1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 141 Code Name: Encounter (6k words combined, please vote!)

Zhou Yan slowly opened her eyes, and two lines of clear tears slid down her cheeks.

His eyes were lifeless and he lay there for a while before his eyeballs started to move.

He felt as if he had watched a very long movie, witnessing the most difficult ten years of the old lady's life, and also witnessing the efforts and sacrifices made by those people in those years to defend their country.

The aftereffects were too strong. After a while, Zhou Yan finally got out of bed, shook his slightly dizzy head, turned on the bedside lamp, and glanced at the watch on the bedside table.

eight thirty.

He lay down to go to sleep around eight o'clock.

After exiting his memory, he must have lay there for about twenty or thirty minutes.

Therefore, when entering a memory, it is highly likely that time has not passed in the outside world.

Or, like reading a recipe, there's only a two- or three-minute pause.

That's good, so you don't have to worry about getting stuck in a memory for hours without feeling anything.

Zhou Yan took a notebook from the bedside table, unscrewed the Parker pen, and quickly wrote down a few names on the paper. Then he drew a few lines to mark the relationships between the characters.

The once dashing Duan Xingbang has passed away. Qiu Qi is staying at the Qiu family's old house instead of the Duan family's old house where she spent more time with Duan Xingbang after their marriage. This suggests that her unresolved feelings do not stem from the deceased Duan Xingbang, but rather from Wang Yu, with whom she was once engaged but ultimately missed due to the war.

Wang Yu drew a line, and Zhou Yan wrote Wang Ran after it, paused, and then added a question mark.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Wang Yu was escorted back to Jiaozhou to stand trial.

He once served as a high-ranking official in the Kuomintang and was active in the coastal areas of Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangdong for a long time. He should be among the group most likely to leave.

In Zhang Shufen's memory, Zhou Yan saw a small part of the materials that Zhou Yi had compiled for him. Wang Yu joined the Communist Party in 1941 and became an undercover agent, mainly responsible for transporting urgently needed medicines to our Party through Kuomintang channels.

Unfortunately, both the contact and the superior had been killed, making it extremely difficult to prove his innocence. Zhou Yi took a three-month leave of absence and spent almost all his time working on this matter, pulling strings and finally finding some clues.

After the materials were submitted, Zhang Shufen did not follow up because she had no way to do so, and no one notified her afterwards. Therefore, Wang Yu's fate remains to be verified.

Investigating this matter now shouldn't be difficult. Zhou Yan can ask his uncle to retrieve the relevant information. As long as it doesn't involve classified information, they should be able to find the results.

Zhou Yan both hoped that Grandpa Wang was Wang Yu, and yet she didn't want him to be.

Because Wang Yu was suffering too much.

"With the nation in peril and our land shattered, how can I think of a home? I should dedicate myself to the country and prioritize saving it!"

His words still echoed in my ears, resounding and thought-provoking!
He lived a life without shame before his country, but he ruined his own life.

Zhou Yan looked at the names on the paper, and vivid faces appeared before his eyes. It took him a long time to close the notebook.

Perhaps in their own memories, many things have become blurred.

How fortunate he was to be able to see what they looked like when they were young through Zhang Shufen's fragmented memories.

"Praise the old lady!" Zhou Yan said to himself with a smile.

The relationship has been clarified. Tomorrow, I'll go see Grandpa Wang to verify his guess.

Then he would go to the Qiu family in Jiaozhou to meet Qiu Qi and see how he could use the information he had to help her resolve her inner conflicts.

Braised beef!
Zhou Yan opened the panel and looked at the glittering golden recipe for [Braised Beef].

This was his key to getting in the door.

Braised beef must hold a very important place in Qiu Qi's heart.

Zhou Yan lay back on the bed and opened the menu.

A slight lapse in concentration, and the knowledge immediately flooded my mind.

Zhou Yan himself has already mastered the art of braised beef to a [good] level.

Therefore, the braised beef quickly absorbed the advanced experience pack and then came to its senses.

Braised Beef (Premium): 99999/100000

The grade information of the braised beef on the panel is then updated.

He glanced at the other data.

The cooking temperature, seasoning, and knife skills have all been significantly improved!
Sure enough, cooking at a high intensity every day really improves one's skill and technique.

