In the pub, the proprietress came out of the kitchen with a steaming bowl of braised beef noodles.

The noodles just out of the pot are white in the hands of the proprietress, and the inside of the pub smells good.

At that time, although most diners in the pub had had enough to eat and drink, everyone was awakened by this delicious face.

Under the command of the nose, diners began to search for the source of noodles. They all stared at the noodles in the hands of the proprietress and watched her walk lightly among the diners.

The story happened in Hang Cheng in the middle of winter. Walking on the road, pedestrians have already been blown to pieces by the knife-like cold wind. They huddled together, rubbed their hands and moved slowly. For those who don't want to go anywhere, they can only gather in a place similar to a pub to keep warm, in order to be able to light a casual fire, spread a casual story (biography, dialect, chatting with each other), and also save energy (energy, dialect, Tongli) and a casual drink.

As for why there is such a scene, the reason is that it is too cold in the middle of winter in Hang Cheng.

In such a cold day, it is good to eat a bowl of steaming noodles, even if you think about it.

In fact, people in the pub thought so at that time, and without exception, they thought of another question-who is this bowl of noodles for? They know that no matter who this person is, he can envy and hate himself for a long time. So, with this question, from the moment the proprietress appeared at the kitchen door with noodles, everyone has been paying attention to her every move and wanted to see who will spend this bowl of noodles.

At that time, the audience was silent. Under the gaze of everyone, I saw the proprietress else. The enamel bowl with a face was firmly held on the chest by two hands. The red cotton-padded jacket highlights her beautiful figure, which is particularly conspicuous in the gray ocean formed by a group of diners wearing coarse clothes, like a gorgeous flame. I saw the boss walk past one dining car after another, past one table after another, bypassing the dog sleeping on the ground.

Tavern. She's been gone a long time.

Finally, I stopped at the nearest table and put the beef noodles in front of the only man sitting at that table. He was wearing a huge hat and a robe.

"Thank you." The man's face was covered by a huge hat, and only his mouth was moving slightly.

The proprietress responded with a shallow smile and then retired.

Seeing this unusual scene, people couldn't help whispering, and the restaurant was filled with noisy whispers in an instant. It stands to reason that the table is always blown by the cold wind because it is close to the door, so people don't want to sit there. Now, in the case that everyone doesn't know, I don't know when, there is a mysterious man wearing a huge hat and a robe. This bowl of noodles is actually for this person. It must be hard to miss this person.

"Look at this dress," said diner A. "It's obviously not from Hangzhou."

"This must be a big deal," said Diner B. "I seem to see his sword pinned to his waist."

"Keep your voice down, Hangzhou is controlled by swords and shadows." Diner c said.

While speaking, the man wearing a giant hat and robe has begun to eat noodles, and the diners are no longer whispering, but continue to observe the man's every move.

The man raised his chopsticks, smelled the noodles and looked at the noodles in the bowl. In people's eyes, this bowl is really no different from ordinary noodles, and you really can't see anything. However, people who practice martial arts will see vigor, and in this bowl of noodles, robe people will see the existence of vigor:

You see, the water used to cook noodles does not come from any well, but from the melting of ice in the snow-capped mountains outside the Great Wall for thousands of years. This kind of water tastes mellow and cool, and the noodles made can not only absorb the brilliance of the sun and the moon, but also maintain the essence of noodles. Look at this noodle. This noodle is made of the best rice in the Central Plains, and every rice plant is specially taken care of when it grows. Carefully taste a mouthful of noodles and chew slowly with your teeth, and you will know that this rice is not moistened and watered with ordinary farmyard manure, but cultivated with a secret advanced organic fertilizer made from the feces of 500 boys and girls carefully selected by trainers. Of course, it is not enough to have such excellent flour, and the skills of mixing flour are also very particular. The most important thing is that the dough must be stirred by a virgin's hand for 49 days. In addition, the selection and production of soup head, beef in soup, poached eggs and chopsticks for eating noodles are also very elegant, so I won't list them here. However, the most noteworthy thing is the fire used to cook noodles. You know, cooking such a bowl of things with aura of heaven and earth, using ordinary firewood, is absolutely furious and resentful, and the devil takes the hindmost. We must use skyfire. In other words, make a fire with lightning. It is conceivable that lighting a fire in a thunderstorm night is naturally a very dangerous thing. According to legend, countless people died of electric shock when they ignited. But it is this that shows the sincerity contained in this bowl of noodles-this bowl of noodles in front of us is unique. If we are lucky enough to eat the same noodles in the future, it is very likely that they are not made by the same person and the ingredients used are completely different. Everything is different-after all, one can't eat the same bowl of noodles twice. And this is the so-called temporary phase.

So you see, this is a bowl of Zen noodles.

Just now I said that the spirit can be seen on this man's face, which also proves that this man is a martial artist on the one hand. However, in front of food, there is no high or low, and all beings are equal. This is the only thing, Amitabha. So now, in this noodle restaurant, he is no different from others-just a body, a diner, an ordinary person who is tasting the bowl of noodles in front of him.

With the eyes of many diners, he picked up noodles with chopsticks and sent them to his mouth to chew and crush slowly, so that they could touch the taste buds on the tip of his tongue. Once, words such as "strong" and "sweet" passed through his mind. The next moment, he felt as if he were in an endless rice field and an illusory snow-capped mountain. The warmth of the surface and the sweetness of water are intertwined, making it half flame and half seawater, which makes his chest throb as if he were in the sky.

To all people, he doesn't seem to change his face when eating noodles. In fact, his inner activities at this time are extremely rich-he is amazed at the aftertaste, and it is amazing that just a bite can bring such pleasure!

