Sesame Green Bean Garlic

The masked man handed Zian a big pancake.Zian raised his palm, wanting to refuse, but the masked man directly stuffed the cake into his hand.

After touching the warm food, Zian's defenses collapsed.He eagerly curled up his fingers, took the big pancake, and started to eat it.

The whole world disappeared, only the salty and simple sauce, the astringent onion, and the greasy crisp, intertwined into a heavy and greasy taste in his mouth.But how can it be so delicious? !

Zian ate the whole pie in one go, and when he regained consciousness, there was only a leather bag and a few green onions left in his hand.Is this gone?Zi'an couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.He didn't care about getting dirty, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

The sun shone on his body, and the light was also chaotic, but Zian squinted his eyes comfortably, and raised his hand to stroke the mangy dog.

The masked man smiled secretly when he saw Zi'an gobbling it up.He picked up a ham sausage with a bamboo stick and handed it to him.

Zian only hesitated for a second, then took the intestine and took a bite.Half of the sausage fell off and landed on his leather shoes, greasy.

Zian didn't care too much, he was already [-]% full, and reached out for his wallet, wanting to pay the masked man.

At this time, the street suddenly became commotion.Not far away, a woman selling socks stood in front of her with her hips akimbo and her legs outstretched, and shouted, "The city management is here, get out!"

The sidewalk was like building blocks suddenly kicked by a brat and scattered.The stall owners were packing and tidying up, the three-wheeled engine sounded, and the fast-moving people had already started to run.

Seeing that the man in the mask was also nimbly putting things on the electric three-wheeler, Zian quickly took out his wallet and said, "Wait...money..."

Before he finished speaking, Zian's feet tightened suddenly.He looked down, and it turned out that the mangy dog ​​was not satisfied after eating his intestines, so he came to lick his leather shoes, and after licking, he still felt empty, so he simply bit his leather shoes.

Zi'an was shocked, and started a tug-of-war with the dog.

However, the old beggar wanted to run away. Seeing the dog biting Zian's leather shoes and refusing to leave, he was so anxious that he tried his best to pull the dog's chain, trying to pull the dog away.

The old beggar was so strong that Zian was about to be dragged away by him.The man in the mask got off the tricycle, without saying a word, took off Zian's leather shoes roughly, and with a struggle, the shoes came out of the dog's mouth.

The dog barks and barks at him and is about to pounce on him.The city management also came running in groups from behind, shouting, "Don't run! Damn it, stop!"

Seeing that he was being attacked on both sides, the man in the mask didn't care about anyone, he threw the leather shoes in his hand onto his tricycle, stepped on the pedals, and fled quickly.

Zian was stunned, with one bare foot, looking at the suddenly empty street.

The man left, the dog ran away, and he was left alone, facing the mighty city management.

By the time Zian's feet were properly inserted into the shoes, it was already noon.He took a shower in the hotel, changed into new clothes, put on new shoes, it felt like a new skin.

Then he held up the tattered newspaper to the sunlight from the window.The newspaper became translucent, letting in light, and Zian's face in the photo became blurred.

He looked at it for a while, put down the newspaper, and made up his mind to continue yesterday's journey.

Yuanmingyuan is not far from Wudaokou, only four or five stops away.But the surrounding area is very large. When he went to the original location of the painter's village, he saw that the bungalows had been demolished long ago, and turned into gray slab buildings.

Bored, he went into Yuanmingyuan for a while.In winter, when the trees were slack, Zi'an sat on the broken wall, feeling at a loss.

Surrounded by the remains of the garden, stones are dumped everywhere, as if this is what it used to look like.After lying down for so many years, it probably doesn't bother to express anything, and tourists are just at a loss when they see it.The explanatory board described the splendor of the empire and the brutality of the invaders, but when I saw these ruins, I just felt terribly humble. Those people back then, whether they were victorious or defeated, all died in the end. The weeds are growing endlessly...

Zian's phone rang.Li Xiaonan roared at the other end: "Get back immediately!"

"I'm in Beijing."

"Ah?! Are you going to Beijing to do a ball game and petition? Ann, we have fallen for this matter; I have admitted it, so why don't you let it go? Michelin evaluates it every year, and we have so many opportunities. Come back quickly, let's discuss a strategy, go to three-star restaurants all over the world, and get familiar with the tastes of those judges, with your ability, I don't believe you will lose to those Frenchmen next year!"

After hearing this, Zian became even more irritable. "Old Li, I'm going back now, don't talk about tactics, I can't even make Dunyangchun noodles. Now that I am like this, I can't enter the kitchen."

Li Xiaonan was silent on the other side, and after a while, he cursed in a low voice: "Little bi, can Nonna think about it?"

Zian: "Boss, I just want to ask for a leave of absence, and I won't be back until two days later."

"Come back tomorrow!"

Zian argued hard with him, but in the end he had no choice but to tell him, "I want to find my father."

"You want to find your father?" Li Xiaonan said in shock: "Didn't you say that your father ran away when you were five years old? Beijing has more than 1 square kilometers and 2000 million people. Where can you find it?"

Zian secretly sighed: Where can I find it?Touch it.It's almost impossible to hit the corner.

After all, he did not dare to tell Li Xiaonan.He bit the bullet and said, "I have a clue, but it takes time."

Li Xiaonan thought for a while: "What's your father's name? I'm looking for help."

Zian: "Huo Xinde, 59 years old."

Li Xiaonan sighed, "I'll try. If I find it, you'll come back?"

"Yeah." Zi'an replied.Li Xiaonan has a wide range of people, with his help, the success rate must be much higher, but...

