Chapter 36 Yangzhou Fried Rice
During dinner last night, Song Ziqiang learned that they were going to bury Yue Zhirong today, so he personally arranged for the bureau's car to pick them up.
Early in the morning, the car first went to the hotel to pick up Yue Ning and his grandson, and then picked up Grandpa Zhou and Niu Hebang, and went to the mountains outside the city together.
When he got to the mountain, Yue Baohua found his wife's tomb with ease. There were two names engraved on the tombstone, "Zhang A-di" in black and "Yue Baohua" in red. This tombstone was renovated when he came back last time, and the person who erected the tombstone, he deceived himself and engraved "filial son Yue Zhirong".
That year, there was a flood from the Huaihe River to the Pearl River Basin, and he begged along the way. On the way, he met a little girl who was not very good at begging and was almost dying of hunger, so he gave her a bite of food, and she followed him all the way. When he arrived in Yuecheng, he went to Fuyunlou to do odd jobs and asked Boss Jiang to give the little girl a bite of food. Boss Jiang appreciated him, and Fuyunlou also needed someone to wash dishes, so he arranged for the girl to work as a dishwasher in Fuyunlou.
They grew up together and later got married. Giving birth is like walking through the gates of hell for a woman. Her health deteriorated after giving birth to Zhirong, and she died within two years. When she died, Yuecheng was occupied by the Japanese, and no one knew how long she would live. She only said: "I will bear all the bad luck and misfortune alone. You two must live well."
But she couldn't take away all the bad luck and misfortune. Yue Baohua held her son's urn, tears falling drop by drop: "Adi, I brought Zhirong back and buried him next to you..."
Yue Baohua burst into tears, and Yue Ning knelt beside him and burned paper. Yue Baohua looked at Yue Ning with tears in his eyes: "Adi, look at Ningning, this is Zhirong's daughter, Zhirong taught her very well."
Yue Ning said: "Grandma, you and Dad should have met, right? You guys are fine over there, and Grandpa and I will be fine here too. I will take good care of Grandpa."
After comforting her grandfather, Yue Ning watched her father's ashes being buried in the ground. Looking at the words "filial daughter Yue Ning" on the tombstone, she finally fulfilled her promise to bring her father home.
After so many years, she has accepted the reality of her father's death. Just like she had talked to her father's photo, she knelt in front of her father's grave and said, "Dad, I know you regard Grandpa Luo as your father. But Uncle Luo really can't be involved too much. Brother Guoqiang is a good person, willing to learn and study, but if I take him to Hong Kong City now, I'm afraid there will be a lot of trouble. Baohua Building is also facing big problems now, and I need people around me who can work with me to deal with difficulties. Uncle Abang has a friendship with you, and Ma Yaoxing is very hardworking and has a fighting spirit. I will take them back. When Baohua Building is stable, Brother Guoqiang has practiced basic skills in Fuyun Building, and Uncle Luo faces reality, I will take him to Hong Kong City. You can tell Grandpa Luo in the underworld to rest assured that I will not give up Brother Guoqiang."
During dinner yesterday, Yue Ning shared with Song Ziqiang what she saw in the kitchen of Fuyunlou. She believes that the lack of enthusiasm in the kitchen of Fuyunlou is not only due to Luo Shichang's problem, but also to the lack of effective reward mechanism and promotion opportunities in state-owned restaurants. She specifically used Niu Hebang as an example, pointing out that if people like him who complain a lot but are quite capable are not given opportunities, they will only have a negative impact on other young employees. She suggested that Niu Hebang and Ma Yaoxing be included in the first list of people to go to Gangcheng for training.
Niu Hebang also kowtowed to Yue Zhirong: "Brother Zhirong, although you didn't teach me for a long time, I learned the most from you. Now Ningning is here, and seeing that I have a hard life, she wants to take me to Hong Kong City. Don't worry, I will help Ningning and Uncle Baohua."
Mr. Zhou sat on a rock and said, "Zhirong! The child has great potential! Don't worry!"
Yue Baohua has said too much to his son's photo these days. He wiped his son's tombstone again and looked at his wife's grave: "Adi, Zhirong, we, the grandson and I, will come to see you every year."
Yue Ning went down the mountain with his grandfather. Yue Baohua said, "Ningning, when grandpa dies, you should bury him here, together with your grandma and dad."
"I understand. Let's open the restaurant back in Yuecheng and spend half of our time there, so that grandma and dad can see us more often, okay?" Yue Ning said.
