I am not Ximen Qing.

Let's just call her Grandma. In my memory, she was as mysterious as a ghost. Children in their innocent youth only remember the sweet and beautiful things; perhaps this is an instinctive self-protective mechanism at work. That mountain, that house, that plum tree laden with fruit in autumn—they embody everything a child could hope for. Hope can only be savored in the bittersweet taste of plums. No fruit represents life better than the plum; only the bittersweet taste of plums remains deep in the soul, because everything else associated with plums is as pure and bittersweet as the fruit itself. A child's best instinct is to selectively store memories and selectively forget. Yes, I only remember my beautiful, kind, and virtuous grandmother, who lived like a ghost, almost imperceptible. This is a clever way of being; therefore, my grandmother remains a vague presence in my memory.

Where there is a home, there is hope. Grandmother is now the hope of the family. After Grandfather passed away, in order for the family to survive better, Grandmother arranged for Old Jintou to marry into the family. The posthumous son, Uncle, also took Old Jintou's surname. In fact, the children are still confused about everything and still call him Grandpa affectionately. Although sometimes they feel that something is not right, children are children after all. Innocence can resolve everything. Everything is golden. In the children's worldview, the big house with yellow mud and green grass is actually a golden house.

Like her grandmother, Old Jintou selectively disappeared, elusive and unpredictable. Only when she saw her uncle could she see a long-lost smile and happiness on his serious face. Her eldest aunt lived in a larger city, while her second aunt and uncle frequently came here, busy with various tasks. Her second uncle especially adored children—to the point that he would secretly turn on the lights and remove their underwear to catch parasites, particularly those hiding under their scalps or in the seams of their underwear. Lice are harmful parasites that love to infest children's hair and the seams of their underwear. It seemed the adults had become like monkeys, expert lice catchers. The lice were all plump and chubby, having drunk the children's blood. One has to admire her and her second aunt and uncle's love; they weren't bothered by the filth. Those little lice were utterly disgusting. If her second sister discovered them, she would cry all night, and nothing could soothe her. The eldest sister is already quite sensible and will be quieter. In addition, Baoyu is glittering and sparkling. Baoyu, Jun-ge, Hua-jie, and their siblings perfectly embody the old saying that aunts and uncles are close relatives for generations.

Now let me tell you about my dad's siblings: my eldest aunt, second aunt, third aunt, and youngest aunt. My dad is the eldest son, so my second uncle is naturally the second oldest. My third uncle is alright, but my youngest uncle has never even met his own father, and I almost forgot about my third aunt. Think about it, Chinese women are expected to have at least seven or eight children, and that's just a basic number. Having fifteen, sixteen, or even twenty-one or twelve isn't uncommon. If men and women don't have any other hobbies, then having children is their source of joy.

Following this pattern, my mother's family consists of my second aunt, third aunt, fourth aunt, fifth aunt, eldest uncle, and youngest uncle; the male descendants are not numerous. The five sisters of the Guo family are quite well-known. My father is highly respected wherever he goes. He has been working for several years, has responsible work experience, and is a versatile worker. Whether driving a Dongfanghong tractor to haul thick logs from the mountaintop to the bottom, or driving a tractor like a tank to the top of a mountain, his skills are extremely refined. He also understands the working principles of tractors, and he absolutely refuses to send minor problems back to the factory for repairs. Therefore, the construction team highly values ​​young people who are passionate about researching technology. Completing tasks ahead of schedule naturally earns a bonus. Of course, every time we visit my grandmother's house, we ride in a small train pulled by a green carriage through towering mountains and dark tunnels. If the slope is too steep, there are usually two locomotives, one in front and one behind, their whistles echoing throughout the mountains and reaching the clouds.

The journey from Utopia to the so-called city takes at least twelve or thirteen hours, assuming it's on time. If there's an unexplained delay, the exact arrival time becomes unpredictable. The carriages are filled with the pungent smell of sweat and tobacco. Smoking is prohibited on trains, but the families of the workers who toil year-round in the primeval forests are difficult to manage, brimming with the wild, untamed spirit of those from the Northeast. I remember shamanistic rituals were quite popular back then. My father said my maternal grandmother died because my grandfather hired a shaman, but my mother vehemently disagreed, saying it was an insult to my grandfather. This area used to be the homeland of the Jurchen people. The shamans were performing their rituals, a practice known as shamanism in Russia and the Northeast. The goddesses typically wore headdresses adorned with jingling bells and colorful ribbons, and carried instruments like drums. One hand shakes the object while the other pats it, then the person chants incantations like a witch, praying, singing, and dancing, sometimes even joining in with a witch's chant. However, children especially love watching the performances by goddesses in strange costumes, because of the eerie atmosphere. Even after the founding of the People's Republic of China, these activities weren't immediately banned, because this superstition had become completely integrated with customs, becoming a part of life and culture.

