I saw that my mother had never looked for the old man.

I was slightly relieved, but at this moment, I heard the old man suddenly say to me:

"Speaking of your mother, I really remembered that when Old Tang first opened the store, she did appear."

Hearing the old man say this, I suddenly came to my senses.

Quickly added a little more hot tea to the old man's cup. The old man took a sip and looked around for vinegar again. I walked over to the cooktop, took a bottle of vinegar from a pile of spice bottles, and handed it to the old man.

This old man, as before, put a lot of vinegar in a bowl of noodles.

Sitting across from him, I smelled a very strong smell.

I can't eat such a big sour taste.

But the old man ate happily.

I sat across from him and watched him munch on his noodles.

I don't plan to interrupt the old man, I think he will naturally say something to me when he has eaten.

Sure enough, the old man was after eating the noodles.

Wiped his mouth.

He slowly talked about what happened more than ten years ago:

The old man's surname is Gan, and he lives near Huaihua Street.

He is an employee of the smelter, and after his retirement, he visits the Huaihua Street Night Market once a day.

Before, he liked to go to Uncle Ho's noodle shop and eat a bowl of egg noodles.

Later, Uncle He transferred the store to my father, and Uncle Gan came to my father's place to eat noodles.

Although the taste is different, Uncle Gan, that's what it feels like to eat.

It turned out that my father's shop had just opened at that time.

The noodles he made tasted really bad, and he was too honest to add any food additives or anything, so that bowl of noodles was too ordinary.

Eating such a bowl of noodles is not delicious after spending money, and it is like making it yourself at home.

My dad didn't have a good business.

He's burned all day.

On this day, Uncle Gan came again.

When my dad was cooking noodles, he thought about it for a while, walked to the stove and said to my dad, "Old Tang, noodles are a little harder, I like to eat them with a little chewiness." ”

My dad was busy saying yes.

After the noodles were cooked, my dad brought them to Uncle Gan, and then sat down across from him and poured him a cup of tea:

"Uncle, I want to ask you a question."

After eating the noodles cooked by my father, Uncle Gan nodded with satisfaction.

This time, the texture of this noodle is soft and hard is exactly what he wants, the outside is cooked, the heart is hard, and it tastes very strong, which is in line with his heart.

Uncle Gan ate quite satisfied.

He looked at my dad, "Say it." ”

My dad paused and asked:

"That's right, this noodle, I've improved it many times, and I still feel very good about the taste and texture, why is this business always bad, can you tell me what's wrong?"

Uncle Gan heard this, thought about it, and took a sip of tea.

He said to my dad:

"Xiao Tang, do you know that I have to come out to eat noodles every day?"

My dad shook his head.

This Uncle Gan is really strange, every night at about ten o'clock, he will come to this store to eat a bowl of noodles.

When Uncle He was selling egg noodles before, when my dad came to see the shop, he found that he would come every day.

At first, my dad thought he just liked egg noodles.

Later, my dad took over the shop and the noodles were replaced with chicken offal noodles.

This Uncle Gan still arrives on time every day.

Come rain come shine.

My dad had been in charge of the store for half a year at the time, and the business had been booming.

It's just enough to make a living, and you can't make any money at all.

It just so happened that I was sick again at that time, and he was in a hurry.

Looking at this guest who came on time every day, my dad wanted to ask how his noodles were, and what was the difference, so that he could find an improved Faxiang.

After listening to Uncle Gan's question, my dad really didn't understand.

If the noodles at home really suit his heart, why would he let himself cook them a little harder?

This alone shows that his noodles are not in line with his taste.

I saw Uncle Gan take another sip of tea.

Then he said slowly: "My wife is a northerner, she likes to eat noodles very much, but she can't cook them herself." So, she eats noodles at He's house all day long, and she takes me with her. Then she died, and I couldn't change that habit......"

My dad sighed, he understood.

However, he was a little disappointed in his heart.

It turns out that this Uncle Gan came here to eat noodles, not because he thought the noodles made by my father were delicious, but because of a habit.

Or rather, for a feeling.

Just when he didn't know what to say, he only heard Uncle Gan continue:

"Xiao Tang, don't be disappointed, in fact, feelings are the most powerful weapon that can mobilize the nerves in the stomach."

My dad raised his eyes.

He didn't seem to understand the meaning of the sentence.

So he then asked what it meant.

Uncle Gan smiled: "In the human body, the closest organ to the heart is our stomach. If one day, when we are old, all the organs in our body, including our brains, have degenerated, we will forget many things, but the only thing that can make us remember the past is - taste. ”

"Taste?"

My dad repeated it.

Uncle Gan nodded: "That's right, the taste, the taste in memory." ”

My dad looked at Uncle Gan: "What do you mean......"

Uncle Gan said: "Therefore, in the case of catering, don't blindly seek a breakthrough in taste, and maintain a taste that retains people's hearts, which is the best." Just like me, eating noodles has become my habit every night, and I can't do it if I leave. Even I became dependent on this noodle restaurant, as if I had to sit here to eat noodles. ”

Hearing this, my dad was silent for a long time, as if he was thinking about something.

Uncle Gan's noodles have been eaten.

When he got up to leave, my dad sat in his seat, thinking about his words.

When Uncle Gan left the noodle shop, a light rain began to fall in the sky.

The season at that time was spring.

Spring nights like to rain and it's the norm in this place.

When it rains, there are no people in the Huaihua Street Night Market.

The surrounding stalls are being cleaned up one after another.

Uncle Gan walked in the drizzle and quickened his pace. The rain was a little heavy, and Uncle Gan decided to go back to my father's shop to borrow an umbrella. When he went back, my dad was still sitting in the same seat just now, and he seemed to be still thinking about Uncle Gan's words.

There was no one in the store at the moment, and it was a little deserted.

Seeing that Uncle Gan came back to borrow an umbrella, my dad didn't say a word, so he took an umbrella out.

Uncle Gan had just taken the umbrella when he saw my father's two eyes staring directly behind him, and his expression looked a little complicated.

After a while, a sentence suddenly came out of his mouth:

"Zhou Xiaojuan, you're finally back!"

Uncle Gan also turned around, and he saw a woman standing behind him.