My name is Ning Ruoruo. My father is Ning Yunzhong and my mother is Wang Zhu.
When I was seven years old, both my father and mother passed away.
I don't quite remember how they died.
However, my father's health was not very good to begin with. He always coughed in the fall and winter, and it felt like his lungs were going to come out.
My mother is in good health.
I remember growing up in the water towns of Jiangnan.
Although I was young at that time and my memory is a bit blurry, white walls and black tiles, crisscrossing waterways, lotus flowers in full bloom, catkins flying all over the city, and plum rains during the yellow plum season often appear in my dreams.
At that time, my father worked at a university, as did my mother.
I have never met my grandparents, maternal grandparents, or any other relatives since I was a child.
Because both my parents needed to work and I was still young, they hired an elderly woman to take care of me.
I can't remember how old Grandma was anymore.
All I remember is that her hair was completely white, and she usually wore it in a neat little bun at the back of her head, with the stray hairs on both sides pinned up with black hair clips.
The old lady always wore a navy blue coarse cloth shirt and leggings. This outfit was always neat and pressed, without a single wrinkle.
Her feet were half-liberated feet; they had been bound before, but were unbound after liberation, so they were neither big nor small.
Grandma comes to my house every morning and knows her way around the kitchen making breakfast.
After my parents finished eating and went to work, I was taken care of by my grandmother.
The old woman first put me in the small bamboo cart, while she quickly cleaned the kitchen and bedroom.
After she finished doing all that, Grandma would wash her face and hands again, brush the dust off her clothes, and then come over to hug me.
The old lady had a very refreshing soapy scent on her.
Her embrace was warm, like the sun rising after the rainy season, warm and dry.
Grandma liked to dress me up in pretty clothes and braid my hair into cute little braids.
She also liked to put red dots on my forehead and then carry me outside for a walk.
The old lady likes to go to crowded places, where everyone in the neighborhood knows her.
Many grandmothers and aunties would wash clothes and vegetables by the river, and the old lady would hold her and sit under the shade of the osmanthus tree, chatting with these grandmothers and aunties who were working.
Grandma loves it when they praise me.
They complimented me on how nice and stylish my clothes were.
They praised my fair skin and delicate features, saying I looked like a fairy from heaven.
When these things were mentioned, the old lady smiled so broadly that her eyes disappeared.
At that time, the river water seemed to be crystal clear, with many small fish swimming around in it.
There are many snails at the bottom of the river, and they are all very fat.
My father really enjoys eating snails with his drinks.
Grandma always says that snails in March are as plump as geese.
Every March, she would take a few cents to buy snails.
Grandma could always buy a lot, wrap them in lotus leaves, and put them in an iron basin, making a clanging sound.
When the old lady was making snails, she would give me a small stool so I could sit next to her and watch her work.
Sometimes I'm naughty and like to catch snails in the iron basin.
Grandma was afraid I would get my clothes wet, so she gave me a water chestnut to gnaw on and play with.
Perhaps because my hands were small when I was little, the water chestnuts that my grandma gave me seemed exceptionally large.
The entire skin of a water chestnut is dark purple, resembling a small wheel.
The old woman peeled off the outer skin, revealing the white flesh inside. One bite, and the juice was sweet.
After coaxing me, the old lady started cleaning the snails.
As she deftly scooped the snails from the iron basin and removed their tails with pliers, she chattered on and on about how fresh, delicious, and tender the snail meat from the stream was.
After I finished cleaning the snails, my parents came home from get off work.
The old woman handed me over to my mother and went to the kitchen to cook.
Heat oil and salt in a pan, add perilla leaves and minced garlic, and stir-fry the snails in the hot pan.
Before long, a plate of snails with an enticing aroma was served on the dining table.
My father's favorite food is river snails; he eats one and then drinks a sip of baijiu (Chinese liquor).
My mother also loved to eat them. She taught me to blow air onto the snail's tail first, and then suck hard on the snail's mouth, and the snail meat would pop out on its own.
When eating snails, you shouldn't eat the green part at the back; the old lady said that's the snail's poop.
Besides eating snails, my father and mother also liked to take me boating.
We don't ride on those big tourist boats; we ride in small fishing boats.
The food served was made from fresh fish and shrimp that the fishermen had just caught. They were fried in oil and then immediately taken out, resulting in a crispy and crunchy texture.
My father also loved to pick small lotus leaf rolls, which were just sprouted lotus leaves that hadn't yet unfolded.
The small lotus leaf rolls are tender and slightly bitter, but mostly fragrant.
Small lotus leaf rolls are best for making soup.
Make soup with an old hen, making sure there's no oil. Then cut small lotus leaf rolls into small pieces and put them in. Next, beat the eggs and pour them in. Once the water boils, cook the eggs into egg drop soup. Remove from heat immediately, and it's ready.
My father liked to go boating on the lake when the lotus flowers were in full bloom. At that time, he would hold me and recite Li Qingzhao's "Like a Dream".
I often recall the sunset at the stream pavilion, so intoxicated I forgot the way home. When the fun was over, I returned by boat late, mistakenly entering a deep lotus pond. Struggling to cross, struggling to cross, I startled a flock of gulls and egrets.
Later, when Xiangdong and I went to Wuxi for a short stay, I told him about these things, and Xiangdong's eyes widened in surprise.
"Weren't you only two or three years old at that time? How can you remember it so clearly?"
After asking the question, he didn't wait for my answer and continued to answer himself, "But that's also possible, after all, you're so smart!"
Xiang Dong is a strange person.
He was only fourteen years old when we first met.
He was clearly still a teenager, but he always had a furrowed brow and looked much older than his age. It always seemed like he was carrying a heavy burden on his back.
As he grew older, he became more lively.
I often tease him, saying he's becoming more and more like a child.
He always laughs when I say that.
Only once, he squinted his beautiful eyes, grinned, and said to me, "Isn't this good?"
Isn't this good?
No!
That would be great!
Only when life is comfortable can a person grow younger and younger, right?
I am two years younger than Xiang Dong, and at first I treated him like an older brother.
Later, we started treating him like a child.
Children always have a childlike side.
Sure enough, after I told him about the snails that rivaled fat geese, the big purple water chestnuts, the large lotus pods, and the small lotus leaves, he insisted on eating them too.
After Xiangdong finished preparing everything, the two of us sat in the yard and ate slowly.
The moon in the sky looked like a crescent moon, surrounded by twinkling stars.
Actually, it's very rare to see the Milky Way at this time of year.
But that night, I saw the Milky Way.
The stars are dazzling and radiant.
That night, I dreamed of my father, mother, and grandmother again.
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