"When I was on a business trip to Shanghai before, a local client brought me to this store."
Shi Heng took the steamer basket from the waiter and said, "After tasting it, I thought I must bring you to try the crab meat dumplings here."
He opened the lid of the cage, and the aroma of golden crab oil immediately hit him.
The aroma is not like the simple meaty aroma of ordinary dumplings, but has the unique sweetness of seafood, mixed with the refreshing taste of ginger vinegar.
"Look carefully," Shi Heng picked up a steamed dumpling with chopsticks and demonstrated skillfully, "First, bite open this small hole and gently suck up half of the broth. Remember, you must bite the remaining half with the crab roe, so that the flavor will be layered."
Gu Youran imitated him, carefully picked up a steamed bun, and gently bit open the dough.
The boiling hot crab roe soup immediately flows into your mouth, and the delicious crab meat and pork blend perfectly, which indeed has more delicious seafood than ordinary dumplings.
"Ah!" She cried softly, and a drop of golden crab oil slid from the corner of her mouth.
Shi Heng immediately took out a tissue and gently wiped her clean. "Eat slowly. No one is going to snatch it from you."
"This crab roe..." Gu Youran narrowed his eyes, "It's like the essence of the entire crab is wrapped in this thin skin."
The two of them took one and I took one, and soon finished both baskets of dumplings.
Shi Heng looked at his watch and asked, "Where do you want to go next?"
Gu Youran thought for a moment and said excitedly, "I just saw the memorial archway of the City God Temple when I passed by. How about we go there for a look?"
Shi Heng was a little surprised.
In his impression, City God Temple was a place where tourist groups gathered, and he didn't expect that she would be interested in it.
But seeing her expectant eyes, he nodded and agreed, "Okay, then let's go to the City God Temple."
Half an hour later, they were strolling through the bustling streets of Chenghuang Temple.
Gu Youran suddenly stopped and tugged at Shi Heng's sleeve, "Look at that paper-cutting stall!"
Under the sycamore tree in the corner, an old man wearing reading glasses was sitting on a small stool and cutting paper.
His wrinkled fingers flew nimbly, and the scissors moved across the red paper. In a short while, he cut out a pair of lifelike mandarin ducks playing in the water.
"What do you want to get your haircut for, young lady?" The old man looked up and sized them up with a smile. "Looking at your eyebrows, do you want to get the Chinese character for 'happiness' cut?"
Gu Youran's face flushed instantly, and she stammered, "We..."
"Let's cut two profile shots." Shi Heng suddenly spoke and reached out to hold Gu Youran's shoulders.
The old man pushed his reading glasses. "Alright! Sir, stand to the girl's right and lower your head a little... Yes, that's it."
Gu Youran felt Shi Heng's hand slide from her shoulder to her waist, and with a gentle pull, she leaned into his arms.
"Miss, come closer to my husband's shoulder... Yes, the best distance is when the tips of our noses are almost touching."
The old man's scissors began to move on the red paper.
Gu Youran could clearly feel Shi Heng's breath brushing her cheek.
Just when the old man cut to the point where the tips of their noses touched, Shi Heng suddenly turned his head and gently kissed her earlobe.
With a "click", the old man cut the last piece, "Done!"
He carefully unfolded the paper-cut, and on the crimson paper, there was clearly a silhouette of a man lowering his head and gently kissing the person in his arms.
"It's so similar!" Gu Youran took the paper cutting in surprise. "I'm going to frame it and put it above my bed in my bedroom."
Shi Heng said, "Master, can you cut a separate picture of her profile?"
The old man smiled knowingly and quickly cut out a silhouette of Gu Youran.
Shi Heng took it and solemnly put it into the transparent compartment of his wallet, "This way, I can take Youbao with me wherever I go."
Gu Youran's ears turned red, and she poked his chest with her fingers, "Mr. Shi, why do you say such sweet words so easily?"
The old man suddenly took out gold foil from the drawer in a mysterious tone and said, "Add twenty yuan and I'll give you a gold and red paper-cut heirloom. Cutting out a "happiness" character is the most auspicious!"
"good."
Shi Heng and Gu Youran spoke at the same time.
The two smiled at each other.
As the scissors moved, the silhouette of two people cuddling together was cleverly embedded in the center of the word "囍".
The old man proudly showed it off, "This is called 'Joy on the Eyebrows'. I even cut out the bride's shy face!"
"Thank you." Shi Heng paid twice as much and left the stall with Gu Youran.
Gu Youran carefully put the paper-cut into the inner compartment of her bag, touching it from time to time.
Looking at her like this, Shi Heng couldn't help but kiss her on the face again.
"What are you doing?" Gu Youran looked around. "So many people are watching us."
Shi Heng said confidently: "It's only natural for me to kiss my wife."
After visiting the City God Temple, the sun had already set.
Shi Heng looked at his watch and saw that the hour hand pointed to seven o'clock.
"It's time to go to the airport." He said softly, his fingers gently stroking the back of Gu Youran's hand.
The smile on Gu Youran's face suddenly faded, and she unconsciously tightened her grip on his hand, "You're leaving so soon..."
"I'll take you there." Shi Heng held her hand tighter and led her to the parking lot.
On the way to the airport, Gu Youran kept looking at the scenery passing by outside the car window.
Her fingers unconsciously stroked Shi Heng's palm, as if to confirm the authenticity of this warmth.
"What are you thinking about?" Shi Heng squeezed her hand.
Gu Youran turned her head and forced a smile. "Nothing... I just felt like today went by too fast, like we'd be apart in the blink of an eye."
Shi Heng brought her closer to his arms and kissed her on the forehead. "Silly girl, I'll be back in two days. Don't think I'm annoying when we take wedding photos."
"No way." Gu Youran rubbed against his arms.
An hour later, the two arrived at the airport lobby.
Mark came up immediately with two bodyguards, "Madam, your luggage has been checked in and your boarding passes are ready."
Gu Youran nodded, and when she turned to Shi Heng, her eyes were already slightly red. "Then I... leave?"
Shi Heng pulled her into his arms, resting his chin lightly on the top of her head, his voice a little tense, "Remember to send me a message when you get home. Send it as soon as the plane lands."
"Yeah." Gu Youran responded muffledly, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, as if to carve this hug into her memory.
Shi Heng suddenly pressed his thumb against her lower lip and said, "Don't buy a plane ticket secretly and come here this time."
Gu Youran smiled and bit his finger, "That depends on whether the lights in Mr. Shi's lab are on until three o'clock again."
"See you in two days." She stood on tiptoe and placed a soft kiss on his lips, then quickly turned and walked towards the security checkpoint.
She didn't dare look back, for fear that she would run back if she did.
Shi Heng stood where he was, his eyes following her back until the slender figure completely disappeared.
He turned to his bodyguard and said, "Go back to the lab."
After getting into the car, Shi Heng took out his wallet and stroked Gu Youran's silhouette, which seemed to still retain her warmth.
At this moment, the phone screen suddenly lit up. It was a message from Chen Mingyuan.
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