National Tide 1980.

Chapter 588
People in the world often describe life as unpredictable and impermanent.

This is how Mi Xiaoran feels about life today.

When she was in the capital, she never thought that she would meet Zhao Hanyu.

After the two met, she never thought that she would marry Zhao Hanyu.

When she was out of utilitarianism, she chose to use the springboard of marriage to achieve the purpose of studying abroad.

I also never thought about how complicated the situation I would have to face after I set foot on a foreign land.

The difficulty of realizing the ideal and the difficulties that need to be overcome are all far beyond my expectations.

However, it was just when she encountered the biggest obstacles and ups and downs in her studies and felt depressed.

But she was surprised to find that her husband had made unimaginable self-sacrifice in order to help her realize her ideal.

She was really touched!

Also really moved!

Who can say that this is not true love?

From this moment on, she began to realize the true face of life, which may be to make people change forever between disappointment and hope, between the two emotions of sadness and joy.

Facts have proved that her perception is correct.

Because next, even the nostalgic meal that Zhao Hanyu took her out to eat at noon that day was a long journey, full of drama of twists and turns.

The restaurant they went to was called "Huaixiangju".

The location is not in Old Chinatown in Manhattan, but in Flushing, Queens.

In 1984, Flushing had not merged with the New York City area.

It is far from the atmosphere of the second largest Chinese gathering area in New York decades later, and it is only a small northern town in Queens at this time.

The proportion of Chinese is almost only about [-]% of the local residents.

The buildings here are lower, more like an economically backward area.

Moreover, most of the Chinese residents here are new immigrants who came to the United States before and after liberation.

The personnel structure is far more complex than that of Manhattan's old Chinatown, where there are many Cantonese and Fujianese.

However, it is precisely because of this that the cuisine style of this restaurant is different from the mainstream Cantonese and Fujian cuisines in Manhattan's Chinatown, and belongs to the very rare Sichuan-Lu cuisine in the United States.

After Mi Xiaoran entered the restaurant, she felt even more pleasantly surprised.

The decoration is actually the most rustic traditional classical style, without the exaggerated colors like big red and yellow.

Gray bricks, wooden tables, wooden chairs, palace lanterns, screens, tea cups, copper kettles, I am afraid that the time-honored brands in the capital are not so comprehensive.

The menu is also similar to that of domestic restaurants. There are no fake Chinese dishes such as "Li Hongzhang offal" and "Tso Zongtang's chicken", just like the northern flavor revealed by the name of the restaurant, which made her feel very cordial and looking forward to it.

So even after listening to the waiter, she realized that this shop was probably run by compatriots from Baodao, and she couldn't raise her political vigilance.

It's just that I feel relieved and happy that I can finally communicate with people in Mandarin from the bottom of my heart.

But the only bad thing is that the consumption level here is really not low, it is twice as expensive as most Chinese restaurants.

Probably because of this, even though the location of this store is quite ideal, the business is quite deserted.

Among the few guests, all were middle-aged Chinese, and there was no foreigner.

In view of this, once sitting here, although Mi Xiaoran doesn't want to leave, she is very cautious when ordering food.

Out of frugality, she only ordered two home-cooked dishes, shredded pork with Beijing sauce and white pork with sauerkraut.

Surprisingly, there are noodles on the menu.

She didn't resist the temptation, so she ordered a big bowl, and another bowl of plain rice for Zhao Hanyu who didn't like noodles.

As for wine, neither of them wanted to drink, so they only ordered a glass of Coke for Zhao Hanyu.

After ordering, I calculated in my mind that the meal alone, plus the tip, would probably cost nearly fifty dollars.

That is almost equivalent to their three days' food, which is not a luxury.

Unfortunately, the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.

After spending so much money and traveling a long distance, the northern cuisine that I finally got to eat was not satisfactory in Mi Xiaoran's heart.

She is different from Zhao Hanyu, who was born and raised in the United States, she just wants something that is not unpalatable, as long as she can eat it in a daze.

These dishes are what she grew up with, and what she wants is to relive the taste of her hometown.

If the taste is not right, it will be eaten immediately.

Like the sauerkraut and white meat dish, there is a lot of white meat, but the sauerkraut is not flavorful enough, very bland.

It is completely incomparable with the ones made by Aunt Mi at home.

One bite of white meat made Mi Xiaoran feel bored.

She originally planned to have soup, but suddenly lost her appetite, so she could only pick a few slices of sauerkraut and barely eat it.

There is nothing to say about shredded pork with Beijing sauce. The onion is right and the meat is right, but the sauce is wrong.

The authentic shredded pork with Beijing sauce should be mixed with yellow sauce and sweet noodle sauce, but here it tastes like three cups of chicken.

Mi Xiaoran ate a few chopsticks, but only found a 50.00% similarity.

But these two are much better than fried noodles.

In fact, Mi Xiaoran's mood really fell to the bottom when the fried noodles were served, and she was so disappointed that she wanted to curse.

