Grandpa
爺爺是思想的先行者。
他有他所深信的道理，比如三餐純粹吃淮山可以減肥。他為的只是減掉小肚子。他成功了，大概是三個月減下了十斤。最後由於攝入營養單一，身體受不了而收手。
現在每隔一天需要去醫院透析的他，他相信食牛肉和芹菜可以保持健康。因此，他甚至發明出牛肉煮芹菜湯。這雖然和羅宋湯有異曲同工之妙，但無論如何，在廣東人的菜譜中都是異類。引來我嫲嫲不理解的謾罵。
通過我嫲嫲的口中，才發現她認為爺爺一直係個異類。我很少從社會的角度去思考過往爺爺在照顧我的日子裡，做過的那些奇妙料理。比如，西瓜鮮肉湯，或者是純粹用蝎子煮的湯。仲有被我嫲嫲制止過的，西洋菜撈西芹。
爺爺很愛讀養生書，廣州日報的“老佘煲湯”欄目曾經是他的最愛。他對知識很偏執，他認為他看過的、做過的，才能算是正確的。所以，由於過度熱愛專研中藥搭配，家裡一度囤積了大量的中藥。小時候每天浸淫在中藥味里，早已當作係空氣的味道。過量服用中藥的後果，就係開頭所講，需要通過透析維持尚算健康的身體。
我相信，爺爺一生之中都在實行他的信仰。他比任何人都要篤定自己心中的信念。
我不認同如果他可以“更健康”地生活會導向更長壽生命的說法。因為佢就來八十歲，依然還在我的身邊。對比以往老人家的壽命，都算係咁。人生的長度並不一定是人生目標。
2023.02.21
Grandpa is a Pioneer of Thought.
He has his own beliefs, such as thinking that eating nothing but Chinese yam for three meals a day can help him lose weight. His goal was simply to get rid of his belly fat. And he succeeded, losing about ten pounds in three months. However, in the end, because his diet was too limited in nutrients, his body couldn’t take it anymore, and he had to stop.
Now, needing dialysis every other day, he believes that eating beef and celery can keep him healthy. Because of this, he even invented beef and celery soup. Although it bears a certain resemblance to borscht, in the Guangdong cuisine, it’s still considered unusual, drawing complaints and confusion from my grandma.
It was through my grandma that I discovered she has always seen Grandpa as an eccentric. I seldom thought about it from society’s perspective, all those days in the past when Grandpa took care of me, making those bizarre dishes. For example, watermelon and fresh meat soup, or a soup made purely from scorpions. And there was also the celery mixed with watercress that my grandma stopped him from making.
Grandpa loves reading books about health. The “Lou Sheh Soup” section in the Guangzhou Daily used to be his favorite. He is quite obsessed with knowledge; he believes that only what he has read and tried himself is correct. Because of his excessive passion for studying herbal medicine combinations, our house once stockpiled a large amount of Chinese medicine. Growing up surrounded by the smell of Chinese herbs, I came to regard it as just the smell of the air. The consequence of overusing Chinese medicine is what I mentioned at the beginning: he now needs dialysis to maintain his relatively healthy body.
I believe that Grandpa has been practicing his beliefs all his life. He is more certain about his convictions than anyone else.
I don’t agree with the idea that if he could live a “healthier” lifestyle, it would lead to a longer life. After all, he is almost eighty years old and still by my side. Compared to the lifespan of elderly people in the past, that’s not bad. The length of one’s life isn’t necessarily the goal of life.
February 21, 2023