I am the owner of a noodle restaurant on the street, an extremely enthusiastic and sympathetic boss. Most of the people who come to our store to have dinner are old faces, and many of them are residents of the neighborhood. The reason for this is that my hospitality is definitely an important factor that cannot be ignored. However, in the past week, the visit of a strange customer has aroused my special curiosity.
It was one night five days ago. The wall clock on the wall above the cashier was ticking. The hour hand was already pointing at about 9:30. The noodle restaurant was empty, there were no customers for dinner, and it was snowing outside. My eyes were staring at the computer on the cashier, taking stock of my income for the day, and I was ready to close the door at any time.
At this time, the glass door of the noodle restaurant pushed open with a loud noise, and a cold wind squirted in. I couldn't help but shivered. The automatic sensing device on the top of the door made a friendly and enthusiastic "Welcome" voice.
I quickly raised my head and found a man with snowflakes on his body standing in the middle of a half-open and half-closed door. He is about fifty years old, medium-sized, with a small buzz cut, dark complexion, and a strong figure. Although he is a little thin, he looks very energetic. He pushed the door with one hand, but his body was stuck between the two doors. He raised his head and asked me, "Boss, do you still have food?"
I said that I am a person with sympathy. Although the noodle shop is about to close, I still can't bear to watch a person being cruelly turned away in such cold weather. Although I don't know why he hasn't had a hot dinner yet, no matter what, I should satisfy him.
So I quickly called him in.
"Sir, what do you want to eat?" I asked.
"Boss, come two bowls of egg fried noodles , take one of them away!"
He was a little overjoyed, without even thinking about it, and answered neatly, without any feeling of being dragged on. I immediately greeted the kitchen with my voice, and he sat in the seat beside the window.
A few minutes later, the master who was ready to get off work brought him a plate of steaming egg fried noodles. The other portion was packed and put into a plastic handbag on the table in front of him.
He eats very fast, and he gets two out of five. In less than a few minutes, a large plate of fried noodles has been seen. Looking at his voracious look, I thought, he might be hungry, and I secretly guessed in my heart that maybe he was a coolie, or maybe he had to work a little longer in order to earn more money to support his family, so he missed the time for dinner.
After he finished the meal, he immediately picked up the bowl of noodle soup I had served him, raised his head and drank it all. Then, he immediately stood up, picked up the plastic bag containing another portion of rice beside him, came to the cashier, paid quickly, smiled honestly at me, and immediately turned around and left.
Later, for several days, he always came to have dinner very late. Although my store is named after the noodle restaurant, it actually serves home-cooked stir-fry dishes and various cold dishes. Different brands of beer and beverages are also available. In addition to noodles, there are also dumplings and rice with rice.
However, what puzzled me was that every time my guest entered the door, he always said, "Boss, come two bowls of egg fried noodles, take one of them away!" It cost only 20 yuan, and he didn't change his taste, and he didn't even look at the menu and price list we posted on the wall, let alone buy one or two bottles of various drinks leaning against the freezer by the wall. I don't know if he just likes to eat fried noodles, or is he too frugal in life, and looks a bit so stingy.
I have always had a few questions and always thought to myself that it has been almost a week, and this customer always comes to have dinner so late every day. I don’t know what busy work he usually does. Who is the meal he takes away for? I couldn't help but want to ask him several times, but as soon as the words came to my mouth, I felt that this was spying on other people's privacy and disrespect for customers. It seemed that I shouldn't have to slap the words I was about to say back to my throat.
However, I also noticed that there were several times when he was having a meal, one or two phone calls came in. But he just looked at the flashing screen and was not in a hurry to answer the answer immediately, but quickly left the seat and walked out of the restaurant. I saw him under the Paulownia tree next to the sidewalk, holding his mobile phone in one hand and talking with his mouth half-covered with the other hand, as if he was afraid that others would hear something. I think this guest is really funny. How big a secret can a miserable person have?
Slowly, I have mastered the customer's habits. Every night when it is almost nine-thirty, my chef has prepared two portions of fried noodles in advance, one in a large plate, the other in a plastic bag, and a bowl of noodle soup, and placed them on the seat near the window where he often sits. Every time he came, he saw our thoughtful service, and kept giving me thumbs up. A bright smile appeared on his dark face. He expressed his gratitude to me frequently. My sympathy was reported to me as I was looking forward to. My noodle restaurant was recognized by a new and old customer, and I was very satisfied.
But I didn't expect that this habit only ended until the fifth day and ended abruptly.
That night, around 9:30, we put a portion of egg fried noodles on time as usual, and packed the other portion in a plastic bag, and a bowl of noodle soup on the seat near the window where he often sat. However, at half past nine, he did not come. It was past ten o'clock and he didn't come either. It was half past ten, but he still did not show up. I was a little angry. What's going on with this person? I won't come anymore and I won't say hello.
The next day at noon, after the peak hours of meal time, there were few people eating in the store. I was bored and sat lazily at a dining table, crossing my legs, and holding my phone in my hand and scratching randomly.
Suddenly, a message appeared in front of me. Local police released a police report saying that in a residential community, two plainclothes police officers were ordered to surveillance a suspect with a gun. During the arrest process when they believed the time was ripe, a police officer died on duty. When I saw his familiar dark face with a buzz cut, I was shocked. Isn’t he the customer who always comes to eat egg fried noodles? Isn’t this community right next to us? Oh my god!
