Li Lifen: Popcorn

"Whoops..." A loud noise frightened pedestrians into avoiding it. This is our favorite sound of fried rice bubbles as a child. When the craftsmen who saw the fried rice bubble stand up, take a metal crowbar in one hand, and step on the lid of the pressure cooker with the other, people knew that the rice bubble was about to explode, and the timid people quickly covered their ears. Some people didn't notice it, and they were really startled by the noise! In the 1960s and 1970s, the streets and alleys of Wuhan often saw craftsmen who fried rice bubbles: a dilapidated board cart with an open stove tow, a black jujube core-shaped pressure cooker, a large long pocket to prevent rice bubbles from splashing, and a small bench where craftsmen sat. Craftsmen often come out to set up stalls after children's winter and summer vacations and every day after school. At that time, everything that Wuhan ate was supplied by ticket, and the old three things of Jingguo, crisp sugar, and miscellaneous sugar could only be bought by each household with a pastry ticket during the Spring Festival. I remember that after my mother bought it home, she had to lock it in the cupboard, and Chinese New Year's Eve before taking it out and distributing it to the children. So not many children can withstand the temptation of the sound of fried rice bubbles. "Mom! There are fried rice bubbles on the street today! "I said to my mother." Ask my brother to grab a bowl of rice and fry it! The mother then took out a dime and handed it to her brother. My brother quickly ran to the queue, and I followed. I saw people frying dry corn kernels, rice cakes, broad beans, soybeans, slices, and so on. The aroma of various ingredients wafted through the sound of explosions, and it smelled very good. Rice bubbles are of course more delicious than glutinous rice fried, and we use the rice we usually cook, what No. 2 rice, No. 3 rice? Maybe it's the quality grade of rice? There is a story that I remember vividly: a rural mother-in-law in her seventies came to my clinic to see a doctor and tell her original story. Her husband died of illness when she was young, leaving behind 3 children. Her own mother was in her seventies at the time, her father died, and she gave birth to only one daughter in her life, and also lived with her. The burden of a family of five was all on her weak shoulders. One day, the sound of fried rice bubbles sounded in the village, and her mother asked her to bring a bowl of rice to fry for the children to eat.

"What children want to eat?" You want to eat it yourself, right? The words choked the mother to the point of speechlessness. Speaking of this, this mother-in-law's eyes shed tears of regret and sadness... "Even if the old mother wants to eat it, I should also fry a little!" The mother-in-law said while shedding tears, and I heard my nose sour and sad. As the saying goes, "Old and young, old and young." "Old people are just as hungry as children!" People often pay attention to children and ignore the elderly, and wait until they are old to know how pitiful the old people are! I have no teeth to eat what I like, and I don't have a good appetite and I have no taste. Remembering that when my mother was young, many meat dishes were not eaten, is it true that she did not eat them? Obviously, it is to let our children eat more! In the years when she lived with me in her later years, I tried to change the pattern and cook for her to eat, but she couldn't eat anything. Once I bought back live river shrimp, cut off the head, mixed with flour eggs with salt and shallots, and fried them into golden and fragrant shrimp cakes, and my mother ate a small plate. I saw that my mother liked to eat this, and after a few days I bought back the shrimp to make, and my mother said that she didn't like to eat it. I thought, maybe I said this little shrimp thirty dollars a pound, mother is afraid of wasting money? My hard-working and thrifty mother! My daughter is not bad at buying shrimp every day! Now, the sound of fried rice bubbles can occasionally be heard in the alleys of Wuhan, but there is no one queuing. Who among today's children is still rare in this native food? But an old man like me also bought a bag or two of rice bubbles and corn flowers to eat at home, hoping to regain a little taste of childhood. 2020-11-06

About the Author

Li Lifen, female, 64 years old. He once served as the chief nurse of the second-class hospital of the cause; in 1992, he was transferred to a central enterprise, and due to the poor efficiency of the unit, the husband and wife established a clinic for thirteen years. Now retired at home, he loves to write, and in three years, 28 essays have been published in Chutian Metropolis Daily, and 3 articles have been published in the online magazine "Literary Sky"