Chapter 602: Iron Flower, Fireflies
Soon, it was night.
Because the sun was shining brightly and the sky was clear during the day, the weather was surprisingly good at night. The moon was bright and the stars were sparse.
The bright moonlight fell on the ground, glowing with silvery white light, already covering the dim yellow light shining on the street lamp on the roadside.
"Zhang An, let's go and play outside."
After dinner, Zhang An and his family were eating in the courtyard, and Ding Yi had already carried his Dingzi over and shouted.
"Where are you going, it's late at night?"
Zhang An did not refuse, he just turned his head and asked Ding Yi.
"Why don't you go out for a walk? Look how beautiful the moonlight is tonight. What are you doing at home? When I came over, I saw many people by the river, even at the lotus pond."
Ding Yi pointed outside and urged Zhang An.
"Okay, let's go out for a walk."
Zhang An agreed without hesitation, thinking that there would be nothing wrong if he stayed at home.
"Son, daddy will take you out to play, do you want to go?"
Looking at the little guy who was staring at the TV seriously, Zhang An thought for a while and prepared to take him with him. .
Because it’s better to go out and play than to stare at the TV at home.
“I’m going to go.”
The little guy, who was originally deaf to what was going on outside the window and only focused on watching TV, heard his father say that he wanted to go out to play, and his attention immediately Just move away from the TV.
"Then quickly find a coat to wear to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes later."
The son's choice did not exceed Zhang An's expectation.
But Xiao Siqi was still wearing short-sleeved shirts, so if he went out like this, he would definitely suffer a serious injury.
Although it is already October, the temperature is too suitable and the mosquitoes in the wild have not disappeared and are still very active.
If you go out with your two chubby white hands bare, the mosquitoes outside will definitely come around you as if you are seeing a hot potato.
The little guy also obeyed and ran all the way back to the room. When he came out again, he had already put a small coat on his back and was putting it on the sleeves with one hand.
"Hey, why are there so many people on the grain drying field today? The street lights haven't been turned on yet. Let's go over and have a look."
After going out, Ding Yi pointed at the grain drying field and said curiously, and then Take the lead and walk forward.
Hearing this, Zhang An also looked towards the grain drying field and found that there were indeed many people there.
According to past practice, it is normal to be lively during the day, but it will become quiet at night.
This is the first time at night in the grain drying field, and there are so many people surrounding it.
And none of the street lights around the grain drying field were turned on, they were all out.
Zhang An would not think that all the street lights in that circle were broken. It was not such a coincidence that they were all broken.
Moreover, the village attaches great importance to this National Day holiday. As early as a few days ago, Zhang Jianwen led people to check all the street lights. If there were any broken ones, they had all been replaced. Those that did not break so quickly.
"Is it possible that the village has arranged another program?"
Looking at so many people and listening to the subtle movements, Zhang An couldn't help but wonder.
“Oh, I guessed it for you, we actually arranged a program.”
After walking to the grain drying field, Ding Yi said in surprise.
Because in the dam of the drying field, several elders in the village who were familiar with Zhang An were making preparations.
As soon as Zhang An saw the furnishings inside, a familiar memory immediately came to his mind. He was preparing to make iron flowers. When he was young, he could see iron making almost every year. flower.
No wonder the surrounding street lights were turned off, and the people surrounding the grain drying field were crowded around the periphery, leaving a large area in the middle.
Because blacksmithing requires a very large space, and keeping everyone apart is also a kind of protection.
This thing is not a local specialty. There are only people in Changqing Village in the nearby Shiliba Township who can play this.
Those people who are working with bare arms in the middle of the grain drying field are Uncle Yang, Second Uncle Yang and Third Uncle Yang, plus a few children from their family.
This craft should be regarded as their family’s unique skill.
When Zhang An was young, he heard the elders in the village say that the Yang family in the village came here when their grandparents fled from outside.
This craft was brought here by their old man from outside. Before the old man of the Yang family passed away, he had already passed this craft to his three sons.
