Sha Zhu went all out to please his wife and son today; he had four hot dishes alone: shredded pork with sweet bean sauce, fish head stew with flatbread, braised pork hock, and Peking duck.
The roast duck was bought, but it wasn't from Bianyifang or Quanjude; where was it from? It was from nearby, hidden in the alley of Jinbao Street—Quan Ya Ji.
The courtyard wall at the entrance is bluish-gray, and the black plaque only says 1949. If you're not a local, you wouldn't even know it's a restaurant if you were just passing by.
The remaining three dishes were all made by Sha Zhu in Fatty's kitchen; in addition, under Ran Qiuye's guidance, a bowl of beef vermicelli soup was also made, and Fatty, as the host, also gifted a steamed sea bass.
Ran Qiuye was very grateful and praised their cooking skills: "I haven't eaten such delicious food in a long time. Although it's easy to find Chinese food in Singapore, the taste is really different from that in China."
The fat man didn't think much of it, treating it as casual conversation between friends, and naturally continued, "Although there are many Chinese people in Singapore, the local cuisine is still mainly Indian and Malay. Chinese food has also been modified, such as curry chicken and curry fish head, which taste very strange." It was as if he had actually eaten them.
In fact, the fat man did eat, and thanks to the strong competitiveness of emerging professional markets, he traveled abroad quite a bit in another time and space.
Therefore, he spoke eloquently: "Silly Zhu, do you know what the most fun thing about Singapore is? It's that when the locals eat, no matter what they eat, they always have a dish of pickled chili peppers to dip in."
Sha Zhu scratched his head, "Pickled chili peppers? The Sichuan kind?"
Ran Qiuye chimed in, "No, no, it's just eating dried chili peppers soaked in soy sauce."
Shazhu found it utterly unbelievable: "Huh? Can that stuff even taste good? This?"
Ran Qiuye was shocked; her impression of the fat man was still based on that time.
At the time, her impression of Fatty was similar to that of Sha Zhu and Xu Damao; he was a low-key person and quite kind to her...
What surprised her most today was the amount of knowledge the fat man possessed. He could always keep up with Ran Qiuye's train of thought, and no matter what the topic was, he never made her feel awkward.
His understanding of foreign countries, in particular, completely overturned Ran Qiuye's perception.
Just as traveling abroad was commonplace for him, he had truly traveled to many countries and experienced the different customs and landscapes around the world.
No wonder he can afford to run such a big restaurant.
However, Ran Qiuye's composure did not allow him to pry into the matter. Instead, she did not neglect Sha Zhu beside her just because she met a fat man she got along with. She took good care of his feelings and showed a high level of emotional intelligence.
The fat man was also very curious about Ran Qiuye: "Professor Ran, what do you teach at the university?"
After being reminded by Fatty, Shazhu finally realized what was going on and said in a comical way, "That's right, you didn't know, did you? The year the college entrance exam was reinstated, Fatty's family had a college student. That was quite a feat back then!"
Ran Qiuye was even more surprised. Of course she knew how difficult it was to get into universities in China, especially in the year the college entrance examination was reinstated.
The fat man was very modest: "My third sister was just lucky, she was born at a good time. The competition back then was not nearly as fierce as it is now."
Of course, times have changed. Now everyone knows that getting into university means you'll have the status of a state cadre, guaranteed job placement, and a government-subsidized food ration, so everyone's scrambling to get in.
However, this year the national college entrance examination has begun to implement a preliminary examination system.
This means that there is a preliminary exam before the official college entrance examination. Only those who pass the preliminary exam are eligible to take the college entrance examination.
This preliminary exam is extremely damaging. In Beijing, for example, the elimination rate is 65%. For some rural high schools, the entire senior year is wiped out for two or three consecutive years!
Ran Qiuye had no idea that the competition in China was this fierce. After listening to her, she even felt that UNS was easier to get into than this.
Ran Qiuye explained, "I teach Sinology at the National University of Singapore."
A top student is indeed a top student no matter where they go; Ran Qiuye is teaching at the best university in the area.
Just as they were having a good chat, Liu Lan came up to urge them: "Fatty, hurry up, we're getting guests, the kitchen is already overwhelmed."
The fat man then took his leave: "You all chat as you like, I have to go now. Oh, by the way, Sha Zhu, arrange a hotel for her tonight, don't let Teacher Ran go back to the courtyard. Don't you know what kind of people are in our courtyard?"
That was a very helpful reminder. After the fat man left, Sha Zhu hurriedly said to Ran Qiuye, "He's right, there are three annoying old men in our courtyard!"
Ran Qiuye asked thoughtfully, "You mean, Teacher Yan?"
"You mean Uncle San? What kind of teacher is he! Good heavens, he produced two criminals. That's his family's reputation!"
Ran Qiuye was completely confused: "A crime?"
So Sha Zhu simply recounted the crimes committed by Liu Guangtian, Liu Guangfu, Yan Jiefang, Yan Jiekuang, and Bang Geng to Ran Qiuye and her daughter once again.
This prompted Xiao Dang to come over and kick them out: "My Aunt Yu said that if you keep occupying the private room, you'll have to pay extra service fees!"
"..."
Business is really booming at night.
Ironically, the busier I am, the more trouble I seem to get.
Here comes Director Wang; oh, he's retired now, we should call him Old Wang, he's here.
Old Wang has now retired honorably, and he's in good health and a happy mood—doing great!
He's also the second largest shareholder of Qilige. For him to come here to eat is considered giving the fat man face.
Especially since Old Wang didn't come alone today.
As soon as the fat man entered the private room, he saw him chatting happily with a few people. When he saw him, he said, "Hey, the big boss is here. Remember to bring me a serving of your zoo's braised sea cucumber with scallions."
The fat man replied irritably, "No! This is a Huaiyang cuisine restaurant. Is it appropriate for you to order Shandong cuisine every time?"
Before Old Wang could speak, an old man next to him suddenly spoke up: "So you're the only one called Fatty?"
The old man had a heavy Shandong accent, which sounded to the fat man like he was being asked, "So your name is Xia Luo?"
The fat man observed that this man was about sixty years old, with his hair neatly combed back and his eyes shining. Especially since he came with Old Wang, his identity was not simple.
Just as I was about to exchange pleasantries, the old man said, "Go and make me a sweet and sour carp."
Hey, you've got quite the nerve!
The fat man listened without saying a word and went back to the kitchen.
Putting aside the fact that Old Wang's eyes were flashing like searchlights as he gave him a meaningful look, the old man's demeanor when he presented him with a difficult problem was quite extraordinary.
The fat man smelled a fellow professional on him... Was he here to cause trouble?
Fatty had made sweet and sour carp back when Director Liu first took office.
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