Returning to the family, kissing the kiss, smashing the bones and connecting the tendons.

- Hui proverb

As he grew older, Ibrahim began to participate in various folk activities of the Sarta people. Among them, a gathering with the characteristics of food culture - eating a flat is one.

Legend has it that eating flat was a way for the ancestors of the Sarta people to distribute their prey during hunting in ancient times, and over time it became a dietary custom and food culture.

After winter, there is no farm work left in the fields. The young men of Salta got a little fat sheep together, and chose the Yousufu family, which was relatively wealthy and had good cooking skills, as the main family of the flat family.

Ibrahim and Yusuf pressed the little sheep down in the clearing, turning its neck to the southwest.

Ah Hong, who had been invited, recited a scripture, cut the throat of the little fat sheep with a knife, and then got up as if he had finished his work, washed his hands with the water in the soup bottle, and returned to the temple.

After the others sent Ah Hong away, they did it together, skinning the sheep, breaking the chest, washing it, and putting it on the board, and the rest of the work was all Yusuf's daughter-in-law's.

Yusuf's daughter-in-law boiled the water in the cauldron and put the little sheep in the pot to boil.

The young men took off their shoes and sat on the hot kang, while enjoying the golden oil fragrance, leisurely scraping the fine porcelain gaiwan tea, while talking about business, crops, news, heaven and earth, ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, everything.

Youssef's daughter-in-law first washed and chopped the sheep's heart, lamb liver and sheep's lungs, mixed with chopped green onions, seasonings, sesame oil, and then sprinkled with a little flour and stirred well, divided into several portions according to the number of people and put them in small bowls.

After boiling the mutton in the cauldron, she set up a steamer on the cauldron, arranged the small bowls neatly in the cage drawer, and closed the lid of the steamer until the contents of the bowl were steamed. This is a small dish of the Sarta people.

She poured boiling broth on her steaming, fragrant hair, sprinkled with green green garlic sprouts, and served them bowl by bowl on the kang table.

Yusuf smiled and said, "The hair that moistens the throat is here." ”

Everyone laughed and ate the first appetizing haircut.

After a while, Yousuf's daughter-in-law brought up a tender and mellow stir-fried lamb liver.

Yusuf said: "As the saying goes, the first kebab (Salta, lamb liver) is more fragrant than the later mutton. How about a taste of it, brothers? ”

Ibrahim took a piece of lamb liver with chopsticks, put it in his mouth and chewed it, the taste was very good, both fresh and delicious, so he praised: "Brother Yusuf, the new sister (sister-in-law) is really good!" ”

At this time, the voice of Yusuf's daughter-in-law came from the kitchen: "Yusuf, come and do me a favor." ”

Yusuf said with a smile: "Just praised her here, she came to her heart." ”

The boys on the kang burst out laughing.

Yusuf took out the whole boiled sheep and put it in a wooden container to control the water for a while.

The virtuous daughter-in-law pulled the fingernail-sized piece of dough into the broth with the oil flowers, boiled it for a while, then scooped it into a bowl, sprinkled a pinch of chopped coriander, introduced balsamic vinegar and oily spicy noodles, and served it on the kang table for everyone to taste.

Yusuf unloaded the steaming whole sheep into seven large pieces, and then chopped each large piece into a number of small portions according to the number of visitors, one per person.

Each piece has seven parts: the front piece, the back piece, the ribs, the chest fork, the back, the neck and the tail. If there are many people who eat the flat, the pieces of meat will be chopped smaller; If there are fewer people who eat the flat, the meat will be chopped larger.

The meat is chopped into portions and placed on a plate, and served on a plate. Guests can eat it on the spot or take it home with their families.

Ibrahim ate one of the lambs on his plate, intending to pack the rest and take it home for his parents and younger brothers, who had not eaten meat in a long time.

Equals, equals. First of all, all equal meat is equal regardless of whether they are rich or poor. One serving per person, the same amount. Second, the money for eating the flat is apportioned on a per capita basis, and you can either pay cash or wait until the autumn when the grain harvest is bumper and use the grain to cover the top.

