Return to Singapore 1995

Uncle's house in Ningdong Chengguan.

As soon as Li Xiaofan and Lin Zhiyong entered the house, they found that the place was bustling with activity. Uncle and his family were pounding green glutinous rice cakes. Auntie asked Li Xiaofan to bring more green glutinous rice cakes back to Singapore.

The local green glutinous rice cakes in Ningdong are made of fresh glutinous rice and tender green leaves. They are usually made during the Chinese New Year and Qingming Festival.

The main raw material for the locals to pound glutinous rice cakes is a plant called "qing". It is said that its scientific name is mouse grass. Mouse grass is mild in nature and has the effects of resolving phlegm, relieving cough, lowering blood pressure and removing wind. During the Qingming Festival, it sprouts white and fine leaves. Green glutinous rice cakes are a very delicious food. Li Xiaofan has liked to eat them since he was a child.

In the local area, before Qingming Festival, children and women would carry a basket to the fields to "dig green" in their free time, which means picking the tender stems and leaves of green, so it is also called "picking green". After washing, blanch it in boiling water, remove it and drain the water, then rinse it in clean water. Then chop the green rice into small pieces. You can also wring it dry and put it in the refrigerator for refrigeration, and take it out when needed.

The local method of making green glutinous rice cakes is to mix glutinous rice, japonica rice flour, green rice, and a small amount of clean water together, steam it in a rice steamer, and pour it into a stone mortar while it is still steaming. When the dough is fully sticky, stop grinding, roll the whole dough on the dough bed, and then cut it into many small pieces of glutinous rice cakes.

When they went in, the husked rice and glutinous rice were soaked and steamed in the steamer. The kitchen was steaming and the rice fragrance was overflowing. The iron pot on the stove was filled with white steam, and the stove was burning vigorously.

Cousin Tang Qianqian was sitting on a wooden chair beside the stove, pulling the bellows with one hand and adding firewood with the other. Her little face was dirty and black.

A bellows is designed next to the local earthen stove in Ningdong, and air is blown into the stove by pulling the bellows. In this way, you can pull the bellows with your right hand and add firewood with your left hand, which is convenient and easy to use. The wind generated by a bellows can make the fire in the stove flourish. It is very convenient, and I have to admire the wisdom of our ancestors.

When Li Xiaofan was outside the yard, the hot air with the fragrance of rice and "green" had floated out, drifting under the eaves of the white walls and black tiles, and mixed with the ancient atmosphere to form the unique smell of his hometown.

"It smells so good!" Li Xiaofan took a deep breath.

Full of nostalgia!

My aunt called out: "Xiaofan, Xiaoyong, you are here at the right time, come and help pound a few times, I think your uncle's old body can't bear it!"

At this time, the steamed glutinous rice and green have been poured into the stone mortar, and the uncle has started to pound.

In Li Xiaofan's childhood memory, pounding glutinous rice cakes is a grand event and a technical job. At that time, neighbors would come to help. My father rolled up his sleeves, raised the wooden hammer high, and put all his strength into hitting the steaming glutinous rice balls with the sound of "Hey". He rolled it hard. In the gap between the wooden hammer falling, my mother quickly turned the glutinous rice balls with her wet hands. With each turn, the green wormwood juice and the rice fragrance mixed together and kneaded into soft and glutinous green glutinous rice cakes. My father's forehead was covered with sweat and he kept panting. My uncle took over the wooden hammer and continued to pound.

And these naughty kids would crowd around the stone mortar to watch the fun, waiting to eat hot glutinous rice cakes, while the elders would smoke, drink tea, or talk about the world in a deep manner...

Looking at the figures of his uncle and aunt in the sunset, Li Xiaofan's eyes could not help but moisten as he thought of his deceased parents...

"Xiaofan, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling uncomfortable?" Seeing this, his uncle and aunt stopped moving.

Li Xiaofan wiped away his tears and said, "It's okay, let me and Ayong do this physical work!"

He took the wooden hammer from his uncle, put in enough strength, and began to beat and pound continuously.

The setting sun slanted through the osmanthus tree in the yard, casting a golden color all over the ground.

