The fish said, "You can't see the tears in my eyes, because I'm in the water." ”

The water said, "I can feel your tears because you are in my heart." ”

Love in the world is nothing more than the emotion between fish and water.

Luoyang at the end of October, the blue sky is like washing, cool and comfortable, and there is still a trace of osmanthus fragrance in the air. In the back kitchen of Li Siniang's house, Xing Ruyi selected two crucian carp from the water tank, disemboweled, gutted, scaled and gills, and then washed them, marinated them with salt and cooking wine.

Li Siniang watched from the sidelines, and while praising it, she didn't forget to explain: "I didn't expect that at this time, someone would come to my store to order some crucian carp white jade soup, I wanted to refuse, but that person knew and was also a poor person, so I couldn't be ruthless." You say, I, Li Siniang, are okay with wine, but I really can't do it when I cook. Luckily, you will, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get off this table. ”

"How can Siniang say that you are so serious! I'm not the same, I just adjust the rouge and cook. Xing Ruyi said, but his efforts were not delayed at all, cut the tofu into 1 cm thick pieces for later use, heat the iron pot, put in a small amount of oil, put the crucian carp in, and after a while, fry until both sides are golden brown.

Li Siniang grabbed a handful of shallots and handed them to Xing Ruyi: "Who said that you can only adjust rouge and cook, I know that you will also treat people, and you will also exorcise evil spirits and catch ghosts, in short, you are the most powerful and mysterious girl in this world." ”

"No matter how powerful you are, aren't you also your Siniang's partner, and you will also be caught as a long-term worker to cook for you?" Xing Ruyi smiled, chopped the shallots, sprinkled them on the fish casually, put aside some ginger, added about 5 bowls of water, covered and boiled over fire.

With the sound of puffing, the smell of food spreads through the air. Bell took a coveted breath and shook Ruyi's arm: "Bell wants to eat too!" ”

"Okay, let your sister-in-law do it for you later!" Xing Ruyi scratched the bell's nose, took out the finished crucian carp tofu soup, and handed it to Li Siniang: "Okay, go and give it to that guest!" ”

Li Siniang nodded, took the crucian carp white jade hall to the front hall, Xing Ruyi cleaned his hands, and also followed, wanting to see who this crucian carp white jade soup was. This dish, although simple, has an excellent meaning. The pure white tofu symbolizes the pure and flawless love between men and women, and the two fish playing in the water symbolize the joy between men and women.

In the antechamber, in the corner, sat an old woman. Looking at the appearance, it is estimated that the people are sixty or seventy years old, but the ancients are old, and the actual age may be only in their early forties, less than fifty. Next to the woman, there was a young man, in his early twenties, with handsome facial features, and a sense of righteousness between his eyebrows. This crucian carp white jade soup was ordered by this old woman.

Xing Ruyi originally thought that even if it was not a young couple, the person who ordered this dish would at least be a sentimental young woman, so when she saw this woman, she was a little disappointed. But just as she wanted to turn around and return to the back kitchen, her eyes swept away, and she suddenly saw a shadow faintly behind the old woman.

In the ears, there was also a conversation between the old woman and Li Siniang: "It's hard work Siniang, the old woman knows that my request is really a bit excessive, but more than 20 years ago, I was here and ate this dish." Although, at that time, it was not Siniang who cooked, and this was not a wine shop, but in my heart, I was always stubborn and worried. ”

"The old man doesn't have to mind, Siniang has also heard it, saying that before Siniang, there were two masters here. This first term was a rice and grain seller, but later in a famine year, and caught up with the war, the shop collapsed all of a sudden, so it was handed over to the second owner. The second owner of the family is a couple who are fishing, the husband is good at fishing, and he is also good at making fish, so the couple changed this rice grain shop into a fish village, usually selling both fish and fish-related meals, and the business is very good. When my parents were younger, they were also frequent visitors here. ”

"Yes, yes, business was good at that time." The old woman squinted her eyes and seemed to fall into deep thought: "That man is very good at fishing, and he is also very good at making fish, whether it is a big fish or a small fish, in his hands, it can always be turned into all kinds of delicious meals." I've never seen such dexterous hands and such dexterous minds. ”

"And then?" Li Siniang vaguely guessed something, she asked cautiously, but saw the old woman bow her head and be silent.

"Siniang, don't blame, my mother has always been like this these days." The young man gave up his hand, took the fish from Siniang's hand, and personally filled a bowl and put it in front of the old woman: "Mother, try it, if it is the taste you want to eat." ”

The old woman nodded, took a small bite, and tears flowed from her eyes.

"Mother, but who's hot?" The young man asked nervously.

The old woman shook her head and got up, "Xian'er, let's go back!" There is Lao Siniang, this fish is delicious, but no matter how delicious the fish is, it is not made by that person. ”

"Siniang understands in her heart!" Li Siniang said, accepted the silver taels handed over by the young man, and stood aside, making a way for the old woman and his son.

