"Hey, hey, you've been here before," the middle-aged man's troubled face finally showed a hint of a smile. "My father came once and said he had a particularly delightful plate of fried sauce noodles. He couldn't stop praising it."
"Tell them to bring us here next time."
Ding Sha chuckled as she listened. "I knew it. When my old man was leaving, he kept talking about wanting to eat these dishes."
"But you and your father look so alike. I felt familiar as soon as I saw your face."
The middle-aged man nodded. "Indeed, my mom always says I was carved from the same mold as my dad, especially our facial features. We have the exact same square-shaped face."
As he spoke, he introduced the elderly lady beside him, who had an aged and dignified appearance. "This is my mother."
Ding Sha quickly brought over two chairs. "Please have a seat. Let me ask the kitchen to prepare the dishes right away."
Xiao Jun was in the back, packing up some unused pots. When he saw Ding Sha enter, he asked, "Someone's here?"
"Yes, it's the family of that old man from earlier. They want the same three dishes. Once you're done preparing them, pack them up and take them out," Ding Sha wiped her sweat. "Take a break and tidy up later. There's no rush."
Xiao Jun nodded, stood up, and drank a large glass of water. "I'll follow your lead."
The elderly lady was appraising the decor in the room. "Your place is nicely renovated. Unlike other eateries, it's not dirty and dim. One can't enjoy a meal in such an atmosphere."
The middle-aged man hurriedly whispered, "Mom!"
The elderly lady smiled apologetically at her. "Sorry, I just think your place is great."
Ding Sha shook her head. "Thank you for your compliment."
"Where's the old man? Why didn't he come today?"
The middle-aged man looked somewhat melancholic, but the elderly lady smiled. "He can't come."
Ding Sha looked at her, puzzled.
The middle-aged man took over the conversation. "My father is old. He fell ill and couldn't make it. We just finished his funeral a couple of days ago."
Ding Sha was momentarily stunned, finding it hard to believe.
She still vividly remembered the old man's joyful dancing when he ate the fried sauce noodles. He was lively and adorable. How could he just cease to exist?
"Ah... my condolences..."
"It's alright. We're both in our seventies and have lived through many years, experienced many things. It's enough for us," the elderly lady said cheerfully. "People have to die, you know. If we keep living, we'll become old monsters, won't we?"
"I just feel a bit regretful."
"What regrets?" Ding Sha asked.
"I'm from the south, and the old man was from the north. We never had a chance to eat together. He ate his braised noodles, and I had my small wontons. We bickered and quarreled like that all our lives. Isn't it quite magical?"
A smile of reminiscence appeared on the elderly lady's lips. "He always said I wouldn't accept new flavors, yet he still made wontons for me every day. He ended up cooking southern cuisine for me all his life."
"My mom was a young lady from a landlord family, and my dad was a kitchen helper," the middle-aged man explained, as if he had said it countless times before. "My dad cooked at home all his life. He could prepare dishes from various culinary traditions for every meal."
Ding Sha imagined that scene and couldn't help but smile.
"Arriving here, I never really had the chance to taste the Beijing cuisine he had talked about all his life," the old lady sighed with a tinge of regret. "I remember the day he came back home, he was so happy, humming a tune he hadn't hummed in a long time, walking lightly. He said he had eaten a particularly delicious fried sauce noodles and wanted to bring me along to try it too."
"What a pity..." The old lady touched the bracelet on her wrist, feeling nostalgic. "I haven't had the chance to taste it..."
The middle-aged man sighed along with her.
The atmosphere grew heavy, with an unnamed melancholy enveloping everyone.
Life is both beautiful and fragile. Even when a person is gone, emotions still live on.
Xiao Jun came out carrying a neatly packed plate of sliced pork in sweet bean sauce. "Here's one serving."
He placed it on the table and looked at Ding Sha. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," Ding Sha looked up at him and couldn't help pouting and acting coquettish.
