1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 190 Is this a restaurant, not a cafeteria? (7.2k words combined)

A dimly lit bedroom.

Zhou Jie was lying on the edge of the bed, engrossed in writing tomorrow's purchase order.

His wife, Wang Manlin, sat on the edge of the bed knitting, smiling and saying, "That's wonderful! Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt are living better and better lives. Zhou Yan is really amazing! He's only twenty years old and he's already supporting the family."

“Of course! Zhou Yan has been smart since he was a child, and his fourth aunt and fourth uncle are so capable. Momo is also so good at talking. It would be strange if they didn’t do anything if the whole family ran a restaurant together.” Zhou Jie closed his notebook and said with a smile, “We’ve benefited from his success, and our lives are getting better and better.”

“Exactly!” Wang Manlin’s hands kept moving. “We must remember this kindness and find a way to repay it in the future. This skill is enough for us to live on for a lifetime.”

"We're brothers, no need for such formalities, just keep it in your heart." Zhou Jie shook his head with a smile. "Weren't you knitting a sweater for Momo?"

"What's this? Momo is such a good girl, I originally wanted to knit this for her anyway." Wang Manlin rolled her eyes at him.

Zhou Jie nodded and said, "That's right, Fei Yang and Fei Hong are fine wearing their brothers' old sweaters."

The Zhou brothers, Feiyang and Feihong, who were sleeping soundly in bed, turned over, mumbled a few words, and fell asleep again.

Wang Manlin looked at Zhou Jie and said, "Why don't you make new clothes for Feiyang and Feihong for the New Year this year? I think the new clothes that Fourth Aunt Jia made for Momo and Zhou Yan are so comfortable. The children are already six years old and are starting to understand things."

Zhou Jie looked at her and nodded with a smile, "Okay, I'll take you to the department store in Jiaozhou to buy fabric and cotton later, and make you a new dress. It's been two years since you've had a new dress made."

"Really?" Wang Manlin's hands gradually slowed down, and there was a hint of surprise in her eyes.

"Of course! We've saved up some money recently, so it's only right that we make you some clothes for the New Year." Zhou Jie nodded with a smile, his voice softening. "You've been working so hard these past few days, taking care of the kids and helping out at the stall."

“Brother Jie, you get up at three o’clock every day to help slaughter cattle and set up a stall. You’re the one who works really hard.” Wang Manlin put down the yarn in her hand, reached out and cupped his round face, and said with a sob in her voice, “You should make one too. You haven’t worn new clothes in many years. Your cotton coat is full of patches and the cotton isn’t warm anymore.”

"It's not warm anywhere, I feel very warm. I can do it again next year." Zhou Jie shook his head, looking at her tenderly. The atmosphere gradually became ambiguous, and he kissed her and fell onto the bed.

creak.

The wooden bed, unable to bear the weight, let out a sharp creak.

"The bed collapsed!"

"earthquake!"

The Zhou brothers, Feiyang and Feihong, sat up at the same time, looking completely bewildered and confused.

Zhou Jie and Wang Manlin awkwardly separated. One pretended to be asleep, while the other hurriedly pushed the two little ones back into bed. "Sleep! It's the middle of the night, time for magic cloaks!"

The child wakes up quickly and falls asleep quickly too; he falls asleep immediately once tucked back into bed.

However, this shock completely dampened their spirits.

"Tomorrow I'll clean up the storage room next door, put up a bed for them, and let those two bastards go sleep next door!" Zhou Jie said through gritted teeth.

Wang Manlin hugged him from behind and chuckled, "Okay, anyway, the two brothers aren't scared together, so it's time for them to sleep in separate beds. It's just that we don't have any extra quilts at home, so how about we buy some new cotton and mix it with the old cotton to make one?"

“Let’s make a new quilt for ourselves and let them sleep on the old one, so they don’t wet the bed and ruin the new one.” Zhou Jie reached out and turned off the light, then began to rustle his hands all over his body, whispering, “We have more than two hundred yuan in savings now. Tang Guo gets more than ten yuan a day. Let’s save the money for your mother’s medicine. We can still save quite a bit of money every month.”

"Mmm... I'll do whatever you say." Wang Manlin turned to the side, her voice trembling slightly, and the wooden bed creaked softly.
……

The next day, at the crack of dawn, Comrade Xiao Zhou and Comrade Lao Zhou went out to buy groceries.

Fearing he wouldn't be able to buy winter bamboo shoots if he went too late, Zhou Yan first went to the morning market today.

