Allusions to sugar porridge.

In 1930s and 1940s, the mysterious temple in Suzhou was like a playground. The leisure life of ordinary people in Suzhou is called "swinging mysterious wonders". According to the present statement, the mysterious and wonderful scenery is a tourist attraction. There are 18 scenic spots and 24 scenic spots in the old saying. This is a lively place for eating, drinking, playing, having fun, shopping, sightseeing, burning incense and praying. The sugar porridge booth is located in the northeast corner of the terraced fields of "one step, three bridges" and "nail stone track" in the 18 scenic spots of Xuanmiao Temple. The booth is simple. Three doorplates set up a table, and three large benches are arranged in a concave shape for customers to "sit still". Put a big bucket of sugar porridge in the concave end, one bowl and one cup, and set up a heating stove. At the other end, there is a stove full of crispy beans, and the stall owner is busy in the concave shape. The ceiling of the booth is a herringbone tent made of thick bamboo poles and white cloth, which can shelter from the rain and shade the sun, so that customers can sit down with a sense of territory and security. Three coppers can have a bowl of sugar porridge or a crispy bean; You can also have both, and call it a bowl of "Yuanyang", which means half a bowl of sugar porridge and a spoonful of crispy beans. Sugar porridge is sweet but not sticky, thin but not thin, very refreshing, while crispy beans are not granular red beans, but thick black and shiny red bean paste, which is not only sweet, but also has the taste of red bean paste, which is very special.

The sugar porridge stand is called Qin Fuyuan. It is said that sugar porridge stalls existed before the Qing Dynasty. The ancestors of the Qin family were from Shaoxing. The first generation of stall owners came to Suzhou from Shaoxing, settled next to a high pier in Shetan Lane, and chose the terrace of Xuanmiao Temple to set up stalls, which spread to the fourth generation of Qin Fuyuan. When Qin Fuyuan was young, he didn't want to keep the stall. He learned to tell stories and swim across the dock. The sugar porridge stand is fucking up. Qin Fuyuan and Cao Hanchang, a famous contemporary storyteller, are brother and sister, studying under the same teacher. However, Qin Fuyuan is probably short of talents. After several years of silence, his business was mediocre, and he even swam to the dock to tell stories with the money earned from the sugar porridge stand. When the years are longer and the arrogance is gone, I will go back to the sugar porridge stall with satisfaction. At that time, it was the front line in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and the stall was supported by Qin, his wife and his mother (my mother was blind in the later stage and my nephew helped). With Qin's eloquence of telling stories, he can certainly talk, be humorous, have rich experience in dealing with people, smile at customers and operate well. Although it can't be said that "there are thousands of copper coins every day", at night, there will always be bags of copper coins pouring down on the table of the Eight Immortals. Everyone is busy counting all the copper coins and packing them so that they can be changed into silver dollars or large bills tomorrow. By the way, modern people use the decimal system to measure. It is wrong to use the decimal system for copper plates, nickels, silver horns and silver dollars in the 1930s. Before and after the implementation of legal tender, according to the market situation, 1 silver dollar is convertible 1, 240 cents small ocean (silver horn), while the number of copper coins remains at about 300, and 3 copper coins are fixed on 1 nickel coin. Later, silver horns and copper coins were all scrapped, just like now.

A bowl of sugar porridge costs three coppers, and a pair of fried dough sticks costs three coppers, which is equivalent to 50 cents of the current market price. Of course, it is cheap and of good quality. Qin Fuyuan, on the other hand, is well-run, careful and careful, trying to reduce costs and pay attention to quality, but he has also made a brand, made a lot of money and has a well-off family. Shetan Lane has its own house, and of course it has a share handed down from ancestors. It is said that it is separated by three generations. The spread of the sugar porridge stand to the third generation is embarrassing, but the man is a scholar and has asthma, and he can't do anything on his shoulders. A generation ago, seeing that the ancestral business could not be passed down, they recruited a Bigfoot daughter-in-law. Thanks to the rural women in bigfoot and Guangfu, they have become first-class players in life and are expected to be passed down. This is Qin Fuyuan's mother. I've been tired all my life. Sugar porridge is used to burn firewood. When the fire goes out, be sure to blow it with a blower. After a long time, the smoky fire caused eye diseases, and I was blind when I was old. Qin Fuyuan's wife also cooks sugar porridge, and she will be blind when she is old. It seems that blindness can be inherited, and there are already many superstitions. In fact, in a word, it is called "occupational disease". The price of life also brought Qin Fuyuan a well-off life. Qin Fuyuan's room was filled with mahogany furniture.

In the old society, you really lied to me, and you have to rely on some background or something. Even the lower classes have to worship the old man and admit that I have the right to get close to the children. Although it is a stall, it is located in the most lively mysterious temple in Suzhou, and all passers-by will come here to look for gold. If nothing else, there are a large number of beggars under the roof of Sanqing Hall, which is backed by a sugar porridge stall. Some of them sell coolies or get sick, or are disabled, and their lives can't go on. Some aristocratic dudes eat chopsticks, gamble, get opium, lose everything, or are driven out of their homes and become beggars under the eaves. What's more, there are originally hooligans, or powerful and overbearing knights who are willing to be called flower heads here. It is said that Qin Fuyuan has gained a firm foothold here and is protected by the previous generation. As an old vendor, people from all walks of life take care of him. In addition, he also has many contacts with Taoist elites, which at least makes him a guy who makes money by setting up a stall, so he doesn't have to go home and deposit it in the temple after collecting money every day. As for whether I have worshipped the elderly, I have never heard of it, so I can't talk nonsense. There seems to be no big "expense" for the blackmail of "black crows" and hooligans. Of course, this kind of person comes to the door and eats bowls of sugar porridge, just like calling a "Hongtashan" cigarette now, which can only be regarded as a social greeting.

