The foreigner and the cook are arguing.

When Chen Qiang heard the conversation between the two, he understood what was going on in seconds.

When the foreigner ordered, he put forward some special requirements, such as less pepper and less salt, but the Chinese chef couldn't understand what the foreigner said, so the foreigner was very angry.

The foreigner thought that he was obviously speaking Chinese, but the cook kept waving his hand, indicating that he did not understand, which was deliberately playing tricks on him.

The cook thinks that this foreigner has been saying something he doesn't understand, and his attitude is getting more and more fierce, which is bullying himself.

The fact is that foreigners are speaking Cantonese.

This is a northern Jiangsu cook, and he obviously can't understand Cantonese.

A very simple misunderstanding.

Chen Qiang is not from Guangdong, his Cantonese level is almost zero, and the Cantonese he can understand is only a few words, and he can only speak one sentence of "Monkey Sailei", which he learned from the Internet.

However, Chen Qiang knew English, so he stepped forward and explained to the foreigner in English, and then to the cook in Chinese. Only then did the two know that it was a misunderstanding and apologized to each other.

Chen Qiang could guess that this foreigner should be British, and he was from Hong Kong, and only from that place could he speak the familiar Cantonese.

When Chen Qiang was a coachman, he liked to pick up passenger ships from Hong Kong, because there were always some British people on board. There are many Britons who speak Cantonese, and many of them were born in Hong Kong, or have lived in Hong Kong for decades, and they are already very proficient in Cantonese.

Such Britons rarely leave Hong Kong, and when they do, they do go to places like Canton at most. They probably thought that if they could speak Cantonese, they would be able to navigate China unimpeded, but when they came to Shanghai, they were immediately confused. They must not understand Shanghainese, and even the official dialect is very different from Cantonese.

There are almost no Cantonese among the coachmen in Shanghai, who do not speak Cantonese, and the British speak Cantonese in Shanghai, which is not even as convenient as English. And whenever this happens, Chen Qiang will pick up guests in English.

The migration of Chinese has always been regular, for example, Shandong people are used to go north and go to the northeast to break through the Guandong; The people of northern Jiangsu are accustomed to going south to Shanghai and Hangzhou to work hard; There will be more people in Henan who choose to go to Beijing.

People in Guangzhou and Fujian rarely go north, they will go to the South Seas, to the West, to Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries, and to the Americas, to the United States, to Brazil. As a result, Cantonese and Hokkien did not spread to the north, but became a major language in overseas Chinese circles.

……

To get back to the point, the foreigner Chen Qiang met was indeed an Englishman, and he was also a rich British gentleman.

In order to thank Chen Qiang for his help, the British decided to invite Chen Qiang to dinner, and he ordered another meal for Chen Qiang.

Obviously, this Englishman has lived in Hong Kong for a long time, and knows that in Chinese culture, thanking others, inviting to eat is a way that will never go out of style, especially in the thirties when materials were scarce, many Chinese could not even eat enough, and at this time it was more grounded to invite guests to eat.

Chen Qiang didn't refuse, anyway, there was no seat for him in the carriage, so it was better to have a meal in the dining car, and there would be a place to sit anyway.

During the Republic of China, trains were divided into first-class, second-class and third-class seats, and the railway bureau at that time stipulated that third-class passengers could not enter the dining car, and the dining car was only a service that first-class and second-class passengers could enjoy.

At that time, there were also catering trolleys for third-class seats, but they were all selling cheap food. In 1933, when Mr. Qian Mu, an educator, was able to take a train from Suzhou to Beijing, he sat in a third-class seat, and during the meal, there were carts passing by to sell food, which Mr. Qian Mu described as "greasy, hard rice or noodles." ”

It is also because there is no good food in the third-class seats, so that the vendors at the train station are more and more active, and when the train stops, the vendors who fry peanuts, boiled edamame, and sell all kinds of snacks and fruits are flocked to the station. Some pit hawkers will use cat meat to disguise rabbit meat for sale. Mr. Lu Xun's younger brother, Zhou Zuoren, bought cat meat on the train when he was a young student.

Nowadays, Mr. Zhu Ziqing's father buys oranges at the train station, and has become a famous old stalk who takes advantage of others. Texas Grilled Chicken also became famous all over the world with the trains of that era.

For example, in 1916, the "Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway Guide" introduced the types of food provided by the dining car, not only whiskey, brandy, beer, soda, lemon juice and other drinks, but also "sardines, salmon, beautiful steak, western pork chops, lamb ribs, roast chicken ham, bacon dan, all kinds of meat rice" and so on.