The farmers had just put down their baskets and were spreading urea bags and tarpaulins on the ground when they took out the fresh vegetables and various dried vegetables from the baskets one by one and arranged them neatly.

The winter bamboo shoots have just come out this year, and there aren't many people selling them yet.

Along the way, Zhou Yan saw three old men selling things, and they all looked quite novel.

Those who can dig up winter bamboo shoots this season and sell them are definitely experts.

A single, high-quality winter bamboo shoot.

[A young winter bamboo shoot]

[An old, overgrown winter bamboo shoot]

"You've dug up so many freshly picked winter bamboo shoots! Grandpa, you're really good at digging!" After looking around, Zhou Yan squatted down in front of a dark-skinned, lean old man, picked up the high-quality winter bamboo shoot, and asked, "How much are winter bamboo shoots per pound?"

The old man piled up the winter bamboo shoots on the urea bag; there were about forty or fifty of them, and they were relatively uniform in size. He had dug up the most at today's morning market.

"This is nothing. When the harvest comes in large quantities in a while, one trip up the mountain will fill two baskets. We'll have to carry them down." The old man grinned and said, "Peeling the husks costs five cents, leaving them unpeeled costs two cents. As the old saying goes, a pound of winter bamboo shoots yields four ounces of meat, half of which is the freshness and half is the husk."

The price was the same as what Zhou Yan had asked about yesterday—the normal market price. He then asked, "Can I choose?"

"Choose whatever you like, but the one you have here is the best. It's meaty and tender. Just pick this one, you can't go wrong," the old man said.

“Okay.” Zhou Yan replied with a smile. This old man was really honest. He immediately picked out the best quality bamboo shoots from the pile and quickly piled them up in front of him.

"You're young, but you have a keen eye for choosing bamboo shoots. You've picked only the best, not a single one is a mistake," the old man said with a smile as he lit his small bamboo root pipe, exhaled a puff of smoke.

“I run a restaurant, so having a good eye for food is a basic requirement.” Zhou Yan glanced at the pile of winter bamboo shoots in front of him, estimating that it weighed about ten pounds. He couldn’t find anything too good among the ones on the ground, so he smiled and said, “Grandpa, is this all? Weigh it.”

"No wonder he got so many." The old man took a basket out of his backpack, weighed the basket in front of Zhou Yan, and then put the selected winter bamboo shoots into the basket and weighed them again.

"I deducted 1.3 jin from the basket, and the winter bamboo shoots are 10.3 jin, so let's say 10 jin, that's two yuan." The old man handed the scale to Zhou Yan, "Take a look at the scale."

“No mistake.” Zhou Yan took a careful look, took out two yuan from his pocket and handed it to the old man, then took the basket and poured the bamboo shoots into his own bamboo basket.

Ten catties of winter bamboo shoots can yield four catties of winter bamboo shoot meat. Two ounces of winter bamboo shoots can be added to one serving of shredded pork with fish-fragrant sauce, which can make about twenty servings.

Today, we have a new batch of Yu Xiang Rou Si (shredded pork with garlic sauce), enough for about twenty servings.

If the feedback is good today, we'll add more tomorrow.

"So many winter bamboo shoots, how long did you dig them yesterday?" Zhou Yan asked curiously, not in a hurry to leave.

"I took a nap yesterday afternoon, went up the mountain around 2 p.m., dug for three hours and then went home for lunch. It wasn't long," the old man replied casually as he put away the money and rearranged the bamboo shoots.

"Your skill in digging winter bamboo shoots is amazing! You dug so many in three hours," Zhou Yan exclaimed with a hint of amazement.

There are still more than ten kilograms of winter bamboo shoots left, which can be sold for more than two yuan. All in all, the old man can earn more than one yuan per hour by digging winter bamboo shoots.

This is a technical job, and Zhou Yan felt it was his job to earn it.

"Winter bamboo shoots are easy to dig. As long as you know how to read the direction of the bamboo rhizomes, you can dig one with a hoe, without any effort at all." The old man sat down on a small stool, took a puff of his cigarette, grinned to reveal a set of old yellow teeth, revealing a bit of pride.

"Are you coming again tomorrow, sir? I run a restaurant near the textile factory, and I need at least this many winter bamboo shoots tomorrow. Could you deliver them to my restaurant? I'll pay you in cash." Zhou Yan asked, looking at him. "But I only want the quality I selected."

