Chapter 84: Queen of the Night Flower Rib Soup.
As July arrived, business was indeed even better than Gu Qingqiu had predicted.
Starting around the middle of the month, many of the customers dining at the restaurant brought their children, and some junior and senior high school students also came in groups of three or five to dine.
Several times, after she finished cooking the dishes ordered by customers, no new orders were delivered for a while. Gu Qingqiu took the opportunity to go out for some fresh air and happened to hear those energetic teenagers talking.
"Summer vacation is such a blessing! Not only do I not have to go to school, but I can finally come and eat at Gu's Private Kitchen!"
"That's right. During the school year, I could only endure it, watching those people on Xiaohongshu post crazy pictures and share their experiences while I could only drool over them. I also had to eat the terrible food in the cafeteria, which made me feel like I had no will to live! But now, I'm alive again and I'm very happy!"
"Hehe, it's so nice to be free during holidays. During the school year, I had to beg my mom for ages to get her to come over and pack some meat and vegetables from a restaurant and deliver them to school. Back then, eating at Gu's Private Kitchen would make me happy for a whole week. I'd look forward to it for two or three days before eating it, and savor it for two or three days afterward. Before I knew it, the week was over, and I could come over again on the weekend. Now it's great, I can come whenever I want to eat!"
"Yes, and we can also get here before the restaurant opens, so we can come in, order, and wait to eat as soon as it opens without having to wait in line. There's nothing happier than that!"
Gu Qingqiu listened to their conversation, and her smile widened. She was happy that her restaurant had won the favor of these young people.
However, the arrival of winter and summer vacations is a blessing for junior and senior high school students, but college students are a bit depressed about it.
They usually look forward to summer vacation the most, when they can go home and stay without restraint, visit old classmates, play with cats and dogs, do whatever they want, since they don't have to suffer in school, attend classes, or complete those speechless group assignments. How wonderful!
But now!
Going home for the holidays means not being able to eat Gu's Private Kitchen for at least two months. It's enough to make anyone who hears it cry.
So, before the holiday, I ate at Gu's Private Kitchen as much as I wanted.
Gu Qingqiu saw that the six college students from when the restaurant first opened often came to eat together. Every time, they would order all the dishes of the day, saying that they wanted to eat to their hearts' content. They could basically finish everything. Even if there was a little left over, they would pack it up and take it back to their dormitory to eat again that night.
Gu Qingqiu greeted them at that time.
Xu Yue and the others immediately started talking to her enthusiastically.
"Boss, we're heartbroken! We were looking forward to summer vacation so we could go home and relax, but then we realized we don't have such delicious Gu's Private Kitchen back home. We're almost in tears!"
"Yes, if I had a choice now, I would rather continue living at school and be able to have a nice meal at Gu's Private Kitchen from time to time than go home."
"Keep dreaming! The school doesn't even want you to stay overnight at school, they're afraid something might happen to us. It seems like you can only stay at school if you're a senior doing an internship or participating in some rural service program. Sigh, I really miss Gu's Private Kitchen!"
"So we have to come and eat a few more meals before we go home, and take pictures each time to remember the trip. Once we go back, we'll only be able to look at these pictures and live our lives. Oh, and we can also go online and see the pictures posted by netizens who came to eat and drool over them."
"Just thinking about it makes me feel that it will be a sad time."
Gu Qingqiu listened and laughed, her almond-shaped eyes almost glistening with tears.
After all six of them had finished speaking, she said, "You may feel reluctant to leave now, but you might not feel that way anymore once you experience the joy of vacation at home. Going home is so great! After living at school for half a year, you can finally return to your happy little nest to sleep, eat your parents' cooking every day, and go for walks with them in the evenings. You can also meet up with your old classmates and go out to play. There are so many things you can do. Your summer vacation will be very fulfilling. You might even forget that Gu's Private Kitchen ever existed."
The six girls were somewhat tempted by her words, and then suddenly realized that summer vacation might not be as bad as they had imagined. It was as if they had rediscovered the excitement and anticipation they used to have during winter and summer vacations. However, there was one thing the boss had just said that they disagreed with.
Xu Yue said earnestly, "Boss, what you just said makes us think that there are many things to do during the summer vacation, which is wonderful. But there's one thing you're wrong about. Staying at home for two months won't stop us from thinking about the delicious food of Gu's Private Kitchen. How could we forget it?"
Zheng Jiajia nodded in agreement: "Yes, boss, I'm the kind of person who dreams about eating Gu's Private Kitchen even when I'm sleeping. It's impossible for me to forget about your restaurant just because I'm going home."
