Xinhua News Agency, Fuzhou, August 24 (Reporters Chu Mengmeng and Deng Qianqian) Soaking, grinding, steaming... glutinous rice and other ingredients are fused into a crystal clear, sticky and waxy crust. Take out a dose, wrap it in bean paste, crushed peanuts and other fillings, knead it into a slightly flattened round ball, put it in the soybean flour and roll, a mochi is ready, bite, sweet and soft.
Lin Fawei handed over a plate of mochi, his wife Wei Jinyan packed them and put them in the shop window. As Qixi Festival approaches, this "mom-and-pop shop" in downtown Fuzhou is booming.
Many years ago, Wei Jinyan, a girl from Fuzhou, went to visit relatives in Taiwan and met and fell in love with Lin Fawei, a Taiwanese guy who worked in a pastry shop. After Wei Jinyan returned to Rongjiang, the two began a seven-year long-distance relationship across the strait. Every year, Lin Fawei comes to the mainland three or four times to visit Wei Jinyan and her family. Every time he always brings Taiwanese snacks as a souvenir, Mochi must be among them.
Lin Fawei introduced that in Taiwan, people eat this kind of dessert every year and festival, not only because of its sweet taste, but also to make money. "The Hokkien dialect says'eating mochi every day and earning a lot of money every year'."
"Her relatives and friends thought it was delicious, and asked me to bring some." Lin Fawei recalled, "Later she told me, why don't we open a mochi shop in Fuzhou?"
Lin Fawei was taught by a Taiwanese pastry master and is very good at making mochi. But what entangled him at first was that handmade mochi had higher requirements for raw materials, and he didn't know where to buy the goods from where he was born in Fuzhou. Later, with the help of relevant departments and the Fuzhou Taiwan Association, he contacted a stable source of goods. Now the raw materials such as pineapples used in the store are directly air shipped from Taiwan.
In 2014, the "Bald Mochi" shop opened. Over the years, word of mouth has revealed that the couple’s business is getting better and better, and the two stores can now sell about 1,000 mochi every day. Before leaving Fuzhou, many non-local customers added a small store WeChat to keep ordering. "Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and many other places have our customers." Wei Jinyan said proudly.
The sweet mochi also allowed the couple to witness many sweet moments. Wei Jinyan remembered that one day, a boy who frequented him hurriedly ran in and said, "Hurry up and install a mochi for me!" It turned out that he had a quarrel with his girlfriend and wanted to make her happy with his girlfriend's favorite mochi. A few days later, Wei Jinyan received a message from the boy: "Fortunately, you have your mochi. My girlfriend is happy just eating it!"
The business of the small shop is booming, and Lin Fawei and his wife also reap the crystallization of love. Nowadays, his son who is less than 3 years old already learns from his mother, saying "goodbye" to customers cutely.
Had it not been for his wife, Lin Fawei felt that he "absolutely never thought of starting a business in mainland China." Now, both he and his wife think this is the right decision.
"With a wife and children, Fuzhou is a home." Lin Fawei said. He has made many friends here, and the ones that touched him most are the old customers, such as the elderly who took three trips to buy mochi, and eat from his wife's pregnancy. To the family where the child is going to school, etc.
Lin Fawei plans to hire a few more employees when his business does better, so that his wife will not be busy at home and shop. Wei Jinyan hopes to help her husband expand his business to more places in the mainland and "let more people eat Taiwanese specialties."