"Eat in the Four Sides" Book Review

"Sifang Shishi" Author: Wang Zengqi First Edition Speaking of Wang Zengqi, many people will think of his "Duck Eggs on the Dragon Boat Festival", yes, the author is also deeply impressed by that article, and therefore like his words. Wang Zengqi's style of writing is natural and simple, and he uses vernacular rather than vulgarity. But this alone is not enough to fascinate thousands of readers with unique tastes. So what is the charm of its words? Next, let's find out more in his collection about eating. In this "Quartet Food", Mr. Wang talked about food and interesting stories about food. These stories are either personally experienced by the author or local anecdotes. They are vivid and impressive. With the touches of the old man, they can be directly used as excellent essays. For example, in the article "Eat in Kunming", Mr. Wang wrote that Tengchong people called bait blocks "Great Rescue", and when he talked about the reason, he quoted such a story: "It is said that Emperor Yongli was chased by Wu Sangui and will flee. In Myanmar, as far as Tengchong, he had nothing to eat and was so hungry that he could not walk. Someone gave him a plate of fried bait. The Lord Long Live devoured it and devoured it. I understand the saying that it is a big rescue, but Wang Zengqi said that he had eaten it before, and he didn't know why he didn't eat it. He thought it was probably because he was not hungry. In this way, readers immediately understand the reason for the name, not only that, but also more impressive. In addition to the story, I added a little bit of my own ideas, which is natural and decent, without any modification. The above quoted anecdotes and legends, let’s take a look at a fact. Wang Zengqi talked about eating saponins at a banquet. An old man kept eating this dish. He kindly advised: It is not good to eat this way, the old man does not. Listen, as soon as I leave the table, I go to the toilet. It turns out that Saponin is too slippery, and it will flow straight down when it reaches the intestines. After reading these stories, we may smile knowingly, or think deeply. I think this is the genius of Wang Zengqi's technique. He is clearly quoting other people's things, but he integrates them with his own works. Like flowing clouds. For example, look at a small passage in "Taishan Picking Zero": "Han Fuju was the chairman of the Shandong provincial government during the Kuomintang period. He was an uneducated warlord. There are many jokes about him. The most widely circulated is that Chiang Kai-shek stipulated that pedestrians keep to the left. Han Fuju said: 'I agree with all the things advocated by Chairman Jiang, but this is not enough. Everyone walks on the left, who will walk on the right?'" It can be seen that when Mr. Wang wrote his articles, his language had his own characteristics, which was concise and clear. There is a characteristic of spoken language, just telling stories, not telling stories for the sake of telling stories. This article is about a trip to Mount Tai. Unlike other similar articles, Wang Zengqi not only writes about Mount Tai, but also brings in some stories about Mount Tai, which are vivid and interesting. When we appreciate his writing, we also have to secretly admire his rich life experience. Telling a story well is one thing, but will readers like it if it’s just not from the heart? The answer is obviously no. In Wang Zengqi's article, all the words are very natural and kind, and they are the direct expression of inner emotions. The reader is not reading the article, but talking to an interesting old man from the bottom of his heart. For example, in the article "Pickle Soup with Pickled Vegetables", Wang Zengqi said that when he was a child, he really didn't have a good impression of cigar, this thing has a bitter taste. This remark is very resonant, who likes hard things when they are young? Once there was a flood in his hometown, the yield of various crops was reduced, and only the wild rice had a good harvest, so he drank the pickled vegetable wild vegetable soup for a year, which was very difficult to drink. However, because of the long absence, "I" had feelings for Tsakamura. Once when he was shopping in a vegetable market in Beijing, he saw that there were some wild mushrooms for sale. He bought some and returned, but his family didn't eat it. After more than 40 years, we may be puzzled from dislike to like, but at the end of the article, he said, I really want to drink a bowl of pickled wild vegetable soup. After seeing this, I realized that this is not a greedy old man, he is missing that childhood time. Mr. Wang's article is also poetic. This kind of poetry is not painstakingly managed, but simply sketched out in two strokes, which seems to be different. In the article "The Story of Peach Blossom Spring", Mr. Wang and several writers went to Peach Blossom Garden for a visit. They were full of food and drink. When they were about to go back, they went to see the young man at the millstone monument at the door. People from Wuling, go, look at the stone tablet that the young man is grinding, it seems that there is not much progress. The peach blossoms at the door are still blooming." Although the article ends here, the mood is quietly spreading. Reading Wang Zengqi's articles is like listening to an experienced old man speak his heart out in a lively and interesting way. Who wouldn't like it?