Zhou Huilin smiled and said, "Boss, you still underestimate our dedication to Gu's Private Kitchen."
Lu Xiangyin said, "Yes, boss, you have no idea how famous Gu's Private Kitchen is at our school now. Many students are looking forward to coming over for a meal when they have time. Oh, and our teachers too. Last time I went to the office, I heard them talking about which dishes at your restaurant are delicious, and how you have to wait in line if you come a little late."
The other two roommates also shared their thoughts, and in short, they all meant the same thing: they would never forget Gu's Private Kitchen, no matter where the school was.
Gu Qingqiu laughed more and more as she listened, and smiled as she admitted her mistake: "Okay, I was wrong just now. Thank you so much for your love and support for our restaurant. How about this, to celebrate that you've worked hard all semester and are finally on vacation, we'll give you a 20% discount on today's meal."
Seeing that they were about to refuse, she continued, "Don't you guys help me advertise on Xiaohongshu from time to time? If it were anyone else, they would be treated to good food and drinks if a blogger came to visit their store. Just let me show my appreciation."
She wasn't the type to give customers a 20% discount casually; she just remembered that when the restaurant first opened, their reviews and posts brought in a lot of traffic, and they were the first customers to promote the restaurant, so naturally she had to give them some special treatment.
Xu Yue and her six friends burst into laughter upon hearing this. Every time they came to eat at Gu's Private Kitchen, they would indeed post photos of the dishes and written descriptions on Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book).
Initially, only the social media accounts run by Xu Yue and her two friends posted the content, but later the accounts run by Lu Xiangyin and her friends also started posting it.
And to be honest, rather than saying that their visits to the restaurant and their posts on Xiaohongshu brought traffic to Gu's Private Kitchen, it's more accurate to say that they were riding on Gu's Private Kitchen's popularity. This includes some social media accounts on campus; everyone has noticed that posts related to Gu's Private Kitchen get exceptionally good traffic, with likes, saves, and comments far exceeding usual levels.
Because of their large number of followers, accounts managed by Xu Yue and others have attracted some restaurants to pay them to visit their restaurants, post reviews, and advertise. They have been responsible and dedicated to completing the agreed business deals. Their sincere and humorous restaurant review style has won the favor of many fans and has helped stabilize the traffic of their accounts.
But after posting so many episodes, the dishes from Gu's Private Kitchen still get the most traffic and are the most popular.
Seeing how sincere and enthusiastic the boss was, and knowing from previous interactions that she didn't use polite words and that they were all genuine, the six of them exchanged glances and thanked her with smiles.
"Thank you, boss! Hehe, I didn't expect to get a 20% discount today!"
"Wow, boss, you're so kind. I don't know where else in the world I could find a boss as good as you."
"This is fantastic, thank you so much, boss! It feels like a wonderful surprise today, a double treat!"
"..."
Gu Qingqiu laughed heartily and finally said, "Alright, you guys enjoy your meal. I'll go back to what I'm doing."
Amidst repeated greetings of "Thank you for your hard work, boss," "Keep it up, boss," and "I'll miss you and the restaurant during the summer vacation," she went back to the kitchen, first to the glass window to pick up the latest order form, then returned to the stove to continue cooking.
One day in the middle of the month, shortly after the restaurant opened for lunch, Rao Xiaoqing and two friends walked in and saw that there was still an empty table. They breathed a sigh of relief and quickly went over to sit down, thus securing the table and avoiding the need to queue.
Lin Baoqin, a friend, leaned back in her chair and breathed a sigh of relief, saying repeatedly, "Thank goodness, although we arrived a little late, it wasn't too late. At least we don't have to stand in line at the door."
Another friend, Fang Ruizhu, also chimed in: "Yeah, it seems that even though we encountered some rude drivers on the road today, we weren't too unlucky. At least we were lucky at Gu's Private Kitchen."
Rao Xiaoqing smiled upon hearing this and said with great conviction, "I think it's Gu's Private Kitchen that brought us good luck, hehe, rewarding us for our sincere love for their restaurant's dishes."
Ever since the three of them ate at Gu's Private Kitchen at the end of last month, they'd been craving the food there, practically day and night. Unfortunately, everyone was busy on the weekend at the beginning of the month, and it wasn't until today that all three of them finally found time to come together. Heaven knows how they managed to endure that!
Sitting here before even ordering, I felt a strange sense of satisfaction and a feeling of great peace of mind.
However, Rao Xiaoqing asked with some doubt, "Did you guys think that the cashier at the checkout glanced at me when we entered the store? The look in her eyes was kind of weird."
Unlike the typical way shop assistants greet customers, their welcome was tinged with surprise, as if they had been waiting for someone for a long time.
