Chapter 602: Iron Flowers, Fireflies
Soon, it was night.
Because the sun was shining brightly and the sky was clear during the day, the weather at night was surprisingly good. At this moment, the moon was bright in the sky and the stars were sparse.
The bright moonlight sprinkled on the ground, emitting a silvery glow, and had already covered the dim light from the street lamps on the roadside.
"Zhang An, let's go out and play."
After dinner, Zhang An and his family were digesting their food in the yard when Ding Yi came over carrying his dog Ding Zijie and called out to them.
"Where are you going, so late at night?"
Zhang An did not refuse outright, but turned his head and asked Ding Yi.
"Go out for a walk. Look how beautiful the moonlight is tonight. Why are you staying at home? When I came here, I saw a lot of people by the river, even by the lotus pond."
Ding Yi pointed outside and urged Zhang An.
"Okay, let's go out for a walk."
Zhang An thought that there was nothing to do at home, so he agreed.
"Son, Dad wants to take you out to play, do you want to go?"
Looking at the little guy who was staring at the TV intently, Zhang An thought for a moment and decided to take him with him.
Because going out and playing is always better than staring at the TV at home.
"Go and go."
The little guy, who had been oblivious to what was happening outside and focused on watching TV, immediately shifted his attention away from the TV when he heard his dad say he was going out to play.
"Then go find a coat and put it on, so you won't be bitten by mosquitoes later."
Zhang An did not expect his son to choose this option.
But little Siqi was still wearing a short-sleeved shirt, so if he went out like this, he would definitely get into trouble.
Although it is already October, the temperature is too suitable. 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 gather around you as if they were a delicious commodity.
The little guy was obedient and trotted all the way back to the room. When he came out again, he had already put a small jacket on his back and was putting it into the sleeves with one hand.
"Hey, why are there so many people in the threshing ground today? The street lights haven't been turned on yet. Let's go over and take a look."
After going out, Ding Yi pointed at the threshing ground and said curiously, then led the way forward.
Upon hearing this, Zhang An also looked towards the threshing ground and found that there were indeed quite a few people there.
According to past practice, it is normal for the place to be busy during the day but quiet at night.
This was the first time that there were so many people gathered in the threshing ground so late at night.
Moreover, none of the street lights around the threshing ground were turned on; they were all off.
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 in an orderly manner.
Moreover, the village attached so much importance to this National Day holiday that a few days ago, Zhang Jianwen took people to check all the street lights. All the broken ones have been replaced, and no one will break down so quickly.
"Could it be that the village has arranged some new program?"
Looking at so many people and listening to the subtle noises, Zhang An couldn't help but doubt.
"Wow, I guessed it for you. They actually arranged a program."
After reaching the threshing ground, Ding Yi said with surprise.
Because inside the drying yard, several elders in the village who were familiar to Zhang An were making preparations.
As soon as Zhang An saw the furnishings inside, familiar memories immediately came to his mind. This was the preparation for making iron flowers. When he was young, he could see iron flowers being made almost every year.
No wonder the surrounding street lights were turned off, and the people surrounding the threshing ground were crowded on the periphery, leaving such a large area of the ground empty in the middle.
Because making iron flowers requires a very large space, keeping everyone at a distance is also a form of protection.
This thing is not a local specialty. Among the surrounding villages, only Changqing Village has people who can do this.
They are the guys who are picking up the threshing grain with bare arms in the middle of the threshing ground: Uncle Yang, Second Uncle Yang, Third Uncle Yang, and their children.
This craft should be considered their family's unique skill.
When Zhang An was young, he heard from the elders in the village that the Yang family in the village fled here from outside during the time of their grandfather's generation.
This craft was brought here by their old man from outside. Before old man Yang passed away, he had already passed this craft to his three sons.
Until now, the three elders of the Yang family have begun to pass 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 that they don’t like to watch it.
Although fireworks can be bought these days, they are not so widely available. Except during the Chinese New Year when every household gets together to set them off, it is rare to see the grand sight 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 the fireworks at all.
Therefore, from the past, whenever there was a festival for the whole village to celebrate together, making iron flowers was basically a must-do program in the evening.
At that time, also in this threshing ground, almost all the men, women, young and old in the village 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 Mr. Yang grew old, the show gradually faded away and then came to an end. Zhang An hasn't seen it for many years.