The old man's eyes lit up, and he nodded, saying, "Of course I'll come. After I sell them in the morning, I'll go back for lunch, and then I'll go up the mountain to dig some more. What's the name of your shop? I'll pick out the ones for you tomorrow morning and carry them to your shop. Then you can choose one more yourself."

"Zhou Erwa Restaurant, the first one at the entrance of the textile factory," Zhou Yan said. "Sir, what's your name?"

The old man nodded and replied, "My surname is Wan, but everyone calls me Wan Laoliu."

"Uncle Wan, could you carry it to the shop for me around six o'clock tomorrow? I'll be out buying groceries too early and there won't be anyone in the shop."

"Get it!"

Zhou Yan carried his basket on his back and left, buying cabbage, scallions, and garlic along the way.

We now have a supplier who can provide winter bamboo shoots in large quantities over a long period.

Some people go hunting in the mountains as a hobby, while others do it professionally.

Those who know how to dig can find one with a single stroke of the hoe, while those who don't can dig the whole mountain and still not find one.

Professionalism is essential to guarantee both quantity and quality.

Every town has a few skilled people who are good at digging winter bamboo shoots. If Zhou Yan can find just one of them, the winter bamboo shoot harvest will be guaranteed this winter.

Wan Laoliu's winter bamboo shoots are of better quality than the other two, which shows that in addition to his good skills, he also has a good bamboo forest.

Moreover, he is a very honest person, which is why Zhou Yan chose him.

"Why did you buy so many winter bamboo shoots? Do you have some new vegetables?" Old Zhou asked curiously on the way.

“The green bamboo shoots are out of season, so we’ll use winter bamboo shoots instead to make shredded pork with garlic sauce,” Zhou Yan explained.

"Winter bamboo shoots are much more expensive than green bamboo shoots, but they taste even better."

"It's alright, pork prices have dropped. Two yuan a serving, there's bound to be some profit," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

The two chatted along the way and soon arrived at the Yankantou Slaughterhouse.

Before dawn, lamps illuminated the threshing ground, where dozens of butchers were slaughtering cattle.

After Comrade Lao Zhou stopped slaughtering cattle, Zhou Yan's beef and offal were mainly provided by his uncles.

Third Aunt Ma Jinhua would prepare the beef offal well in advance on the banks of the Qingyi River, so he could just take it when he arrived.

The third aunt's soup wasn't very tasty, but she cleaned the offal very thoroughly, washing it perfectly according to Zhou Yan's instructions.

In addition to buying offal, Zhou Yan paid his third aunt fifteen yuan a month to help him wash the offal.

Sometimes, if my third uncle didn't slaughter a cow, he would buy one from another family.

In Zhoucun, dozens of households slaughter cattle, but not every family is willing to sell their offal for soup. If you make a prior arrangement, you can generally buy fresh offal of good quality.

After the offal is brought back to the restaurant, Aunt Zhao only needs to wash it again with well water, which saves her two hours of work.

Now Aunt Zhao gets a full night's sleep, gets up at six o'clock every morning, and looks much better than before.

When I was helping Comrade Lao Zhou slaughter cattle, I had to get up at three o'clock every day.

Zhou Momo's life of wandering and sleeping in a basket on her back has come to an end.

"Zhou Yan, look, the tripe is really good today. The ox your third uncle slaughtered is of excellent quality." Ma Jinhua came over carrying a large basket, her face full of smiles.

A basket of top-quality beef offal

"This tripe is really good, and Third Auntie washed it very clean." Zhou Yan nodded with a smile, glancing at her red hands. "It's getting cold, Third Auntie, you should wear some rubber gloves while washing it, so you don't catch a cold."

“Okay, I’ll go back to the supply and marketing cooperative and see if they have any for sale.” Ma Jinhua nodded.

Zhou Yan paid for the beef offal and casually asked, "Did Ming go to school?"

"I just came to the dam and said I was running to school. Didn't you see me on your way here?"

"Running there? I really didn't notice." Zhou Yan laughed when he heard this. Running more than ten kilometers to work is even more outrageous than Huang Ying and Huang Bing riding bicycles to eat.

Those who practice martial arts can indeed do whatever they want.

Ma Jinhua nodded: "He said he plans to buy a bicycle later. His work unit gave him a bicycle voucher, so it will be convenient for him to ride his bicycle home from Emei. Anyway, he will need to buy the 'three turns and one sound' (referring to a bicycle, a sewing machine, a radio, and a watch) for his wedding, so he might as well buy it sooner and enjoy it sooner."

