1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 158 The Confucian School and Its Legacy (6k words combined with a bonus chapter for monthly votes, 430 words)

Compared to the deserted stalls on the left and right, Zhao Minghui's sweet-skinned duck stall still had workers coming and going, some buying sweet-skinned duck and others buying braised peanuts.

Today is Saturday, and the sweet-skinned duck is selling well. Of the six we made today, four have already been sold.

"The braised peanuts haven't been selling as well these past few days, about half as much as last week. If this continues, will they sell even less next week?" Zhang Xiuqin said with some worry as she packed up the sweet-skinned duck and handed it to a customer.

"It's alright. Zhou Yan said he won't be making duck anymore. We just need to focus on making good sweet-skinned duck." Zhao Minghui laughed heartily. "Besides, we tried his braised vegetarian dishes yesterday, and they were really delicious. If I were a customer, I would buy braised lotus root and braised potatoes for four cents a pound. We should be secretly happy that our braised peanuts can still be sold."

After saying that, he glanced at Yang Laosan and Zhu Feng, who were looking dejected, and his smile became even brighter: "Seeing them have bad luck makes me happier than if I sold twenty more catties of braised peanuts."

Zhang Xiuqin laughed upon hearing this, feeling a sense of relief as she recalled the days when she was jointly suppressed.

……

"Aunt Zhao, are you really not opening tomorrow? I was planning to bring some friends over for dinner."

"Yes, I also made plans with my friend. We agreed to take her to eat crucian carp with mint tomorrow. She loves fish the most."

A notice board stood at the entrance of the restaurant, stating that it would be closed tomorrow due to other commitments and that banquet reservations would not be accepted. Guests continued to enter to verify this information.

"Good boy, I'm so sorry, Zhou Yan has something to do tomorrow, so we can't open the door." Zhao Tieying apologized with a smile. Today, no fewer than ten customers had come to inquire about this matter, and all the customers she turned down were business.

There's nothing we can do. Zhou Yan said he's going to Jiaozhou with his master tomorrow at noon to attend some kind of chef exchange meeting. The three of them are no match for each other.

Hearing this, the customer could only sigh helplessly and leave. Zhou Yan was the only chef at Zhou Erwa's restaurant, and if he had something to do, the restaurant would definitely not be open.

Closed for the evening.

Looking at Zhou Yan coming out, Aunt Zhao asked curiously, "Zhou Yan, what's that chef exchange event all about? More than fifteen tables of customers wanted to book a table today, but I had to turn them all down."

"My master wants to take me to broaden my horizons and meet my grandmaster, Kong Qingfeng, the former head chef of Leming Restaurant and a famous chef in Jiaozhou," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

“Becoming an apprentice is indeed quite important.” Aunt Zhao said thoughtfully, then added, “Then wear your new clothes tomorrow, don’t embarrass your master.”

“Okay,” Zhou Yan replied with a smile.

……

night.

Aunt Zhao and the others have already gone upstairs to rest.

After counting the money, Zhou Yan solemnly wrote down 4318.24 yuan in the deposit column.

Thanks to the popularity of braised vegetarian dishes and braised beef, the savings balance for this week reached 2158.66 yuan.

Home purchase deposit progress: 43%!

Zhou Yan couldn't help but rub his hands together; it was getting closer and closer!
They earn a lot every day, but it's definitely tiring.

After a long day, tough guy Lao Zhou didn't play chess with him anymore. He soaked his feet and went upstairs to sleep. He hasn't even gone fishing these past few days, getting a little lost in the endless potatoes and pig's head meat he's chopping.

Zhao Hong's sister-in-law was visibly exhausted, and when she got off work, all she could see was the longing for the weekend.

The most energetic person in the entire restaurant was Aunt Zhao. In the evening, she would help Zhou Momo wash up and sing nursery rhymes to lull her to sleep. She always gave people a feeling of being full of energy and lived up to her name as an iron lady.

Zhou Yansheng is young and exercises every day, so he is full of energy the next day after a good night's sleep.

He never feels tired when it comes to making money.

He's short of money but loves money; that's him for sure.

He carried the box upstairs, pulled out a larger wooden box from under the bed, took out the key to unlock it, and poured the money, bundled together in stacks of one hundred from the small box, into the large box.

