The Pentium Era - South to North

On the way back to Kobe, the two of them didn't talk much. My sister was concentrating on driving. Zhang Xiangbei leaned his head on the back of the chair, seemingly asleep, and squinted his eyes again, observing his sister's actions very carefully.

The road signs on the side of the road showed that as we got closer and closer to Kobe, the look on my sister's face became serious, and she was no longer as relaxed as she was in Matsuzaka. Although she still maintained the same posture as when she first set off on the road, her eyes were still open. His eyebrows were frowned slightly, and his face became a little pale.

Zhang Xiangbei looked a little distressed. No need to ask, he also knew that the city getting closer and closer in front of him was not the city that his sister liked. In this city, there were things that she wanted to escape from, rather than eagerly approaching. s things.

My sister drove the car to the door of the hotel, got out of the car, and accompanied Zhang Xiangbei to the front desk of the hotel. She had already booked a room for Zhang Xiangbei here. While Zhang Xiangbei was going through the check-in procedures, her sister stood aside, a little confused. Restless, she raised her wrist to look at her watch, then looked around, her eyes empty.

After finishing the formalities, the two of them walked toward the elevator. After walking a short distance, the sister stopped, and Zhang Xiangbei also stopped and looked at her. The two looked at each other in silence. The sister shook her head slightly and said:

"I'll take you here. I'll pick you up at seven o'clock tomorrow morning."

Zhang Xiangbei said yes.

The sister turned around and hurriedly walked outside. Zhang Xiangbei watched her and stood there for a while. Instead of continuing to the elevator, he followed his sister to the door.

The sister walked very fast. By the time Zhang Xiangbei reached the door, she had already got in the car and driven away.

Zhang Xiangbei stood there and sighed.

Zhang Xiangbei sat down on the sofa in the lobby and watched the strange men and women walking around in front of him. This city was unfamiliar to him. The only person he knew in this city was his sister, but in fact, he didn't care about his sister. It was also unfamiliar. He didn't even know which streets his sister would be driving in the southeast, northwest and northwest of the city at this time.

I don’t even know what will happen to my sister next.

Zhang Xiangbei picked up his cell phone and called Lao Qiao and told him that we were back from Matsuzaka and when we arrived at the hotel, my sister had already left.

"How's it going, buddy?"

Lao Qiao lowered his voice and asked. He should be at work at this time. Zhang Xiangbei could even imagine him in his cubicle, bending over, lowering his head and talking on the phone softly.

"It's delicious. Matsuzaka beef is well-deserved, and it's so delicious!" Zhang Xiangbei said.

Lao Qiao smiled softly, and Zhang Xiangbei said: "Thank you, Lao Qiao."

"Thank me for nothing. My sister took you there. You should thank your sister." Lao Qiao said.

"I have already thanked you." Zhang Xiangbei said with a smile, "Sister, I am also following your request."

"I didn't ask for it. I wanted to go on my own, and my sister wouldn't take me there." Laoqiao said, "It was her own idea. She said she wanted to let you experience the best beef in Japan."

Zhang Xiangbei was stunned for a moment and said: "Okay, you can continue to work. By the way, you don't have to pick me up at the station tomorrow. Don't ask for leave. My aunt will pick me up and we will have dinner together when you get off work. "

"Okay, got it, buddy." Lao Qiao said and hung up the phone.

Zhang Xiangbei wondered, was the minister walking towards his cubicle with a straight face? Zhang Xiangbei couldn't help but smile.

The next morning, Zhang Xiangbei asked Mao Ling to wake up at six o'clock, wash up, and then go downstairs to have breakfast. When he was about to go downstairs, he thought about whether he should wait for his sister to come and eat together. Did you have breakfast? In the end, you decided to eat it by yourself. If your sister didn't eat it, you might have to eat it again with her.

Zhang Xiangbei packed his backpack and went downstairs. After going to the Central Wholesale Market to watch the Kobe beef auction, Zhang Xiangbei didn't come back and went straight to the train station to take the bus to Tokyo.

After breakfast on the second floor, Zhang Xiangbei went down to the lobby and completed the check-out procedures. It was only 6:40, and Zhang Xiangbei was sitting in the lobby waiting for his sister.

At 6:50, Zhang Xiangbei saw his sister coming in from the door. Today, her sister was wearing a black one-step skirt, a white shirt on top, and a gray suit outside. She looked very energetic and was the first person like Zhang Xiangbei. When I saw her for the first time, she was wearing casual clothes at home. She was wearing a T-shirt and jeans yesterday. It was a different style, very cool.

Zhang Xiangbei got up and went over to greet him. His sister smiled when she saw him, and it was still that gentle smile. Zhang Xiangbei asked her if she had eaten breakfast. Her sister said that she had eaten breakfast. I was afraid that it would be too late, so I brought it for you to eat on the way.

Zhang Xiangbei smiled and said, "I've already eaten it."

"Okay, then I'll give you lunch." My sister raised the Oxford cloth rice bag in her hand and said.

Zhang Xiangbei said yes.

The two of them went out and got into my sister's car. On the way, my sister told Zhang Xiangbei that if there are people around at the Central Wholesale Market, don't speak. Outsiders are not allowed to enter there.

Zhang Xiangbei said yes, thinking, this beef auction is not a secret, there is nothing to keep secret, but there is no way, the Japanese way of thinking is so strange sometimes, like in the red light district of Tokyo, if you are white , foreigners who are too obvious will not let you in. They probably think that the red light district is not a glorious thing, and if you don't let you see it, you won't know.