Lin Baoqin shook her head: "I didn't notice just now. Could it be that he was looking at you a few more times because you're pretty?"
Fang Ruizhu laughed and said, "I think it's possible. Xiaoqing gets a lot of attention on the street. She's a real beauty!"
Rao Xiaoqing was a little embarrassed and helpless from the teasing: "Alright, you two, stop making fun of me. I'm being serious."
She was fairly good-looking, but not so much that a stunning beauty would draw attention to her because of her appearance. Rao Xiaoqing felt a little hesitant and worried. Could it be that her condition was worsening, causing her gait to become more noticeable?
Wait a minute, I haven't felt weak lately, and I've been in pretty good shape.
Rao Xiaoqing's first eighteen years of life can be described as smooth sailing, with basically nothing going wrong. She had a happy family, excelled in her studies, and was successfully admitted to her ideal university, looking forward to a broader and brighter future.
However, reality dealt her a heavy blow. One day, she suddenly found that her hands and feet were a little weak. Sometimes, while walking, her legs would suddenly go weak and she would almost fall. It seemed that her strength and endurance were getting smaller.
At first, she didn't pay much attention to it. But as this feeling of weakness became more and more frequent, whenever she stayed up late and didn't get enough rest or was too busy and tired all day, she would feel much weaker. Her hands would tremble uncontrollably when placed flat on the table, and she would feel increasingly tired and easily exhausted when climbing stairs. But after a good night's sleep, she would feel much better.
Rao Xiaoqing took the changes in her body quite seriously, and immediately went to the best tertiary hospital in the city for treatment. She saw many professors in various departments and underwent many tests, but no problems were found.
Another year passed, and the symptoms persisted but did not seem to worsen significantly. Rao Xiaoqing and her parents continued to seek medical advice everywhere, looking for the truth behind this physical discomfort.
After a neurosurgical consultation and examination revealed no problems, the doctor suggested that Rao Xiaoqing see a neurologist. Rao Xiaoqing then made an appointment with the specialist recommended by the doctor. After inquiring about her symptoms, the specialist suggested that she have an electromyography (EMG) test.
The electromyography (EMG) test was very painful, even the patch type was still quite painful. Fortunately, the suffering was worthwhile, as the EMG results did indeed show a problem. After reviewing the results, the professor explained the possible diseases to her and her parents, strongly suspecting spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). They needed to take blood samples and send them to an institution for genetic testing to confirm the diagnosis.
Nineteen-year-old Rao Xiaoqing was in a daze after leaving the hospital after her blood was drawn. Her parents were also deeply shocked. How could she suddenly have this rare disease?
While waiting for the genetic test results, she learned a lot about the disease, including that it is a progressive motor neuron disease characterized by muscle weakness and atrophy, with symptoms classified into four types.
Type 1 patients develop the disease at birth and may not live past the age of two; Type 2 patients have never stood independently since birth; Type 3 patients can walk but generally lose the ability to walk during puberty and need to rely on a wheelchair; Type 4 patients generally develop the disease after the age of eighteen, with milder symptoms, better preservation of motor function, and relatively slow disease progression, which generally does not affect lifespan, depending on the individual situation.
Rao Xiaoqing felt heavy-hearted after reading the report, knowing that she was probably lucky in a bad situation, belonging to the mildest type four.
She read it very carefully. The professor had also explained to her and her parents that day that one in every fifty people in the population carries an abnormal SMN1 gene. When both parents carry this disease-causing gene, the remaining child has a one in four chance of being affected, a half chance of being a carrier, and a one in four chance of being normal.
In other words, if she is diagnosed, then both her parents are carriers of the disease-causing gene, and Rao Xiaoqing herself is one of the one in four patients.
The most despairing thing is that after searching through all the information, Rao Xiaoqing only found that there is currently no drug that can treat this rare disease. The drugs being developed abroad are still in the clinical stage, and it will be a long wait before they can be launched in China and included in medical insurance. Moreover, the price is estimated to be very expensive.
The research and development of drugs for rare diseases requires a lot of investment. In the early stages, drug companies want to recoup their costs, but there are relatively few patients, so they can only sell at high prices. Only after they have recouped their costs can they lower the price.
She had told her parents about this, and the whole family was shrouded in a sad and depressed atmosphere during that time. They waited agonizingly for the genetic test results, which clearly stated—
"The test results show that the subject has a homozygous deletion mutation in exons 7-8 of the SMN1 gene and an increased copy number in exons 7-8 of the SMN2 gene, indicating a duplication mutation. Clinicians are requested to make a clinical diagnosis based on a comprehensive analysis of the subject's clinical manifestations and other test results." [1]
Rao Xiaoqing and her parents were heartbroken, so they went to register again to see that expert professor for a follow-up consultation.
