What is the original text of "Yu Qian Rice"?

Yu Qian Rice Author: Liu Shaotang

I have often eaten Yu Qian rice since I was a child, but now it is very rare.

When I was young, in the third month of spring, Yuqianer was the life-saving food for the poor. Yang Ya'er and Liu Ye'er can also be eaten, but they are not as delicious as Yu Qian'er and cannot be used as food.

At that time, I was six or seven years old, with a wooden comb on my head. I often followed my aunt, who was eight or nine years older than me, to pick poplar buds, collect willow leaves, and rub elm coins.

Yagu is a child bride, and her nickname is Yatou; because the marriage has not been consummated yet, I can only call her aunt, not aunt.

Yang Ya'er and Liu Ye'er showed up first.

When the Yangyaer is picked tender, it will turn into a pot of yellow soup and green water when immersed in a pot of boiling water, which cannot be eaten in the mouth; when picked old, it will be bitter and astringent, making it difficult to swallow. Only those that are neither old nor tender can be eaten. Pick them off, wash them in clean water, scald them over in a pot of boiling water, fish them out with a strainer and squeeze out the water, mix them with shrimp skin and raw sauce to make a filling, mix it with cornmeal and elm skin noodles, and roll it into a thin crust. , make big stuffed dumplings and eat them. But this doesn't save much food. Willow leaves cannot be used for stuffing, so they are washed and scooped out in boiling water, then mixed with raw sauce and green onions to be eaten as a dish, but it is even more delicious.

Just after Yang Ya'er and Liu Ye'er passed by, Yu Qian'er showed up again.

In front of the village and behind the village, in the circle of river beach graves, old elm trees tower into the sky, and strings of elm coins are hung on the branches, like strings of frost and ice, which attract people to watch. Eyes, greedy enough to make people drool. Yagu is wild and courageous than a human being; she wraps her big black braids around her neck, biting the ends of the braids with her white teeth, her feet are bare, and her hands are clasped around the trunk of a tree that is thicker than her waist. , Chi yo yo, chi yo yo, climbed to the top of the tree, spread his legs and rode on the branch.

I stood under the elm tree, like a little follower, with my eyes narrowed and my face raised, a big wattle basket beside me.

Yuqian'er is very sweet when eaten raw, and the more you chew it, the more fragrant it becomes. Auntie broke off a few branches and threw them down. She called me by my nickname and said, "Feed you first!" I caught the big bunches of elm money and sat cross-legged under the tree to eat. Auntie also had a lot of money on the tree. Rub a lot of it into your mouth.

We filled a big basket and carried it home, and we had a meal.

Mix 90% cornmeal with 10% cornmeal, put it in a pot and steam it. It will be cooked as soon as the water blooms, and only one stove of firewood is enough to heat it. Then, put it into a bowl, soak the chopped green and white tender green onions in the old pickled soup from the next year, and mix it with Yuqian rice; it is very smooth to eat and can fill your belly.

These are all stories from my childhood, which took place in the old society, and have been written into my novels.

However, during the ten years of civil strife, the long-awaited Yuqian rice appeared on the dining table of every household. Who says vegetation is heartless? The old elm tree came to the rescue again.

Policies are becoming more "left" year by year, and food production is decreasing year by year. A man over five feet tall can only get 320 to 360 kilograms of gross grain every year. The grain is ground and peeled, which reduces the grain by more than ten kilograms. The family can only have enough food if they eat three buckets a month. However, as a half-grown boy who lives in poverty, I can eat more than an adult, but my rations are smaller than an adult. Eat thin when you are free, eat dry when you are busy, and count the rice grains to put into the pot; when the spring sowing season comes when the Jingzhe plows the soil, eight out of ten households have already opened the bottom of the hoard and cannot open the pot. A clever woman can't make a living without rice, and a housekeeper can't draw cakes for children and adults to satisfy their hunger; they are like catching a donkey in an alley, surrounding, chasing, blocking, and intercepting party branch secretaries and captains, holding pockets in their hands to borrow grain. The branch secretary and team leader were forced into desperation. They wished they could crawl into the stove, climb out of the chimney, and escape to the sky.

