Life is a Game

"Mother." Jiang Huiqin said softly, her eyes turning red.

Liu Xiuzhen looked out of the window blankly as if she hadn't heard, stroking the ashes urn with her right hand, like patting a sleeping child.

"Let's go, let's bring some sweet porridge for mother when we come back later." Li Mingyi said helplessly.

"Huiqin, when you move over, you, Mingzhe and Mingqing can go to school together." Liu Xiuzhen said suddenly.

Jiang Huiqin and Li Mingyi were stunned at the same time.

"Zhen'er (big sister) has been away for two months, and I have also thought about it for two months. It is better for a girl to read some books." Liu Xiuzhen's eyes had a glimmer of light, "I always think these days, if I Send her to a girls' school, even if it's just to learn a few more words of foreign language, will her personality be as cheerful as yours? If I had thought more about not only looking at the family background when picking her husband's house, I would have scolded her less in recent years If she said a few words, would she not be like this? "

"I have lived my whole life for others, and Zhen'er has lived my whole life for others. She doesn't want to live anymore, but I have to live. Ming Yi often told me when he first went to school that reading can make people understand and make people understand. People are wise, let me send Zhen'er and Chun'er (second sister) to girls' school, I don't believe it, I don't listen, blame me, blame me."

As Liu Xiuzhen said, she walked into the room with the urn in her arms.

On the table in the room, there is a lonely photo frame.

The photo above is a family portrait taken on the 30th of the previous year. It is a black and white photo. Everyone has a smile on their faces. The elder sister is standing in the corner and holding girl Fen, who looks very small, and girl Fen is smiling sweetly at the camera.

Things are different.

...

Chinatown is like a dilapidated and complicated labyrinth. The low-rise buildings are arranged irregularly. There are vendors on the street carrying baskets on poles. There are various shops with dilapidated or even dilapidated signboards. The wooden and stone walls are mottled or more mottled. The more you go in, the more dilapidated, and the darker you go.

Jiang Huiqin and Li Mingyi stopped in front of a shop with a half-closed door and no signboard. In front of the door was a dusty wooden board with crooked Chinese characters written on it: New product 7 yuan a pound.

"Mother Chen." Jiang Huiqin called from outside.

"Coming!" A middle-aged woman with disheveled hair and draped clothes pushed open the door, she just woke up, and spoke in a non-standard Mandarin, "Mrs. Li, hey, Mr. Li is here too, I heard You bought a house in the highlands, and you are going to move there!"

"I'm going to move out. I heard you came back yesterday. Has anyone been found?" Jiang Huiqin got straight to the point.

"It's too difficult. There are wars everywhere now. I have entrusted a lot of connections. It's not that I don't do things after collecting money. Now the whole north is fighting. Before I got on the boat, I heard that the south seems to be fighting too. It's a mess. Very! You only have a few photos. I asked a lot of people, but I have no impression. Your brother and your nephews are all males. It’s okay, that girl Fen in your family is so good-looking, I guess..." Mother Chen With a look of embarrassment on his face, he hesitated for a while, but said it anyway.

"Don't blame me for my bad speech. I know all the well-known businessmen. No one has an impression of Fen girl. Her appearance is also a sought-after product in our industry. The Fen girl in your family is probably gone. And now In this world, she, such a good-looking little girl, is out alone, dead is better than alive."

Jiang Huiqin couldn't even utter a word of rebuttal.

"Then trouble you to ask someone to look for it." Li Mingyi sighed.

Mama Chen is the biggest human trafficker in San Francisco. Almost all the women sold in San Francisco go through her hands. She does not engage in prostitution but only sells people. A bachelor who cannot marry a wife.

"I can't go these few months, it's too chaotic and there are wars everywhere, at least until next year, you... hey, you should be mentally prepared." After finishing speaking, Chen's mother went in, shouting into the inside with a sharp voice, "It's almost noon and everyone still hasn't got up to work. Pigs are more diligent than you. Who wants to buy a lazy pig that doesn't move quickly and go back to be a wife..."

"She's right, girl Fen is better dead than alive." Jiang Huiqin murmured, taking a deep look at the wooden sign at the door.

7 yuan a pound.

Li Mingyi took Jiang Huiqin's hand and led her out: "If you die, you can end everything, but you can only wait for hope if you are alive."

The two walked into a restaurant, which was very simple, with only 4 or 5 small tables, and an old man with gray hair was sitting at one table, squinting his eyes and peeling garlic.

"Aunt Liu." Jiang Huiqin greeted her with a smile.

"Here we come. I've prepared all the ingredients for you in the kitchen." Aunt Liu said.

Li Mingyi was taken aback, and asked, "What are you going to do?"

"Secret." Jiang Huiqin didn't allow him to enter the kitchen. "Today is a good day. I recently learned a new dish. I wanted to make my mother happy after eating it. If she doesn't want to come, you can help her eat."