Young women can choose to work in factories, no longer suffering the tragedy of their grandmothers' generation. Girls can study, go to school, take the college entrance exam, and attend various vocational and technical colleges. At least junior college and university are similar to the status of the former imperial examination graduates. Even if they can pass the entrance exam for secondary vocational school, they will be promoted to cadre status immediately after graduation.

Let's return to the front and back yards of that dreamlike golden thatched cottage. In the children's memories, it's a golden autumn. Uncle Er opened the back window, and it seemed the plum tree was laden with ginseng fruits. Eating them would not only grant immortality but also invisibility. If the adults couldn't find them, they could play hide-and-seek forever. Uncle Er used a bamboo pole to knock plums down, gathering the fruit from the ground into a basket. He pulled his eldest nephew down from the windowsill, and together they gathered plums from the grass. Plums were everywhere! It was a miracle that one tree could bear so much fruit! Autumn plums were so sweet. Uncle Er also gave his eldest nephew a few wild pears. These pears could be made into a kind of pear jelly, even better than hawthorn cake. These trees were transplanted from the mountain when Grandfather was alive; the wild pear trees were purely wild. In spring, the flowers bloomed beautifully, a pear blossom overshadowing a crabapple—that was Auntie's sarcastic remark about him; Auntie had a very strong opinion of him. My third aunt was very good to my father. My father loved her just as much as he loved my grandmother, after all, she was my parents' sister. My second aunt's husband not only liked to help the children pick lice, but he also especially liked to play hide-and-seek with his eldest nephew. This was because my second aunt's husband was very close to my father. Not only my second aunt's husband, but almost all of Old Jin's brothers and sisters were also very affectionate towards my father.

Because my second aunt and father were on the same side when they were young, opposing my eldest aunt's tyranny, and as the eldest daughter, she naturally flaunted her authority, plus she knew how to please my grandmother, while my second aunt was straightforward. She was disliked by my grandmother as a young woman, and even more so after marriage. For some reason, whenever my father came home, my grandmother's house would immediately become lively and bustling. My third uncle and second uncle both started working. My third uncle drove a small train at the railway bureau—a steam locomotive from the First Industrial Revolution—hauling logs from the mountains to lumber mills, sawmills, and plywood factories outside the mountains for further processing. Because the steam locomotives were still somewhat underpowered, comparable to those used during the Zhan Tianyou era, a strange and spectacular sight could be seen: two steam locomotives, one in front and one behind, their whistles blaring as they drove up the hillsides, white mist and soot rising and falling against the azure sky, creating a magnificent scene.

What about my second uncle? He was intelligent and loved inventing. After graduating from high school, he didn't have the opportunity to take the college entrance exam and immediately started working. He became a welder and won first prize in the welding competition of the entire forestry bureau. Coupled with his strong academic background, he could read all sorts of materials, including abstract professional books. He modified dozens of old boilers in a plywood factory, improving production efficiency. When my grandfather was alive, he was quite worried about my second uncle. He was the most intelligent among his siblings, with extremely high comprehension. He loved to think and research, both in his studies and in life. So what was my grandfather worried about? Of course, it was his very immature personality, the fatal weakness that Carnegie claimed in human nature. Therefore, when my second aunt argued with him, she would always call him a "tiger"—a brainless tiger, meaning someone whose brain is short-circuited and lacks common sense. He often did good deeds but offended people, and he didn't know how to speak properly. He wasn't like Einstein who could find a tolerant patent office director. Personality defects are the most likely to cause problems in a bureau-like organization.

三姑妈可惜就可惜在和二叔一样的问题，人格缺陷。二姑妈为了三姑妈的问题常常生气，恨铁不成钢，明明知道是个火坑还往里头跳，常常骂三姑妈是白痴青年。但是三姑妈却坚称她是有自我追求的新时代女性，不像二姐姐自私自利，只想到自己的发展，不考虑祖国建设需要文化青年到落后地区奉献热血和力量。二姑妈和大姑妈在处理三姑妈的问题方式上经常的吵架，张红英喜欢直面矛盾而不逃避，而大姑妈几乎对于兄弟姐妹的婚姻，爱情，工作，选择了圆滑事故。三姑妈现在住在大金沟。老农民狠命的揍她，嫌她懒惰，老农民一直幻想着娶一位脑子有点精神问题的女知识分子，他就可以上岸了，成为工人阶级的一员。 Unexpectedly, after marrying him, Zhang Honghua completely adapted to local customs, so she was ruthless in dealing with this lazy woman disguised as an intellectual. Almost everyone in the bureau knew about the miserable life Zhang Honghua had lived.

