The foreigner and the chef are arguing.

When Chen Qiang heard the conversation between the two, he immediately understood what was going on.

When foreigners ordered food, they put forward some special requirements, such as adding less pepper and less salt, but Chinese chefs couldn't understand what foreigners said, so foreigners were very angry.

The foreigner thinks that he is clearly speaking Chinese, but the chef keeps waving his hands, indicating that he doesn't understand, and is deliberately playing with him.

The chef believes that the foreigner has been saying something he doesn't understand, and his attitude is getting more and more fierce, which is bullying himself.

The fact is that foreigners are speaking Cantonese.

This is a chef from northern Jiangsu, and he obviously doesn't understand Cantonese.

A very simple misunderstanding.

Chen Qiang is not from Guangdong, and his Cantonese level is almost zero. The Cantonese he can understand is just a few words, and he can only speak one sentence "Monkey Sai Lei", but he learned it from the Internet.

However, Chen Qiang knew English, so he walked up, first explained to the foreigners in English, and then explained to the chef in Chinese. Then the two realized that they had a misunderstanding and apologized to each other.

Chen Qiang could guess that this foreigner should be a British man, and he came from Hong Kong. Only those who came from that place would speak familiar Cantonese.

When Chen Qiang was a coachman, he liked to pick up passenger ships from Hong Kong because there were always some British people on the ship. Many British people speak Cantonese, many of them were born in Hong Kong or lived in Hong Kong for decades. They were already very skilled in Cantonese.

Such British people rarely leave Hong Kong. Even if they leave Hong Kong, they will go to places like Guangzhou at most. They probably think that if they can speak Cantonese, they can be unobstructed in China. As a result, they were stunned when they arrived in Shanghai. They must not understand Shanghai dialect, and even Mandarin is very different from Cantonese.

There are almost no Guangzhou people among the coachmen in Shanghai. They can't speak Cantonese. British people speak Cantonese in Shanghai, which is not as convenient as using English. And whenever this happens, Chen Qiang will attract guests in English.

The migration of Chinese people has always been regular. For example, Shandong people are used to going north and going northeast to travel to Guandong; northern Jiangsu people are used to going south to Shanghai and Hangzhou to work hard to live; Henan will have more people who choose to go to Beijing to explore.

People in Guangzhou and Fujian rarely go north. They will go to Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Those who are far away will go to America, the United States, and Brazil. Therefore, Cantonese and Minnan will basically not spread to the north, but have become a major language in the overseas Chinese circle.

...

Back to the topic, the foreigner Chen Qiang met was indeed a British man, and a rich British gentleman.

In order to thank Chen Qiang for his help, the British decided to invite Chen Qiang to dinner, and he ordered another meal for Chen Qiang.

Obviously, this British man lived in Hong Kong for a long time. He knew that in Chinese culture, to thank others, inviting to dinner was a way to never go out of date, especially in the 1930s when supplies were scarce, many Chinese people couldn't even have enough food, and inviting guests to dinner was even more down-to-earth.

Chen Qiang did not refuse, anyway, there was no seat in the carriage, so it would be better to have a meal in the dining car, and at least there was a place to sit.

During the Republic of China period, trains were divided into first-class, second-class and third-class trains. At that time, the Railway Bureau stipulated that passengers with third-class seats could not enter the dining car, and the dining car was only a service that passengers with first-class and second-class seats could enjoy.

At that time, there were also restaurant carts for third-class seats, but they all sold some cheap food. In 1933, the educator Mr. Qian Mu was able to take a train from Suzhou to Beijing. He was sitting at the third-class seat. When he was eating, the carts were selling food. Mr. Qian Mu described it as "greasy, hard rice or noodles."

It is also because the third-class seats do not have delicious food, which makes the vendors at the train station more active. When the train is near the station, vendors who fry peanuts, cook edamame, and sell all kinds of snacks and fruits all rushed over. Some vendors who cheat people will use cat meat to disguise rabbit meat to sell. Mr. Lu Xun's younger brother Zhou Zuoren bought cat meat on the train when he was young and studied.

Nowadays, Mr. Zhu Ziqing's father bought oranges at the train station, which has become a famous old trick to take advantage of others. Dezhou braised chicken was also famous all over the world with the trains of that era.

