Left cat, right dad

 I found myself missing my mom and dad quickly, as well as our cat, and our sloping field full of small rocks. But I dare not say what I miss in my heart. I cried at night, but when I thought of the words "man", my tears stopped immediately.

My master didn't have much words, only a pair of sharp eyes, which looked at me instead of a thousand words. I often use these eyes to guess what he is going to say. Once, I felt that there was such a plea in his eyes: "Call me godfather." I yelled softly. He got a little closer to me and touched the back of my head with his hand, exactly the same as Dad's actions.

 

The time it takes to get acquainted with the master and get close is the same as the time it takes to get close to the cat. It treats me exactly the same as the master. After the master stroked my head, it jumped into my arms and rubbed my chin. When I was alone with it, I asked in a low voice: "Goddad led you to catch fish, right?"

My nose is always inseparable from the fragrant fishy smell. The most remarkable thing about the master here is the tempting fish sauce. It is made of fish, it is fish. It can be said that you can eat fish every day in the master's place. This is an amazing fact that a mountain person would never dream of. I forcefully suppressed the surprise in my heart, and observed and enjoyed it casually.

The little stone house of the master looks short and short, because it lies a large part of the ground; if it enters inside, it will feel tall and bright. It was connected to the shed outside by a small door, and a tunnel made of stones—it was almost a lovely little labyrinth. There are large and small altars and pots in the tunnel, which contain all kinds of delicious things. There are many sundries hanging in the shed, such as pepper bunches, garlic bunches, bunches of herbs, and some leather ropes and cloth strips. Sheds and tunnels can also be entered from the outside, but you have to remove cover such as firewood to find the entrance.

A light green jar was filled with fragrant fish sauce, and the cat squatted on it as if guarding it.

The master also has a piece of land, but it is very small, only the size of two kang noodles. But this small piece of land is extremely fertile, and the master has made it extremely fine. There is no stone in the ground, and there are no larger clods. Vegetables are planted in the fields, including leeks and eggplants, as well as peppers, cabbage and beans. There are still a few melons near Shiyan, and the melons are about to be ripe. The master led me to work in the fields, weeding and loosening the soil. The smell of the melon became stronger and stronger, and the master smiled and picked it up to share with me. We sat side by side on the weir, eating melons. I have been in the hut for a long time, and for the first time I saw the smile on his face.

After staying for more than a week, I discovered that the master had another piece of land. It was on a hillside farther away. It was made up of small pieces just like ours. Sweet potatoes and corn are grown here. Although they are not as refined as the small vegetable garden below, they are much better than ours. The crops here are not short of water, which is a miracle.

 

Everything depends on that well. Next to a climbing cypress, there is a well platform with a potter's wheel installed on it. I looked down from the well and found that there was a bark of water, which clearly reflected my shadow.

Before it was cold, there was more work in and out of the hut. What did the master do and what I did, he just did it and hardly said anything. Together with him, I harvested the grain from the ground, picked the red hot peppers, put some sweet potatoes in the tunnel, and cut the rest into strips for drying. We chopped some pieces of wood and piled them into a "Tic Tac Toe". After the sweet potatoes are steamed, they are cut into strips and dried, then mixed with fine river sand and fried into sweet potatoes in a pot. This approach is exactly the same as ours. In addition to sweet potatoes, there are fried peanuts and fried beans. The fragrant smell is all over the house, making me happy all day long.

After all the things are done, winter has not yet come. The master stood in front of the hut and looked at the sky to the south, and tied the corners of his pants with a piece of hemp rope. He picked up a basket and looked at me. I knew he was going to take me out. We were one after another, and the cat followed at the back.

Coming out of the valley, heading east and south, turning into a deep valley. Here are some fallen trees and dead reeds. White sand is exposed where there is no grass, which reminds me of Shaheji. The master stopped in front of some fallen trees, then carefully stepped on one of them, motioning me to follow.

 

It turned out that there were a few puddles at one end of it, the water surface was not big, and grass mustaches covered all around. I remember seeing such potholes and water before. They are all accumulated when there is a lot of water in the summer, and they are too late to dry up. But there are more puddles and puddles, and the color of the water is darker. The master made a gesture to silence me, and then squatted down on the edge of a pit. He tapped a branch on the water a few times, and the grass's whiskers on the water's edge moved slightly. He handed the basket in my hand and rolled up his sleeves. The cat followed, its head moved up and down, its eyes fixed on the owner's hand, and then at the grass beard.