Not bad!

Once this is settled, we can start serving braised beef!

Zhou Yan pulled the covers over herself and fell asleep immediately.

……

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Mr. Zhou and Mr. Zhou rode their bikes out to buy groceries.

"I heard that ration coupons are going to be abolished. From now on, the price of meat sold at street stalls will be the same as that of the supply and marketing cooperatives. Pork, beef, and mutton will all be subject to this policy. Jiaozhou has already started piloting it these past few days," Zhou Miao and Zhou Yan said on the way.

Zhou Yan's eyes lit up upon hearing this: "Really? If Jiaozhou starts, Suji will definitely follow suit immediately. Otherwise, with this price difference, it's worth making a trip to Jiaozhou!"

This is good news for these self-employed individuals, especially his restaurant, which uses more than 100 kilograms of meat every day.

Once prices are deregulated, the cost of meat can be reduced by about half.

If the price of the dishes remains unchanged, the gross profit margin of pure meat dishes can increase directly from 50% to over 70%.

Of course, the prices of some dishes can be appropriately reduced, or the portion sizes increased, to improve the cost-effectiveness and attract more customers.

For example, braised pork ribs are currently priced at 1.6 yuan per serving. Using half a pound of pork ribs, the cost is 1.1 yuan, leaving a gross profit of only 0.5 yuan. Sales are decent, with one or two servings often left over, but the profitability is not very strong.

If the price of pork ribs drops from 1.8 yuan per jin to 0.9 yuan per jin, the cost of ingredients can be reduced to 0.65 yuan, resulting in a gross profit of nearly 1 yuan.

Even if the turnover remains the same, the restaurant's net profit will increase significantly.

“I heard from my fellow butchers and butchers that Chengdu has been implementing this policy for a while now, so it should be true. It’s only been a couple of days.” Zhou Miao nodded with a smile. “It’s good that the price has been deregulated. Before, everyone went to the supply and marketing cooperative with ration coupons to buy meat, complaining that we were selling it too expensively. If we didn’t sell it all, we would lose money. If the price is deregulated, those arrogant salespeople at the supply and marketing cooperatives will never be able to compete with us.”

“That’s right, that’s what a market economy is all about.” Zhou Yan nodded with a smile.

"Should the restaurant adjust its menu prices?"

“No adjustment.” Zhou Yan shook his head decisively and said, “Our customers have already accepted our prices, and even if we lower them by a penny or two, it will be difficult to attract more customers who don’t eat out to come to our store.”

As the economy develops, I expect the price of meat to gradually rise back up before long.

Lowering vegetable prices is easy, but raising them back up after costs have increased is likely to alienate customers and lead to a loss of even more business.

Zhou Miao nodded thoughtfully, feeling that Zhou Yan's words made a lot of sense.

The economy is indeed developing rapidly, especially in the last two years.

Who would have dared to dream of becoming a millionaire before?

However, in the past year or two, we have often seen reports about people with 10,000 yuan in income in newspapers.

Sure enough, the people who have the best information about meat prices are definitely the meat sellers.

Today, when Zhou Yan went to buy beef and sell pork, the butchers and butchers all mentioned this matter. They shared the same view as Comrade Zhou, believing that it was beneficial for them, as self-employed individuals.

"Why did you buy three catties of beef shank? Are you planning to make braised beef?" Zhou Miao asked on the way back.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Yes, I want to practice first. I originally thought that the price of braised beef was too high and it would be difficult to sell. But if the price of beef can be reduced, then I can also reduce the price. Adding braised beef can also increase the turnover."

“That’s good. Your grandma’s braised beef was something that the wealthy families of Suji never forgot.” Zhou Miao nodded, a hint of nostalgia on his face.

“I know, you still go with your uncle and the others to deliver meat to their door.”

"Huh? How did you know?" Zhou Miao looked at him with some surprise.

“Um… Grandma mentioned it when she taught me how to braise meat. She said that back then she had a stall at the bridgehead, and she had you deliver the meat to each household, which saved her a lot of trouble,” Zhou Yan replied with a smile.

Zhou Miao nodded: "That's right, but that was before Liberation. I was only five or six years old then, so I can't remember many things. Later, the wealthy families all fled south. They weren't allowed to slaughter cattle anymore, so they only sold pig's head meat, and business wasn't as good anymore."

