Chapter 98 Laba and Tonic

December 1957, 1.

The sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, Sunday.

In the morning, after breakfast, Ran Xiaomei cleaned up the dishes and assigned tasks.

She said to Wang Mengde, "Mengde, go to the market later and buy two kilograms of garlic. Buy the purple-skinned ones, not the others. Also buy two kilograms of rice vinegar."

"Mom, I'll go later and buy two kilograms of purple garlic and two kilograms of rice vinegar." Wang Mengde agreed.

He knew that his mother was going to pickle Laba garlic.

As for why you should choose purple garlic, it is because the cloves of this kind of garlic are small and can be soaked thoroughly. The cloves are hard and firm. The soaked garlic is crispy and fragrant, and the color is emerald green.

If you use the ordinary white-skinned garlic, it will not be crispy after soaking and its color will be purple.

You should also use rice vinegar. Rice vinegar is light in color, and the soaked Laba garlic will be orange-yellow and emerald green in color. It has a good taste, moderate sourness and spiciness, and is not only fragrant but also slightly sweet.

Garlic soaked in other vinegars not only turns black, but also tastes bad and has a strange smell.

"Yeah." Seeing that her son remembered her words, Ran Xiaomei was in a good mood. She said to Wang Hao:

"Old Wang, when the sun comes out, take the two small jars in the corner of your house to the sink, wash them, and then put them upside down. Remember to put them away after they are dry."

"I understand." Wang Hao also agreed.

"Mom, what should I do?" He Shengnan asked after she finished feeding her two sons and walked out of the bedroom.

"Shengnan, sit down and take a rest. You have to get up every night to feed the baby and change diapers, and then get up early to go to work. It's already very hard." Ran Xiaomei said kindly to her daughter-in-law.

It’s strange to say, their relationship doesn’t seem like that of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, but more like that of mother and daughter.

There is no conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

"Mom, I'm not tired. How about I help you pack the dried fruits and rice beans?" He Shengnan said with a smile.

Then she sat on the bench, picked up the small dustpan on the table, put it on her legs, and began to pick carefully.

Wang Mengde bought these dried fruits and rice beans at a grocery store two days ago, and saved them for cooking Laba porridge the day after tomorrow morning.

Wang Mengde went out carrying the jar of vinegar. He did not ride a bike because of the heavy snow a few days ago, and the road was covered with icy spots.

He first arrived at the vegetable market and saw a long queue forming where garlic was sold. Most people came to buy purple garlic.

Finally it was his turn. He hurriedly bought two kilograms of purple garlic, then turned and walked towards the grocery store next door.

Once we entered the store, there was also a line at the vinegar section.

In the queue, Wang Mengde looked towards the place where meat was sold and saw Fatty Guo cutting meat for people slowly and calmly, and he seemed to be indifferent to any questions asked to him.

It’s completely different from the attitude towards my previous business.

After buying the vinegar, Wang Mengde came to the place where meat was sold and greeted Fatty Guo when no one was around.

"Hey, Meng De, you come to buy vinegar. Do you want pork? I'll cut you a piece of fat." Fatty Guo said happily.

"Okay, cut me half a pound." Wang Mengde thought for a while and said as he saw him take out a large piece of pork belly.

"Okay, one pound is 72 cents, and half a pound is 36 cents." Fatty Guo cut a line along the fattest part, weighed it casually, and then muttered to himself.

After paying the money, Wang Mengde asked curiously, "The price of pork has dropped. One pound is two cents cheaper than before."

When He Shengnan was in confinement after giving birth, he often went to the grocery store. In addition to pig's trotters, pig's kidneys, and pig's livers, he also bought a lot of pork belly.

Naturally, I have a better understanding of the prices.

"Yes, the price has dropped by two cents per pound. It's almost the New Year, and most of the pigs in the countryside have been slaughtered. The quantity of pork is large, so the price will drop a little." Fatty Guo explained.

Every year when the twelfth lunar month comes, the pigs that have been raised for a whole year in the countryside are taken to the supply and marketing cooperatives or food stations in town to be sold.

"Okay, I won't delay your work anymore. I'll go back first." Seeing someone coming, Wang Mengde said hurriedly.

"Meng De, don't leave in such a hurry." Seeing him turn around and leave, Fatty Guo hurriedly stopped him and said quickly: "My father has been having some health problems recently. If you are free this afternoon, come to my house."

"Uncle Guo, are you feeling unwell? Why didn't you go to the hospital? I'm free this afternoon. What time do you expect to get off work?"

After hearing his words, Wang Mengde stopped and asked with concern.

Uncle Guo’s name is Guo Rongqiu. He used to visit the Guo family often and often ate their pork.

Glancing at the person next to him, Fatty Guo said vaguely, "It's no big deal. You'll know when you go there in the afternoon. I'll hand over my shift at four in the afternoon."

"Okay, I'll be there around 4:30."

Go home.

Wang Mengde peeled the skin of two kilograms of purple garlic, washed it in water, and then spread it on the sorghum pavilion to dry.

Near noon, the garlic cloves were dried.

He took the jar that Wang Hao had cleaned and said to Ran Xiaomei, "Mom, the garlic cloves and the jar are dry. I'll put the garlic cloves in the bottle and pour the vinegar in."

In the bedroom, Ran Xiaomei was carefully changing Wang Yuanxun's diaper. Beside her, Wang Yuandi looked at her with wide eyes. "Meng De, don't move yet. Laba garlic can only be soaked on the Laba day."