As my sister drove to the suburbs, Zhang Xiangbei thought to himself that this central wholesale market is probably the same as the agricultural capital in Hangzhou. It is built in the suburbs. Every morning, there will be a lot of traffic here, and it will be full of people transporting vegetables and purchasing goods from all over. vehicle.

The auction scene is probably the same as that of the Taipei Agricultural Products Transportation and Marketing Company that I have been to. Don’t Taiwanese people like to imitate the Japanese in everything? The Taipei Agricultural Products Transportation and Marketing Company’s vegetable auction may have been learned from Japan.

The busy traffic and busy scene that Zhang Xiangbei imagined never appeared. The car drove into an industrial area and finally turned into the yard of a factory. His sister said to Zhang Xiangbei:

"arrive."

Zhang Xiangbei looked around and saw that this place was deserted. What looked like a central wholesale market? He asked his sister. She told him that this was a slaughterhouse and a central wholesale market. The auction of Kobe Wagyu beef was also here.

Only then did Zhang Xiangbei understand that the so-called central wholesale market was just a specialized wholesale market for Wagyu beef.

The elder sister parked the car in front of a building, and the two of them got out of the car. The elder sister held a folder in her hand, and took out two down jackets from the trunk, giving one to Zhang Xiangbei, and one for herself. in hand.

My sister led Zhang Xiangbei to the front of a factory building at the back. Zhang Xiangbei could see that this should be a cold chain workshop. Sure enough, when he walked to the door, his sister asked Zhang Xiangbei to put on his down jacket and opened a door. , there was a security guard at the door. He saw his sister and greeted her. My sister said a few words to the security guard. The security guard looked at Zhang Xiangbei and nodded.

My sister signed a book, stamped her private seal, and sneaked in with Zhang Xiangbei.

"What did you say to him?" Zhang Xiangbei asked as he walked in the corridor.

"I told him that you are my intern." My sister said to Zhang Xiangbei with a smile.

The door at the end of the corridor was hung with heavy felt. When he opened the felt and went in, Zhang Xiangbei was stimulated by the scene in front of him. He saw that in a house of about two hundred square meters, rows of neatly hung Dozens of cows.

These cows have been gutted, gutted, and skinned, and their heads and tails are missing. Their two hind hooves are hung on two iron hooks. There are tracks above the hooks, which can carry these upside down animals. The headless cow walks away.

Zhang Xiangbei looked at these cows and could see the scarlet meat and the thick white layer of beef fat covering the skin. His sister said to Zhang Xiangbei:

"Cows slaughtered like this are called stick meat."

Between the rows of branches, there were several people in white coats walking back and forth. My sister leaned into Zhang Xiangbei's ear and told him that these people were the judges. There was a larger cold storage over there, and there would be a lot of food in it. There are hundreds of slaughtered cattle, and only those that are A4 or above will be moved here after being evaluated by the judges. This is for those of us who are preparing to bid.

Someone came over and handed his sister two pieces of paper. On them was the list of wagyu cattle to be photographed in the first scene today. Zhang Xiangbei looked at the serial numbers. There were sixty-two in total. His sister told Zhang Xiangbei that they would be back at half past ten. There will be a second show with more than 30 animals. If you don’t take enough pictures in the first show, you can apply to participate in the second show immediately.

My sister is going to take photos of five wagyu cattle today. They were ordered by European customers. She put the list into a folder, holding a pen in her hand, and led Zhang Xiangbei to look at them one by one. She lowered her head to look at the list, then raised her head. Looking at the meat of the branches, they are marked on the list from time to time. Those marked are all her candidate cows.

The cows hanging on their heads are printed with blue badges of wild daisies. Wild daisies are the prefectural flower of Hyogo Prefecture, and there are also blue seals of "A5" or "A4", which are the grades assessed by the judges. , there is also a sticker on each cow, which prints the cow's identity code, its mother and farmer's information, etc.

They walked around twice, and the sister felt confident. The two of them walked out of the cold storage and went next door, ready to start the auction.

The auction for this batch of sixty-two Kobe Wagyu cattle will begin in half an hour.

Zhang Xiangbei had seen pigs being killed, but he had never seen how to kill cattle. It would be very troublesome to kill such a big guy with such strong ox power.

However, pigs can howl at the top of their lungs, but I don’t know if cows can. Some books say that cows shed tears when they are killed, but I don’t know if this is true.

Zhang Xiangbei was a little curious and asked his sister:

"Can you go see how to kill a cow?"

My sister shook her head and said no, "I have never even been inside the slaughterhouse. This is an important area of ​​the slaughterhouse and outsiders are not allowed to enter."

"Are you afraid that the scene will be too bloody?" Zhang Xiangbei asked.

"No, I'm afraid of scaring the cow." said my sister.

Zhang Xiangbei couldn't help but laugh. He was almost dead, so he was still afraid of scaring it?

My sister said seriously: "If a cow is frightened, the quality of its meat will be affected. Cows are slaughtered here and all cows are euthanized. Even so, there are dedicated breeders accompanying them every day to comfort them, but they actually still know, He is about to die. At this time, if he sees a stranger again, he will be easily shocked."

Well, you are right. After all, you are a nation that has to make even a rice ball repeatedly and then appear solemnly. After all, you have eaten too much Wagyu, so you probably understand them better than me.

Zhang Xiangbei thought.

Thank you to Brokeback Mountain, Two Fishes, and book friend 20180412083706755 for the reward! Thank you to Evergreen Yan Dadi, Little Gatekeeper, On the Road-Tiantian, Da Zhi Lao, and goodb110123 for your monthly votes! Thanks for all the votes and reading! I wish you all good health!