Eating flat is a typical portrayal of the collective spirit of unity, harmony, equality and mutual assistance of the Sarta people. The bold and open-minded character of the Sarta people is vividly reflected in the customs and habits of eating flats.

Such a good day will not happen until many years. Because the exploitation of the landlords is getting heavier and heavier. There is also an increase in the number of servitudes apportioned by the government. Disaster years are becoming more frequent. The year before last, it was a storm that discounted the crops all over the land. Last year was a drought year, and there were not many seedlings growing in the ground. In the middle of this year, another hailstorm knocked down the trees full of fruit. The peasants' lives are getting harder and harder.

Every year on the 11th day of the third lunar month is the traditional festival of the Salta people, the festival of Ashura, which is also a festival for women and children.

According to the custom passed down from her ancestors, Mai Liyan made a porridge called Luo Bo weak at home. She burned off the wool on the sheep's head and hooves, rinsed it repeatedly, boiled it in a pot, sprinkled it with peppercorns, green salt, and mixed it with barley, wheat, soybeans, etc. This kind of meat porridge has both the aroma of grain and the aroma of meat, and it is indeed delicious.

The annual month of Ramadan has arrived.

Ibrahim strictly adhered to the canons and ate only two meals a day. When eating two meals, in the first half of the night and the second half of the night, you can't see the light of the sun, and you don't get a drop of water during the day.

The big rooster crowed, and Ibrahim and his parents had finished their breakfast.

'Isa follows the family rules handed down from his ancestors, respecting the elders and caring for the young, with men first and women having a relatively low status.

Every time they ate, Ibrahim and his younger brothers waited until the elders had taken a bite with their chopsticks before they started eating. If the elders don't eat, they have to wait quietly with hunger.

A month later, they celebrated the feast of Eid al-Fitr.

When they got up early in the morning, Ibrahim and his brothers went to Ada and Grandma to say "Seran."

They followed Ada to the mosque for prayer. After returning home and having breakfast, I have to go to the burial (cemetery) to recite the sutra to the grave of my impermanent relatives.

In the autumn of the year Ibrahim turned 18, 'Isa heard that the daughter of Mahasan, who lived in the village of Benkang on the opposite hillside, was in good health and a good woman in charge of the household.

The Sarta people were very strict about marriage. Young men and women are not allowed to meet in person. The decision on the marriage must be made by the parents. All of these issues have to be passed through the matchmaker in the middle. Generally, the man first invites the matchmaker to the woman's house to propose marriage.

Mayyub had long heard that Issa's eldest son, Ibrahim, was handsome and well-read, and now that he saw that the matchmaker took the initiative to come to the door to propose marriage, it was too late to be happy, so why not agree?

After receiving Mayub's agreed, Isa was of course very happy, and immediately went to the shop in Nananzhuang to buy tea, rock sugar, red dates and walnuts, wrapped them in red, yellow, green and blue paper into a four-color ceremony, and sent a farewell gift to Mayyub's family through a matchmaker.

Soon, the Niu and Ma families fulfilled the formal engagement formalities, that is, the bride price.

In accordance with the customs of the countryside, Mai Liyan specially grinded the newly harvested wheat into white flour and steamed it into steamed buns to be sent to the Ma family. She smeared some turmeric on the top of the steamed bun in advance, and cut it slightly with a knife, and the top of the snow-white steamed bun was like a blooming yellow flower, indicating that the in-laws would have a bumper harvest in the coming year.

Isa led Ibrahim, the matchmaker, and the escort to the Ma's house with tea, brown sugar, pastries, clothes, earrings, bracelets and other dowries.

The Ma family ceremoniously received the guests of the Niu family.

Mayyub is older than Ersa, with a white beard and a smile. He first politely invited the guests to their seats, and let 'Isa, the eldest of them, sit in the middle upper seat, and then sat them in order of age.

The son of the Ma family made three bubbles of Taigaiwan tea for the guests.

Everyone drank tea and talked and laughed.

After three rounds of tea, a young man brought the golden and crispy aroma of oil, followed by a few plates of stir-fried vegetables and hand-grabbed mutton.

The last dish is chicken.