Passengers of first-class and second-class seats can go to the dining car to have dinner. At that time, there were many "big meals" on the train, and those who could serve on the train were also chefs of high-level skills. For example, in the 1916 "Guangjiu Railway Guide", it introduced the types of food provided by the dining car, including not only whiskey, brandy, beer, soda, lemon juice and other drinks, but also "Sadian fish, salmon, beer, beer, steak, western pork chop, lamb ribs roast chicken ham, bacon dan, and various meat rice".

Before 1933, there was only Western food in the train's dining car. At that time, the Ministry of Railways' investigation report said: "Inquiry, most passenger buses only prepare Western food for passengers' diet. Not only are they too expensive, but the poor are unable to enjoy it. Most food utensils are Europeanized and are not used by ordinary people in our country." Then the Ministry of Railways carried out rectification and required the railway bureaus in various places to add a Chinese food to the dining car. As a result, the Chinese menu of "excessive price, the poor are unable to enjoy it". Rich people have more choices, while the poor still cannot afford it.

Of course, it is normal for food to eat on the train. Nowadays, lunch boxes on high-speed rail are much more expensive than those sold outside.

...

Chen Qiang sat in the dining car with a British gentleman, eating and chatting. What Chen Qiang did not expect was that this British gentleman was also a sports enthusiast and he liked to play tennis.

When talking about sports, it is Chen Qiang's expertise, especially in the theoretical knowledge of sports. No one in this era can compare with Chen Qiang. Chen Qiang casually revealed the future trend of tennis development, which surprised the British gentleman.

"I think the invention of seamless tennis will definitely promote the development of tennis. Using seamless tennis will have faster ball speeds, higher requirements for athletes, and tennis will be more ornamental." Chen Qiang said.

Seamless tennis was only invented in 1927, and the inventor was the British. The emergence of seamless tennis has indeed improved the viewing of tennis, making Wimbledon's status more stable.

"Do you think seamless tennis will be the trend of the future? Haha, we are really heroes who have similar views!" The British gentleman agreed.

As the two talked, they talked about snooker again.

In this era, snooker was not a global sport. This sport was only popular in the UK, as well as British colonies such as Canada, Australia, and India. At that time, the French played French billiards, Americans played American billiards, and the British played snooker. Everyone had their own ways of playing.

It is too difficult to find someone who understands snooker in the UK and outside the British colonies, let alone in the poor and backward China. The British gentleman never expected that the Chinese in front of him would actually understand snooker.

The British gentleman suddenly felt that he had found a person with a common language and he met a soulmate in China!

...

Second-class carriage.

The "gulu" sounded from Li Yongping's stomach, and he was a little hungry.

At this time, Li Yongping regretted it. If he had known this, he should have eaten enough in the morning. Now he was hungry before twelve o'clock.

Li Yongping naturally brought lunch on the train for more than five hours. He also had money and could eat at the dining car, but no one else had eaten, so he was embarrassed to make exceptions.

This is how Chinese people are. They have a herd mentality and do not know how to release their personality, especially during group activities. For example, when traveling with a group, pass by a shop, and once a group member goes shopping, others will follow up and buy. On the contrary, if there are no customers in a shop, then other tourists are too lazy to stop.

Li Yongping is like this now. He didn't see anyone else eating or going to the dining car. Even if he was hungry, he could only stay where he was.

At this moment, someone next to him suddenly asked, "I haven't seen the coachman come back for a long time. Where is he going?"

"Who knows, I guess it must be his first time taking the train and he's lost!"

"You're teasing me? You can get lost even if you have one road in the train?"

"Maybe he is going to the third-class seat? The third-class seat is really in line with his identity."

"Can you get off the wrong stop? The car stopped for one stop just now."

"If it's really a wrong stop, it would be awful. Our Shanghai team hasn't arrived in Hangzhou yet. If one person is missing first, wouldn't it be embarrassing to spread it out!"

"Why don't you go find him? Don't really lose someone." Someone suggested.

"Look for him? Come and sit with you!" another person said.

"We just look for it. Is he still in the car? As long as the others are not lost, they are still in the car!" the man said.