This child always says heartwarming words and tries his best to pull people out of pain so that they can look forward.
"Okay, drive back. Grandpa will guard the store in Yuecheng for you."
After getting down the mountain, the car first took Yue Baohua to the long-distance bus station.
Yue Ning talked to Qiao Junxian on the phone, and Qiao Junxian told her that there were too many news of this kind in Hong Kong. Even if he wanted to help keep the news hot, the attention had already declined. No matter how big the news was, the heat would soon pass.
How could this be possible? As an Internet celebrity boss who was often active in public in her previous life, how could she let the popularity drop at this time? It would be so frustrating if the reversal was silent! Yue Ning hurriedly asked his grandfather to go back and assigned him a task, which was to create topics.
At the long-distance bus station, Yue Ning saw her grandfather off to the door. It had only been a few days since he found his grandfather, but Yue Baohua was already reluctant to leave the child. He reached out and touched his granddaughter's face: "Ningning, you have to take good care of yourself." As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he felt that it was a bit redundant, as the child had lived alone for so many years.
Yue Ning smiled and asked, "Grandpa, am I fat?"
Being together every day, Yue Baohua didn't pay much attention to it. But now when she touched the child's face, she found that her cheeks had become much fuller, and without her noticing, the child seemed to have become a lot whiter.
"Don't worry, I'm here, drinking tea and cooking with Grandpa Zhou every day. Grandpa Zhou loves to eat so much, I'm sure I'll be fatter next time you see me."
When Mr. Zhou heard this, he was delighted: "Baohua, don't worry, I will take good care of Ningning."
"Uncle Hua, don't worry, she will take good care of me. Thanks to her, I fried more rice noodles yesterday than I did in half a month. When I went home and lay in bed, it took me half a day to recover from the pain in my waist," said Niu Hebang.
Niu Hebang's words made everyone laugh. Yue Baohua said, "Abang, I'll wait for you to go to Gangcheng."
"good."
"Then I'm leaving." Yue Baohua waved as he walked.
Yue Ning waved and shouted, "Grandpa, call me when you get home." This made Yue Baohua's eyes fill with tears again. After so many years, he finally had family members who cared about him again.
Yue Ning watched his grandfather disappear from his sight and returned to the car. The car from the Second Commercial Bureau sent the three of them to the entrance of Fuyunlou, and Niu Hebang had to go back to stir-fry beef noodles. Thinking of the cramps in his hands from flipping the wok last night, he didn't want to go in when he saw the sign of Fuyunlou, and the "culprit" who made him so tired was still smiling at him, and Niu Hebang didn't bother to look at her anymore.
Yue Ning followed Grandpa Zhou to his house. She was a "monk" from outside and had been chanting "sutras" all day yesterday. If she continued to "chant sutras" in Fuyun Building, she would be regarded as a wild monk who drove away the monks and would be hated by others.
Yesterday, she showed Director Song the problem of Luo Shichang, and used the opportunity of resolving the conflict between the waiter and the customer during dinner to let Director Song see that Manager Zhang's management level was just so-so. Director Song said that he would take Fuyunlou as an example, and hoped that he would succeed. Today, she still had tea and chatted with Grandpa Zhou, and would go to Fuyunlou for another day tomorrow.
"Ah Nu, you said yesterday that you would use broth to make Yangzhou fried rice, so I want to try it myself today." At the dinner table yesterday, Mr. Zhou asked her how to make Yangzhou fried rice, and he remembered it. He was embarrassed to ask Yue Ning to make it, so he could make it himself, right? Now that the little girl said she wanted to go to his house, he could always ask the little girl to make it for him, right?
Yue Ning laughed out loud: "Want to eat? If you want to eat, I'll make it for you."
"Think about it!" Mr. Zhou said "think" three times in a row.
“But there are some ingredients that you may not have at home.”
"I have prepared everything, old man." said Mr. Zhou.
"real?"
He was right. He had already soaked his sea cucumber, scallops, and mushrooms and put them in the refrigerator. He proudly took out the shrimp roe and said, "I'm going to use it to make wonton noodles. I also have fish maw. Do you want some?"
"Then that's fine."
He even took out a large bowl of rice from the refrigerator: "You need to use leftover rice for fried rice. I've already cooked it."
Ouch! Yesterday she only talked about the ingredients but didn't mention the rice. She said, "Who told you to use overnight rice? If you use overnight rice, the fragrance of freshly cooked rice will be gone. You are not a good gourmet."
