The Rise and Fall of the Last Imperial Cook

31. Cutting with a Paper-wrapped Knife

Translator: Yang Ting, Jia Manxin

Proofread by Peter Gong

Shengxin Restaurant opens on an auspicious day, and the rosewood shop sign carved with green characters is hung with red silk flowers. In addition to making such an imposing sign according to Qian Hezi’s request, they also make a plaque and hang it in the lobby. The hanging plaque is covered with red silk, so you don’t know if it’s a painting or a work of calligraphy. However, according to the usual rules of ordinary shops, it may be the statue of God of Wealth or the statue of Pengzu. Hanging God of Wealth is for seeking money while hanging the latter is because Pengzu is said to be the ancestor of the culinary industry.

Although the shop sign is imposing, not many people come to congratulate on the opening. Zhu Shengpeng, Cai Renxin, and Xu Zhiwei are all migrant workers and have no friends in Shanghai. Therefore, most of the people who come to congratulate are the nearby residents, who are willing to join in the fun. Just come over and say a few auspicious words, and then you can sit in the shop without feeling guilty for a cup of tea and eat a few snacks. There are also people who bring firecrackers and big cakes as gifts. Those are the craftsmen who have earned some money from the renovation of the restaurant’s kitchen. This is the rule of their trade: work for the shopkeepers and you must come to congratulate when their shops open. In addition, there may be some balance payments left, so you can take this opportunity to cotton up with the host and ask for the remaining wages. Besides these people, there are also the Boss Cui of the chicken noodle shop and the young man Huang Mingxiang of the steamed bun shop at Xiaodongmen. Both of them come to congratulate Xu Zhiwei because they are grateful for his help. Therefore, not many people come to congratulate on the opening of Shengxin Restaurant. Other shopkeepers nearby are shaking their heads secretly, and whispering in unison, “Something is going to happen.”

Something really goes wrong. Because there are not many people who come to congratulate, and those who come are not expected on such an opening occasion, so something happens. This situation is beyond the expectation of Qian Hezi, who has run a teahouse for decades because he has never encountered anything like this. He has managed the teahouse for so many years, and has roots and connections on this street, so naturally this kind of thing can’t happen to him. Only those shops that have opened in recent years, and some small shops opened by outsiders can encounter such awkward things, but Qian Hezi has never paid attention to the openings of these shops.

Less than half an hour later, several people with their arms crossed, heads swaying, and chests exposed enter the Shengxin Restaurant. After entering the door, one of them takes out a red paper bag and holds it in his hand, and then several people shout together, “Give the knife as a congratulation gift, the boss returns tips.”

As soon as these people enter the shop, the neighbors and craftsmen all stand up and step aside, and some of them even forget to chew the snacks in their mouths. Although the door is now blocked by these people, they are all looking around for any other exit to leave quietly.

“Thanks a lot! Brothers. Please sit down and have a cup of tea.” Zhu Shengpeng hurriedly greets them with a smile on his face. Unexpectedly, as he approaches, the man holding the red paper bag coldly lifts it in front of his face, “You take the knife, and I will receive a reward. Everyone is happy and you will have an auspicious opening.”

Zhu Shengpeng has never seen such a scene before, so he doesn’t know what to do. He wants to reach out and pick up the red paper bag. However, seeing their look, he draws back his hand, fearing that he might cause trouble for not knowing the rules.

“What’s going on?” Xu Zhiwei whispers to Cai Renxin who just comes out of the kitchen. Today is the opening day, and Xu Zhiwei has made all kinds of preparations to make a good start, using a few special dishes to boost the reputation of Shengxin Restaurant. But hearing that the lively lobby suddenly becomes quiet, and then a few neighbors who are familiar with the teahouse environment hurriedly pass through the kitchen and leave through the backyard, he feels that something might have happened in the restaurant and hurries out of the kitchen.

Cai Renxin habitually wants to scratch his head, but he touches the little hat he just put on today, “I don’t know what it is.”

“This is using a knife to force the shopkeeper to reward them. The red paper bag contains a broken kitchen knife. If you take it, you have to wrap a bag of copper coins in red paper and give it to them. But no one knows how big the red paper is. It might be as big as two or three desktops after unfolded. If you take the knife and don’t give the money, then you have to use the knife to get one of them hurt. This is not only ominous for the opening, but you may also incur a lawsuit aw well, which could make it impossible for the restaurant to open for the time being.” Seeing they do not understand the rules, Boss Cui hastens to explain to them.

