My grandma
Author: Sun Minqian
My grandmother was born in the winter of 1930 in a rural village on the north bank of the Yellow River in northern Henan. At the age of 17, he married his grandfather from a neighboring village and has been associated with our family since then.
Dumpling incident
Grandma raised seven children, five sons, and two daughters in her lifetime. In the countryside, "five men and two women" is a typical blessing. In that poor era, Grandma lived a hard but happy life with Grandpa. Because there are many children in the family and the age difference is relatively close, it is not easy to support this big family.
As far back as I can remember, one of the things my grandmother always liked to say was that one winter decades ago, the family had a hard time eating dumplings, and my grandmother sat alone on the kangtou and wrapped six pots of dumplings. At that time, my father and several uncles were still young, and it was when they grew up that they were especially able to eat.
A pot of dumplings has not yet come out of the pot, a group of half-sized children guard, the bowl immediately snatched up, after eating a mouthful of mouth and ran out to play. Not long after, when the next pot of dumplings came out, three or two children stood in front of the stove and shouted that they had not eaten enough, and they ended up eating another round... So repeatedly, after several rounds, the white-faced dumplings were eaten, and there were still people looking at whether there were still dumplings to eat.
After serving the old people and children in the family, the dumplings were gone, the grandmother was busy for half a day, but did not eat a dumpling, looking at a group of children and angry and distressed, angry and said: "If there is a person who is distressed by the mother, there will also be people who worry about me not eating it, or small, do not understand things." ”
After that, every Spring Festival, when a large family gathered around to wrap dumplings, Grandma always sighed when she looked at the wrapped dumplings, and now so many people can't eat so many pots of dumplings, so poor at that time, how can children eat it so much, and now it is really more and more, but they all eat less.
Grandma's specialty dish
Grandma cooked a lifetime of rice, but always did not get everyone's praise, mostly salty. Grandpa quipped every time, are you killing a salt seller again today? This salt doesn't cost money. Grandma always disagreed, saying that it was okay to eat, where there was such a good thing. Even so, Grandma had her own specialty dishes: pancakes, pancakes, scrambled eggs with beans.
Grandma spread the pancake batter, always thin and just right, each time a large spoon slipped into the pot, quickly take the spatula out of the pan spread evenly, the low fire of the pan baking the bottom of the pot, not long, the pancakes in the pan become large and round, and both sides are golden. Not as thin, thick and firm as Shandong multigrain pancakes, but very tasty, fluffy and tendon. Usually Grandma's first pancake will be spread out, but the first one is usually because of the longer stall time, there will be burnt dumplings, it is more delicious to eat, I always stay by the edge of the pot, waiting to eat the first rotten pancake. Every time Grandma always proudly spread a small stack, everyone would wear garlic cloves, or smeared with chili oil, rolled vegetables, and accompanied by a bowl of rice porridge boiled in a pot, which was really enjoyable.
Oil cake is also a unique job that Grandma has to mention, and Grandma calls it "Inside and Out Zhang Oil". The oil cake from the cake blank to the final pot, to put the oil many times, Grandma is always very willing. Even in the years when there is no abundance, Grandma will put more oil, she does not say oil cake, she says it is oil steamed bread (mo), she said oil steamed bun, oil steamed bun, do not put oil what is called oil bun, only more oil can eat fragrant ah!
Beans scrambled eggs, before Grandpa planted two rows of beans every summer, put on the beans rack, the whole summer of the dish is even if there is a fall. As soon as Grandma arrived at the meal point, she began to pick beans, turned around, there was a large handful of beans in her hand, the green onion and garlic slices burst the pot, poured the plucked beans into it, sprinkled salt, thirteen spices and raw soy sauce to half cooked, plus half a bowl of water, began to pound the eggs on the edge of the pot, beat in three or four eggs, the eggs would solidify together in a moment, the green base with a yellow piece, the white egg was good-looking, Grandma began to stir-fry several times at this time, the coagulated eggs were covered with sauce, the beans were almost cooked, and the plates were put out. It's strange to say, don't look at the usual times grandma fried other dishes are not delicious, but this dish is always very stable, especially delicious, salty and light, but also so many years and my brother tried many times, but how can not fry the taste of grandma.
Grandma's nursery rhymes
When I was a child, I always liked to follow my grandmother to the door to cool off, a lot of old men and women and children sat together and chatted, although there were many mosquitoes, biting the whole body, grandma always leisurely fanned the fan to sing me the nursery rhymes she learned when she was a child, to be exact.
