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墨書 Inktalez
Children naturally love to eat snacks, but in our household, candy or similar treats are a rare occurrence, and even when they do appear, they are reserved for special occasions. The adults keep them well hidden and strictly off-limits to the children. In the summer, there are various wild or homegrown fruits like peaches, plums, and pears to enjoy, but in the winter, the only thing left to satisfy our cravings is popping beans.
The originators of popping beans are, of course, the adults. During the quieter winter farming season, when a few people gather to chat, the older men might smoke a pipe or roll a paper into a horn-shaped tube, while the younger men and women often take out a handful of popping beans to slowly chew on, filling the gaps in conversation and easing any awkward moments.
They prepare the popping beans in advance, typically using soybeans. The beans are mixed with hot wood ash, constantly stirred to prevent burning, and when they hear the popping sound, they quickly pour them onto a bamboo sieve to remove the ash, leaving behind the warm, popped beans.
A better quality method involves heating the iron pot to a certain temperature, spreading a thin layer of meat oil on the bottom of the pot, and then stir-frying the beans. This way, the beans that burst out look much cleaner than the gray beans, and when eaten, they leave a thin layer of grease on the hands. In times of scarce resources, this is a symbol of a higher-class family.
As children, we were inspired by the adults' method of stir-frying gray beans, but we couldn't have the abundant fire ash and bean resources that the adults had, nor were we as skilled in the operation. Therefore, we developed a method of bursting beans that was almost like a game and could satisfy our snack cravings.
Our source of beans basically came from the beans we picked up at the edge of the drying field when the Production team harvested the beans in the summer. These beans were not as neat as the ones specifically harvested, and some of them were only revealed after being washed by rain, making them unsuitable for storage and unable to be ground into tofu to improve the family's life. The adults tacitly allowed us children to have them for ourselves.
Our source of fire comes from the smoked platter or stove used for heating in winter. Although we are in the south, the winter is still cold and long, without the central heating or air conditioning found in the north. The windows of the classroom are only covered with a thin layer of yellow paper, allowing the occasional cold north wind to sting our young faces and bodies. After a class, our hands and feet are so cold that we can hardly move them.
Fortunately, we grew up on the edge of a small mountain. Although there are not many large trees in the mountains, there is an endless supply of various kinds of brushwood, which is excellent material for making charcoal. Before the arrival of winter, every household would go into the mountains to cut a large pile of brushwood and make charcoal for heating. Some people who are too lazy or don't know how to make charcoal would directly use the brushwood to make a fire when cooking or boiling pig feed. The remaining ashes with embers can also maintain heat for several hours when gathered together.
When we go to school, the adults would prepare a smoked platter or stove filled with charcoal and ashes in advance. What they didn't expect is that the fire, instead of primarily warming our bodies, would be used to pop beans.
Our popcorn method is simple and primitive. With limited space and strict hygiene management at school, we cannot pop the beans on the ground like adults do with a pile of ash, especially since we don't have a bamboo sieve to separate the ash. We certainly can't eat the beans and ash together. We can only pop the beans directly in the smoked platter or firebox.
The simplest method is to fold two twigs the thickness of chopsticks, pick up a bean each time, place it on the ash in the smoked platter or firebox, and wait for the crispy sound before taking it out. This method is safer, and the popped beans won't turn bitter from overheating. However, it takes a long time to pop a single bean, so it's usually only used by gentle girls.
The most common method we use is to push aside the top layer of not-so-hot ash, revealing the red fire underneath, and directly pop the beans on top. Soon, we can hear the exciting crispy sound. Although sometimes the beans get too burnt or pop too late, resulting in a bitter taste or uneven cooking, we still enjoy them.
There is also a more luxurious way. Some students from better-off families bring the used lard boxes from home to school. Each box can hold twenty or so beans, and when placed on the fire, they heat up evenly. As long as you use a stick to move them around from time to time, the beans will quickly pop. When you lift the lid, not only is there the fragrance of the beans, but also the lingering aroma of the lard. I am a person with wild ideas. When I saw them doing this and realized we didn't have any lard boxes at home, I plucked up the courage to take my mom's leftover universal ointment box and had my moment of glory. Unfortunately, the smell of the universal ointment is not something you can eat directly, so I still had to repeat the mechanical labor of popping one bean after another. Popcorn requires fire, and it's especially fuel-consuming. This has given rise to a new skill: fire blowing. Generally, in a ten-minute break between classes, quick-witted students can pop five or six beans to eat. After popping twice during the break, unless you have genuine charcoal, the poor fire is definitely on its last legs. At this point, you must find a way to rekindle the remaining embers and make the fire burn again.
In order to start a fire, we went through many trials. At first, we vigorously fanned it with a book, but the large force only caused dust to fly everywhere without igniting the embers. Then we tried blowing on it with our mouths, which concentrated the force and slowly reignited the fire. However, before the fire could fully ignite again, our small heads couldn't handle it. After countless improvements, we settled on a method: holding a pen tube in our mouths, with the end with a small hole facing the fire. This made blowing much easier and the airflow more concentrated. Even children without pens would use a thicker paper rolled into a tube to blow. However, even with the best method, the fire's vitality had been overdrawn, and it could only last for one more class at most. Even the most skilled alchemist would be powerless. Strangely, after all the commotion, the fire was gone, but we didn't feel cold. Instead, we found endless joy between popping corn and blowing on the fire.
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