Text/Li Xiaoyin Photography/Li Peili
Yining, Xinjiang, is a city with four distinct seasons and abundant rainfall, as well as a city with many immigrants, with different ethnic groups such as Uighurs, Kazakhs, Han, Hui, Mongolians, and Xibe. Since the 1960s, young people from all over the country have settled here, Henan, Hebei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang... I am one of the youngest children of the zhibian youth.
Growing up in this city, I walked through the streets of the flat and uneventful streets and through the alleys of the ups and downs. In these streets and alleys, there are ordinary people like me. Every day we guarded the poplar trees on both sides of the alley, guarded the birds flying in the sky, and lived our lives slowly. In the winter, cold winds and heavy snow became a reason not to go out, and life became slower. Like everyone else, I enjoyed my ordinary days, coming from home to the unit in the early morning and returning home from the unit in the evening, and the distance between the two would not exceed 500 meters. However, such a two-point and one-line day has never made me feel monotonous, in winter, blue skies, trees, snow, crows, and leaves withered in the cold wind, everywhere is an endless scenery, including the Kazakh Naren restaurant between home and work.
This Kazakh Naren restaurant, known as "Talihati", is small in size, and can even be said to be unassuming. But it has been around ever since I started working at work. In addition to making Naren, it also sells food full of pastoral flavors such as horse intestines and horse's belly, and because the food is clean and delicious, the goods are genuine, the business has been very good, and it has become a very famous restaurant in the center of Yining City. Perhaps too aware of its own value, it didn't have the same extravagant decoration as other restaurants, nor did it present a gorgeous menu to its guests. It has existed in the corner of the alley for twenty years, and there is an almost proud self-confidence hidden in that calm, where does this confidence come from? I think, of course, is the authentic pastoral food flavor of this Naren shop for many years, which makes it different and sparkling, and every diner who has come here, after years of not seeing, can still deeply remember the most simple and original happiness that the food itself brings us.
I remember that winter, after a heavy snowfall, the cold almost suffocated everyone. My life was hit by an unprecedented snowstorm, and while waiting for the wounds to heal, on the way to work, my feet naturally introduced the scarred heart to the small shop many times. For some reason, whenever I stepped on the cement floor of this Naren shop, my whole body suddenly became calm and appropriate. Everything here was so warm, the dim lights, the burning stove in the middle of the store, the milk teapot that was grunting with heat and aroma on it, and the rich and serene Kazakh lady sitting on the windowsill, she smiled slightly at me who walked in against the snow and wind, with a tan turban wrapped around her head, and the silver light of dentures in her open lips. Everything is the same as it was, everything is the same as in the past. Heavy cold, light snow, pedestrians on the road, tea bowls, napkins, toothpick boxes, at the simple little dining table, just, I began to get old.
Yes, I'm starting to get old. My appetite is not as exuberant as it was twenty years ago, my taste buds are not as sensitive as it was twenty years ago, and my heart is not as passionate as it was twenty years ago. However, when the fragrant Na Ren came up, everything went back to twenty years ago, and I was still the sensitive and vulnerable girl, always gambling, always fantasizing, always dazed, always expecting, always regretting, always insisting. My heart was still pounding, my eyes were still shining, and I couldn't wait to pick up the chopsticks and reach for the fattest piece of horse meat on the plate. The horse meat on the plate is crisp and fragrant, the hand-rolled noodles are smooth and long, the dough is at the bottom of the plate, the pieces of meat are placed on it, and there are spicy noodles, onions and other condiments in the middle, everything is so fragrant, everything is so beautiful, and it is so delicious to eat, and the aftertaste is endless. How joyful I was in an instant! This alone in this warm restaurant, enjoying delicious food, enjoying the warm fire of the room, I look so happy, happy, this happiness also makes me have an illusion, as if this tolerant, peaceful, strong face of the challenge of fate of the state of mind, is brought by Naren's food. Is this true? Is this true? I think, in fact, no, this should be the state of mind that every middle-aged person who has experienced ups and downs and has a deep taste of life will have. However, on this cold winter day, the Creator showed me the state of a mature life with the help of a plate of Naren, that is, clean, rich, delicate, strong, calm, with a space for people to imagine and explore.
Therefore, although there are still many unsatisfactory things in life, many do not understand, and many cannot see clearly, in this winter, under the infection of my hometown Naren, I began to have the courage to fight against the cold.
Source: Xinjiang Corps 4th Division Kokdalarong Media Center
Edit: Dang Yanli
Review: Cui Kai She Guanghui