The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 571 Matchmaking
After returning to town, Qin Huai and his two companions first followed Jiang Weiguo's advice and ordered eight bowls of vegetarian noodles at Liu Er's noodle shop. Then, they went to the braised goose shop across the street and bought a whole braised goose. They then asked the noodle shop owner to heat up the braised meat for them. Under the surprised gazes of the noodle shop owner and the braised goose shop owner, the three of them finished a hearty meal of braised meat noodles with braised goose.

Surprisingly, the noodle shop and braised meat recommended by Jiang Weiguo actually go quite well together.

Qin Huai, an excellent pastry chef, although not skilled in stretching noodles and only adept at hand-kneading them, could still discern that Liu Er's noodle-weighing technique was mediocre. However, this ordinary stretched noodle, paired with unremarkable alkaline water, was then topped with richly flavored, thickly braised pork, each piece of meat seemingly melted, infused with the aroma and oil, creating a delightful slurp.

That taste.

Liu Er and the owner of the braised goose shop were so envious that tears almost streamed down their faces. Without any hesitation, they brought their own dinner and joined the group at the table, enthusiastically asking Qin Huai and the others what their relationship was with Master Jiang Weiguo.

This is definitely not an ordinary relative. Even Master Jiang's own son doesn't receive this kind of treatment. Even if it were Master Jiang's most beloved eldest son, he wouldn't bring out such a large bowl of braised pork. Bringing out a bowl of braised pork rice would be considered a victory.

Over the course of the meal, Qin Huai and his two companions heard a wealth of fascinating gossip that even a private investigator couldn't uncover.

Jiang Weiguo is considered a celebrity in the local area, at least in the nearby villages and towns.

Jiang Weiguo, a former head chef at a state-run restaurant, retired and returned to his village to raise pigs. In the surrounding villages, if a family couldn't hire Chef Jiang to cook for their child's wedding, they'd have to be a little quieter when bragging about it.

Jiang Weiguo once contracted to host various banquets in more than a dozen nearby villages. Of course, this business had already been running since Jiang Weiguo was a chef at a state-run restaurant. However, it was a side job back then, and it became his main job after he retired.

Take Liu Er as an example. Jiang Weiguo was in charge of cooking his wedding banquet, his son and daughter's 100-day celebration banquet, his son's wedding banquet, and unfortunately, Jiang Weiguo was unable to cook his daughter's wedding banquet because he was unavailable that day. Even his 50th birthday banquet two years ago was cooked by Jiang Weiguo.

When talking about these glorious deeds, Liu Er straightened his back, his words filled with pride that he had grown up eating Master Jiang's cooking.

Qin Huai and the other two said they didn't quite understand this sense of pride; they simply felt that Jiang Weiguo's retirement life was like the Valentino clothes he was wearing. The brand name of the clothes was quite expensive, but on him, they looked plain, unremarkable, and even a bit dusty, like cheap clothes bought for 150 yuan for two at a market.

Qin Huai began to think that Jiang Weiguo might really be struggling to make ends meet by supporting five large, fat sons, which was why he had to take on jobs even after retirement. During the meal, Liu Er and the owner of the braised goose shop both mentioned that of Jiang Weiguo's five sons, four grandsons, and two granddaughters, apart from one who was thin and small, the rest were all burly, overweight men with exceptional appetites. Even gangsters would avoid the family when they went out.

Every year during the Spring Festival, the Jiang family eats pork by the head.

"Thirteen has really had a tough time." An Youyou sighed after returning to the hotel. "Life is already so difficult, and he still has to slaughter a pig for us to eat tomorrow. No, I have to bring two more boxes of milk to see him tomorrow."

After sighing, An Youyou hugged the sandalwood box and counted the silver dollars. She picked out the ones in good condition and played with them, asking Shi Dadan if it would look nice if she spread these silver dollars on the small wooden table and then put the golden toad on top of the silver dollars.

Shi Dadan said very tactfully that it might not look very good.

Qin Huai didn't participate in their discussion because he was chatting with Zhao Cheng'an.

Based on their brief afternoon interaction and the noodle shop owner's account, Qin Huai initially judged Jiang Weiguo to be a healthy retired old man with a somewhat difficult temper, who might not be wealthy but could also be wealthy but couldn't stay idle. He often took on jobs outside, loved raising pigs and growing vegetables, and was rooted in the village, not fond of going to the city.

Overall, his temper is not much different from when he was younger.

Jiang Weiguo was a man of few words when he was An Youyou's underling. He never spoke nonsense, nor did he like small talk, pleasantries, or sentimentality. It was the same when they met today. Jiang Weiguo was the only underling who didn't tell An Youyou about his recent situation; he just listened without offering any comments.