"Your mother still doesn't want to go out?" Aunt Liu asked suddenly.

"kindness."

"Hey, it's fine if you get used to it. I was like this when my second child just died. It will get better with time." Aunt Liu peeled the garlic slowly.

Jiang Feng followed Jiang Huiqin into the kitchen.

The ingredients in the kitchen are all ready, Shuifa sea cucumber, cooked white chicken, cooked ham, oil-fat fish maw, water-fat squid, water yuba, egg yolk cake, pigeon eggs, clean fish meat, Shuifa magnolia slices, Shuifa mushrooms, cooked white pork belly , scallops, spinach stalks and boiled salted egg yolk. There are quite a lot of ingredients. If you just cook one dish, the taste of this dish must be very rich.

Jiang Huiqin first cut sea cucumber, fish maw, magnolia slices, yuba, pork belly, chicken and some ham into equal length and width slices, then shredded the chicken and remaining ham, and boiled the pigeon eggs in cold water. Jiang Huiqin neatly arranged all kinds of processed ingredients on the plate, all kinds of colors were available, very neat.

There was a pot of chicken soup still simmering on the stove next to it. Jiang Huiqin untied the lid, and the rich aroma instantly released. The chicken fat had been completely stewed into the soup. The chicken soup was pure yellow and fragrant. Skimming off the grease on the surface, Jiang Huiqin scooped out a large bowl of chicken soup.

In order to extract the deliciousness of the ingredients, Chinese dishes always like to use chicken broth to stew and stew. Fotiaoqiang does the same. Jiang Huiqin puts all the sliced ​​ingredients into the pot with large sections of green onion and ginger slices, pours in the chicken broth and adds seasonings , After the stew tastes good, pick out the shallots and ginger slices with chopsticks.

After putting it out of the pan, Jiang Huiqin picked out a beautiful porcelain bowl from the cabinet, with a black background and white borders with blue and white flowers. This kind of porcelain bowl is rare in San Francisco. Wash the porcelain bowl, pick out the shiitake mushrooms in the plate and put them on the bottom of the bowl. The rest of the ingredients are sorted by color and stacked layer by layer. It took dozens of minutes just to stack these ingredients. Finally, pour the crushed ingredients on top, pour the original soup, and steam in a steamer.

Jiang Feng said that Jiang Huiqin's arrangement is not good.

The chicken and pork belly should obviously be placed crosswise according to the color, but she placed them on two adjacent floors. Jiang Feng, who has been professionally arranging dishes for many years, said that the design of this color is not good, and they are all flakes stacked like a It is obviously better to put it like a flower.

When Jiang Huiqin arranged the plate like this, she knew that it was going to be buckled upside down at that time, and it would look better when stacked together and buckled up.

Jiang Feng can't guarantee that he can make this dish better than Jiang Huiqin's, but it must be better than hers!

After ten minutes, out of the pan.

Put the porcelain bowl upside down in the soup basin, surround it with pigeon eggs, put shredded ham and shredded cooked chicken crosswise on the shiitake mushrooms. Boil the original soup in the pot, add rice soup to thicken it, pour in the cooked lard, the aroma is overflowing in an instant, and pour it on the chowder.

Finally, the mushrooms are topped with cooked salted duck egg yolk, and the spinach stems are inserted upside down.

out!

All the ingredients are soaked in bright yellow chicken soup, mixed with the aroma of cooked lard poured at the end, the ingredients are rich and rich, the color is full and bright, fresh and delicious, mellow and not greasy.

A large soup basin is full, enough for two people to eat, and they don't even need staple food.

He went out with a soup basin, and a guest just came in outside.

"Hey, Li Hongzhang's Chowder, Aunt Liu, your family's business is big enough to sell this dish." The visitor was surprised.

"I just prepared the ingredients. They made them themselves. How can I have this level. Wonton noodles in chicken soup?" Aunt Liu put down the garlic in her hand.

"Old rules, you know." The guests sat down at a table at random.

This big bowl of Li Hongzhang's chowder was placed on the table, and the aroma was lingering. Li Mingyi had eaten this famous Huizhou dish before, but it was not made in this way.

Jiang Huiqin went to get the bowls and chopsticks, Li Mingyi took his own pair, and asked, "Why do I remember that my brother-in-law didn't cook like this before?"

"This is an improved method in Chinatown. It's more delicious than cooking it with sesame oil and then simmering it slowly." Jiang Huiqin picked up a shiitake mushroom on the chopsticks, looked at it, and stopped, "If my brother knows that there are still This method must be happily studied for several days."

"We'll go back to China after the war is over. A capable person like Uncle can survive anywhere. You should study hard. When you return to China and find them, you can teach Uncle to do it yourself." Li Mingyi comforted.