Most coins were small change; even large sums of money were rare.

Don't underestimate these small change.

One cent can buy two pieces of stir-fried candy, which can make Zhou Momo happy for an entire afternoon.

If you save up every penny, you can buy a house very soon.

The box was locked and pushed back under the bed.

Zhou Yan climbed into bed, picked up the copy of "How the Steel Was Tempered" still on the second page from the bedside table, and began to read.
"Paul Korchagin..."

The book was gently placed on his face, and Zhou Yan fell asleep instantly.

That's probably the charm of Pavel Korchagin.

Long foreign names do seem to make it easier to sleep.

In the past, when Zhou Yan had trouble sleeping while editing videos, he would open a novel called "The Stay-at-Home Dad's Otherworldly Restaurant" and fall asleep after flipping through three pages.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking...

Comrade Xiao Zhou got up, pulled back the curtains, stared blankly for a while, then lay back down for a nap.

Indeed, a weekend is only a weekend if you don't have to work.

Zhou Yan slept until nine o'clock before waking up. He got up, changed into his new chef's uniform and new pants, and pushed open the door. There was a pair of leather shoes by the door, the same pair he had bought for Old Zhou last time.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Yan changed his canvas shoes for leather shoes.

Sure enough, pairing suit trousers with leather shoes immediately gives off a different vibe.

He put the watch on his wrist, then thought about it and took it off and put it under the blanket on the bedside table.

You can dress more presentably so as not to embarrass your master.

But a grand-disciple, dressed in new clothes and wearing a brand-new Shanghai watch, seemed somewhat out of place.

Zhou Yan didn't really care, but he had to consider his master's feelings.

The November morning was already a bit chilly, but a twenty-year-old like Zhou Yan wasn't afraid of the cold. When he went downstairs, he didn't even glance at the jacket hanging by the bed.

Zhou Momo woke up even earlier than him today, and was sitting properly at the table eating slightly burnt pancakes. When she saw Zhou Yan come downstairs, she looked at him like he was a savior: "Brother, I want to eat noodles~~"

"Aren't you eating pancakes? I'm not making noodles this morning." Zhou Yan laughed. "What's wrong? Don't Mom's pancakes taste good?"

"It's delicious, I love it." Zhou Momo opened her mouth wide and took a bite, then handed the pancake in her hand to Zhou Yan, "Brother, here, you have some too."

"Zhou Momo, finish your own pancake! I left some in the pot for your husband." Aunt Zhao raised her voice three notches, turned her gaze to Zhou Yan, and nodded with a smile as she looked at the leather shoes on his feet. "Sure enough, leather shoes make you look much more comfortable. Your father went fishing, and he said he'd lend you his leather shoes."

“Okay.” Zhou Yan nodded, went into the kitchen and brought out the warm pancakes, along with a plate of pickled radishes.

This pancake does look rather unprofessional; it's thick and the edges are a bit burnt, but it smells like eggs, which means Aunt Zhao did add eggs to the flour, and that's a plus.

Wrap it with pickled radish, and a pickled radish roll is ready. The chewy pancake is filled with sour and spicy radish. One bite, and it has a unique flavor.

I can eat my mom's pancakes as soon as I wake up in the morning, so whether they taste good or not is not so important anymore.

Seeing how much he enjoyed his food, Zhou Momo followed suit, adding two slices of pickled radish to her pancake, rolling it up, and taking a bite. Her eyes immediately lit up: "It's sour, so delicious!"

After breakfast, Zhou Yan sharpened the kitchen knife, put it in his cloth bag, and pushed his bicycle out the door.

"It's a bit cold, aren't you going to put on a coat?" Aunt Zhao asked from behind.

"No need, it's too hot to ride a bike." Zhou Yan replied, got on his bike, and had already pedaled quite a distance.

He met up with his master and Zheng Qiang at the stone bridge and rode side by side toward Jiaozhou.

"Master, are there any rules for attending this exchange meeting today? Is there any conflict between our sect and our grandmaster's sect? Should we go to support them or cause trouble?" Zhou Yan asked Xiao Lei on the way.

Zheng Qiang, who was focused on pedaling his bicycle, quickly followed closer upon hearing this and listened attentively.

"What are you going to talk about?" Xiao Lei looked at him and laughed irritably, "A chef exchange meeting, it's definitely for exchanging culinary skills."