Cycling back from Emei is dozens of kilometers, and it's not necessarily that convenient; the gravel roads can really shake your backside. Zhou Yan smiled and nodded: "It's fine, having a car is more convenient."

In this day and age, people dare to travel over mountains and valleys to visit relatives and friends on foot. With a bicycle, they feel they can go wherever they want.

After loading the beef and offal into the car, Zhou Yan and Comrade Lao Zhou rode their bikes back to the restaurant.

Zhao Hong and Zhou Lihui had just arrived and greeted Zhou Yan with smiles.

"Huihui, unlock it." Zhou Yan took the key out of his pocket and tossed it to Zhou Lihui.

“Okay!” Zhou Lihui took the key, stepped forward to unlock the door and push it open.

Aunt Zhao also got up and came downstairs. She took off her apron from the wall and helped unload the goods. She picked up the basket of beef offal and her eyes lit up: "The quality of this beef offal is good today. Your third uncle still knows how to choose beef. Your third aunt cleaned it very well too."

“Exactly.” Zhou Yan nodded with a smile. This family were all experts; they could tell the quality of beef and offal at a glance.

If the offal is sourced from elsewhere, the three uncles will inspect it together, and anything of poor quality simply won't meet their standards.

"I'll go get the tofu first." Comrade Zhou unloaded everything from the vehicle, padded the basket with thick straw, and then rode off.

Aunt Zhao carried the offal to be thoroughly washed, while Zhao Hong was responsible for washing the beef bones to prepare for making broth.

Zhou Lihui has already gone to the kitchen to fetch water.

Everyone was busy with their own tasks.

Customers started arriving one after another, and the shop was soon filled with people eating noodles.

Zhou Lihui was busy until 7:30, then went to class with his schoolbag, lunchbox, and a small jar full of kimchi.

Zhou Yan left two servings of noodles. It was almost eight o'clock, and most of the customers had left the shop. Zhang Zhengping then slowly stopped his bicycle at the door. There was a canvas bag in the basket and a bulging urea bag tied to the back of the bicycle.

"Uncle!" Zhou Momo was washing her face at the door, her little face distorted from being scrubbed, but she still managed to call out indistinctly, "Help me~"

"Hey!" Zhang Zhengping replied with a smile, "You still need to wash your face clean, otherwise you'll get a lot of freckles."

"Uncle, please come in and sit down. Zhou Yan saved your noodles." Zhao Tieying said with a smile, putting down the hot towel in his hand and picking up a comb to tidy up the stray hairs sticking up on Zhou Momo's head.

“Uncle! I’d like noodles too, let’s eat together!” Zhou Momo said with a smile.

"Okay," Zhang Zhengping replied with a smile and walked into the shop.

"Uncle, what kind of noodles do you want to eat?" Zhou Yan came out of the kitchen and smiled at Zhang Zhengping.

Zhang Zhengping looked at it for a while, then smiled and said, "Would you like a bowl of minced beef noodles? I thought the minced beef rice was delicious last night. Let's see what the noodles taste like."

"Okay, have a seat." Zhou Yan replied and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

"Brother, I want braised pork rib noodles!" Zhou Momo called out from behind in her childish voice.

“Okay!” Zhou Yan replied.

A short while later, Zhou Yan came out carrying two bowls of noodles.

Zhou Momo's clear broth braised pork rib noodles and her uncle's minced beef noodles.

The little one loves to eat clear soup noodles in the morning, so Zhou Yan cooked the noodles in pork bone broth for her, added some salt for seasoning, and also cooked a small handful of green leafy vegetables, which she loved to eat.

This dish wasn't on the menu; it's Zhou Momo's exclusive hidden menu.

“This clear broth noodle soup looks delicious. Your great-aunt will definitely like it. She can’t stand strong flavors and oily food in the morning,” Zhang Zhengping said with a smile, his eyes lighting up as he looked at the beef and minced meat noodles in front of him.

The double-pepper minced beef almost completely covered the top, and the portion was quite generous, with at least an ounce of beef.

The essence of mixed noodles lies in the 'mixing' process. Insert chopsticks into the bottom of the bowl and stir it upwards. The red oil immediately dyes the white noodles a bright color. After a few more stirs, the shredded beef is also evenly coated on the noodles. The green and red peppers, along with the slightly browned beef, cling to the oily noodles, making it look incredibly appetizing.

The aroma of beef wafted up with the steam, and Zhang Zhengping couldn't help but swallow. It was truly a feast for the eyes and the palate!
Try it and see how it tastes!

"Suck it!"

