Went to the countryside to repair home appliances, and the farmer brother actually treated me to this
It had been a long time since I went to the countryside to repair household appliances. Today I suddenly got a call from a friend, saying that a relative of his in the countryside had a broken TV and asking if it was convenient for me to go fix it. It happened that he was also off work today and would go with me; since my friend put it that way, I agreed right away, and would also take the chance to breathe some fresh oxygen in a natural oxygen bar, haha!
I got on my little donkey and off we went without delay; we raced along the whole way, and this mountain road really was hard to travel. After racing for nearly two hours, we finally arrived at this village called Dadongling, and my friend's relative lived in this village.
The ecological environment in the countryside really is good. Coming here felt like returning to a long-missed hometown; that rich earthy local flavor came rushing to my nose, and of course so did the hearty smiling faces of the farmer brothers!
It had been a long time since I repaired a CRT, but replacing a tube socket was still no problem for me; in the humid mountain countryside, back when there were many CRTs, basically every year several baskets of them had to be replaced.
I had originally planned that after fixing the TV, we would look around a bit and then head back, but this rural relative, the elder brother, insisted on making us something to eat before letting us go, and specially said that he had gotten something good on the mountain these past two days, something you city folk rarely get to eat. Under the elder brother's repeated warm hospitality, we could only follow our host's lead.
It gave me a big surprise. It turned out to be this treasure, and just like that it brought me back to beautiful childhood memories! I remember when I was little I went up the mountain with my father to get these. We called them ground bees, also imperial bees. They are as big as a finger, extremely fierce, with a venomous stinger at the tail. If you accidentally get stung once, the stung area swells and hurts terribly. Just a few of these bees can defeat a whole hive of honeybees, which shows what formidable characters they are.
Living off the mountain if you live by the mountain, living off the water if you live by the water; each place's soil and water raise its own people. In no time, while we were chatting, the elder brother had almost finished cooking this extremely delicious mountain delicacy, and before it even reached the pot my mouth was already watering.
Of course, when making a special meal, this could not be left out. The elder brother brought out his collector's edition, so hospitable! It truly lives up to the saying, "When jackals and wolves come, there are hunting guns; when guests come, there is good wine." I should mention here that the southern mountain areas are very humid, and the folks who live in this region for a long time more or less have ailments like rheumatism, so the bee wine the elder brother brought out has the effect of dispelling rheumatism. In my hometown, many families usually soak this kind of wine, and when they get together they just drink a couple of sips.
The road is still that road; where you come from is where you return to. Endless nostalgia, endless stories; compared with the empty restlessness of the busy city, the simple human warmth and ways of the countryside gave me another unforgettable baptism. Goodbye, elder brother, we will meet again someday!