"The sun is on the head, Shaoyang is in the eyes, Yiyang is on the feet, Hanyang is in the body, the Yangtze River is in the tail swing and the waves are huge, and the paddle pile is swam in all directions." The folk song is not wrong at all, along the way, I met people full of Hunan accent, they are generally shorts and gowns, with dry tobacco pouches pinned to their waists, hanging cigarette purses, and some are shirtless, with white cloth wrapped around their heads, and oil and sweat rolling on their arms and backs.

There are iron shelves on the side of the road, and some wood chips and shavings underneath, and there are many plate factories owned by Baoqing people near this wharf, and these scraps can be seen everywhere. On the iron shelf is a layer of barbed wire, on which are baked some steamed bread-sized meatballs, this meatballs look black, squeaky and oily, the oil drips on the charcoal below, a few wisps of red and yellow flames rise up on the ground, with the paste fragrance of cured meat, so that passers-by can't help but move their index fingers, saliva flowing. It turns out that this is the famous Hunan snack pig blood balls, also known as blood baba tofu, which is a specialty of the Baoqing (now Shaoyang, Hunan) generation. The main raw material of this kind of meatball is tofu, first use gauze to drain the water in the tofu, crush the tofu, and then cut the fresh pork into diced meat or strips, mix with an appropriate amount of pig blood, salt, chili powder, five-spice powder and a little sesame oil, sesame oil, monosodium glutamate, sesame seeds and other condiments, stir well, make a steamed bun size oval shape of the ball, put it in the sun for a few days, and then hang it on the wood stove or iron frame with fireworks to smoke slowly, it is said that the smoke is very particular about the heat, the longer the smoke, the stronger the fragrance of the wax. There are also people with big iron pots next to the iron shelf, they are cooking the balls that were baked a few days ago, and they are fished out and sliced after boiling for about ten minutes, and they are packed in a large porcelain bowl, sprinkled with small chives, coriander, sesame seeds, and poured with chili oil, pepper oil, sesame oil, fragrant and hot, and the fragrance of wax is tangy.

Zhao Nan was dressed in a short pants jacket, showing strong arms, in order to be more like running to the dock to find food, he also smeared some black oil on his body, and the whole person looked dark and strong, dusty. He couldn't help but be attracted by this pig blood pill when he walked on the street, stepped forward and pretended to be an old acquaintance in a foreign country, and said with tears in his eyes: "Oh my God, I actually saw the balls made by my mother here, this eldest sister, come and serve me a bowl." ”

The woman who sold pig blood balls saw a black handsome descendant standing up, looked at him a few more times, and was already surprised to see that he was full of tears, and now she suddenly understood when she heard him say this. His hands and feet were diligent and neat, and in a few clicks, he sliced and put the pig blood balls into a bowl and handed them to Zhao Nan. Seeing that the young man was eating heartily, the woman asked tentatively: "This little brother, your mother is also from our Baoqing?" ”

"Well, I was born in the Songjiang area, my mother is from Hunan, my mother left early, the family was poor at that time, and I didn't even leave a photo, alas, I didn't expect to see the balls I ate when I was a child here, at that time my mother always made it for me, the poor family can eat meat a few times, my mother saved it for me, and lied to me that she didn't like to eat this, such a delicious thing, how can anyone not like to eat it." As he spoke, Zhao Nan began to bow his head again, his shoulders trembling as if he was crying.

The woman listened to the sadness in her heart, she was also a mother, her husband was working on the dock, she couldn't stay idle at home, and took her sister-in-law to set up a stall on the side of the road to sell hometown snacks.

Seeing Zhaonan's crying, he said: "Little brother, don't cry, I don't feel good when you cry eldest sister, I am also a mother, my little Maomao also loves to eat this, come, eldest sister will give you one more, this is for you, you eat slowly." ”

Zhao Nan wiped the non-existent tears with the back of his hand, thanked him repeatedly, handed over the bowl that had been eaten, and suddenly stretched out a hand from mid-air, and snatched the bowl away: "Yo, I just went home, and I have a little white face who eats white food." ”

Zhao Nan subconsciously touched his face, and said in his heart, could it be that I don't paint enough black oil paint, why am I still called a little white face?

The one who called him a little white face was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, with two braids tied with red hair ropes, a clean blue flower gown, blue cloth clothes, and an apron, which looked like it had been changed from torn trousers, and a few patches on it.