The Zha Jiang Noodle here is a large bowl filled with more than half a bowl of spaghetti and poured with a pool of sauce.

The most exaggerated thing is that the sauce is actually made of sweet bean sauce, soy sauce and sugar, which is as thin as chocolate sauce.

There are many dishes, just a little fresh cucumber, soybean, and pickled white radish strips.

Seeing the bowl of noodles with fried sauce in front of him, Mi Xiaoran put down his chopsticks completely without moving a mouthful.

She couldn't help but deeply reflect on herself, why she gave unrealistic hopes.

I actually expect people from the other side of the ocean to make the taste of home food.

At this time, let alone Zhao Hanyu, even the waiter who served the food could see her disappointment.

The waiter forced a smile, but actually walked away in embarrassment.

"Honey, the food here is pretty good for me. I think it tastes similar to the one in Beijing. What are you dissatisfied with? Tell me. How about...how about you look at the menu again and see if you want to eat more what?"

Zhao Hanyu was stunned for a while, and cautiously asked tentatively.

These words naturally made Mi Xiaoran dumbfounded.

She said in her heart, still order?Wouldn't that be a waste of money?

"Forget it, I'll just make do with it. Even the Jajang noodles here aren't made right, so there's no need to order anything else..."

But Zhao Hanyu didn't understand at all, "Isn't fried noodles right?"

He thought about it for a while, and then nodded thinking he understood.

"I know, it's right to use peanut butter. I ate it at your house in summer, I still remember, it's that kind of yellow sauce, right? It's okay, I'll let them redo it..."

Needless to say, he definitely mistook the sesame sauce noodles in Beijing for peanut butter noodles.

So Mi Xiaoran burst out laughing and hurriedly stopped her.

"You're really good, don't be fooled. You're talking about noodles with sesame sauce. Two different things."

After laughing uncontrollably for a while, she could make up lessons for her husband temporarily.

"Jingcheng noodles with soy sauce are very particular. It is best to roll the noodles by hand, and use yellow sauce and sweet noodle sauce for the sauce. When frying the sauce, add fat and lean diced pork. Put the fat diced meat in the pot first to consume oil, then put lean diced meat, green onions, Stir-fry the minced ginger on low heat until it smells fragrant, then pour the yellow sauce and sweet noodle sauce into the pot. If you don’t like the sauce too salty, you can add more sweet noodle sauce. When frying the sauce, first use high heat to make the sauce bubbles, then turn the heat to low , use a spatula to stir the sauce in the pot for about ten minutes, and the sauce is ready. In addition, you need to eat noodles with various dishes. The dishes can change according to the seasons. The most common ones are cucumber, bean sprouts, and cabbage. Silk……"

At this moment, a stranger also came in suddenly.

"Also, it is essential to eat fried noodles. There must be soybeans or green beans, and if you want to eat them with raw garlic, you have to add vinegar. Isn't that right?"

Mi Xiaoran and Zhao Hanyu turned their heads together, only to see a middle-aged man in his 40s smiling at them kindly.

This person has a pair of gold-rimmed eyes, bright eyes, elegant appearance, and high-end clothes, which can give people a good impression.

So although his move was a bit rash.

It stands to reason that it is impolite to disturb others or eavesdrop on others' conversations.

But Zhao Hanyu and Mi Xiaoran didn't mind too much because of the faint charm exuding from this person.

Instead, she responded to his flirting with a smile, curious about his real purpose.

"Are you..." Zhao Hanyu asked curiously.

The person then introduced himself and said, "My surname is Chang, and I am the boss here. I'm sorry, but the taste of the food has disappointed you. This is good, the two of you don't have to pay for this meal. Who told us to do it?" The taste is not authentic, but you are real connoisseurs. I feel ashamed to accept your money. As soon as you talked just now, I knew that this lady should be from the capital of the Republic. Right?"

The mystery was revealed, but Zhao Hanyu and Mi Xiaoran were even more flattered.

Especially Mi Xiaoran, unexpectedly, the dissatisfaction he didn't express has already fallen into the eyes of the boss, and he also took the initiative to apologize in a way of avoiding the order.

So when Zhao Hanyu reached out his hand to respond to the boss Chang's handshake, Mi Xiaoran couldn't help blurting out.

"How can you be sure that I'm from the capital? Just because I said what to do with fried noodles?"

Boss Chang laughed again.

"Of course, everyone there has a sign. If nothing else, I just said the word 'you' to you! I'm sure of it."

This time it became a relative smile!

However, the education Mi Xiaoran received from childhood prevented her from enjoying this special treatment at ease.

"Boss Chang, you are too polite. You still have to pay for the meal, and there is no need for a waiver. After all, we also eat with chopsticks."

Mi Xiaoran first waved his hands vigorously to decline, showing the generosity from the capital.

Then he couldn't help raising a doubt, and he was a bit nosy like a Beijinger.

