Chapter 63 Alley
It was a clear and sunny morning on the weekend.

It rained heavily last night, making the city look much cleaner and the air unusually fresh.

The treetops were covered with glistening raindrops, reflecting the morning sun, sparkling golden. From time to time, they slid down onto the heads of passers-by, greeting them with laughter.

Chen Mo stood beside the car, took a deep breath, looked up at the warm sunshine, and suddenly noticed a graceful figure not far away. In the dim light, she was walking towards him with brisk steps and half jogging.

Chen Mo took a closer look and smiled knowingly. Who else could it be other than Xu Hongdou?

"Slow down, the ground is still a little wet, be careful of the slippery road." Chen Mo couldn't help but shout.

"rest assured."

Xu Hongdou looked at the puddles on the ground, feeling playful, and half-jumped to stand next to Chen Mo.

Although his feet were firmly planted, his body was still a little shaky. Chen Mo quickly reached out to hold Xu Hongdou's shoulders.

Xu Hongdou tilted her head slightly and looked at Chen Mo, the smile on her face brighter than the sun.

Chen Mo also smiled and just looked at Xu Hongdou quietly.

The two of them standing there, not talking, was very beautiful.

Xu Hongdou was wearing a dark blue denim shirt today, and off-white cropped pants. She had a light orange leather belt tied around her waist, and a pair of brown high-top sneakers on her feet. Her hair was naturally and casually draped over her shoulders.

The whole person is like the early morning light, fresh, bright and a little playful.

"Why are you dressed so beautifully today? Your makeup is nice too." Chen Mo said with a gentle smile in his eyes.

Chen Mo learned from the last lesson and didn't say anything like "You look good even without makeup" anymore.

Praise directly to avoid making things worse.

"No, I don't wear any makeup." Xu Hongdou shook her head.

"Ah?" Chen Mo blinked.

Chen Mo thinks that he is not face-blind. This is different from the last time he saw her without makeup, right?
"I just filled my eyebrows, put on a cushion, applied lipstick, and sprayed some perfume," said Xu Hongdou.

"Oh." Chen Mo nodded slightly confusedly.

Chen Mo neither understood nor comprehended it now, and he didn't dare to ask.

Another thing is that I don’t know how to praise it next.

In this case, should I continue to praise her for her beautiful makeup, or should I say that she is beautiful without makeup?

Say makeup looks good? People say she doesn't have makeup on.

You say she is beautiful without makeup? Then her eyebrows are filled in vain? The cushion is applied in vain?

Chen Mo's mind raced, and he said with a look of sudden realization, "No wonder I always get it wrong. It turns out that you are prettier without makeup than others with makeup."

"Hmph~" Xu Hongdou snorted, obviously satisfied with the answer.

"Let's get in the car first." Chen Mo said with a smile.

"Yeah." Xu Hongdou nodded.

After the two got in the car, Chen Mo found that Xu Hongdou was dressed nicely, but seemed a little thin, and couldn't help asking:

"It rained last night and the wind is still quite chilly this morning. Aren't you cold wearing this?"

"It's not cold." Xu Hongdou shook her head.

"Don't try to be brave and bear the cold just to look good on your date with me," Chen Mo joked.

"You think too much." Xu Hongdou rolled her eyes cutely.

"I'm wearing thermal underwear underneath."

"Oh, I thought you dressed up so carefully today because you were going on a date with me." Chen Mo pretended to be disappointed.

"Haha, you think too much. I look this good every day." Xu Hongdou raised her eyebrows and said.

"Oh, I see." Chen Mo said after thinking for a while.

"That's probably because I'm looking forward to dating you, so I think you look particularly good today."

"Smooth talk." Xu Hongdou turned her head to look out the window, but the smile in the corner of her eyes betrayed her.

Maybe she feels that the effort she put into getting up early in the morning and carefully choosing her outfit was not in vain.

"Where are we going?" Xu Hongdou asked.

"I'll take you to have breakfast. I don't know if you've ever had it before." Chen Mo said with a smile.

"What to eat?"

"You'll know when it arrives."

Chen Mo brought Xu Hongdou to an alley, and passed by a small shop called "Bing Ge Gao Jie". Chen Mo bought two sugar-coated cakes.

"Come, try it." Chen Mo handed one to Xu Hongdou.

"This is just a fried dough cake. I've eaten it before." Xu Hongdou said after taking it.

"Not this one, that one is in front, but the sugar-coated cakes here are not bad either." Chen Mo said.

After taking a bite, Xu Hongdou nodded and said, "It's good."

"Isn't that right?" Chen Mo said, and took a bite.

In fact, it is just an ordinary fried cake with a hint of sweetness, but the advantage is that it is freshly fried, hot, golden and crispy.

There should be similar things like this in many places.

Fried foods should be eaten right after they come out of the pan. Otherwise, they will become soft and mushy after sitting in the bag, and the taste will be much worse.

