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As the spring afternoon sun warmly shone on the ground, Erica stood intently in the center of the kitchen, her spatula expertly turning the slices of meat and fresh vegetables in the pot.
An enticing aroma spreads instantly, making people feel as if they are in the fireworks of a northeastern farmhouse.
Soon after, she carefully plated this authentic pot meat and presented it to her family.
"It's so delicious, Mom!" said 10-year-old Aaron's eyes sparkled with excitement as he eagerly savored the dish. Growing up in such a warm and harmonious family atmosphere, his love for Chinese food has long been ingrained in his bones.
Seeing her son love her craft so much, Erica had a satisfied smile on her face. She knows that the taste of this pot meat is almost exactly the same as the skill she once learned under the careful guidance of her mother-in-law.
Time flies, she has been a member of this Northeast family for 17 years, from the initial strangeness and restraint, to now being able to easily control a variety of Chinese home cooking, Chinese culture has been deeply imprinted in her life.
"My dear, you have made a new breakthrough in your cooking skills today!" Zheng Hao praised sincerely. As a native of Northeast China, he has a deep understanding of the authentic taste of this pot wrapped meat.
Watching his wife's increasingly exquisite Chinese cooking skills, his heart is full of pride and happiness.
At this moment, their baby daughter also joined in this gastronomic feast. This little princess, who has just celebrated her first birthday, has jet-black and bright hair, bright big eyes, and delicate and three-dimensional facial features, which perfectly blends her father's oriental temperament and her mother's western beauty.
Her name is Lucy, and she is like a little angel who has descended into the world.
"Come, my darling, and try the delicacies that Mommy has prepared for you. Erica picked up a small piece of meat and carefully put it into Lucy's mouth. The little one took a few bites, then smiled contentedly.
In an instant, Aaron has grown into a young man, and Lucy has entered the second year of her life. Erica is often filled with emotion that although the 17 years have been short, she has completely integrated into this cultural world that is completely different from her hometown.
Today, the life of their family of four is full of strong Chinese charm.
In addition to being proficient in cooking a variety of authentic Chinese food, Erica is also committed to exposing and learning Chinese to children from an early age. Although Aaron was a little uncomfortable at first, with the patient guidance of his parents, he was soon able to communicate with his grandparents without barriers in fluent Chinese.
Whenever the Spring Festival comes, the relatives of the Zheng family will take their children and drive to Zheng Hao's hometown, the beautiful Anshan, to gather with their dear relatives and friends and spend a good time together.
At this time, Erica always recalls the panic and anxiety when she first met her parents-in-law when she first set foot in the land of China. However, now she has already become a "China expert" who is proficient in Chinese culture, and all these changes are inseparable from her and Zheng Hao's efforts to support each other for many years and resolve cultural differences with sincere love.
Time flies, time flies, and 17 years have passed in a blink of an eye. That year, young Erica had just graduated from college and was full of enthusiasm for her professional career.
As a newcomer to the workplace, she inevitably had to deal with a wide variety of colleagues.
Among the many unfamiliar faces, there was one person who left a deep impression on her, and that was Zheng Hao, also an intern, a young man from China.
His typically oriental face stands out in a Caucasian office: yellow-skinned, dark-eyed, and deep, well-defined features.
What is even more rare is that Zheng Hao's attitude towards work is extremely serious and rigorous, and he never perfunctory, which forms a sharp contrast with the casual and casual work style of his American colleagues.
Perhaps because of this, Erica became interested in this young man from the East. At first, she only followed him every now and then between work, but as time went on, she began to reach out to him and was eager to learn more about this unfamiliar cultural world.
Erica soon discovers that although Zheng Hao's English needs to be improved, the communication between them is surprisingly smooth. She was deeply attracted by the personality charm of this oriental youth: modest and polite, diligent and studious, and affectionate.
In just a brief conversation, Erica could feel Zheng Hao's love for Chinese culture and his deep admiration for the host country.