The bell watched from the side, and his cheeks bulged angrily: "What's going on with these two mothers and sons?" Came early in the morning and said he wanted to eat fish. My sister-in-law said that we are a wine shop here, and we only sell wine, not fish, but they just didn't leave, and they took out a lot of silver, saying that they would eat here anyway. The sister-in-law couldn't help it, and saw that the old woman was very pitiful, so she reluctantly responded and found Sister Ruyi. As a result, it took us half a day's work, and she took a small bite, got up and left, what's going on? ”

"If your guess is correct, this old woman is your sister-in-law's mouth, the predecessor of this wine shop, that is, the owner of the fish farm. She's not here to eat fish today, it's to eat memories of her youth. Although your Ruyi sister and I have good cooking skills, no matter how good your cooking skills are, you can't make the taste of your sweetheart. So, little bell, don't be angry! ”

"Ruyi is right!" Li Siniang said and also walked over: "When they came in the morning, I originally disagreed. Because looking at their clothes, they don't look like the kind of people who can't afford to eat fish, and there are places to eat in our Luoyang City. But the young man talked to me privately, and although he didn't say it very clearly, he also mentioned that this was his mother's old residence. Coupled with what the old man said just now, it is almost certain that she is the hostess in the fish village back then. ”

"Is that fish farm weird? Moving away is moving away, why do you have to come back to eat fish after all these years? "The bell is still young, and when he looks at the problem, he only looks at the surface, so he naturally doesn't understand, but Xing Ruyi and Li Siniang's eyes are staggered, and they already know each other.

Seeing that the bell was still looking at herself, Siniang shook her head with a smile and said, "Actually, I don't know the specifics. It's just that when I was a child, I often heard my father and mother sigh, saying that this good fish village is gone. The more they talked, the more I listened, and gradually I heard a vague, approximate outline. ”

"Sister-in-law, say it quickly!" When the bell saw that there was a story to hear, he diligently moved two stools. At this time, it was still early, and no one came to buy wine, so Li Siniang simply told the story she heard when she was a child.

Speaking of which, this was all 20 years ago, and it is said that the business of this fish farm was extremely hot at that time, on the one hand, because the shopkeeper and his wife were kind and cheap. As you know, all the people living in our neighborhood are poor, and they can't save any money all year round, so this delicious and cheap meal naturally makes people happy. Second, the fish in this fish village are so delicious that my father and mother have been thinking about it for many years. Of course, I haven't eaten it, and my father and mother also went a few years ago, otherwise they can let them taste it today, whether it is Ruyi you do well, or the couple who do well. ”

"What are I doing?" Xing Ruyi held his chin: "The so-called people take food as the sky, we usually eat, just to eat a full stomach, what about the rich and noble, it is to eat fresh and tasteful, as for those old people, it is to eat a memory." No matter how good I do, it's not the happy feeling I had back then, what can I compare? ”

"It's also said that when I was a child, I always thought about the persimmons on the persimmon tree in front of my house, and I always felt very sweet. But a few days ago, I went back and picked some of them, and they were sweet, but the taste always felt wrong, and it didn't seem to be as delicious as when I was a child. Li Siniang shook her head.

"Sister-in-law, let's talk about Yuzhuang!" The bell urged eagerly, and both eyes were full of gossip.

"I heard my father and mother say that when the fish farm was open for almost a year, two things happened. One is that the shopkeeper's wife is pregnant, which is a happy event, and the shopkeeper of the fish village also specially gave fish for a day. The second thing is that soon after the gift of fish, there was a fire in the fish village, and all the things were burned overnight, and the shopkeeper's wife, or the old woman we just saw, escaped because she went out to buy things, and the shopkeeper is unknown whether she is alive or dead. Some people say that before the fire, they saw the shopkeeper go out, and the people were not in the fish village, and some people said that the fish village shopkeeper was burned alive inside, and there are more rumors, saying that the fish village shopkeeper, carrying all the money, eloped with a woman. In short, there are different opinions, and it has been passed down as an unsolved case for many years. ”

"Unsolved?"

"It is an unsolved case, because it is said that the government did not find the body of the shopkeeper in the burned fish village at that time. But these are all heard, and no one remembers the specifics. Li Siniang said, and added: "There is a third thing, not long after the fire in Yuzhuang, the shopkeeper's wife remarried, but who she married and where she married is also a secret, and no one knows." ”

"An unsolved case, a secret, it seems that the fire in Yuzhuang twenty years ago really has something else!" Xing Ruyi sighed, and suddenly thought of the shadow who followed the old woman, could it be that he was the shopkeeper of the fish village back then, the ex-husband of the old woman?

(Education 123 Literature Network)