I have often eaten elm money rice since my childhood, but now it is very rare. When I was a child, every year, the green and yellow spring and March, elm money is the poor people's life-saving food. Poplar buds and willow leaves can also eat, but no elm money is delicious, but also when the meal. At that time, I was six or seven years old, with a wooden comb on my head; I used to follow the girl who was eight or nine years older than me, picking poplar buds, picking willow leaves, and stroking the elm money.
Ya Gu is a child bride, her nickname is Ya Tou; because it is not yet complete, I can only call her aunt, can not call her aunt. The poplar buds and willow leaves show their heads first. Yang buds picked tender, immersed in a pot of boiling water will melt into a pot of yellow soup green water, can not eat the mouth; picked old, bitter and astringent, difficult to swallow. Only not old and not tender to eat, pick down the water to wash, boiling water in a pot of scalding a turn over, the strainer came up to squeeze out the water, mixed with shrimp and raw sauce for filling, with corn flour mongrel and elm skin noodles rolled thin skin, wrapped in large stuffed dumplings to eat. But this does not save much food. Willow leaves can not be stuffed, picked down is also washed and boiled water fishing, mixed with raw sauce onions as a vegetable to eat, but more costly meat and potatoes. Yang buds and willow leaves just passed, elm money and showed up. In front of the village, behind the village, the river bank graveyard circle, an old elm tree towers into the sky, a string of elm money hangs all over the branches, like a string of frost ice hanging, look at the human eye, greedy people drooling. Yagyu wild, bold than the person's size is still big; she put the black oil braid seven wrapped eight around the neck, snow-white teeth biting the braid tails, bare feet, hands embracing more than her waist of the tree, giggling, giggling, and has been climbing to the top of the tree, forked legs riding in the branches of the tree. I stood under the elm tree, a little follower, squinting my eyes and tilting my face, with a big wattle basket at my side. The elm money is very sweet when eaten raw, and the more you chew it, the more flavorful it is. Yagou broke off a few and threw them down, calling me by my nickname and saying, "First I'll feed you!" I caught a few large bunches of elm money, sitting on my knees under the tree to eat up, Ya Gu in the tree also large handfuls of rubbed into the mouth. We stroked a big basket full, back home, a meal will have to fall. Ninety percent of the elm money stirred into 10% of cornmeal, on the drawer pot steamed, the water bloomed even if cooked, just fill a stove firewood is enough fire. Then, into the bowl, the chopped green and white green onions, soaked in the old pickle soup, mixed in the elm money rice; eat very smooth, but also can coax the belly. These are the stories of my childhood, which took place in the old society and have been written in my novels. However, ten years of civil strife, the long-lost elm money rice appeared again on the dinner table of every family. Who says the grass is heartless? The old elm tree came to the rescue again. Policies are more and more "left" every year, food production is reduced every year. More than five feet tall man, only 320 pounds per year to 360 pounds of gross grain, grinding flour peeling, and reduce more than a dozen pounds. Big mouth, small mouth, three buckets a month, a family is considered to eat a full meal; however, half a big boy, eat poor old man, than adults can eat, rations are less than adults. Idle time to eat sparse, busy time to eat dry, counting the grains of rice under the pot; wait until the hibernation of a plow soil in the spring sowing season, ten families have eight households bright hoard bottom, can not uncover the pot. The housewife can't cook without rice, the housekeeper can't give the children and adults to fill the cake with hunger; they are like the hutong catching donkeys at both ends of the blockade, surrounding, chasing, blocking, intercepting the secretary of the party branch and the captain, hand-held pockets to borrow food. The secretary of the party branch and the captain were forced into a desperate situation, and they hated the idea of drilling into the stove, crawling out of the chimney, and escaping to the sky. The food depended on the collective, but there was nothing left in the collective storehouse, and the rats were starving to death. Who can we rely on? I just hope the old elm tree more elm money! Ya Gu has been over half a hundred years old, up the tree to climb high to climb, but there is a daughter two sister, do her successor. The second sister in the back of a large basket to run elm money, I have been to 40 days over the noon people, and give her to run the show. I am in her favor, I have a set of chopsticks on her family's dinner table, and every year I can eat elm money rice, mixed with a tree full. I put these personally witnessed the bitter past, also wrote into my novel. In the spring of 1979, my "1957 problem" was corrected, and I returned to the city. However, every year in the late spring, I went back to the countryside to live for a long time. Still green and yellow spring and March, 1980, not see the loss of grain, 1981, the table is rice and white flour, 1982, more wine and meat. I don't know whether I want to remember the bitter sweet, or want to play a hit of grease, I again to Ya Aunt and the second sister read to eat a meal of elm money. Yagu can't climb up the tree anymore, and the second sister won't climb even if she can. The more I couldn't eat, the more I wanted to eat; but I couldn't impress my two sisters. 1981 when I went back to my hometown, it was the time when the elm money was ripe, but Yagou built a new house, and recruited a son-in-law for my two sisters, so how could I clamor for elm money rice and kill the scenery for others? Hold back and wait for the next year! In the spring of 1982, I rushed to the second sister's home. The second sister lives in the brick, red tile, high walls, flower gate building in the mansion, flowers, plants and trees full of fragrance; gave birth to a white fat daughter, just out of the full moon. A few days in a row, chicken, duck, fish, meat, I burned the belly again. Suddenly, looked up and saw the yard behind the old elm tree hung full of strings of powder a sac sac of elm money, can not help but mouth and greedy up, heap up a smile timidly said: "two sister, give me to do a meal of ......" two sister's face hung frost, ruthlessly gouged me two eyes, gas puffing said: "really can't stand the crime, but can't enjoy the blessing, you this person is born poor life!" I know, nowadays every family is proud to be rich, if the second sister to elm money rice guests, was seen by neighbors, not scold her mean, but also to laugh at her small stingy children. The second sister is afraid of being poked and prodded, how can I give her face black? But fish makes fire, meat makes phlegm, and I lost my appetite. I didn't dare to speak up. Who knows if the second sister had seen it in her eyes? One day after lunch, I was napping in bed, suddenly heard the second sister yelled: "Little bad gagaer, I break your legs!" I woke up from my sleep, went out to see, only to see a few urchins climbed to the old elm tree to pull out the birds, the second sister holding a stick stood under the tree, tiger face. A few little urchins, some playful, some wiping tears, to the second sister sued for mercy. I looked at the soft heart, busy pleading on behalf of these few little bad gagaer. "Punish each of you by stroking a pocket of elm money!" The second sister puffed and laughed, just now it was just a fake show. I cheered, "I can eat elm money rice today!" "You're not asking me for a short?" Ermeizi put her face down again, "Where did I get the cornmeal!" Yes, in Ermeizi's hoard, it's either wheat or rice; in the tank, it's either rice or white flour. The second sister's man contracted 30 acres of large fields, planted two crops of rice and wheat, do not grow coarse grains. With elm money and no cornmeal, I can only eat raw. It seems that I have to say my final goodbye to elm money rice. When my daughter grows up, she won't be like her grandmother and mother, who had to stroke elm money in the middle of spring to satisfy her hunger. Perhaps, things are rare as expensive, elm money rice due to extremely rare, will enter Beijing's major restaurants, become a unique flavor of delicacies.