罗斯 · 玛丽眼中的和美家园

文 /罗斯·玛丽

1993年出生的ADIKIN ROSE MARY（中文名：罗斯·玛丽），是一位来自非洲乌干达的外籍新娘。8年前，她经人介绍来到美丽的浙江遂昌农村结婚生子，以她的踏实勤劳质朴创造着美好生活。目前，罗斯·玛丽已经成为拥有1055多万粉丝的抖音达人,抖音账号“Rose”得到超1.3亿的点赞。越来越多的人通过她拍摄的短视频，了解中国普通农民的多彩乡村生活。以下是罗斯·玛丽讲述她在中国的故事。

1.作者和闺蜜雷一起分享自制手撕牛肉干。 2.作者在县外办人员的陪同下接种疫苗。 3.作者帮村里采摘羊肚菌。1.Rose shares sliced beef jerky with one of her best friends. 2.Rose is vaccinated. 3.Rose helps villagers pick mushrooms.

我在中国的家位于浙江省遂昌县。这里被誉为“浙南林海”“江南绿海”，400多年前，世界文化名人汤显祖曾在此任知县，并写就不朽名著《牡丹亭》。我所在的金竹镇叶村村和全县的大多数乡村一样，风景如画、田园如歌，远处有高山、梯田，近处有溪流、茶园，还有错落有致的泥坯房。特别是这里的村民勤劳、淳朴、善良，让我这个远嫁的非洲媳妇，感受到了浓浓的人情味和烟火气。如今的我，已经深深地爱上这个美丽的新家园。

我的思绪经常情不自禁地回到2014年，当年二十岁出头的我在乌干达一家中资企业从事家具销售工作。为了方便和中国同事、客户交流，我开始学说中国话，并在公司里结识了一位来自中国浙江的女孩。也就是在这位“红娘”的牵线搭桥下，我认识了她的表哥、现在的丈夫吴建云。虽然地理位置相隔万里，但是我和吴建云通过网络慢慢熟悉、互生情愫，最后怀着对美好爱情和生活的憧憬，我来到了中国，来到了浙江农村。

叶村村距金竹镇政府所在地2公里，距遂昌县城将近50公里。我刚来的时候，就感受到了当地政府和村民为了更加便利的交通、更加美丽的环境、更加富裕的生活，努力发展建设、辛勤劳动的浓厚氛围。当时，金竹镇连接外面的大通道—“峡湖金公路金竹尾段改扩建”工程等正在如火如荼地建设中，村委会乘势推出了叶村村“美丽乡村”建设的一系列思路和规划，很多村民也在积极发展茶叶、山茶油产业。这些场景，给了我这个外来媳妇很大的“压力”，我不仅要适应中国农村的生活，还要通过努力过上中国人提倡的“小康生活”“富裕生活”！

当时我们家里的条件并不好，随着我们的儿子吴子安的出生，生活上的压力就更大了。所以孩子满月后，丈夫就外出打工了。我成了农村“留守妇女”中的一员，既要下地干农活，做家务，又要哺育照看孩子。离开了丈夫的“庇护”，我还要为能否融入村民大家庭忐忑不安：面对不熟悉的环境，碰到困难我该找谁帮忙？左邻右舍会不会接纳我？村里的小孩子会不会因为吴子安和他们不一样而欺负他？后来发现，其实我的担心完全是多余的。

中国有句古话叫“远亲不如近邻”，这些年村里这个大家庭给予我亲人般的帮助和照顾。我想不仅是因为我开朗活泼的性格、与邻为善的态度得到了村民们的认可，更重要的是刻在中国人骨子里的善良和团结。老公外出后，邻居大姐就经常送来她种植的新鲜蔬菜；翻修鸡舍这种重活，邻居大哥总是抢着帮我干完；罗梅、英子等人经常上门听我倾诉，为我排解忧愁，带着我摘柿子、摘枇杷，她们成了我最要好的闺蜜；丈夫的表哥表嫂经常会来我家里，对我嘘寒问暖，帮着干这干那。在妇联、村委会的帮助下，我家的旱厕改造成了干净整洁、环保卫生的水冲式卫生间，县里的外事干部还专门陪着我们外籍人士到定点医院接种新冠疫苗。

我也一直怀着感恩的心去生活，与邻为伴、乐于助人，主动融入中国农村生活。在农忙时节，我会起个大早，帮助邻居大姐采茶叶、卖茶叶，学着与收购商讨价还价；在重阳节，我和面粉、蒸发糕，带着吴子安给村里的老奶奶们送去甜蜜的祝福；在端午节，我和丈夫一起采摘新鲜箬叶，包一箩筐软糯香甜的“遂昌长棕”，与邻居、亲友分享节日的喜悦，祝福亲情、友情长长久久。

快乐时光飞逝，不知不觉间我来到中国已经8年了。8年来，我用心体验山区乡村生活的点点滴滴，用心感受当地传统习俗，可以讲一口流利的浙味普通话，特别是跟着曾是厨师的丈夫学做美食、研究美食，这也为我的生活翻开了崭新的一页。

作者的抖音视频。Rose’s Douyin videos.

