On a red flag bicycle, there were five people sitting, one old and four young.
The old man was my dad, riding in the middle. The younger ones are my second brother's two children, Xiao Ping and Xiao Jie; my two daughters, Xiao Fang and Xiao Na. On the front beam were two small ones, my second daughter and her brother; on the rear car shelf, there were two small ones, my eldest daughter and her sister Ping. Ping was the oldest, seven or eight years old; my second daughter, Na, was the youngest, four or five years old.
My dad smiled, pedaled his bicycle on both feet, and walked all the way through the streets of the small county town. Four children, chattering, laughing non-stop.
In the mid-1980s, many mornings, a bicycle, an old and four young, all walked through the streets and alleys of the small county town, becoming a scenery in the small county town. Familiar passers-by met and shouted at my father: "Old Li, haha, an old, four small, and go drink tofu brain!" ”
Yes, they are going to drink tofu brain. What they want to drink is the Chen family tofu brain, the best tofu brain in the small county, the old taste that existed in the Republic of China period, and the stall is at the head of the old street.
When we reached our destination, my dad put his legs on the ground, stopped, let the two small ones in the back come down first, and then, tricked down his right leg, stood up, and hugged the two small ones in front of him one by one. Let's walk to the tofu brain stall together.
The male stall owner Chen Zhongyuan has long passed away, and the current stall owner is his wife Liu Eryu. Our two families were once very close old neighbors, Liu Eryu saw the five of them coming, without words, clean and sharp, blink of an eye, and put eight bowls of hot and fragrant tofu brain, one by one to the short table. My dad got two bowls, four children, one and a half bowls each.
In the tofu brain bowl, in addition to the white bright and shiny fresh and tender tofu brain, there are chicken pieces, crispy meat pieces, the soup is old chicken soup, sprinkled with chopped green onions and coriander, and the small oil pot is drained with sesame oil. That incense, straight to the nose.
The four children hurriedly sat down, and my father asked them: "Do you want to eat noodle dumplings (dialect: also called oil buns, hot fried, similar to fritters, but the shape is round), or do you want to eat fire and burn cakes?" ”
Near the tofu brain, there are fried noodles, fire-fired, and stove-fired cakes.
Four children, each doing what he wanted, on a fresh and fragrant dough or fire, lying on the bowl of tofu brains, purring, one eating more fragrantly than the other, drinking faster.
When you're full and drunk, get in the car and let Grandpa take it with you, play somewhere else, or go straight home.
At that time, my second brother took my father's class, and my father retired. After retirement, although he was still rehired back to work at the supply and marketing cooperative, after all, it was much more leisurely than officially going to work. My brother and I, my sister-in-law and my daughter-in-law, were busy going to work or finding work to earn money, and the care of the children was handed over to two old people, my father and my mother. After my father retired, he had more time, so he often rode a bicycle and took his four children out to play, and one of the important activities was to drink tofu brain together in the morning. Of course, it is not only to drink tofu brain, sometimes, but also go to the West Street Vegetable Market to drink Sun Jia Hu spicy soup. After eating, there are still five people on a bicycle, sending them to school or kindergarten.
My father was an open-minded person, and the housework was entrusted to my mother, and in addition to going to work every three or five minutes, an important task was to ride a bicycle to take the children to drink tofu brain, and to transport the children to school or kindergarten. He was tall, with long legs, and his feet on the ground, and the bike came to a steady stop. So, even when I walked through the streets with four children, there was never an accident.
In those years, children also developed habits. Early in the morning, one by one, they got up early and went to drink tofu brain with their grandfather, and the family's breakfast was unwilling to eat. Presumably the aroma of tofu brain has precipitated in the minds and tongues of the four children. Up to now, the largest of them is close to forty; the youngest, also thirty-five or six, still has to drink a bowl of tofu brain from time to time. My second daughter lived with the two of us, and occasionally, still wanted to drink tofu brain, so we drove and went to drink together, or, brought home, drank at home.
What they drink now is not only tofu brain, but also the delicious tip of the tongue in their childhood, and they miss the happy time when their grandfather took them to drink tofu brain.
In my father's old age, he took this bite. When my mother was alive, he was still somewhat accommodating to my mother's taste and ate a home-cooked breakfast with my mother at home. After the death of my mother," his hobbies were no longer taken care of, "I am in charge of my tastes", for at least twenty days a month, he drank tofu brain, ate noodles or burned.
A few years ago, the old Chen family's tofu brain stall stopped, my father drank from several tofu brain stalls, and finally, found that there was a family near the Liangyou Hotel that was similar to the taste of the Chen family, so he identified that one. When I can run, I go to that stall to drink. If you can't run, let the family buy it back.
In his later years, he still lived in Yuying Lane and lived with my second brother's family, so he often asked my second brother to carry a rice box to buy tofu brains, and then, according to his needs, buy back noodles or fires. He is in his eighties, and my second brother has also entered the year of the flower armor. A person of about sixty years old, every morning carrying a rice box to beat the tofu brain for his father, has been a long time, and it has become a scenery in the small town. Many people saw my second brother and asked him, "Erfa, go buy tofu brain for your father again!" ”
"Daddy just like this, no way!" My second brother always smiled and answered people.
Later, my second brother had Hirtz Moer's disease, and I can't remember many things, except that I remember going to the street every morning to buy tofu brain for my father. Buying tofu brain became a way for him to honor my father and a way to delay the aggravation of his HirtzMer's disease. Of course, in addition to buying tofu brains, my second brother also slept in a room with my father, took care of his living, and poured the urinal for him every day. My father also consciously supported my second brother to work for him and help him delay the aggravation of his illness. My father said to me personally: "I asked your second brother to give me tofu brain every day, and then do some other work, that is, to help him use his brain more, and the brain degeneration is slower." ”
Poor Daddy is bitter!
My father occasionally lived in my house, and many mornings, as long as the weather permitted, he often went to the street to buy tofu brain, and went to the one he identified to buy it. My father's taste buds are sensitive, the taste is very fine, as soon as he drinks it, he knows if it is the one he often drinks, and he can't be blinded if he wants to. My dad told me: "Tofu brain is rich in nutrients, I drank it, I can last a morning without hunger." It was soft, and I had no teeth in my mouth, so I didn't have to chew hard. ”
It is also true that before my father died in Linxian, his face was still rosy, his back was straight, and he really had a great credit for the tofu brain.
Tofu brain, in our home, is not only a delicious snack, but also accumulates too many emotional factors.
One point light boat gossip
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