The Rise and Fall of the Last Imperial Cook

25. To Improve the Noodles

Translator: Li Ruoxuan

Proofread by Peter Gong

Paying no attention to Cai Renxin’s nonsense, Boss Cui says with a long sigh: “Alas, what’s the use of being delicate? Business in my shop is bad. If everyone can appreciate my noodles like you, brother, I’ll live a better life free of worry.”

“Your business is bad?” Hearing this, Xu Zhiwei turns his head and has a look. This noodle shop is fairly small in size but with a good location. The depth of the house is very long, and there is a lot of space inside. The kitchen space is even much wider than the storefront. In addition, there is a small door at the back wall, and maybe there is a possible yard or alley outside to kill chickens, wash vegetables and store sundries. Xu Zhiwei really considers this shop as a suitable one for him, and even hopes that he can buy it after it closes down.

“Yes, the business is bad. Alas, brother, no need to rub it in. Try the noodles! You said it was delicate before tasting it, then try it now; maybe you can tell the beauty of my noodles.”

With a smile, Xu Zhiwei picks up two noodles with his chopsticks and chews them carefully. “To make a bowl of good noodles, one can never fail to abide by the four-word principle: ‘noodles, soup, toppings and well-boiledness’. It’s just like the four performing techniques in Chinese traditional operas, basically, ‘singing, reciting, acting and martial arts performing’. A good reputation can always be won with the great efforts one has put into these principles.”

Speaking of this, Xu Zhiwei stops to take a sip of the soup, smacks it for seconds and then continues: “Noodles in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are especially famous with the soup. Most people work hard on soup-making when they cook Noodles with Chicken Soup. But the adding of ham, marrow bone and dried scallops to the chicken soup can only ensure good soup rather than good noodles. Of course, you do not have such great ingredients in your soup, but…”

“But for what?” Cai Renxin who sits aside has been following Xu Zhiwei’s procedure of eating noodles. Whether Xu Zhiwei is picking up the noodles or drinking the soup, Cai Renxin follows every move of him; and he focuses all his attention on Xu Zhiwei’s words. Therefore, he is able to interrupt immediately when Xu Zhiwei hesitates.

“But it’s really good, because it serves as a perfect match. The adding of chicken ensures the taste of good soup, duck for the aroma and pork bone for the thickness. And you add them all in the soup. If I guess correctly, you boiled altogether six hens, two drakes and two pork bones. Each ingredient performs its own role, so the final soup is rich in flavor with appropriate thickness and a transparent color; but its cost is not higher than that of the soup made with all hens. And the knack is that when the noodles are ready, you will toss the noodles by hand to dry the water inside. Then you add the soup to soak the noodles completely with the taste of the soup. So you really make a bowl of good noodles, not just a pot of good soup.”

“Brother, you are a real expert.” Mr. Cui gives a thumb up. “But it is sad that few people understand my noodles like you, so this business keeps getting more and more difficult.”

“Then you should try to find a way out by yourself. Those who trap others behind their backs are doing harm to their own virtue.” Considering it as the due time to point out Mr. Cui’s underhanded behavior, Xu Zhiwei picks up the conversation.

Mr. Cui is stunned a little bit, and an ashamed look then emerges on his face. He doubts in his heart: of course he has thought of his trick, but he still wonders whether Xu Zhiwei is talking about what happened on that morning or not. After all, no one was around him at that time; so how could this strange customer get to know that?

“In fact, such an immoral thing can be done only once. It will not harm others’ business eternally, but it may damage one’s own reputation for a whole life. Long-term interest will never be achieved on the basis of others’ temporary loss, for it depends on one’s own ability. What’s more, there are so many shops as competitors on the whole street, and it’s impossible to do bad tricks to them all every day.”

Xu Zhiwei is a man of integrity and uprightness and he continues to criticize Mr. Cui. The shopkeeper now has confirmed that Xu Zhiwei must have known that it was him who blocked the air outlet of the Steamed Bun Shop. People always say that the day has eyes and the night has ears; that’s exactly right.

“Yes, it was me… I did such kind of dirty things out of anxiety. Brother, I’m losing money day by day. There are still my parents and children at home waiting for me to support. I keep worrying my business every day, you see, my aching teeth and red eyes are the evidence. Then that evil idea came to my mind, and I also regret it now.” Mr. Cui looks very ashamed.