What she said most often was"Blind talk, blind talk, two acres of melons planted on the window ledge, the bare-ass child stole it, the deaf heard it, the blind man saw it, the one without an arm was pulled, the one without a leg was caught..." I always said, Grandma, what you said is not right, what you pull without an arm, what does a leg pull ah? Grandma would smile at this time, and said proudly that she would either say that it was a nonsense.
One of the songs that Grandma often slipped away was: "Marry a good son-in-law for people, walk away from your mother's house, don't eat for three days, and don't be hungry; marry a pig for people, walk away from your mother's house and cry in the middle of the night." "Every time I finish this song, my grandmother will specifically tell me, woman, you must find a good in-law, marry a good son-in-law, this life is worth it."
I always asked her, what kind of person is good? In Grandma's eyes, as far as the people in our family are good-looking, although outsiders don't think so, she always feels good about herself and is particularly confident. Grandma always said proudly, look, just like the people in our family look like this, the main thing is to be good.
Later, when I grew up, went to college, and went to graduate school, every time I went back, my grandmother quietly asked me: Have you found an object? Every time I say no, she's a little frustrated. I always joke with her that your granddaughter is not well-looking, and people are not in harmony. Grandma always said, cough, that's not met yet, don't worry!
After graduating from graduate school, she finally brought her beloved person to grandma to see, she was very happy, and always secretly told me that this person looked strange and good, better looking than the people in our family. Every time I laughed at her, it was rare to praise someone else's family.
Some of Grandma's "Big Truths"
When I was young, I watched my classmates write essays, and other people's grandmothers were holding small feet and walking slowly. When Grandma was young, she was still popular for foot binding. Grandma did not agree to bind her feet until she was seven or eight years old, because the wrapping hurt, and she always quietly pulled the shroud off by herself. Fortunately, after putting down her feet later, Grandma finally boldly threw away the shroud, and her feet were almost as if they were not wrapped. It is precisely because of this unshipped foot that Grandma has worked hard all her life, the stove by the pot, the inside and outside of the house, and she has been busy for a lifetime. When he was seventy or eighty years old, he always followed his grandfather to the field, helping to order mung beans or pick cotton. Every time we say, don't go when you're older. Grandma always said: When you are alive, do some work well, and when you can't move, you naturally don't do it, living people, living people, you have to work!
As long as I can remember, my grandmother rarely cried, whether it was facing life difficulties or the death of a loved one, she felt that it was not good for women to cry and cry, and if there was a problem, what was the use of crying? Seeing the unfilial people in the village crying and weeping at the funeral of his father's death, Grandma always said very dismissively: After death, it is better to sing a big drama to his father and mother for a few days, it is better to drink saliva when he is alive. This also instills in us the idea that filial piety should be done in a timely manner and in practice.
I was also very impressed that Grandma still likes to sit at the door, and it seems that when people come and go, they greet "Eat it?" "It's down" "Let's put it aside and eat it, do it"... I always ask grandma to say, why do you see a person to let a family eat in our house, grandma hey hey smile and said: cough, let Jean is a gift, there is no rice in the pot, are neighbors, say hello.
Grandma also likes to go to the opera, when the village sings a big drama, she likes to move a stool, a half a day, every time I come back, I ask grandma what is the play, grandma said "du ji home" . I wonder, why do you sing this play every time? Grandma said, cough, who knows what to sing, anyway, I can watch it lively, listen to it can be good, no matter what he sings, I know that listening to nothing can not delay going home, hungry in the stomach to go home. Haha, it turns out that Grandma said "hungry home".
Thinking about it, Grandma has been away from us for more than eight years, before entrusting a friend to make a souvenir of Grandma, every time I see the end of the film, Grandma's portrait changes from bright to dim, and my heart darkens little by little. Since my grandmother's death, I have dreamed of my grandmother more than once in my dreams, and I have always spoken to my grandmother in my dreams. In the dream, I felt that my grandmother was living well, and I felt a little comfort when I woke up; when I dreamed that my grandmother was drenched in rain and my grandfather lived in a particularly shabby house, I couldn't help but feel sad when I woke up.
I want my grandmother to push my door again in the morning and shout "Cool (hurry up) get up, the food is cold";
I think Grandma thinks I'm joking with her, and says with disgust, "You're a grandson, just teasing grandma";
When I wanted to go back to my hometown, my grandmother saw me clapping her hands in surprise and said, "Oh, my granddaughter is back";
Think about it...
Alas, having said so much, I actually want to say: I miss you, milk!!!
About author:Sun Minqian, a native of Sunzhuang Village, Jinglonggong Township, Fengqiu County, is currently working for a bank in Zhengzhou and is a senior literary and artistic youth.