However, Qin Huai is certain of one thing: Jiang Weiguo definitely cannot afford Taifenglou.

According to Xia Murui, he once offered 14 billion yuan, but the Li family refused to sell. Jiang Huiqin's son stubbornly adhered to Jiang Huiqin's last wish, wanting to return Taifenglou to the Jiang family after their descendants found Beiping.

Of Jiang Chengde's seven sons, Qin Huai saw three in the memories of the various spirits. It is known that Master Jing has been dead for many years, Jiang Weiming's whereabouts in Shu are unknown, and private detectives have not been able to find out his whereabouts. Jiang Weiguo is the only descendant of the Jiang family that Qin Huai found and even met with that afternoon.

He is also a very vigilant old man.

Qin Huai and his two companions were stopped at the door for at least ten minutes in the afternoon. They were not allowed to enter until they clearly explained their origins, reasons, and produced evidence, which shows their awareness of anti-fraud measures.

If An Youyou hadn't immediately revealed the old man's past as a beggar, Qin Huai estimated that the three of them would have had to spend half an hour proving that An Youyou was indeed the eldest son's granddaughter before they could even get a cup of tea within 30 minutes.

In this situation, if Qin Huai were to say directly to Jiang Weiguo tomorrow: "Grandpa Jiang, guess what? It's such a coincidence! Do you remember Xia Murui? That's Xia Sheng, Chen Qiusheng's apprentice, the one who used to work odd jobs at Taifeng Restaurant. I know him too."

He contacted your aunt's son, who is also your cousin. He has been looking for you all these years, wanting to give Taifeng Restaurant to you. Now I have finally found you for him. You should go to Beiping now, complete the formalities, and you can take back the family restaurant.

Qin Huai estimated that if he really said that tomorrow, before he even finished speaking, Jiang Weiguo's fist, as big as a sandbag, would smash into his head and tell him to get out of there, you damned liar.

Telecom scammers usually say things like "I am Qin Shi Huang" or "Send money," or "Congratulations on winning 500 million yuan," they wouldn't make up a prize as big as a restaurant.

Therefore, Qin Huai felt it would be better to have Xia Murui handle this matter personally. After all, An Youyou was the reincarnated eldest sister, but Xia Murui was the genuine Xia Sheng.

Xia Murui said there was no rush.

"Not in a hurry? What do you mean by not in a hurry? Master Xia and Master Jiang don't get along? Did they fight when they were kids? They shouldn't be holding a grudge like that. It's been so many years since they last saw each other. It's been at least 60 years since they last met."

“The Li family won’t sell Taifenglou, and Master Xia alone can’t buy it back. Wouldn’t it be better to have Master Jiang go to Beiping and take over Taifenglou, so the two of them can work together to reopen it?” Qin Huai was puzzled. “Although Master Jiang’s skills are a bit lacking, when I ate the braised meat today, I thought his skills were not bad compared to ordinary chefs, but compared to Master Huang, they were a bit lacking, and compared to Master Xia, they were incomparable.”

"If we judge it by the level of Jiang Chengde's S-grade locust flower steamed buns, this skill is not enough to open Taifenglou. But isn't there Master Xia? I think Master Xia's dishes are also S-grade."

"I also inquired a little today. Of Master Jiang's five sons, only his third son, Jiang Jiankang, inherited his skills and runs a small stir-fry restaurant in Z City. None of his grandchildren are cooking, but they all have good grades. His eldest grandson was even the top scorer in the city's college entrance examination."

"Did you not say it because you thought it was too much trouble, or did you not explain it clearly?" Qin Huai questioned.

"Heaven and earth bear witness, I said it, I really said it, I didn't change a single word!" Zhao Cheng'an's sorrowful voice came from the other end of the phone. "Qin Huai, you've been running around Shanghai, Suzhou, and Z City these past few days, having fun and freeloading everywhere. Do you know what kind of life I've been living?"

"I make desserts every day!"

"My master said that my skills haven't deteriorated during my long trip to the city, and I've even managed to correct some of the problems, which means I've made progress. I should keep up the good work. I'm making pastries for 12 hours a day now. I'm making pastries when I'm awake and when I'm asleep. I even used my game time to call you and Xia Murui. Do you know how hard it is for me!"

"Is it really necessary to make a phone call over something as trivial as just a few words?" Qin Huai asked. Zhao Cheng'an was silent for a dozen seconds before saying, "What's wrong with us fellow disciples chatting about everyday things to strengthen our bond? Qin Huai, if you don't believe me, I'll start a group voice call right now and have Xia Murui tell you personally!"

After saying that, Zhao Cheng'an hung up the phone.

The next second, a group voice call popped up in the small group chat of Qin Huai, Zhao Cheng'an, and Xia Murui.

