Return to Singapore 1995

Sweet Potato Shao is a local wine made by people in Dong'ao Village. It has a sweet aroma and a mellow taste. Whenever the sweet potatoes from their own fields are on the market, many people will cook homemade sweet potatoes, especially in rural areas. When the wine is produced, the aroma of the mellow wine and the sweet fragrance of the sweet potatoes will permeate the entire village. In the past, conditions were difficult and ordinary people could not afford to drink Nuerhong or Shaoxing rice wine, which was sweet potato roasting that accompanied them through countless days and nights. One night after getting up early and returning home late at night, I ate a mouthful of strong yet light sweet potatoes. At that moment, I felt as if all the fatigue from a day's work had been relieved.

When he was a child, his grandfather always liked to hold Li Xiaofan in his arms while eating when he came back from a medical visit. Regardless of his grandmother's scolding, he liked to secretly dip some sweet potatoes with his chopsticks and cook them for Li Xiaofan to taste. Not to mention that the alcohol-loving gene is particularly strong. Li Xiaofan has liked the sweet potato roast fed by his grandfather since he was a child. If his grandpa doesn't give him a few drops of sweet potato roast, he still doesn't feel good when eating.

Li Xiaofan, who grew up in this environment, could easily burn a pound or two of sweet potatoes when he became an adult. His only drawback was that he would blush when drinking alcohol, which was a bit like the genes of his father, Li Yuanchao, who passed away young.

After everyone had eaten several cups of sweet potatoes, her aunt brought some pieces of dried fish and braised pork to Li Xiaofan: "Xiaofan, this is your favorite Wulangyu barbecue when you were a kid!"

"Wow, it tastes so delicious. Thank you, aunt! I miss the delicious food of my hometown so much in Singapore!"

There is a saying by Ning Dong that goes, "After eating the black wolf, you will read loudly."

Wulangyu is the local common name for dried puffer fish. Because fresh puffer fish is poisonous, local fishermen have accumulated long-term experience to remove the poisonous parts of the fish, rinse the fish repeatedly with clean water to remove the internal organs and blood clots, and then apply salt to the sun in the hot sun to dry it into hard dried fish. It's called Wulangyu.

The Wulanggu alone tastes tasteless, but when braised with pork belly, it's a perfect match. The gravy of the pork belly moisturizes the originally dry black wolf bream, making it full of life and deliciousness. This Wulangyu barbecue is a special dish of Ningdong. My aunt likes to braise it with local fatty pork legs and add some rock sugar. It is definitely a delicious dish!

Everyone drank good wine, ate delicious food, family members and old classmates gathered together, and the fun made Li Xiaofan feel a different kind of warmth!

But after drinking for a while, an old neighbor from next door came over anxiously to find his uncle Tang Xiufeng. His 80-year-old man suddenly couldn’t get out of bed because his legs and legs kept moving. He called 120 and sent him to the hospital. Ken shouted from the bed. He had to ask Tang Xiufeng to give him a few injections...

Tang Xiufeng had no choice but to put down his wine cup and chopsticks, pick up the medical box and follow the old neighbor.

"Come on, ignore your uncle, Xiaofan, you continue to drink, I will cook some more dishes!"

Auntie is used to this normality.

My uncle's character is as famous as his acupuncture skills.

Wu Xiuli stood up and toasted Li Xiaofan and said: "Classmate Li Xiaofan, are there any good foreign investment projects or big bosses in Nanyang in Singapore? Please help me keep an eye on them. Remember to recommend a few if you have the opportunity. If the project is successfully implemented, we will have agency rewards." !”

Li Xiaofan smiled and said: "Squad leader Wu, I remember that you are in the Foreign Trade Section of the Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. When did you take charge of investment promotion?"

After Wu Xiuli graduated from the technical secondary school of the Provincial Finance and Trade School the year before last, she is now assigned to work in the Foreign Trade Section of the Ningdong County Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau.

"Hey, it's hard to explain in one word! Our county has just changed its leadership, and the new main leaders have put forward the slogan of 'investment for all', so our director assigned each department the task of attracting foreign investment, and then our section chief assigned each of us a task to attract investment. Mission, my mission this year is to attract 500,000 US dollars. Classmate Xiaofan, I don’t have any relatives or friends overseas. After thinking about it, since I have an old classmate like you in Nanyang, this matter depends on you!”

"Haha, I'm just a poor working man, so I probably can't help you much!"

"Please help me pay attention when you have time! Pay attention! The last time I went to the city for a meeting, I heard from the city bureau leaders that Mingzhou has a Singapore Mingzhou Association in Singapore. I was thinking when I came back, if you are in Singapore if you are free, you can go Let’s pay a visit. Maybe there are overseas Chinese and bosses from Ningdong County there. If you have the opportunity, you can invite them back to your hometown to have a look. Maybe they will invest in us to repay their hometown!”

Lin Zhiyong beside him couldn't stand it any longer, so he stood up and picked up his glass of wine and said, "Wu Xiuli, you have a good mind. It's no wonder that you were the squad leader back then. While you were drinking, you were assigning tasks to our brother Fan! Come on, let's not talk about work now. We want to talk about relationships, let’s toast Brother Fan three more times!”

Lin Zhiyong was a scumbag in his class. He was so careless that he copied Li Xiaofan's homework for three years in junior high school. His family background is not good, and his father died accidentally in a road construction accident, so he and Li Xiaofan share the same fate and are Li Xiaofan's best buddies in junior high school. After graduating from junior high school, he is now working in Cibei County with his sister and brother-in-law. His brother-in-law's family has opened a small furniture factory.

After having three drinks, Lin Zhiyong said: "Brother Fan, can I go to Singapore? Why don't you help me find a job there?"

"Ayong, if you really want to go to Singapore, then you have to go to a vocational high school or a technical school or something to get a diploma! In fact, you are doing quite well in this industry now. You will definitely be more promising and more successful than me in the future. Well done!”

"Brother Fan, you are making fun of me. I have no future! You want me to go to school? I am not cut out for it! Forget it. I'll just follow my sister and hang out with her! By the way, Brother Fan, why are you going back to Singapore? What are your plans for the next few days?"

"I plan to go back at the weekend. I want to go to Wenzhou tomorrow. If I have time, I want to go to Hainan..."

The half-drunk Wu Xiuli asked curiously, "Xiao Fan, why are you going to Wenzhou? I have an old classmate in Wenzhou!"

"I want to go to Wenzhou to investigate the eyewear industry there and see if there are any business opportunities..."

"Speaking of the eyewear industry in Wenzhou , I have seen an internal document from the provincial department, saying that Ouhai is developing quite well now. You can go to Ouhai to have a look. My classmate is in the Foreign Trade Bureau of ZH District. If you need him, I can introduce him to you. You can go to him! "

"Yes, I really need him! That would be the best!"

Lin Zhiyong continued: "Brother Fan, can I go with you? I have always wanted to go to Wenzhou, but I don't have the chance. My sister has nothing to do these days..."

"Okay, we can go together!"

...

The next morning, Li Xiaofan and Lin Zhiyong boarded the bus from Ningdong County to Ouhai, Wenzhou.