"That's right. Who went to find him? I remember he seemed to have gone there, it must be a food truck!"

The word "food cart" instantly reminded Li Yongping. Li Yongping touched his stomach again, and suddenly felt that he could go to the food truck to eat under the pretext of ordinary Chen Qiang.

So Li Yongping stood up and said, "We are all participating in the sprint event, so I'll go find him."

...

Li Yongping left the carriage, walked through the connection between the carriages, and walked into the dining car.

There are not many people in the dining car, mainly because there are not many people who can sit first and second-class seats. Most people still ride third-class seats, and they are not allowed to enter the dining car.

What's more, it's only more than five hours to drive from Shanghai to Hangzhou. At most, you can eat one meal during this period. If you don't eat it, you can handle it in five hours. Many people bring their own food to eat in the car. After all, the Western food on the dining car is not usually expensive.

It is precisely because there are not many people on the dining car that Li Yongping noticed the British gentleman and foreigner at first sight, even in China today, people would be more looked at.

Then Li Yongping discovered that the Chinese man sitting opposite the British gentleman had a familiar back. After careful look, he found that not only his back, but also his clothes were familiar.

"It seems like Chen Qiang is dressed up today! My head is really rusted. How could this person be Chen Qiang? He is a coachman, how could he have dinner with foreigners?"

Li Yongping took a few steps forward, and the conversation between foreigners and Chen Qiang also entered Li Yongping's ears.

"I speak English and I am very fluent. This is even more impossible for Chen Qiang. How can a coachman speak English?"

While thinking about it, Li Yongping glanced at the British gentleman and the Chinese sitting opposite the British gentleman.

From the corner of his eyes, he could only see half of his side face, but Li Yongping recognized it as soon as possible, and that was Chen Qiang!

"It's Chen Qiang! Am I blind?"

At this moment, Li Yongping felt as if ten thousand cows had just run by, and it was a mess.

A coachman, speaking fluent English, is chatting and laughing with foreigners! It would be fine if he was a student who returned from studying abroad, but a coachman! Li Yongping felt that he was either crazy or the world was crazy.

The hearty laughter of the British gentleman brought Li Yongping back to reality. From that laughter, Li Yongping could feel that the British gentleman and Chen Qiang were really having a good conversation. If you want to say that the two are good friends, someone would definitely believe it.

Li Yongping took a peek at the food on the table, red wine, steak, sago pudding, coffee, serious Western food, and the bright knife and fork reflected a dazzling silver light.

"I was gingering in the carriage, but you, a coachman, were drinking red wine and eating steak in the dining car! There were also desserts and coffee!"

Li Yongping felt as if he had been hit hard by 10,000 points, and he was always heartbroken! At this moment, he was not hungry anymore, and he felt ashamed that he could fill his stomach.

...

Li Yongping returned to his carriage in a daze.

"Li Yongping, why will it come so soon? I haven't found it? Could it be that I really got off the bus, right?" someone asked immediately.

"The person has been found." Li Yongping replied angrily.

"Where did I find it? Did you eat coal ash in the third-class carriage?" someone asked immediately.

"No, he's in the dining car." Li Yongping's tone became worse and worse.

"Dining cart? He doesn't eat, will he let him sit?" someone said with a smile.

"He was eating, he ordered a meal, drank red wine and steak, and pudding coffee!" Thinking of Chen Qiang being feasted in the dining car, but he was still hungry, Li Yongping's expression became more gloomy.

"He, a coachman, can order food? I remember that the dining car is full of Western food, right? Can he eat Western food? Foreigners use knives and forks, will he use it? Don't use knives and forks as chopsticks, such as this..."

While the man said, he deliberately showed off his funny look of picking things with a knife and fork, which immediately attracted a burst of laughter from the people around him.

After laughing, someone next to him added: "This coachman is so unkind. It's a pity that so many of us are worried about him. He's fine, he ran to the dining car to eat alone!"

Li Yongping snorted coldly: "He didn't eat alone, someone is accompanying him to eat!"

"There are still people who have dinner with him? He is also a coachman? Hahaha..." Everyone laughed again.
To be continued...