“That’s quite strange. How can your business be bad with such good noodles? Let me see…there must be something wrong.” Xu Zhiwei mutters in a low voice. At the beginning he feels strange too, but after thinking about what he saw around Xiaodongmen these days, he suddenly finds the problem, which might also be a mistake he will make after he runs his own shop later here.

“What are you talking about? You too are both beating about the bush. Are you talking shop?” Cai Renxin cannot understand at all and gets totally confused.

Xu Zhiwei takes another bite of noodles, tastes the soup again and comments after careful savoring: “Though your business is not good, you didn’t use any fake ingredient while making chicken soup. They are all fresh goods but not stale ones, which shows that you are still honest in nature, and you really did that thing in a moment of confusion.”

“Brother, I can see that you are a real expert. No, you are a real god. Help me please, show me a way to save my business. My family and I will never forget your kindness. Please, brother, please!” Mr. Cui keeps bowing.

“That’s right! This expert has saved the steamed bun shop across the street, so you’ve found the right person. You see, the business of that Steamed Bun Shop is getting better than before.” Cai Renxin finally gets the meaning and starts to support Mr. Cui, of course, with an intention of favoring his own business in the end: “Mr. Cui, if your noodles shop gets popular, don’t forget to buy chickens and ducks from me every day!”

Xu Zhiwei puts down his chopsticks, takes a look at the sad face of Boss Cui and the whole shop. Truly the shop is an ideal one. If Boss Cui fails to keep it, he can take the opportunity to buy it. But if Boss Cui sells the shop, it will be difficult for his family to make a living.

“Brother, please.” Boss Cui keeps imploring.

“That’s also right! You really should help Boss Cui. He is a good person who does business honestly. Every time he bargains fair and square, and he never plays tricks.” Cai Renxin tells the truth.

After a long inner struggle Xu Zhiwei finally sighs, “Alas, life is not easy for any of us, and it’s even more difficult for you to raise a family. Let me tell you the point. The reason of your bad business lies not in your noodles, but the wrong match.”

“What’s the meaning of the wrong match?” Boss Cui pumps quickly.

“By the wrong match I mean the food you make is not suitable both for the taste and needs of the nearby customers. It is certainly no problem if you put the noodles in a grand restaurant as a staple food or as a snack before dinner, but it won’t work in the shops around Xiaodongmen. Most of the diners here are coming for the purpose of satiety and cheapness, and the taste, however, is much less important. So your delicate and delicious noodles become a kind of luxury they choose to enjoy occasionally, but not as a daily necessity. And if a snack cannot cater to the daily needs of the common people around, no matter how delicious it is, surely, its business will be difficult to maintain.”

“So what should I do? Make steamed buns, too?” Boss Cui seems to be fully puzzled.

“Ha-ha, you know how to make steamed buns? Even better than the shop across the street?” Xu Zhiwei asks in reply.

Boss Cui immediately shakes his head; he even doesn’t have to think about the answer to the question.

“So why not stick to what you are good at? I mean, to improve the noodles?”

“How can I improve that? To make it taste bad?”

Xu Zhiwei frowns, “Blunt are those concerned; and you are no exception. To improve is to make it better. How can it be worse? People who live around are mainly laborers. As for those business men, they also do trivial things back and forth tirelessly. Therefore, the feeling of fullness should be the most important characteristic of your noodles. Then the noodles should be thicker, and there should also be more oil, for such diners like food with strong taste and aroma. Finally, the price should be affordable to them all.”

Boss Cui seems to be completely confused, “How can I satisfy so many requirements in such a bowl of noodles?”

