The lonely foodie

"Auntie, what's the matter with you?" Ivan couldn't help asking when he saw that the other party was hesitant to speak.

"It's nothing." The proprietress smiled, "I just can't bear it. My shop will not open tomorrow."

"What's the matter?" Ivan was a little surprised. This small shop has been open by the school for almost 20 years. Many seniors who have graduated for a long time often come back to eat, and the business has always been good.

Seeing that the proprietress is only in her early forties, she doesn't look like she is too old to do anything, but her complexion is indeed ugly, pale and dull.

"I found out that I have a blood disease, and the doctor said it can't be cured, so I have to go home and keep it." The proprietress said, "You are my last two guests, the last three bowls of glutinous rice, you two have eaten, and there is one bowl left for me. Wait and eat by yourself."

The proprietress sighed, as if trying to conceal her disappointment, she stroked her hair, which was already neat at the temples.

The two of them didn't know how to comfort them, they just felt sad in their hearts.

"Actually, it's nothing." The proprietress continued, "Is there anyone who doesn't get sick? They all get sick, get old and die. I just... really want to talk to someone. When I get home, I have to pretend. I can’t let my family see my unhappiness, and my family has to pretend, and I can’t let me see their worry.”

"It's been a small shop for so many years." The proprietress looked around, touched the table, and caressed the yellowed walls, "This is my own little world. If the business is good and the business is bad, the shop will be closed at night. If you want to cry, you can howl, if you want to laugh, you can laugh at the wall for a long time, and in the future... there will be no more."

For a while there was a popular saying on the Internet that after get off work, middle-aged men would smoke a cigarette in the car before going home.

Going forward is a workplace full of intrigues, and going back is a chaotic life, as if the only time for this cigarette every day belongs to me.

It is difficult for Ivan to empathize with this. He has been drifting outside alone for two years, and he lacks everything, the last thing he lacks is the time to be alone.

What he regrets is that tomorrow or the accident does not know which one will come first, and he must live every day well so as not to leave any regrets.

Coming out of the shop, Ivan asked Mo Bai to take a photo of himself. The background is a small shop with spicy chicken and glutinous rice, and a smoky signboard. Standing at the gate, steam is steaming in the wooden chimney on the stove.

The two of them walked back along the corridor beside the moat. The river wind was cold, and Mo Bai grabbed Ivan and helped him zip up his coat.

After buttoning his clothes, Ivan didn't leave, and rested his forehead on Mobai's shoulder, thinking about it in the faint scent of soap.

Mo Bai rubbed his hair, stretched out his long arms to wrap him in his arms, and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Ivan's nose was sour, and his voice was muffled, "I feel quite uncomfortable."

"It will all pass," Mo Bai said.

"Life seems to be stuck. Ever since my dad jumped into the river because of me, everything has been wrong."

"Don't stop, just take a few more steps."

Ivan raised his head and pulled it out of Mobai's embrace. Although he was reluctant to part with it, it was a bit embarrassing for the two big men to be so tall on the street.

"Aren't you curious about my affairs?" Ivan turned around and took two steps facing Mo Bai. Mo Bai stretched out his hand and pulled him, "Be careful, there is a hurdle in the back." Ivan turned around again and stood side by side with him walking.

Mo Bai smiled, "An ancient saying goes: don't see anything wrong with it, don't listen to anything wrong with it, and don't speak anything wrong with it."

Ivan rolled his eyes, "Speak human."

"If it's not about your own business, don't f*cking inquire about it." Mo Bai said.

Ivan was so teased that he giggled, and the boredom in his chest dissipated a lot, pointing at Mobai, "Can you still learn it well?"

The street lamp fell on the bottom of the black and amber eyes, as bright as a Milky Way, with a smile on the corner of his mouth, "I'm curious, do you want to say it?"

"Well." Ivan nodded, "Actually, it's not a big deal, I don't want to say it's just that I'm not in the mood."

"Do you need some wine?" Mo Bai pointed to a canteen in front.

"No way." Ivan waved his hands again and again, "I'll just do what I say."

"Yi Fei, it's actually my half-brother, and my mother...is a typical mistress, do you know what a mistress is?"

Now they are all monogamous, and there is no mention of the aunt. Mo Bai probably guessed that Xiaosan'er should mean the aunt.

"After having me, my mother made a fuss about asking my father to divorce and marry her. Later, the marriage was divorced, and my father also married my mother, but Yi Fei's mother... jumped off the building on the day my father remarried... .It was not rescued."

Ivan shrank his neck, looked down at the checkered tiles on the ground, and continued, "My mother may also have suffered retribution. Yifei's mother died less than half a year ago, and my mother bled to death when she gave birth to me. I have never seen her, and I have never drank a sip of her milk."

Mo Bai put his arms around his shoulders, and continued to walk forward. Two figures, one tall and one short, were cast on the checkered tiles, stretched out by the street lamps.

"I always felt that I owed Yifei, so I was always afraid of him. Let him not dare to fight, grab, or show off, and try to live like a corpse. If it wasn't for something wrong with my dad, I might be able to I have been lying on my body until I am completely independent, far away from them, but before the expected tomorrow comes, the accident will come first."

Mobai's hand rubbed against his shoulder a few times, bringing a little warmth.

"My dad was pissed off by me. I did something he couldn't accept at all. My dad jumped into the river, just this river." Ivan raised his finger and pointed to the moat next to him, "He wanted to die, but was caught After being rescued, the doctor said that knocking his head on the rocks at the bottom of the river may not wake him up. My father is still lying in the intensive care unit of Nanshan Hospital. Yi Fei greeted the hospital. I can’t even visit him. I haven't seen him for two years, I don't know how he is now, and I don't know if he can wake up."