“Who are these people? Isn’t it the same as a robbery? Why is there no one to regulate them?” Xu Zhiwei asks.

“These people are all gangsters on the street, specializing in extortion. But they are also afraid of something, and act according to the actual circumstance. You have few guests today and they are all familiar neighbors. If there are many guests and they don’t know them, they generally dare not to act rashly for fear of offending any powerful figure. In addition, you should have invited the security chief and the officials responsible for managing this area. Then they will also give you some face and behave themselves somehow.”

Although Boss Cui is only the owner of a small noodle shop, he knows these rules very well, so Xu Zhiwei and Cai Renxin regret not consulting him a lot before opening. Especially Xu Zhiwei, he suffered such a loss as a chef in Wuxi, and now when he invests in a restaurant, he forgets it again.

“Then what should we do? It’s okay if we just give them a little money, but if you spread out a large piece of paper, how many coins would fill it up? And now we have really run out of money. How about we play dumb and not take his knife?” Cai Renxin thinks it is a good way.

“If you don’t take the knife, they will use the knife to harm themselves, scaring away the guests, and making your opening unsuccessful. And they will act shamelessly claiming that they are hurt by someone in your shop and may even go to Yamen (government office in feudal China) to appeal. In short, they make it hard for you to start business.” “Is there no one who can solve the problem without spending money?” Xu Zhiwei asks softly.

“Yes, it’s the scissors shop of Liu family on Confucius Street. Liu family has been practicing martial arts and iron making for generations, and now they specialize in making scissors. On the day of the opening, these gangsters also ask for a reward with a knife, but Boss Liu says that his scissors shop will thrive after seeing the blood, so he chases them all the way with this broken knife, driving them out of the whole street.”

“That is to say, they can get hurt but can’t afford to lose their lives. They are afraid to meet someone who dares to risk losing life. The gangsters must be dealt with in a special way.” Xu Zhiwei nods affirmatively in the end.

At this time, Zhu Shengpeng is looking back at Xu Zhiwei and Cai Renxin, and he doesn’t know how to deal with such a scene. But he can’t ignore these people for they are blocking the door and make it impossible for them to do business.

“I’ll take the knife, you go back.” Xu Zhiwei walks out and says softly to Zhu Shengpeng. Zhu Shengpeng quickly retreats for he really doesn’t know what to do, and he is anxious to step back to ask what is going on.

Xu Zhiwei walks over and takes the red paper bag from the leading gangster with one hand.  Holding it in his hand, he immediately knows that it is a flat-headed knife commonly used in the kitchen. Instead of opening the red paper bag, Xu Zhiwei throws it into the air and grabs the handle of the knife through the red paper. Then the fingers of the other hand touch the edge of the knife, and he immediately knows that its front and back are blunt with only an inch and half in the middle being sharp, but there is a gap, so only an inch of the knife edge is available.

“This is a good knife. A knife is most suitable for cooking. I have been so busy in the kitchen these days that I forget to prepare the knife. It’s so timely for you bosses to give the knife as a congratulation gift. I will take it on behalf of our boss. Please find a place to sit down and have a cup of tea, and I will invite you to drink and taste dishes some other day.” Although Xu Zhiwei has a dull expression and fails to make false smiles, he speaks very politely. After all, he used to hear all kinds of kind and faltering words in the palace, so naturally he can imitate some.

These gangsters freeze there, and they have never encountered such a situation. They use the red-paper-wrapped knife to force the shopkeeper to give money, but it is taken by the chef, then who should they ask for the money? They are a little confused themselves.

“Okay, okay. Bosses, please go to the private room.” Zhu Shengpeng quickly takes advantage of the opportunity, and asks these gangsters who are blocking the door into the private room. In this way, the other guests who come to congratulate will not be affected.

These gangsters move a little blankly, but they immediately realize something is wrong. They look at one another and mutter a few words. Then one of them shouts at Xu Zhiwei with a hoarse voice, “Don’t you open it up and have a look? The knife is wrapped in red paper, so you can’t cut up with it.”

Those who know the rules understand that they want Xu Zhiwei to open the red paper bag and wrap money with this paper for them. Although the boss does not take the knife, they don’t care about it. As long as someone in the shop takes the knife, they will ask for money. It doesn’t matter who gives the money.

“I’m not going to look at it. I will cut up with this red-paper-wrapped knife for luck.” Xu Zhiwei’s answer makes the people around him feel he is acting shamelessly.

