The past of the ancient city-"selling chicken cream" knocking on candy bars

Everyone has eaten maltose, but in the past, people used to walk around the streets calling for the sound of a small gong selling malt extract, but it had a fixed tone. I think this may not be known to many people. A palm-sized small gong, the sugar peddler's arm hangs leisurely on the end of the shoulder pole, the small gong controls his hand, his fingers move slightly, and the small mallet connected with the rope of the small gong rings intermittently along the way. Listen carefully, isn't the sound made by this small gong exactly the same as the tone and rhythm of "wheat-bud-paste-"in the Minnan accent of our island?

In the early morning of early autumn week, I was awakened by the crisp and pleasant sound of "clang-clang-clang", and the melodious selling sound of "malt extract" came from far and near. This reminds me of the sweet taste of malt when I was a child. Maltose in childhood should be regarded as one of the many "crazy children playing" I like in my collection of "The Past of the Ancient City".

when I was young, knocking on candy bars and malt extract should be two favorite things for children in our time. The sugar vendor walking down the street, with a pole on his shoulder, provoked two baskets of children's "sweet dreams". The front basket of the burden is covered with a basket, and a short flat iron drum is placed at the top to cover a small piece of "mosquito net cloth", which is filled with pulled golden yellow and translucent maltose, and there are small bamboo sticks needed to pick maltose around the basket. Small bamboo chips are oiled, which can separate and lubricate with sugar paste, so that small bamboo sticks and fingers will not be stuck by maltose. Whenever someone comes to buy, the peddler will unload his load at any time, with his legs staggered or crouched, gently uncover the cover of the iron drum, use both hands, skillfully wrap a handful of maltose out of the drum with bamboo chips, quickly wrap it around the top of the bamboo branches, and then use the wide-bladed scissors to make a decisive hinge, even if a deal is reached.

It is similar to selling malt extract. An iron block like a planer blade clangs with a small hammer. The burden of selling candy also wobbles around the streets, earning children's pocket money. You can buy it for 35 cents, or you can exchange it with a waste toothpaste skin, chicken feathers, pig bones and waste plastics. "Ding", knock a small piece of irregular "sugar knock" with thick middle and thin tips on both sides and put it in your hand. This light yellow small broken sugar crunches in your mouth, and then chew it, which is sweet and sticky. Behind the sugar burden, I usually follow a few greedy children, drooling and staring at the sugar cone, not afraid that my eyes will be stuck by sugar, but when I was young, didn't everyone hold back a craving? "A turtle laughs at a turtle without a tail, and a turtle laughs at a turtle with rough skin", so no one has time to laugh at anyone.

children generally don't pay attention to carrying another basket, which has nothing to do with their needs. Because the basket is filled with mountain groceries that are only needed for home life, such as edible herbs such as "Shengen rattan and Guanyin skewers", daily necessities such as needles, thread and brains, and ingredients and condiments such as sesame oil squeezed by farmers themselves.

Speaking of knocking on sugar maltose, I think there should be such a beautiful memory picture in the minds of many middle-aged and elderly people: when I was young, I often heard the clang, clang and clang, followed by the shouts of "chicken feathers and bones ... chicken gizzards, alas ... scrap copper and iron ...", at this time, children would rummage through boxes at home. Or spend a penny or two to get a twig of maltose, and lick it contentedly. The sweet smell permeates the root of the tongue, and the feeling that the taste buds wake up immediately is memorable ... < P > After many years, the "caring for each other" related to sugar will always ripple in the ripples of my memories, which will be unforgettable for a long time.

maybe it's hard for the younger generation to understand, or they may think it's a joke. However, in that era of economic difficulties and lack of materials, when it was still a problem for ordinary families to have enough to eat, adults were actually reluctant to give their children a penny or two. First, they comforted and threatened with "little Han Dong's eating sugar will lead to tooth decay", and then they crowned malt cream with a very evil title-"chicken cream". The original meaning of rural accent is chicken excrement, to put it bluntly. However, for greedy children, they are still willing to accept this snack with a disgusting name regardless. In that era of material shortage, although "sugar knocking chicken cream" is not candy, it is definitely a unique substitute for candy, so "sticking to it will make you happy" and become a good memory to accompany children in their childhood.

