Time | Li Zheng: Sesame cake

Text/Li Zheng

My aunt brought me two boxes of sesame cakes from Renshou. When I was very young, I knew that Renshou had a specialty called sesame cake. In that era of scarcity, Grandma occasionally brought back a box of sesame cakes from her aunt's house, which was a very rare high-end enjoyment for us. Over the years, more and more specialties have become more and more high-end, and the sesame cake produced by a township enterprise in Renshou still retains the former rural atmosphere, simple and real.

But I knew that for my aunt, this ordinary sesame cake was a very heavy gift within her ability.

My aunt is my father's sister, 74 years old this year, living with my cousin in Renshou County, although not rich, but still harmonious and stable. Looking back on the hard life she has walked, having such a situation in her later years is considered to be fate.

Grandpa died very early, when my father was 19 years old and my aunt was 13 years old. Since then, Grandma has been widowed all her life, taking her father and aunt to live a hard life. My aunt later married into the Cao family commune in Renshou County, not far from home, my uncle was a good person with a low culture and not much to say, but he learned to pull erhu without a teacher, joined the propaganda team of the brigade, often ran outside, and had asthma, so a lot of heavy work in the family was pressed on the aunt.

Because it was not far apart, I used to go to my aunt's house when I was a child, and I often saw her picking manure to fertilize the corn, weeding and pinching the cotton at noon in the summer, or harvesting rice in the rice field. My aunt was very small, and it was very difficult to do farm work, and seeing her carrying such a heavy burden, it felt like she was going to be crushed at any moment.

Despite the effort, the conditions at my aunt's house seemed to have been bad. My aunt's original house, because of the Heilongtan irrigation project, was moved once, and the commune helped to repair 3 adobe houses. Later, two more rooms were expanded, relying on my uncle to ram the soil, and my aunt dug the soil to upload. In my impression, my aunt's house was a hut, and when it rained, it often leaked, and it was also dark inside. Cooking at home, often smoking, sometimes there is not enough firewood, while cooking while looking for firewood.

My aunt made a lot of efforts to improve her life. Not long ago, I heard my aunt say that my uncle borrowed 20 yuan from the commune in 1971, bought several piglets, and one of the little sows was not castrated, so she raised them as sows, and sold them under the piglets, and the life slowly improved. I said, "Your so-called good life is not much better, and I still have the impression that I am still very bitter and poor." The aunt was silent for a long time, and after a while said, "It's still a little better." ”

My aunt had grown grapes for a few years, when I was in high school. When the grapes were ripe, when they met the market day, the aunt carried dozens of pounds of grapes, braved the scorching sun, and went to a place more than 10 kilometers away to sell. Once, she sold grapes home, encountered heavy rain, did not bring an umbrella, and was drenched inside and out. Walking to the river, encountering rising water, I couldn't go back, so I had to go to an acquaintance to borrow clothes to change. However, occasionally it can sell for more than 40 yuan a day, and my aunt still feels very happy and happy when she recalls it, and feels that life is getting better.

I like to go to my aunt's house, and because my aunt and uncle are very upset with me, my cousins and cousins can play together. When I got to my aunt's house, I followed my aunt to work, to catch a market, to be a small follower, or to watch my uncle weave furniture with bamboo grates, and to listen to my uncle pull erhu. Not much to say, just like at home. My aunt didn't talk much, she was soft-spoken, very kind, took care of me to eat, washed my clothes, and family affection flowed naturally in these bits and pieces.

When I was in junior high school, I once went to my aunt's house, and my aunt rushed to the market to buy me a little watermelon, but I was reluctant to eat it, and there was no refrigerator, so I put it like that. When I went, the watermelons were broken, and my aunt kept telling me to eat them. I couldn't eat it after one bite, and I was afraid that my aunt would be sad, so I lied to my aunt and said that I would eat later. When my aunt walked away, I quietly threw it away. After all these years, I have never forgotten this thing, and it is warm every time I think about it.

When I was in high school, I came home from summer vacation, and my aunt happened to pick grapes to sell in our commune. Lots of dew in the countryside in the morning. The aunt picked up dozens of pounds of grapes and walked to the small river in front of the house, her face full of sweat, and her pants were wet with dew again. My aunt put down her burden, picked up a few bunches of grapes, put them on my bedside, looked at me, and went out to continue selling grapes.

Later, the uncle died, the cousin slowly gained a foothold in Renshou, and the cousin also bought a house in Renshou. My aunt moved from the country to the city and lived with my cousin to help with the children. The days are not as busy and hard as before, and life is getting better, but my aunt said that she still often dreams of the previous days. It was very hard, even desperate, I didn't know how I got through it, but I never gave up.

Recently, I took my father and aunt to Xi'an, Yan'an, and also to Nanniwan, and my aunt was very happy. When I was in Yan'an, I talked a lot about the past with my father and aunt, and I said to my aunt: "Your life is very ordinary and wonderful. Because I have struggled, struggled, struggled, and worked hard, I have no regrets and I have more taste when I remember. ”

After I sent my father and aunt home, I wanted to go back to Chengdu. Before leaving, my aunt gave me two boxes of sesame cakes brought from Renshou. Sesame cake is very ordinary, but it makes me think a lot, thinking of my aunt's previous home in the Cao Family Commune, remembering the happy hours I left there, and remembering the care and care that my aunt cared for me.

【About the Author】

Li Zheng, a well-research person in Sichuan, is now engaged in management work at a technology company in Chengdu. Growing up in the countryside, after being admitted to college, he slowly left the countryside and ran around the city, but his heart was still haunted by dreams of his homeland.

【"Time" Literature Column Call for Papers】

Tell true stories, your own, others'. The word count is controlled within 1500 words, and the original debut is first published. Drafts are available for sichuan province. Do not use attachments, the title must be marked "Time". Some of his works will be selected by the supplement of the West China Metropolis Daily "Wide and Narrow Alley". The author's information includes the bank card account name, detailed and accurate information of the bank and outlets, card number, ID card number, and telephone number. Submission Mailbox: [email protected].

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