After settling Ran Qiuye and her son in, Sha Zhu went straight into the kitchen.
Upon seeing the fat man, he shouted, "Quick, get me some clothes!"
Auntie Pang wasn't going to put up with him: "Go away, go away, no unauthorized personnel allowed in the kitchen!"
Sha Zhu looked impatient: "How am I a freeloader? My cooking skills are just as good as your fat man's."
Auntie Pang was about to say no, but Fatty stopped her: "This guy suddenly has a son, he can't wait to come here and show off."
What the heck, son? Everyone in the kitchen thought they had misheard, even Zhao Lao Er, who always got along with Sha Zhu, had a gossipy look on his face.
Sha Zhu said smugly, "That's right, I have a son now!"
The fat man ignored him and instructed his aunt, "Auntie, write down how much material Sha Zhu used. Considering we're in the same industry, give him a 5% discount, no more. If he dares not pay, deduct it from his wages!"
Hey...you! Sha Zhu almost jumped up in anger.
Speaking of Xiaodang, she was whispering to Yu Li, "Aunt Yu, do you think my silly dad will abandon me now that he has a biological son?"
Yu Li pinched her nose: "Now you're nervous, but this afternoon you were so carefree, taking people shopping and buying things."
Xiao Dang looked distressed: "You didn't see it, did you? My silly dad and Teacher Ran, those two... I suspect that if He Sui and I hadn't been there, they would have been kissing right then and there! How could I have been standing there in the way?"
Yu Li laughed too, thinking that the scene was really quite funny. But laughing as she was, what she said made Xiao Dang's heart sink: "You were absent from work for half a day without a valid reason. You'll have one day's wages deducted from your pay this month!"
"..."
In the kitchen, when Sha Zhu stood in front of the stove, everyone else crossed their arms and waited to see his performance, but he didn't move for a long time.
The plump aunt glared at him and said, "Are you going to do it or not? If not, get out of here. Everyone in our kitchen has a health certificate!"
What the heck? Healthy, and even has a certificate? Does this mean all the fat guys are healthy, and only he has an infectious disease?
Aunt Fat's words made everyone laugh. When Fat asked them to do it, everyone thought the same thing.
But the fat man made a good point: "Once I get these certificates, I'll hang them up in the most conspicuous place. When the customers come to eat, they'll see that other restaurants have photos of themselves with some spiritual guide or celebrity, or calligraphy and paintings by famous artists. Only our restaurant is different. We dare to openly display the health certificates of everyone in the restaurant. The contrast will be obvious."
At the time, everyone thought that the fat man was born to run a restaurant, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to come up with so many ingenious ideas.
Back to Sha Zhu, he was looking at the fat man for help: "Give me some advice, what do you think my son likes to eat?"
The fat man asked him in return, "What kind of things are there in Anhui?"
What are some of the delicacies of Anhui? First and foremost are the snacks, such as beef tofu pudding, boiled mutton, and soup dumplings.
Beef tofu pudding is very similar to Beijing-style tofu pudding, the difference being that tender beef is cut into thin strips and topped with soy sauce, sesame paste, sweet bean sauce, and chili oil. The main appeal is its complex texture.
Also, Fatty's Restaurant sells soup dumplings. Their signature ones are chicken broth and crab roe. They make so many baskets every day that they can't keep up with demand.
But snacks alone won't do! We also need a main course.
Sha Zhu racked his brains for a long time before it suddenly dawned on him that Huaiyang cuisine was also the main cuisine in Anhui!
Didn't we just run right into the fat guy's line of fire again?
For his son's sake, Sha Zhu swallowed his pride and humbly begged Fatty, "Um, could you teach me a couple of Huaiyang dishes? I want to cook a couple of dishes for them myself."
The fat man nodded: "No problem. I'll teach you how to make a 'Prosperous Hoof' dish."
"..."
Actually, the most distinctive cuisine in Anhui is Huizhou cuisine.
However, at that time, the eight major cuisines were still being perfected, so naturally there was no name for Anhui cuisine yet.
However, Anhui cuisine still has very distinct characteristics, with braised dishes, pickled vegetables, and stews being the most prominent.
Anhui cuisine is generally characterized by its strong flavors, rich aromas, and emphasis on plating, aiming for an exquisite presentation.
For example, the "Fortune Trotter" that Fatty taught Sha Zhu to make today is a typical example.
There is some controversy surrounding this dish. One is that there is a dish called "scratching money rake" in the north; the other is that there is a saying called "prosperous pig's trotters" in Guangdong and other places.
"Naoqianpa" and "zhushou" both refer to the same thing: pig's trotters.
Moreover, the methods are very similar, both involving pressure cooking until tender and then braising in soy sauce.
The main feature is that the pork trotters are tender and flavorful, and because the braised pork trotters are arranged on a plate like ingots, they symbolize wealth.
We have this dish, but it's not enough!
Sha Zhu looked at the fat man for help: "Can you cook Singaporean food?"
The fat man rolled his eyes: "I can cook Jamaican food! Are you out of your mind? Ran Qiuye is in the private room, why don't you go ask her!"
Sha Zhu slapped his forehead and then hurriedly left.
As soon as he left, the kitchen erupted in chaos: "What happened? What happened? Sha Zhu actually has a son? And who is Ran Qiuye?"
“Our teacher from Banggeng Elementary School, her parents were returned overseas Chinese. Her family background was too high. Life was difficult in 1968. In order to prevent her from being implicated, her family forced her to get married quickly. That’s how she fell for Shazhu.”
Aunt Pang, who knew Sha Zhu well, chimed in, "Sha Zhu is really something. His family has been farm laborers for three generations. If Ran Qiuye can marry him, she really won't be implicated."
Liu Lan didn't quite understand: "But wasn't Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu in an ambiguous relationship back then?"
The fat man shook his head: "Do you think Ran Qiuye has been gone for so many years? It's all thanks to Qin Huairu. First, she reported them to Xu Damao for having an affair, and then she went to Ran Qiuye's house, the neighborhood committee, and the police station to file complaints everywhere."
Liu Lan already disliked her, and upon hearing this, she cursed even more fiercely: "Shameless! Qin Huairu is such a scoundrel!"
Xiao Dang happened to walk in and heard everything clearly. Her face turned pale and then red. The fat man quickly waved to her and asked, "What kind of work did Sha Zhu give you this time?"
Xiao Dang shook her head, biting her lip, and said, "When I was chatting with He Sui this afternoon, he told me that when he was little, his mother told him a lot about Beijing delicacies, but his mother didn't know how to make them, and they couldn't be bought in other places. He said he wanted to eat authentic Beijing delicacies."
An uproar erupted in the kitchen, and Zhao Lao Er burst into laughter: "That's ridiculous!"
This left Xiao Dang completely bewildered; the fat man said to her, "Your silly dad is still begging me to teach him how to cook Huaiyang cuisine, and he's asking Ran Qiuye about Singaporean food, hahaha!"
Isn't this just like looking for a donkey while riding one? Xiao Dang laughed so hard he covered his face, and then he didn't forget to hit the fat guy in protest.
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