Brief introduction：

This book focuses on the hot topic of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects， caring for the current living situations of the first generation migrant workers and their children. It touches on the mental growth of teenagers and deeply reaches questions faced by ordinary Chinese families in the new era. 13-year-old Gu Yu’s father was one of the first generation migrant workers on Qindao. After years of struggle， their family finally settled down here. However， Gu Yu’s father was withered from constantly overworking and eventually bedridden. Missing the specialty dishes he enjoyed with his fellow workers years ago， Gu Yu got on the Fuxing Train in search of these dishes， thus starting his journey tracing along the hard years of work his father had endured.

About the author：

Zhang Jizhou is a writer of children’s literature， expert in reading promotion， contracted writer with Qingdao Literary Federation， and star of Qilu Culture. His works have been selected as one of the “One Hundred Excellent Publications Recommended to Young People Nationwide” by the State Administration of Press， Publication， Radio， Film and Television of the People’s Republic of China. He has won the Bing Xin Literature Award， the Bing Xin Children’s Book Award， and the Taishan Literature and Arts Award， etc.

Gu Yu is very good at cooking fish. He marinated the cleaned fish， sprinkled it with acacia flowers and spices and put it in the steaming pot. Then he looked upstairs across the street， wondering： What is Bai Lu doing at home？

Gu Yu lives on the fourth floor， across of which on the fourth floor is Bai Lu’s home. Bai Lu is both his classmate and desk mate. They are so close that they talk about everything.

Bai Lu is good-looking with a tall figure and a thin face. She has big eyes and a fair complexion. She is introverted and a bit willful， and doesn’t smile or talk much. She likes to write poetry and has a sentimental look.

Gu Yu said she looks like Lin Daiyu. Bai Lu then said that Gu Yu looks both like an actor and a director since he is very thin， not tall， and the small eyes under his bangs squint when smiling. His two slightly large incisors shine brightly like two neatly arranged pomegranate seeds.

Both their names are interesting， sounding like they belong to the twenty-four solar terms. Sometimes other students would link their names together and shout them out in a jumble： “Gu Yu， Bai Lu. Two oh twenty-four.” It doesn’t make much sense， it’s just for fun.

Two of their classmates that were into giving nicknames to others， gave Gu Yu the nickname： the cook. Gu Yu liked it. Everyone in the school knew about him cooking for his father， for which the teachers praised him and the students admired him.

Bai Lu secretly gave Gu Yu a nickname： “Whistling Boy”， which is a secret between the two of them. Gu Yu likes to and is good at whistling. “Whistling Boy” was his WeChat nickname， and his profile photo was a picture of himself standing on the beach. Bai Lu’s WeChat nickname is Adriana by the Water， and her profile photo is a white piano.

At this moment， he did not see Bai Lu’s figure. He was wondering if she had smelled the steamed fish with acacia flowers.

Bai Lu had told Gu Yu that when he cooks， she can smell the aroma from the balcony.

Gu Yu also told her that when she plays the piano， he can hear it at home.

When the fish was done， the scent of fish and acacia flowers wafted out. Gu Yu’s father sniffed： “It smells so delicious！ Such a familiar smell.”

He had a taste， smacked his lips and repeated， “Yummy！ Yummy！ Just as your grandmother cooked it.”

Mum took a bite and exclaimed， “Oh dear！ It really is the taste from back then.”

Gu Yu tried it， the aroma of acacia flowers penetrated his heart， and the fish was soft and fragrant without falling apart.

Dad was so into the dish that he could not stop his chopsticks.

Gu Yu was thrilled. It had been such a long time since he saw his dad enjoying such a sound appetite. He patted his head， “Dad， my head is full of recipes， but it’s not as good as a ‘steamed fish with acacia flowers’.”

Dad wiped his mouth， “Let me tell you， I have a bunch of recipes too， and the dishes on it are unique. I’ve been thinking lately that it would be wonderful if I could have a bite of each of them.”

Gu Yu drew near， “Dad， what are the recipes？

Quickly tell me， I’ll make them for you one by one.”

“I can tell you， but the ingredients are difficult to find， and there is one spice that is both easy and hard to find. Without it， that flavor can never be achieved.”

“Dad， don’t be so secretive， just show me. What ingredients and what spices can’t I find？ What flavour can’t I make？”

Dad held Gu Yu’s hand， smiled and said the names of several dishes.

Dad’s Recipes

Zhang Jizhou

Anhui Children’s Publishing House

May 2021

30.00 （CNY）