A bowl of Yangchun noodles

For noodle restaurants, the busiest time is the big Chinese New Year's Eve. This day at the Beihai Pavilion Noodle Restaurant has also been busy since the beginning.

　　Usually until twelve o'clock in the evening is still very lively street, the big Chinese New Year's Eve at ten o'clock in the evening, it is very quiet. The customers of the Beihai Pavilion Noodle Restaurant also seemed to have suddenly disappeared at this time.

　　Just as the last customer came out and the owner said it was closing, the door was creaked open. A woman came in with two children. Two boys around the ages of six and ten, one in brand new tracksuit. The woman wore an unscheduled diagonal plaid coat.

　　"Welcome!" The hostess went up to say hello.

　　"Ahhh,...... Yangchun noodles... A bowl... May I? The woman asked timidly. The two little boys hid behind their mothers, and they also looked timidly at the lady boss.

　　"Okay, please, please sit here," said the lady boss, leading the three of them to sit at the second table near the heating, while shouting to the counter, "A bowl of Yangchun noodles!" ”

　　The boss, who heard the shouting, glanced up at the three of them and replied, "Good grin! A bowl of Yangchun noodles——""

　　The board had long been prepared, piled up into a hill of noodles, and the pile was one person.2 The boss grabbed a pile of noodles, then added half a pile and put it into the pot together. The lady boss immediately realized that this was the husband's special effort to give more to the mother and son.

　　The hot and fragrant Yangchun noodles were placed on the table, and the mother and son three immediately surrounded the bowl of noodles and ate them head-to-head.

　　"It's delicious!" Brother said.

　　"Mom eats it too!" The younger brother grabbed a chopstick noodle and delivered it to his mother.

　　After a while, the noodles were finished and 150 yuan was paid.

　　"Thanks for the hospitality," the mother and son nodded their heads together and thanked each other, and left the store.

　　"Thank you and wish you a good year!" The owner and the hostess replied.

　　After the New Year's Day, the Beihai Pavilion Noodle Restaurant is still busy every day. A year passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was a big Chinese New Year's Eve.

　　Like the previous Chinese New Year's Eve, the busy day is coming to an end. At ten o'clock in the evening, just as the door was about to close, the door of the shop was pulled open again, and a woman came in with two boys.

　　When the lady boss saw the unseasonable slanted plaid coat on the woman, she remembered the three last customers of last year's Chinese New Year's Eve.

　　“...... This one...... A bowl of Yangchun noodles... May I? ”

　　"Please, please sit inside," the lady boss brought them to the second table of last year, "a bowl of Yangchun noodles—" "Well, a bowl of Yangchun noodles—" The boss replied, and rekindled the extinguished fire.

　　Hey, kid daddy, give them three bowls, okay?

　　The hostess whispered in the boss's ear.

　　"No, if that's the case, they might be embarrassed."

　　The boss said, grabbed a person and a half of the noodles and got off the pot.

　　There was a bowl of Yangchun noodles on the table, and the mother and son three ate and talked, and the boss and the lady at the counter could hear their voices.

　　"It's delicious..."

　　"This year, I can eat The Yangchun noodles of Beihai Pavilion again."

　　"If only I could come and eat next year..."

　　After eating, I paid 150 yuan. The hostess looked at their backs, "Thank you, I wish you a good year!" ”

　　On this day, I was sent away by this blessing that had been said dozens or even hundreds of times.

　　With the booming business of Beihai Pavilion Noodle Restaurant, it has ushered in the third year of Chinese New Year's Eve.

　　From half past nine, although neither the boss nor the hostess said anything, they both seemed a little distracted

decide. Just after ten o'clock, the hired workers left work, the boss and the boss lady immediately turned over the price plates of various faces hanging on the wall, and quickly wrote "Yangchun noodles 150 yuan", in fact, from this summer, with the rise in prices, the price of Yangchun noodles is already 200 yuan a bowl.

　　At the second table, 30 minutes ago, the hostess had already set up the sign of "reservation seat".

　　By 10:30, there were no more customers in the store, but the boss and the lady were still waiting for the arrival of the mother and son.

They're coming. The older brother was wearing the uniform of a middle school student, and the younger brother was wearing the slightly larger old clothes that his older brother had worn last year, and both brothers had grown up and were a little unrecognizable. Mother was still wearing the unseasonable, somewhat faded coat.

　　"Welcome," the hostess greeted her with a smile.

　　“...... yes...... Two bowls of Yangchun noodles... May I? The mother asked timidly.

　　"Okay, please, please sit inside!"

　　The lady boss led them to table number two, hid the reservation card on the table casually, and shouted at the counter:

　　"Two bowls of Yangchun noodles!"