Before 1933, there was only Western food in the dining car of the train, and the investigation report of the Ministry of Railways at that time wrote: "Most of the passenger cars on Cha Road only prepare one kind of Western food for passengers, which is not only too expensive, but the poor cannot afford to enjoy it." Most of the food utensils are Europeanized, and they are not the habits of ordinary people in our country. Subsequently, the Ministry of Railways carried out rectification and asked the local railway bureaus to add a Chinese meal to the dining car, and the result was a Chinese menu that was "too expensive for the poor to enjoy". The rich have one more option, while the poor still can't afford it.

Of course, it is normal for food to be expensive on the train, and now the box lunches on the high-speed rail are much more expensive than those sold outside.

……

Chen Qiang and the British gentleman sat in the dining car, chatting while eating, what Chen Qiang didn't expect was that this British gentleman was also a sports enthusiast, and he liked to play tennis.

When it comes to sports, that is Chen Qiang's specialty, especially in the theoretical knowledge of sports, no one can compare to Chen Qiang in this era, Chen Qiang casually revealed the trend of tennis development in the future, which amazed the British gentleman.

"I think the invention of seamless tennis will definitely promote the development of tennis, using seamless tennis, the ball speed will be faster, the requirements for athletes will be higher, and tennis will be more enjoyable." Chen Qiang said.

Seamless tennis was only invented in 1927, and the inventor was British, and the emergence of seamless tennis did improve the viewing of tennis and make Wimbledon more secure.

"Do you think seamless tennis will be the trend of the future? Haha, we're really heroes! The English gentleman agreed.

The two talked and talked about snooker again.

In this era, snooker was not a global sport, the sport was only popular in the United Kingdom, as well as in British colonies such as Canada, Australia, and India. At that time, the French played billiards, the Americans played American billiards, and the British played snooker, and everyone had their own ways to play.

It is too difficult to find someone who understands snooker outside of Britain and the British colonies, let alone in poor and backward China. The British gentleman did not expect that the Chinese in front of him would know about snooker.

The English gentleman suddenly felt that he had found someone with a common language, and he had met a bosom friend in China!

……

2nd class carriages.

The sound of "grunting" sounded from Li Yongping's stomach, and he was a little hungry.

At this time, Li Yongping regretted a little, he knew that this was the case, he should have eaten more in the morning, but it was not yet twelve o'clock, and he was already hungry.

On the train for more than five hours, Li Yongping naturally brought lunch, and he also had money on him, so he could go to the dining car to eat, but no one else had eaten, and he was embarrassed to make exceptions.

Chinese people are like this, they have a herd mentality and do not know how to release their individuality, especially when it comes to group activities. For example, when traveling with a group, passing by a certain store, once a group member goes in to shop, then other people will follow up to buy and buy, on the contrary, if there are no customers at a certain store, then other tourists are too lazy to stop.

Li Yongping is like this now, he didn't see anyone else eating, and he didn't see anyone going to the dining car, even if he was hungry, he could only stay where he was.

At this time, someone next to him suddenly asked: "I haven't seen the coachman come back for a long time, where did he go?" ”

"Who knows, I guess he must have been on the train for the first time and got lost!"

"You're kidding me, aren't you? There is only one road in the train, and you can get lost? ”

"Maybe he's going to the third class? The third-class seat really fits his identity. ”

"Could it be the wrong station? The car stopped for a stop. ”

"If it's really the wrong station, it's bad, our Shanghai team hasn't arrived in Hangzhou yet, one less person first, wouldn't it be a shame to spread it!"

"Why don't you go find him? Don't really lose people. Someone suggested.

"Looking for him? I'm going to sit with you back! Another man spoke.

"Let's just look to see if he's still in the car, as long as others haven't lost it, it's still in the car!" The man spoke.

"That's right. Who's going to look for him? I think he seems to have gone over there, it must have been a food truck! ”

The word "dining car" instantly reminded Li Yongping, Li Yongping touched his stomach again, and suddenly felt that he could go to the dining car to eat something under the pretense of ordinary Chen Qiang.

So Li Yongping stood up: "We are all participating in the sprint event, so I'll go find him." ”

……

Li Yongping left the carriage, crossed the connection between the carriages, and walked into the dining car.

There are not many people in the dining car, mainly because there are not many people who can afford to sit in first and second class, and most people still take third class, and they are not allowed to enter the dining car.

What's more, Shanghai to Hangzhou is only a little more than five hours by car, during which you can eat at most one meal, if you don't eat, you can bear it for five hours, many people bring their own food to eat in the car, after all, the Western food on the dining car is not generally expensive.

It is precisely because there are few people in the dining car that Li Yongping noticed the British gentleman at first sight, foreigners, even if they are placed in China now, they will be looked at twice.

Then Li Yongping found that the Chinese sitting opposite the British gentleman had a somewhat familiar back. After looking closely, not only the back, but also the dress is somewhat familiar.

