For many people, the mention of soy milk brings to mind fried dough sticks. Drinking soy milk with fried dough sticks is truly a perfect pairing. If someone were to drink soy milk without having fried dough sticks, the staunch fans of this combination would surely list ten grievances, such as "separating a loving couple" or "boiling cranes and burning qin (a stringed musical instrument)"... As for me, every time I drink soy milk, what comes to mind are snails. Of course, this doesn't mean that soy milk can be paired with snails, but rather it's a beautiful memory, one that goes beyond just deliciousness and also relates to labor and value. The person who connects soy milk with snails and gives me this beautiful memory is my grandfather.
When we were children, if two playmates were about to have a falling out, the other children would shout at them: "Don't fight, don't fight, Deaf Ancient will treat you to soy milk." Amidst a burst of innocent laughter, the two playmates would reconcile as if nothing had happened. Deaf Ancient was the oldest man in the village, hard of hearing and not very mobile, so there was no way he could treat us to soy milk. We all understood this, so we never entertained any thoughts of drinking soy milk. This short nursery rhyme, like "open sesame," was a secret code we used to safeguard our friendships, unrelated to any deliciousness.
One summer evening when I was ten years old, while we were shouting "Don't fight, don't fight, Deaf Ancient will treat you to soy milk" around two quarreling friends, my grandfather, who was smiling and watching us play, suddenly asked us: "Have you ever seen soy milk? Have you ever drunk soy milk?" Like a rehearsed response, we all shook our heads in unison. Grandfather continued: "In a few days, I'll take you to drink soy milk. But there's one condition: the money for the soy milk must be paid with your own money; you cannot ask your parents for it. Otherwise, I won't take you." Grandfather's words were like a magic wand tickling our taste buds, causing our mouths to water instantly. However, at that age, apart from the white rice that filled our bellies, we had no concept of pocket money, nor did our parents ever give us any. We also couldn't earn money by helping our parents with chores like children do nowadays; doing household chores within our capabilities was simply our duty as country children. Where could we possibly get our own money?
The allure of delicious food was fatal to me, and this was already evident when I was ten. To make this delicious journey a reality, my friends and I abandoned all games. Whenever we had free time, we gathered together to think of ways to earn money. And sure enough, after much effort, we finally came up with a good way to earn money—catching snails.
Here in our area, by the stream...