"Want something?" The old man asked me unbelievably asked.

"I ...... I'm not hungry, thanks. I turned my gaze back to his face, eyes that barely made me dare to look at him.

The old man touched his short pale hair and said, "It's almost noon, I think you should be hungry, so let's eat some." ”

"I'm going to ...... soon" I was about to keep presuming, but my mind had shifted from the vanished girl to the real problem.

The old man interrupted me and asked, "Go to work?" ”

I nodded, "Yes, it's late." ”

The old man shrugged his shoulders: "Since it's already late, the length of time is no longer a problem?" Isn't it? ”

I looked at the old man's smile and frowned, feeling a little complicated. I raised my wrist to look at my watch, it was almost noon, and I politely smiled at the old man, "I'm sorry, I think I have to get out of here right away......"

The old man was not disappointed by my performance or had any other reaction, he raised his hand to stop me from speaking, turned to the little man at the bar and said, "Get us two something to eat." ”

The little man, in a restaurant that seemed to have no kitchen, had come up to me with a four-wheeled food cart from behind the bar, and he had trained himself to open the wine bottle, pour the wine glass in front of me and the old man, and then unfold the napkin, fold it in half, and lay it on my lap.

"What are you preparing?" The old man raised his head and asked the little man, judging by his expression, the two of them should be very familiar.

The small man reached out and opened a metal cover on the dining cart, which contained two grilled steaks. He looked at the old man and said, "Your favorite." ”

"Great." The old man snapped his fingers.

As soon as I smelled the overflowing aroma, my stomach twitched, the steak in front of me whetted my appetite, I was indeed hungry, and just as I was still hesitating, the little man had already placed two appetizers on the table.

"Please." The old man stretched out his hand to signal.

"You haven't answered my question yet?" I shifted the conversation back to the original question.

The old man was not in a hurry to answer my question, he drank the appetizer soup spoonful by spoonful, and then gently wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin, signaling that the little man could withdraw, and then focused his attention on me again, he kept looking at me very kindly, and his eyes showed a heartfelt emotion, like an old friend who had not seen him for many years, which made people feel very warm.

I also began to pick up the spoon and drink the soup in front of me, to be honest, the taste was very good, sweet and delicate, I could feel the soup flowing into my stomach and then spreading out, gently caressing my stomach mucosa, so that the discomfort I felt just now due to hunger disappeared.

When the little man saw that I had finished the soup, he removed the bowl and brought the tempting steak to me. The old man picked up the cruet and sprinkled black pepper evenly on the steak, and he asked me, "Do you know what is the most important thing in cooking food?" ”

With a bowl of appetizer soup, I temporarily dismissed the idea of leaving, because I couldn't resist the temptation of America, and I couldn't resist the juicy steak in front of me, which was just rightly grilled. At this time, my body also relaxed, no longer a little nervous as before, the blood flowed soothingly throughout my body, and the appetizer soup continued to exude energy in my stomach, which made me feel very comfortable.

"Don't know?" I picked up my knife and fork and prepared to cut the steak.

The old man cut the steak and saw that I was interested in his question, and his eyes showed a glimmer of light, he stopped his knife and fork, took a sip of red wine, and said: "When people are faced with tempting and fresh food ingredients, they always subconsciously want to eat it in their mouths as soon as possible, but they ignore a problem. Recognizing things is a process, and cooking is no exception. This steak comes from Alberta, North America, Canada, where the world's best beef cattle are raised, and these cattle not only eat clean, fresh and unpolluted grass every day, but also apples, acorns, carrots and walnuts are the main feed in their daily recipes. With such careful rearing, it's no wonder that there are no better steaks in the world. ”

Saying this, the old man swallowed excitedly, and I was also attracted by this rather light-hearted topic, and concentrated on listening to him.

The old man had already cut off a piece of meat of a good size, and while he forked the piece of meat with his fork and dipped it in the soup on the plate, he continued: "When a piece of such steak is placed in front of you, you want to swallow it in your stomach right away, why not, because it is so tempting." So people tried their best to process it as quickly as possible, but this happened to be the problem. Excessive heat and anxiety caused this steak to lose its original taste and texture during the ripening process, and the final result was that it was only edible, and lost the essence of its ability to be remembered the most. ”

"What's that?" I was really hooked.

"The experience of the heart. Food not only gives us a good stomach, but more importantly, we can enjoy the good feeling it brings us. In other words, everything in the world must obey this principle, and the greatest happiness that any great academic theory or scientific invention brings to its creator is not the final achievement, but the experience of the process, the pleasure of touching the deepest part of the soul. ”

The old man put the piece of meat that had been dipped in the soup into his mouth, and I watched him slowly close his eyes and chew gently, and I even heard the sound of teeth and meat grinding mixed with saliva stirring. I almost laughed out loud at the look on his face.

The old man's throat moved, the piece of meat was swallowed, he opened his eyes, let out a long breath, his face showed a very happy look, he took another sip of red wine, suddenly turned the subject back to me, and said, "Just like the two questions you just asked. Who am I? Where are you? If I tell you the answer directly, it's like a steak that has been grilled at the wrong temperature, it's hard to swallow, and if you eat it hard, you might still have indigestion. So, it's a long process, today is just the beginning, since you have chosen to come here, it is that you have to uncover the essence of this matter, no need to worry, we have time. ”

Hearing this, my mood changed a little subtly, although this steak was so delicious that I couldn't stop the knife and fork in my hand, but all the things that happened before still bothered me, thinking about these problems, my cutting of the steak was a little sluggish, and the expression on his face may have made him see that I was preoccupied. (To be continued.) )