It's just that Zi'an is not sure, what will happen after he finds his father.More importantly, does he really want to find his father?

Zian stayed in Beijing for half a month unknowingly.He wandered around every day, ate when he was hungry, and sat down when he was tired, staring at the gray sky in Beijing in a daze.

He went to many places where tourists would go, watching the shadows cast by crows flying by at Meridian Gate, seeing fallen leaves Xiaoxiang on the edge of Weiming Lake, drinking old yogurt next to the old embassy in Dongjiaomin Lane, and going to Ditan Park to watch in a daze A few mandarin ducks were swimming around... His new shoes were covered with dust every day, and after being rubbed, they looked shiny again.But when he looks at the new shoes, he misses his old ones doubly.He has worn those old shoes for fifteen or sixteen years, and every fold on the upper fits his feet, as if it is the layer of skin full of stories that will grow when he grows old.Losing it is like losing your future self.

He bought that pair of shoes with his first salary, and traveled all over the world with him, from Chicago, Singapore, Copenhagen, New York, Paris, to Shanghai. He was about to walk to the position he wanted, but he was caught off guard, and he stepped on a blank space, only to realize that he was only looking at the target and forgot to look at the road under his feet.And all the roads in the world are very cunning, and they will never lead people to the end in a straightforward manner.He lost his coordinates and his shoes. In this big and noisy city, he even felt like he lost himself!

Where should he go?

By the way, where is he now?Through the narrow window, Zian looked at the flow of people below, and then remembered that he was in the Starbucks on Qianmen Street, surrounded by tourists with their children, and it was extremely noisy.

The "old houses" on Qianmen Street were all repaired and rebuilt later, and they are magnificent and bright, but Zian felt that he was not interested.

The man sitting across from him, seeing his bored look, said, "Dude, this front door is for people to see. There is dough on the front, and it's also dough when you open it inside. It's very boring. You want to When you look at Beijing, you have to go to Zhenhutong.”

He is the driver Zian found from the taxi app.Originally, he downloaded this app to get rid of the woman, but he didn't expect it to come in handy.The driver introduced himself as Kuizi, a bright and lively Beijinger who took Zi'an around the capital in the past few days.

Zi An had nothing to say: "Okay, show me."

They went to a busy street lined with restaurants and bars, with traffic jams on the road and people on the sidewalks.

Kuizi said, "What, is it interesting here?"

"It's no different than the front door."

"Hey, as you said, there is only skin at the front door. Here, the skin is peeled off, and there are still flesh and blood, internal organs, and everything is missing." He turned the car into a narrow alley with difficulty.

Kuizi snapped the rearview mirrors on both sides, and then the car stopped against the wall.Zian followed him through the short alley, and when he reached the end, he suddenly became enlightened.

Inside is a small open space, with two rows of courtyard houses converging all the way forward, and finally stop at an ancient building.The towering ancient buildings blocked the view from behind and separated the hustle and bustle outside, making this place a semi-enclosed field by itself.A few children were playing with scooters, running over the shadow cast by the locust tree, making a light and smooth friction sound, as if the time that was still here was scratched, and they smiled lightly.

Zi'an stared at the scene in front of him blankly, speechless.He has been walking for many days, and has been to many places. The new pair of shoes under his feet has worn out his feet, but he still can't stop walking.But now, with this ancient building in front of him, he suddenly felt that there was no way out.

He looked up at the faded wall, and after a while, he said, "Where is this?"

"Bell Tower! Bell and Drum Tower, you should know that in the old days, emperors, generals, ordinary people, and people in Sijiu City had to listen to morning bells and evening drums when eating, drinking, and sleeping."

"This is the Bell and Drum Tower." Zi'an said softly.

He looked around the quiet open space, and in front of the tallest locust tree, his eyes suddenly froze.

The phone rang.Zi An mechanically took out his phone and slowly pressed the answer button.

"Hello? Hey! Zian, send me a picture of your father. Ask your mother, what day did he leave?" Li Xiaonan's thunderous voice came over.

Zi'an suddenly said: "Old Li, I found it."

"What did you find? Yeah, you found your heartless father!"

"No," Zian's voice became cheerful, "I found my shoes."

"..."

Zian raised his eyes to look at the locust tree, his lost leather shoe was hanging on a strong branch, shaking slightly.These leather shoes have been worn for more than ten years, and they are recognized at a glance.

"Old Li, do you believe in immortals guiding you?"

"What the hell! Zian, are you sick? The smog in Beijing is too severe, has it entered your brain?"

Zian ignored him and walked towards the big locust tree, wanting to take a closer look.He jumped a few times with all his strength, but the shoes were too high to reach.

Hearing his panting voice, Li Xiaonan said in surprise, "An, are you alright?"

Zian panted a few times, and said, "Old Li, I want to stay here."

"Ah?! What did you say?"

Zian shouted into the phone, "I want to stay here and not go back to Shanghai!"

"What's wrong with you? Hey, no, someone poached the wall - which red guy poached you, just became a one-star chef, and you want to abandon me?"

Zian couldn't understand on the phone, so he had to say: "Old Li, I'm really sorry. I came here to look for my father. Didn't you say that Beijing is so big and there are so many people, where can we meet? But I lost A shoe, half a Beijing away, I met again."

Li Xiaonan couldn't understand the logic at all, and said, "So, are your shoes perfect?"

"No," Zian took a deep breath, feeling that the agitation these days had calmed down, "This is the guidance God gave me, tell me, this is my destination. I don't know what I'm looking for, but I I know you can find it here. Lao Li, I want to stay here and open my own restaurant."

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Continued on Monday