"What about cooking it now?"
Yue Ning was reluctant to waste the rice and said, "Why don't we use this rice?"
"Cook it now, cook it now. I'll use this rice to make fried rice later in the evening." The old man didn't want this bowl of fried rice to have any flaws.
Yue Ning washes rice: "This rice should be harder than the rice we usually eat, so that the rice grains will be distinct when fried." Yue Ning added water and asked the nanny Afang to cook the rice.
Mr. Zhou let her smell the ham as if he was offering her a treasure: "My dear, how about this ham?"
Yue Ning leaned in to smell it. After a lifetime, he could smell the aroma of the premium Jinhua ham again: "It's my honor to cook with it."
The old man was so happy to get the affirmation that he couldn't stop smiling.
It will take some time for the rice to cook. Yue Ning handed the stove to Afang. Grandpa Zhou said to Afang: "We will have fried rice for lunch. You can use the remaining chicken soup to make winter melon soup."
The old man took Yue Ning to the patio to drink tea. The old man boiled water and Yue Ning picked up the tea cake and smelled it.
"My own stored tea, all the tea cakes I saved were lost in the chaos. This tea cake is only three years old."
"It already has the aroma of glutinous rice, it's ready!" Yue Ning picked up the kettle to heat the tea set.
The old man was a little surprised: "You also know about tea."
Yue Ning washed the tea: "Grandma sent tea to Uncle Mo, so Uncle Mo took my daughter and I to drink tea. Uncle Mo is..."
Yue Ning started chatting with the old man. When the old man heard about her experience, he was happy for her and said, "Luckily, you met such a good person. If it weren't for your mom, your dad would be in Fuyun Building, and Fuyun Building wouldn't be what it is today."
Yue Ning thought of the woman who ran away to Hong Kong to be a mistress, poured tea and said, "Let's not talk about her."
The low door was pushed open. Yue Ning looked back and saw a middle-aged lady dressed quite fashionably walked in. Mr. Zhou asked, "Wenting, why are you back?"
"Yesterday, a batch of pork supplied to Hong Kong was found to be unqualified in random inspection and was contaminated. I came back to have a meeting with the slaughterhouse. The people from the slaughterhouse are still on their way, so I need some time to come and see you." The lady put down her bag.
Yue Ning stood up, and Grandpa Zhou introduced him, "Fuyunlou used to have a little Master Yue, Yue Zhirong, do you remember him?"
“I remember that Chef Xiao Yue cooked for me at my wedding banquet. His dishes were delicious,” said the lady.
"This is Master Xiaoyue's daughter." Grandpa Zhou said, "Ningning, this is my daughter."
Grandpa Zhou just called her Wenting, so her full name should be Zhou Wenting. Yue Ning nodded: "Hello, Aunt Zhou, I am Yue Ning."
"I remember that chubby little girl." Zhou Wenting looked at her carefully. "She has grown up and is completely different from when she was little. Her eyebrows and eyes are still very similar to Master Xiao Yue's."
Yue Ning no longer has any impression of this Aunt Zhou.
Zhou Wenting turned to the old man and said, "I remember you said that Master Xiao Yue..." Perhaps realizing that Yue Ning was there, Zhou Wenting stopped talking.
Yue Ning said: "My father passed away five years ago. My grandfather went to the northwest and found me."
"Oh! I'm glad you're back."
Yue Ning said, "Grandpa Zhou, Aunt Zhou, I'm going to cook. You two can chat for a while."
"How can we let the guests cook?" Zhou Wenting frowned, "Dad, take Ningning out to eat!"
"Auntie Zhou, you're welcome. Grandpa Zhou won't be able to sleep well at night if he doesn't have the fried rice I made today."
Yue Ning left the space for the father and daughter. A daughter who was busy outside took time to come back to visit her old father, so she let them have a good chat. She decided to make Yangzhou fried rice, and she asked Afang to go into the kitchen to cook together.
There are different opinions about the origin of Yangzhou fried rice. One says it originated in Yangzhou, another says it was introduced by a Huaiyang restaurant in Yuecheng during the Guangxu period, and another says it was made by Yangzhou chefs when they went overseas to make a living. Egg fried rice with some ingredients can be called Yangzhou fried rice, and it is also called Yangzhou fried rice with delicacies from land and sea.
Yue Ning wanted to give the father and daughter some space, but Grandpa Zhou came into the kitchen again and said, "I have to watch and learn from them."