Up to now, the three elders of the Yang family have begun to pass on this craft to the next generation of their family.
In this era, there are many people who like to watch iron flowers, and no one in Changqing Village says they don’t like it.
Although you can buy fireworks these days, they are not so popular. Except during the New Year, when every household gets together to set off, it is difficult to see the grand scene of thousands of lights at other times. .
Not to mention that before this, when Zhang An and the others were young, they had no chance to see fireworks.
So from the past, every time it was a festival that the whole village wanted to celebrate together, this ironwork was basically a must-have program in the evening.
At that time, it was also in this grain drying field, and basically the whole village, men, women, old and children would come to watch.
Even several nearby villages, after hearing the news, would invite people from the same village to come to Changqing Village to watch the fun.
But after the old man of the Yang family grew old, the program gradually faded away and then fell into disuse. Zhang An has not seen it again for many years.
Unexpectedly, today after so many years, the blacksmith in the village would make a comeback again.
Zhang An couldn't help but sigh that the village chief Zhang Jianwen was very well prepared for this National Day holiday.
During the day, you can dance local operas, sing folk songs, and dance Miao dances. At night, there are also black iron flowers that are very visual.
Suddenly, a trumpet sounded in the middle of the dam, and Zhang An knew that he was about to start blacksmithing.
Uncle Yang, with his bare arms, holding the upper stick filled with molten iron in one hand, and the lower stick for beating in the other hand, ran quickly on the grain drying field, waiting until the trumpet reached the stepping point. While working, suddenly hit the upper rod filled with molten iron with the lower rod.
The remaining Uncle Yang and the others quickly kept up with Uncle Yang's rhythm, one stick after another, one person after another, constantly running around the furnace and the flower shed.
When a stick of iron flowers rises into the sky, another stick follows immediately. The sticks are connected in an endless stream, and thousands of stars are scattered from the sky.
The iron flowers bursting out from the molten iron in front of you have ignited the dark night and turned into bright stars, illuminating the entire grain drying field transparently.
Think of Xin Qiji's sentence "The iron trees and silver flowers fall, and thousands of stars bloom." This is what he wrote about this scene.
Such a visual feast made the crowd onlookers applaud and applaud.
Many people are even saying that this trip is really worth it. This fireworks display is much more beautiful than the fireworks in the city. But in Zhang An's opinion, the preparations this time should have been hasty and not fully prepared, which can be seen just by looking at the flower shed.
If you do it again next time, prepare everything and invite the big green dragon in the village to come out. Then you will be able to see what it means to match the fire tree and silver flower. The grand scene of fish and dragon dance.
“I didn’t expect that the village still retains such a wonderful show. This is something we have seen in our area. Why have we never seen it before?”
Ding Yi It’s similar to the others, they all say it looks good.
“Hahaha, I’m envious. When I was a child, I could see it almost every year, but not in the following years. I don’t know how the old uncle invited Uncle Yang and his family this time. "
Zhang An smiled at Ding Yi, looking very embarrassed.
However, this blacksmith shop can be said to be the only one with no branches in the nearby area. If you miss this village, there will be no shop, not even in the county.
Then, under everyone's warm invitation, Uncle Yang and the others began to prepare for another fight.
Just like that, when it was over, more than an hour had passed.
But even so, the crowd of onlookers did not end. They were basically tourists staying in B&Bs in the village.
They were all taking advantage of the silvery moonlight to wander on the paths and fields on both sides of the river, not in a hurry to return to their homes.
The same goes for Ding Yi and Zhang An. Each of them carried his son on his back and walked along the river bank while chatting.
Because it’s still early, and it’s not time to go to bed when I get home, so I can only watch TV.
"Zhang An, look, are those fireflies?"
While walking, Ding Yi suddenly pointed in front and said in surprise.
"Aren't you talking nonsense? A bug that can glow at night is something other than a firefly."
Zhang An looked forward, and there happened to be a place where the moonlight was blocked by a field ridge. , each firefly is lighting its own lantern, dancing in the darkness.
