Chapter 2 Restaurant Crisis (Part 2)
"It's overcooked." Yue Baohua said as he walked past his third disciple.
The third apprentice was nervous and grabbed the handle of the iron pot without a rag in his hand. He screamed "Ouch..." because of the burn.
"Be careful when cooking." Yue Baohua took out the cooled fish rice, took the fish out of the bamboo basket, and served it with the dipping sauce made with Puning bean paste.
The third apprentice picked up the rag and endured the burning pain while continuing to cook.
Yue Baohua asked the waiter to serve the dishes, and as usual, he reminded his disciples while cooking.
"Master, have you asked how to go to the Northwest?" the young apprentice asked him.
How easy is that? Even a trip back to Guangdong City is complicated, let alone going to the northwest?
When he came to Hong Kong to earn money, the conditions were difficult, so he left his son with his senior brother in Guangdong City as an apprentice in Fuyun Building, planning to bring his son out after he had made some progress here.
Things are unpredictable, the domestic situation is changing rapidly, and before he could completely settle down, the country's borders were closed. He could only listen to those who swam over to talk about the situation in the mainland. After so many years of worry, he finally waited for the country's borders to open again.
However, when he returned to Yuecheng, he heard two pieces of bad news: his son had died and his senior brother had also died.
His senior brother's son and daughter-in-law told him what happened after the country closed its borders. His son Yue Zhirong got married, and they had a daughter. Although life was hard, they managed to get by. Seeing that everyone was running to the port city, the daughter-in-law wanted the couple to come to the port city to seek refuge with her.
However, it is basically impossible to obtain approval through formal domestic channels. The only way is to swim over, but how does a two-year-old child get over?
The daughter-in-law was determined to come to Gangcheng, so she paid the fees to the snakehead early and gave the child away. She thought that since the matter had been settled, Zhirong would have to leave. However, Zhirong found the child and refused to come to Gangcheng no matter what. The daughter-in-law had to come to Gangcheng alone.
He had a father in Hong Kong, a wife who fled to Hong Kong, his son took his children to the northwest, and his senior brother was also implicated and could not survive those years.
It would have been fine if he didn't know the news, but after knowing it, he couldn't sleep or eat. When he came back and passed Luohu Port, he went to ask someone how to go to the northwest. The port staff said it was not that they didn't want to help him, but that the country had just opened up and many policies had not been released, so they couldn't do anything and asked him to wait.
"I have to ask again." Yue Baohua said this, but he didn't know where to ask.
The apprentice brought in a freshly killed silver carp. Yue Baohua's waiter took the fish and placed it on the chopping board, slicing off the fish meat on both sides, leaving the fish head, fish tail and a large bone in the middle. The fish meat was given to Yue Baohua's apprentice, the fish head was split into two halves, the fish bone was cut into sections, the fish tail was cut in the middle, placed on a plate, and sent to Yue Baohua.
Yue Baohua's stuffed tofu was just out of the pot. He used a whisk to rinse the pot, picked up a small piece of lard with an iron spoon, and slid the lard into the pot. He then scooped half a spoonful of soybean oil, added scallions and ginger, and poured in the fish head, fish bones, and fish tail to make fish soup.
"Master, this colorful fish soup is only sold for 20 dollars next door, but we sell it for 38 dollars, which is nearly twice as expensive. Moreover, they can serve the dish in ten minutes, but we are all experienced and it takes us 30 to 40 minutes even if three of us work together." The young apprentice added rice wine, and the aroma of wine mixed with the aroma of fish rose up.
"Their fish is delivered to Awang's house on the corner of the street the night before. Awang kills the fish at night and gets up early in the morning to fry the fish. Aunt Awang and Xiaolan, mother and daughter, pick the fish paste." said the apprentice who was cutting side dishes.
The young apprentice fried the fish until it was golden and fragrant. He poured the fish out of the pan into a stainless steel plate and handed it to the waiter. He asked, "Why do you kill the fish at night? Shouldn't the fish be sent over early in the morning and killed early in the morning? If you disassemble the minced fish early in the morning, by noon or even at night, even if the minced fish is not bad, the moisture in the minced fish will have escaped, and the aroma of the frying and the freshness of the minced fish will be reduced. How can the taste be the same?"
