书城艺术艺术村庄
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第6章 村民访谈(4)

Han:Itmainlyincludestakingcareofmykids,washingclothesandworkingonthefarm。Theyleavehomeforschoolat6:30am,sometimesat6:20,walkalongdistanceandarriveatschoolbefore7:20。Ipreparebreadforthemthenightbeforeandtheycomebackforlunchatnoon。Notlikeotherkidswhocantakeanapathome,theyleaveforschoolagainassoonastheyfinishlunch。ThenIfeedthepigs,washclothesforkidsandworkonthefarm。Thepeacheswegrewcanbesoldat8yuaneachkilo。

Wehavepeachtrees,almondandspicytreesonthefarm。Thisyearthepeachsellsgoodpriceandwehopewecouldearnmorethan200yuan。

VH:Howisyourpeachbusiness?

Han:Ipickupthepeachesinthevalley,putthemdownaroundthefarmandsellthemaroundSunjiagouearlymorningofnextday。Thebestbusinessisthatoncesomeoneearned30yuanaroundCaijiadian。Inthepastpeoplehereownedmorelandthanusnowandsincewecamehere,ourkidshadlittleland。Ifwehadmoreland,thoughitwasnotgood,atleastwecouldhaveearnsomemoney。Latergovernmentgaveus1。2acreslandassubsidiary。

VH:Whatdoyouhaveonthefarm?

Han:Almond,spicytreesandpeachtrees。

VH:Whopickupspicy?

Han:MysonsandIgotopickuponthefarmaftergettingupandatnoontheoldestsoncomesbackhometocook。TheothersondoesnotwanttostayonthefarmandcomplainthatwesendthedaughtertolearnEnglish,nothim。IexplainthatsheisnotnaughtyandlearningEnglishnowisgoodforhereasyentrancetoschool。

VH:Besidessellingpeaches,whatelsedoyoudoonthefarm?

Han:Weremovetheweed。Thefirsthalfofthisyear,thetreesgotfrozenandnowthoseapplesdriedupbecauseofthehotweather。

VH:Haveyougrownanythingonthefieldnow?

Han:SeveraldaysagoIgrewsomebuckwheatandvegetableseedsonthefarmbutthelandisstillnotenough。Whatismore,thelandisnotevenatall。

VH:Doesyourhusbandhelpyouworkonthefarmaftercarryinggoods?

Han:Yes,hecomesbackhome,cleansalittle,changesshoesandthengoestowork。Heevencarriesfertilizer,forlifewehavenootherchoice。

VH:Doyouhelpyourkidswithstudy?

Han:Itrytosupervisethemwhentheystudy,iftheywanttowatchTVIallowthemtowatchforawhilebutanywaytheyarenaughty。

VH:Doyouoftengotothetown?

Han:Yes,becausewedonothaveshophere。WhenthekidsneedpencilornotebooksIgototowntobuyforthem。Imakeshoesbymyself,orbuyshoeswhenIamoccupiedbyfarmwork。Notliketheshoessoldinthemarket,thekindofshoesImakeismadeofbastandcloth,whichisgoodforfeet。OnceIboughtapairofshoesformyhusbandwhenhewascarryingstonesinFairyTowerbutsoontheywentapart。

VH:Doyouhaveanyideasforyourkids?

Han:Weworkhardonthefieldinordertosupportthemandwehopetheycouldstudyaswellastheycan。

VH:Dotheyhelpyouwiththehousework?

Han:Theyonlydowhentheyareonholiday,suchaspickingupspicyonthefarm。Becauseoftherainydaytodaytheywenttoplaywiththeirfriends。Tomorrowtheywillgotopickupspicy。

VH:Howistheirstudy?

Han:Theoldestsoncanstudywellandtheschoolperformanceisalwaysnotbad。Schoolisfarfromhere。Thelittlekidstartedtogotoschoolat7butwouldnotliketogo3dayslater,sohisbotherssendhimtoschoolbyholdinghisarms,orsometimesIgavehim0。1or0。2yuanforbuyingsnackinthestore。Thepre--elementaryschoolwasestablishedbythosewhoonceworkedinofficialschool。Becauseheistooyoungforschool,hedoesnotwanttogotoschoolaslongashecomesbackforlunch。SometimesIbeathimandthenhisbrothersforcedhimtogotoschool。Theothertwokidsgotoschoolat8。

VH:Canthemoneybeearnedfromsellingpeachestosupportthekids?

Han:Notatall。Itisfinethisyearbecauseweearnmorethan200yuanfromit。TheyearbeforelastyearIboughtapairofbigbasketsforholdingapplesandpeach--

es,whichcost42yuanbutthemoneyearnedfromsellingthemwasnotenoughforthebaskets。

VH:Howisthepriceofthepeach?

Han:Notverygood。Wecarriedsomepeachestothemarketbutdidnotsellasingleoneandtheseconddaysame,soweusedthemtofeedpigs。

VH:Howmuchisthetuitionfeenow?

Theeldestson:Nowadaysitismorethan100yuanandbeforeitwaslessthan3ooyuanincludingtheincidentalexpenses。100yuancoversaccommodationandfood。Itismuchcheaperthanbefore。

Han:Lastyearitwasmorethan170yuanand200yuanisneedforeachterm。

VH:Whatabouttheyoungone?

Son:Morethan70yuan。

Han:Asamatteroffact,thosewhotookaccommodationatschooldidnothavetopaythetuitionfee,buthepaid。Becausehetoldhisteacherthathisfatherhadacar。Butthefactisthathehasatricyclesanditisathome。

Theeldestson:Theyhavegetevidence。

Han:TheythoughtwehadourowncarbutactuallywejustcarriedstonesinFairyTower。TheTricyclejustputathome。

VH:Howdidyougetthefoodnow?

Han:Wehaveeggplant,spicyandpeasonourownland。Peoplehereeatalotofpotatoes。Webuywheatandsometimesbuybagsofflour。Hisfatherworkhardtoearnmoney,gettingmorethan20yuaneachday。Webuyfoodwithitandpaytuitionfee,sometimesweneedtoborrowmoneyfrommysisterswhoseconditionsarenotbadbuttheyalsohavedebt。Nowthekidsarepickingupspicy。Weworkhardalldaythroughtocollect9or10kiloandevery5kilospicydryuptobe1kilo。Ifwehireotherpeople,itistooexpensive。

VH:Howdoyouthinkofyourlifeconditionnow?

Han:Wehavenodebtnow。TwoyearsagolifewashardbecauseIhadtostayathometotakecareofthosekidsanddidnothaveenoughmoneytobuyshoesorclothesforkids。Nowtheirfathergoestoearnmoneyeverydayandlifeisbetterthanbeforethoughwehavetosupportkids。

VH:Whatdoyoudoinyoursparetime?

Han:Iseldomhavefreetime。IfIhave,IoftenwatchTVandwashclothes,weaveclothesormakeshoes。Inwinterwecleanthefallenleavesawayandpickupfirewoodbecausethecoalisnotcheapanyway。

VH:Inwhichwaydoyouthinkourlifestandardcanbeimproved?

Han:Themerehopeisthatthekidscanstudywell。Aslongastheycan,itispossiblethatwecouldhavebetterfuture。