The professor explained the disease to them in detail, and reassured them that fortunately, her symptoms were mild due to late onset, and if she maintained good health, it shouldn't affect her life too much in the short term. He also mentioned that drug research abroad is already in the clinical stage, so there's still hope.
After that, she was given a lot of instructions. Rao Xiaoqing felt very helpless at the time. She felt that the expert professor was very patient and understanding, which soothed her bad mood. In the end, he told her to come back for a follow-up visit every six months and to go to the rehabilitation department to find a rehabilitation therapist to learn some exercises to maintain at home.
Only by maintaining a certain amount of exercise to continuously train important muscle groups can we preserve existing motor function as much as possible, prevent the disease from progressing too quickly, and buy time for medication to become available.
Although Rao Xiaoqing was very depressed at that time, she still cherished her life. She watched many videos of fellow patients and was afraid that one day she would also be unable to walk due to lack of strength and would need to rely on a wheelchair to get around. She continued to exercise according to the movements guided by the rehabilitation therapist.
Meanwhile, life goes on, studies must be completed, and social interactions continue as normal. University life is so wonderful.
If it weren't for the occasional uncontrollable trembling of her fingers, the weakness in her hands and feet when she's too tired, the need to rest after climbing one flight of stairs, and the difficulty in standing up after squatting down—these small changes in her life would have made Rao Xiaoqing almost forget that she has a rare disease.
During her junior year of college, the drug was launched overseas. It was no exaggeration to say that it was an extremely expensive drug. Moreover, according to foreign media reports, this drug could not cure the disease in one go, but was to be used for life, and it played a role in slowing down the progression of the disease.
After working for a year after graduation, the drug was launched in China, but it was still very expensive. The cost of the drug in a year was several million yuan, a number I dared not even think about.
In the second year after graduation, the commercial insurance launched by the government-guided insurance company included the drug in the reimbursement scope. After reimbursement, the annual cost of drug treatment was about 200,000 yuan.
At the end of the year before last, after a negotiation on medical insurance drugs, this exorbitantly priced drug, which was also an orphan drug, was included in the medical insurance. The phrase "No small group should be abandoned" went viral on the Internet. When Rao Xiaoqing saw it, she was a little dazed. It seemed that she could finally use the drug.
Last year she officially started using the medication. The medication is administered via intrathecal injection, which means she has to have a lumbar puncture every time. To be honest, it's very tough, but she enjoys it.
The medication was taken six times throughout the year, and the total cost, after reimbursement from medical insurance and commercial insurance, was only a little over ten thousand yuan, which was completely affordable. Starting the following year, the medication was taken once every four months to maintain the dosage. The doctor said that the medication did not cause any worsening of the condition or physical degeneration, which was the greatest effect.
But Rao Xiaoqing feels that she's not just maintaining her condition; she can also feel her body gradually improving. Her strength and endurance have increased, her fingers are trembling less, she can climb two flights of stairs at a time before resting, and it's easier to stand up after squatting. Every time she goes to the hospital for medication, she goes to the rehabilitation department for an evaluation first, and her score on the scale has increased by 5 points, and her walking distance in six minutes has increased by more than 200 meters.
This already made Rao Xiaoqing very happy. This is her second year of taking the medication, and her health is slowly improving. The future is still promising.
The lively atmosphere of the restaurant pulled Rao Xiaoqing back from her reverie. Fang Ruizhu suddenly remembered something and said, "Didn't you find a gold bracelet last time and hand it over to the shop assistant? She probably had a strong impression of your honesty, which is why she looked at you a few more times when you came into the shop."
Lin Baoqin also recalled the previous incident: "It's very possible. The owner must have come to claim the gold bracelet later, and he would have been very happy. Moreover, the gold bracelet was lost here at the restaurant. If you found the bracelet and handed it over to the restaurant, it would have saved the restaurant a lot of trouble. Of course, the staff would have remembered you very well."
Rao Xiaoqing thought about it and realized that it made sense. Last time, when she was about to leave after finishing her meal at the restaurant, she noticed that the floor of the next table was glittering with gold. She went over and picked it up and found that it was a gold bracelet. She immediately handed it to the cashier who was settling the bill for the customer.
I didn't think much of it after leaving the restaurant, but I didn't expect the staff to remember it.
She smiled and said, "That might be true. Anyway, shall we order everything today?"
After speaking, Rao Xiaoqing looked at the handwritten menu for today on the wall, even though she had already seen it on the restaurant's official account on Xiaohongshu.