"Chen Qiang seems to be dressed like this today! My head is really rusty, how can this person be Chen Qiang! He is a coachman, how can he eat with foreigners. ”

Li Yongping took a few steps forward, and at this time, the sound of the conversation between the foreigner and Chen Qiang also entered Li Yongping's ears.

"He speaks English, and he is very fluent, it is impossible for Chen Qiang, where can a coachman speak English!"

Li Yongping pondered blindly, and at the same time glanced at the British gentleman and the Chinese sitting opposite the British gentleman out of the corner of his eye.

In the corner of his eye, he could only see half of his side face, but Li Yongping still recognized it for the first time, it was Chen Qiang!

"It's Chen Qiang! Am I blind! ”

At this moment, Li Yongping's heart was as if 10,000 cows had just run by, and it was a mess.

A coachman, speaking fluent English, is talking and laughing with foreigners! If it's a student who has returned from abroad, it's just a coachman! Li Yongping felt that either he was crazy or the world was crazy.

The hearty laughter of the British gentleman pulled Li Yongping back to reality, and from that laughter, Li Yongping could feel that the British gentleman and Chen Qiang really had a good conversation, and if the two were good friends, some people would definitely believe it.

Li Yongping peeked at the food on the table again, red wine, steak, sago pudding, coffee, serious Western food, the bright knife and fork, reflecting a dazzling silver light.

"I'm grumbling with hunger in the carriage, and you, a coachman, are drinking red wine and eating steak in the dining car! And dessert and coffee! ”

Li Yongping felt as if he had been hit by 10,000 points, and he was heartbroken! At this moment, he didn't feel hungry anymore, and the feeling of congestion in his heart could already fill his stomach.

……

Li Yongping returned to his carriage in despair.

"Li Yongping, why did you come so soon, and no one was found? You can't really get off the bus, right? Someone immediately asked.

"Someone has found it." Li Yongping replied angrily.

"Where did you find it, did you eat soot in the third-class carriage?" Someone asked right away.

"No, he's in the dining car." Li Yongping's tone became more and more unkind.

"Food truck? He doesn't eat, so people let him sit! Someone said with a laugh.

"He's eating, he's ordering a meal, drinking red wine and eating steak, and pudding coffee!" Remembering that Chen Qiang was feasting in the dining car, but he was still hungry, Li Yongping's expression became more and more gloomy.

"He's a coachman who still orders? I remember the food truck was full of Western food, right? Does he eat Western food? Foreigners use knives and forks, will he use them? Don't use a knife and fork as chopsticks, like this......"

As he spoke, the man deliberately put on a funny appearance of eating with a knife and fork, which immediately drew a burst of laughter from the people around him.

After the laughter, one of the people next to him added: "This coachman is too unkind, because so many of us are worried about him, he is good, and he ran to the dining car to eat alone!" ”

Li Yongping snorted coldly: "He didn't eat alone, someone accompanied him to eat!" ”

"Someone else to eat with him? He's a coachman, right? Hahaha......" The crowd laughed again.

"It's a foreigner!" After Li Yongping finished speaking, he stopped talking and sat alone in his position depressed.

"Foreigners? Eat with him? ”

"Li Yongping, I see that you are usually very serious, and you really have a sense of humor!"

"He's a foreigner, if he can talk to foreigners, I'll jump from this window immediately!"

As soon as this person's voice fell, the door of the carriage suddenly opened, and Chen Qiang walked into the carriage, and Chen Qiang happened to be followed by a foreigner.

At this moment, the originally lively carriage instantly fell silent.

"Mr. Robert, my carriage has arrived." Chen Qiang said in English.

"Chen, chatting with you, I really have a feeling of unfinished, if you don't mind, do you want to come to my carriage, let's continue to talk for a while? I'm in car number one, and we can have a cup of black tea, just continuing the topic. The English gentleman spoke.

"Thank you very much for the invitation, then I might as well be respectful." Chen Qiang nodded, but it looked like he had promised an old friend to go shopping together.

Then, the British gentleman led Chen Qiang through the aisle in the middle of the seat and left the carriage in a daze.

More than ten seconds later, the carriage suddenly exploded.

"It seems to be a first-class carriage over there!"

"That's a foreigner, right?"

"They speak English, right?"

"The coachman is actually speaking English!"

"I understand, the foreigner seems to have invited him to drink black tea in the first carriage."

"He's a coachman, why should foreigners invite him to tea!"

"What the hell is going on? Was it my hallucination? ”

"Who just said that if he could talk to a foreigner, he would jump from the window?"

A group of people who admired the foreign looked at each other.

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More than 4,600 words, two-in-one chapters, everyone can give a recommendation vote!