Xiao Jun reached out and pinched her cheek. "Good girl."
He turned around and went back to the kitchen, bringing out a glass of freshly squeezed fruit juice. "Remember to drink this."
The old lady looked at Ding Sha with loving eyes. "You young couple have such a good relationship. Just married?"
"The baby is only two months old," Ding Sha pointed to the room behind her. "Sleeping in there."
The old lady's expression grew even more benevolent, and in the end, she just sighed, "That's wonderful..."
Xiao Jun steamed the rice noodle with meat and started preparing the Dream-fulfilling Pancakes.
The Dream-fulfilling Pancakes are considered a traditional Beijing dish. Legend has it that one day Empress Dowager Cixi dreamed of eating pancakes stuffed with minced meat, and when she woke up, she happened to have this dish, so she named it Dream-fulfilling Pancakes.
He mixed medium-gluten flour and sugar with yeast to create a slightly firm dough. He made small dough balls with a bit of oil and set them aside, then formed normal-sized dough balls.
After rolling out the dough, he stuffed the oiled small dough balls inside and sealed it. He brushed some syrup on top and covered it generously with white sesame seeds, lightly pressing it down to form a thick small pancake about the size of half a palm. He let it rest on the side to ferment.
After it doubled in size, he put it in the oven and baked it for fifteen minutes. The result was a fragrant and soft small pancake.
He heated the pan, added some oil, and stir-fried the minced meat until it turned white. After the meat became crispy, he added diced water chestnuts and minced ginger to the pan, seasoning it with cooking wine, soy sauce, salt, sugar, and pepper. After a few more stirs, it was ready to be served.
Finally, the rice noodle with meat in the other pan was also done.
Xiao Jun packed both dishes and brought them out. The old lady was gazing at the plate of sliced pork in sweet bean sauce, lost in thought.
Perhaps she was thinking about the old man who would be overjoyed when he ate something delicious.
The middle-aged man paid the bill and helped his trembling mother back home.
Xiao Jun watched them at the door for a long time before suddenly saying, "We must die together, not leaving each other behind."
"Spit, spit, spit! The year hasn't even ended yet!" Ding Sha raised her hand and playfully slapped him. "What nonsense are you talking about?"
But Xiao Jun was serious. "I mean it."
"We must die together. I don't want to leave you alone in this world, and I don't want to be left alone either."
Ding Sha felt moved again and stood on her tiptoes to touch Xiao Jun's head. "Alright, I'll strive for that."
"There's a phrase that goes 'to share the same bed in life, and the same grave in death'," Xiao Jun embraced Ding Sha, whose waist had become much slimmer. "In this lifetime, I will only be with you, sharing the same bed and the same grave."
Ding Sha smiled and extended her pinky finger. "Then let's pinky swear."
Xiao Jun hooked his pinky with hers. "Agreed."
Ding Sha felt like she had forgotten something and scratched her head. "They say pregnancy makes you forgetful. I'm becoming more and more forgetful..."
Xiao Jun raised an eyebrow, observing her deep in thought.
Suddenly, Ding Sha slapped her forehead. "Little Ping An! I forgot about Little Ping An!"
She rushed inside like a whirlwind. Little Ping An was already awake, holding back a package of tears and looking at the doorway.
Ding Sha quickly picked him up and comforted, "Good boy... Mommy will sing you a song..."
Little Ping An managed to hold back his tears and babbled in a language Ding Sha couldn't understand.
Fortunately, Little Ping An was easy to appease. Even though Mommy momentarily forgot about him, he still looked at Ding Sha with affectionate eyes and smiled.
Meanwhile, Xiao Jun started packing his belongings to take with him.
After a while, the middle-aged man returned.
"Hello, is there something I can help you with?" Xiao Jun asked, puzzled.
"It's about my father," the middle-aged man took out a meticulously wrapped book, "I want to give you this recipe book as a gift."