Zhang Zhengping picked up a mouthful of noodles with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and slurped it down.

The spicy and savory flavors burst on the tongue, perfectly balanced!
The noodles are not the alkaline noodles commonly found in noodle shops. They have an incredibly chewy and smooth texture and are especially good at holding onto meat sauce. Each bite is filled with minced beef with double peppers, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a numbing and spicy flavor. It's an absolute perfect match with the noodles!
So delicious!
Zhou Yan's double-pepper minced beef jerky noodles are simply the benchmark for mixed noodles.

They also served a bowl of pork bone broth, adding a base flavor, with a few tender green scallions floating on top. After a few bites of noodles, I felt a bit dry, but a sip of hot and delicious pork bone broth immediately warmed me up from head to toe—it was so comforting.

"Delicious! Did you make this yourself? It tastes a bit like Shanxi ramen, with a really chewy and smooth texture." Zhang Zhengping looked at Zhou Yan and exclaimed, "The double-pepper minced beef and mixed noodles are a perfect match. The bone broth is also very flavorful. It's so delicious to have this dry mixed noodles in the morning."

"Yes, it's homemade ramen." Zhou Yan nodded with a smile. Mixed noodles are usually not served with bone broth. Young people usually slurp down a bowl of mixed noodles in no time, without waiting for the bone broth to cool down and eat it slowly, which would delay their work time.

After finishing a bowl of noodles and drinking all the bone broth, Zhang Zhengping put down the empty bowl and let out a satisfied burp.

This breakfast was so delicious and satisfying!
This trip to Suzhou and Jilin ended perfectly with a bowl of dry noodles.

"Alright, I'm leaving now." Zhang Zhengping took out six cents, placed it on the table, and slowly stood up.

Zhou Yan knew his personality, so she didn't refuse.

Zhou Momo had just finished her noodle soup when she looked up at Zhang Zhengping and asked in a childish voice, "Uncle, are you going home?"

"Yes, we need to go back and cook for your aunt." Zhang Zhengping said with a smile.

"But I can't bear to part with you." The little one looked at her longingly, his big eyes already brimming with tears. "Can you play a little longer..."

"Oh my, Momo is so good! I'll bring your great-aunt to come play again next time, okay?" Zhang Zhengping patted his pockets again and again, but there was really nothing suitable. He could only smile and say, "Next time, I'll bring you something delicious and fun to play with, okay?"

“Okay.” Zhou Momo nodded obediently.

“Uncle, you have a lot of stuff, let me give it to you. You can return the bicycle to Dr. Ji, and I'll give you a ride to the bridge to catch the bus.” Zhou Yan pushed the bicycle towards the door, took the urea bag off the bicycle and put it in the basket on his bicycle, and also put the canvas bag in front of the basket.

“That works too,” Zhang Zhengping replied with a smile.

"Uncle, take care on your way, come visit again next time." Zhao Tieying and Zhou Miao saw them to the door.

“Uncle, you must bring Aunt next time, okay?” Zhou Momo added.

"Okay." Zhang Zhengping nodded with a smile, got on his bike, and rode away with Zhou Yan.

The car was returned to Ji Hongtao, and Zhou Yan drove Zhang Zhengping to the stone bridge to wait for the bus.

"What's in this bag? It's quite heavy." Zhou Yan lifted the urea bag off the ground.

"I'm taking everything with me. My third sister insisted on packing this whole sack for me. It has all sorts of things: sweet potatoes, pumpkins, red beans, and she even braised a beef shank last night. She also got up early this morning to kill a chicken. She put it all in there." Zhang Zhengping's expression was a mix of helplessness and a smile.

At this age, it's naturally something to be happy about to have an older sister who dotes on you.

Zhou Yan saw Zhang Zhengping off on the shuttle bus before returning to the hotel.

Braised meat, braised vegetables, preparing ingredients... there's still so much work waiting for him.

……

Around nine o'clock.

A car with the words "Jiazhou Hotel" printed on it slowly stopped at the entrance of the textile factory.

Lin Zhiqiang stood at the factory gate with two textile factory managers, both wearing smiles.

A middle-aged man wearing a black suit with a white shirt underneath got out of the car. He had a square face and his hair was neatly combed and parted to the left. He was accompanied by a tall secretary.

"Mr. Qian Siyuan, I am Lin Zhiqiang, the deputy director of Jiaozhou Textile Factory. Welcome to our factory." Lin Zhiqiang stepped forward with a smile, greeted him in English, and extended his right hand.

