Some time ago

Some time ago, I went back to my hometown for a party with my childhood friends. During the dinner, I chatted about the recent situation. A girl said, "The baby who just graduated from the home selling marinated vegetables went home to see the shop. People all expressed regret for Gang Wa's "not striving for progress", because he used to be the most handsome boy in the family. He was very good at sports and got good grades. He was the girl's dream lover. Taking over from their parents and running the same small business for more than a decade, without switching to a more respectable and lucrative business, is now often seen as "worthless" in the mainland. But such "worthless" people can be seen everywhere in Taiwan. Not to go far, in the vicinity of my home in Taipei, whether it is a breakfast shop selling fried dough sticks and fried buns, or a small restaurant making steamed pork rice and beef noodles, or even a drink stall selling lemon Aiyu down the street, all of them have a history of 20 or 30 years. He took me through the stores, proudly sharing his fond taste memories from his childhood. "What did you like to eat as a child?" "Asked the gentleman. I was suddenly sad -- my childhood favorite delicacy, whose name I remembered, whose taste was hard to find. Those old shops have almost disappeared, and even if they have been relocated and reopened, the boss does not know how much they have changed, and the taste is quite different. And I've moved many times since I was a kid, and the old house has been torn down. I can't find my own memories, so it's good to feel others. I like to visit all kinds of old shops from street to street around Taiwan. What impressed me the most was the famous Ah Tang Salty congee in Tainan. It was not big and there were no pretty waiters or waitresses, but the line started at 5 or 6 am every day and business was still brisk before closing at 11 am. Ah Tang sells the Tainan favorite lice and sole porridge, as well as "peripheral products" such as fish maw, intestines and heads, which have remained the same for 60 years. Three generations of founder Zhang Chuntang's family have been working in the shop, buying fish, killing fish, cooking, passing dishes, serving... All from the family "one dragon" division of labor cooperation, from every detail to stick to the brand founded by the old generation. Although they did not set up a chain or expand their stores, Tainan people speak of Ah Tang with respect and gratitude. After all, many people can taste the "original taste" when they come back to Tainan no matter how long they have been away from home. What a warm experience! In fact, a bowl of louse and sole porridge is not only condensed A Tang family persistence. The fishmonger they work with, also run in the family, has been providing them with the freshest quality catch for decades. Even the deep-fried dough sticks used to soak porridge have been made by the same master for decades. Now the man, who is in his 70s, still rides his bicycle to deliver the dough sticks every day. It's amazing how normal it is to have multiple generations of people in the same business, and how they glow when they talk about their craft, and how proud they are of their heritage. "She used to come to me with her mother to buy fish, but now she comes to me with her grandson in her arms," an old woman said, pointing to a customer at Tainan's Shuixian Palace market. "Our neighbors have been close for decades. If we can't do it well, or if we suddenly stop doing it, I will feel sorry for myself..." If decades, generations to keep a craft is "worthless", it is also the greatest "worthless".