Mo Bai is the worst at consoling people. In the past, when Mo Yin was unhappy, he would cook him something delicious. Once Mo Yin ate something good, his mood would improve.

"What do you want to eat tomorrow morning?" Mo Bai took his hand away from Ivan's shoulder, and rubbed his little prickly head.

"Is the store going to open tomorrow?" Ivan raised his head, the light in his eyes turned from gray to bright.

"Open." Mo Bai nodded.

Some time ago, Ivan's health was not very good, and I took this opportunity to suspend the business to let him rest for two days. Why spread rumors?What cyberbullying?Mo Bai always believes that evil does not prevail over good.

The hotpot restaurant has been vacant for a few days, and the old elm table has been covered with a thin layer of dust. The two aunts who have been hired to help clean up the hygiene of the store quickly.

Mobai took out the bean dregs from the soy milk, added flour, eggs, minced meat, chopped green onion, light soy sauce, chicken essence, oyster sauce and carrots and mixed thoroughly.

Heat the frying pan and brush with lard, knead the whipped bean dregs into a cake shape, and fry in the oil pan until golden on both sides.

The bean dregs cake is fried, and a pot of lo mei stewed in a small casserole on the fire is full of fragrance.

Delicious lo-mei brine is all aged, also known as old brine.

The old stew has been stewed repeatedly, and after being baptized by ingredients such as beef, pig's trotters, chicken and duck, and big stick bones, it is condensed into a rich essence.

After marinating the marinade of meat dishes, remove impurities, let it cool and store it in the refrigerator, take it out next time and marinate it again, and add a little spice according to the taste of the marinade.

This is Mo Bai's first time making lo-mei here, so naturally there is no such thing as old-fashioned lo-mei, but if he puts his heart into the ingredients, the lo-mei won't be bad.

Pork head meat, trotters, chicken feet, and chicken wings are floated in clean water for half an hour to remove blood stains and fishy smells.

First marinate the pork head meat and trotters over medium heat to let the ingredients "spit out oil" so as not to taste greasy.Finally, put ingredients with little oil, such as chicken wings and feet, and simmer on a low heat to prevent the ingredients from being dehydrated due to high fire and causing the meat to become dry.

The brine is made of hot pot broth. In order not to steal the fragrance of the ingredients, only star anise, cinnamon, and cumin are used as spices.Other spices with strong fragrance, such as grass fruit, angelica, woody, etc., are used in less amount.

Finally, boil the sugar color with rock sugar and pour it into the marinade. The marinated vegetables made from this will be more ruddy, oily and crystal-clear in color.

The stewed vegetables are sliced ​​and served on the plate, the chicken feet and chicken wings are served whole, the bean dregs cake is golden and crispy, and the soy milk is fragrant.

Ivan sat down at the table, grabbed a chicken wing first, and took a bite of the fragrant and soft chicken.

"Have you washed your hands?" Mo Bai was putting his chopsticks on the bone plate, seeing his anxious look, he tapped the back of his hand with the chopsticks.

With half a chicken wing in his mouth, Ivan rushed to the kitchen to wash his hands. After wetting his hands, he soaped them. The soap foam was rinsed off, and then he dried them with a clean white cotton gauze.

Tsk... really particular, Xiaofan.

After washing his hands cleanly, Ivan didn't use chopsticks at all, and ate them directly with his hands, bean dregs cake in one hand and marinated chicken feet in the other, and asked Mo Bai to feed him while drinking soy milk.

"Brother, you wrote that article on the Internet, right?" Ivan's lips were stained with marinade, shining brightly.

What Ivan was talking about was a long Weibo article posted by Zhang Yan this morning. The article didn’t have any exciting content. It just talked about the cause and effect of the posting notice of the Heping Hot Pot Restaurant, without much explanation or clarification. Just clean facts.

The article reads calmly and calmly, and the text is fresh and clean. Compared with the article on the ostrich side, one is about scallion tofu, and the other is about big pig's trotters.

Mobai caught a piece of crispy bean dregs cake with the tip of his chopsticks, and took a bite, "Of course, we must explain clearly what happened. As for whether anyone believes it, it's up to the beholder."

Ivan nodded, and picked up another pig's trotter. Wouldn't it be unhealthy to eat pig's trotters early in the morning?He is very particular about nutritional balance.

Thinking of it this way, I took another bite of the pig's trotter that was stewed so soft that it was so delicious!

You are my little apple...

The mobile phone on the bar rang, and Mo Bai got up to answer it.

"Xiaobai, Xiaobai, Xiaobai, it's terrible, Jingluo reposted that Weibo." Zhang Yan's voice came out of the earpiece one after another, and Mo Bai calmly opened the distance between the phone and his ears. .

Ivan took a bite of the pig's trotter and chewed, complaining, making a fuss, it was Whale Falling who reposted Weibo... Whale Fall... Whale...

Fuck!Ivan threw the trotters on the plate, rushed to the kitchen to wash his hands, picked up his phone and clicked on Weibo.

"Whale Falling Whale Falling Whale Falling, I'll go, it's really Whale Falling, Whale Falling has reposted our Weibo, we're about to turn around, Qu Mobai, we're saved!"

The two people on and off the phone looked crazy, and Mo Bai was even more confused, asking repeatedly in his life: Who is Jingluo?from where?Where are you going?