　　"Well, two bowls of Yangchun noodles——""

　　The boss replied and put the three bowls of noodles into the pot.

　　The mother and son three ate two bowls of Yangchun noodles, talking and laughing.

　　"Eldest son, Chun'er, today, my mother wants to thank you." "Thanks? To us? ...... Why? ”

　　"Really, because your father died in a traffic accident, you owe money to eight people. I repaid all the pensions, and if I didn't have enough, I repaid them in installments of fifty thousand yuan a month. ”

　　"We all know that."

　　The owner and the hostess were at the counter, listening motionlessly.

　　"The remaining debts will be paid off by March next year, but in fact, they can be paid off in full today."

　　"Ah, is that true, Mom?"

　　"It's true. The eldest child sends newspapers every day to support me, and Chun'er buys vegetables and cooks rice every day to help me, so I can work with peace of mind. Because I worked hard and received a special allowance from the company, I am now able to pay off the debt in full. ”

　　"Oh well! Mom, brother, from now on, the daily cooking matter is still wrapped up for me! "I also continue to deliver newspapers." Brother, let's work together! ”

　　"Thank you, thank you so much... Thanks..."

"My brother and I also have one thing to hide from my mother, and I can say it today. It was a Sunday in November, and I went to my brother's school to attend a parent-teacher conference. At this time, the younger brother had hidden a letter from the teacher to his mother... If the younger brother's essay is selected as a representative of Hokkaido, he can participate in the zombie essay contest. Because of this, on the day of the parent-teacher conference, the teacher asked his brother to read the essay aloud by himself. If the teacher's letter is read to the mother, the mother will definitely ask the company for leave to listen to the brother read the composition, so the younger brother did not give the letter to the mother. I still heard about this from my brother's friends. So, on the day of the parent-teacher conference, I went. ”

"Oh, that's the way it is... What about later? ”

　　"The teacher's essay title is, 'What kind of person do you want to become in the future', all the students wrote, the younger brother's title is 'A Bowl of YangChun Noodles", as soon as I heard this topic, I knew that it was written about the Beihai Pavilion Noodle Restaurant. Brother, how did this guy write such an embarrassing thing, I thought so at the time. ”

"The essay is about my father dying in a traffic accident, leaving a large debt. My mother worked hard every day from morning to night, and I went to deliver morning and evening newspapers... The younger brother wrote it all out. Then he wrote that on the evening of December 31, the mother and son three ate a bowl of Yangchun noodles, which was very delicious... The three of us only bought a bowl of Yangchun noodles, and the uncle and aunt of the noodle restaurant still received us warmly, thanked us, and wished us a good year. Hearing this voice, the younger brother's heart could not help but shout: You can't fail, you must work hard, you must live well! Therefore, when my brother grows up and wants to open a noodle restaurant that is the first in Japan, he must also say to the customers, work hard, wish you happiness, thank you. The younger brother read the composition aloud..."

At this moment, the counter had ears pricked up, and the boss and the boss lady who listened intently to the mother and son were gone. Behind the counter, I saw the two of them crouching face to face, a towel, each end, wiping away the tears that came out of their eyes.

　　"After reading the essay, the teacher said, 'Today Chunjun's brother came to our parent-teacher conference in place of his mother, and now we ask him to say a few words...'"

　　"Why is the brother at this time..." The younger brother looked at his brother questioningly.

"Because I was suddenly called up to speak, at first, I couldn't say anything about it... You have always been very good with my brother, and I would like to thank you all. My brother cooked dinner every day, gave up club activities, and came home halfway, and I was embarrassed to be my brother. Just now, when my brother's "A Bowl of Yangchun Noodles" was first read, I felt very humiliated, but when I saw my brother reading it aloud with excitement, I felt even more ashamed in my heart, and I thought, I must not forget my mother's courage to buy a bowl of Yangchun noodles, brothers, work together to protect our mother! From now on, please be better friends with my brother. I'll just say that..."

Mother and son, quietly, held hands with each other for a long time. Then he laughed cheerfully. Compared with last year, the image has completely changed.

　　Yangchun noodles, which were Chinese New Year's Eve meal, were eaten and paid 150 yuan.

　　"Thanks for the hospitality," the mother and son three thanked deeply and walked out of the store.

　　"Thank you and wish you a good year!"

　　The boss and the hostess shouted their blessings to them and watched them go away...

　　Another year of great Chinese New Year's Eve has arrived. In the Beihai Pavilion Noodle Restaurant, after 9:00 p.m., the second table was placed with a sign for the reservation seat, waiting for the arrival of the mother and son. However, on this day, the three of them were never seen.

　　A year, another year, table two has been waiting silently. But the mother and son still did not appear.

