Text: Say goodbye to the old days.
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According to the sales of return train tickets after the Spring Festival, from the third day of the Lunar New Year, it will enter the peak period of return, and the sixth to eighth days of the Lunar New Year are the most intensive time periods, and the seventh day of the Lunar New Year is the day with the largest number of pre-sold train tickets.
However, for migrant workers who go out to work, the return time in the past will generally be on the seventh and eighth days of the first month, because generally enterprises will start work on the ninth day of the first month; Another point in time is after the Lantern Festival, and these people who left home are basically engaged in construction.
But time has passed, and now in my hometown village, on the morning of the second day of the first lunar month, there are 11 young and middle-aged people who have chosen to leave home, and they will run to different cities to start the struggle and trek of the new year.
There are many reasons why they are away from home, but after I have learned about it, it can be summarized as follows:
Clause. First, the hometown is no longer the imaginary hometown.
The expression of the neighbor Bobo, which represents the thoughts of a part of the young people, said to me:
I went back to my hometown for the Chinese New Year this time, and I felt that it was lively and humane in my hometown, so I went home even though my company only had a week of annual leave.
I returned to my hometown village on the afternoon of the 28th day of the lunar month, but after returning to the village, I found that almost no one was steaming steamed buns and fried meatballs, and I couldn't find a trace of New Year's flavor when I walked around the whole village. If a few years ago, the sound of crackling firecrackers in a radius of dozens of miles at this time of year has been endless, and everyone has been immersed in the atmosphere of the New Year. But now I find that it is completely different from the past.
I thought that after arriving home, I could alleviate the pain of homesickness, talk frankly with the neighbors in the village, talk about the past, talk about the beautiful past worth remembering, chat with my childhood friends, and miss the past together. But after contacting them, I found that they were not interested in those topics with emotional content, either a few people got together to drink, or played cards together, and the kind of anticipation that I couldn't wait to seem, seemed to be nowhere to be found.
I had only been back to my hometown for two or three days, but I couldn't get used to the atmosphere in the countryside, and I was looking forward to the day of my return the next day.
Clause. Second, the topic of rural chatting is related to how much money is made.
In 2023, many young and middle-aged people in the village are working in other places, and they don't know what the root cause is, most of them don't earn much money, after returning home, everyone meets, they all ask about going to work in **, what kind of work they are engaged in, how much income they have outside, whether they have bought a house, whether they have bought a car, etc., some people tend to exaggerate and magnify their money for fear of being despised.
And some people don't want to lie, and when they return to the village, they hide at home, afraid to show their heads, for fear that others will ask about them.
When I go back to my hometown, there are places to spend money everywhere. The round-trip fuel and tolls are one or two thousand yuan, and if you don't go back to the city, there are still many relatives to leave, and a few thousand yuan are gone, and you have to send red envelopes to the children of relatives, etc., all kinds of human feelings are simply exhausting.
In the countryside, economic strength determines your mood for the New Year to a certain extent, so in order to get rid of such a predicament, it is better to leave home early, and after arriving in the city, people will be much more peaceful.
Clause. 3. Bachelors escape the "white eyes" of the world.
Among the 11 people who left home on the second day of the first lunar month, three of them were single "older unmarried young people". Older leftover men are the object of gossip and discussion, especially in the countryside, where the aunts and aunts at the entrance of the village are the information intersection of the whole village. Anyone who knows you're home, they'll talk about you.
Some people will say that the mouth grows on others, let them say, you go your way, do your thing, don't care about those people's nonsense, but to say that, there are very few people who can really be so generous.
Therefore, in order to keep the ears quiet, it is still thirty-six strategies, and it is the best policy.
At eight o'clock in the morning on the second day of the Lunar New Year, I looked at the backs of young people holding suitcases and "leaving the dust", and an inexplicable sadness suddenly grew in my heart.
Clause. Fourth, I am worried about being scolded as an "unfilial son", and I regard going home as a passing scene.
Inevitably, some people look forward to the New Year, still taking refuge and searching for tradition, while some people do not want to celebrate the New Year from the bottom of their hearts. Because although the New Year means reunion and laughter, behind the laughter, there may be some unknown sadness in it.
Some young people could have stayed in the city during the Spring Festival, but because their parents were still alive, if they did not return to their hometown, they would definitely be regarded as unfilial sons by their neighbors, and their reputation as a human being would be greatly reduced among the villagers.
Therefore, despite the long distance, they still rush home, but this kind of people, basically will not be at home for more than three days, after the first day of the Lunar New Year, they will pack their luggage, and then leave home on the second day of the new year.
Because of the loss of the New Year's flavor, young people play with their mobile phones every day at home, sleep lazy, and their parents are not used to it, and they will complain a few times, so when they go home for the New Year, they will go through the motions.
Clause. Fifth, worried about not being able to find a job, "start first".
Among the young people who returned early, one was laid off by the unit, and the other resigned in December last year, and the reason why they went back early was because they wanted to be able to start first in the workplace and find a desirable job as soon as possible, because if they find a job one day earlier, they can earn an extra day of money, which is a particularly realistic thing for migrant workers.
As far as I know, the employment environment in 2024 is still facing a lot of pressure, especially for those migrant workers who have no skills and no academic qualifications.
Therefore, the fear of not being able to find a job and the first thing to do is also a reason to leave home early.
Returning to my hometown for the New Year, the family is happy, which is an extremely happy thing! But in this era, all kinds of comparisons have left everyone scarred.
In the countryside, there are always a few happy and a few sad, and the New Year is the same as living a life. As the saying goes: life is easy, life is easy, life is not easy, someone puts it down, someone has to carry it. These people are the young and middle-aged people in the village, so these groups, because they are facing economic pressure, do not want to celebrate the New Year more and more, because they are really tired.
Seriously, I really miss the scene of the New Year when I was a child, at that time, in order to have a happy Spring Festival, many days ago, were busy preparing, my father added fire in front of the stove, put in a few sweet potatoes, my mother fried peanuts, croquettes, and fish pieces on the stove, and the children were waiting in the yard, and the air was filled with the smell of hometown, and the slowly rising smoke once again played a role as a lighthouse, lighting the way home for the wanderer.
Especially on the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, the family chatted happily together, watching his father slightly drunk, and felt extremely happy ......
But now, everyone's life is getting better and better, but the taste of the New Year is gradually drifting away.
The gradual loss of the flavor of the year, the gradual fading of nostalgia, and the estrangement between people have made more and more people no longer regard their villages as a place for their souls to rehabit and recuperate, so they are ready to go early and leave their hometown without hesitation.
Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think of the earlier and earlier "return to the city" in the countryside?