制作一段视频，传递一份思念。在中国定居的8年里，我只回过非洲一次，远方的父母和兄弟姐妹非常挂念我在这边的生活。于是，我想到在家拍摄日常生活和制作美食的短视频，分享给远方的亲人。他们看到视频，知道我婚后生活幸福美满，应该也就能放心了。但意想不到的是，我的视频在抖音上得到广大网友的关注和点赞，“非洲媳妇+农村生活+中国美食”的视频把快乐传递给了更多人。网友们亲切地称呼我为“非洲李子柒”“全网最会为人处世的外国媳妇”，将我和丈夫的普通生活戏称为“中非乡村爱情故事”。

丽水遂昌叶村村新貌。The new look of Yecun village in Suichang county, Lishui city.

广大粉丝的关心和支持成就了作为美食博主的我。我注册了专门的抖音账号“Rose”，我的丈夫吴建云也从外地回来了，成为短视频里的“男主角”。我们的土木结构房子（一间厅堂，两间卧室，一间厨房和门外院子），成为取景拍摄的主场。厨房里的一座土灶台、一个木制操作台、一片切菜板以及农村家庭常用的锅碗瓢盆成为我们夫妻俩本色出演的主要道具。拍摄环境虽略显简陋，但我们努力展现朴素真实接地气的氛围，致力于把美食制作融入充满烟火气的乡村日常生活中，为网友带去一种乡土与温情并存的视听体验感。我想这也是抖音号“rose”得到大家认可的最大原因所在。

作者和丈夫一起采摘茶叶。Rose picks tea leaves with her husband.

为了拍好每一期视频，我们夫妻二人也使出了浑身解数，不仅结合日常经验和感悟，精心研究各类美食的制作方法和流程，还会去田间地头寻找最新鲜、最土味的食材。如去山里挖竹笋，晒成笋干，烧一锅笋干焖肉；到田里拔萝卜，做一顿萝卜炖排骨；摘一篮南瓜叶、番薯叶，烧出新鲜营养的蔬菜美食，让网友知道农村遍地是美味佳肴。传承和弘扬各种传统佳节中不同时令的传统美食文化，也是我们视频传播的一大追求，端午包粽子、中秋烤月饼、元宵包汤圆，春季的枇杷膏、冬季的秋梨膏，一份份美食体现着我对中国传统习俗和优秀传统文化的学习和理解。最让我开心的是，在视频中我与丈夫配合默契、相互打趣、互敬互爱的日常相处模式，也得到了广大粉丝的认可和祝福。“男的幽默风趣，女的贤惠持家，相互体谅，相互尊重，这才是夫妻”，每当看到粉丝们的这些留言，我的心里别提有多高兴了。

千万的你，成就了小小的我。没有父老乡亲的关爱和广大粉丝的支持，我也不可能通过这样一种方式实现人生更丰富的价值。我会继续发挥优势回馈粉丝、报答爱我养我的新家园。我所在的遂昌县的广大农村，有着优美的自然风光、浓郁的农耕文化、丰富的物产美食、热情的乡民农民，大家正朝着“共同富裕”的目标迈进。政府也在积极鼓励推动农民栽培种植更多绿色农产品，建设更加优美整洁的美丽乡村，构建更为完善的农村电商服务体系，激活乡村振兴新动能。我和我的丈夫将继续深耕乡村文化，传播更多关于遂昌风土人情、农产美食、经济发展的故事，将遂昌的金名片介绍给世界上更多的人知道。

Common Prosperity and My Home in China

By Adikin Rose Mary

My home in China is in Suichang county, Zhejiang province.Known as the “Forest Sea of Southern Zhejiang” and the “Green Sea of” (south of the Yangtze River), this is where Tang Xianzu (1550-1616), a world-renowned playwright and China’s Shakespeare, served as a county magistrate more than 400 years ago and wrote the immortal masterpiece the.Like most other villages in the county, the Yecun village, Jinzhu township — where my home is located, is picturesque and idyllic,with mountains and terraced fields in the distance, and brooks and tea plantations nearby. Rural dwellings sit orderly in the village,but most importantly, the villagers are industrious, honest and kind, always making me feel at home. I have long fallen in love with the place.

1.作者和闺蜜们相聚一起做猪肚鸡。 2.作者邀请村里阿姨们一起吃元宵。1.Rose makes pork belly chicken with her bosom friends. 2.Rose invites elderly ladies in the village to eat glutinous rice balls.

Oftentimes I can’t help but think back to 2014, when, in my early 20s, I was working as a furniture salesman for a Chinesefunded company in Uganda. To better communicate with my Chinese colleagues and clients, I began to learn to speak Chinese and met a girl from Zhejiang in my company. It was through this matchmaker that I met her cousin and now husband, Wu Jianyun.Although geographically separated by thousands of miles, Wu and I gradually became familiar with each other through the internet and developed romantic feelings for each other. Eventually, I decided to come to China, to the rural area of Zhejiang province.

