Beautiful Furong Town
Furong Town is located in Pingba, a canyon at the junction of Hunan, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. It has been an important pass for business travelers, heroes gathering, and military strategists in ancient times. There are two waterways - a stream and a river - flowing around the town. They merge just far away from the entrance of the town. Therefore, it is surrounded by water on three sides, forming a long and narrow peninsula-like terrain. Starting from the town, you can go south to the crossing to go to Guangdong; go west and cross the stone arch bridge, which is a road leading to Guangxi. I don’t know which dynasty or generation it was, but the mountain officials who guarded this place implemented benevolent policies, or they were arty. They left their names in the history of counties and prefectures, and ordered people to plant several long rows of flowers and green trees along the mung bean-colored stream and river. The hibiscus that shades the shore has become the feng shui of the town; the people were also sent to dig out the large swamp at the foot of the back mountain into square lakes and ponds, where they planted water hibiscus, raised fish, picked lotus, and produced lotus root. Produce". Whenever the hibiscus bloom in the lakes and ponds, or when the hibiscus blooms on the riverbanks, Pingba, in the hinterland of the Wuling Mountains, is a prosperous place of flowers and willows, a gentle and wealthy place.
Hibiscus roots, stems, flowers and bark can all be used as medicine. Water hibiscus has lotus seeds on it, and even its fat leaves that are as round as emerald green gongs and cover the lake surface can also allow dragonflies to stand, frogs to raise their heads, and dewdrops to drop;
When picked, they can still It is used as a foreskin for the porter on a long journey, a cake made of lotus leaves for his wife, a business burden for a small vendor, a bamboo basket pipe to cover the woman who goes to the fairground, and a straw hat for the cowherd boy... One thing has many uses, each has its own different. Small rivers, creeks and small towns are named "Furong River", "Yuye Creek" and "Furong Town".
The streets of Furong Town are not big. There are more than a dozen shops and dozens of houses tightly sandwiched between a bluestone poplar shop and the shops are so crowded that one family cooks dog meat and the street smells the aroma; even some family stumbles, loses teeth or beats the bowl, and the neighbors Neighbors know all about it; even the private conversations of the sister's family and the flirting of the young couple are often heard by the neighbors next door and become the town's secrets and jokes. Occasionally there will be internal quarrels between brothers in a certain family, or fights between husband and wife, and the whole street will become commotion, with people running back and forth to advise each other, like a flock of frightened ducks in the same river, which cannot calm down for a long time.
On days other than fair days, residents on both sides of the street would set up long bamboo poles from their attics to the attic across the street to dry various items of cloth: clothes, pants, skirts and quilts. The mountain wind blew by, but you could see the "ten thousand national flags" flying over Tong Street, red and green, in various colors. In addition, strings of red peppers, bunches of golden bracts, and white and green gourds hanging under the eaves of each house form two colorful belts... People are passing below, chickens are The cats and dogs are crowing below, and they are running around below. It has a unique style and a different scene.
During the four seasons and eight festivals of the year, residents in the town pay attention to popularity and have the habit of giving each other food. On March 3rd of the lunar calendar, we make Qingming flower cakes, on April 8th we steam Shitian rice noodles and meat, on May the Dragon Boat Festival we make glutinous rice dumplings and drink realgar moxa leaf wine, on June 6th the pears and melons in whose yard ripen early on July 7th Grain tastes new, the family makes earthen mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, persimmons are planted on the tree during the Double Ninth Festival in September, a daughter is married in the golden autumn in October, "Laba beans" are made on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, and presented to the Stove Lord on December 23rd... Although the raw materials for eating fruits are similar in every household, once the wives skillfully mix them with various seasonings to make them, the style is different and the taste is different. They are most happy for the neighbors to praise a few words after tasting it, just like secretly doing folklore. The exhibition of non-staple food, color, fragrance and taste are average. Even on a normal day, whoever eats a piece of meat with eyes and claws will not forget to give the kid next door three or two yuan, and let the kid go home happily to show off to his parents. After the meal, the mother-in-law brought her baby over to sit with her. Even though she was joking about other things, her expression was full of gratitude. Although Furong Town is a small street with not many residents, In Fengwei days, it was a market with thousands of people.
The main venue of the market is not on Qingshiban Street, but on the 20 to 30 acres square land flat behind the street facing the river. There are two remnants of the old society. There is a long pavilion with stone pillars and beams, a green tile roof, and an empty space in all directions. Opposite the long pavilion, there is an ancient stage with mottled paint. In the early days of liberation, the fairs were held on Wednesday, Saturday, and September, and on the third day of the month. Nine episodes.
In eighteen counties across three provinces, Han merchants, Yao hunters, medicine men, and Zhuang hawkers gathered here to trade. The pig market, cattle market, vegetables and fruits, mushrooms and fungus, sea cucumber and foreign cloth, daily necessities, food stalls... The streets are full of people, buzzing and moving. If you stand on the back hill and look down, you will see a collection of turbans, flower handkerchiefs, and straw hats on a sunny day, and a collection of cloaks, paper umbrellas, and cloth umbrellas on rainy days. People don't seem to be walking on the ground, but like they are floating on a lake. From selling cold water to working as a tooth marketer, many people make a living from this polder. It is said that there is a poor man in the town who has made a fortune by collecting manure from the pig farm and cattle market. In recent years, the business in Furong Town that can be said to be prosperous is not the famous pig farm and cattle market, but the town's Hu Lai Tofu stall opened by Yuyin. Hu Yuyin is a young woman in her mid-twenties. Customers who come to her stall to eat bowls of rice, tofu and snacks, standing, sitting or squatting, are used to calling her "Sister Meirong". There are also some fun-loving characters who call her "Fairy Hibiscus". To say she is a fairy is of course an exaggeration. But Hu Yuyin, with black eyebrows, big eyes and a face like a full moon, and an emotional body, were witnessed by passing merchants. She is enthusiastic about hospitality, has a soft temperament, and is nimble with her hands. Regardless of whether she is a stranger or a familiar guest, regardless of whether she is dressed well or poorly, she always greets her guests with a smile: "One more bowl? Add a spoonful of soup to relieve your dry mouth?" "Good go, good go, next step. See you in Wei!" In addition, her utensils are clean, the rice tofu is plentiful, the seasonings are spicy, and the oil and water are thicker than those at the nearby stalls. It costs only ten cents a bowl, and you can add soup as you like, so there are always customers coming and going in front of her stall. Not offline.
"Buying and selling, harmony brings wealth." "Buyer, buyer, food and clothing." This is the "family motto" that Hu Yuyin got from her parents. It is said that her mother eloped with a boy in the early years to a mountain town on the border of this province, kept her name anonymous, and opened a couple's inn that was very popular with past merchants. When the couple was over forty, they burned incense and worshiped Buddha, and then they gave birth to Hu Yuyin, an only daughter. "Yuyin, Yuyin" is the meaning given by the great merciful and compassionate Mother Guanyin. Selling rice tofu at the market in Fengwei only happened in the past two years. It’s a little embarrassing to talk about it, but Hu Yuyin started her business by selling bran vegetable cakes in a bamboo basket, and gradually transitioned to selling fern flour cakes, potato flour cakes, and developed into a rice and tofu stall. She didn't inherit any ancestral heritage, it was the hard days of hunger that taught her how to make a living.
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