Today's menu:
Sauerkraut and sliced pork: 58 yuan;
Steamed Chicken with Five-Finger Peach: 58 yuan;
Baked sea bass in a clay pot: 58 yuan;
Stir-fried chives with dried tofu, 28 yuan;
Bawanghua pork rib soup, 58 yuan.
Lin Baoqin and Fang Ruizhu nodded in agreement: "We'll order everything! If we can't finish it, we'll pack it up and eat it at our leisure. We've been craving this for so long."
They waved to the staff and said they wanted to order all the dishes.
Sister Zhou nodded in agreement: "What kind of tea would you like to drink? We have Pu'er, Tieguanyin, jasmine tea, barley tea, chrysanthemum tea, and lemonade."
After discussing it, the three of them decided, "Let's have jasmine tea."
"Okay." After agreeing, Sister Zhou looked at Rao Xiaoqing and sincerely thanked her, "This customer is very grateful to you for finding the gold bracelet in the store last time and handing it over to us. The owner came back to claim it that same day. Our restaurant is especially grateful for this. The boss said that when you come to dine here again, we will give you a 20% discount. I just wanted to let you know about this in advance."
Rao Xiaoqing didn't expect that her casual act would receive such a grateful response almost half a month later. Perhaps that was why the shop assistant paid so much attention to her when she entered the store? She was pleasantly surprised, but still shook her head: "No need, I just happened to find it, it's nothing."
Lin Baoqin and Fang Ruizhu were both stunned, never expecting such a wonderful gift. However, they decided to leave it to their good friend's opinion and sat aside without saying a word.
Sister Zhou smiled and nodded: "Yes, your kindness helped the owner of the lost item and also reduced the trouble for our restaurant. The boss specifically asked us to thank you properly. The 20% discount is also a small token of our appreciation. Please accept it."
Having said that, Rao Xiaoqing nodded gratefully and smiled, "Okay, thank you very much."
"Okay, I'll place your order right away, please wait a moment." After saying that, Sister Zhou went to the cashier to print the order.
Lin Baoqin exclaimed excitedly, "Oh my god, I never thought I could get a 20% discount from you, Xiaoqing, today! This is a 20% discount at Gu's Private Kitchen! It's so rare!"
Other restaurants might offer group-buying discounts, but Gu's Private Kitchen never does that; it's always the original price. And this 20% discount is something the restaurant offered voluntarily, so you can save at least 30 or 40 yuan.
Fang Ruizhu was also delighted, exclaiming, "I absolutely have to praise Gu's Private Kitchen for this! They could have given us nothing, but they were so sincere! That's probably why so many people like to eat here—the food is great and the owner is a good person!"
Rao Xiaoqing nodded in agreement, feeling that she had received a very pleasant surprise today.
When the shop assistant came over with bowls, chopsticks, teaware, and a pot of jasmine tea, they thanked him sincerely, and then the three of them chatted.
Soon, the waiter came over and served a bowl of night-blooming cereus and pork rib soup. The soup looked clear and yellowish-green, with pieces of night-blooming cereus floating on top. Occasionally, a piece or two of pork ribs would ripple in the soup as the bowl was placed down, revealing half of their shape.
The three of them picked up their bowls and took turns scooping soup with spoons. They were all people who had dined here before and knew how high-quality and delicious the soup at Gu's Private Kitchen was.
Rao Xiaoqing scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it to cool it, and then drank it. The warm soup was sweet, with the fragrance of night-blooming cereus mixed with the meaty aroma of pork ribs. It was very clear and rich, and she couldn't wait to drink a few more sips. She felt refreshed and comfortable all over.
After scooping a few spoonfuls, she noticed the soup wasn't so hot anymore, so she simply picked up the bowl and drank it directly. The rich, sweet soup moistened her mouth and warmed her stomach, leaving her with a satisfied sigh after finishing it.
Rao Xiaoqing used chopsticks to pick up the ribs and eat them. These ribs, with the meat evenly distributed at both ends of the bone, are easy to eat and very fragrant.
The ribs were simmered until tender; the meat easily fell off the bone with a gentle bite. After a few chews, you could savor the fresh, savory flavor of the meat and the sweet, savory broth, and then swallow it whole. Finishing the two ribs in the bowl was incredibly satisfying.
She picked up a piece of night-blooming cereus flower to eat. The flower was almost cooked into shreds, so loose it could break easily with a little force. It was incredibly soft, sweet, and refreshing, a perfect appetizer. The subtle sweetness made her feel incredibly happy; this was truly a wonderful soup!
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