If it's cold, it will taste even worse, dry and greasy.

Chen Mo sometimes likes fried breakfasts, such as fried dough rings and fried dough sticks.

Chen Mo and Xu Hongdou ate as they walked. In this alley full of urban atmosphere, they did not look out of place at all, but rather so harmonious and natural.

The sunlight shines through the branches of old trees on the roadside, casting a mottled shadow on the alley. When the breeze blows, the light and shadow sway.

Chen Mo and Xu Hongdou were strolling in this age-old alley.

Amid the comings and goings of neighbors and the casual chatter, the old alley is filled with an atmosphere of tranquility and peace.

The alley was not big to begin with, and there were cars parked on both sides. From time to time, bicycles and electric vehicles passed through the alley. Chen Mo subconsciously protected Xu Hongdou on the inside.

Xu Hongdou looked at Chen Mo's profile and pursed her lips. She could feel Chen Mo's care and love for her.

Chen Mo didn't notice the look Xu Hongdou gave him. He just kept his eyes on the passing vehicles.

"Only experienced drivers can park in the alley." Chen Mo said with a smile as he walked.

"Indeed, if Nanxing were in a place like this, he would probably be able to get in but not get out."

Xu Hongdou looked to both sides and found that the space between the front and rear of each car was extremely small.

She felt that it was a problem to drive the car out, and she didn't know how others parked it.

"Is Nanxing not a good driver? Didn't she say last time that she wanted to buy a car?" Chen Mo said.

"She could even crash her car into a tree in her rural hometown." Xu Hongdou shook her head.

"Hit a tree? How did it hit? I mistook the accelerator for the brake." Chen Mo said.

"When she was driving, a cat suddenly jumped out. She was startled and turned the steering wheel nervously. She also forgot to step on the brakes and ended up crashing into a tree," said Xu Hongdou.

"Female driver," Chen Mo said subconsciously.

"Huh? What's wrong with the female driver? You are prejudiced." Xu Hongdou raised her eyebrows.

"Well, I mean the novice driver." Chen Mo changed the subject.

"New drivers drive less frequently, so they tend to get flustered when encountering unexpected situations."

"Hmph." Xu Hongdou snorted.

"How are your driving skills?" Chen Mo asked curiously.

"No accidents have happened." Xu Hongdou raised her chin.

"Have you driven a car before and had no accidents, or have you not driven a car before and had no accidents?" Chen Mo asked tentatively.

"Do you look down on me?" Xu Hongdou glanced at him.

"That's impossible." Chen Mo denied it immediately.

"I find that you seem a bit chauvinistic, Chen Mo?" Xu Hongdou looked at Chen Mo.

"Is there?" Chen Mo himself didn't know.

"Yes." Xu Hongdou nodded. She could feel it. For example, Chen Mo didn't let her drink alcohol at first, and later asked her not to eat takeout. Although Chen Mo was being nice to her, his attitude was still a bit "tough".

"Then I'll pay attention next time." Chen Mo nodded.

"That's not necessary. It's just a little bit and not obvious." Xu Hongdou shook her head.

Xu Hongdou didn't say it, but in fact, she probably doesn't like male chauvinism.

But for some reason, she didn't hate this feeling towards Chen Mo.

Maybe Chen Mo is only tough when it comes to her health issues.

But in other matters, Chen Mo always respected her opinions and even indulged her a little, which Xu Hongdou could feel.

In fact, these days, Xu Hongdou herself has been thinking about Chen Mo's feelings for her and her feelings towards Chen Mo.

While feeling and experiencing with the heart, thinking and weighing in the mind, emotion and rationality are intertwined.

"I have always believed that 'women hold up half the sky'. In our family, my mother has the final say."

"So don't worry, I will continue this fine tradition, and you will have the final say in our family in the future." Chen Mo patted his chest and promised.

"Who is talking to you about our family?" Xu Hongdou rolled her eyes when she heard that.

"It's just a matter of time." Chen Mo said confidently.

"Don't just talk without thinking. What you say sounds better than what you sing." Xu Hongdou said.

"You can wait and see." Chen Mo said with a smile.

Xu Hongdou remained noncommittal.

After walking a short distance, they came to the entrance of an alley. An old man was sitting on a chair at the entrance with his eyes half closed.

"We're here." Chen Mo said.

"Where?" Xu Hongdou looked around, but did not see any store or sign.

Chen Mo walked up and said, "Uncle, two bowls of noodle tea, please."

"Wait." The old man opened his eyes, nodded, got up and went back to the house.

After a while, the old man came out with two bowls of packaged noodle tea.

Chen Mo reached out to take it, scanned the code to pay, five yuan a bowl.

"Just sit here and eat." Chen Mo said.

There happened to be two stone steps next to it.

