The building was purchased by his younger brother, but since the purchase of the house, he and his wife have not set foot in it, but have been inhabited by his parents and eldest nephew. My eldest nephew is in high school, and the school is only ten minutes away from his doorstep, which is extremely convenient. At first, their parents lived in a building under the guise of accompanying their students, but they planned to return to the village after three years. When the eldest nephew entered college, his parents claimed that life in the countryside was more suitable for them, and that the heating of the building was too expensive. Although the younger brother was not good at words, he insisted that his parents continue to live in the building, thinking that it was more cumbersome to go back to the village to cook on the fire.
Since the beginning of the house, the younger brother and daughter-in-law have said that their parents should live in the building, regardless of whether they accompany them to study or not, and they prefer to raise chickens and farm in the countryside. In fact, my parents were tired of the old houses in the countryside. The house is nearly 50 years old, and it was here that my brother was born. The walls of the old house were made of yellow mud mixed with wheat straw, and the roof was covered with black wheat straw. The house was originally divided into two rooms, with a large kang coiled against the north wall in the inner room, on which the whole family slumped into sleep; The outhouse is used as a kitchen and utility room. Later, the outhouse was divided into two small rooms, with a small kang in the middle, and a wall cabinet was built to store luggage, which was called a hut. The outside room becomes a dedicated kitchen, and the space is even narrower. Over time, wall cabinets and range hoods were also installed in the outhouse, and the pot counters were tiled. The inner and outer floors of the old house were paved with cement, and my mother even twisted old clothes into strips and tied them to wooden sticks to make a large mop cloth, which was washed in the river every day to ensure that the floor inside the house was spotless.
However, it is not convenient to live in an old house in winter. The stove and kang need to be burned all day long, and once the fire is broken, the chill in the house hits. When I woke up in the morning, it was always cold in the house, and even the clothes I wore were cold and bitter. You also have to dispose of the ashes when you burn the fire, and it is convenient to carry a bucket of ashes to the vegetable garden in the morning. But my mother, who loves cleanliness, wipes down the house every time she digs out the dust, otherwise she feels dirty everywhere. Digging up ashes is indeed a dirty job, if you don't dust off some water, the ashes will fall on your hair and clothes; After dusting the water, it stuck to the little spade again, and it had to be rinsed. The size of the old house is not large, only sixty square meters. There is a window in the front and a window in the back room. The windows are not big or high, and they are typical of small farmhouse windows. The window sill is narrow and cannot be extended outward. My mother likes to raise flowers on the front windowsill, so she can only buy small pots. Fortunately, the fertile black soil on the mountain, coupled with the careful care of my mother, the flowers always bloom brilliantly: the petals of the glass emerald are delicate, the lantern flowers are tender and lovely, and the butterfly plum looks dignified and generous.
With the improvement of living standards, furniture such as kang pianos and large wardrobes have been added to the home. The kang qin can store bedding and clothes, and is divided into two layers, and the door panel is also painted with colorful flowers or ink landscape paintings. In order to place the kangqin, the big kang was stripped off and turned into a half-cut kang. The large wardrobe is about the same size as the kang qin, and it is magnificent. It has no lattice on the upper and lower sections, so it can hang coats, and there is a large mirror half a person high on the cabinet door. Other wooden doors are branded with patterns, whether it is a figure or a flower or bird. At that time, I couldn't sleep at night and was just in time for the power outage, and when I looked at the brand painting in the candlelight, it was a strange picture. All of them are alive, there is no color, they are all ancient, in fact, my grandmother talked about the ancient things of the Guanli family, and I found a breakthrough at this time. Now that I think about it, those brand paintings are quite freehand style, and although the shape is difficult, it is more elaborate on the god-likeness. However, in the countryside at that time, I am afraid that no one knew how to appreciate the beauty of these arts. Therefore, when people evaluate these paintings, they pay more attention to their realism than their verve. The last cabinet I bought in my house had no clear purpose, it was not for clothes or bedding, but as a façade of the house, placed in the most prominent position facing the door. This cabinet is placed against the west wall, and it is also a two-story structure, the upper floor is for all kinds of small objects, and the lower floor is much more spacious, with household appliances and daily necessities such as televisions, tape recorders, thermoses, and teapots. There is a door at the bottom, which stores rare non-staple foods and wine brewed by my father, as well as snacks and sweets from relatives. Since she had this cabinet, my mother has stopped buying new furniture. There was no extra space left at home, and even the cabinet was moved to the hut. I can finally look in the mirror whenever I want, but the mirror is too close to the person and the effect is not ideal. When her sister goes out to work, she likes to add new things to the house. The large double-door refrigerator she bought back was also placed by her mother in the back room, next to the large wardrobe. I think that although my mother said that my sister bought blindly, she should be happy in her heart. When a guest visits, the rural people sit together and chat, and the topic is nothing more than what the children of whose family have bought them. At this time, the mother's face will be filled with pride. The addition of modern home appliances such as refrigerators and color TVs has brought new vitality and vitality to old houses.