In the depths of my memory, a food story that I have not forgotten for twenty years is the city of Taichung in Taiwan.
In the spring of 1996, at the invitation of Mr. Wang Guangya, I accompanied the group to Treasure Island. Before going there, in addition to knowing that it was close to Kinmen and that Alishan was beautiful, I didn't know anything about Taiwan's customs and food.
Of course, after going to Taiwan for seven or eight days, everywhere we went, the fathers and fellow villagers who went to Taiwan at that time were very enthusiastic and warm to us, from the Hilton Hotel to the Yuanshan Hotel, the special cuisine was not the same, the color and fragrance were complete, which really moved us. What made me most unforgettable was my trip to Taichung.
On this day, we went south from Taipei and stayed at a hotel in Taichung that night.
On the way, I called Mr. Lu Foting, who was 86 years old at the time, a famous Taiwanese calligrapher and painter, and I told Mr. Lu Foting: "One of my wishes for coming to Taiwan this time is to visit your old man's home. ”
(Rou-rou Self-Portrait)
Mr. Lu Foting was very happy, he not only told me the detailed address, but also said: "Granddaughter Zhenlin has written to say that you are coming soon, and you are very welcome to come home!" ”
As soon as everyone heard that I was going out at night and did not agree to let me act alone, I was dumbfounded.
As soon as I put my luggage down at the hotel, I received a call from Mr. Lu Foting, and the old man asked me when I would arrive and when would I leave?
I said, "Just stayed, leave tomorrow morning." I originally planned to take a taxi to visit your old man's home as soon as I arrived, but people and land are born twice, and there are many inconveniences, and I am in a hurry. ”
Unexpectedly, Mr. Lu Foting said: "Tomorrow morning, I will visit you, how many people in your group are there?" ”
I was confused about 12 people. The old man said good, see you tomorrow morning!
At five o'clock the next day, Mr. Lu Foting arrived at the hotel. Later, I learned that because I went early, the old man was reluctant to wake me up, so he waited for us quietly in the lobby.
Lv Laomei sat alone
When it was time for breakfast, I walked out of the room, and an old man stood up and greeted me with a smile and groan. In front of me, this old man with a cane, Xianfeng Dao bone, is a gentleman and a gentleman, although he has reached a high age, but his spirit is strong, and his elegant atmosphere is extraordinary. I immediately realized that this old man was Mr. Lu Foting, and hurried forward to greet the old man!
A little later, a middle-aged man came outside and spoke softly with Elder Lu. Following the middle-aged man's departure, I saw a large piece of beautifully wrapped golden red handbag outside the lobby. Mr. Lu Foting motioned for the middle-aged man to move him to the lobby one by one, and told me: "This is Taiwan's pineapple crisp, for the relatives in my hometown to taste." ”
At this time, our members came out one after another, saw this old man with extraordinary temperament, and all came forward to greet and greet him.
Seeing so many gifts, I don't know what to say, listening to the old man said, it was sent to purchase last night, and I regret it even more. I shouldn't have told the old man how many people we were in, and I shouldn't have made an 86-year-old man come to see our younger generation.
Mr. Lu Foting has a wife and daughter on the mainland, and since he arrived in Taiwan in 1948, the two sides of the strait have been separated for decades, and it is difficult to reunite, and the loneliness and suffering in the soul can be imagined. However, it is worth reassuring that when he was on the mainland, he traveled all over the mountains and rivers of the motherland, studied Buddhism intensively, and after going to Taiwan, he persevered, found a spiritual home on the road of art and Buddhism, and not only painted the imposing "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River", "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yellow River", "Ten Thousand Miles of the Great Wall", "Transverse Highway" and other works, but also wrote a lot of works;
Lü Lao's works: The Yellow River Wanli Map (partial)
For decades, He has donated most of his life's painstaking works, showing fame and fortune like floating clouds, and is highly respected in Taiwan.
Today, the old man regarded us as his long-term relatives, came to visit, gave food, everyone was very touched, accepted the old man's good intentions. On the way, the local escort told us that pineapple crisp is very famous in Taiwan. Just look at the exquisite and abnormal internal and external packaging, you know that the price is not cheap.
After returning to my home in Zhengzhou, I invited my family, relatives and friends to taste pineapple crisp. I gently lifted the yellow-orange pineapple crisp out like I was holding a furry chick that had just come out of its shell, and I really knew where it was getting better.
The pineapple crisp on my palm was golden, round, the size of an egg, and the skin was very thin and crispy, and it shattered when it was touched; the crispy skin as thin as a cicada's wing melted in the mouth.
After breaking it open, there is a soft filling inside, the color is like jasper, and it is like the color of the thick ice layer on the river in winter, the green is transparent, the yellow is yellow like the moon, the yellow and green blend, and the beauty is like gelatin. Put it in your mouth and take a bite, it is sweet, smooth and tender, and the tongue is fragrant and has a long aftertaste.
Now, twenty years later, I still remember the old man talking to me in the courtyard of the hotel, sending us to the car and looking back at us frequently.
For twenty years, I can't forget the pineapple crisp that the old man gave me, which was the softest, crispest, most fragrant dessert I had ever eaten in my life, and the thickest delicacy I brought back to my hometown from Treasure Island.
For the first time in my life, I received a generous gift from an old man, which was related to eating, and I really wanted to laugh happily, laughing at the pineapple crisp name, the good look, the delicious taste; but when I thought about it further, I wanted to cry, cry for the vicissitudes of the world, cry for the loneliness of an old man for half a century.
Laughter and crying, sometimes very close; crying and laughing, sometimes a hundred and eighteen thousand miles apart. This is the philosophy of life.
Lü Lao's works: Yangtze River Wanli Map (partial)
In July 2005, Mr. Lu Foting completed his bumpy and rich life at the age of 95.
In the TV series "Kangxi The Great", when Kangxi made up his mind about Rongfei's coffin, he issued a long sigh with mixed feelings: "Rongfei——, Rongfei!" ”
Sometimes, I really want to go into the mountains and call out to the long sky: "Elder Lü——, Elder Lü!" ”
Lü Lao's works: Ten Thousand Miles of the Great Wall (partial)
Whenever I think of this friendship, a strong wish arises in my heart that I must go to Taiwan again. I will go to the tomb of Mr. Lu Foting, present a bouquet of incense flowers to his old man's home, offer him pen, ink and paper, hold a handful of dirt on the bank of the Yellow River, burn three incense sticks, bow three times, and then put many, many hometown delicacies for the old man.
I will gently say to his old man, Elder Lü Fo, I have come to see you, and I still want to eat the pineapple crisp you bought.
July 28, 2016
Li Yumei Profile: Writer, painter, member of the Chinese Writers Association, member of the Chinese Prose Literature Association, has opened columns in many newspapers and magazines; likes plants, loves painting, and his representative works are "Longevity Cypress" and "Amazon River".