Xu Hongdou nodded, simply brushed off the tree seeds and fallen leaves on the stone slab, and sat on the stone slab by the roadside with Chen Mo to eat, without any pretense.

"Have you eaten it before?" Chen Mo opened the package and handed it to Xu Hongdou.

"It seems that there really isn't any." Xu Hongdou took it and looked at it and said.

Although Xu Hongdou didn't know what this was, she knew at a glance that it was high in calories and strong in taste.

They should avoid eating strong-tasting food at work, otherwise when they receive clients, the first thing they smell is garlic or leek, which has a bad effect.

When she is not working, she basically sleeps until noon, and it is unclear whether she eats breakfast or not.

"Then try it." Chen Mo said.

Xu Hongdou nodded and took a bite.

"How is it?" Chen Mo asked.

"Mutton mouth." Xu Hongdou said vaguely.

"Swallow it first and then talk." Chen Mo said with a smile.

"It's a bit sticky in the mouth, but it's quite fragrant. It tastes a bit like mashed potatoes." Xu Hongdou commented after swallowing it.

"The bottom is the batter made from millet flour, and the top is the sesame paste like the old BJ, and then sprinkled with a layer of fried sesame seeds." Chen Mo introduced.

"This thing is also available in Tianjin, but the sauce may be a little different, and they are used to double the ingredients in Tianjin."

"Double?" Xu Hongdou asked.

"It's just one layer of batter, one layer of sesame salt and sauce, two layers stacked together."

The two sat in the alley, watching the neighbors chatting about their daily lives. From time to time, they could hear the sound of a radio coming from somewhere, and vaguely make out the sound of Peking Opera.

The atmosphere of fireworks and the market can make people feel BJ's hutong culture most intuitively at this time.

There is no need to go to Nanluoguxiang.

"Only you Beijingers know these places and the food well."

Listening to the old men and women chatting next to her, Xu Hongdou couldn't help but learn the erhua sound of BJ.

"I've been in BJ for so many years and I didn't know this."

"Haha, some relatives from my hometown came to BJ for tourism. I recommended these places to them, but they were reluctant to come." Chen Mo said with a smile.

"Why?" Xu Hongdou asked angrily.

"People say the places I recommend are all good, but they are too unpopular and not well-known. Others will think they have never been to BJ," said Chen Mo.

Xu Hongdou was amused.

"Then I took people to Quanjude to eat roast duck, and to Donglaishun to eat shabu-shabu mutton. People said that this is the authentic BJ." Chen Mo said helplessly.

"Haha." Xu Hongdou couldn't help laughing.

“Aren’t these the stores you locals most reluctant to go to?”

"When entertaining guests, it doesn't matter what they eat or what they play. What's important is that you make people feel valued," said Chen Mo.

"You don't take people to the most famous shops and attractions, and you go to these small alleys. People will think I look down on them."

"Then why don't you bring me here? Aren't you afraid that I will think you are insincere?" Xu Hongdou joked.

"We are family, not outsiders, so we won't bother with those nonsense things." Chen Mo said with a smile.

"Go away. My surname is Xu and yours is Chen. Who is related to you?" Xu Hongdou said bluntly.

"In ancient times, if you marry me, you will take your husband's surname." Chen Mo said, touching his chin.

"Well, you have to call her Chen Xu."

"The Qing Dynasty has fallen, wake up." Xu Hongdou said speechlessly.

"That doesn't matter. Just give your child the surname Chen." Chen Mo said.

"Are you daydreaming?" Xu Hongdou shook her head.

"You still have to have dreams. What about ten thousand?" Chen Mo said indifferently.

"You're wrong. It should be 'just in case.'" Xu Hongdou corrected.

"Yes, it's ten thousand." Chen Mo said.

"I think it's 100 percent certain that I will marry you and you will marry me."

"Eh~ It's so greasy, I can't eat anymore." Xu Hongdou shook her head and stuffed the half-eaten noodle soup into Chen Mo's hand.

Chen Mo had already finished his meal.

Noodle soup is very sticky in the mouth, but many people cannot get used to it.

Moreover, this thing tastes salty and fragrant in the first few bites, but it will inevitably become a bit greasy after eating it for a while.

The most important thing is that noodle soup is actually very filling.

Xu Hongdou had just eaten a sugar-coated oil cake. It was inevitable that a girl would not be able to finish such greasy food so early in the morning.

"Alas, the master is still watching beside us." Chen Mo sighed.

They sat a little closer to the door, less than two meters away from each other.

"Then let's go farther away before throwing it away. I really can't eat any more." Xu Hongdou said in a low voice.

She also felt a little embarrassed to throw away something made by someone else in front of them.

"Don't waste food." Chen Mo shook his head.

"What should I do?"

Before Xu Hongdou finished speaking, she saw Chen Mo pick up her half-eaten noodle soup and start eating.

"You" Xu Hongdou's face turned red instantly.

(End of this chapter)