Unexpectedly, after many years, the village's iron flower craft has made a comeback.
Zhang An couldn't help but sigh that the village chief Zhang Jianwen had made very thorough preparations for the National Day holiday.
During the day, people perform folk operas, sing folk songs, and dance Miao dances, and at night, they also perform iron flower performances that are very visually rich.
Suddenly, a call was heard in the middle of the dam, and Zhang An knew that they were about to start making sparklers.
Uncle Yang was seen running quickly on the threshing yard with bare arms, holding an upper stick filled with molten iron in one hand and a lower stick for hitting in the other. When the call was about to start, he suddenly hit the upper stick filled with molten iron with the lower stick.
The rest of Uncle Yang and his companions quickly caught up with Uncle Yang's pace, one after another, running around the furnace and the flower shed.
When one rod of iron flowers shot up into the sky, another rod immediately followed, and the rods were connected in an endless stream, and thousands of stars scattered from the sky.
The iron flowers bursting out from the molten iron in front of my eyes have already ignited the darkness, transforming into bright stars, illuminating the entire threshing ground transparently.
I think Xin Qiji's line "Iron trees and silver flowers fall, and thousands of stars bloom" describes this kind of scene.
Such a visual feast made the crowd watching outside the venue burst into applause and praise.
Many people even said that this trip was worth it, and this fireworks display was much more beautiful than the fireworks in the city. But in Zhang An's opinion, the preparations this time were probably a bit hasty and not fully prepared, which could be seen just by looking at the flower shed.
If we do it again next time, we will prepare everything and invite the big green dragon in the village out. Then we will be able to see the magnificent sight of fireworks and silver flowers accompanied by the dance of fish and dragons.
"I didn't expect that the village still has such a wonderful show. This is common in our area, but how come I've never even seen a shadow of it before?"
Ding Yi was similar to everyone else, and kept saying that it was beautiful.
"Hahaha, you're envious, right? When I was a kid, I could see it almost every year, but it's gone in recent years. I don't know how the uncle managed to invite Uncle Yang and his family this time."
Zhang An grinned at Ding Yi, looking like he really wanted a beating.
However, this iron flower shop is the only one in the surrounding area. If you miss it in this village, you will miss it, and there will not be one in the county town either.
Afterwards, at everyone's invitation, Uncle Yang and his friends began to prepare for another fight.
Just like that, by the time the show was over, more than an hour had passed.
But even so, the crowd of onlookers did not end there. They were basically tourists staying in homestays in the village.
They were all taking advantage of the silvery moonlight to stroll along the paths on both sides of the river and in the fields, not in a hurry to return to where they lived.
The same was true for Ding Yi and Zhang An. They each carried their sons on their backs and strolled 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?"
As they walked, Ding Yi suddenly pointed ahead and said in surprise.
"You are talking nonsense. What else can a bug that glows at night be but a firefly?"
Zhang An looked forward, and there was a place where the moonlight was blocked by the ridge of the field. Fireflies were lighting their own lanterns and dancing in the darkness.
"Now that the millet in the fields has been harvested, I didn't expect there would still be fireflies."
Maybe Ding Yi had never seen fireflies before, so now he was as excited as a child.
"This is all 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 will have to wait until next summer."
Fireflies are insects that are active in the summer, and before mid-October is the time for their last dance.
Their life cycle is very short, normally only three to seven days, and only a few may last longer.
This is why many children catch fireflies and try to keep them, but find that they are all dead after a few days.
Xiao Siqi and Ding Zijie, who had been quietly staying on their fathers' backs just now, struggled to get down and catch them after seeing the fireflies.
Zhang An didn't stop them. He put them down and let them go.
Anyway, the millet in the fields has been harvested and the land is empty.
Ding Yi couldn't control himself either, and followed the two little guys to pounce on the fireflies. Zhang An could only shake his head.
But it's not his fault, because when Zhang An looked ahead, he found that many people were also chasing fireflies, both adults and children, and waves of excited laughter spread across the fields.
It was only then that Zhang An discovered that there were actually quite a lot of fireflies tonight, even more than in the previous nights. This was probably because the weather and temperature had been pretty good in the past two days.
Seeing people chasing fireflies everywhere, an idea suddenly popped into Zhang An's mind.
Then he walked over and followed Ding Yi and the two little guys to catch fireflies.