In the early impression, the sugar peddlers especially liked to peddle around the school. The small gong in the palm of your hand has different intervals. When you tap it gently, the sound of "Ding-Ding-Dang" is crisp and melodious, and the shouts in your mouth are intermittent, which gradually leads to the greedy insects in your mouth and hooks your soul.

As soon as the bell rings, the students are like "birds out of their nests", following the tinkling sound of a small gong to find a sugar vendor who has been waiting for business there for a long time, knocking a piece of maltose or sugar with a bamboo stick in his hand, holding it in his hand like a baby, sucking and eating sweet and soft. Because I don't want to stutter, I slowly lick the edge of the candy, feel the sweetness of maltose carefully, sip it in my mouth and let it melt slowly. When you eat maltose, don't chew it with your back teeth, otherwise, it will be too sweet for you to pour out your big teeth, and at the same time, it will be too late to savor it. It will be "wasteful" and regretful to finish this "delicious snack" so soon.

Of course, don't underestimate the significance of recycling "chicken feathers and bones" and other wastes. In those days, every household was thrifty. Similarly, don't ignore such small things as toothpaste skin. At that time, toothpaste skin was different from the current alloy aluminum or plastic materials, but made of pure metal lead, which was dissolved into lead liquid after centralized recycling, and it could be made into the sinker of island fishing tools, which was valuable for multi-purpose reuse.

According to the current business theory, freight forwarders exchange sugar and knock on candy bars through "chicken feathers and bones", exchange at the same value, take what they need, provide on-site service and achieve a win-win situation ... which is full of marketing skills and business practices. Whenever a child calls for "selling chicken cream ~" and "knocking sugar ~" ... you need to buy sugar for sugar, even if you have a rest, sit on the pony tie you carry with you and tell a story to the children around you leisurely, encouraging the children who don't have pocket money to go home as soon as possible to find old things to exchange for candy. I remember when I was a child, a neighbor's child was greedy and deliberately squeezed out the glistening paste in his toothpaste, and took the toothpaste skin to exchange sugar and knock sugar. The consequences can be imagined, of course, there is no escape, so that the adults at home "invited a sumptuous bamboo fish feast" (beat up).

After growing up, I gradually realized that maltose, also known as maltose, is one of the famous Minnan cuisines, and it is generally called "Maizai Cream" in most areas where Minnan dialect is spoken. It can be used as a raw material for food processing, and it is also an important Chinese herbal medicine (now it is mostly sold in pharmacies). We eat maltose in spring and autumn, which can not only moisten the lungs, relieve cough and eliminate dryness, but also have medicinal effects such as strengthening the spleen and nourishing the stomach, resisting bacteria, expelling toxin and nourishing. Although maltose is not as sweet as sucrose, it is golden and smooth in color, sticky, soft, smooth, sweet and helpful to digestion, and it is deeply loved by people. Therefore, the older generation, when they meet vendors selling sugar on weekdays, are also willing to buy some for storage at home and serve as snacks for children from time to time.

nowadays, there are many kinds of exquisite and delicious snacks, such as leisure travel food and ancient morning gift, which are all branded as traditional handmade snacks. Although the colorful and exquisite packaging is very attractive, the media exposes or warns consumers from time to time that certain food additives, preservatives, edible pigments and so on are seriously exceeding the standard.

Every once in a while, from the corner of the street, there comes the sound of a small gong or a planer blade knocking and the long-lost and familiar cries of selling, which always reminds me of the vivid scenes of selling candy bars and malt extract candy vendors when I was a child. Although people nowadays downplay it so much, I think it's mostly because we can't taste the thick and mellow homesickness anymore, and the sweet and bitter taste of wheat fragrance in childhood ...

Du Fu's poem says: Life is geometric in spring and summer, and we don't put fragrant mash as sweet as honey. In my memory, the peddler wandered in the streets and alleys of the ancient city with a basket on his shoulder, and the small gong sounded, shouting "malt extract ~ malt extract ~" all the way. Their figures gradually approached and drifted away.

Although it is simple, it still brings great satisfaction to our childhood that we can't go back. The Book of Songs Daya Mian: "Violet tea is like a pulp". This may be the narrative of "sweet sugar" and "chicken feathers for sugar" ...

? Draft of 218/1/8