Rest Area
On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, the return journey on the highway was like a slow-moving, crawling metal dragon.
Lin Feng gripped the steering wheel, his gaze steady as he looked ahead. In the passenger seat, Lü Yi tilted his head, his face pressed against the window, staring blankly at the rapidly receding guardrails outside. His fingers tapped unconsciously on his knees, the rhythm erratic and disordered.
"Boss," Lü Yi suddenly spoke, his voice somewhat muffled by the engine noise, "Did you see that mountain we just passed?"
"Um."
"If you jumped off that mountaintop, how long would it take to reach the bottom in free fall?"
Lin Feng didn't look at him. "You can calculate it yourself. The height is about 200 meters, and the gravitational acceleration is 9.8."
Lü Yi really started counting on his fingers, his lips moving silently. After half a minute, he laughed, "A little over six seconds. Tsk, not enough."
"If you'd like to try it, I'll have Lawyer Zhou book a bungee jump for you when we get back to the city."
"That's different." Lü Yi curled her lip. "Bungee jumping has ropes, it's fake."
He didn't speak again and continued looking out the window. Lin Feng also remained silent. Having spent so much time with Lü Yi, he had grown accustomed to this disjointed, sometimes even dangerous, conversational style. The thoughts of a mentally ill person are like scattered puzzle pieces; you don't need to understand the pattern, you just need to know that the fragments won't hurt anyone—at least not you.
After another forty minutes, the fuel gauge dropped to one-quarter. The sign ahead indicated that there were still two kilometers to the service area.
"Shall we get something to eat?" Lin Feng asked.
"I'm hungry." Lü Yi sat up straight. "I want to eat meat. Lots of meat."
At around 3 PM, the service area's parking lot was already more than half full. Lin Feng pulled the car over, and the two got out. The Spring Festival return peak hadn't really started yet, but the crowds were already much larger than usual. People were dragging suitcases, carrying children, and walking dogs; everyone's face showed the weariness of the long holiday coming to an end.
The air smelled of a mixture of instant noodles and car exhaust.
They walked through the parking lot and into the main building. The first floor housed a supermarket and specialty shops, while the second floor was the dining area. A sign at the top of the stairs displayed the logos of seven or eight chain restaurants crammed together, like a silent competition.
Lü Yi at it and pointed to one of the signs. "That one. Dongbei. The name's funny."
The sign for "Dongbei Catering" is red with white lettering, and next to it is the slogan "Chinese Casual Meals - Freshly Cooked". Through the glass door, you can see a clean dining area with uniform off-white tables and chairs, and landscape paintings on the walls - all printed.
Pushing open the door, I was greeted by a blast of warm air from the air conditioner. Behind the cashier was a young woman, engrossed in her phone. Hearing the doorbell, she looked up and said, "Welcome! Two of you? Please make yourselves at home."
There weren't many customers in the restaurant. At one corner table was a family of three, the parents peeling eggs for their child. At another table were two middle-aged men with beer bottles in front of them. At the back, by the window, a young man in a down jacket was talking to a phone stand with two phones clipped to it, one pointed at himself and the other at the food on the table.
Lin Feng chose a seat in the middle, two tables away from the man who was livestreaming.
The waiter brought the menu—it was laminated, and the edges were already peeling a bit. The pictures were beautiful: the braised fish was golden and glistening, the twice-cooked pork was perfectly marbled with fat and lean meat, and the noodles were topped with large chunks of beef.
Lü Yi took the menu and poked around on it with her finger. "This, this, and this... I'll have this noodle dish too. What would you like to eat, boss?"
"Random."
"Then let's add some vegetables." Lü Yi handed the menu back to the waiter. "Hurry up, I'm starving."
The waiter wrote down the order and turned to go into the kitchen. Behind the glass partition, a corner of the kitchen could be seen, where chefs in white uniforms were taking transparent food containers out of the refrigerator.
While waiting, Lin Feng took out his phone to check his messages. Lawyer Zhou sent several messages about the law firm's work arrangements after the Chinese New Year. K's report was brief and precise: Sun Penghui had been settled and was receiving psychological counseling; the infiltration of the telecom fraud park was progressing as planned, and it was expected that access to the core accounting system would be available within two weeks.
Everything is proceeding according to plan.
"Gentlemen, your food is here." The waiter brought over the tray.
The braised fish is served on a white oval plate, drizzled with sauce and sprinkled with chopped scallions. The twice-cooked pork is glistening with oil, and the green and red bell peppers are vibrant in color. The beef noodle soup has a rich, mellow broth, and the noodles are neatly arranged in a bowl. The stir-fried vegetables are prepared with the simplest garlic sauce.
Lü Yi picked up his chopsticks and took a piece of fish. He put the fish in his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and then frowned.
"Boss," he put down his chopsticks, his voice low but clear enough to be heard in the quiet shop, "This fish is not right."
Lin Feng looked up at him.
