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15、 Zhan-zhi Tofu (Tofu with dipping sauce) 蘸汁豆腐
是豆腐也是人情 Not only tofu but also human warmth
01
Opposite our company opened a new restaurant. And at noon I made an appointment with a few colleagues for lunch there.
公司對面新餐館開張，中午幾個同事約在一起，過去吃午飯。
As soon as we came to the entrance, a girl greeted us with a smile and led us to a table.
一進門，一個女孩笑意盈盈地迎上前來，領我們入座。
The girl wore a blue floral blouse, blue pants with wide trousers, black shoes, and a blue headscarf, which formed the featured business suit of the restaurant, and which matched the peculiar shyness of the rural girl in her expression.
女孩穿藍色碎花上衣，藍布褲，闊闊的褲腳，黑布鞋，藍頭巾，是店裡的特色店服，和她神情中那幾分鄉村女孩特有的羞澀很相襯。
She was eighteen or nineteen years old. Her voice was clean and sweet, and her smile was sincere and lovely.
她十八九歲的樣子，聲音乾淨甜美，笑容真誠可愛。
She handed over the menu, and we leaned together to look through it. A colleague asked, "What's delicious, Miss? Recommend it."
她把菜單遞過來，我們湊在一起翻看，有同事問：「小妹，有啥好吃的？推薦一下。」
The girl pursed her lips, recommended two or three special dishes, and then said, "Our shop's zhan-zhi tofu is very good. The tofu is tender and tastes pure and nutritious. And it can beautify girls' skin if they eat it, and morever, they won't gain weight. How about ordering one?"
女孩抿抿唇，報了三兩樣特色菜，然後說：「我們店的蘸汁豆腐不錯的，豆腐嫩味道純又有營養，女孩子吃了可以美容，還不長胖……點一份吧。」
Ｕnlike introducing other dishes, by using a lot of words and in an urgent tone, she couldn't seem to wait to describe a serving of zhan-zhi tofu.
不像介紹其他菜品，一份蘸汁豆腐，她用了好多詞來形容，口氣也有點迫不及待。
"Is it a signature dish?" I looked up and asked her. Her face suddenly turned blushed. She shook her head, and whispered, "No, but..." Her voice hurried again, "I don't want to lie to everyone. It's really delicious. You can taste it."
是招牌菜嗎？」我抬頭問她。她的臉忽然有點兒紅了，搖頭，小聲說：「不是的，不過……」聲音又急促起來，「不騙大家，真的很好吃，可以嚐一嚐啊。」
We all laughed. On the menu, we found a serving of zhan-zhi tofu cost only six dollars, which was not too worth recommending. However, we ordered one.
我們都笑起來，菜單上，一份蘸汁豆腐不過六塊錢，實在不是太值得去推薦，就要了一份。
02
The dishes came up one after another, including the plate of zhan-zhi tofu. I tasted it, and it was really good. It was not as watery as that sold in the market. The color was good, and the taste was pure. It was like the firm tofu which I had eaten when I was a kid. The dipping sauce was chive flower sauce, which had a pure taste like the one made at home.
菜陸續上來，包括那盤豆腐，嚐了一口，味道的確不錯，不似市場上賣的豆腐那樣水，顏色好看，味道也純，像小時候吃過的那種老豆腐，蘸的調味汁是韭花醬，也像自己家裡做的，味道很純正。
he girl did not lie. Although this zhan-zhi tofu was not the signature dish in the restaurant, it was indeed delicious.
女孩沒有撒謊，這道蘸汁豆腐雖不是店中招牌菜，但的確可口。
At the moment, there were other customers at the next table. The girl went to greet them, and again we heard she recommended them zhan-zhi tofu.
這時鄰座來了其他顧客，女孩去招呼他們，聽到又向他們推薦蘸汁豆腐。
After that, we often came to the restaurant for lunch. The girl had recognized us and no longer recommended deliberately. However, she always tentatively asked, "How about zhan-zhi tofu?" And then, her face would still blush slightly.
之後，我們常常來這家飯館吃午餐，女孩已認得我們，不再刻意推薦，但總要試探著問上一句：「還要蘸汁豆腐嗎？」問完了，臉依然會微微泛紅。
ccasionally we refused, but most of the time, we would order one. Such a dish did not cost much money.
我們偶爾會拒絕，但大多時候，都會要上一份，這樣一道菜，花不了幾個錢。
We often heard her recommend this dish to new customers. The more words she used, the more fluently she recommended. But we still didn't knew what made her recommend it so hard.
我們也常常聽到她對新顧客介紹這道菜，用詞越發豐富，說起來越發流暢，只是不知什麼原因讓她這麼賣力地推薦。
A few days ago, a colleague had her birthday. We asked for a box, but I didn't expect her to serve us.
前幾天有同事過生日，我們要了個包廂，沒想到服務的還是她。
She said that the girl in charge of the box asked for a leave, and so she came to replace her. Because of the celebration, we made an exception ordering more expensive dishes. After ordering, she didn't go out immediately but suddenly raised her head asking in a low voice, "Don't you want to order zhan-zhi tofu today?"
她說有個負責包廂的女孩請假了，她來替。因為有熱鬧事，我們破例要了貴一些的菜，點完菜她沒馬上出去，忽然抬起頭小聲問：「今天不要蘸汁豆腐了嗎？」
03
We were stunned for a while, and then we all laughed, deliberately trying to tease her. So I asked, "Why do you always recommend that dish? Is it possible that you recommend it so much that you will have a bonus to get?
