Four Seasons Three Meals

After Jiang Huai read the last word on the file, he stretched, and the hour hand pointed to seven.

He closed the cap of the pen, and someone knocked lightly on the door of the office. He said "Please come in", the door opened, and someone came in with slender high heels. It was his senior sister.

The senior sister said, "Jiang Lu, I'm off work."

Jiang Huai said, "Thank you for reminding me."

The senior sister asked, "Do you want to carpool back?"

Jiang Huai looked at the gloomy sky outside the window, and remembered the weather forecast that he accidentally saw while brushing his teeth this morning, from sunny to thunderstorm.

He nodded and said "yes".

The senior sister turned around and went downstairs to wait for him. Jiang Huai packed up the files and put them in the bookcase. The mobile phone on the table vibrated.He swiped open the screen saver, it was a text message.

"Don't forget about the blind date tonight."

The letter is from Shang Chen.

Jiang Huai sighed and almost forgot about it.

He clicked on WeChat, sent a message to his senior sister to apologize, turned off the desk lamp, locked the door and went downstairs.

Shang Chending's restaurant is a local restaurant, hidden in a remote alley, not directly accessible by subway.

As he walked out of the subway station, there was a loud thunder above his head.He looked at the location sent by Shang Chen, which was 400 meters away from the subway station. He hesitated for a while, and scattered raindrops were already floating outside.

Subconsciously, he planned to put the briefcase on his head, but stopped when he remembered the files inside.

There was a whole family next to the subway entrance, and he trotted past the wall.The door opened with a "ding", and the store was full of people hiding from the rain like him.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the number of people in the store only increased.Someone bought instant noodles and oden, and sat by the window to eat while waiting for the rain to stop.Jiang Huai smelled a little greedy, and sent a message to Shang Chen: "Order a bowl of instant noodles for me, and add two fried eggs."

Shang Chen quickly replied: "Where do Sichuan restaurants get instant noodles?"

Jiang Huai smiled.The spicy red oil smell and the mellow aroma of bone broth wafted through the store, and he twitched his nose slightly to smell it again, and he could feel the warmth even on a rainy day.

Shang Chen called him: "Where are you?"

Jiang Huai said, "I'm at a convenience store."

Shang Chen asked, "Why did you go to the convenience store?"

Jiang Huai said, "I didn't bring an umbrella, and I was craving a bowl of instant noodles."

"I'll reimburse you for the umbrella, and I'll give you some instant noodles." Shang Chen defeated him, "You just have to come quickly."

Jiang Huai smiled: "Okay."

Shang Chen didn't speak anymore, Jiang Huai heard a voice from the other end of the phone, it was Shang Chen asking the waiter to make a bowl of instant noodles.

Jiang Huai reminded him: "Remember to add two fried eggs."

Shang Chen didn't reply to him, but Jiang Huai heard him tell the waiter that he wanted to add two fried eggs, preferably soft-boiled.

Satisfied, he hung up the phone and went to the counter to buy an umbrella.

There were many people queuing up to buy umbrellas, and Jiang Huai was at the end of the line. When it was the turn of the person in front of him, there was only one umbrella left on the shelf.

He stared at the umbrella until the previous man's hand was on the handle.

He sighed, thinking about buying a bowl of instant noodles, the person in front turned around and handed the umbrella to him.

"I heard you sigh." The other party said with a smile, wearing a pair of delicate glasses on his gentle face.

Jiang Huai quickly said, "I'm sorry..."

"You seem to be in a hurry," said the man.

Jiang Huai looked at the umbrella in front of him, hesitated again and again, and nodded in recognition.

The man raised his wrist to look at his watch, and handed the umbrella in front of him: "Please first, I will eat a bowl of noodles before leaving."

Jiang Huai hesitated for a while, then took the umbrella.The man turned to the salesperson and said, "Cook a bowl of instant noodles and add two soft-boiled eggs."

When Jiang Huai heard this, he felt that this was a person of taste.

The salesperson nodded and issued a small ticket, and Jiang Huai added later: "Another cup of cherry Yakult."