Since the day this group was created, no one has spoken in it. Xia Murui and Zhao Cheng'an chat privately, as do Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng'an. Qin Huai and Xia Murui hardly ever chat.

Xia Murui really doesn't like playing on his phone. He doesn't even have the habit of liking other people's posts on WeChat Moments, except for Zhao Cheng'an's.

Qin Huai even suspected that Xia Murui would deliberately check Zhao Cheng'an's WeChat Moments every few days to see if she had forgotten to like any of the posts.

Xia Murui answered after more than 30 seconds. As soon as Xia Murui answered, Zhao Cheng'an asked loudly, "Xia Sheng, quickly tell Qin Huai whether I told you that he saw Jiang Weiguo in Z City."

“I did,” Xia Murui said.

Qin Huai was genuinely confused. He picked up a banana from the table and started eating it, asking as he ate, "Mr. Xia, don't you want to see Master Jiang?"

Xia Murui's voice was somewhat somber: "I don't want to see you now."

"why?"

Xia Murui paused for a moment: "I wasn't prepared."

“I’ve always wanted to buy Taifenglou, but that was many years ago. Back then, I had the energy and confidence to reopen Taifenglou and do a good job. But now, with my health, it’s difficult to even maintain the daily operations of Fenyuan.” Xia Murui calmly stated a cruel truth, “With my current physical condition, even if I could buy Taifenglou, I wouldn’t have the ability to reopen it.”

“I’m not familiar with Jiang Weiguo, but my junior brother said that you think his cooking skills are just average.”

"...It's not just average, but...I feel it's still a bit inferior to Chef Huang, but it's definitely good enough to be listed among the top chefs, and its ranking won't be too low," Qin Huai said.

“That’s just average.” Clearly, Xia Murui’s definition of average is different from that of an ordinary chef. “Moreover, he has no apprentices, only one son who inherited his skills.”

"Seems to be."

“Running a restaurant is a very complicated matter,” Xia Murui said slowly. “He needs professional management talent, an excellent head chef, a stable team, and chefs and assistants with their own specialties and above-standard skills. Not to mention that Beiping is a mixed bag, and to run a restaurant, you also need to manage relationships with other restaurants. It’s very difficult for outsiders to integrate easily. Seventh Young Master… Jiang Weiguo doesn’t have these conditions at the moment.”

"Even if the Li family gave Taifenglou to him, he still wouldn't be able to open it now."

"I can't start it right now; I need to do a lot of preparation."

"Is he alright?" Xia Murui asked.

"It should be alright. Although the private investigator couldn't find Mr. Jiang's medical report, he hasn't had any serious illnesses in recent years and rarely goes to the hospital. When we met today, he seemed to be in good spirits. He also raises pigs."

“There’s still time,” Xia Murui said. “I’m not ready, and neither is he. When the time is right… I will go to see him.”

After speaking, Xia Murui coughed twice.

"Master Xia, is your throat sore?" Qin Huai asked with concern. He had noticed that Xia Murui's voice sounded strange and a bit muffled from the moment she started speaking.

“It’s probably because of the change of seasons,” Xia Murui said. “Xiao Hang is going to Japan next year to study Japanese cuisine. He won’t stay at Fenyuan to help me. Fenyuan can’t accommodate too many guests on a daily basis, so I will have time to study related matters.”

"Xiao Qin, you don't need to worry about this. I have my own considerations. Taifeng Restaurant will definitely return to the Jiang family."

"Then please take good care of yourself," Qin Huai said.

Whether Taifenglou would eventually return to the Jiang family or reopen was not of great concern to Qin Huai. He simply acted as a matchmaker to prevent the two sides from missing out.

For Qin Huai, what to eat tomorrow is more important.

An Youyou felt the same way.

After studying the ocean, An Youyou began to imagine the pork stew she would make tomorrow.

“Actually, when I was a beggar, I also fantasized about becoming rich one day and buying a whole pig to eat during the New Year. Thirteen said back then that he could make pork stew, and I discussed it with him and decided which parts I wanted to eat.”

"I want braised pig's head! And I want braised pig's ears."

"I want to eat a whole pig's trotter and a whole pig's hock, and a whole spare rib that can't be chopped up. I also want braised pork belly, red-braised pork, and four-happiness meatballs!"

"And pig's blood. Thirteen said that stewed pig's blood with sauerkraut was especially delicious, but unfortunately there was no sauerkraut at that time."

"Boss, do you think we'll all be able to eat tomorrow? Could Thirteen make a special braised pork knuckle just for me?"

Qin Huai wasn't entirely sure either, because Jiang Weiguo seemed quite calm today: "Maybe."

"Since we've come all this way to visit, it shouldn't be a problem for us to have a braised pork knuckle."

　There will be more later

　　
　
(End of this chapter)