"Don't worry, business will only get better and better in the future. My son and I will work together to make it bigger and stronger!" Zhou Yan said confidently.

Zhou Miao laughed upon hearing this: "Okay!"

The Huang siblings also arrived early this morning.

After four days of high-intensity cycling training, the two men did not show significant changes in their physique, but their mental state improved dramatically.

Huang Bing's dark circles had faded considerably, his pale and weak face had regained some color, and his eyes had regained some sparkle. He looked much more pleasant than the first time I saw him.

Huang Ying tied her hair into a high ponytail, her round face was rosy, but her breathing was steady and she looked quite energetic, completely different from the listless look she had in the first two days.

"Brother Yan!"

"Boss Zhou."

The two entered the room, first greeting Zhou Yan, and then greeting Aunt Zhao.

When Zhou Yan arrived at the store at seven o'clock, there were only three or four customers sitting inside. He was quite idle, so he stood at the door chatting with Aunt Zhao.

"You two are arriving earlier and earlier each time," Zhou Yan said with a smile, looking at the two of them.

"Actually, we leave around the same time, around 6:20, but we're riding faster and faster now, so it only takes us about half an hour to get there," Huang Ying replied with a smile. Seeing Aunt Zhao already bringing them water, she quickly stepped forward to take the large bowl and sweetly thanked her, "Thank you, Aunt Zhao!"

"Thank you, Auntie," Huang Bing said, taking the warm water and taking a few small sips before looking at Zhou Yan and saying, "I'd like a large portion of floral-patterned noodles." "I'd like a medium portion of floral-patterned noodles, with a side of braised pork ribs, and extra spicy," Huang Ying said.

"Okay," Zhou Yan replied and walked towards the kitchen.

Adding toppings is a new way to eat it that was introduced a couple of days ago. It costs three cents a serving and is tailor-made for customers who have money and can do whatever they want.

After all, many customers can't eat two servings of noodles, but they like to eat more elaborate toppings, such as Huang Ying.

She's been ordering extra toppings these past two days, either noodles with braised pork ribs or beef with braised bamboo shoots.

"You two ride back and forth three times a day, and you look much more energetic. You're really something," Zhao Tieying said with admiration, looking at the two of them.

"Aunt Zhao, you have no idea how well I sleep every night now. I take a shower, lie down on the bed, and fall asleep immediately." Huang Ying said with a smile, "I used to like watching TV at night, and if I got hungry in the middle of the night, I would cook noodles and eat chocolate, and then I would sleep until noon in the morning."

"That's great! Goodness, you're a very determined person. With this kind of drive, you can succeed at anything," Zhao Tieying praised.

"Hehe." Huang Ying's smile revealed a hint of smugness at being praised.

Huang Bing glanced at her, raised his chin slightly, and said, "I make one more trip than her every day. Now I also practice my knife skills in the kitchen for three hours every day. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow at night. I haven't gone out for drinks for several days."

"Well, you're pretty good too. It's good to have a skill," Aunt Zhao said with a smile.

"Once I've mastered knife skills, I'll set up a stall and sell braised meat," Huang Bing grinned, his eyes full of anticipation.

Huang Ying glanced at his hands covered in bandages, and swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

After finishing his morning tasks, Zhou Yan first braised the beef shank.

The two large aluminum pots are used in rotation every day, and only when the demand for braised meat at banquets surges will both pots be used at the same time.

Feiyan Restaurant's order for braised meat has increased from ten jin to twenty jin, a pleasing increase, which shows its solid foundation.

After finishing his work at noon, Zhou Yan took a piece of beef shank, weighed it (it weighed eight ounces), and cut it against the grain of the beef. Thick slices of braised beef, about the thickness of a copper coin, fell onto the cutting board.

The cross-section is so beautiful; the fascia of the beef shank extends out like translucent amber, and the braising sauce soaks into the beef, giving it a very tempting bright red color.

A perfect serving of braised beef

The system provides the identification results.

After the beef was cut, Zhou Yan picked up a scrap and put it in his mouth.

The lean meat is tender yet firm, the tendons are soft and flavorful, and the meat is soaked in the old braising sauce. It has a delicate chewiness, and the aroma slowly unfolds as you chew.

really not bad!
"Gulp~" Zhou Momo had been watching eagerly for a while, swallowing loudly. "Brother, is the braised beef delicious?"

