Mengcheng, a city that is "disappearing"...

Two days ago I wrote an article about the origin of my hometown, Mengcheng. There were many voices of support. I would like to thank my fellow villagers in my hometown and my relatives and neighbors far away. Thank you. Thank you for your support and encouragement, and for your interaction, which allows us to be close to each other despite the distance. Of course, noisy humiliation and abuse also exist. Since I choose to release myself on this platform, I cannot please everyone. Of course, if you want to let your (fa) fly (xie) self here, this platform can also tolerate you. Exist, because your existence sets off the harmony of this society, and it is precisely because of your existence that I see my own shortcomings... In short, thank you, thank you to everyone present!

There is a place where we can humiliate her and complain about her with open mouth, but we can never tolerate others saying that her spots are bad. This place is called hometown. My hometown, the beautiful Greater Mengcheng City, is undergoing rapid changes and rapid development, attracting countless investors to come to help. However, the changes in my hometown have also made the post-90s generation who are about to become the mainstay of society nostalgic for it.

Urban construction is in full swing. When high-rise buildings are rising and high-speed railways are being laid out, Mengcheng is becoming familiar and yet strange! Some things are rising, and some things are gradually disappearing...

Today, I will take you to review the "Greater Mengcheng" in our memory. Those familiar scenes on the street, the familiar places, the missed tastes, now...

Popcorn, maltose, syrup, marshmallows... Unconsciously, those delicious ghosts The snacks that we once loved only exist in our minds.

Popcorn

The black gourd-shaped "barrel" stove is turning on the firewood. After a while, you will hear a "bang" and the white popcorn will pop. It’s out, it’s delicious! It's rare now...

Maltose

"Dang! Dang! Dang!..." When I was a child, I heard the rhythmic sound of hammers and iron pieces. He knew the sesame candy seller was here. He happily asked his parents for money to buy it. After buying one piece, he couldn't bear to finish it after half a day. How many other children do you know now?

Sugar syrup

The caramel-colored syrup stretches out long strands between the two bamboo sticks. The rich malt aroma slowly spreads, and the tip of the tongue tastes silky smooth. Moist and sweet, this is the joy of eating brushed candy: the taste is fragrant and glutinous, and it is sweet when it enters the throat. It is endlessly memorable and memorable.

Marshmallows

The bamboo sticks turned slowly and slowly, and one white cloud after another turned out. Sweet, soft, and as big as happiness. I bought one after school, and the sweet feeling filled my heart. Nowadays, more shapes and colors are sold, but it no longer feels like childhood!

In those years, cigarettes were sold in teahouses by the stick. If the pot at home was broken, the master would be called to repair it. If the knife was dull, there would be a sharpener. People who come to take pictures in front of your house...

Outdoor hair shaver

A coal stove, a pot of boiling water, a bench, and a penny for shaving a head, never charge more, master The craftsmanship is good and the crew cut is so smooth. Nowadays, it has been replaced by various high-cost barber shops.

The Sugar Blower

Walking through the streets carrying a load of sugar on his shoulders and banging the gong with his hands, children gathered to watch. The sugar player is so beautiful.

In the early 1980s, a few cents or a few toothpaste tubes could be exchanged for a candy man. Nowadays, there are more toys for children. Sugar figures are no longer just toys for coaxing children, but they have been valued as a folk art.

Noodle Makers

In the past, you could often see some craftsmen making dough, carrying a small wooden box on their backs and carrying a load, making and selling them now. Various dough pastes, scrapers, bamboo sticks, combs, and scissors are all the belongings of the experienced noodle maker. Nowadays, it is rare to see a noodle maker walking around the streets...

Scale nailer

Making scales is a delicate job. In this "careful" process, the scale nailer devoted his youth and sweat. The workmanship is meticulous and meticulous, just for the commitment of the craftsmen.

Shoe Repairer (Cobbler)

Shoe repair is the most common profession in people’s lives. Leather shoes appeared very early in my country, with written descriptions dating back to the Yin and Zhou dynasties. By the Tang Dynasty, even women wore leather shoes.

Roadside shoe repair shops are so different from bustling modern cities and the rapid mechanization era. Their existence is the nostalgia of a city and an echo of the values ​​​​of the previous era.

Blacksmith

"Half a rickety house, a man who has been hammering hard" is a true portrayal of the blacksmith in the old days. However, as time goes by, the blacksmith and the blacksmith's furnace seem to be dying in silent indifference, walking sadly.

