It should be the article "Dad's Braised Pork Rice" in the 24th issue of "Youth Digest" in 2015

It was the dirtiest restaurant on China Street.

After my boyfriend described it like this, he took me there. That restaurant was exactly as he described it, no, it was even worse than what he described. There were other shops in a row, each one bright and clean, but that one looked like a dusty specimen that had been left unmoving in the exhibition room for many years. If there is no signboard of XX Restaurant, no one can find out that it is a restaurant.

However, the moment my boyfriend opened the door and entered, I immediately knew it was a restaurant that was open and full of energy. Every trace of air is mixed with the tempting aroma of food.

Near the entrance is a tall counter. A woman in her fifties is sitting inside, dialing an old abacus with her fingers.

"Hello." The tall boyfriend bowed in greeting.

"Young master, you are growing taller again!"

"No way, I am almost thirty and will not grow any longer." The boyfriend touched the short beard on his chin and said, The tone is gentle.

The woman looked around the store.

"If you don't mind being in front of the bathroom, there is room, but you have a companion..." She saw me standing behind her boyfriend and showed an embarrassed expression.

"Don't go downstairs, sit upstairs today." My boyfriend pointed to the ceiling and said.

Going up the narrow stairs behind the counter, you will find a small platform covered with tatami mats. Posters of long-gone idols wearing swimsuits, smiling with beers in hand are plastered on the walls. We sat down opposite each other next to the poster.

“On Saturdays, the queue will be all the way outside, and you have to wait patiently for an hour or an hour and a half.”

“With such a queue, everyone really wants to come and eat?”

"Yes, this is a popular restaurant that only experts know. All interviews are declined."

Towels and boiled water were brought up.

"You came here often when you were a kid?"

My boyfriend's hometown is in Yokohama. Judging from the way the woman called him young master just now, she should have known her boyfriend when he was very young.

“Yes, I come here often. My dad has been coming here since the previous generation of chefs. When I was in elementary school, I was hungry, so I brought my own money to eat here. I don’t know how much I love it. Eat!”

My boyfriend’s father has passed away and I heard he was a native of Yokohama.

"Shall I take the order?"

"Please do so."

Under normal circumstances, he would have shown me the menu and asked me what I wanted to eat. What. Having said that, the number of dates we dated was still very few. For us, dating means going out to a restaurant together.

"Well, a bottle of beer, a siomai, then shark's fin soup, and finally..."

"Braised pork rice." I don't know when he stood by and listened to our order. The aunt kindly suggested that she looked a bit like the woman at the counter.

"Are the shrimps good?" she asked my boyfriend while filling out the menu with pencil.

"I really want to eat, but there are only two of us today. Let's eat next time. I will come again before going to Canada."

"Canada? The young master is going on his honeymoon. Traveling?"

"No, no! I'm going to be transferred next year." My boyfriend's face gradually turned red - we have only been dating for half a year.

"I'm hungry, Auntie, please hurry up and place your order so that the food can be served!" the boyfriend said rudely.

"Okay, okay."

The aunt suddenly said these strange words, which even made my cheeks feel hot. However, the aunt was not in a hurry, dragging her feet and slowly going downstairs step by step.

The boyfriend finally regained his composure, picked up a towel to wipe his hands, took a sip of water, loosened his tie, and started talking easily.

“My dad is very particular about food. The soup in this restaurant is good, so he only eats soup; the salad in that restaurant is delicious, so he only eats salad; in the next restaurant, he only eats steak. "Then, go to your favorite dessert shop. He is used to eating like this."

"Excellent!" I heard it.

"No! Because I was accompanying him, I was still young, and I just wanted to eat quickly. But even though I had an empty stomach, I only had soup to drink, and I had to wait until the next restaurant. This was simply It’s torture! My mother is reluctant to accompany him.” When my boyfriend talks about his father, his face always looks like the calm sea in spring. Just looking at it makes me feel peaceful.

"But you also know how to eat because of this, and now, I am also benefiting from it."

Recently, I occasionally call my boyfriend "you" directly.

“Speaking of which, this is the store my dad comes to the most.” The boyfriend recalled the look in his eyes when he stared at his father in the past.