我們先愣了一下，然後都笑起來，存心要逗逗她，我問：「為什麼總介紹那道菜？是不是賣多了，你有獎金拿啊？」
Over her face immediately came a blush, not the shy blush just as she would, but that with anxiety. And she hurriedly waved her hands, "No, it's not. It's not like that..."
她的臉登時紅起來，不是以往那種羞澀的紅，而是著急地漲紅了，慌忙地擺著手，「不，不是的，不是那樣的……」
My colleague said, " Then why? If you don't tell us why, we will never order zhan-zhi tofu."
「那為什麼呢？」同事說，「你要不說原因，以後我們再也不吃蘸汁豆腐了。」
The girl pursed her lips again, lowered her head, pondered for a while, and whispered, "I will tell you why, but you are not allowed to talk about it, please."
女孩的唇又抿起來，低著頭，沉吟一小會兒，小聲說：「我說了，你們不許說出去。」
After getting our guarantee, she said, "The tofu is made by my father, and my mother made the chive flower sauce. I came to work in the city, but they felt worried and so came here, too. They rented a small house in the city making tofu and chive flower sauce from our hometown. I came to work in the restaurant, and the boss took care of my board and lodging. My parents sent the tofu here. This way, they could see me every day. At first, the boss didn't want it. My father begged for a long time before the boss agreed to sell it for a period of time. If it sold well, he would keep selling it. If not, just forgot it."
得到我們的保證後，她才說，「這些豆腐是我爸做的，韭花醬是我媽做的。我來城裡打工，他們不放心也跟來了，在城裡租了間窄小房子做我們家鄉的豆腐和韭花醬。我來飯店上班，店裡管我的食宿，爸把做好的豆腐送到這裡來，這樣，他們每天都能來看看我。開始老闆不想要，爸求了半天，老闆才答應賣一段時間看看，如果賣得好，就一直要，不好就算了。」
he whispered, "The boss didn't know that I was their daughter..."
她小聲說：「老闆不知道我是他女兒……」
04
At the small box, there was only the girl's thin voice. She was narrating a warm picture about love and survival.
窄小的包廂，只有女孩細細的聲音，她在講述一個關於愛與生存的溫暖畫面。
From the countryside was the man who had experienced many vicissitudes of life. He lived in a corner of the city with his wife, soaking beans, grinding tofu, making chive flower sauce every day, and then sending them to this restaurant on a tricycle early in the morning. And their beloved daughter did not dare to be lazy, always getting up early, pretending to meet her parents accidentally, and then helping carry the tofu to the back kitchen.
那正是一個滄桑的鄉下男人，在城市的某個角落和妻子一起，每天泡豆子、磨豆腐、做韭花醬，然後大清早蹬著三輪車趕到這家餐館，而他們心愛的女兒不敢偷懶，也總會早早起來，裝作無意碰到父母親，再幫著把豆腐抬到後廚房。
When there was no one else, her mother would quickly take out some small snacks, fruits, or a change of clothes, and put them into the girl's hand. And every other month, the girl would give her mother some of the money she earned from her work. They had to save up the money to build a new house in their hometown. Meanwhile, her mother would keep some as the girl's dowry.
沒有人時，母親會飛快地取出一些小點心、水果，或者換洗的衣服，塞到女孩手裡。而每隔一個月，女孩會塞給母親一些她工作賺來的錢。那些錢，他們要攢起來，在家鄉蓋棟新房子，母親還會留一些，做女孩的嫁妝。
Ａt last, the girl stopped talking and looked at us timidly.
最後，女孩不再說話，怯怯地看著我們。
For a long while, nobody said anything. In the end, Xiao He, who celebrated her birthday, broke the silent scene and said, "Today is my birthday. Please everyone has a serving of zhan-zhi tofu"
好半天，竟然沒人說話，最後還是過生日的小何打破沉默的場面，說：「今天我生日，請大家每人吃一份蘸汁豆腐。」
The girl looked at her in surprise, and hurriedly waved her hand: "No, no, Ma'am. You will get bored if you eat too much tofu."
女孩詫異地看著她，慌忙擺手：「別別，姐姐，豆腐吃多了會膩的。」
"We love to eat, Miss." Xiao He said that she really loved to eat tofu. We went along with her, and then urged her to write it down quickly, one serving for every one of us.
「小妹，我們愛吃。」小何說真的愛吃。我們跟著附和。然後催她，快寫上啊，一人一份。
The girl stood there, looking at us. Her tears suddenly fell. While wiping her tears, she smiled embarrassedly. After that, she ran out with the menu.
女孩站在那裡，看著我們，眼淚忽然掉了下來。她邊擦邊不好意思地笑，擦完眼淚，拿著單子跑了出去。
Since then, every time we went for lunch, no matter whether we met the girl or not, we would have taken the initiative to order zhan-zhi tofu and told those who we knew well that if they went to eat at the home-style restaurant opposite our company, please be sure to order zhan-zhi tofu. It was because in that plate of zhan-zhi tofu, there was a touching story.
從那以後，每次去吃飯，不管能不能遇到那個女孩，我們都會主動點一份蘸汁豆腐，並告訴所有相熟的人，如果去我們公司對面的家常菜館吃飯，請一定要點一份蘸汁豆腐。因為那盤豆腐裡，裝著一個動人眼淚的故事。
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