Hong Kong City food stalls are actually the meaning of roadside stalls, which first appeared after the end of World War II, when the British government in Hong Kong lacked adequate social welfare, and many family members of civil servants who were killed and injured during the war, as well as civil servants who could not rely on negligible pensions to support their families. They can apply to the Hong Kong Government for a mobile cooked food licence without a fixed stall and allow them to set up stalls on the street or in the alleys.

This is the reason why the food stalls in Hong Kong City first appeared, because the food stalls are affordable, and many refugees who seek refuge in the port city have no tiles to cover their bodies, so they will sleep on the streets when they are sleepy, and eat at the food stalls when they are hungry.

Later, there were many workers who worked the night shift, and after work, they would also have a simple supper at the food stalls, and with the gradual prosperity of the economy, some people with better economic conditions also slowly began to live a night life, and after the bars and nightclubs came out, they would also have a simple supper at the food stalls.

Slowly, food stalls began to prosper, and it can be said that they flourished for a while, and for a time they became a part of Hong Kong life.

Fang Lang's impression of the food stalls is actually mostly from the memories of later generations, the food stalls in this period are still in their infancy, and the reason why Reinhardt has a certain understanding of the food stalls is because there were originally several ship maintenance stations at the Admiralty Naval Base, and many boatmen worked in them.

In order to do the business of these workers, naturally some people opened food stalls near the naval base, and slowly even British naval officers like Reinhardt knew about the existence of such special food stalls.

Therefore, when Fang Lang proposed to experience the food stall culture of the port city, Reinhardt agreed without hesitation.

Finally waited until ten o'clock in the evening, after the banquet at the Governor's Palace, Fang Lang, led by Reinhardt, drove impatiently to the area with the most food stalls during this period, the area of Stanley Street in Central.

Fang Lang, who was sitting in the car, enjoyed the night view of the port city while chatting with Reinhardt beside him.

"Brother, have you ever eaten at a food stall in Hong Kong City? Do you know where the best food is?

Don't wait to find a place that doesn't taste good, and you'll have a game for nothing. ”

Reinhardt, who was sitting on the side, heard Fang Lang's words, and glanced at Fang Lang angrily and said:

"Isn't it easy to find a good restaurant? Just look at where the queue is the most crowded, and the taste here will definitely not be bad. ”

Fang Lang glanced at Reinhardt with some surprise.

"Huh! You kid can! You have mastered all these rules, yes, yes, the lad has a future. ”

"I've been living in the port city for almost a year, do you still know about the situation in the port city? I have to say that the food of China is indeed indestructible, and I found a magical food called "Western Toast" in the port city.

This French toast, modified by the people of Hong Kong, is definitely my favorite, and they are fried and drizzled with syrup and butter to give the toast a soul.

Do you know? It's the most delicious food I've had in years, especially when some condensed milk is sticked.

It's a pity that this kind of food won't be in the food stalls, otherwise I would have let you taste what is called a human delicacy tonight. ”

Hearing this, Fang Lang glanced at Reinhardt with a retrospective expression on his face with disgust, this poor British child from the food desert must have lacked the edification of food, and even the unpopular food of Western Toast can conquer him, which shows how low his requirements are.

It's not that Fang Lang thinks that "West Toast" is not delicious, but in his opinion, this kind of food can only be regarded as a dessert at most, and it is not a meal at all.

"Look at the way you haven't seen the world, do you know what kind of Chinese food can not be called food?

If you seriously talk about the food culture of China, I won't be able to finish talking to you tomorrow morning. For example, the food stall we are going to this time, you probably haven't been to it before! ”

Reinhardt was very dissatisfied with Fang Lang's look down on him, but he didn't know if he also knew that Chinese food was indeed not something that their British food could defeat, so he didn't refute it directly, but said with some doubts:

"How do you know I haven't been to a food stall?"

"Does that need to be said? Just from the fact that you regard this non-Chinese food as a classic, you know that you must not have seen much of the world.

Today I will teach you a rule, in China, real food is often hidden in the streets and alleys. And the food stalls we are going to now are likely to hide real Chinese food. ”

Fang Lang, who was smiling, pretended to mysteriously lower his voice and said to Reinhardt.

Hearing Fang Lang's words, Reinhardt looked Fang Lang up and down a few times suspiciously.

"Is everything you say true?"

