You are learning meeting people with 了: you will read the scene it happens in, learn 10 words and phrases, take apart the pattern behind them (social verb + 了 — completed social actions), hear them in a conversation, rehearse them, and finish by saying one thing out loud to be graded.
A noodle stall on Wujiang Road Snack Street — plastic stools, fluorescent light, steam from broth. The best conversations happen over noodles.
Wujiang Road Food Street runs parallel to Nanjing West Road but belongs to a different world. Here, noodle stalls compete on speed and flavor. Plastic stools, communal tables, the sound of slurping is the highest compliment.
He sat down. The stool was low, the table wet. 「我点了一碗葱油面。」 I ordered a bowl of scallion oil noodles. The man next to him had the same bowl. They nodded at each other.
「你是外国人吗？」 Are you a foreigner? 「对，我来了上海三天了。」 Yes, I arrived in Shanghai three days ago. 「我认识了这个地方。」 I got to know this place. They 聊了很久 — chatted for a long time. 「老板告诉了我，这个面条用了猪油。」 The owner told me these noodles use lard. They ate and talked. 一边吃面，一边聊天。 Eating noodles while chatting. Shanghai at its best.