Liberate Yourself Chapter 25

1

There are many stories in this Shikumen, but the protagonist of the most tragic story should be regarded as my neighbor girl Wan Wan’s mother.

At the beginning of the liberation of Shanghai, a prostitute transformation campaign was launched. I also heard the voices of adults. It is said that the brothels in Shanghai before liberation were divided into several levels. The highest is "Book Jade", the next is "Chang San", the second is "Moore", the next is "Huayan Pavilion" and "Pheasant" "is gone. This book is called "Xu and Xu's residence" ", the third is called "X and X's residence", one word less, the second is called "Xu Tang", Shu Yu and Chang San have signs at the door, which read the name of the prostitute.

The adult said that at that time, nearby neighbors did not dare to offend the prostitutes, because not only the gangsters, the casino owner, but also the snake, and even the Japanese "opened the table" for them. .

Wanwan’s mother and aunt are very beautiful and fashionable because of their beautiful appearance. So someone framed them as prostitutes. But the tracking results are not like this.

My family lives in the West Wing room, and Wan Wan's mother lives in the Front Wing room. The two are separated by a siding, and they can clearly hear the front and back speeches.

    Wanwan’s mother usually comes to sit at my house, mainly to ask her mother for advice on knitting sweaters and to chat with her.

   "Our women's lives are very painful. In order to eat, women must do what they don't want to do. If you don't, who will give you something to eat? Wear?" Wan Wan's mother told my mother when she was At the beginning of the experience, she looked sad and helpless.

My family lives on the back porch. The front porch is about the size of my three rooms, with a south window and an east window. The sun also protects the neighbor's house. Warm sunlight always stays on the front porch. The scorching sun always hangs in front of the west window of my house.

 Wanwan’s mother told my mother about living with her mother-in-law.

It turned out that Mrs. Wang's ancestors opened a snack bar. Later, she also married the owner of a famous snack bar in Shanghai and was the second wife. The “filling the house” that Shanghainese refers to is to marry the man who lost his wife. At that time, she did not have to worry about food and clothes.

However, the scenery is not long. Her man married another little wife and threw her aside. She began to live like a widow. In order to raise her second daughter, she found a humble job at the famous Paramount Ballroom in Shanghai. As a toilet administrator, in addition to cleaning, she also sold some toilet paper. One can imagine the income from working in the toilet all day, she is just a Shanghai citizen.

Such days are almost impossible to survive. Later, Mrs. Wang's eldest daughter grew up and was hired by the owner of the Paramount Ballroom to hire her as a dancer in the ballroom.

Mrs. Wang’s eldest daughter arrived on time on the fourth floor of the most important banquet hall in Jing’an Temple three times a week. She was wearing a pink tight top, white skirt and delicate makeup, and her body exuded a light fragrance. She soon became one of the famous ladies in Shanghai.

More than 70 years ago, the dancers on the beach shuttled and danced among the leisure class of Jinyiyushi, gold sculpting gold and gold, paper drunken gold fans, they were graceful and graceful, like a wise and beautiful butterfly elf, in many In the intertwined eyes, they turned gorgeously again and again, and their lives were so gorgeous and extreme. The life of the old Shanghai dancers may have enjoyed the prosperity and extravagance of the world, or maybe just a doll in this prosperous world.

Mrs. Wang’s eldest daughter is locked in the Shanghai Beach Dance Hall in Shiliyangchang. She gradually has some savings and her family has become rich. She has been married twice. The first marriage did not bring her the expected happiness. Her mother-in-law did not like her son to play crazy with a dancer all day. Finally, the eldest daughter could not continue to endure like this, and left the husband's house with two children to find their own happiness. Married a second man.

Mrs. Wang’s youngest daughter is only 16 years old, and she looks amazing. Although the second daughter grew up, she was just a girl. She was taken by the foreman and sometimes taught her to dance. The little girl who was a child walked into the Ballroom Ballroom and conquered the ballroom class with her youthful beauty. Before she was 17, she married that big class. Daban broke up with his ex-wife, leaving a daughter with him.

Mrs. Wang’s youngest daughter is Wan Wan’s mom. In fact, she has never been a dancer. She went to Hong Kong with the foreman. This foreman is Wan Wan’s father. They got married in Hong Kong and lived on the ground. Both Wanwan and Weida were born in Hong Kong.

Mrs. Wang still lives in Shanghai, but did not live with her eldest daughter. She felt lonely and asked her elder daughter to write to her second daughter, hoping she would leave Hong Kong and come to Shanghai. Mrs. Wang also told her that the lives of the people in Shanghai after the liberation were very stable.

At the urging of Mrs. Wang, Mum Wanwan and Daddy Wanwan, they chose the way back to China, and came to Shanghai with young Wanwan and Weida.

What's worse is that Shanghai has just been liberated, and Wan Wanmu and Wan Wan's father and wife haven't found a job, but they have to take care of Mrs. Wang, and they have to raise a daughter. The eldest daughter Wanwan is the same age as my sister, so we also call her mother Wanwan Mu.