"That's not necessarily true. Class reunions aren't always about reminiscing about our youth," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

Zheng Qiang interjected, "That makes sense. Last month, at our elementary school reunion, they supposedly broke up three couples, and there was a huge fight afterwards. Luckily, I didn't attend."

Xiao Lei glanced at the two of them and shook his head. "Remember, this is the first time you two have met your grandmaster. You should greet him respectfully."

"Your grand-uncle was quite stubborn when he was young, and he didn't get along very well with your grandmaster. For a time, they even had a major falling out over the matter of accepting disciples, and he was very unfriendly to me and my fellow disciples."

Look, the melon has been dug out!

Zhou Yan's eyes lit up, and he asked curiously, "Master, what's going on here?"

Zheng Qiang also looked on with a gossipy expression, and he and Zhou Yan flanked Xiao Lei from the left and right.

"It's a long story..." Xiao Lei hesitated, seemingly reluctant to elaborate on the topic.

Zhou Yan hurriedly said, "Master, please make it short and tell us the whole story so we can understand."

"Yes, yes, just so we don't say the wrong thing." Zheng Qiang nodded frantically.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Lei remained silent for a moment, then gradually slowed down the car before speaking: "That all started with your master Kong Huaifeng's old man, who was also the founder of our Kong school, Master Kong Rui. Kong Rui was a famous chef in the Sichuan cuisine world back then, serving as the head chef at the Governor's Mansion, where he was quite renowned. Later, after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, he returned to Jiaozhou and became the head chef at the Leming Grand Hotel, a job he held for thirty years."

During this period, your grandmaster Kong Huaifeng and grand-uncle Kong Qingfeng successively became his apprentices to learn cooking skills. They learned the family's traditional techniques, mainly through private instruction. It was from here that the Kong school of cooking began to take root.

In 1945, the master chef passed away, and your master chef Kong Huaifeng inherited his mantle and became a well-known young chef in Jiaozhou. He was hired as the head chef of Leming Restaurant and took over his father's position.

At that time, Leming Restaurant was a well-known restaurant in Jiaozhou City, and it was just as good as Feiyan Restaurant.

After liberation, Leming Restaurant was nationalized and became the main venue for receiving superiors and dignitaries. The number and quality of its chefs far surpassed those of Feiyan Restaurant.

I joined Leming Hotel in 1955. My family was so poor that we couldn't even afford to eat. At first, I was responsible for cooking, serving dishes, and doing odd jobs. I was just happy to have a meal to eat.

Later, in response to the provincial call, Leming Hotel also set up a cooking training class, where the hotel's chefs would teach the young people in the kitchen. In those days, most people's skills were passed down through families, and were skills that sustained their own livelihoods; they were not willing to easily teach others.

At this point, your mentor, Kong Huaifeng, stepped forward and volunteered to be the main lecturer, preparing to impart his skills. Because of this, Kong Qingfeng and he had a very ugly falling out, Kong Qingfeng didn't want him to publicly teach his family's traditional skills, and the leaders had to intervene and mediate many times.

Later, the training course was still opened. I started by auditing the classes and gradually showed my talent. In the end, I was accepted as your master's last disciple.

Back in the kitchen, the four of us apprentices often received disdain from your grandmaster. If we made a mistake, we'd get a severe scolding, even more so than your grandmaster.

“Then this grandmaster’s vision isn’t very broad. The old men at Rongcheng Restaurant and Rongleyuan all work together to compile teaching materials and publish books. The young chefs they train are all trained on a term basis. As long as they are down-to-earth and willing to learn, they are happy to teach them.” Zheng Qiang curled his lips. “When I was at Rongcheng Restaurant, although I mainly learned cooking from my master, the other old men would also give me pointers. My master never held back when teaching other chefs, and I always followed along.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan was even more surprised by the noble character of Master Kong Huaifeng. The Kong family's traditional skills originated from the founder's father. After inheriting them, he was willing to teach and pass them on to more young chefs. Such awareness and broad-mindedness were admirable.

Zhou Yan admitted that he couldn't do it; at least not at the moment, he couldn't share his recipes with the public without reservation.

He... is perhaps closer to Kong Qingfeng.