Although she has always lived in the United States and does not know much about China, the vivid and interesting stories told by Zheng Hao have sparked her deep curiosity.
As a result, a spark across cultures ignited in the hearts of the two of them. They began to become confidants who talked about everything, and under the influence of each other, they gained a deeper understanding of each other's countries.
It wasn't long before Erica realized that her feelings for the Oriental boy had gone beyond ordinary friendship.
One day, Zheng Hao is determined and passionate, and bravely sends an invitation to Erica for a date, hoping to share the good time of his life with her.
Although Erica was ecstatic in her heart, as a traditional woman, she still rejected Zheng Hao's affection in a reserved and elegant way.
However, Zheng Hao did not back down. Soon after, he found Erica again and cordially invited her to celebrate his birthday together. This time, Erica was deeply moved by Zheng Hao's sincerity and was determined to give him a sincere response.
So, they walked into a Chinese restaurant hand in hand, and opened a curtain of taste and spiritual enjoyment. Erica tried traditional Chinese food for the first time and was amazed by the richness of the sauce and the deliciousness of the spicy taste.
Throughout the meal, she was fascinated by the delicious food in front of her and deeply felt the charm of Chinese food culture.
This Chinese feast not only allowed Erica to appreciate the breadth and profundity of Chinese culture, but also showed her Zheng Hao's enthusiasm and care. Despite the difficulties in language communication, Zheng Hao still patiently and meticulously explained the historical background and preparation method of each dish to her.
On that romantic night, a cross-cultural love flower quietly bloomed. Chinese cuisine has become a bridge for these exotic lovers to get to know each other better, bringing their hearts and minds closer together.
The road ahead is long and winding, but they are ready for the challenge.
In 2004, Erica decided to marry Zheng Hao's hometown of Anshan, officially starting her new journey of integrating Chinese culture. As a girl from the United States, she naturally felt a little uneasy and worried about this new environment.
Although there is a language barrier between them, Zheng Hao's parents have always accepted this daughter-in-law from afar with a kind and kind attitude.
In addition to being grateful, Erica was also deeply affected by her in-laws' enthusiasm for Chinese culture.
After getting married, Erica took on the responsibility of learning the art of cooking authentic Chinese food from her mother-in-law. As a native of Northeast China, Zheng Hao's parents have profound attainments in cooking and can be called "cooking masters".
Embracing this new and vast field, Dr. Erica has gradually mastered various operations from scratch with unremitting efforts and the accumulation of experience.
In the early stages, her mother-in-law was patient and tolerant, carefully teaching her how to repeat each step over and over again, and she put 12 minutes of energy into understanding and memorizing every detail.
After countless failures and bitterness, Erica has finally successfully cracked the secret of cooking home-cooked dishes such as pot-wrapped pork and braised pork rice. At this moment, Dr. Erica, who has already reached the peak of cooking, has cooked food that has surpassed the level of many well-known restaurants.
Whenever she tastes these authentic Chinese delicacies, she will be filled with emotion and aftertaste.
Today, Dr. Erica is able to communicate with her family without any barriers using her fluent Northeast dialect. Calling herself "Mother of the Northeast," she is incredibly proud to be able to put down roots in this vibrant land and immerse herself deeply in this unique culture.
Every year on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, the family will return to their hometown in Anshan with their children to carry out traditional activities of worshipping ancestors and visiting tombs, and reuniting relatives and friends.
Although it was forced to suspend due to the impact of the pandemic, this traditional practice has not been interrupted year after year, because only by remembering the roots of culture can we deeply experience the joyful atmosphere of the Chinese New Year.
After 17 years of baptism, Dr. Erica has now become a veritable "China expert". Her love and admiration for Chinese culture even surpasses that of many native-born Chinese compatriots.
And all of this stems from her firm belief in resolving cultural differences with love with Mr. Zheng Hao.
