Sunshine Home

Author: Deng Hao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-03-01
Features: My parents live in the countryside, only seventy kilometers away from the city where I live. Almost every month, my husband and I visit them. This habit has continued since we returned to Changsha, and it has been three years now. Both my husband and I grew up in the countryside and have a deep, rustic affection for it. Amidst the busy urban life, we have always longed for the pastoral life of watching the blue sky and white clouds, enjoying the sunshine and grasslands, and letting the gentle breeze brush against our faces. At my parents' house, we have a dog named Duo. Every time we go back, it greets us with a wagging tail. What we enjoy the most is visiting the countryside in April. Choose a sunny Sunday, far away from the city. Pass through boundless fields of rapeseed flowers, cross rivers as green as jade, and go through lush green hills dotted with charming small houses. Deep in spring, there lies my home with curling smoke. Drink a bowl of sweet well water, and then, under the smiling gaze of my parents, finish all the vegetables on the table. My husband has already been taking care of the firewood left over from winter, his movements becoming increasingly skilled. I help my mother tend the vegetable garden and give a bunch of fresh green grass to the little yellow cow. The calf licks my hand in gratitude. On the opposite hill, the azaleas have bloomed! What a wonderful flower show! The entire mountain is ablaze, grand, spectacular—absolutely worth seeing! So we spent half a day exploring the flower mountain and even picked a few branches to bring back, placing them in the clear well water. Birds sing on the rooftops. A wobbly stool stands in the corner of the wall, and the scent of the old house wafts towards you. Move a chair and sit in the sunlight, taking a nap. The dog lies beside me, sleeping soundly, while the air is filled with the rich fragrance of rapeseed flowers.