"You'll know once you try it." Zhou Yan took a plate from the side, put three ounces of food on it, and said, "Take it out and eat it with Mom and Dad."

"Mmm!" Zhou Momo took the plate with both hands and carefully walked out.

Zhou Yan took out a piece of brown paper, packed the remaining half pound of braised beef into it, picked up the book "Life" that he had finished reading, and pushed his bicycle out the door.

Zhou Yan couldn't help but brake when he reached the stone bridge. The stall of Zhang Ji's braised food was gone from under the tree. The banyan tree that Zhang Shufen remembered as thick as a wrist was now tall and shady, a good place for the town's residents to cool off. Two old people sat on the long stone slabs, chatting idly.

After buying a bottle of good wine, Zhou Yan rode his bicycle to the library.

At the library entrance, Grandpa Wang leaned back in a bamboo recliner, reading glasses perched on his nose, engrossed in a book.

Zhou Yan stopped the car. The old man looked up at him and smiled, "Finished reading?"

"Yes, I've finished reading it. I have many thoughts. Life is really not easy." Zhou Yan replied with a smile, taking the bag of braised beef and the bottle of wine out of the bicycle basket and placing them on the small table next to him with a smile: "The beef is freshly braised today, and I also got you a bottle of good wine. Want to try some?"

After hearing this, Grandpa Wang couldn't sit still any longer. He put down the book in his hand, straightened up, and tore open the oil paper package. Looking at the beautifully patterned slices of braised beef, his eyes lit up. He looked up at Zhou Yan and said, "Not bad! It looks just right!"

Zhou Yan opened the wine for him and said with a smile, "Want some?"

"Of course!" Grandpa Wang got up, went inside, and came out with two cups. "Would you like some too?"

"I can't, I'm a lightweight. Who's going to cook for the guests tonight?" Zhou Yan shook his head with a smile, took the cup and filled Grandpa Wang's cup first, then picked up the thermos and poured himself a cup of hot water.

Grandpa Wang brought him a stool, took a pair of chopsticks and sat down, picking up a slice of braised beef, his hand trembling slightly.

Zhou Yan sat down, his gaze falling on the man's right neck, where there were several old scars and a particularly conspicuous black mole. The hand holding the cup trembled slightly.

It's him!

That’s right!
Grandpa Wang's face gradually overlapped with the spirited, handsome face in my memory.

Zhou Yan seemed to see the young man again, carrying a birdcage in one hand and a blue-and-white porcelain basin in the other, his smile unrestrained and flamboyant.

Wang Yu, Wang Ran.

So it's been renamed.

Is it to sever ties with the past?

Zhou Yan was filled with mixed emotions, both excited to have found Wang Yu and sympathetic for Grandpa Wang's past experiences.

Grandpa Wang must have been feeling confused at that moment. He held a piece of braised beef but didn't eat it for a long time, his eyes were unfocused, and he seemed to be thinking about something.

Zhou Yan didn't speak, just watched him quietly.

His Zhongshan suit was buttoned up to the highest button, but many old scars could still be seen on his neck. His hair was neatly combed, but he didn't use as much hair gel as he did when he was young.

After a while, he put the beef in his mouth, chewed it slowly, swallowed it, picked up his wine glass, took a sip of wine, and let out a long sigh.

"This is the taste! I never thought I'd be able to eat this braised beef again after more than forty years," Grandpa Wang said with a smile, his eyes glistening.

"With your words, I'm relieved. I was just worried I wouldn't be able to get the flavor right." Zhou Yan smiled and picked up his glass. "Here, let me toast you."

Grandpa Wang clinked glasses with him, took another sip, put down the glass, and said with a smile, "The wine is good too. It's a waste to give me such good wine."

“Giving it to someone who doesn’t understand wine is a waste, but giving it to a master is just right.” Zhou Yan said with a smile, “Come on, try this beef again and see if there’s anything that can be improved.”

Grandpa Wang picked up his chopsticks, ate another piece of braised beef, took a sip of wine, and said with a smile, "It's already excellent, I can't offer any objections."