"Really, why don't we try it tonight? However, this kind of thing occasionally depends on luck, after all, there are still high and low chefs' skills, and the same dish will present a completely different taste in the hands of different chefs. ”

Fang Lang said as he spoke, and even he began to look forward to it.

Time passed imperceptibly in the small talk between the two, and the convoy slowly stopped not far from Stanley Street in Central. Although many people in the port city owned private cars during this period, they were not flooded to the extent that parking spaces could not be found.

However, in order to keep a low profile, Fang Lang still asked everyone to park their cars a little farther away early. As the convoy slowly stopped, a group of plainclothes guards took the lead in getting out of the car in twos and threes, and scattered in all directions.

After the guards were in place, Qi Qingshan stepped forward and knocked on Fang Lang's car door, and Fang Lang, Qi Qingshan, and Reinhardt wandered leisurely towards the food stalls on Stanley Street.

Stanley Street was a normal street during the day, but now it is filled with dense dining tables.

As a few people slowly approached Stanley Street, the surrounding pedestrians slowly began to increase. Small round foldable tables fill the street, smoky on open-air stoves, and from time to time burst into flames as the chef stir-fries.

The running guy with a towel around his neck was busy running before and after. Groups of diners were chatting and laughing while tasting the food, and the hard work of the day was fully released at this moment.

There were a few tables of young people dressed as company employees who looked to be in good financial conditions, who were happily drinking and punching, and one by one their faces turned red, and a young man who looked a little thin was already lying at the table unconscious, apparently having erected a white flag and a truce.

Such a lively scene surprised Reinhardt, who experienced the liveliness of the food stalls for the first time.

In the eyes of these ordinary people who are struggling at the bottom of society and desperately trying to make ends meet, it is as if the tense situation that has just been in the mouths of the big figures in the Governor's Palace does not exist, forming a stark contrast. For a moment, Reinhardt didn't know what to say.

Fang Lang was not surprised by this, on the contrary, he felt unprecedented cordiality on this occasion, and couldn't help but stand in place and take a deep breath.

The air was filled with the aroma of all kinds of delicacies, which instantly filled his nostrils, and he couldn't help but gently close his eyes and savor it carefully.

At the moment when he closed his eyes, it seemed that he had returned to the night market he had frequented in his previous life, and in the noisy food stalls, there was the sound of the proprietress enthusiastically soliciting customers, the sexyly dressed beer girls were selling around with wine glasses, and the drinkers who had been drinking for three rounds were unscrupulously swaying their pride.

It was all so intoxicating, there was a moment that almost made Fang Lang reluctant to open his eyes again.

"Fang, how about we go to that house? Where there are the most guests. ”

Just when Fang Lang was intoxicated, Reinhardt's eyes swept through the food stalls one by one, and found that there were many people gathered in front of a small stall not far away, and several of them seemed to be waiting in line for vacant seats.

This situation perfectly conformed to the law of the most guests, and he couldn't help but ask Fang Lang's opinion.

Fang Lang, who was reminisced by Lane Hatra, sighed lightly, looked in the direction of his finger, and saw a stall about thirty meters away, and sure enough, there were more people than in front of several nearby stalls.

The stall is small, it seems to be a husband and wife stall, the chef of the stall is a middle-aged man who looks a little lame, and the person in charge of greeting customers is a middle-aged woman who still looks charming and slightly spicy.

The woman was slightly chubby, and her long black hair was tied up with a silk scarf with black dots on a white background, swaying from side to side as the woman walked, looking quite different.

"No problem, let's try it here!"

After speaking, he took the lead and walked towards this food stall.

After entering, I saw a wooden sign with black characters on a white background erected in front of the stove where the lame man was, and the words Ming Ji were written from top to bottom.

Fang Lang smiled slightly, and did not go to talk to the proprietress to talk, but stepped forward and said to the lame man:

"Master, is there still a place for the three of you?"

The lame man who was busy looked up at Fang Lang and the three of them, and saw that Fang Lang and several people were dressed well, and there was a foreigner following, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, but he quickly reacted, and hurriedly said with some surprise:

"Yes, yes, boss, wait a minute, I'll ask my wife to arrange it for you right away!"

After speaking, he said directly to the middle-aged woman who was cleaning up the tables and chairs not far away:

"Shufen, there are three guests here, help arrange it!"

