Featured food: Braised pork belly
I wasn't looking forward to this story when I saw the preview after the stewardess story. Luckily, they aired Xiao Long's story instead so it was a breather for me. The reason why is that because this story reminded me of my grandmother who recently had a fall and my mum had to go over to help her bathe everyday. It is difficult to care for the elderly...
Cui Fang is an ordinary housewife who was hired by the Su family as a maid. She was not told that she had to look after an elderly old man as well. Dr Su is a retired heart surgeon. He had a stroke which left him paralysed on the left side and also immobile.
Now, having to care for an elderly stroke patient is bad enough... but the worst thing was that Dr Su has a very sharp tongue. He does not mince his words and many previous maids quit because they could not tolerate his unending nagging.
Cui Fang had to endure Dr Su's constant nagging as she needed the money. She contacted her agency but they told her she has to wait about 3 months before they can find a replacement. She starts to take on her job as a maid as well as a caregiver. However, she wasn't a good cook so it made Dr Su even grumpier than usual.
One night he sends Cui Fang to the midnight diner to get some food. Cui Fang took his order down and headed there. The diner boss chuckles when he saw the list... It was a list of food from the royal imperial courts! Hahah! Dr Su was definitely pulling Cui Fang's leg.
The diner boss gave Cui Fang a packed food container and tells her to give it to Dr Su. Dr Su awakes in the morning and started to nag. He stopped when Cui Fang hands him a note from the diner boss and the food container. He opened it to find his favourite dish, braised pork.
From there, Cui Fang decided to ask the diner boss's help in making the dishes. She realised that the food kept Dr Su in a good mood hence no nagging! Hahah!! Brilliant. ;D The diner boss agrees to her request and starts to teach her the recipes.
As time passes by, Dr Su has warmed up to Cui Fang and vice versa. Cui Fang decides to bring Dr Su to the midnight diner one day, much to Dr Su's surprise. She built a wooden ramp so that his wheelchair can go into the diner.
Dr Su, on the other hand also gave Cui Fang access to his late wife's clothing... He said that she must look good if she was going to be seen with him. What the... :D Yeah, don't worry, Dr Su was not interested in Cui Fang at all. He was just being nice to her and helping her to dress better.
Their midnight escapades came to a halt when they were caught one night by Dr Su's son. He had a drink or two prior to that and had a shouting session with Dr Su. Apparently, there are unresolved conflicts between father and son all these years. Dr Su had always been so busy at the hospital that he was never around when the son grew up. Even when Dr Su's wife passed away, he did not come for her funeral. Aigoo... Yeah, that was definitely the thorn in their relationship. What the son didn't know was that during his mother's funeral, his father was busy saving a young girl's life...
There was a slight scare one day when Dr Su did not wake up in the morning. Everyone thought that he had passed away. But Dr Su had taken some sleeping pills the night before so he couldn't wake up. Ah! Drama suspense for a bit... :P
Now years have gone by and it was the Lunar New Year. Everyone gathered at the diner to celebrate it. I didn't know the mainland Chinese celebrate it by eating steamed dumplings... Dr Su and Cui Fang arrives at the diner with some dumplings as well.
Being a retired top surgeon, Dr Su would receive a lot of gifts for the Lunar New Year. Gifts from patients which he has helped save and those from his former colleagues. However, this made Dr Su really angry... He felt that they were mocking him by doing so. I know right?! This old man. (-_-") He snapped at Cui Fang and said some nasty things about her and her son. This was the last straw for Cui Fang. She loved her son so much and that was mainly the reason why she was working all these years... She left the house crying... Omo! :(
The Su family came home and realised that Cui Fang was missing. They had her travel documents so she could not have gone far. Dr Su knew where she went... Yes, your guess is right too! The midnight diner of course.... :) There, the diner boss consoles Cui Fang and tells her that Dr Su did not mean what he said...
Dr Su arrives with a student of his student of his student.. Hahahah! That poor guy! Dr Su apologises for his actions earlier and Cui Fang forgives him. It wasn't easy for someone like Dr Su to admit his mistake...The young student suggests that Dr Su could help tutor the younger students by imparting his surgical knowledge. What a great idea! It was a morale boost for Dr Su, that he was useful once more. He became elated when he receives a motorised wheelchair.
As Dr Su's life was on a roll, Cui Fang was missing out on her own son's life. He has grown so much... There was a scene when she was pushing Dr Su to the midnight diner, a courier boy passed them by! Yes, it's the same cute courier boy from Sun Ke Wei's episode!
One day, Cui Fang receives a phone call from her family. Her mother has passed away. Cui Fang had no time to go back to see her mother at all and was so heartbroken. Dr Su realises that it was time to let Cui Fang go. She has spent so many years taking care of him and the Su family that she never had the chance to see her own son grow up. He did not want Cui Fang to make the same mistakes that he did. The Su family was shocked when Dr Su told them to arrange for a new caregiver.
The story ends with a bitter sweet ending... There was reconciliation between the father and son... Dr Su apologises for all the years he had been busy and away from home... There were so many onions here! I cried nonstop! :'( Heartbreaking but it was also heartwarming at the same time!
The diner guests throws a farewell party for Cui Fang and Dr Su starts all over again with a new caregiver... And yes, his mouth is still as sharp as ever!! He will never change... ;)
The featured food actually looks a bit scary to me because the pork belly has that thick layer of fat... Yeah, I know that is what makes it so tasty! ;P Somewhere midway through the episode they also featured some other food, which looks like squid or something... Not sure... I guess you could eat this pork belly once in awhile!
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