Yecun village lies about two kilometers away from the Jinzhu township government seat and nearly 50 kilometers away from downtown Suichang. When I first arrived, I was immediately struck by the efforts that the local government and people spent on improving the transportation network and the environment and on living a better life. At that time, several projects aimed at building major roads and have Jinzhu township better connected with the outside were in full swing, and the village committee took advantage of the situation to launch a series of plans to make Yecun village in to a “beautiful village”. Many villagers were also actively engaged in the tea and camellia oil industry. These developments gave me a lot of “pressure”: as an African “daughter-in-law”, not only would I adapt to the life in China’s countryside,but also through my own efforts to live a “well-off life” advocated by the Chinese people!

My family back then was not rich, to say the very least, and with the birth of my son Wu Zi’an, we needed to cope with more.Only one month after Zi’an was born, my husband went out to work. I became one of the “left-behind women” in the countryside,who had to work in the fields, do housework, and feed and look after their children. Without the “shelter” of my husband, I felt somewhat uneasy about whether I could blend into the big family of the villager life. Faced with a still unfamiliar environment,who should I turn to for help when I have difficulties? Would the neighbors accept me? Would the children in the village bully Zi’an because he is different from them? As it turned out, my worries were totally unnecessary.

As an old Chinese saying goes, “a close neighbor is better than a distant relative”. The elder sister who lives next door often sent me fresh vegetables which she planted. The elder brother of another neighboring family helped me repair chicken coop. Luo Mei and Yingzi often came to listen to me talking about everyday life and they became my best girlfriends. My husband’s cousins would often come to my house to help me with my fieldwork.With the help of the Women’s Federation and the village committee, our dry toilet has been transformed into a clean,clean, environmentally friendly flush toilet. The officials from the county’s foreign affairs office even accompanied us foreigners to the designated hospitals for COVID-19 vaccination.

My cheerful and lively personality and good-neighborly attitude have certainly helped, but more importantly, it is the kindness and unity that have been engraved in the bones of the Chinese people.

I have always been grateful to be in Suichang, with such wonderful neighbors and fellow villagers. I’ve trying everything to integrate into China’s rural life. During the busy farming season, I would get up early to help my neighbors pick and sell tea, and learn to negotiate prices with buyers. On the Double Ninth Festival, I would make rice cakes, and bring them to the village elders together with Zi’an. On the Dragon Boat Festival,my husband and I gather fresh reed leaves and wrap a large basket of soft and sweet(sticky rice dumplings) to share with neighbors, relatives and friends.

Before I know it, I have been in China for eight years. In this period, I have learnt to speak Fluent Mandarin with a Zhejiang accent. In particular, I learned to cook from my husband, who was once a chef. I have only been back to Africa once. My parents and siblings miss me very much. So I started to shoot short videos of my daily life to share with my relatives. When they watch them,they all know that I’m happily married.

On the other hand, to my pleasant surprise, my videos have attracted a lot of attention and likes on Douyin. “African daughterin-law”, “rural life” and “Chinese food”. The combination has spread happiness to many people. Netizens affectionately call my life with my husband as “A Rural Love Story between China and Africa”.

The support of my fans has made me the food vlogger I am.During the process, I registered a Douyin account “Rose”, and my husband came back from his work and became the “leading actor”in my short videos. Our house (one living room, two bedrooms, a kitchen and yard outside) became filming set. Although the setting is a little simple, we strive to show the real and down-to-earth rural life. I think this is the biggest reason why “Rose” is recognized by people.

To have the best videos, my husband and I try to do our best.We not only combine our daily experience, carefully studying the cooking methods and processes of various kinds of food, but also go to the fields to find the most fresh and most characteristic local vegetables. For example, we go to the mountains to dig bamboo shoots, before drying them and cooking a pot of dried bamboo shoots braised meat. We go to the fields to find turnip for stewed ribs. We pick a basket of pumpkins and sweet potato leaves and cook up fresh and nutritious vegetable dishes.

“The husband is humorous and the wife is considerate and respectful. This is what a couple should be like.” Whenever I see these comments from my fans, I feel so happy.

Without the care of my fellow villagers and the support of my fans, I could not have realized the richer value of my life in such a way. I will continue to repay the love to my fans and to my new hometown. The vast rural areas of Suichang county are endowed with beautiful natural sceneries, a rich farming culture, abundant food products, and enthusiastic villagers and farmers. All of them are marching towards the goal of “common prosperity”. The government is also encouraging farmers to grow more green agricultural products, build a more beautiful and tidy countryside, and a better rural e-commerce service system for rural revitalization. My husband and I will continue to immerse ourselves in China’s rural culture and tell more stories about Suichang’s local customs, agricultural delicacies and economic development to the world.