“Lard. You can make Noodles Mixed with Lard. Lard is a kind of thick ingredient with a strong aroma which can provide a feeling of fullness. For example, Yangzhou Fried Rice was originally called Broken Golden Rice of Duke Yue, which is exactly a plate of rice fried with eggs and lard. When Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was visiting Yangzhou, the boat must keep sailing for a whole day until it was dark; the boatmen and boat trackers couldn’t even stop to eat. Yang Su, the Duke of Yue, then offered rice fried with lard and eggs to those laborers. In this way, they could endure the hunger of the day and maintain enough physical strength to work. Things are the same around our Xiaodongmen. No matter those passers-by are going to work or travel, their primary purpose of eating is to fill the belly and maintain physical strength, so Noodles Mixed with Lard is the most appropriate choice for them. In addition, the strong aroma of lard will make your shop more appealing. The cost of lard is also much lower than that of fresh chicken and duck, so the price of noodles can be reduced a lot. With some generosity, you can add some green vegetables in the bowl to remove the greasiness of lard. Finally, bring a bowl of clear soup as courtesy to temper the salty noodles. This kind of match can not only complement different tastes better, but also make people feel more cost-effective and attractive in form. With the usual price of merely a bowl of noodles now they can get a bowl of noodles, a bowl of soup and some vegetables, which will certainly be popular.”

“Yes, that’s right! I think that’s a good deal. If I want to have noodles, I will definitely choose this Noodles Mixed with Lard.” Cai Renxin interrupts again, but the two men all ignore him as if he does not exist at all, so he can only scratch his head.

“What’s more, in order to prevent customers from getting tired of the noodles, or to attract others who are not used to eating noodles for lunch and dinner, you can also use the same materials to make Rice Mixed with Lard. All you need to prepare is the ready-made lard, shredded vegetables and salt; as for the rice, a pot of steamed good rice will be fine.”

“But how to mix rice with lard? I’ve never made it before, and I don’t know how to make a good taste.” Boss Cui asks with a grimace.

“You don’t have to. In fact, even if you can do the mixture, the customers may not be satisfied with it. Tastes differ, and you can never be sure what the best taste is. So all you need to do is to prepare those materials I mentioned just now, put them in dishes and hand them to the customers together with the bowl of rice and let them mix freely. They can add salt or lard at their will and control the taste personally.” Speaking of this, Xu Zhiwei finally starts to eat the noodles in front of him with chopsticks. The Noodles with Chicken Soup is now at the best temperature, for if he eats earlier the soup under the oily noodles will be too hot; but it can not be enjoyed before it becomes too cold, or the oil will coagulate and the noodles will be too soft.

Xu Zhiwei eats the noodles up, and Boss Cui refuses to accept any money. Xu Zhiwei does not insist on paying the bill, and walks out of the noodle shop with his hands behind the back. After going out, he looks back at the shop again, and suddenly seems to realize something. All those shops on the street are closely tied up with the daily life of different families; the closing down of any of them will bring a hard time to many. He has always been a soft-hearted person who will reach out a hand to others, just as he did towards the crying shopkeeper of that Steamed Bun Shop and Boss Cui of the Noodles Shop. If a shop is going to fail, no matter which shop it is, he will certainly help its shopkeeper to find a way to survive when facing his pathetic appearance. Therefore, he can never take over a shop and set up his own business here; and he can’t afford the cost of opening a big restaurant. Maybe he is destined to be a chef working for others.

Xu Zhiwei sighs deeply for himself and walks away from the noodles shop. He has already thought it through. In a flash, he eliminates the desire he has been adhering to these days.

Cai Renxin still sits in the noodles shop, watching Xu Zhiwei leave with worship in his eyes. It is not until Xu Zhiwei walks out of the door that he remembers that he has not eaten up the noodles. At this time, the still warm bowl of noodles makes Cai Renxin think of the story of Guan Yu, a hero in The Three Kingdoms who slashed Hua Xiong’s head before the liquor gets cold. With only a few words, the master who saved the steamed bun is able to teach others how to improve their business. That kind of smartness and calmness reminds him exactly of the heroic manner of Guan Yu.

Only four or five days later, the Noodles Mixed with Lard in Cui’s noodles shop is known to all around Xiaodongmen. The attracting smell of lard, soy sauce and scallion keeps wafting out, luring everyone on the whole street. No passer-by is able to go by without stopping, and those afar all come by following the aroma.

And the Rice Mixed with Lard in Cui’s shop also makes people’s mouth water. Choose to eat that rice can not only fill the stomach and make dinners enjoy the delicious food, but also let them experience the free process of food-making, as well as a sense of accomplishment after a perfect DIY.

Cui’s Noodles with Chicken Soup is later renamed as Cui’s Rice Mixed with Lard. And the Rice Mixed with Lard, however, is still a unique delicacy in today’s Shanghai.