"Frozen," Lü Yi said confidently. "The meat is dry and lacks the elasticity of fresh fish. The sauce is too strong, just to cover up the fishy smell." He picked up another piece of twice-cooked pork. "This pork is also pre-cooked; the fatty parts are overcooked and don't have the chewiness of freshly stir-fried pork."
His voice was calm, more like a statement of fact than a complaint. But the middle-aged couple at the next table had already looked over.
The waiter was still standing nearby, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Sir, our ingredients are all delivered fresh daily..."
"What about the packaging date?" Lü Yi asked. "Those food storage containers in the kitchen, the transparent ones, should have labels on them."
The waiter opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.
Lin Feng picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of the fish. Indeed, the meat was loose, lacked freshness, and the seasoning was deliberate. He then ate a bite of noodles; the broth had a very faint, unnatural umami flavor, probably from some kind of compound seasoning.
"That's normal." Lin Feng put down his chopsticks and looked at Lü Yi. "Many chain restaurants nowadays use central kitchens for unified distribution to ensure efficiency and control costs. Since it's made in a central kitchen, it must be from a cold chain, so it's normal for the quality to be a little lower."
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, and his tone was as if he were explaining a simple business principle.
Lü Yi tilted his head and thought for a moment, then nodded. "That makes sense. Scaling up requires standardization, and standardization requires sacrificing individuality." He picked up his chopsticks again, "Then I'll eat more and see where the limits of standardization are."
After he finished speaking, he buried his head in his food, shoveling rice and meat into his mouth, making satisfied chewing sounds. It was as if his earlier criticism was just a casual remark, and the actual quality of the food did not affect his appetite.
Lin Feng ate slowly. The noodles weren't very tasty, but they were filling. When traveling, especially at highway service areas, one shouldn't have too high expectations for food.
While they were eating, a few more customers came into the restaurant. The girl at the cashier was busy taking orders, and the microwave beeped from the kitchen.
The young man by the window, doing a live stream, was speaking quietly into his phone. Several dishes were laid out on the table in front of him, but he only ate a bite or two of each. Two phones were on the stand, one filming himself, and the other filming the table from above.
"Hey everyone, we're currently at Dongbei Catering on the G60 Expressway," the man said to the camera, his voice deliberately light and cheerful. "We just ordered their signature braised fish, twice-cooked pork, and beef noodles. Let's try them together..."
He picked up a piece of fish and showed it to the camera. "Look at the color, it's not bad. Let's try it..."
He took a bite, chewed in front of the camera, and kept his expression well-controlled. "Hmm... the taste is alright, the sauce is rich. But the meat... hmm, let's try the twice-cooked pork again..."
The live stream continues.
Just as Lin Feng and Lü Yi were finishing their meal, the man suddenly stood up, holding a selfie stick, and walked towards them.
"Guys, let's interview some other customers." He wore a professional smile, turning his phone camera towards Lin Feng's table. "Excuse me, gentlemen, I'm doing a food review livestream. I saw you guys eating here earlier, what do you think of the taste?"
Lü Yi looked up, sauce still on his lips. He glanced at the camera, then at Lin Feng.
Lin Feng put down his chopsticks, took a tissue to wipe his mouth, and then looked at the camera. "Not bad."
"Just average?" the host pressed. "Any special comments? Like about the braised fish, I saw you guys were discussing it earlier..."
"The discussion is over," Lin Feng interrupted him. "We're in a hurry."
His tone was calm, but the refusal was clear. The anchor paused for a moment, then laughed again, "Alright, alright, I won't bother you any longer. Thanks for your cooperation..."
He returned to his seat with the selfie stick and whispered to the camera, "Looks like the customers aren't too keen on being on camera... But that's okay, let's move on to the next dish..."
Lü Yi leaned closer to Lin Feng and whispered, "Did he take pictures of us?"
"Um."
Will there be any trouble?
"Probably not." Lin Feng glanced at the streamer. "Have you finished eating?"
"I'm full." Lü Yi patted her stomach.
Lin Feng waved to the waiter to settle the bill. As he scanned the code to pay, he glanced at the window—the livestreamer was showing off beef noodles to the camera, while another phone was still taking pictures of the table from above, but the angle seemed slightly off, capturing half of the restaurant.
Stepping out of the store, a blast of cold air immediately filled my collar. In the parking lot, cars were already lining up to enter the gas station.
"Boss," Lü Yi suddenly said, "If that live stream video goes viral, will anyone come looking for us?"
Why do you ask that?
"I don't know," Lü Yi shrugged. "I just feel... people are afraid of becoming famous, just like pigs are afraid of getting fat."
Lin Feng opened the car door without answering. The engine started, and the air conditioning slowly blew out warm air. He glanced in the rearview mirror toward the second floor of the restaurant; behind the glass window, the livestreamer was still talking to his phone.
The car left the service area and rejoined the highway traffic.
Behind them, the signboard of Dongbei Catering was a dazzling red in the afternoon sunlight.