"It's just that I'm surprised. According to you, you know the authentic taste. If that's the case, why don't you do it as you should? This...isn't it a bit..."

Boss Chang saw that Mi Xiaoran had misunderstood, so he quickly explained.

"Oh, this is because you think highly of me. In fact, I have never eaten authentic Chinese food. To tell you the truth, my mother told me all about the food in the capital and inland. Her old man They are from the capital. As for the chefs in this restaurant, they are all apprentices taught by the former chefs in our family."

"Although in terms of inheritance, their masters are chefs who came out of Dongxing Building back then, and they are definitely from the No. [-] Building in the capital. But the craftsmanship is separated by one floor after all. And no matter whether it is in Baodao or here, there is a lack of seasoning from the mainland. and ingredients. That leads to variations in taste.”

"If I hadn't met you two today, people living here would not care about this difference, and would understand it. So please don't get me wrong, we are not deliberately deceiving people with an authentic sign. The method is limited by the conditions."

"I'm not bragging, we are already considered a Chinese restaurant with northern dishes that are close to the original taste in New York. If you want to order dishes like 'three non-stick', 'stir-fried shrimp', 'dry fried balls', we don't I will disappoint you. But it is very troublesome when it comes to special seasoning. My mother also said that because of the wrong soy sauce, our 'scallion fried lamb' tastes like Japanese sukiyaki."

In this way, Mi Xiaoran really suddenly realized and understood Boss Chang's difficulties.

Well, what do you want, what do you have, how do you cook?
These days, it is difficult to find the real taste of hometown on the other side of the ocean.

However, the conversation has reached this point, and it is such a special day.

A meeting between a girl from the capital and half of a fellow countryman in a foreign country will never end in a hurry with such a big regret.

In fact, while they were talking, Boss Chang's true sincerity and apology came to the table.

Before the boss Ganqing Chang came to apologize, he ordered the back kitchen to make a tofu casserole as soon as possible with cabbage, tofu, and vermicelli.

You know, although everyone in China eats this in winter, there is no cabbage for sale in the United States.

The supermarket is full of brothers of cabbage, and there are dozens of kinds of lettuce.

Speaking of it, this is a dish not on the menu, and it belongs to the hidden cuisine that Boss Chang himself enjoys.

So Mi Xiaoran was ecstatic when he saw it, and drooled for nothing.

To Mi Xiaoran, this tofu casserole, which is common in China, is like taking a bath in a water-scarce desert.

From the familiar and unfamiliar taste, she felt the fragrance, deliciousness and kindness as if it was 100 years away.

This international Chinese cabbage and tofu soup fulfilled Mi Xiaoran's purpose of eating here today without any regrets.

The balance in her heart rose sharply, and all the faint depression disappeared.

She even made up her mind that if she needed to go to a restaurant in the future, she would come back here as much as possible to take care of Boss Chang's business.

Not for anything else, although the taste here is not satisfactory.

But because Boss Chang is a human being, it is worth it if he has a human touch.

I have to say that in this world, many fates between people are very ingenious, as if they are arranged in the dark.

Don't look at Mi Xiaoran who is already surprised that she and Boss Chang are half-citizens.

But in fact, the relationship between them is far closer than they currently think.

It's just that none of them know who is between them.

I don't know what they missed today.

In fact, just after Mi Xiaoran and Zhao Zhenyu left "Huaixiangju" contentedly, Boss Chang who sent them out entered a private room in the restaurant.

Inside, a lady in a royal blue cheongsam with graying temples was waiting for him to eat.

Don't look at the emerald bracelet on her head, the sapphire earrings on her ears, and the pearl necklace on her neck.

But there are not many luxurious dishes on their table.

It's just a casserole of cabbage tofu soup, a dish of sweet and sour carp, and two plates of dumplings with three delicacies.

The only transcendent enjoyment worthy of Mi Xiaoran's envy is a plate of stir-fried diced pheasant with pickled melon.

"Mom, why are you waiting for me? Look, the food is cold."

"Look at what you said, the two of us will eat the whole meal, don't I want to eat alone on New Year's Eve?"

"Mom, why don't you want to meet that girl? After finally meeting a person from the capital, you don't want to ask about the situation in the capital yourself? If you can find out about the Ma's garden..."

"Hey, I didn't dare to ask if I wanted to. The situation over there in the first few years was too severe. Maybe if we asked, it would bring him under censorship. I have endured it for so many years, there is no need to rush for a while. What's more, he should already be married and have children, so he may not stay where he is. I can't risk his life just because I want to see him."

"Mom, it's been so many years that I know you can't let it go. Otherwise, I'll go there next year. Even if we find a chef for our restaurant, we can't continue to lose money like this. I take this opportunity, I can help you investigate secretly. No one will know."

"No, no, what's the matter with the restaurant, why don't we just lose some money. We don't need to rely on this restaurant to live. Although you are not my own, you are the only one I rely on. Your safety is the most important thing."

(End of this chapter)