Stir-fry the minced ginger until fragrant, stir-fry the diced chicken, and then stir-fry the diced ham. The ham is of excellent quality, and it exudes the unique aroma of aged ham as soon as it is put into the pot. Mr. Zhou is an expert in food. He bought green bamboo shoots, which are sweet. Stir-fry the duck gizzards, mushrooms, and sea cucumbers together, add chopped green onions, and pour in the scallops with the steaming soup. Add a spoonful of rice wine and chicken soup, bring to a boil over high heat, and simmer over low heat.
"How is it? Smells good, right?" Old Master Zhou followed the aroma like a mouse stealing oil.
My dad is really obsessed with eating, and Zhou Wenting has nothing to say.
Yue Ning smiled: "Grandpa Zhou, I haven't fried them yet. I'm cooking these ingredients in chicken soup now."
"It smells really good." When Grandpa Zhou smelled the aroma, he thought of yesterday's crispy glutinous rice chicken: "Wenting, let me tell you about yesterday, Ningning made crispy glutinous rice chicken..." Grandpa Zhou described yesterday's crispy glutinous rice chicken as unique in the world. Zhou Wenting didn't really care and replied casually: "I didn't have any to eat."
"You can eat there. Ningning will go to Gangcheng after the formalities are completed." Grandpa Zhou said, "Ningning's grandfather opened a restaurant in Gangcheng. When Ningning goes there, you can go to her place to eat."
"Okay!" Zhou Wenting answered casually.
The rice was cooked. Yue Ning scooped out the rice and broke it up with a spoon. Sure enough, each grain was distinct. She went to beat the eggs and mixed a small half of the egg liquid into the rice, making the rice grains evenly coated with golden color.
Yue Ning opened the lid of the pot, and a rich aroma rose up. Grandpa Zhou asked his daughter again: "It smells good, right? Isn't it?"
"It smells good." Zhou Wenting replied. It did smell good, but not as exaggerated as her father's.
Yue Ning separated the diced ingredients and the broth and asked Afang to add firewood, stir-fry the eggs over high heat, and put in the rice. At this time, she poured a spoonful of broth into the pot, and the rice rolled in the pot, and the aroma filled the air. Mr. Zhou had already started to take a deep breath, and even Zhou Wenting, who was not very interested in eating, swallowed unconsciously.
After the first wave of broth was absorbed by the rice, she poured the second spoonful. Broth must be added in batches, otherwise the fried rice will be soggy on the outside and the flavor will not penetrate into the inside. When the rice has absorbed all the broth, the rice will be tossed up and down with the frying spoon because it is difficult to flip the spoon on a wood stove. Then add the diced cooked ingredients, green beans and shrimps, the colors are colorful and the aroma is even more tempting.
It's already fragrant enough, and you still want to add chopped green onions? Zhou Wenting, who rushed back from Hong Kong City early in the morning, didn't show a hungry wolf-like look like her father, but her stomach sensed the deliciousness before her mouth did, and a "gurgle" was the most honest reaction.
Sprinkle shrimp roe on the dish before serving, stir-fry to allow the shrimp roe and rice to be fully mixed, then sprinkle with green chopped green onions and serve.
"It's time to eat."
Grandpa Zhou took the bowl and chopsticks, Ah Fang brought the winter melon soup, and Zhou Wenting followed Yue Ning to the dining room impatiently and put down the rice bowl. Grandpa Zhou did not hide his eagerness, immediately served a bowl of rice, tasted it first, and his face was full of satisfaction. As a cook, cooking for such diners is really a pleasure.
Zhou Wenting also picked up the bowl and took a mouthful of rice. Her already empty stomach gave her the most urgent signal. She took a few mouthfuls of rice in a row. Finally, her stomach was soothed and her face showed the same expression as her father's.
Remembering that her father said that the little girl was going to Hong Kong City and her grandfather opened a restaurant, Zhou Wenting asked: "Ningning, I just heard you say that you were going to Hong Kong City. Which restaurant is your grandfather's?"
"Baohua Building, I wonder if you have heard of it, Auntie." Yue Ning believed that the auntie must have heard of it. After all, Baohua Building has been at the center of public opinion recently.
Zhou Wenting put down her chopsticks and said, "Baohualou? Of course you've heard of it. It's the best restaurant in Mong Kok, and many gourmets love to patronize it."