The man and the salesperson looked at Jiang Huai at the same time, and Jiang Huai explained, "Relieve the tiredness."

The man thanked politely: "Thank you for the recommendation."

He made a gesture to take out his wallet to pay, Jiang Huai opened the payment code on his mobile phone one step ahead and handed it to the salesperson.The salesperson scanned the QR code and handed back the receipt and the phone to Jiang Huai.

The man froze for a moment: "Thank you."

Jiang Huai shook the umbrella in his hand, dimpled out of his smile: "You're welcome."

He walked 400 meters with an umbrella, and stopped at a red lacquered doorway with bluestone slabs. Next to him were two huge stone lions, staring at him calmly.

He grabbed the door knocker and knocked on the door. After a while, someone answered the door. It was a girl in a red lapel Chinese shirt with two ponytails on her head.He gave Shang Chen's name, and the girl said a few words into the walkie-talkie and led him over.

They passed through a winding corridor, and Jiang Huai saw Shang Chen sitting by the French window at a glance.He put away the umbrella and handed it to the girl, walked over and sat down.Shang Chen was looking at his phone, Jiang Huai asked him, "Where is the blind date you found for me?"

Shang Chen said, "It's probably stuck on the road. You order food first, you don't need to order instant noodles. I ordered it, and the kitchen is making it."

Jiang Huai said yes, opened the menu, and asked the waiter next to him: "What is this blind box of seasonal vegetables?"

The waiter said: "The seasonal vegetables are randomly prepared. The vegetables are all bought from the vegetable farmers in the morning. They are very fresh."

Jiang Huai asked, "What's there today?"

The waiter looked at the tablet and said, "Red Sun Yingxue, King Tota, pass through your night with my hand."

Jiang Huai smiled: "Just these three, plus a piece of boiled pork."

The waiter responded crisply, and came back with four pots and an extra serving of instant noodles in a short while.

Jiang Huai glanced, Red Sun Yingxue is tomato mixed with sugar, Tota Tianwang is stir-fried white asparagus, my hand through your dark night is kelp stewed pig's trotters, all of which are home-cooked dishes.

Shang Chen put away his phone and said, "It's raining too much, that person can't come, let's make an appointment another day."

Jiang Huai said yes, and scooped himself a spoonful of noodle soup with a wooden spoon, drank it clean, and dispelled the moisture from the rain.

Shang Chen said, "You don't seem to be in a hurry at all."

Jiang Huai took another slice of tomato for himself, and said in a distracted manner: "Sometimes in your life, you must have it, and there is always a time in your life, so don't force it."

Shang Chen asked: "Could it be that you've fallen into the shadow of broken love and can't get out?"

Jiang Huai picked up a chopstick of white asparagus and put it on Shang Chen's plate: "Try it, this is delicious."

Shang Chen sized him up: "Really?"

Jiang Huai put down his chopsticks and smiled: "I came to Jiangcheng to attend your wedding, not mine."

Shang Chen also laughed: "Lawyer Jiang resigned and broke up in order to come to Jiangcheng. Those who didn't know thought you were here to marry me."

Jiang Huai smiled: "I'm so honored, choosing a date is worse than bumping into it, we will elope today."

Jiang Huai moved to Jiangcheng a month ago in the ever-popular Muchun.

Shang Chen was his college classmate, and after graduation, he settled down in Jiangcheng with his boyfriend Cheng Yang.When Jiang Huai moved in, he was naturally the one to pick him up.

It rained a little in Jiangcheng that day, it was not heavy, but it was fine and dense, and it quietly soaked the green.Jiang Huai also wore a light green shirt, and when he walked out of the airport, he gave a big hug to Shang Chen.

Shang Chen greeted him, "How are you doing?"

Jiang Huai smiled: "Resigned, divided, broken, here we come."

Shang Chen can understand the nonsensical words.He asked, "Is it really broken?"

Jiang Huai nodded: "It's really broken."

Shang Chen was dubious, Jiang Huai handed him the phone: "The number has been blocked."