The light of the sunset entangled their busy figures together, and a warm atmosphere filled the small yard.

The green glutinous rice cakes that his aunt had just cut were warm and soft, sprinkled with golden pine pollen, the fragrance of which was accompanied by a light but long-lasting grass fragrance, which made people unable to stop smelling it.

"Come, have a taste. How does it taste?" Aunt handed a few pieces of cut green glutinous rice cake to Li Xiaofan and Lin Zhiyong.

Li Xiaofan took a bite of the soft and glutinous glutinous rice cake. The sweetness of glutinous rice, the fragrance of wormwood, and the pleasant smell of pine pollen gave him a warm feeling of happiness...

Since Li Xiaofan will take a ship to Shanghai tomorrow afternoon on Saturday, and then catch the flight back to Singapore on Sunday, his aunt prepared a particularly rich dinner for today.

The table was full of hard dishes such as red crab with red roe, wild yellow croaker soup with pickled vegetables, steamed blue crab, fried white crab with rice cake, Fuxi fragrant fish, rock sugar turtle, seaweed and yellow croaker, as well as snacks such as wheat dumplings and soup dumplings.

Soup dumplings are a local specialty. Cut pork, bamboo shoots, leeks, pickles, bean sprouts, dried tofu, etc. into fine cubes, wrap them in thinly rolled rice paper, and then make soup dumplings and steam them in a pot. It's a bit like dumplings in the north.

The soup dumplings can be eaten directly steamed or boiled in soup, which is very delicious.

Before the meal, the aunt also called Li Xiaofan's old classmate Wu Xiuli, as well as several relatives and neighbors next door to drink together.

Everyone had a great time in the evening and drank a lot of wine. After sending off the relatives and neighbors, the half-smoked Li Xiaofan took out a stack of money from his pocket and handed it to his aunt:

"Uncle and aunt, I will buy you some clothes and food with these ten thousand yuan. If you have time, please work hard and ask people to go to Dong'ao Village in the countryside to repair the old house! This time I went to Hainan with Ayong to buy some Some old wood and furniture may arrive at Mingzhou Port next week, and Ayong will help bring them over. I will put them in the old house when I think of it. You must keep these wood and furniture, and do not give them away or let others steal them. !”

How could Li Xiaofan's aunt be willing to accept Li Xiaofan's money? She refused.

"Xiao Fan, it won't cost much to repair this old house. Your uncle and I are not short of money now. You earned this money by working hard in Singapore. You can keep it to find a wife in the future!"

The drunken uncle squinted his eyes and smiled: "Xiaofan, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Not yet!"

"Then you are buying wood and furniture. Are you planning to get married?"

When my aunt heard this, she said happily: "Yes, you have a partner?"

Li Xiaofan laughed: "Uncle, aunt, what are you thinking! This is investment. I bought some mahogany, called Hainan Huanghuali. I estimated that the price will increase in the future, so I hoarded some first. However, in the future, Qian Qian and I will Qian can really be used for big things!”

On Saturday morning the next day, Li Xiaofan said goodbye to his uncle and aunt and took a bus to Mingzhou City.

At noon, I invited my old classmates Pan Zhenming and Zhu Junda from technical secondary school to have a meal and drink some wine together.

After eating, seeing that it was still a bit early for the afternoon ship to Shanghai to leave, Li Xiaofan asked Pan Zhenming to accompany him to inspect the Siming Watch and Glasses store where his father worked.

Pan Zhenming's father happened to be on duty that afternoon. When he entered the backstage of the store, Comrade Pan was instructing two apprentices to edge spectacle lenses.

After Li Xiaofan briefly understood the craftsmanship, he said goodbye.

After taking a ship in the afternoon and sailing overnight, we arrived in Shanghai early the next morning.

The China Eastern Airlines flight from Hongqiao Airport to Singapore Changi International Airport took off smoothly on Sunday afternoon.

When Li Xiaofan was sleeping soundly on the plane, he was suddenly tapped several times on the shoulder and woke up.

After opening his eyes, he saw the charming young woman in the next seat looking at him with a smile.