It is very difficult to catch fireflies with bare hands because they have wings. So even though there are many people chasing them around, only a few can catch them.
The same was true for Ding Yi. He ran around with the two little guys for a long time but didn't catch any.
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 fled from him, but began to surround him.
Fortunately, there were not many of them, so they were not obvious and no one discovered them. Otherwise, he would be the brightest guy in the field.
He also took this opportunity to quietly catch a lot of fireflies into the space.
That’s right, after seeing that everyone liked fireflies so much, he wanted to cultivate a batch of them in space.
Then release them outside, and the dense swarms of 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 regarded as a way to promote the village.
Only when he had caught almost everything did Zhang An cut off the aura of the space.
But this is not the end yet, because all the fireflies caught just now are female fireflies.
Zhang An didn't understand it at first, but after reading the books brought by the Forestry Bureau, he realized that for fireflies, male fireflies have wings, while female fireflies 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 cultivating them successfully.
Of course, it is also very easy to find them because they both have a common feature, which is that they can glow.
Also, night is the time when fireflies forage for food, and you can find them in the wild.
Hard work pays off. Zhang An chose a slightly damp patch of grass, squatted on the ground and searched for a while. With his eyesight far superior to that of ordinary people, he soon found several female fireflies.
Although they also emit light, it is much weaker than the males, and you may not be able to see it if you are not careful.
"Hey Zhang An, what are you looking for here?"
Suddenly, Ding Yi ran to Zhang An and shouted.
"Fuck, you gave me a big scare."
Zhang An was looking too seriously just now, and Ding Yi scared him badly.
"You're so serious, I thought you were looking for some treasure, but it turns out you're looking for some worms that can actually glow?"
At this time, Ding Yi also saw the female fireflies in Zhang An's palm and said in surprise.
"Don't look down on me, I am also a firefly."
"What? Don't fireflies have wings and can fly? Why do they look like this?"
When Ding Yi heard Zhang An say that this was a firefly, he was a little bit unbelieving.
"The one you're talking about is a male, and this is a female. Male fireflies look pretty much like this when they're young."
Seeing that Ding Yi didn't understand, Zhang An started the science session again.
Now he feels that reading more books is beneficial.
(End of this chapter)
Soon, it was night.
Because the sun was shining brightly and the sky was clear during the day, the weather at night was surprisingly good. At this moment, the moon was bright in the sky and the stars were sparse.
The bright moonlight sprinkled on the ground, emitting a silvery glow, and had already covered the dim light from the street lamps on the roadside.
"Zhang An, let's go out and play."
After dinner, Zhang An and his family were digesting their food in the yard when Ding Yi came over carrying his dog Ding Zijie and called out to them.
"Where are you going, so late at night?"
Zhang An did not refuse outright, but turned his head and asked Ding Yi.
"Go out for a walk. Look how beautiful the moonlight is tonight. Why are you staying at home? When I came here, I saw a lot of people by the river, even by the lotus pond."
Ding Yi pointed outside and urged Zhang An.
"Okay, let's go out for a walk."
Zhang An thought that there was nothing to do at home, so he agreed.
"Son, Dad wants to take you out to play, do you want to go?"
Looking at the little guy who was staring at the TV intently, Zhang An thought for a moment and decided to take him with him.
Because going out and playing is always better than staring at the TV at home.
"Go and go."
The little guy, who had been oblivious to what was happening outside and focused on watching TV, immediately shifted his attention away from the TV when he heard his dad say he was going out to play.
"Then go find a coat and put it on, so you won't be bitten by mosquitoes later."
Zhang An did not expect his son to choose this option.
But little Siqi was still wearing a short-sleeved shirt, so if he went out like this, he would definitely get into trouble.
Although it is already October, the temperature is too suitable. 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 gather around you as if they were a delicious commodity.
The little guy was obedient and trotted all the way back to the room. When he came out again, he had already put a small jacket on his back and was putting it into the sleeves with one hand.
"Hey, why are there so many people in the threshing ground today? The street lights haven't been turned on yet. Let's go over and take a look."
After going out, Ding Yi pointed at the threshing ground and said curiously, then led the way forward.
Upon hearing this, Zhang An also looked towards the threshing ground and found that there were indeed quite a few people there.
According to past practice, it is normal for the place to be busy during the day but quiet at night.
This was the first time that there were so many people gathered in the threshing ground so late at night.
