Black Coffee Candy
Black coffee candy is extremely bitter, so bitter that it numbs the root of the tongue, so bitter that it furrows the brow, and so bitter that it makes the very contours of the world seem rigid and unyielding. This bitterness first pierces through sweet illusions and then reaches deep into the hidden corners of the heart that one is reluctant to reveal. People say it refreshes the mind, but I believe it merely yanks one out of a false sweet dream and hurls them back into the cold, hard reality.
The candy wrappers are dark, enclosing neatly arranged, square-shaped pieces that resemble a funeral procession. When you pick up a piece, your fingertips become dusted with powdered sugar, gray and ashy, like the remnants of burnt paper. Placing it in your mouth, you first encounter a hard resistance, which then gradually softens, allowing the bitterness to seep out slowly, neither hastily nor urgently, but with a calm and measured rhythm, much like the very pace of fate itself.
I once saw an elderly man who always had a piece of black coffee candy in his mouth every afternoon. He sat on a park bench, his back straight as a ramrod, his face etched with deep wrinkles as if carved by a knife. With each piece of candy, he would slightly squint his eyes and gaze at the children playing in the distance, his eyes devoid of either joy or sorrow, simply watching, as if observing the inevitable falling of autumn leaves. For him, this bitterness must have become a daily routine, perhaps even an indispensable companion.
There are also young people who try this candy, mostly out of curiosity or to showcase their uniqueness. They often furrow their brows at the first taste and hastily spit it out, waving their hands as if betrayed. Yet they do not realize that the true flavors of this world are not meant to please the taste buds.
The most intriguing thing is that as the bitterness gradually fades, a faint sweetness lingers at the root of the tongue. It is not the sweetness of sugar but rather the clarity of the soul after enduring hardship, like a touch of green seen after traversing a desert. However, this sweetness is fleeting, like a brief bloom, leaving behind only the endless bitterness.
Black coffee candy never promises happiness; it merely presents the truth. And in this world, how many can face such truth without retreating?
Perhaps we spend our entire lives learning how to savor a piece of black coffee candy.