No one thought that when they wanted to find a job in Shanghai, a disaster fell on their heads. When Wanwan’s father returned to Shanghai, he brought back a few watches. In addition to his own use, the other watches were transferred to friends at a premium. As a result, the defendant reported that he was engaged in illegal smuggling and was detained for the crime of smuggling and sent to remote Qinghai for labor reform. When Wan Wan’s father was escorted to Qinghai, Wan Wan’s mother stayed in Shanghai because she was pregnant. She was subject to labor control at the local neighborhood committee and street sweeping supervision in the alley.

Wan Wan and Wei Da's sisters and brothers became children of the family of bad elements since their childhood. Looking back now, I really don't know how the neighbor Wan Wan's family survived these difficult years. Even more incredible is that the old wife of the old lady Wang lost her job after liberation, and the little wife of the former husband left him. Wang Laotai actually took her ex-husband to her home, and Wang Laotai ex-husband and Wan Wanmu always had a dispute. This home has never been peaceful.

2

The tragic story of Wan Wanmu’s mom and Wanwan’s father returning to Shanghai from Hong Kong aroused my aversion to Mrs. Wang. Actually, I hate her for a special reason.

I hate the old lady Wang who lives in the front porch, because the old lady always sent me to line up for her to buy buns, but in cold winter, I had to line up early in the morning, and my fingers were so full of frostbite. In order to charge her a tip, her mother had to agree to her request in this way.

This old lady Wang also has a strange problem, that is, she likes to eat raw fried buns. Every three times, she asked me to go to Tangtang to buy raw fried buns for her. Every time I buy raw fried buns for her, it is another kind of torture for me.

Raw fried buns can be said to be native Shanghai dim sum. It is said that it has a history of hundreds of years. In old Shanghai, most of the tiger stoves in the teahouse have ovens and pan stoves. In addition to supplying boiling water, they also provide raw fried and crab shell yellow for guests to enjoy. Raw frying uses semi-fermented flour coated with fresh meat and jelly, lined up and fried in a pan. During the frying process, it needs to be dipped in cold water several times, and finally sprinkled with green onion and sesame and you are done . In addition to the deliciousness of the broth, the crispy bottom of the steamed buns is also very important. The meaty, oily, green onion and sesame aromas are integrated, and then dipped in the balsamic vinegar next to it, the taste is top! Crab shell yellow is a shortbread that looks like a crab shell, with sweet filling and salty filling. It is divided into Su Bang and Yang Bang. The larger one is called shortbread.

Mrs. Wang can also talk about various Shanghai snack places in Shanghai, including Wangjiasha, Dingtaifeng, Chunfeng Deyilou, Qiao Jiazha, Lubo Corridor, Wufangzhai, and Gong Delin.

Why is Mrs. Wang so familiar with Shanghai snacks?

The business of Shanghai fried buns is particularly good. Most of the teahouses with more details have two floors. The downstairs boiled water and made snacks. The guests upstairs used tea. Their mouths were greedy and hungry. The fried buns came, and I prepared a plate of balsamic vinegar, and the overflowing aroma made everyone drool in less than a second. The passers-by who did not drink tea did not have much time to eat in the house, so they bought a few to take away.

Later, the leisure of tasting tea fell, and the raw fried buns followed the diners all over the world. It's just that the people are fighting, and when they go to small stalls, the people who eat don't talk about eating, and the "selling phases" of raw fried buns are far away, completely "fallen" into the mouth of the broad masses of the people.

Neighbor Granny Wang wanted to eat raw fried, but refused to move, let me go to the queue to buy. I watched a pot of raw fried buns about to be released. How greedy are my mouths?

Shanghai Sheng Jian Man's scalp is as thin as paper, but it is thin and not broken, and does not stick to each other. First bite a small hole at the top. After the Sheng Jian is slightly cooler, suck the soup in it. It doesn't need to be called soup when it is fried. The portion of the meat is a bit unexpected. The meat is very fine, very loose, and very foamy. The bite is soft cotton, and there is also a unique smell of meat. The minced meat is made with minced pork, soy sauce, green onion and ginger, pepper noodles, and sesame oil. The most ideal is the lean pork with seven-quarter pork and the sandwich with three-quarters. The meat is minced by hand, and the meat broken by the machine is a fuzzy, no delicate feeling. Mix the minced meat with cooking wine, salt and a little sugar. The master does not use MSG, but uses the golden ratio of salt and sugar to reconcile the umami taste. There is also jelly in the jelly filling. The freshly fried steamed buns just came out of the pan, and the first bite down, you can eat hot and fragrant soup, that is jelly. Few people don't surrender to the beauty of this first bite. The authentic one does not need a little fat, it will be too fatty, just use the pork skin, slowly boil in the soup, until all the water is melted, solidify into a gum, refrigerate, when stuffing, cut into small dices, and Meat and together.

Especially those who are sitting there eating raw fried meat, they always have to be served with a bowl of beef soup. Four raw fried and a bowl of beef soup, really made my greedy saliva sip straight into my heart. I have sworn that when I grow up and make money, I will eat raw fried three times a day!

