Chapter 39 Dongchangfang Story

The Yu family lived in Dongchang Fangkou in the city of Shaoxing for generations, and the place is not well-known, but according to Shanyin Lu Shanbao's "Liuhong Shihua", Volume 3 records nine chapters of Zhang Zongzi's "Kuaiyuan Daogu", one of which says: "Lin Wulei, the prefect of Suzhou, was not filial. He was confiscated and returned to the office half a month later, and he was given twenty gold. Xue Wu, a poor son, is extremely filial. His father must go to the hall to take a bath every morning in winter. Han, a pair of chickens are in Baituantuan, poor Lin Zhifu of Sujun, not as good as Dongchang Xue's five senses." And Maoxihe Anthology titled Luo Kunjie's collection of Lv Qian's mountains and waters, and the beginning said:

"Ren Ziqiu met Luo Kun and Jiang Hou Temple, and bowed his fingers to bid farewell to Dongchangfang for five years." Regarding the allusions of Dongchangfang, I found two in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, and I am very satisfied.The entrance of Dongchangfang is an east-west street, with houses on both sides of the north and south sides, and the river behind the houses on the south side of the road. between.Zhang Maqiao's south is Zhangma Lane, Yiyun Silk and Satin Lane, north is Ting Road, and to the east is the palace of Guangsitang. .To the south of Duting Bridge, under Riduting Bridge, there is Rangyan Street in front of it, and the north of the bridge is the cross road, from which the name of Dongchangfangkou comes out. To the west is the Qiuguandi, to the north is the tower at the bridge, and the sniper pagoda The temple and tomb of the general of the Tang Dynasty are all here.Before Guangxu Xinchou went to Nanjing, I lived there for 14 or 15 years. Later, when I think of it, there are still many things that I can't forget, so I can write them down.From my hometown to Dongchangfangkou, there are about a dozen storefronts. The stone slabs on this road are high and low, and the water when it rains is almost imaginable. Now let’s just talk about a few shops at the intersection.The Dexing Hotel in the southeast corner is an old shop, followed by the fruit stand and mahua stall in the north of the road. As for the Taishantang Pharmacy in the southwest corner, it was opened by Shen Tuquan, nicknamed Short Mangy Hu, who started out with Fengshui divination. Not very famous anymore.I have the deepest memory about Dexing Hotel.When I was young, I remembered that my family kept accounts with Dexing, and every time there was a sacrifice on the day of the death, I often saw the servants bring the scriptures and wine pots to fetch the wine mixed with water, and then repay it at New Year's Eve.I still remember one time, when I was about seven or eight years old, I went to Dexing alone, and found Xian Junzheng drinking old wine with a distant cousin in the private seat behind.They praised me for my ability, and gave me chicken gizzards and beans to eat with wine. I remember the rectangular table and benches, the tall shallow wine bowls, and the thick yellow sand dish for wine, salt, beans, etc. It is clear that although these things have not changed for a while, they are still often seen later.What I can't forget is all kinds of wine germs and snacks in the hotel. Of course, this is not necessarily the best in Dexing, but it is naturally available there, and our experience is also derived from there. Chicken gizzard beans and fennel beans are one of the important ones. Seven years ago, I said in a small article "Remembering Salt Beans":