"Fish is cheaper at night! How much do the fish that can't be sold during the day cost in the market?"
"No way? The fish sold after the market closes tonight, even if they are live fish, are all from the mainland. Fish from different farms have different tastes. Can we guarantee which farm the fish we collect are from? Can we guarantee that they don't have an earthy smell?" asked the young apprentice.
"Serve two servings of jelly oyster chicken hotpot." The third apprentice instructed the waiter who prepared the side dishes for him, and said to the youngest apprentice, "Perhaps the diners can't tell the subtle difference in taste. There are still many ordinary people in Mong Kok, and how many gourmets are there? Originally, the ingredients of this dish are not valuable, but the labor is valuable. How much does it cost for Awang and his wife to cut open a fish?"
Da He took out the fish paste, Yue Baohua filtered the fish soup, added shredded wood ear, bean curd, carrot, mushroom, vermicelli, egg skin and sheng gua into the milky white fish soup, brought to a boil, added the fish paste for seasoning, and then thickened with water chestnut powder.
The colorful fish soup with a milky white soup base is out of the pot. This dish is one of Baohualou’s signature dishes.
Because of the labor cost, only ten portions are served each day for lunch and dinner, except for a few regular customers. Now Shenghualou is open to serve, and there is no need to wait so long. The staff of Shenghualou also keeps emphasizing to customers that this dish uses ordinary ingredients and does not need to be so expensive. Baohualou limits the number of portions every day in order to maintain a high price.
Most people don’t know much about this dish, and the ten servings a day at Baohualou are already in short supply, so diners flock to Shenghualou to eat this dish.
Yue Baohua fried a few more dishes and finished his work. He went upstairs to thank Boss Qiao for his understanding and for defending him.
"Boss Qiao, how was the meal?"
"Do I even need to ask this?" Qiao Qiming put down his spoon. "I was just telling Junxian that I escaped a disaster at sea. After I got ashore, I was still in shock and was afraid that his grandmother would notice something was wrong. So I passed by your shop and saw that the lights were still on. You cooked two dishes, a fish rice and a steamed grouper. I calmed down, ate my fill, and then went home. That's how I hid it from his grandmother."
The Qiao family was a wealthy family from the Ningbo business community in Shanghai. When the Anti-Japanese War broke out in 1937, Qiao Qiming's eldest brother took the Qiao family's factory and moved westward along the Yangtze River to support the war. Qiao Qiming came to the port city in order to allow this line to avoid risks and preserve family strength.
However, the war was difficult and cruel. As a Chinese with blood, how could Qiao Qiming be willing to live in peace?
Almost all of the Qiao family's ships were destroyed during the War of Resistance Against Japan. Qiao Qiming then worked with wealthy businessmen in Southeast Asia to purchase trucks that were discarded by plantations in Southeast Asia. After repairing them, they were sent back to China. They shuttled between the flames of war, transporting supplies from the port city to Wuhan, from Wuhan to Chongqing, from Hanoi to Nanning, and from Nanning to Kunming. Until the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Qiao family could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Later in the early 1950s, the Korean War broke out and overseas blockades were imposed on China. Urgently needed supplies for the country entered through Hong Kong and Macau. At that time, Britain and the United States joined forces, and the British Hong Kong authorities cracked down severely. In order to transport these supplies, Qiao Qiming often escorted them personally.
Due to all the hardships he went through over the years, Qiao Qiming's once lush hair has now been reduced to just a few sparse strands.
Yue Baohua sighed: "It was really hard and dangerous back then. It was not easy for Boss Qiao."
"Oh, by the way! Baohua, I'm going to Beijing and I won't come to your place for dinner for most of the month." Qiao Qiming said.
Hearing the word "Beijing", Yue Baohua's heart moved, and he asked: "Boss Qiao is going to Beijing?"
"When the country was under blockade, my grandfather transported supplies to the country. Now that the country is open, mainland leaders have invited my grandfather to Beijing," said Qiao Junxian.
Hearing this, Yue Baohua, who had never caused trouble for others, said excitedly: "Boss Qiao, can you help me?"