Of course, the eldest and second eldest sisters had visited the mud-brick house in Dajingou a few times and seen their third sister a few times, but each visit caused them distress, so they never went back to that wild mountain valley. Every time, the second eldest sister and the eldest sister would argue until their faces turned red. The second eldest sister had previously been adamant about preventing her third sister from going to the valley, because this valley wasn't like the one with mountains, water, and forests her brother lived in; it seemed like a painful cycle, and this shackle of enslavement could never be removed from Zhang Honghua's neck. At least the old farmer had now relaxed his vigilance towards her and allowed her to take the children back to their home at the foot of Dataizi Mountain in the bureau. The old farmer knew that Zhang Honghua had fallen so low that no man wanted her, and he no longer worried about her escaping from his grasp. Because Honghua had nowhere else to go besides him and the children, sometimes it was unbelievable—knowing it was a pit of fire, she still insisted on jumping into it. When the second eldest sister saw her third sister, she felt sorry for her suffering in the countryside and even began to wonder, what era did her third sister live in? This troublesome third sister is like a dog biting Lü Dongbin (a Chinese idiom meaning to bite the hand that feeds one's dog). Besides constantly complaining to her second sister, she also argues fiercely with her brother-in-law, as if all the hardships and suffering she endured in the countryside were caused by him. Yes, the second sister feels sorry for her sister who's fallen into a pit of fire, and she cries and wipes away tears for Zhao Mengji. Zhao Mengji also has a younger brother, Zhao Mengfan, who works in a forest farm in the mountains. He's just as troublesome as his third sister. Fortunately, even though he's not doing well, he married a migrant woman from Shandong. Zhao Mengji is currently trying to figure out how to get his sister-in-law's household registration.

Soon, Mr. Zhao, Zhao Mengji's father from Jilin, will be coming to the bureau to retire. His youngest daughter is getting married and won't be able to take care of the old man anymore. And with Zhao Mengzhi getting married, her aunt should be more discreet and stop hesitating with her sister-in-law, because the in-laws are quite particular about etiquette. Just listen to the son-in-law's name: Yang Yili. Zhao Mengzhi has been urging them not to go to some remote mountain village, but it's no use; her eldest brother, second brother, and even her father have all gone to work at the forestry bureau.

Hua Zi was originally studying gymnastics in Jilin, but the requirements for gymnastics were too high. Zhao Mengji realized that his daughter had reached the limit in this field and could not become a professional gymnast, so he thought of a way to get her a job as an apprentice in a plywood factory. Old Zhao's daughter was the first to start working there. Hua Zi was capable, had a boyish personality, was optimistic, and got along well with the workers.

Zhang Sheng was unfamiliar with the love stories of his grandparents, both on his maternal and paternal sides. The phoenix-like rebirth, like his uncle's, was a result of childhood burns. The saying goes, "Those who survive great calamities are destined for good fortune." He wondered when the child began to have memories—was it from swimming in amniotic fluid? Regardless of religious beliefs, we seem to have forgotten many instincts. How forgetful and habitually regressive we are in this vast Yin-Yang world! Habitual change propagates life in the evolution of the Tao, disappearing and reborn, all things possessing a spirit. Both Chinese myths begin with Nuwa, who conjures spiritual wisdom from stones. One involves Baoyu coming to the human world to gain enlightenment, amidst the various unconventional young women's springtime romances and passionate love stories. Consider Tolstoy's resurrection; lust is the beginning of suffering. Tolstoy used this to resurrect humanity's original sin in Genesis. Adam and Eve loved each other, but they couldn't save each other. Man and woman are inherently one; separation and reunion are original sin. With desire, humanity cannot remain in paradise. If the stone isn't properly purified, it becomes like Sun Wukong, needing the redemption of Jin Chanzi's journey to the West. All the great talents in the world possess a touch of Sun Wukong's eccentric and unconventional spirit, and they understand Qian Zhongshu's pain—a family of three, enjoying the solitary pleasure of reading in their study. The greatest joy in life isn't like what Sheng Tan described, but rather the sudden downpour of dew from Guanyin on a sweltering summer day, the powerful steam rising and being extinguished by rain—truly, the joy of life itself, is immense. The ultimate bliss of rain on a cloudy day is the meaning of Sheng Tanzi's brilliant writing. The sentiments of literary figures are unique; only Mr. Qian could understand the joy of a family of three. Of all the people in the world, only Qian Zhongshu could truly comprehend this, and I am deeply moved by Mr. Qian's profound understanding.