The big lake beach in my hometown has been covered with a thick layer of ice since the beginning of winter last year, which is 30 to 40 centimeters long. Scores of reeds on the ice stand in the white snow, swaying with the howling northwest wind, as if deliberately despising this winter. Only the small boat docked in the middle of the lake, like a sentinel standing with a gun on the Gobi Desert, remained motionless, guarding the lake.
There is a piece of water in the middle of the lake that is not frozen, and thousands of wild ducks gather here to spend the winter. For a while, they are like arrows leaving the string, shuttling between the blue sky and white clouds, and for a while, they are like a group of naughty children playing in the "swimming pool". I brought my father here for the last time last spring. These little guys are learning to forage behind the duck's ass, and they have grown up in a blink of an eye.
The big lake in his hometown is rich in fish and water. Xu Lao Wu, who is in his sixties, started fishing on the lake at the age of nineteen. More than forty years of wind and rain, spring and autumn, left his footprints everywhere on the lake of more than 3,000 mu. He is not tall, with a dark complexion, and the years have passed, leaving deep crow's feet in the corners of his eyes. He is getting older, but his figure is still vigorous. His piercing eyes seem to be able to penetrate the entire ice surface, seeing through the fish below, and a pair of callused hands are always holding a fishing net.
He took his brother and son on an electric scooter, and worked on the lake all day long. Sometimes he couldn't catch a big fish for a few days. At the end of the year, he didn't dare to relax for a moment because of frequent calls from customers. The fish caught here are snatched up by customers as soon as they come out of the net, and they never reach the market. The lakes in Dahutan are mainly wild crucian carp, wild carp and wild grass carp. The water quality here is clear, free from pollution, and the nutritional value of fish is extremely rich, which attracts many tourists.
On that morning last year, my father and I stood here, looking at the endless lake, Xu Laowu's fishing boat, and the 10,000-mu grain field in the upper reaches of the lake. Walking alone today, I feel a little lonely. Tourists drive hundreds of kilometers to find the beauty of crucian carp. I drove here just to find my father's footsteps.
There is no long pavilion and ancient road in the real parting, and there is no persuading you to drink a glass of wine. It is the same morning as usual, but some people stayed in yesterday.
If you want to set up your father's tomb on the emerald green hills, it's hard to say goodbye to your family in the prosperous age.
From then on, walk slowly and go to midnight, goodbye Yinrong Mengjieng.
Fu Zhengjiang, author of Jinmen.com
