Eating is actually very important to us Chinese. After all, what can you really do when your stomach (brain) is sending out all sorts of signal around your body, crying "food, food" or "please sir, may I have some more?"
We call the food that is not part of an official meal as 小xĭao吃chï, 小xĭao meaning small, 吃chï is to eat. Some small things to eat. This is different from snacks, such as potato chips or beef jerky. 小xĭao吃chï can also serve as dishes in a meal. It ranges from sweets to a bowl of soup, as what we talk about in the topic of 夜yèi市shì, the night markets.
The reason why I bring this up is because lately I have more chances to use小xĭao吃chï in replacing a meal. Living close to one of the prestige night markets is actually quite a blessing when "what to eat for lunch/dinner" question become a conundrum for only three members in a family. It is even more helpful for people who live by themselves or are too busy to sit down for a meal.
Sometimes I think小xĭao吃chï represents a sad reality when people no longer bound as a family and share their love for each other over the dinning table. But at times I also think that, if the love for each other can only be shared on the dinning table, it would, if not more, also be a sad thing.
Perhaps now we leave the cooking to others, and simply share food with each other through these small dishes, and grasping every valuable second that we share together.
You may also want to find out what on the earth on Chinese people are thinking!
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