Qiao Qiming frowned: "Baohua, we have been friends for more than 20 years, just tell me what you want to say."
"I want to go to the northwest to take Zhirong's ashes back to Yuecheng for burial, and bring Zhirong's daughter to Hong Kong, but it's difficult to go to the northwest. Can you help me ask?" Yue Baohua's voice trembled, "This is my only bloodline."
"Don't worry, I'll find a way for you." Qiao Qiming agreed.
"Boss Qiao, thank you!"
"What are you talking about? Put yourself in my shoes. I also returned to Shanghai as soon as the country opened. My brother..." Boss Qiao sighed heavily, "I will definitely do my best."
After seeing off the grandfather and grandson of the Qiao family, Yue Baohua returned to the kitchen.
After lunch, the master and his disciples sat together to eat. The three disciples looked at Yue Baohua from time to time, but Yue Baohua was completely unaware and just ate his meal.
After dinner, Yue Baohua went upstairs to his office. As he was walking up the stairs, his third apprentice called him, "Master, can I talk to you?"
Yue Baohua turned around and said, "Okay."
Yue Baohua walked into the office and sat down on the big chair.
The third apprentice sat opposite him and said, "Master, I am over thirty-four years old and want to go out and try my luck."
Yue Baohua stared at him, as if trying to find some answer from his face. The third disciple's forehead was sweating when he looked at him.
The third apprentice suddenly found that he needed to muster up the courage to talk to his master, but for his own future, he still said: "You always told us that if we want to go out on our own, you will support us, right?"
"That's right." Yue Baohua looked at him, "As long as you think it through clearly."
"I've thought it through. I'm married and have a son and a daughter. It's time to start my career." The third disciple confirmed again.
"Okay!" Yue Baohua nodded in agreement.
Lou Jiafu said, "I want to leave early, what do you think?"
Yue Baohua sighed softly, "So urgent? That's fine. You don't need to work at the night market anymore. Go and say goodbye to your brothers. When Sister Hua has settled the accounts, I'll ask her to pay you the wages."
Lou Jiafu never thought that the master would let him go so easily. The master was old and basically didn't cook except for regular customers. The apprentices were the main cooks. Except for the eldest brother who had left long ago, he and Ding Shengqiang were the best cooks among the five of them. After Ding Shengqiang left, he was the only one left to carry the responsibilities. Now that he had left, could the remaining three apprentices and the group of young apprentices still support Baohualou? If he went to Shenghualou across the street, Shenghualou would be even more powerful. Did the master not try to keep him?
Even if the master tried to keep him, he would still leave. However, Lou Jiafu was still very disappointed with the master's attitude. He said, "Then I'm leaving."
"Go ahead!"
Yue Baohua watched his third apprentice close the door, lit a cigarette, took two puffs, took out his wallet from his pocket, opened it, and inside were the photos that Zhirong had sent to his senior brother many years ago.
In the photo, Zhirong was wearing a Zhongshan suit and holding the hand of a little girl about ten years old. Yue Baohua looked at the photo and his hand holding the cigarette began to tremble.
Regardless of whether Mr. Qiao can help him or not, he is determined to go to the Northwest. Moreover, the journey to the Northwest is long and arduous, with mountains high and rivers deep. It is unknown how long it will take. It is not easy to get the child out either, so he may have to make several trips.
The third apprentice was skilled in cooking and eloquent. Originally, the restaurant should have been managed by him during his absence. However, he was not sure about the character of the third apprentice. If he skipped him and let the fourth apprentice take charge, the third apprentice would not accept it, and the fourth apprentice would not be able to control him. Now he asked to leave, which was what Yue Baohua wanted.
The phone rang, Yue Baohua picked up the phone, and it was Qiao Junxian on the other end of the line: "Uncle Hua, grandpa means that you can go to the mainland as our entourage, and when he meets his old friend, he will ask your old friend for help, what do you think?"
How great is this kindness? Yue Baohua's voice trembled: "Thank you very much!"
Qiao Junxian heard the emotion in his voice and comforted him, "Don't worry, we'll go together and bring your granddaughter here."
"Um!"
After hanging up the phone, Yue Baohua looked at the child in the photo and said, "Ningning, grandpa will pick you up soon!"
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