Shanghainese love to eat, they have a lot of enthusiasm, and they have a big show. Authentic dishes are called snacks. In many cases, snacks are still eaten. "A little snack" is often a dinner.

The locals in Shanghai don't distinguish between steamed buns and steamed buns. Unlike the northerners who call stuffed buns, steamed buns are not. People in Shanghai basically don't eat white buns, so they are also called buns, buns are called meat buns, and buns are called vegetable buns. In Shanghai dialect, some people say that buns will reveal a taste of the north that is not authentic.

The easiest place to eat raw fried buns in Shanghai is, of course, the old Shanghai City God Temple. The raw fried buns here are golden in color, hard and fragrant, the buns are white, soft and loose, the meat is tender and slightly marinated, and there are sesame or onion flavors when chewing.

There are many snacks in Shanghai. The neighbor’s old lady was able to report a large list of Shanghai snacks: Nanxiang Xiaolong, Shiitake Mushroom Vegetable Buns, Pigeon Egg Balls, Liansha Tuan, Youzhu Ribs Rice Cake, Crab Shell Yellow, Phoenix Tail Siu Mai, Raw Fried Steamed Bun, Osmanthus Sugar Root, Chicken Congee, Mint Cake, Mung Bean Cake, Melaleuca Oil Cake, Taibai Ramen, Fritters, Flatbread, Soy Milk, Rice Cake, Hot Pot Stickers, Curry Beef Soup, Shrimp Small Wonton, Bai Guo Stuffed Wine Garden, You Dunzi , Deep-fried stinky tofu, baked mountain buns, onion oil noodles, jujube crispy pastry, radish shortbread, white sugar lotus porridge, beef tendon louver soup, osmanthus and red bean soup, three wire eyebrow crispy, five-spice tea egg, glutinous rice dumplings, Wudingbao, Babaofan, Youzhu steamed buns, fried rice cake, blood glutinous fire soup, cold noodles, vermicelli chicken blood oil tofu soup, three fresh bean skins, Yangchun noodles, vegetarian chicken, red bean paste, kelp mung bean paste... Speaking of Shanghai Snacks, Mrs. Wang is like a family treasure.

3

When Wan Wan's father was in reeducation through labor in Qinghai, Wan Wan's mother gave birth to the youngest son, Wei Qing. Due to the difficult life, Wan Wan’s mother cried and told her whether she could help Wei Qing find a good family, and she really had no ability to raise him.

My mother is very sympathetic to Wan Wan's mother, and she said she was trying to find a way. But the mother didn't do it because my little brother died suddenly due to illness and missed the sadness of his son, which changed the mother's attitude. My mother told Wanwan's mother: This child is his own flesh. As children enter this world, as mothers, it is their responsibility to raise them. Weiqing is the child of all of us, let the neighbors help you together, let the children grow up.

My mother is right. Shikumen's neighbors believed that Wei Qing was their own. No one will be indifferent and bully him. I also regard him as my brother.

Wanwan seems to hate this family, always looking for my little girl to play, and they both became good friends.

Later, Wan Wan's father was released. Before her release, Mrs. Wang and her ex-husband also died. Wan Wan has two younger brothers.

Wanwan's mother's words and deeds are actually very elegant. Despite the absence of music and lighting background, everything seems to have passed, but she also forever left the past of Paramount's youth. She has long lost her exuberant youth and passion, but she will also nostalgia, miss the noble and elegant life of the past, and miss the golden years of Shanghai.

Wanwan’s mother was born in old Shanghai in a turbulent era. Her family made her miss the gorgeous and luxurious ballroom life. She experienced countless wealth in old Shanghai. Lonely, but there are always nobles that we cannot explore in her bones, ideals, innocence, tolerance and satisfaction. Her need for life is full of natural resilience and the wisdom of a happy little girl. There are many traces on her body that can never be erased by generations. The photos she gave to my mother reflected her nostalgia, and the graceful mother was gorgeously dressed. This photo once frozen her eternal memories of supreme youth and years.

Wanwan didn't seem to think too much about me, nor did he think it was complicated. She often plays with my little girl and chats with me.

At that time, the school stipulated that students should carry out anti-fly activities on holidays. Wanwan is afraid of flies and dare not slapp when she sees them. I will accompany her to catch flies at the vegetable market and help her complete the tasks assigned by the school.

In the four-evil elimination campaign, every family is eliminating cockroaches and fleas. I did all the work at home, but nobody in Wanwan's home did it. Some children are too young. My mother wants me to help them because her house is only a distance away from my house. Even if my house eliminates cockroaches and fleas, cockroaches and fleas will invade my house again.

I also have some housework, such as buying briquettes, making briquettes, pouring water into a water tank, and soaking in the water next door. I will also help Wanwan's family to do something.

The human nature of this world is changing, there is no difference between good and evil, right and wrong, right and wrong. But traditional Chinese culture has not changed: distant relatives are not as good as nearby neighbors. The friendship between neighbors can be seen in the daily life of ravioli and dumplings.