"This is beer and siomai." The aunt said as loudly as the voices of the guests around her, and put the plate on the table. Shaomai of different shapes are steaming with steam.

"Let's go!"

I picked up the chopsticks and enjoyed the hot food while it was still hot. This is our iron rule during meals.

“It’s delicious!” With the hot siomai in his mouth, he couldn’t help but exclaim. The meat filling is probably specially beaten to make it elastic and rich in gravy, exploding like a firecracker in your mouth.

“Well, the siomai here is really one of the best in the world!”

My boyfriend drank up the cold beer in the glass and chewed the siomai happily.

There were five siomai on a plate. My boyfriend ate three and I ate two. I really ate them all. Just when she suppressed her desire for another plate, the aunt holding the plate in both hands slowly walked upstairs again.

"I've been waiting for a long time, the soup is here."

This time it was a big bowl of shark fin soup. Shredded ham and bamboo shoots are like Chinese Valentine's Day notes with wishes written on them, mixed in the mist-like white soup. Just looking at them will whet your appetite. My boyfriend scooped up a small bowl and handed it to me.

I scooped up a spoonful with a small spoon and poured it into my tongue. There was a lot of shark fin.

"This is too delicious to say the least. Wow, so happy!"

"It's great, Zhumi likes it too."

In the past, my boyfriend He always called me "Miss" and this was the first time he called me by my first name. I pretended not to notice and continued to scoop the shark fin soup into my mouth with a small spoon. It’s not so much the shark fin in the soup, but the soup surrounding the shark fin. It’s so thick and the shark’s fin is used sparingly.

“Too much.”

My boyfriend straightened his legs, and I also changed my sitting position at the same time. Although we work in the same company, no one knows that we are dating. My boyfriend is three years older than me and works in the sales department.

I scooped up another bowl myself. It’s already October, no wonder I love this steaming food.

Shark fin soup is like snow falling on the grassland, filling my stomach softly. It also seems to disappear instantly after falling to the ground, flowing from the stomach to all parts of the body. The happiest moment is when you enjoy delicious food. Only at that moment can you forget all the annoying and sad things.

"Why is it so delicious?"

I stared at the shark fin soup in the spoon and said to myself. The taste is by no means bland, it’s the soup base that makes it thick but not greasy.

“When I have a cold, my dad will let me drink the soup here, and I am quite happy.”

“It’s such a luxury, but after drinking this soup when I have a cold, I can’t hold any other food in my stomach.”

“Yes, it tastes so soft.”

“It’s really a reassuring taste.”

"When Zhumi eats delicious food, her expression really looks like a child."

The boyfriend when he said this was completely different from the anxious look in the company.

“Each other.”

At the perfect time when the shark fin soup is almost bottomed out, braised pork rice comes on the scene.

“This is my dad’s favorite braised pork rice. When our family traveled abroad, he would also want to eat braised pork rice, which annoyed my mother to death. My mother’s cooking skills are also It’s professional, but it just doesn’t taste like this.”

Like the shark fin soup, this is a full bowl. People who don’t know will ask for a bowl each, which will be quite overwhelming. It was my boyfriend who helped me serve the rice. On top of the white rice were extremely braised pork, hot soup and matching side dishes.

"It looks delicious." I sighed from the bottom of my heart. The rich and thick soup has a crystal luster like maltose.

"Enjoy it!" I whispered sincerely.

In an anxious mood that I could no longer put my feelings into words and just wanted to be integrated with the food in front of me as soon as possible, I kept bringing the white spoon to my mouth. The rice grains are plump and coated in the five-flavored soup, giving it a unique taste. Just the white rice topped with soup is already very delicious, not to mention the braised pork... there is such a delicious thing in this world! Although it was a large piece of meat, it was stewed so soft and tender that it could be cut easily with a spoon. The flavor permeates every fiber of the meat. Rather than holding food in your mouth, it's like holding a work of art. While chewing, I felt very happy.

"It seems that Zhumei also likes it."

I was shocked to realize that I was silently eating hard. When I looked up, I saw my boyfriend staring at me with narrowed eyes and a smile.

“Until now, gas is not used here, but coke is used as fuel. The firepower is so strong that it can be cooked so thoroughly, and it is especially delicious. Only in this store can my father finish the meal completely. One meal."