The Salta people generally ask Ahong to recite the sutra to slaughter the chicken, pluck the feathers and wash them, cook them, and break them into 13 pieces according to the parts of the chicken. First, the two thighs, two crotch, and two spoons of the chicken are broken down, and then the chicken wings and calves are chopped into 4 pieces, and the forked meat of the chicken breast is chopped into two pieces, and the last piece left is the tail bone, that is, the tip of the chicken. In the eyes of the Sarta people, the best chicken is the tip of the chicken.

The mayyub distributed the chopped pieces of chicken to the guests in order, and gave the tips to the noblest of the guests, 'Isa.

Isa first conceded to Mayob, picked up the tip of the chicken and gave in to the matchmaker. During the banquet, it is a polite procedure for the guests to give each other a polite tip, which increases the opportunity for greetings and the lively atmosphere of humility. However, no one can accept the tip of the chicken with courtesy. Because if anyone eats the tip of the chicken at the table, it symbolizes that he has accepted the host's hospitality on behalf of all the guests at the table, which means that he is the host and guest of today, and today's banquet is prepared for his arrival. Guests who eat the tip of the chicken will also feel satisfied and proud to be respected.

Mayub said with a smile: "It is said that a long time ago, a Sarta man invited a leading figure from the Waizhuang and a gentleman from Honjo to his home, and the gentleman of Honjo unceremoniously ate the tip of the chicken at the banquet. The guest from the other village immediately brushed his sleeves away, thinking that he was a distinguished guest and that the tip of the chicken should be eaten by him, but he was eaten by others, and his personality was not respected as he should be, so he left the table angrily. Later, after the coordination of people who were considered respected by both parties, it was finally ended with the gentleman of Honjo leading two fat sheep to apologize. ”

Isa said: "I have heard the old people say that the feast has only the head and legs and no tips, which means that it is not a whole chicken, and it may be leftovers, so it is disrespectful to the guests. This is how the habit of eating chicken tips has been passed down. ”

Between eating and drinking, the two families of Niu and Ma discussed that in order to take an auspicious and complete meaning, they decided to hold a wedding on a main day after the autumn.

At the end of September of the lunar calendar, Ibrahim and Mayyub's daughter Manuri got married as promised.

On the same day, Ibrahim and his party arrived at the village of Benkang.

The young men of the village blocked the road at the entrance of the village, beating them with clods of earth and pumping wicker, deliberately frightening the bridegroom and his companions, so that they would fall off their horses. Even if the groom falls off the horse and is slightly injured, he must not turn his face and get angry, but also apologize to those troublemakers. This is a custom of the Sarthas when they marry - to punish the bridegroom.

Mayob's home is bustling with activity. Relatives, friends, and neighbors all came in the best clothes to congratulate the Ma family on the happy event according to the intimacy of the relatives and the thickness of the friendship between friends.

After consulting Ibrahim and Manuri, Ahom recited the nika (marriage contract) in front of everyone, indicating that the marriage was genuine and valid.

During the recitation of Nika, Ahom also agreed that Ibrahim would give Manuri a certain amount of Nika money after marriage, symbolizing the man's obligation to the woman and binding him not to abandon his wife at will.

After the Nika was recited, the witnesses scattered a plate of red dates and walnuts on the onlookers to the adults and children, indicating that they would have children early.

Everyone cheered loudly as they scrambled for dates and walnuts. Whoever grabs more means who will get more happiness in the future.

At this time, Ibrahim saw his bride for the first time.

The bride is very tall and slightly clumsy compared to the women around her. She wears a long sata skirt with slits at the front and back, a slanted blouse with false sleeves, a sichu (trousers) with leggings on her legs, and a pair of red cloth shoes embroidered with peony flowers on her feet.

Ibrahim couldn't help but feel a little disheartened when he saw that the bride was not what he thought he was rare (liked). However, now that the weddings have been held, there is no way to do it if you don't want to. The orders of his parents and the words of the matchmaker have been inherited from ancient times to the present, and Ibrahim has no way to change them.

The people who greeted the relatives returned to the village gate of the Gayin Dai Niu family, and the bride was carried out of the carriage by the brother who sent her relatives and sent into the courtyard.