"Yes, I will teach my brother how to do it when I return to China."

"Wonton noodles in chicken soup are ready." Aunt Liu came out of the kitchen with a bowl of wonton noodles, brought it to the guests, and went back to peel the garlic.

"Hey, Aunt Liu, where did your family go, I haven't seen it for a while."

"He, he's back to Peking to get married!"

"Why go back to get married? Go buy one from Mother Chen! Aren't her girls all clean? It's too troublesome to go back, and it's dangerous after a few months. I heard that there are wars everywhere now, but there is no war in Beiping? "The guests ate noodles and chatted over and over again.

"I don't know, it was introduced by a matchmaker." Aunt Liu said, "The girl at Mama Chen's place is clean, but it's too expensive. Now it's priced at 7 yuan a pound. If you buy one that's 60 or 70 pounds, you won't be able to support yourself. I can’t afford the expensive ones. My son is already 37. I can’t wait any longer. It’s cheaper to go back to China to get married. Actually, I’m not worried about going to Peiping, but the matchmaker introduced him to Beiping. He should be on the boat back now. This kid , not even sending a letter, it really doesn't make people worry."

"You also know about Peking?" the new guest asked.

"What's the matter?" The two said in unison.

"My son told me that the newspaper said that Peking had fallen."

With a snap, Jiang Huiqin's chopsticks fell off.

"Did Peking fall? When?" Jiang Huiqin stood up abruptly.

"Mrs. Li, oh, Mr. Li is here too. I heard that you bought a house in the highlands and still eat here!" Yes, Mr. Li, don’t you also read the newspaper, haven’t you seen the news?”

"It's okay, it's okay, Gangzi must be on the boat now." Aunt Liu comforted herself, but her voice was trembling.

"Huiqin, sit down first." Li Mingyi's voice couldn't hide the trembling, "I never dared to tell you, nor did I dare to tell my father."

"Peking has fallen?" Jiang Huiqin sat down slowly, her whole body trembling, "Peking has fallen, Second Sister and Master Chen are still in Beiping, where are they?"

"It's all gone." Li Mingyi lowered his eyes, not daring to look at Jiang Huiqin, "Uncle Fu sent me a telegram four days ago, the second brother-in-law and Master Chen's son were killed for hiding wounded soldiers in the cellar, the second sister and Master Chen...led his family to set themselves on fire."

Jiang Huiqin was silent, Li Ming looked up again and again, she was already in tears.

Wiping away tears, Jiang Huiqin choked up and said, "I can't tell mother."

"Let's eat." Jiang Huiqin picked up a pair of chopsticks and picked up a piece of shiitake mushroom.

Entrance.

"It's not as delicious as my brother's cooking." Jiang Huiqin blinked, and tears fell into the bowl.

Li Mingyi also picked up a piece of shiitake mushroom.

Entrance.

"It's still delicious that uncle cooks."

Salty tears dripped down his hands.

This was the first time he cried in front of others in the four days since he received the news.

Jiang Feng was shrouded in a fog.

Sitting blankly on the bed, surrounded by darkness, Jiang Feng touched the corners of his eyes, which were a little wet.

After sitting quietly for a while to calm down, Jiang Feng clicked on the game panel.

【Li Hongzhang Chowder Grade C】

Producer: Jiang Huiqin

Dish details: This is a famous Huizhou dish that is well-known at home and abroad. It is a dish that is quite qualified in both the selection of ingredients and the production method. Due to the limitation of the producer's own strength, this famous dish is a little bit eclipsed. It was originally a Li Hongzhang chowder with a little fly in the ointment, but it was the release of Li Mingyi's negative emotions in painful moments, because the national hatred and family hatred contained in it became an unforgettable dish in his life, and it will make people feel extreme within 20 minutes after eating The desire to cry, the release of negative emotions.

Number of crafting times per day (0/1)

Jiang Feng: ...

With such a big pot, one person can eat one bite, and the whole hotel can cry together.

It's inspiring to think about it that way.

In the menu bar, Jiang Huiqin's three dishes have all been lit up, clear soup with willow-leaf jelly (fake), shredded yam and Li Hongzhang's chowder.

Three dishes, Jiang Huiqin's life.

There is also a memory of Zhang Zhiyun in the props column. Jiang Feng decided not to use it after thinking about it, so he clicked on it now. If there is another memory that causes depression, he may have insomnia tonight until dawn.

As soon as he lay down and turned off his mobile phone to go to sleep, Jiang Feng hadn't closed his eyes for a second when he heard Wang Hao's chatter in his sleep.

"Come out, god-level golden egg fried rice!"

Jiang Feng:? ? ?

Has he been obsessed with writing novels lately, why is he fighting with egg fried rice in his dream?

"Go to hell, two-dimensional Fourier analysis! Golden egg fried rice and duck!"