Lin Zexu is "the first person to open his eyes to the world" in modern China. He is not only the pride of Fuzhou people, but also the pride of the whole country. There are many stories about him.
Lin Zexu’s father was a teacher. When Lin Zexu was four years old, his father held him in his lap and educated him. When Lin Zexu grew up, some people were unconvinced: Huh, he was smart when he was young, but he may not be so when he grows up. Lin Zexu came up with a couplet. The first couplet was: The duck mother has no shoes to wash her feet. Lin Zexu immediately responded to the second line: The rooster has a bun and does not comb his hair. So clever and wonderful. Another time, the teacher took the children to visit the top of Gushan Mountain. He used the words "mountain" and "sea" and asked everyone to make a couplet. Lin Zexu answered quickly: From the sea to the boundless sky, I am the shore; when the mountains reach the top, I am the peak.
Fuzhou has a famous dessert called taro paste, which my father makes every year and festival. Once, my father told me a story, which was also related to Lin Zexu.
Dad said that once, foreigners entertained Lin Zexu and other officials at a banquet and served ice cream after the meal. At that time, let alone eating ice cream, Chinese people had never seen it. Seeing the ice cream steaming, Lin Zexu thought it was very hot, so he took a scoop and blew on it. When the foreigners saw this, they looked mocking. The next day, Lin Zexu invited the foreigners back and served a dessert after the meal. The foreigners saw that there was no heat in this dessert, so they thought it was cold, so they picked up a spoon, took a big spoonful and put it into their mouths. "Ah!" Those foreigners' mouths were burned to death. Lin Zexu said with a smile that this is Fuzhou dessert - mashed taro. There is no heat on the surface. In fact, it is hot right after it comes out of the pot. The ice cream is steaming, but it is cold. On the contrary to the ice cream, although the taro paste is not steaming, it is hot.
I imagine those foreigners being burned. The taro paste was in their mouths and they couldn't swallow it, and they couldn't spit it out. It was so hot that they stamped their feet and cried for their fathers and mothers. The birds in the trees outside were frightened by them and flew into the sky. What about the mouth? All of them turned into sausage mouths. They deserve it, who told them to laugh at the Chinese. Haha, I feel funny thinking about this.