　　Beihai Pavilion Noodle Restaurant has been renovated because of the increasing business. The table and chairs were replaced, but the second table was still the same, and the boss and his wife not only did not feel uncoordinated, but placed the second table in the center of the store.

"Why put this old table in the middle of the store?" Some customers feel strange.

　　Therefore, the boss and his wife told them the story of "a bowl of Yangchun noodles". And said that seeing this table is an inspiration to yourself. Moreover, maybe one day the mother and son three will come again, and at this time, they still want to use this table to greet them.

　　In this way, the story of table number two makes table two a table of happiness. Customers were singing everywhere, and some people came from far away, including female students and young couples, all of whom had to eat a bowl of Yangchun noodles at the second table. Table Two has also gained a reputation.

　　Time passes, year after year. The year's Chinese New Year's Eve has arrived.

At this time, Beihai Pavilion Noodle Restaurant is already the main member of this street chamber of commerce, the big Chinese New Year's Eve this day, close friends, close neighbors, peers, after a day's work, they all came to Beihai Pavilion, ate New Year noodles in Beihai Pavilion, listened to the bells of Chinese New Year's Eve night, and then relatives and friends gathered together to burn incense and prostrate their heads at a nearby shrine to pray for the blessing of the gods. This has been the case for five or six years.

This year's Chinese New Year's Eve is certainly no exception. After 9:30, with the fish shop owner and his wife holding a large plate full of sashimi as a signal, more than thirty people from the usual neighborhood friends also brought wine and vegetables to the Beihai Pavilion one after another. The atmosphere in the shop suddenly became lively.

　　Friends who know the origin of the second table did not say anything in their mouths, but they were thinking in their hearts, this year's second table may have to wait empty again, right? The sign of the reservation seat had already been quietly placed on the second table.

Between the narrow seats, the guests moved their bodies little by little to sit down, and some people greeted their late friends. Eating noodles, drinking wine, and holding each other's dishes. Someone went to the counter to help, someone casually opened the refrigerator to get something. What a cheap sale business, what a sea bathing anecdote, what a grandson. At 10:30, the lively atmosphere in the Beihai Pavilion reached its peak.

Just then, the door of the store was creaked open. People were looking toward the door, and suddenly the house fell silent.

　　Two young men in crisp suits and coats on their arms walked in. At this time, everyone was relieved, and with a soft sigh, the shop resumed its previous bustle.

　　"It's no coincidence that the shop is already full," the hostess said apologetically.

　　Just as the two youths were being rejected, a woman in a kimono walked in with her head bowed deeply and stood between the two youths. The people in the store suddenly held their breath and their ears stood up.

　　"Ah... Three bowls of Yangchun noodles, is it okay? The woman in the kimono said quietly.

　　Hearing this, the face of the hostess suddenly changed. The impression of the mother and son three that remained in my mind more than ten years ago overlapped with the images of the three people in front of me.

　　The hostess pointed to the three visitors, and her eyes collided with those of her husband, who was busy at the counter.

　　"Ah, ah,...... The boy daddy...

　　Faced with the overwhelmed lady boss, one of the youth spoke.

　　"We are the Chinese New Year's Eve of fourteen years ago, and the mother and son three people eat a bowl of Yangchun noodles together. At that time, it was the encouragement of this bowl of Yangchun noodles that made the three of us work together and get through the difficult years. After that, we moved to Shiga Prefecture, my mother's own family. ”

"I passed the national exam for doctors this year and am now working as a trainee doctor at University Hospital in Kyoto. Next April, I will be working at Sapporo General Hospital. My brother, who has not yet opened a noodle shop, now works in a bank in Kyoto. My brother and I discussed and planned the first extravagant operation of my life. In this way, today, the three of us mother and son specially came to visit the Beihai Pavilion in Sapporo, hoping to trouble you to cook three bowls of Yangchun noodles. ”

　　The boss couple who nodded while listening, teardrops fell in a string.

　　The owner of the vegetable shop, sitting near the door, listened with a mouthful of noodles in his mouth, and only then did he swallow the noodles and stand up.

　　"Hey! Lady boss, what are you doing standing there? Every big Chinese New Year's Eve of the decade, aren't you ready to wait for their arrival? Quick, get them seated, quick! After being hit on the shoulder by the owner of the vegetable shop, the lady boss woke up.

　　"Joy... Welcome, please, please sit... The child his father, the second table Yang Chun noodles three bowls -

　　"Good grin—three bowls of Yangchun noodles—" The tearful husband almost couldn't make a sound.

　　In the store, there was a sudden burst of cheers and applause.

　　Outside the store, the snowflakes that were still fluttering just now also stopped at this moment. The white snow reflects the clear windows, the curtain that reads "Beihai Pavilion", swaying and floating in the breeze of the new moon...