Zhou Yan filled his glass with wine and said with a smile, "When you were young, you often came to my grandmother's stall to buy braised beef?"

After downing a glass of baijiu and enjoying the braised beef he'd been craving for years, or perhaps it was the sight of familiar objects bringing back memories, Grandpa Wang gradually opened up, "Your grandma's braised beef was delicious. Back then, which wealthy family in Suji Town didn't love her braised beef? Our family had to call someone to buy it every day..."

Zhou Yan is a good listener; he always knows when to refill the glass and then pose the next guiding question or give a positive response.

Grandpa Wang recounted some of his memories from his youth in Suji, including how he followed the Sichuan Army out of Sichuan and headed straight for Shanghai, where the first battle he fought was the Battle of Shanghai-Songjiang.

"It was too tragic! People were dying in heaps. Our Sichuan Army's weapons were too backward. Three or four people shared one gun, and there weren't enough bullets. The Japanese were good marksmen and well-trained. I watched my comrades fall one by one..." Grandpa Wang choked up as he spoke, then paused, "Later, a grenade exploded next to me, and I lost consciousness."

I thought I was dead, but I woke up in a field hospital. Later, I was transferred to the rear to recuperate for more than half a year. Since I had nothing to do, I assisted the foreign doctors at the church hospital. I learned some English and also became familiar with many medicines.

After recovering from his injuries, he was transferred to Hong Kong on the recommendation of a Nationalist general who was also recovering in the hospital, to be responsible for purchasing urgently needed medicines from foreign countries. In 1940, during a trip out, he inadvertently saved someone who turned out to be a Communist.

After more than a month of contact, I was convinced by their beliefs and ideals, and I started reading Marx's books. This led me to provide the guerrillas with medicine, and I became a Communist Party mole.

"That's amazing!" Zhou Yan exclaimed, then asked with a hint of curiosity, "Master, what was your code name when you went undercover?"

“Code name…” Grandpa Wang picked up his wine glass, took a sip, looked into the distance, remained silent for a while, and then uttered two words: “Encounter.”

"A chance encounter?" Zhou Yan's nose tingled with emotion.

In 1940, Qiu Qi's wedding to Duan Xingbang was already a year earlier.

But he still used their names to form his own code name.

How romantic!

Grandpa Wang touched his nose, smiled, and said, "I think this is like a strange encounter, so I chose this code name."

You see, when a man lies, he will have subconscious little movements.

"There's not much else to say after that. General Liu's words, 'The Sichuan Army will not return home until the enemy forces withdraw from the country,' have been fulfilled by us." Grandpa Wang said with a smile, "Look at our lives now, getting better and better. Everyone lives in peace and contentment, and no one can bully us anymore."

“Yes.” Zhou Yan nodded and filled his glass.

He said something unremarkable, glossing over his contributions and the grievances he suffered.

Grandpa Wang understands the art of subtle manipulation.

He didn't say a word of what he wanted to hear.

That won't do. He's eaten the braised beef and drunk the wine; I'll definitely have to get something out of him that he wants to hear.

For example, why did he change his name?

Did he still have feelings for Qiu Qi in his heart when he never married?

Did you pay for Duan Yuyan's bill yesterday because you recognized her as Qiu Qi's granddaughter?

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "My grandmother said that what impressed her most was a young man named Wang Yu who liked to come to her shop to buy braised beef. He would come every week to buy it and personally deliver it to a girl in Jiaozhou City. Do you know this young man, Master?"

Grandpa Wang's hand holding the wine glass stiffened, and he looked up at Zhou Yan, his eyes flickering slightly.

Zhou Yan's smile was pure, without a trace of malice or impurity. "My grandmother said that my grandfather went out of Sichuan with him to fight the Japanese. When they were fighting in Shanghai, he even carried him to escape from a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood. They were separated later, and they didn't see each other again until after the founding of the People's Republic of China."

My grandpa told my grandma that Wang Yu was a good person, an undercover agent, and that he even helped Wang Yu collect information. Later, when Wang Yu was drafted to North Korea, it was my grandma who submitted the information. I don't know what happened to Wang Yu afterward, but my grandma still thinks about him.

Grandpa Wang gently put down his wine glass, looked at Zhou Yan, and sighed softly: "I am Wang Yu."

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(End of this chapter)