"Of course."

I served the second bowl myself. My stomach was almost full, but I still felt like I could eat more. As a result, my boyfriend ate four bowls and I ate three bowls. In the end, my stomach was so stretched that the buttons of my skirt almost burst.

“Can’t move!”

Immersed in the aftertaste of happiness, I breathed out softly. It’s like riding on a small bamboo raft with your boyfriend, swaying with the waves, and looking up at the stars in the sky.

A big bowl full of rice, not a single grain of rice left, was all put into my boyfriend and I’s stomachs. If my boyfriend is not in front of me, I will really lie down on the tatami regardless of image.

The boyfriend took a sip of hot tea and suddenly sat upright with a serious expression. I thought I had made some serious gaffe, so I quickly corrected my posture. Could it be that he already hates me?

"Well, I have something to say to Zhumei today."

The boyfriend's expression looked even more embarrassed. I suddenly thought that he might want to break up. He must have felt sorry for me, so he treated me to a nice meal at the end.

"I just said that I am going to Canada next year..."

The boyfriend spoke slowly.

Do you want to break up before leaving? My boyfriend's expression was even more difficult for me to watch. In the past six months, we have been to various restaurants to eat, and just that makes us very happy. No matter what he wants to say, I am mentally prepared.

"Zhu Mei, are you willing to go together?"

I looked up in shock, and he looked at me with a red face.

"Will you marry me?"

"Huh? But..." I just said this and lowered my head.

"I understand. I proposed marriage when I understood everything. If you really can't forget that person, it doesn't matter if we are just friends who eat together. I feel happy when I am with you. " His voice was slightly choked.

My ex-boyfriend suddenly disappeared in front of me because of a car accident. He is also my colleague, so my boyfriend also knows about this. I haven’t dated anyone of the opposite sex for many years, and my boyfriend was the first person I dated after that incident.

The moment I lowered my head and blinked, tears fell, and all kinds of thoughts exploded in my chest.

"This is my father's last wish. When choosing a wife, you must choose someone who understands the taste of the food in this restaurant."

This idea was so strange that I raised my head unconsciously and gasped. A smile.

"What an interesting last wish." I smiled and wiped the tears from my cheeks.

“That’s right, but I also think that it’s best to have someone with whom you can enjoy delicious food.”

“But is it appropriate to decide based on this alone? Other aspects also need to be investigated."

At this time, my boyfriend said with a smile: "Those have been examined."

What? I asked him with my eyes.

“My mother often said that when you want to decide on your partner, eat with her. If you can eat everything with her, it doesn’t matter if you leave your wallet to her.”

Indeed, according to this standard, I may be qualified.

"Thank you."

There is so much meaning in the answer. If it is confirmed that it is him, I may be able to make my own decisions for the rest of my life and start from scratch. Of course, I was surprised to be proposed to at this time, but in my heart, I really dreamed of being able to be with my boyfriend like this forever.

"Are you really willing to accept me? There is still some time before departure, Zhumi can think about it carefully." My expression probably conveyed that I accepted the proposal, and my boyfriend's voice echoed happily deep in my ears. .

"Yes, I have to recognize whether you are the one who will give me delicious food for the rest of my life." I replied half-jokingly.

I haven’t thought of the small happiness of talking freely with the person I like for a long time. In an instant, a surge of emotion swept over me, and I really wanted to cry loudly, but my stomach was too full, so I could only look at my boyfriend blankly.

While paying, the woman at the counter grinned and said, "Master, is something good going on?" The words were on point, and her boyfriend's face suddenly turned red to the roots of his ears.

"I'll report back next time."

The boyfriend hurriedly paid the money, as if to block the woman's mouth.

"It's delicious." I said loudly, as if I wanted the chef in the kitchen to hear it. dirty? It makes no sense, this store is a dream destination for food lovers.

When we walked out of the restaurant, it was already dark and the temperature was a bit low.

"Let's take a walk to the park?" My boyfriend's palm gently wrapped my hand.

"Canada is very cold, right?"

"We are going to a seaside city, there must be a lot of fresh fish and shellfish."

The moonlight is bright, shining on Boats moored in the harbor.