"Sister Han, what are you talking about, this little brother's mother is also our Baoqing person, his mother left early, looking at our blood cake and thinking of his mother."

The so-called Han Mei's mouth pouted: "People say that you will believe it, maybe they want to trick us into eating." ”

"He didn't say another one, I insisted on giving it."

"This sister, thank you, I'm so full that I don't need to eat anymore." Zhao Nan politely bowed to the woman who sold the pig's blood balls, and the woman was so frightened that she hurriedly jumped away, shouting that she couldn't help it. Zhao Nan laboriously dug into his pocket for a long time, during which the cold girl kept staring at him. Zhao Nan took out a small cloth bag, and when he opened it, there was a dry and hard nest inside, and next to it were two copper plates.

He took one out and handed it to the woman, who waved her hand again and again: "This one only costs three cents, I can't find it." ”

"The eldest sister is a kind-hearted person, so don't look for it." Zhao Nan put the copper plate in the woman's hand and left, and just after walking a few steps, he heard the cold girl shouting: "Hey, little black face, you stop." ”

Zhao Nan was speechless to the sky, why did I change from a little white face to a little black face in a blink of an eye. He turned around and asked, "Sister, what are you going to say?" ”

The cold sister raised her eyebrows: "Who is your eldest sister, and I am not afraid of the wind flashing my tongue and inverting my front teeth." ”

"So, big sister?"

Seeing Zhao Nan's helpless face, Han Mei burst out laughing: "I said that you only have one copper plate left." ”

Zhao Nan deliberately pretended to be wealthy: "That...... Naturally not, Lao Tzu has a lot of money. ”

"Rich? Show me, I don't know much, and I haven't seen what the big head (silver dollar) looks like. This girl was very clever, and Zhao Nan sighed helplessly: "What if I only have a copper plate left, anyway, the money for this ball is also given, so don't hold on to me." ”

"I said little black face, are you here to find a job?"

Zhao Nan nodded.

"Didn't find a job? You're stupid. ”

The girl snorted disdainfully.

Zhao Nan said angrily: "You say I'm stupid? What I have is strength, look at this board! He patted his chest and made a snapping sound.

"It's strange that you guys are here, don't look for outsiders, as long as Baoqing is local, I said that my mother is Baoqing, but I don't know Baoqing, and people don't believe me, alas, no one wants to work hard, eat a ball and be scolded by you, I am really aggrieved by this life."

"Okay, I'm wrong to blame you, I don't think you're a bad person, you can still take one of the two copper plates and put your anger on me."

Zhao Nan shouted: "It's not that I'm angry, I'm looking at the balls made by this eldest sister and thinking of my mother." ”

"Okay, even if you want to get married, sister-in-law, I don't think this person is bad, he looks quite powerful, why don't you ask my brother to take him to the dock to work?"

Han Mei turned her eyes to look at her sister-in-law.

"That's a good thing, little brother, my cold sister is a knife mouth tofu heart, you just wait here, and when my head of the family comes back in the afternoon and asks him to take you to the dock to find a job, you can't find a job if you don't know anyone in this area."

"That's right, if you don't say you're stupid, I'm lucky to meet us, my brother is the right-hand man of the Yellow Scorpion, and it's right to follow my brother." Han Mei said on the side.

Zhao Nan was grateful for his words and took the initiative to run to fill the fire under the iron frame.

Han Mei saw that he was doing well, and said with a smile: "Yo, I can't see it, you are quite good at it." ”

"That's right, I'll bake the meatballs when my mother is here."

"How old were you then?"

"Eight."

Han Mei lowered her eyes when she heard this: "Alas, I really wronged you just now, I'm sorry." ”

But she immediately became cheerful: "Hey, I don't know what your name is, you all know that my name is Hanmei, it's not fair." ”

In the teahouse not far away, a drama is singing.

"The Han family lives outside the Qingbo Gate,

West of the small bridge by the temple of King Qian.

What do you mind about small things,

How to work hard to visit the cold? ”

A woman poked her head out of the window on the second floor to take a look, and then brushed her sideburns with her hand, with a faint smile on the corner of her mouth, in the afternoon sun, her skin was almost transparent like snow, and the nails were bright and dripping, it was Ye Quan, she looked at Xu Xian and the white lady on the stage, smiled lightly, and said to herself: "It's a good broken bridge." ”