Upon seeing the soup, He Sui forgot all about the other dishes and eagerly scooped the soup into a bowl to soak her rice.
After eating two large bowls, he said to Shazhu with satisfaction, "Dad, all these years abroad, the tomato and egg soup I've missed the most is yours."
Sha Zhu chuckled, "What? From what you're saying, foreigners can't even get tomato and egg soup?"
He Sui tried to explain to everyone, "Well, it's not that we can't get any water, it's just that their eggs are eggs, tomatoes are tomatoes, and soup is soup..."
Seeing the blank looks on Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai's faces, He Sui placed her last hope on Xiao Dang.
Xiao Dang suddenly slapped his forehead: "Isn't this just West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce? Fish is fish, vinegar is vinegar, and West Lake is West Lake. The main principle is that they don't interfere with each other!"
He Sui laughed until tears streamed down her face: "Yes, yes, Sister Xiaodang really understands me! That's exactly how I feel! When I try to make it myself, I can never quite replicate the taste of my dad's. It's either too sour or too bland..."
Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai were both overjoyed. What a wonderful West Lake!
Not long ago, a Hangzhou restaurant opened in Wangfujing. When it opened, they even sent Fatty an invitation, asking him to invite some of his colleagues to support the restaurant.
Who can blame him when Fatty is not only a true inheritor of Shandong cuisine, with impeccable lineage, but also the president of the Huaiyang Cuisine Association!
Fatty brought Sha Zhu and Xiao Dang over that day, and as expected, something went wrong. Everyone had mixed feelings about the West Lake Vinegar Fish.
Some of his peers even suspected that he was deliberately trying to embarrass them.
Fortunately, the fat man and chefs from several other major restaurants helped prove that this was the authentic West Lake Vinegar Fish, which dispelled everyone's doubts.
On the way back, Sha Zhu still didn't believe it. He specifically asked Fatty to confirm whether West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce was really prepared this way, which led to Xiao Dang's earlier statement about "non-aggression"!
"..."
Everyone was having a great time when Sha Zhu was about to make fun of Xiao Dang and He Sui again, bringing up Fatty's old theory that "a woman three years older is a golden brick."
Someone started banging on the door from outside!
Sha Zhu was furious: "Who is it? Is it someone who doesn't want to live anymore?"
Knowing her simple-minded father's temper, Xiao Dang quickly stood up and went to open the door, asking impatiently as she went, "Who is it? It's so late at night!"
When the door opened, everyone remained silent...
The person she least wanted to see was standing outside!
When Yi Zhonghai saw that Xiao Dang had opened the door and remained silent for a long time, even blocking the door completely with his body, he said to Sha Zhu, "Zhu Zi, go and take a look."
Sha Zhu didn't stand on ceremony and went over with the wine bottle, but as soon as he reached the door, he exclaimed, "Qin Huairu?"
The previous laughter and chatter inside the house had vanished.
Sha Zhu, Yi Zhonghai, He Sui, and Xiao Dang sat on the left side of the table, while Qin Huairu helped He Daqing sit on the right side, keeping to themselves as if they were separate entities.
Looking at the large table of dishes, He Daqing sniffed and said in a condescending tone, "Not bad, it doesn't waste the skills I taught you back then."
Sha Zhu exploded upon hearing this: "What have you taught me? Don't you have a conscience?!"
He Daqing truly lives up to his reputation as being possessed by "Su Daqiang, Sima Yi, Min Deng, Cai Quanwu, Yan Song, and others," possessing exceptional self-control.
He kept repeating the same thing: "Tan Family Cuisine is made by cooking seafood in a rich broth over a long fire. It was the official cuisine of the Qing Dynasty."
Sha Zhu was immediately speechless, and asked angrily, "Don't talk to me about that, I just want to ask you, why are you here?"
He Daqing glanced at him as if he were an idiot: "You stupid Zhuzi! I'm your father, I'm eighty years old, almost dead, and I'm bowing my head to see you. Shouldn't you give me a way out?"
Sha Zhu's whole body was trembling slightly; it was rare for a chef's hands to shake like that.
Sha Zhu looked at Yi Zhonghai and said tremblingly, "Uncle, what do you call this?"
Although Yi Zhonghai didn't know how to face He Daqing, he still put his "moral superiority" act to perfection: "Zhuzi, your father is right. There is no fault in being an elder, only in the shortcomings of children."
Before Sha Zhu could speak, He Daqing said, "Yi Zhonghai, I heard my son is supporting you? Back then, I gave them two yuan a month. I knew this spendthrift couldn't save anything, so I sent all the money to you. Where is the money all these years?"
Yi Zhonghai glanced at Sha Zhu with a hint of embarrassment, but said confidently, "When Zhu opened his restaurant, I gave him all the money."
He Daqing glanced at Yi Zhonghai with some surprise, then looked up at Qin Huairu.
What's going on? Didn't this woman say that Yi Zhonghai had secretly given away all the money?
Seeing that He Daqing remained silent for a moment, Yi Zhonghai asked, "Old He, I don't understand. Why are you with Qin Huairu?"
At this point, he pulled He Sui over and said to him, "This is your grandfather."
After saying that, he turned to He Daqing and said, "Old He, this is your eldest grandson, named He Sui, he's a PhD!"
A PhD? He Daqing and Qin Huairu were both stunned, looking at He Sui with disbelief in their eyes.
He Daqing took a closer look and muttered, "It looks just like me, so much like your father. It's a descendant of the He family."
Yi Zhonghai was just waiting for him to acknowledge his eldest grandson! Only then did he suddenly and bluntly turn his attention to Qin Huairu: "Do you know that it was this woman who used tricks to drive away your daughter-in-law, causing the father and son to be separated for 17 years?"
He Daqing glanced at Qin Huairu, who was trembling like a leaf, and said in his usual indifferent tone, "Huairu came to see me, and when she saw me, she saw that I was all alone, barely surviving. She told me that Shazhu had gone into business and made a fortune."
"I'm old and want to go home, but you, as my son, don't care about me. I couldn't have come back alone. It was Huai Ru who kindly took care of me, which is why I'm alive and well."
After saying that, she looked at He Sui and said with delight, "You silly goose, I've never seen you do anything smart since you were a child, but you did a decent job with this."
Yi Zhonghai frowned as he listened. What? Did he mean he could get rid of Qin Huairu with just a few words?
Yi Zhonghai's heart skipped a beat. He Daqing, and Qin Huairu, could they...?
Sha Zhu was so angry he almost smashed the bowl: "How I live is none of your business! I'm just asking you, what exactly did you come back for?"
He Daqing ignored him and instead said to Yi Zhonghai, "See? Still the same as before, acting all stupid."
After saying that, she said to Sha Zhu with a straight face, "What can I do? Of course, I'll give you a way out. I'm tired. Clean up the house for me and then take me to take a bath."
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