"Now that the grain in the fields has been harvested, I didn't expect there to be fireflies."
Maybe Ding Yi had never seen fireflies before, but now he was as excited as a child.
“This is normal, but this should be the last batch of fireflies this year. In a few days, they will all die. If you want to see them again, you have to wait until next summer. "
Fireflies are insects that are active in summer, and their last dance is before mid-October.
Their life cycle is very short, usually only three to seven days, and only a few will be longer.
This is why many children catch fireflies and want to keep them, but find that they are all dead within a few days.
Little Siqi and Ding Zijie, who were just sitting quietly on their father's backs, now saw the fireflies and struggled to get down to catch them.
Zhang An didn't stop them either, he let them down and let them go.
Anyway, all the grain in the fields has been harvested and it is completely empty.
Ding Yi couldn't hold himself back and followed the two little guys towards the fireflies. Zhang An could only shake his head.
But it's not his fault, because Zhang An looked ahead and found that many people were chasing fireflies, including adults and children. Waves of excited laughter spread across the fields.
At this time, Zhang An discovered that there were quite a lot of fireflies tonight, more than those seen a few nights ago. This was probably because the weather and temperature in the past two days had been okay.
Seeing the crowds chasing fireflies everywhere, Zhang An suddenly had an idea in his mind.
Then he walked over and caught fireflies with Ding Yi and the two little guys.
It is difficult to catch fireflies with bare hands, because they have wings, so although there are many people chasing them around, not many people can be caught.
The same was true for Ding Yi. He and the two little guys ran around for a long time, but they didn't catch any of them.
After Zhang An walked over, he released some of the breath of space spring water. After a while, the fireflies flying in the air no longer escaped from him, but began to surround him.
But fortunately there are not many of them, it is not obvious and no one noticed it, otherwise he would be the brightest cub in the field now.
He also took advantage of this opportunity to quietly catch a lot of fireflies in the space.
Yes, after he saw that everyone liked fireflies very much, he wanted to cultivate a batch of them in the space.
Then put them outside. At that time, the dense fireflies will definitely attract everyone's attention.
At that time, this will become a big gimmick to attract everyone's attention to the village, and it can also be monetized to promote the village.
It wasn’t until he had almost caught him that Zhang An snuffed out the breath of the space.
But it’s not over yet, because all the fireflies we caught just now are female fireflies.
Zhang An didn’t understand it before, but after reading the books brought by the Forestry Bureau, he realized that for fireflies, male insects have wings, while female insects have no wings and cannot fly.
So now he has to look for female fireflies on the ground so that he can have a chance of successfully cultivating them.
Of course, it is very easy to find them, because they both have a common feature, that is, they glow.
And the night is the time for fireflies to feed, and they can be found in the wild.
The hard work paid off. Zhang An chose a slightly moist grass, squatted on the ground and searched for a while. With his eyesight that was far beyond ordinary people, he quickly found several female fireflies.
However, although they also emit light, it is much fainter than males. If you are not careful, you may not be able to spot it.
"Hey Zhang An, what are you looking for here?"
Suddenly, Ding Yi ran to Zhang An and shouted.
“Damn, you scared me.”
Zhang An was looking too seriously just now, and Ding Yi scared him quite a bit.
“You are so serious. I thought you were looking for some kind of treasure, but it turned out that you were looking for a few worms, and they actually glow?”
Ding Yi also saw the palm of Zhang An’s hand at this time. The few female fireflies said in great surprise.
"Don't look down on others, these are fireflies too."
"What? Don't all fireflies have wings and can fly? How come they look like this?"
Listen When Zhang An said it was a firefly, Ding Yi couldn't believe it.
“The one you are talking about is a male firefly, and this one is a female firefly. And when male fireflies don’t grow up, they look almost like this.”
Seeing that Ding Yi didn't understand, Zhang An started the science popularization session again.
Now he feels that reading more books is still beneficial.
(End of this chapter)