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, the careers of Dr. Erica and Mr. Zheng Hao have also undergone earth-shaking changes. Since the birth of their youngest daughter, Lucy, Dr. Erica has decided to take care of the family full-time, devoting most of her time and energy to taking care of the children and making lifestyle videos.
As a "stay-at-home mother", Dr. Erica has created her own social media account and frequently shares moments in her family's life.
Because of her pure "Northeast accent" and superb Chinese cooking skills, she quickly won a lot of attention and praise on the Internet, and became a high-profile "Internet celebrity mother".
Every time she demonstrates live in a video and shows herself the process of cooking a delicious meal, Dr. Erica always attracts the attention of a large audience. People were touched by the love of Chinese food for this girl from the United States, and they gave praise and support.
Compared with the thriving career of his wife, Zheng Hao's work situation is embarrassing. His former position is no longer sustainable, and now he is an obscure truck driver, running between the dock and the road every day, shouldering the burden of his family's livelihood.
However, Zheng Hao did not complain about this. On the contrary, he has always maintained an optimistic attitude and worked diligently to create a warm and harmonious harbor for his family.
In his eyes, every profession should be treated with equal respect and admiration.
When it comes to his wife's career choice, Zheng Hao does not hesitate to give full support and will never interfere. In fact, it is because of the rational distribution of family responsibilities that Erica is able to devote herself wholeheartedly to parenting and video creation.
All of this stems from their use of love as a bridge to bridge differences, and to understand and tolerate each other. No matter how bumpy the road ahead is, as long as they are arm-in-arm and heart-to-heart, they will have nothing to fear.
After many years of marriage, Erica and Zheng Hao, a couple who straddle Eastern and Western cultural backgrounds, will inevitably encounter some stumbles in their daily lives.
Although their love is rock-solid, they sometimes get into an interesting "war of words" due to differences in language and customs.
One of the most distinctive "family traditions" of the family is that every time they have an argument, they always have a laptop in hand and an online translation tool to understand each other's points of view.
Initially, this "high-tech" way of communication made Erica and Zheng Hao feel very fresh. They will engage in heated debates and even shout as if they are going to fight in the next moment.
However, whenever emotions are about to get out of control, the sudden sound of translated audio always calms them down.
Looking at each other, Erica and Zheng Hao are often laughed at by this peculiar atmosphere. The tension dissipated in an instant, and they resumed their sanity and calm conversation.
Sometimes, before the argument even begins, they are already plagued by a language barrier. For example, one time, Zheng Hao blurted out "computer machine" in order to express the word "TV".
Although Erica was already proficient in Chinese, she was still puzzled by this strange way of being addressed. As a result, the already tense strife and dispute was interrupted by this unexpected situation in an instant, and everyone's attention shifted to this sudden episode.
It is precisely because of the natural language barrier that the arguments between the couple often fall into a fruitless stalemate. When both sides finally understand and accept each other's points of view, they often can't help but laugh when they look back and reflect on the tension that just erupted.
In addition to language differences, cultural differences often cause confusion for the multinational couple. For example, on the wedding night, Erica plans to open all the wedding gift boxes one by one, according to the traditional American custom.
However, Zheng Hao was deeply ashamed of this, thinking that this behavior was too frivolous, so the two started a heated debate, which ended in an unhappy ending.
Another time, Erica was full of joy and wanted to hang a brightly colored body art painting in the living room, but Zheng Hao strongly objected to it.
It turned out that in the traditional view of the East, such works were regarded as unethical, and after a heated debate, Erica had no choice but to give up her idea.
Despite the differences in cultural customs, it is these warm vignettes that make Erica and Zheng Hao's married life colorful.
Whenever they recall the bits and pieces of those years, they will always laugh heartily and be full of emotion.
Because only through tolerance and understanding can the differences between them be resolved, and the life of this foreign couple can be so sweet and happy.