When it comes to family-inherited skills, the first thing that comes to mind is one's own family.

For example, he passed on the recipe and method of making Qiaojiao Beef to Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai, so that they could pass it on and make a living with this skill and live a better life.

Even with He Zhiyuan's persuasive skills and the allure of the cover of "Sichuan Cuisine" magazine, he remained unmoved.

Therefore, he is selfish.

I can't become a master.

Standing on the same side, one naturally has no right to criticize Kong Qingfeng.

However, without a selfless master like Kong Huaifeng, his master, Zheng Qiang's master, might never have been able to achieve such success in the culinary world.

He interviewed several senior Sichuan cuisine masters, all of whom mentioned Rongleyuan, an important technical training base of Rongcheng Catering Company, which cultivated a group of outstanding Sichuan cuisine chefs and was known as the "Whampoa Military Academy of Sichuan cuisine".

Back then, the Sichuan cuisine masters truly shared their skills with young chefs. As long as you were perceptive and willing to work hard, you could learn real skills.

At the time, Zhou Yan treated it as just an interesting anecdote, as supplement to the video, and didn't take it to heart.

But hearing about this from my master, and experiencing this era firsthand, made me feel a little different.

The inheritance and development of Sichuan cuisine rely on these selfless masters who broke with the tradition of family-based private teaching.
Xiao Lei shook his head with a smile: "Back then, I also felt that my uncle lacked vision, but after thinking about it later, I could understand. The Kong School is surnamed Kong, and it is originally a family-inherited craft, the capital for a family to make a living, passed down from generation to generation."

Later, Kong Qingfeng insisted on selecting several descendants of the Kong family to take as his apprentices and carefully train them.

"How have you accomplished?" Zheng Qiang asked.

"None of them have achieved great things," Xiao Lei said.

“I knew it!” Zheng Qiang smiled smugly. “Our advisor was right! If we had insisted on family tradition, our Kong school’s skills would probably have been lost within three generations.”

Xiao Lei smiled and shook his head, saying, "Your grandmaster uncle's relationship with your grandmaster has gradually improved as he's gotten older. Perhaps he's realized that none of his younger generation can fully inherit the Confucian school's skills."

Although he no longer takes on apprentices, he no longer hides his skills. He and your master teach together at Leming Hotel. Over the past seven or eight years, they have successfully trained many young chefs.

A few years ago, your grandmaster fell ill and went to the restaurant kitchen less and less. It was your grand-uncle who took over the teaching of the cooking training class and made it very successful, teaching several second-level chefs.

Thanks to his outstanding contributions over the years, after your master's death, he also became the highly respected Master Kong in the Jiaozhou culinary world.

I've visited him a few times over the years, and each time he'd pull me aside to talk about cooking, genuinely teaching me a lot of real skills.

As he spoke, Xiao Lei paused, looked at Zheng Qiang and said, "Speaking of which, your master has probably visited more times than I have. When he was taking the Level 1 Chef exam, he even came back to ask his master for advice, and he passed on his first try."

“That time he came back to drink with me, and he told me that his uncle was becoming more and more enlightened and more and more like his master. He said that he should respect him more in the future, visit him during the New Year and holidays, and be as filial as his master.”

"If your master heard what you just said, you'd be in for a beating."

Zheng Qiang stopped laughing, his lips trembled slightly, and he said with a bitter face, "Uncle-Master, can you please state the conclusion first next time? Isn't this setting me up for failure..."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan couldn't help but laugh, and teased Zheng Qiang, "Senior Brother Zheng, your senior uncle might take better care of you next time he comes back."

"No, no, junior brother!" Zheng Qiang quickly said, "Just pretend you didn't hear what I said today. I'll treat you to drinks later."

Although his master wouldn't expel him, his cousin could beat him without any fear. Even though he was thirty, his cousin would still beat him with a shoe and make him run all over the street.

Zhou Yan grinned: "Don't worry, I can't keep a secret."

"Brothers."

"Huh? Something's not right with you!"

The three of them chatted and laughed all the way to the Lao Leming Restaurant.

The original sign has been removed, and now it reads "Jiazhou Catering Company Technical Training Base".

"Uncle Huang." Xiao Lei greeted the gatekeeper familiarly and led Zhou Yan and Zheng Qiang into the yard with their bicycles.