When the woman heard this, she turned around and looked in the direction of the stove, at this time, Fang Lang noticed that the woman's appearance was unexpectedly beautiful, with a traditional Chinese goose egg face, white and smooth skin, and the first word that appeared in Fang Lang's mind at the first glance was Wangfu Xiang.

Perhaps because he found that there was a foreigner among the several people, and the dress of the three was obviously different from the surrounding workers and clerks, the proprietress was also slightly stunned for a moment before reacting.

"Okay! Three bosses, please here! I'll clean up here in a minute, so sit here! ”

Hearing this, Fang Lang glanced at the several waves of guests who were still queuing on the side, and said quite embarrassedly:

"Boss, I see that there are still a few guests here who seem to be queuing, or let them eat first, let's sit on the side and wait."

Fang Lang regretted a little after talking to the lame man, knowing that there were still people queuing in front of him, he ran up to ask the boss if there was a place.

In fact, the main reason why Fang Lang stepped forward to talk was that he didn't see the menu on the spot, and wanted to ask the boss what special dishes this food stall had, and to see how the boss's craftsmanship was.

Who knew that the boss didn't let him wait a while, but directly asked the boss to arrange a place for him, which made Fang Lang's plan to stand by the stove more and talk to the boss fall through.

But he didn't want to break the rules, so he couldn't help but turn off the boss's kindness.

The few guests who were waiting in line seemed to feel a lot more comfortable when they saw Fang Lang looking at them and resigned to the boss to arrange for them first.

I don't know if I saw a few people dressed up, some surprised that people like them would come to eat food stalls, or saw a foreigner among the three, everyone's eyes were full of curiosity and exploration, and they didn't show resentment or dissatisfaction.

One of the uncles, who looked to be about fifty years old, took the initiative to speak:

"It's okay, we're not in a hurry, you guys eat first!"

The more polite these people were to Fang Lang, the more embarrassed Fang Lang became, everyone was compatriots, he really didn't want to cut the line, and he didn't feel that he was superior.

"How embarrassing! We are later, and we still have to talk about first-come, first-served. Actually, I mainly want to ask the boss first, what specialties are available at the stall. ”

The guests who were waiting in line saw that the young man in a suit and leather shoes behaved modestly and politely, and they all had a good impression, and they all said that they didn't mind letting them eat first.

The uncle who spoke up before said directly:

"This gentleman, we can eat a bowl of vegetarian fried noodles at most, and Xiao Chen can't earn us a few dollars. But decent people like you must consume higher than us, and their profits can be higher when they spend here, so let's order first! ”

Fang Lang laughed dumbly when he heard this, this old man is really sincere, he doesn't hide his words at all, it can be seen that these guests and the couple of this store should be old acquaintances, and the relationship is quite good.

This was a bit of a surprise to give way.

Turning his head to look at the shopkeeper and his wife, he saw that the two of them seemed to have been told by the uncle, and the expressions on their faces seemed to be a little embarrassed.

Seeing this, Fang Lang could only shrug his shoulders and said with a smile:

"Oh well! You're welcome. ”

Reinhardt couldn't understand what a few people were saying, so he could only stand aside and wait quietly until Fang Lang took his shoulders and walked towards the small table that the proprietress had just cleaned up.

As an Englishman, he regarded Fang Lang as a friend, but not all Chinese were friends, so he didn't care about the feelings of other Chinese here. It seems that everything is taken for granted.

Qi Qingshan, on the other hand, did not speak the whole time, his eyes swept over the faces of the guests near the food stalls from time to time, and he watched the surrounding environment vigilantly, for fear that something would happen.

As the three of them walked to the dining table that the proprietress had cleaned up, the proprietress had already wiped the table clean with a rag.

After a few people came over and sat down, he nodded very politely to the three of them and said:

"Three distinguished guests, what to eat?"

Fang Lang turned his head to meet the full headlights of the proprietress and swallowed his saliva with some difficulty, and quickly looked away and said:

"I didn't find the menu just now, so I don't know what you guys have here. So be it! You pick up the best and arrange a table, and when you are satisfied, we will reward you with a tip. ”

When the proprietress heard that there was a tip reward, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she got up and clapped her hands very happily and said confidently:

"No problem, then I'll let us take out the housekeeping skills and ensure that a few guests are satisfied."

(End of chapter)