Qian Siyuan shook hands with him and smiled, "Director Lin, you can speak Chinese with me. I learned Mandarin before I returned to China, so I can communicate with you."

"That's wonderful, Mr. Qian, please come in. I'll show you around our Jiaozhou Textile Factory," Lin Zhiqiang said with a smile, leading Qian Siyuan into the factory. He continued, "This is our newly built factory. The facilities and equipment are all new, top-notch in China, and it's known as the 'Garden Factory'..."

"It is quite beautiful." Qian Siyuan nodded slightly. Most of the time, he listened to Lin Zhiqiang's explanation, and sometimes he would interrupt to ask a few questions. After visiting the workshop and looking at the samples, they went to the conference room to discuss cooperation matters. The factory director was also present to discuss the matter.

Lin Zhiqiang gulped down a glass of water in one go; his mouth was dry from talking all morning.

If I had known the other party could speak Mandarin, I would have had someone else receive him. It was really a bit difficult to ask someone like me, who is a tech person, to talk business.

"Mr. Qian, when would you like to discuss the specifics of the contract?" Factory Director Wang Hongliang asked.

Qian Siyuan picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and put it down, saying leisurely, "Director Wang, your factory's silk is indeed excellent, and Jiading silk is also very famous. However, I just came from Guocheng yesterday. Guocheng Silk Factory is also a major silk factory in Sichuan, and their white silk is of very high quality, and their prices are more favorable than yours."

Based on current international silk prices, the terms you've offered aren't very attractive to me. We need to discuss the specifics of the cooperation carefully after returning to the Jiaozhou Hotel before making a decision; we can't sign a contract immediately.

Wang Hongliang and the other leaders' smiles froze slightly, but they had no choice but to nod and say, "Alright, then we'll wait for Mr. Qian's good news."

"Thank you for your hard work." Qian Siyuan nodded and got up to leave.

"Zhiqiang, it's lunchtime. Why don't you take Mr. Qian out for a meal before heading back to Jiaozhou?" Wang Hongliang said.

"No need to trouble Director Lin. He's been walking with me all day and must be tired. Let's just eat at the Jiaozhou Hotel," Qian Siyuan said, shaking his head.

Lin Zhiqiang stood up and said with a smile, "Mr. Qian has come from afar and hasn't even had a meal. It makes us, Jiaozhou Textile Factory, seem to have neglected our overseas Chinese."

Although Suji is a small town, it has some local delicacies. Let's put business aside for now and, as a friend, I'd like to invite you to lunch. Would you do me the honor?

Qian Siyuan smiled upon hearing this and nodded, saying, "Alright, then I'll trouble Director Lin."

"Please follow me." Lin Zhiqiang led Qian Siyuan outside.

"Is Director Lin going to show me around your factory canteen?" Qian Siyuan asked, looking at him.

When he visited the Guocheng Silk Factory, he had lunch in the factory canteen, which tasted pretty good, much better than the canteens in the factories he had visited in the United States.

"It's not a canteen, but a small restaurant located at the entrance of the textile factory," Lin Zhiqiang said with a smile. "I'll take you to try some authentic Sichuan cuisine. Even if you go to Chengdu, you might not be able to find food this delicious."

"Authentic Sichuan cuisine?" Qian Siyuan asked curiously as he walked alongside Lin Zhiqiang, intrigued. "Does Sichuan cuisine have regional differences? Can you tell where someone is from just by looking at a dish?"

Lin Zhiqiang paused, looked at him and smiled, "Sorry, I'm from Shanxi."

Qian Siyuan was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, "I was wondering why your accent is so different from theirs, and your Mandarin is surprisingly standard."

Lin Zhiqiang smiled and said, "I don't know, but the chef definitely does. The restaurant owner and I are very close. If you have any questions, you can ask him after you finish eating."

"Okay." Qian Siyuan nodded. "You're a very interesting person."

The factory had already closed for the day, and there were more than a dozen people queuing up to buy braised dishes in front of the restaurant, which was almost full.

"Isn't this a restaurant, not a cafeteria?" Qian Siyuan asked with some surprise, looking at the dimly lit restaurant filled with customers.

“In China, when it’s mealtime, you can’t go wrong by choosing a restaurant frequented by locals; it’s the people’s choice,” Lin Zhiqiang said with a smile, leading them inside.

"The people's choice..." Qian Siyuan repeated, then smiled and entered the restaurant.

　Long chapter, please vote with monthly tickets!! It's almost the end of the month, please vote with monthly tickets~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)