Qin Fuyuan did a little kindness to a group of beggars behind him, so the beggars stayed under the eaves in the northeast corner to avoid the positive activities from hindering the beauty of the booth. Only at this point will customers want to sit down and eat comfortably.

I remember when I was studying the general line in the 1950s, there was a metaphor called small traders and vendors. They were tottering boats and could not stand the wind and waves. In this historical environment, I once knew a proverb of a small vendor: "The wind blows halfway, and all the rain falls". Qin Fuyuan's sugar porridge stand really responded to the mysterious point of view with a monument called "eating by the celestial monument". Since his predecessor, the whole family has been concerned about the weather, just like the face of modern people, which changes with the mood. The third generation ancestor didn't do it himself, but as long as it rained and windy for a few days, he would lose his temper for no reason. The old man will tell the child, "It's raining, don't play in front of the ancestors, he can't wait to cut off the pillars", otherwise the child will be scolded and even die. It's really hard to deal with master Tian. Although 1958 is popular, it is not easy! From countless historical burdens, people gradually understand that heaven is invincible, and at most, they just follow heaven, follow heaven, and live according to heaven's temper. Therefore, Qin Fuyuan's respect for heaven and incense continue.

Wash more rice and burn more beans when the weather is good. The weather changed halfway, so we had to resign ourselves to fate. In a storm in spring, the tent overturned; There are thunderstorms in summer, so we should grab the stalls; It rains in autumn, and there will always be snow and frost in winter. We should have a rest. This kind of "fighting against the sky", beggars will help, help grab stalls, clean up household items, and the rest of the sugar porridge can't stay overnight, so they will give it to these helpers to satisfy their hunger. When the business is booming and there is not enough sugar porridge to sell, people are sent to Niujiaobang Tiger Kitchen to turn on the water and rush into the porridge bucket. Add at least half a bowl of sugar porridge. Business is cold and cheerless, and there is a surplus of sugar porridge, so take it back for neighbors and children to enjoy.

Sugar porridge stands can be used in Sanqingtang Station for four generations, paying attention to quality and reducing costs as much as possible. Although it needs to be washed with boiling water occasionally to increase the value, it is a temporary measure when the demand exceeds the supply. The real kung fu is to pay attention to the process of using rice, sugar and firing. Rice can't be made from glutinous rice bought directly from rice shops. It needs to be processed in many rice shops in Loumen and Fenmen, which is called "spreading glutinous rice". It is the glutinous rice at the bottom of the glutinous rice warehouse. Due to the long storage time and insufficient viscosity, it is not sticky or thin after firing. Sugar is not white sugar by weight, it is a loss. It's made of sugar bags, that is, sugar bags or sugar sacks left after unpacking in the southern goods store. Buy in large quantities every time, even pile it in the warehouse. In the sugar bag warehouse, bees are in droves, as if this is the best honey source. How to cook sugar porridge with sugar pudding? First, wash the bun, dissolve the sticky and residual sugar on the bun in water, then boil it and skim off the foam residue. Then use soybean milk to make it clear that there is sugar water above and sediment below, and finally filter out the sugar water. Sugar bags are more difficult to obtain and require several processes to separate and deodorize. A lot of sugar buns are used every day, so we have to buy them from major southern goods companies, and we have to turn to businesses like Shanghai Shiliupu as far as possible.

Although the amount of labor is large, the quality is guaranteed. They seldom use saccharin, and of course there is saccharin. There is always a can of saccharin imported from America in the living room. Sugar water and glutinous rice are cooked together, and the taste is not sweet enough to be a bit "old ghost"! Saccharin in Old Ghost Mountain is also true. The old business ethics is also a bit particular, and graft can't be put on the table, so you can only make an incision with guilt.

The cost of extracting sugar from sugar washing bag is greatly reduced. However, people with quick brains still have ways to make money. Pubao and sacks can be used once, which means making the best use of everything. Even in the end, they can be hard lined to make things like shoes. This is a later idiom, called waste utilization. At that time, Qin Fuyuan bought 12 sugar capsules, and he only needed eight capsules to recover the cost. I really took your candy, returned your shell, and earned four. This is the added value of packaging, and then peeled off, and then added value. This profit is not extra money, but it is included in the main income.

Burning sugar porridge, the proportion of rice and sugar water should be added at one time, without adding water in the middle; Then burn with hard wood, then turn off the fire and stew with carbonized hard wood. There were several times when it reached its peak and declined. People often stay by the kitchen fire and fan the fire with a "blower", and smoke often billows in the workshop. The general requirement is that the rice grains should bloom, but not sticky and refreshing, and the porridge should not sink into the pot. When it sinks, it dries, and when it dries, it smells like a paste. There is another process for frying beans. People thought it was cooked with red beans, which was mistakenly called red bean sugar porridge. In fact, it is to soak the good broad beans, then add alkali and water, and the fire will rot, even the shells will rot. Tell you a secret. In the past, the Qin family was not passed down from generation to generation. Now no one has done this job and they don't want to do it. Let's make it public. Crispy beans will not be "sand" even if they are burned to the above degree, just a pot of bean soup. The secret is to pour a big bucket of hot brown sugar water into the boiling crispy bean soup, stir it and immediately "sand" it into crispy beans. Burning broad beans with alkali destroys various vitamins according to nutrition; Fortunately, people only eat a spoonful of crispy beans, and vitamins can also be absorbed from various vegetables and foods.