Eating food depends on the collective. There is no grain left in the collective warehouse, and the rats are starving to death. On whom? I just hope that the old elm trees will bear more elms!

Yagu is over fifty years old and can no longer climb trees, but she has a daughter, Ermeizi, to be her successor. The second sister was carrying a big basket carrying money, and I, who had already been there for 40 days, had to step in for her again. I benefited from her, and she had a pair of bowls and chopsticks on her dining table, so I could eat rice every year and live a full life.

I also wrote these bitter events I witnessed in my novel.

In the spring of 1979, I corrected my "1957 problem" and returned to the city. However, every year in late spring, I return to my hometown to stay for a long time. It is still the third month of the year when spring comes. In 1980, there was no shortage of food. In 1981, there was rice and flour on the table. In 1982, there was even more food and wine.

I don’t know whether I wanted to remember the bitterness and sweetness, or I wanted to beat the greasiness, so I asked my aunt and my second sister to have a meal with Yuqian. The aunt couldn't climb the tree anymore, and the second sister didn't want to climb even if she could. The more I can't eat, the more I want to eat. But I can't impress the second sister even if I talk a lot. When I returned to my hometown in 1981, it was the time when Yuqian was ripe, but my aunt built a new house and hired a son-in-law for my second sister. It was a double happiness. How could I clamor for Yuqian rice and ruin the scenery for others? Just be patient and wait for the coming year!

In the spring of 1982, I rushed to Er Meizi’s house early. The second sister lives in a large house with blue bricks, red tiles, high walls and flowered gates. The courtyard is full of flowers, plants and trees. She gave birth to a white and plump daughter who was just one month old. For several days, chicken, duck, fish and meat all made my stomach burn again. Suddenly, I looked up and saw that the old elm tree behind the yard was covered with strings of pink elm coins. I couldn't help but became greedy again, put on a smile and timidly said: "Second sister, cook me a meal..." Second sister There was frost on my face, he gouged out my eyes fiercely, and said angrily: "There is no sin that I cannot bear, but there are blessings that I cannot enjoy. You are born to be poor!"

I know that nowadays, every family is proud of being rich. If the second sister actually treats guests with Yuqian rice and is seen by the neighbors, they will not scold her for being mean, but they will also laugh at her for being a little bit picky. The second sister is afraid of being poked in the back. How can I put a black mark on her face?

However, fish makes fire and meat makes phlegm, so I have lost my appetite. I didn't dare to speak, who knew if the second sister saw it?

After lunch one day, I was taking a nap in bed, and suddenly I heard the second sister shouting loudly: "Little bad Gaga, I will break your legs!" I woke up from my sleep, walked out and saw A few naughty boys climbed up to the old elm tree to dig out birds. The second sister stood under the tree holding a stick with a tigerish face.

Several urchins, some with playful smiles and some wiping tears, begged the second sister for mercy. I felt soft-hearted and hurriedly interceded for these little bad guys.

"I'll punish each of you with a pocketful of elm money!" The second sister chuckled. It was just a fake show.

I cheered: "I can eat Yuqian rice today!"

"Aren't you trying to have sex with me?" The second sister lowered her face again, "I Where did the cornmeal come from?”

Yes, in Er Meizi’s store, there is either wheat or rice; in the vat, there is either rice or white flour. Er Meizi's man contracted 30 acres of farmland and planted two crops of rice and wheat, not coarse grains.

With Yuqianer but no cornmeal, I can only eat it raw.

It seems that I have to say my final farewell to Yuqianfan. When Er Meizi's daughter grows up, she will no longer be like her grandmother and mother, who spend the good times squandering money to satisfy their hunger.

Perhaps, things are rare and valuable, and because Yuqian rice is extremely rare, it will enter several major restaurants in Beijing and become a delicacy with a unique flavor.