“It seems that you are challenging us. Then we would like to see how you cut up vegetables with a paper-wrapped knife. If you can do it, we throw in the towel and walk out of the door with our faces buried in hands.” The leading gangster says with his teeth clenched.

Xu Zhiwei does not speak, but turns to the kitchen behind and yells, “Give me a roll of dried bean curd.”

As soon as his voice falls, a roll of dried bean curd is thrown over people’s heads. These days, Xu Zhiwei not only transforms the kitchen of Shengxin Restaurant into a very professional one, but also recruits a few dexterous and capable assistant cooks and helpers. After only a few days of training, they can already cooperate very tacitly. That’s why Xu Zhiwei opens his mouth and the thing he wants arrives.

The dried bean curd falls, and Xu Zhiwei immediately catches it, and then spreads it out on a square table in the middle of the lobby, gently pressing it with his fingers. This series of actions is done smoothly in an blinking, and many people can not see that clearly.

However, everyone can see what happens next, because Xu Zhiwei suddenly seems to be frozen there. His eyes fix on the dried bean curd on the table that is pressed by one of his hand, while the other hand slowly lifts the knife. Very slowly, as if the knife wrapped in red paper weighs a thousand pounds. Obviously, he is going to use this paper-wrapped broken knife to cut the dried bean curd.

Everyone knows that Boiled Dried Beancurd Strips is a famous dish in Yangzhou cuisine. The knife for cutting dried bean curd must have a thick back, heavy head and rounded blade. It must be lifted gently and cut down heavily so that the cut surface of dried bean curd will be smooth. Then the edge should be placed on the dried bean curd in turn to reduce the squeezing force and retain the less bean juice in it. When cooked, mixed with the flavors of many other ingredients, it retains the original flavor of beans.

But today Xu Zhiwei certainly can’t cut it like this. He can only use this broken kitchen knife wrapped in red paper to shock and convince these gangsters.

It’s more difficult to cut dried beancurd strips than shredded potato and shredded carrot. The chef does not start to cut dried bean curd until the third stage.

This is because the dried bean curd is not only soft, but the toughness of the outer layer and the inner layer is different. So it’s easy to cut into the so-called “lottery head” or “willow waist”. The former means one end is wide and the other is narrow, while the latter means that the whole is tilted so that the two ends of each strip will be sharp. But today Xu Zhiwei doesn’t care about this. He chooses the dried bean curd exactly because it is soft and has different toughness inside and outside. The paper-wrapped knife falls down from a very high position. The chef has various ways of cutting. The best way to cut dried bean curd is the generating method. But if Xu Zhiwei uses the generating method today, it will be very ugly. The knife is ugly for the shredded paper will fly about while the dried bean curd will look ugly, just like weeds.

So he uses the chopping method. The knife that falls from high withdraws half of its strength when its blade touches the dried bean curd. The top layer of it is knocked open by the chop, and the remaining layers are broken by vibration. The withdrawing strength after a chop can ensure that the paper covering the blade will not break, nor damage the square table where the dried bean curd is placed.

In fact, Xu Zhiwei doesn’t have much confidence at the beginning. He once practiced this way of cutting with a silk-covered knife, so Xu Zhiwei speculates that this way might be able to cut things through paper. But he has never tried to cut things with a paper-wrapped knife, because he never expected to encounter such a situation before.

After the first dried beancurd strip rolls out under the knife, he begins to gain confidence.  This dried beancurd strip is different from the usual one, the cut surface is very rough, and it is also thicker than usual. But the square table is in good condition after the cutting, which just leaves a wet mark, which is the moisture squeezed out from the dried bean curd. After the second cut, the situation is the same as the first one, so Xu Zhiwei becomes more confident. Form this time on, his cuts faster, and in the end people can only see a red thing flying in his hand while white dried bean strips are rolling out on the table. But the whole process is very quiet, as if the knife in his hand hasn’t fallen on the square table at all, and even the teacup on the table does not make any noise.

In the middle of the cutting, Xu Zhiwei stops the knife. Then his left hand no longer presses the remaining dried bean curd, but picks up a nearby teacup and splashes the tea water on the stand column on the side of the lobby. For a while, the water splashes everywhere, and the people around, including a few gangsters, subconsciously step aside. When they stand firm to see what is going on, the water splashed on the pillar has already formed a wet surface. And at this time, with a wave of the knife in Xu Zhiwei’s hand, the dried beancurd strips fly up from the table and onto the stand column, all sticking to the wet surface with none of them falling off.