"Oh?" Wang Mengde put down the jar in his hand and said with a puzzled look.

Wang Hao, who was playing with his two young sons nearby, saw his confusion and explained, "Meng De, Laba garlic is soaked on the Laba day, just in time for the first month of the year.

On New Year's Eve, the jar is opened, and the soaked Laba garlic inside is emerald green, with the spicy garlic and sour vinegar aroma all blended together. It tastes especially delicious when eaten with dumplings on New Year's Day. "

"So that's what's going on." Wang Mengde nodded and said, "Dad, wouldn't it taste better if we soak it for two more days?"

He remembered that the Laba garlic in his home used to be kept soaked in a jar and only taken out a little when it was time to eat.

Even if it is soaked for a long time, it still tastes delicious.

"Well, there's no problem with soaking it in advance. In fact, Laba garlic is related to a custom. People in Beijing have a saying: 'Laba porridge and Laba garlic, the lender sends a message, and the debtor pays back the money.'"

After a pause, Wang Hao continued, "In the old days, all the businesses and shops in Beijing had the custom of settling accounts in the twelfth month before the New Year, usually starting from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Since this day, when shop assistants or moneylenders go to collect debts, they usually don’t say it directly at first, in order to save face for the debtor. They often bring a small jar of Laba garlic to the debtor, and the debtor will know at a glance that they are here to collect the debt.

"I understand now. The homonym of the word 'garlic' is 'suan', so Laba garlic is actually 'Laba suan'." Wang Mengde said with sudden enlightenment.

After lunch, Wang Mengde walked towards Shichahai with a ceramic basin and a small hammer.

When he reached the river, he carefully used a hammer to break the ice, then picked up a few clean ice cubes and put them in a ceramic basin.

Not far away, many people were like him, holding ceramic basins to collect ice cubes.

When she got home, she carefully placed the ceramic basin on the window outside and reminded her two younger brothers not to knock it over out of mischief.

One or two days before Laba every year, people in Beijing would carry ice from the river back home and put it in ceramic basins. On the morning of Laba, they would break out the ice and eat it together as a family.

“If you eat Laba ice, you won’t have stomachache in the coming year.”

In fact, in the old days, ice was usually transported from Zhonghai, Nanhai, Beihai and other places. Now, it is gradually becoming less particular, as long as it is ice from the river, it will be fine.

Around four o'clock in the afternoon, Wang Mengde walked towards Fatty Guo's house carrying a bag filled with silver needles and other things.

Familiar with the route, he quickly arrived at the destination.

Fatty Guo's family lives in a courtyard in an alley next to Nanluoguxiang.

This is a two-courtyard house with seven or eight families living in it. Fatty Guo's family occupies three main rooms and one ear room.

When he entered the door, he saw Guo Rongqiu and Fatty Guo sitting in the living room of the main house. When they saw him coming, they hurriedly invited him in, and Fatty Guo poured him a cup of hot water.

"Haha, Meng De, thank you for your hard work. You come all the way in such a cold day." Guo Rongqiu laughed, looking generous.

"Uncle Guo, my aunt is not at home?" Wang Mengde knew his character and temper, so he didn't act shy. He pulled a chair over and sat next to him, then looked around and asked.

"Your aunt had something to do, so she took the two children to her eldest daughter's house."

Fatty Guo has four children. His eldest sister got married a few years ago, and he has two younger brothers who are of school age.

"Oh, uncle, I heard you were not feeling well. What's going on?"

"Well, there's no big problem. It's just that in the past few days, it's been a bit painful when I pee, and it's more urgent, and the frequency of peeing is a bit more." Guo Rongqiu touched his bald head and said with a smile.

These are symptoms of frequent urination, urgency and pain when urinating.

Wang Mengde pondered in his mind, then motioned for him to stretch out his hand and began to take his pulse.

After a few minutes, he figured it out and said, "Uncle, open your mouth and stick out your tongue so I can see the coating on your tongue."

When he found that his tongue was red and had a greasy yellow coating, combined with his slippery and rapid pulse and the symptoms he had just mentioned, Wang Mengde easily diagnosed the condition.

Guo Rongqiu is suffering from gonorrhea (called urethritis in Western medicine).

"Uncle Guo, this is a minor problem. Go to the hospital and get some plantain. Boil it and drink it. You will get better soon. It's winter now. If it were summer, you wouldn't have to spend any money. Just ask Fatty to dig some up outside."

Wang Mengde said with a smile.

"It's so simple. You are worthy of being a student of a famous doctor." Guo Rongkui gave a thumbs up and praised him. Then he asked, "By the way, Meng De, do you have any tonic prescription?"

"A tonic recipe?" Wang Mengde asked doubtfully.

When he saw Guo Rongkui winking at him and having two obvious dark circles under his eyes, he immediately understood what he meant.

"Uncle Guo, this tonic prescription is usually a strong medicine. Not only does it only treat the symptoms but not the root cause, but it is also harmful to the body if you take too much. How about I prescribe a few courses of Chinese medicine for you to slowly regulate your body."

"I need to take several courses of Chinese medicine. No, no, it's too slow. Besides, I don't want to cure the root cause, just the symptoms. The most painful thing for a man is not to cure the root cause, but to not be able to cure even the symptoms."

Guo Rongkui shook his head and said firmly.

His words made Wang Mengde stunned, and he suddenly understood.

It seems that I have found my next research direction.

(End of this chapter)