Then something happened that I couldn't understand, and it happened under my nose.

The master just squatted quietly, watching, without saying a word. Suddenly, the five fingers of his right hand were pinched together, and the grass beard was inserted into the "swish"... There was a jump and flutter in the water, and a big two-stranded fish was dragged out, and the master's fingers were stuck on the gills of the fish. The fish's tail slapped fiercely...I couldn't help exclaiming, the cat was terrified by me.

There was the big fish in the basket, and we walked back. My heart is beating, I must open my mouth to gasp. I walked behind the master and followed closely. I secretly admired: It's amazing! What a master! Dad, you are not mistaken at all, he is the King of Fish! Seeing that he didn't take any effort, he caught a big two-stranded fish out of the water as soon as he stretched out his hand...

Along the way, I thought of the green water in the place where I went to school. How many fish should there be in such a big piece of water! Then there are the puddles and potholes that my dad and I have seen before, and how many fish should be hidden! Finally, I thought of a question that was in front of me: what would the master do with this fish?

I dare not say anything, just wait to see and see what he does with this big fish.

Back in the house, the cat slowly walked around the big basket of fish. All cats walk slowly like this when they are happiest. Some people thought it would jump at that time. It was wrong. When it was the most proud and happiest, it always paced and sniffed so unhurriedly. The master cut the fish apart, washed it, removed the scales, and cleaned it up in a blink of an eye, then spread the sauce and sprinkle with salt and pepper. I sneezed a lot because I was so close.

The oil in the pot was ready, the fish poured in, and the cat yelled with me. We can't stand such a big smell, oil and all kinds of weird fragrances. The master ignored us, he just used a wooden shovel to quickly flip, slap, and then add water. The lid of the pot was closed, and white gas spurted out.

 

I couldn't stay aside, only to look and smell a little further away. My nose can't stand it. I was forced into a corner by the smell of this big fish and the various smells made by the master, where I opened my mouth in surprise. I dare say that there will never be a man like a master in the entire mountain, who will do this like a big fish.

The pot continued to spray white gas. The master set a table with chopsticks and a steaming pot on the small table next to him. I was surprised again because I smelled the smell of wine. I gritted my teeth and kept silent.

The master greeted me and the cat to the small table. He put fish and soup in a large bowl, and added fish and soup to the bowls for me and the cat. Unlike the cat, the master and I both have a cup with dark brown old wine poured in it. Hot wine, I have never drank it before. This fish is too big. The master ate, the cat ate, and I ate too.

I have tasted this wonderful taste for the first time. I pursed my mouth, ate meat, drank soup, and inhaled. The master asked me to drink, so I took a sip. This is a strange smell. After drinking a small cup, my heart is hot and very happy.

"Child, should have made such a meal for you!" The corner of the master's eyes was a little moist.

I whispered: "Master, godfather..."

This is the most remarkable thing that happened in the little stone house before the winter. I am very happy here, so I miss my father and mother even more.

This is how winter comes. In the winter in the mountains, the people outside are unimaginable. People in the mountains have been busy for a year, mainly to survive the winter. Heavy snow, north wind, and roars like monsters came from the mountains in the middle of the night. These add up to frighten us in the mountains.

But in the master's cabin, everything is not terrible. The kang is always hot. I lie on it and listen to all kinds of sounds outside. I think back and forth about some things. Sometimes I feel like I'm dreaming. I fell asleep somehow, and the dream really appeared. There are various scenes in dreams, some make people happy, some make people sad. In the dream, my father came holding my mother's hand, standing in front of me and looking at me, I put my hand behind me. I smiled and suddenly raised my hand behind my back, with a big fish jumping around in my hand. I also had this dream: the master became a big eagle, and I flew and flew on his back, flying to the middle of a big water that I had never seen before.

There are almost always fish and water in the dream.

When the wind gets louder at night, I will involuntarily snuggle up to the master, and he will pat my back to comfort me. When I had a nightmare, I got into his arms tightly, and he held me all the time. I yelled in my dream: "Dad, daddy..." To my right is goddad, and to my left is a cat. I woke up from a dream and hugged the cat, its four claws against my chest and stomach. I kissed its forehead, it licked my arm.

The winter in the small stone house is better at night than during the day.