Then, he carefully picked up a piece of beef and sent it to his mouth. Never thought, just at the entrance, this piece of beef seemed to have life and began to jump on his tongue, as if he was eating a whole live cow instead of a small piece of beef. This piece of meat is very difficult to chew, but every bite is different from the last one. Every bite will have soup oozing out. This soup is like a reward for chewing beef, which makes people unable to extricate themselves. I don't know how long it took, but the meat was finally chewed into shredded pork and minced meat, which was slowly swallowed with noodle soup. It really is:

Wine and meat pass through the intestines, and Buddha is in the heart.

Compassion follows the chest, and a smile eliminates enmity.

After looking at poached eggs, I couldn't bear to move chopsticks. I saw this poached egg half exposed and half immersed in the soup. The exposed part presents the unique color of poached eggs-yellow and white blend, bright and lovely, which is "two orioles singing green willows and a row of egrets flying to the sky"; The part immersed in the soup is like a virgin in the bath, hazy and shy, and "and, because of her laziness, a maid is helping her up when the first emperor notices her and chooses her as his bride". In short, whether it is the exposed goose yellow or the charm in the bath, it can arouse people's infinite reverie, make people feel the spring breeze, and make people blush. Seeing this scene, diners often break poached eggs with chopsticks, watch the failed yolk slowly flow out and penetrate into the soup, then carefully touch it with their lips, lick it with their tongues, suck it with their mouths and bite it with their teeth. Or, if you don't like such a difficult way to eat, you can chew slowly with noodles, meat and soup, and close your eyes to experience the sensory stimulation brought by the gathering of foods with different tastes, which is not bad.

After eating poached eggs, there is only steaming soup left in the bowl. Good times always pass quickly. At present, everything, together with this bowl of noodles, has finally reached the end of this journey. This feeling made him sigh. But he still put down his chopsticks and held an enamel bowl in his hands-diners often express their respect and gratitude for this bowl of noodles, the people who make them, and even the nature who provides the ingredients-at this moment, the diners in the pub began to whisper again, praising the man for knowing how to eat noodles (that is, noodles) and lamenting that such people are rare now. But he couldn't hear people's words at all, because when the steaming noodle soup zigzagged through the intestines, the warmth of the hot soup spread all over the body along the meridians of the whole body, and the feeling of fullness that followed after eating in the cold winter, all the memories came to his mind with this bowl of hot soup, which made him feel happy (happy people are often like this, and unfortunate people have their own misfortunes).

Finally, with everyone watching, he finished the last sip of soup in the bowl and put the bowl firmly on the table.

After a long silence, he took off his hat and put it on the table. Only then did people see the fine sweat on his forehead and the flashing tears in his eyes. People looked at him and turned to face them. They were silent for a long time and said:

"This is delicious! Just like when I ate five years ago! Five years ago today ... "

It turned out that five years ago, this man failed to become famous and suddenly became penniless. He happened to pass by Hang Cheng and this pub that day. Coincidentally, he was already hungry, so he sat in this pub without thinking. However, he has spent all his travel expenses and doesn't even have money to eat noodles! So at that time, he just wanted to bake a fire in the pub for a while, and then he left when it was hot.

He just hung his head and thought with a heavy heart.

I never thought that when he looked up, a bowl of noodles was already in front of him.

"The store just opened today, and there are too many noodles. Eat, it doesn't matter. " The proprietress smiled and said to him, shut up, and then turned and left.

Although it is a small bowl with little noodles and meat, it is the most delicious bowl of noodles he has ever eaten in his life.

After eating, he said thank you to the proprietress, and then left in a hurry.

Two years ago, after unremitting efforts, he finally became an official in charge of escort. However, on the way to escort the birthday class, they were hijacked by mountain thieves. Although he was lucky enough to wait for a narrow escape, he was penniless after his escape. His work mistakes made him afraid to go home and he could only wander around like a beggar.

Coincidentally, in the dead of winter that year, he wandered to Hang Cheng and happened to pass by this pub. He was moved by the memories of the past. I wonder if the boss's wife still remembers a meeting two years ago?

With this in mind, he went into the pub again.

Unfortunately, the proprietress had already forgotten him, but she still brought him a bowl of beef noodles.

When she put the noodles in front of him, she said, "The shop just opened today, and there are too many noodles. Eat, it doesn't matter. "

This time, he realized that the proprietress had been lying to him, which made him silent for a long time.

This time it's also a small bowl, but there are a lot more noodles in it than last time.

This time, he also finished eating noodles, thanked him and left in a hurry.

……

"So, the reason why I came here again today," recalled the past, and the man got up and said excitedly, "is to thank the proprietress. When I was down and out, she gave me the motivation to stick to it and let me know that happiness is not complicated, just like a bowl of noodles! "

"It's her, let me know, man, it's very simple, as long as you can eat enough, you will be very happy!"

As soon as the words were finished, everyone in the pub suddenly fell silent.

Then, like a flash flood, everyone applauded.

The applause was deafening and resounded through the pub, attracting passers-by to stop and watch. In this way, the pub was quickly surrounded by three layers inside and outside.

In the crowd, several good diners got up and went to the kitchen to ask the proprietress to come out.

Finally, in the prolonged applause that resounded through the dome, the proprietress came up to everyone and smiled at the white people.

At that time, as more and more people gathered, the red cotton-padded jacket on the boss's wife was particularly bright and warm among many gray cloth clothes.

At that time, in a pub, people actually felt a breath of spring.

(End of the full text, originally published in "Daydream of Architects")