"Isn't it?" Grandpa Zhou said, "Just say that if you have good skills, there will be people who know your stuff wherever you go. Boss Yue is Xiao Yue's father. When he cooked with Luo Changfa, he was better than Luo Changfa. Luo Changfa can be called a national famous chef, so how can Yue Baohua be worse?"
"Yes!" Zhou Wenting wondered in her heart whether she should tell the little girl that Baohua Building is facing a crisis recently. Maybe her grandfather didn't want the little girl to worry?
Yue Ning was thinking about something else: "Auntie, I just heard you say that you came back to deal with the pork contamination problem for Hong Kong. May I ask what you do for a living?"
"Your aunt is in charge of supplying fresh produce to Hong Kong. She works at the Hong Kong City Liaison Office, specializing in handling quality issues of fresh produce supplied to Hong Kong." Grandpa Zhou answered for his daughter.
"So that's how it is! When I was in the northwest, the cattle and sheep were raised by each family in the production team, and then the commune bought them all. To be honest, the cattle and sheep raised by the breeders in each production team are different. For example, the brigade takes care of me, and the sheep I raise graze on the nearby mountains. But some groups in the team will drive the cattle and sheep out for nomadic grazing. The sheep raised by these two breeding methods are different. When they arrive at the commune, they are only calculated according to age and weight. But as a cook, the flavor of mutton varies greatly due to different breeding methods. In this case, how do we judge and classify them?" Yue Ning couldn't help asking.
"This is a thorny issue we are facing right now. Hong Kong doesn't want our cattle and sheep now. They import cattle and sheep from Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and other places, and they distinguish between grain-fed and grass-fed. We supply them with vegetables, chickens, ducks, fish and pork, which are all supplied by designated farms and are relatively easier to control."
Yue Ning nodded to show that he understood, and then asked, "Chickens and ducks raised in different ways, and fish from different water sources, will have very different tastes. If I buy in bulk, how can I choose the better quality ones? I understand the situation of choosing at the vegetable market, I'm asking about the situation of buying in bulk."
Zhou Wenting explained: "After the goods arrive at the port, they will be distributed to the corresponding distributors, and everything has a traceability system. Just like the pork this time, problems were found during the market sampling, and then they were fed back to us, and we then found the corresponding slaughterhouse..."
Yue Ning asked questions while eating. Through communication, she roughly understood the current supply model of fresh food to Hong Kong. She also knew that in the port market, products from Thailand and Taiwan also occupied a part of the supply of vegetables, chicken, duck, fish and meat, and it was not a situation where mainland products dominated the market alone.
In the past, most of Hong Kong’s vegetables, chickens, ducks, fish and meat came from the mainland. Does this mean that the supply from the mainland will continue to expand in the future?
Yue Ning wondered how Uncle Agen and Sister Ge were doing now. If they could succeed, and if he could establish a good relationship with Aunt Zhou and understand the threshold of the fresh produce business for Hong Kong, he might be able to help Uncle Agen build a farm in the future.
Seeing Yue Ning pondering while asking, Mr. Zhou said, "Ning Ning hasn't even gone to Gangcheng yet, but you've already been thinking about the future operation of Baohua Building?"
Everyone was not familiar with each other yet, and speaking out at this time might seem too utilitarian, so Yue Ning nodded and responded: "Yes! Grandpa is old and has varicose veins in his legs, so I must help him. Auntie happened to be an expert in this area, so I took the opportunity to ask more questions. The more you know, the less likely you are to make mistakes. For us in the restaurant business, quality control is crucial."
"With you here at Baohualou, it will definitely grow bigger and bigger in Hong Kong City in the future." After finishing a bowl of rice, Mr. Zhou was about to get another bowl when he saw his daughter taking away the remaining rice. He thought to himself that he had not included her share in the first place, and she ate so much. However, he could only helplessly think, who said she was his daughter?
When Zhou Wenting heard this, she thought that Baohua Building was in crisis, and it was still unknown whether Baohua Building could overcome the difficulties.
She then asked, "Why haven't you seen Grandpa Ningning?"
"My grandfather just returned to Gangcheng this morning. There was a small problem in Baohua Building and he had to go back to deal with it." Yue Ning said.
A minor incident? Zhou Wenting looked at Yue Ning's young face, which still had a carefree smile on it. It seemed that the old man didn't want the child to worry. But she knew that it was probably not a minor matter.
Yue Ning was also worried. Grandpa was upright. Could he really think of a way to create a topic to attract attention? Could he really make a big deal out of it and solve the problem? Grandpa, when it's time to put down your face, you must be decisive.
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