Moreover, none of the street lights around the threshing ground were turned on; they were all off.
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 in an orderly manner.
Moreover, the village attached so much importance to this National Day holiday that a few days ago, Zhang Jianwen took people to check all the street lights. All the broken ones have been replaced, and no one will break down so quickly.
"Could it be that the village has arranged some new program?"
Looking at so many people and listening to the subtle noises, Zhang An couldn't help but doubt.
"Wow, I guessed it for you. They actually arranged a program."
After reaching the threshing ground, Ding Yi said with surprise.
Because inside the drying yard, several elders in the village who were familiar to Zhang An were making preparations.
As soon as Zhang An saw the furnishings inside, familiar memories immediately came to his mind. This was the preparation for making iron flowers. When he was young, he could see iron flowers being made almost every year.
No wonder the surrounding street lights were turned off, and the people surrounding the threshing ground were crowded on the periphery, leaving such a large area of the ground empty in the middle.
Because making iron flowers requires a very large space, keeping everyone at a distance is also a form of protection.
This thing is not a local specialty. Among the surrounding villages, only Changqing Village has people who can do this.
They are the guys who are picking up the threshing grain with bare arms in the middle of the threshing ground: Uncle Yang, Second Uncle Yang, Third Uncle Yang, and their children.
This craft should be considered their family's unique skill.
When Zhang An was young, he heard from the elders in the village that the Yang family in the village fled here from outside during the time of their grandfather's generation.
This craft was brought here by their old man from outside. Before old man Yang passed away, he had already passed this craft to his three sons.
Until now, the three elders of the Yang family have begun to pass 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 that they don’t like to watch it.
Although fireworks can be bought these days, they are not so widely available. Except during the Chinese New Year when every household gets together to set them off, it is rare to see the grand sight 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 the fireworks at all.
Therefore, from the past, whenever there was a festival for the whole village to celebrate together, making iron flowers was basically a must-do program in the evening.
At that time, also in this threshing ground, almost all the men, women, young and old in the village 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 Mr. Yang grew old, the show gradually faded away and then came to an end. Zhang An hasn't seen it for many years.
Unexpectedly, after many years, the village's iron flower craft has made a comeback.
Zhang An couldn't help but sigh that the village chief Zhang Jianwen had made very thorough preparations for the National Day holiday.
During the day, people perform folk operas, sing folk songs, and dance Miao dances, and at night, they also perform iron flower performances that are very visually rich.
Suddenly, a call was heard in the middle of the dam, and Zhang An knew that they were about to start making sparklers.
Uncle Yang was seen running quickly on the threshing yard with bare arms, holding an upper stick filled with molten iron in one hand and a lower stick for hitting in the other. When the call was about to start, he suddenly hit the upper stick filled with molten iron with the lower stick.
The rest of Uncle Yang and his companions quickly caught up with Uncle Yang's pace, one after another, running around the furnace and the flower shed.
When one rod of iron flowers shot up into the sky, another rod immediately followed, and the rods were connected in an endless stream, and thousands of stars scattered from the sky.
The iron flowers bursting out from the molten iron in front of my eyes have already ignited the darkness, transforming into bright stars, illuminating the entire threshing ground transparently.
I think Xin Qiji's line "Iron trees and silver flowers fall, and thousands of stars bloom" describes this kind of scene.
Such a visual feast made the crowd watching outside the venue burst into applause and praise.
Many people even said that this trip was worth it, and this fireworks display was much more beautiful than the fireworks in the city. But in Zhang An's opinion, the preparations this time were probably a bit hasty and not fully prepared, which could be seen just by looking at the flower shed.
If we do it again next time, we will prepare everything and invite the big green dragon in the village out. Then we will be able to see the magnificent sight of fireworks and silver flowers accompanied by the dance of fish and dragons.
"I didn't expect that the village still has such a wonderful show. This is common in our area, but how come I've never even seen a shadow of it before?"
Ding Yi was similar to everyone else, and kept saying that it was beautiful.
"Hahaha, you're envious, right? When I was a kid, I could see it almost every year, but it's gone in recent years. I don't know how the uncle managed to invite Uncle Yang and his family this time."
Zhang An grinned at Ding Yi, looking like he really wanted a beating.
However, this iron flower shop is the only one in the surrounding area. If you miss it in this village, you will miss it, and there will not be one in the county town either.