"When I was young, I used to buy a pack of chicken gizzards and beans for a penny in a hotel in my hometown. It was wrapped in fine straw paper to make a slender foot. There were twenty or thirty beans in it. It was dried soybeans boiled in salt. It was soft and hard, and had its own flavor. .” Why is it called chicken gizzard?I don't know the reason, probably because the chewing is a bit soft and hard, like a chicken gizzard.Fennel beans are made from broad beans, which are called luohan beans in Vietnam. They are just dry boiled and added with spices, anise or cinnamon. , Always grab every penny, the guy is very experienced hotel officer, he grabs almost the same amount with one hand, so he puts it on a plate, although it is free to ask for a few plates or a few handfuls.In addition, there are ready-made fried foreign peanuts, dried tofu, salted tempeh, etc., but it is strange to say that there is no meaty smell here, not even preserved eggs, not to mention dried fish and poultry meat.Originally, this was selling wine with drinking. Unlike a restaurant, it is a very common place, and there is no preparation for the arrival of rich customers, so there is only simple food, which is commensurate with the simple and crude equipment.The beans mentioned above seem to be snacks. Besides serving the drinkers, some of them are bought by children. In addition, there are one or two kinds of side dishes, which can be bought by others as a temporary meal. convenient thing.The name of one is unknown, but long strips of deep-fried tofu are boiled in salt water in a pottery bowl, which seems to cost a penny each, and it is placed in a bowl before buying, with some red and spicy sauce on top.There seems to be no ingenuity in this method. Somehow, it is always different when you cook it yourself. When you want to eat it, you have to take a bowl to the cabinet to buy it.The second name is Shishi radish, which is cut into long strips with the radish skin, salted slightly, and then marinated with red mold tofu, and can be eaten at any time.These are all very common foods, but there is a real taste in the simplicity, and they all come from the front of the hotel, or it can be seen that the wine maker really knows the taste.

The fruit stand in the northeast corner is actually a storefront. The southwest side is open. During the day, the row of doors is removed. There are some fruits on the stage. People and shops call it Fruit Lianshengyun.Usually housewives look after the store, and Fruit Liansheng picks a load of fruits. Besides hawking along the street, he goes to customers' homes to sell them on time.This load always weighs more than a hundred catties, and it takes a lot of effort to lift it, so his business is part-time. Some customers saw him carrying this heavy load to the inner hall, and felt embarrassed to let him go. The burden has been picked out, so always buy some of him, whether it is red bayberry or peach.Dongchangfang is far from the main street, even the Dayun Bridge is not very close. If I want to buy something temporarily, I have to go to Guoliansheng. It is not surprising that the price is more expensive.When I was a child, I met a little broken foot bone in South Street. After he called himself Taigong Jiang, he once said that the fruit sold by Fruit Liansheng was an elixir, so it was so expensive, and then he called the owner of the shop Hua Tuo, because of course only Hua Tuo was the elixir. It's on sale there.There is another shop without a signboard under the Duting Bridge, which sells meat porridge, and later changed to sell wontons and noodles, and the shop became more prosperous.The owner's surname is Zhang, who rented the Yu house on the west side of my house and opened a coffin shop for many years. My great-grandmother was a very strict person, but she didn't have any taboos, which is really admirable.I still remember Zhang Yongxing's brand name, Longyou Shoufang and other words written in black on the wall.The owner of this piece is making meat porridge at home while making longevity materials.Meat porridge is also known as meat and bone porridge. It is bought from the pork shop to cook the porridge. It is eaten with chopped green onion, dried shrimps and soy sauce. It costs only a few pennies per bowl. It is cheap and delicious. It is a good food for common people, although gentlemen are not big. Ken condescended to patronize.We often go to eat with Jiang Jun, and when we had already eaten half of the bowl, Jiang Jun suddenly asked seriously, didn't you put down any poison?Boss Zhang's son and daughter-in-law who asked this question were speechless. They didn't know how to ask and answer. Jiang Junnai said slowly, I'm afraid you are soliciting business from that side.The people in the store could only smile wryly. This is actually true. If someone who is more sensitive thinks about the business of the owner of the store, he will inevitably have such doubts in his heart, but it is difficult to say it out.The taste of this meat porridge has never been forgotten. Although there has been an interval of more than forty years, last month I received a letter from the eldest daughter's nurse complaining that the price of rice has reached three or four thousand yuan per liter. This kind of luxury food must have long since disappeared.For this reason, it may not be completely meaningless to record the places and situations many years ago.

Yiyou July 4th. (Che July 1945, from "Past Work")