Only then did Shang Chen smile and say, "Welcome to Jiangcheng."

After Jiang Huai ate two pieces of pig's trotters, he felt a little tired, so he raised his hand and asked the waiter, "Is there any cherry Yakult?"

The waiter looked at the menu and shook his head: "Sorry sir, we only have Coke Sprite and Weiyi for drinks."

Jiang Huai wanted a glass of iced Coke, and thought of his fitness plan that had been wasted due to moving, so he reluctantly refused: "Where's the buckwheat tea?"

The waiter nodded: "There are."

Jiang Huai said, "That's it."

The waiter quickly brought two cups of steaming tea, and Jiang Huai asked Shang Chen, "When do you plan to hold the wedding?"

Shang Chen rolled up the instant noodles in the bowl with chopsticks: "It's not settled yet, annoying."

Jiang Huai was sensitive to his depression and asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's not Cheng Yang's mother, she has a lot of things to do."

Ever since Shang Chen and Cheng Yang fell in love, Jiang Huai has heard Shang Chen complain about Cheng Yang's mother.He learned a lot about Cheng Yang's family from Shang Chen.Although Cheng Yang is a rich second generation, there is a powerful mother in the family who wants to look after her precious son all the time, otherwise the two would not return to Jiangcheng as soon as they graduated.

"Sometimes I think I'm a man who can't lay eggs, and then I think I'm greedy for their family's property," Shang Chen said: "Do you really think of my son as a treasure? He's ugly and short, and he's just a grass. "

Jiang Huai smiled: "Don't you also regard him as a treasure?"

Shang Chen didn't speak, but pursed his mouth, and his attitude was much softer.

Jiang Huai smiled, intending to change the subject, the phone vibrated and the screen lit up, it was an unfamiliar number.

Shang Chen looked up at him and asked, "Where's Auntie?"

Jiang Huai swiped left to refuse, but didn't react: "What's wrong with Auntie?"

Shang Chen said cautiously, "Uncle...do you still beat Auntie?"

Jiang Huai buckled the phone on the table and nodded: "Hit."

Shang Chen didn't know what to say for a moment, thought for a while, and comforted him: "It's okay, you can't see it now."

Jiang Huai smiled, took a sip of water from his teacup, gave a vague "um", and didn't plan to chat any more.

After dinner, the rain had stopped, and Shang Chen offered to drive him off.Jiang Huai refused, and walked slowly towards the subway station alone, carrying an umbrella and a briefcase.

Passing by the convenience store, he slowed down and looked in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. There was no one else in the store except the clerk.

Feeling sorry, he turned and walked into the subway station.

After eating too much dinner, Jiang Huai lay on the bed and couldn't sleep, thinking about Cherry Yakult all the time in his mind.

From 09:30 to 10:30, he got out of bed and walked to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and there were all kinds of fruits and vegetables in it, only the original Yakult, no cherry Yakult.

He looked at the top floor. On it was the fruit he bought at Walmart after get off work last night.There was a box of cherries inside, which were huge and plump, so red and purple in color that they melted like water in the mouth.

He took it out on tiptoe, tore off the plastic wrap, skillfully removed the core and poured it into the pot, added water and sugar, boiled it slowly over a low heat, and let it cool down to make cherry sauce.

To drink Yakult, use a transparent glass.The cup was bought by Jiang Huai when he came to Jiangcheng. The edge of the cup was hollowed out, and Yakult and soda water were poured in. After the sound of "hissing", the water vapor condensed, and it looked like a small and exquisite lantern flower.He adds a spoonful of cherry sauce, stirs it well, adds ice, and garnishes it with mint and lemon.

The sweet aroma of cherries and the fresh taste of mint filled his nose, he was in a good mood and hummed a song.

The phone vibrated, and Jiang Huai looked down. It was the strange number from dinner.

With a guess in his mind, he crossed off the phone, nestled on the sofa, randomly called up a movie on the TV, took a sip of the drink in the cup with satisfaction, and slowly immersed himself in the plot of the movie.

Shang Chen is right, out of sight out of mind.