Cotton playing

When I was a child, every household would go to a cotton playing craftsman to make quilts. With a sound of strings, pieces of flowers flew, and a pile of cotton was pressed into a neat line. Bedding. When I was a child, it was also a happy thing to have a new quilt to cover me!

Knife Sharpener

"Grind your scissors, sharpen your kitchen knife," the long shout always seems to come from near or far. The old man was carrying a bench with a whetstone and gears on it. He was grinding the kitchen knife back and forth on the whetstone. After a while, the kitchen knife looked like new?

Watch repairmen

Magnifying glasses, alcohol lamps, tweezers, and dexterous hands are their weapons. The pictures of their lives are solidified in the small workshop, witnessing the passage of time.

Repairing fountain pens

People in the old days advocated frugality. If a pen is broken, it can be repaired. For a few cents and a few minutes, a damaged pen can be "reborn". Nowadays, with the popularization of computers and the development of the pen industry, fountain pens are gradually being replaced, and repairing fountain pens has naturally been eliminated by society.

Mending the pot

In the past, if someone’s iron pot was burned through and they were reluctant to throw it away, they would take it out and give it to the master to mend it. Many people's pots are replenished again and again, and they last for several years. Now that people's living conditions have improved, they replace the pot with a new one if it breaks, and the skill of mending the pot has gradually disappeared.

The shouts of old Mengcheng best reflect the lives of people at that time. The loud shouts of the traders walking through the alleys have become the memory of a generation.

Popsicles ~ popsicles made with bean paste ~ five cents each

In the early years, such shouts could often be heard in the streets of Mengcheng. When I was a child, loud and low shouts would often be heard in the streets and alleys, accompanied by the sound of wooden blocks hitting wooden popsicle boxes.

"Sell the tattered wine bottles!"

At that time, the rag collectors did not ride tricycles or push carts like they do now, but carried a basket and shouted along the street, and everyone also Call them "those with tall baskets".

"Grind the scissors, sharpen the knife."

Grind the scissors, sharpen the knife. The cry of sharpening the kitchen knife was deliberately prolonged, and came out from the alley one after another, like a nursery rhyme. , accompanied by the growth of several generations.

If time could be frozen, I would like to live in Montreal 20 years ago. Carefree and full of happiness! At that time, there were no private cars, so traveling basically relied on 28-bar bicycles. The 28-bar bicycle was the most important means of transportation at that time. My father used to ride it when he took me shopping!

Now there are only wider and wider roads, more and more expensive cars, and more and more cars. The scenery on the roadside is also the same buildings. At that time, every household had old coarse cloth sheets with this kind of print. On a sunny day, I would tie a rope to two trees and start drying the quilt!

At that time, what I was most looking forward to was going to the street with my mom and dad, and then pestering my parents to buy candied haws and snacks. Following behind, the world feels so new. Later I learned that the world is a big place, but the best time is still when you are following your parents!

At that time, we had very few snacks, but because of this, we had the opportunity to taste the best food in our lives. In the past, there were elderly people at home, and the younger ones came to pay their respects during the Chinese New Year. Fruits, steamed buns and steamed buns were the best snacks I have ever eaten in my life!

At that time, there was no Coke, Sprite, or Rock Sugar Sherry. But ice cream and orange soda cost a few cents each. In summer, you can eat a cold ice cream and drink fresh soda. You take a sip and I take a sip. That kind of inner satisfaction has never been felt since then. !

At that time, the things in my home were all antiques now. There was a black and white TV set, and half the village people came to watch it, chatting about the news and family gossip.

At that time, it was the supreme honor for primary school students to become Young Pioneers, and they always felt that the red scarf on their chest was particularly bright.

In those days, marriage did not depend on family, but on the character of the young man! Girls at that time were willing to endure hardships with you and fight for the future! At that time, there was no video recording, no officiant, and no rehearsal for weddings!

There was even only a red dress, not even a wedding dress, only the happy smiles on the faces of the bride and groom.

At that time, there were endless memories and endless past events...

But now, we can only recall them!

The more it develops, the more it disappears!

The wheel of history is moving forward, times are changing rapidly, many novel things have emerged, and many familiar things have gradually abdicated and disappeared!

Mengcheng, a rising city!

Mengcheng, a disappearing city!