The courtyard was filled with guests. One of them stood up and took the lead and shouted, "Harry." ”

Friends and family stood up and sang a song to congratulate the newlyweds, clapping their high-fives or clapping their arms to the beat of the song, bending their legs into a riding position and turning in circles to the left and right.

The lyrics of "Harry" were improvised by the guests, and most of the content was praise for the handsome groom, the beautiful bride, the love of the husband and wife, and the eternal separation.

The climax of the wedding is the drama of the in-laws.

The villagers playfully blackened the faces of Isa and Maileyam, put on sheepskin jackets, tied bells around their waists, wore a broken hat on their heads, and symbolically tied their hands and feet, so that they appeared on donkeys upside down.

On the wedding night, the young men in the new house hold the prepared pillows and throw them at the veiled bride sitting on the corner of the kang. The bride's girlfriends used their bodies to form a line of defense, smashing the smashed pillows back. The young people laughed and shouted, and the scene was very lively.

The girlfriends remove the manuri veil to show the bride's face, and open the cage to show the precious dowry of the family.

Early the next morning, Manuri met with the old and young of the Niu family.

In the afternoon, Manuri walked into the stove room of the Niu family for the first time, made a ball of noodles, rolled out the knife noodles according to the tradition, and invited the neighbors and the old people to taste the craftsmanship of the new daughter-in-law.

Mai Liyan ate the boring long noodles made by Manuri, and felt that her cooking skills were really not on the table, and she couldn't help but worry about Ibraham's future days.

Seeing off the noodle guests, Manuri made Ibrahim tea from the Three Forts and served it respectfully.

The Sarta people have been fond of tea since ancient times.

They strive for perfection in the combination of tea sets, tea leaves and ingredients. The tea set consists of three layers: a lid, a tea cup and a palm plate. The fine clay, thin and translucent and delicate three-fort is the top grade in the tea set. If it is a tea bowl from Jingdezhen, it is even more of a fine tea set.

The Salta people are also very particular about the requirements for tea, with Yunnan's Chunjian tea and Tuo tea as the highest grade. If you have a distinguished guest at home, you should offer three-spice tea, five-spice tea, and eight-treasure tea to show your welcome and attention to the guests.

In addition to the best tea, the tea should also be accompanied by rock sugar, longan, red dates, dried apricots, wolfberries, raisins, figs, etc. This kind of tea is bitter and sweet, sweet and sour, which can not only quench thirst and relieve heat, strengthen the heart and diuretic, but also relax the muscles and channels, and digest the accumulated food.

Ibrahim didn't speak, lowered his head and picked up the bottom of the tea bowl with his left hand, used the thumb, index finger and middle finger of his right hand to ring the bowl in the shape of an orchid, scraped it obliquely on the top of the tea bowl, and pushed away the tea leaves floating on the water.

Manuri's eyes were fixed on Ibrahim, and he hesitated for a moment and asked, "Ibrahim, why are you hanging your face on me these days?" Our family accompanies a lot of things than other people's, and the quality is not bad. ”

Ibrahim didn't squeak and drank his tea.

The following year, Manuri gave birth to a baby boy.

The baby's cry was low, and he was out of breath in less than half an hour.

Manuri was so sad that he cried to death.

The following year, in 1920, Manuri gave birth to another baby boy.

The baby's cry was still low. After Mai Liyan's careful care, the baby boy actually survived, but his body was relatively weak.

Ibrahim asked Ahom to give the child a name of Salta, and then asked his father, 'Isa, to give his grandson an official name.

Isa thought for a while and said, "This doll is particularly expensive, so let's take jade from the first word." Our Gayin Dai is a mountain when we look up, and a mountain when we look down, so it is called Niu Yu Mountain. In the future, Gawa will have a mountain character in her name, so that they can remember the mountains of their hometown. ”

Ibrahim's three younger brothers, Niu Zhanxiang, Niu Zhanchuan and Niu Zhanhai, sat in the courtyard and exclaimed happily as they ate the pot that had been steamed with barley noodles fermented and pasted on the pot and cooked in a kang cave with millet noodles in a pot and cooked in a kang hole, "Great! Brother is Ada. We also have nephews. ”