Afterwards, at everyone's invitation, Uncle Yang and his friends began to prepare for another fight.
Just like that, by the time the show was over, more than an hour had passed.
But even so, the crowd of onlookers did not end there. They were basically tourists staying in homestays in the village.
They were all taking advantage of the silvery moonlight to stroll along the paths on both sides of the river and in the fields, not in a hurry to return to where they lived.
The same was true for Ding Yi and Zhang An. They each carried their sons on their backs and strolled 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?"
As they walked, Ding Yi suddenly pointed ahead and said in surprise.
"You are talking nonsense. What else can a bug that glows at night be but a firefly?"
Zhang An looked forward, and there was a place where the moonlight was blocked by the ridge of the field. Fireflies were lighting their own lanterns and dancing in the darkness.
"Now that the millet in the fields has been harvested, I didn't expect there would still be fireflies."
Maybe Ding Yi had never seen fireflies before, so now he was as excited as a child.
"This is all 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 will have to wait until next summer."
Fireflies are insects that are active in the summer, and before mid-October is the time for their last dance.
Their life cycle is very short, normally only three to seven days, and only a few may last longer.
This is why many children catch fireflies and try to keep them, but find that they are all dead after a few days.
Xiao Siqi and Ding Zijie, who had been quietly staying on their fathers' backs just now, struggled to get down and catch them after seeing the fireflies.
Zhang An didn't stop them. He put them down and let them go.
Anyway, the millet in the fields has been harvested and the land is empty.
Ding Yi couldn't control himself either, and followed the two little guys to pounce on the fireflies. Zhang An could only shake his head.
But it's not his fault, because when Zhang An looked ahead, he found that many people were also chasing fireflies, both adults and children, and waves of excited laughter spread across the fields.
It was only then that Zhang An discovered that there were actually quite a lot of fireflies tonight, even more than in the previous nights. This was probably because the weather and temperature had been pretty good in the past two days.
Seeing people chasing fireflies everywhere, an idea suddenly popped into Zhang An's mind.
Then he walked over and followed Ding Yi and the two little guys to catch fireflies.
It is very difficult to catch fireflies with bare hands because they have wings. So even though there are many people chasing them around, only a few can catch them.
The same was true for Ding Yi. He ran around with the two little guys for a long time but didn't catch any.
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 fled from him, but began to surround him.
Fortunately, there were not many of them, so they were not obvious and no one discovered them. Otherwise, he would be the brightest guy in the field.
He also took this opportunity to quietly catch a lot of fireflies into the space.
That’s right, after seeing that everyone liked fireflies so much, he wanted to cultivate a batch of them in space.
Then release them outside, and the dense swarms of 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 regarded as a way to promote the village.
Only when he had caught almost everything did Zhang An cut off the aura of the space.
But this is not the end yet, because all the fireflies caught just now are female fireflies.
Zhang An didn't understand it at first, but after reading the books brought by the Forestry Bureau, he realized that for fireflies, male fireflies have wings, while female fireflies 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 cultivating them successfully.
Of course, it is also very easy to find them because they both have a common feature, which is that they can glow.
Also, night is the time when fireflies forage for food, and you can find them in the wild.
Hard work pays off. Zhang An chose a slightly damp patch of grass, squatted on the ground and searched for a while. With his eyesight far superior to that of ordinary people, he soon found several female fireflies.
Although they also emit light, it is much weaker than the males, and you may not be able to see it if you are not careful.
"Hey Zhang An, what are you looking for here?"
Suddenly, Ding Yi ran to Zhang An and shouted.
"Fuck, you gave me a big scare."
Zhang An was looking too seriously just now, and Ding Yi scared him badly.
"You're so serious, I thought you were looking for some treasure, but it turns out you're looking for some worms that can actually glow?"
At this time, Ding Yi also saw the female fireflies in Zhang An's palm and said in surprise.
"Don't look down on me, I am also a firefly."
"What? Don't fireflies have wings and can fly? Why do they look like this?"
When Ding Yi heard Zhang An say that this was a firefly, he was a little bit unbelieving.
"The one you're talking about is a male, and this is a female. Male fireflies look pretty much like this when they're young."
Seeing that Ding Yi didn't understand, Zhang An started the science session again.
Now he feels that reading more books is beneficial.
(End of this chapter)