"This used to be the Leming Hotel. Originally, this area consisted of single-story buildings with private booths and rooms. Later, because it was too dilapidated, it was moved to the current Leming Hotel, a two-story brick and wood building with upgraded decor, making banquets much more impressive." After parking his bicycle in the courtyard, Xiao Lei led them around, explaining, "After this area was left unused, it was transformed into a technical training base, specifically for training young chefs from Jiaozhou."

"Master, is this where you learned to cook?" Zhou Yan asked.

"Yes, I came here when I was fifteen. Later, I went to the textile factory canteen with your master and stayed there for more than 20 years."

Back then, your mentor stayed for three years before being transferred back to Leming Hotel. I had to shuttle between the two places, cooking large batches of food in the factory canteen kitchen on one hand, and coming to your mentor in my spare time to continue learning the craft.

Back then, we couldn't afford bicycles, and our wages were low, so we relied entirely on our own two legs to get around, which took more than two hours each way.

What I look forward to most is Saturday. As soon as dinner is ready, I head to Jiaozhou. I hope to get to my dormitory at Leming Hotel before dark. Your teacher's wife knows I'm coming and will save some food for me.

After I finished eating, I started practicing flipping the wok and knife skills. My master would lean back in a recliner in the corner of the yard and give me pointers from time to time. If I still couldn't do it right after he explained it three times, he would grab a feather duster that was placed to the side and hit me.

Of course, I wasn't stupid. I would run away when he chased me, and then go back to him when he got tired. By then, my master's anger had subsided considerably, and the feather duster wouldn't hurt me at all.

I would even shout a couple of times to cooperate, but my master's wife couldn't stand it anymore and would come out to protect me, saying that I was still just a little kid, and then scold my master instead..."

Speaking of this experience, Xiao Lei spoke calmly, with a gentle smile on his face.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, looked at the corner of the yard, and sighed softly: "The recliner is gone, and I'm not a little kid anymore."

Zhou Yan and Zheng Qiang both fell silent.

Zhou Yan looked at the corner of the wall, where the autumn wind was blowing and a few fallen leaves were drifting down.

He seemed to see the old cook sitting in the corner recliner, smiling at them.

"Xiao Lei, you're here!" A voice broke the silence.

A middle-aged man with a square face, dressed in a chef's uniform with the words "Leming Restaurant" embroidered on the chest, walked briskly over with a smile on his face.

"Senior Brother Guodong." Xiao Lei quickly took two steps forward to greet him, smiling as he shook hands. "Long time no see. How has Uncle-Master been lately?"

Kong Guodong smiled and said, "He's doing well. The old man is in great spirits. He goes fishing by the river for half a day every morning and then comes to the base at a leisurely pace. His classes are all scheduled for the afternoon, once every other day."

His gaze fell on Zhou Yan and Zheng Qiang, and he asked with a smile, "Are these two your apprentices?"

"This is your Uncle Kong Guodong, my Uncle Kong's prized student," Xiao Lei introduced Kong Guodong first.

Zhou Yan and Zheng Qiang quickly greeted him respectfully, "Uncle Kong."

Xiao Lei then introduced them separately:
"This is Zheng Qiang, Yunliang's apprentice. He came back from the Rongcheng restaurant and has been working with me as a rural chef recently."

"This is Zhou Yan, my apprentice. He owns a restaurant in Suji, and business is pretty good."

Kong Guodong smiled and shook hands with the two men: "Hello, hello, you are both outstanding students of our Kong school."

“Brother Yunliang couldn’t come because he was too busy with work. My master was still talking about it this morning. As Brother Yunliang’s disciple, Master must be very happy that Zheng Qiang can come,” Kong Guodong said, looking at Zheng Qiang.

“My master often talks about my grandmaster uncle.” Zheng Qiang quickly straightened his back, afraid of embarrassing his master.

"This junior apprentice is truly a handsome young man. He looks quite young. Is he the first apprentice that Junior Brother Xiao Lei formally accepted? He can already open his own restaurant. He must have great talent." Kong Guodong looked at Zhou Yan with admiration.

"You flatter me, Senior Uncle," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

My master said that the descendants of Confucius had not achieved great things, but this Uncle Kong's way of speaking was truly profound and forceful.

It's not easy.

(End of this chapter)