of hardships to arrive, and we had to thank the grandmother in the car for showing us the way. You can finally see the entrance to the market. This road is very narrow. We parked the car at the entrance.

I said goodbye to my grandmother here. She took another less crowded road with a basket on her back. We broke into the busy market. At this time, the sun has completely risen, showing its light without stint, shining on the fruit stalls on the roadside. Glittering peaches and watermelons make people drool frequently.

The peak of the market is between 1 in the morning and1in the afternoon. There were not many people when we arrived (the old ladies on foot still had enough time, so they didn't seem to "close the door"). We stopped all the way, ate and filmed, and finally chose a noodle shop at the end of the market to solve breakfast. Because it was too hot inside, we took it to the side of the road to eat. It is also a good experience to enjoy all kinds of passers-by on the roadside while talking about powder and being observed by passers-by.

Most women in the street carry baskets on their backs, or tie their children behind their backs with all kinds of embroidered cloth, and come and go to buy their favorite goods;

My elderly grandmother has a dark handkerchief wrapped around her head. I heard that there are small products such as fruit in it, but I can't confirm it because of my limited height. ......

Boys usually wear hats. We wanted to buy one, but we tried it and found that the diameter was too large.

The uncle selling melons across the street looked at us with great interest, and I listened casually to the hawking on his loudspeaker while chatting about powder. ......

Occasionally, an uncle with a big camera passes by and looks so out of place in the crowd. Just like us. Suddenly I feel a little sad, and here I am, I can't fit in at all.

When we walked back after talking about powder, the sun rose higher and the market became more noisy.

There are not many strange foods in the street that make me curious. Mostly fried dough, not very appetizing. Xiangxi doesn't seem to be famous for its food. For me, the morning powder, oh, I still don't comment. On the other hand, Miss Beijing has always wanted to know what rice tofu is.

We visited an embroidery cloth shop, bought a windmill by the roadside, ate peaches and tomatoes, found local tobacco smoked by bandits, and bought a pink hair band in blingbling. When we came to the right road again, the sun was already dazzling.

Squinting at the scene in front of me, the smoke filled the air and people buzzed.

The human market has just begun.

Grandma Liao's house looks like loess from the outside, without any decoration at all. But on the contrary, there is a strong smell of home. Especially when I saw their family banging pots and pans for dinner. I can't see the food on the table clearly, but the hot rice in my hand is a big bowl.

When someone is at home, all three wooden doors are open, and when no one is at home, all three wooden doors are closed. I always feel that in this village, there should be no problem sleeping without closing the door.

Yesterday, I told my grandmother that I wanted to visit her Gua Tian. She knew we were going and picked two melons in advance, but we were really embarrassed and inconvenient to hold them, so we refused. When I went to her house that day, the whole family was having dinner, which looked delicious ..... Then the next day, they had the cheek to ask for dinner at her house.

Her daughter-in-law is pregnant with another child. They were all daughters before. It seems that this is the third child or the fourth child. The eldest granddaughter helps to take care of her mother in the hospital. Today, grandma is the only one at home.

It was a little late when I was going to grandma's house at six o'clock in the afternoon. It suddenly occurred to me that it would be closer to cross the path in front of Gua Tian, and the sunshine would not be so abundant. When I finally found the loess house across the path, I saw her door closed. I thought grandma thought we weren't coming, so she went out. Just as we were about to leave, we heard grandma's voice coming from a distance.

She came from the opposite side, still smiling. Every time I see her, I am always so enthusiastic that my skin wrinkles are all together. It turned out that she was waiting for us at the entrance of the village, and we missed it because of the perfect path. T.T

Grandma said with a strong accent, but after listening to it several times, she has been able to communicate smoothly.

Grandma opened all three wooden doors, but didn't turn on the lights at home. There are five or six dishes on the table. She asked what else to fry? We refused again and again, but she insisted on frying eggs.

Grandma took out four eggs and then picked up the pot to pour oil. She also has a very old firewood stove at home. After the oil was hot, grandma suddenly said, you do it.

At first we didn't understand what she meant, thinking that she wanted us to try her stove. Then she smiled shyly and said, I'm afraid my old man is not clean. We kept talking about how it happened, but then we thought we couldn't disturb grandma, so I fried four eggs with a spatula. I haven't eaten fried eggs for a long time, but the noodle restaurants in this village are too lazy. They only cook salted eggs instead of fried eggs. ...

It's obviously getting a little dark, and so is the living room where we eat.

When eating in the dark, we looked at the photos on the wall in the night. On the left side of the room is an artistic photo of her granddaughters growing up, and on the other side is her photo. It turns out that she likes traveling. These are photos taken after going to many places.

At this time, the village broadcast sounded. Grandma smiled and said, I'll go dancing when you leave.

Later, when we left, we wiped a big bottle of water in the faucet in front of grandma's house and drank it on the way. The water in the tap here is drinkable.

We are going to leave after dinner, not only from grandma's house, but also from this small village and town. Grandma always wanted to see us off, but later she was sent back halfway. Maybe I thought I would never see her again, so I couldn't help but open my hand and give her a hug.

The sun is about to set, and the shadow is so long. On the opposite river bank, my brother led his younger brother naked along the river bank to their usual specific bathing base. The river bank is not wide, so they walk in tandem and cross the grass beside them from time to time. As if no one was watching, Coco walked affectionately.

At dusk, the sunset falls into the chimney in the distance. The wisps of clouds on the horizon were baked by the afterglow of the sunset, changing from pink to blue and purple, and finally all merged into a dark blue.

We must leave before the stars fall today.

-To be continued-