The most "extravagant" is also the most heart-wrenching and unforgettable New Year meal.
"Auntie, my father asked me to come and invite my uncle and aunt and all the brothers and sisters to my house for a snack." A timid voice interrupted the laughter in the room.
A thin teenager stood in the doorway, his face glowing with a shy redness, and it could be seen that the semi-old and clean clothes had been carefully selected, but in the winter, barefoot wearing cloth shoes, alternated awkwardly behind the heels under the eyes of the public.
It was already dusk, and the freezing rain dripped down with the eaves, and he seemed to tremble a little invincibility.
"I'm all ready here, and your side is..." The eldest aunt frowned slightly, and the other half of the sentence was swallowed back by the kind woman.
The boy who came was the eldest son of my second uncle.
The second aunt is a fool, as for how she is stupid, there are many legends in the village, poignant and cruel, the second uncle is more than thirty years old, he has no strength but still can't eat enough, let alone marry, the kind people in the village introduced her to the second uncle, there is no one in her family, and there is no condition, the two have become relatives, she has become my second aunt, and gave birth to two sons.
I still don't believe that such a beautiful second aunt is a crazy fool.
The second aunt is a crazy fool in the eyes of others, but it is very strange that she never attacks others, on the contrary, she is still very quiet, very neat, she has no normal human intelligence, and she sits there all day long, quietly smirking.
The villagers talked about it, her origin is very unusual, but unfortunately crazy, otherwise she would not have married my second uncle, and when she said this, they shook their heads and sighed, as if they were hiding a big secret together.
Since then, I have felt that the second aunt is very mysterious, and has been secretly observing her and looking at her, but she is still sitting quietly as always, smiling quietly, and I can't see a hint, so I feel her mystery more and more when I am young.
The ignorant and naughty children in the village often make fun of her, knowing that she is not aggressive, often coaxing around her, occasionally throwing some dirty things on her, and even some naughty ones spit on her, she still sits quietly, quietly laughs, and gently whisks away the dirty things on her body like dust, and the action has a kind of breathtaking elegance and calmness.
You can do anything to her, but you can't touch her children. After she gives birth, holding the child in the sun, the children come to make noise, she will hug her own child, screaming in her mouth, the eyes emit a maddening white light, and her face will become hideous, like a wounded she-wolf, at this time the naughty teenagers will shout "Crazy crazy..." and then disperse, at this time she will gently pat the baby in her arms, the voice becomes soft and gentle, and the smile of quiet satisfaction is restored to her face.
The second uncle's mother had no ability to work, and PingBai added two more mouths, and the second uncle's life was even more bitter, and in my memory, not a day was stretched.
Every time he visits the New Year, his cousins and sisters go to worship the New Year in a polite manner, the meal will not be eaten by him, a large group of people he can not afford to entertain, whenever at this time, the second uncle has an indescribable shame and helplessness on his face.
The conditions at my uncle's house were better, so she contracted our Spring Festival holiday to eat and live, but every time my aunt sent someone to my uncle's house to invite her, they refused to come.
I learned later that this was the last bit of dignity of the poor....
The arrival of the teenager disrupted the arrangement of the eldest uncle and mother, and some were unprepared and displeased, but they could not bear to be enlightened. The teenager stood hesitantly in the doorway, with a kind of painful restraint and embarrassment.
I broke the embarrassment and silence: "Go anyway, it will be sad not to go to the second uncle." ”
I came from the city and have always been regarded as a guest of honor by them, and I brought it up, and everyone was not good enough to refuse.
There is also a meaning that I have not said, so many years, I have a strong curiosity to enter the life of the second uncle's family.
Our hometown commonly known as dinner as dim sum, said to be a good dim sum, but not in the traditional sense and written dim sum, in fact, in the era of material scarcity, that is, the leftovers at noon are casually hot, with guests, boiling bowl noodles, lying down two eggs, pouring a cup of rice wine, that is the highest etiquette, as for the host's family, it is not willing to eat.
Along the way, we thought again, what kind of snacks did the second uncle prepare for us? Thinking of the poverty of the second uncle, everyone turned their complaining eyes to me.
The teenager kept his head down and led the way ahead, with a timid smile and expression on his face.
Entering the second uncle's house, a pungent aroma greeted him, warm and warm.
The second uncle's newly shaved head changed into a tuft of new clothes, his usually stooped back was straight, and his sad face was replaced by a red glow, as if he was dozens of years younger. The second aunt sat quietly in the corner as usual.
There is no electric fire in the house, an oil lamp reflects the polished and worn-out dining table, and the wisps of oil smoke reveal a kind of warmth and festivity.
"All coming?" The second uncle glanced at us one by one, silently nodding the number of people in his heart, and when he was sure of a lot, he nodded with satisfaction, grinned widely, and then waved his hand heroically: "Serve it." ”
The two old men seemed to be rehearsing well, their feet on the ground, taking turns to walk through the edges of the table under the oil lamp from the smoke-filled and dim kitchen.
Oh, my God! What kind of dim sum is this table.
When in the center of the table is a large basin noodle, the round eggs are like tangyuan floating on the soup noodles, around this large basin is a delicate dish, chicken, duck, fish, sausage, bacon, pig ears, dried brine, cold mixed egg, fried peanut rice... There was also a large pot of piping hot rice wine.
I have been walking around in the countryside for a long time, roughly knowing the customs and etiquette of the countryside, looking at it, first shocked, and then moved, this is what we commonly call "wax plates" in the countryside, only when the solitaire lamp is eaten, it seems that the poor second uncle is to regard us as the supreme guests, which for him, almost all he has....
The second uncle treated each other with kindness and pride, and he filled our wine one by one and watched us eat it, and perhaps tonight he felt that he was a true elder and His Holiness.
We ate silently under his gaze, tears dripping into the bowl...
