"Grandpa, what's fun to do in Thailand?" Xiao Qi asked excitedly on the plane.
"Since Xiaoqi loves looking in the mirror so much, our first stop in Thailand should be a good meal, then we can stroll around Qiao Garden and take Xiaoqi to the Beauty Mirror Stone!"
Little Qi, who loves looking in the mirror, exclaimed with sparkling eyes: "A beauty mirror stone? Little Qi wants to look in it! Little Qi wants to look in it!"
Han Fei chuckled and tapped Xiao Qi's forehead: "Alright, take good care of yourself then."
Xiao Wu tugged at Xiao Liu and whispered, "Oh no, oh no, Xiao Qi gets so engrossed in looking in the mirror, how much time will that waste?"
Xiao Liu glared at him: "Didn't Grandpa say we should eat our fill before going? Anyway, I'm already full. Wait for how my sister is doing. You're the older brother, can't you even wait a little while?"
Xiao Wu pouted, "Okay, okay, I was wrong! Sigh, why am I not the younger brother!"
Our first stop with the kids was Thailand, a hidden gem of a tourist city. It's a less-traveled and interesting place. Visiting Qintong Ancient Town felt like being in Shaanxi, but it's actually an ancient town in Jiangsu.
Seeing the card with "Secret Room" written on it pasted on the wooden board, Xiao Wu became interested: "Is there any treasure inside? I want to be the first to bravely enter the secret room!"
Xiao Wu darted into the narrow passage in a flash, and the burly bodyguard followed with great difficulty, turning sideways.
"What? It's just a narrow passage! There's no treasure at all!" Xiao Wu reached the other end of the passage, utterly disappointed, and stomped his feet in frustration: "I got all excited for nothing, it's not fun at all!"
Han Fei hired a tour guide, who explained, "The inscription on this plaque was written by the President."
"The President?" Xiao Liu asked curiously, "The same as the former local tyrant?"
The tour guide was amused: "This president's name was Xu Shichang, and he invented the modern police system."
The two boys listened with great interest, but Xiao Qi's mind had already wandered off. She tugged at Han Fei's sleeve and asked, "Grandpa, when are we going to eat our fill, and when are we going to the Beauty Mirror Stone?"
Upon hearing this, the tour guide laughed and said, "I'll take you to eat some later, our most famous Thai crab meat buns!"
"This is a very famous crab roe bun shop in our area, and it has even been featured on CCTV!"
Xiao Wu muttered, "It can't possibly taste as good as my grandpa's meat buns!"
Xiao Liu nodded: "Yes!"
Xiao Qi nodded vigorously: "Grandpa is invincible!"
Han Fei was amused by the three little cubs. He hadn't expected that in front of outsiders, they would still boast like this.
"There are always people better than you, and there is always something beyond your reach. There is never a first place in the world of food. There will always be something better that you haven't discovered yet, and there will always be something better that comes later. There is no end to the world of food."
"Grandpa, don't be discouraged! I think you're number one in the world of steamed buns!" Xiao Wu raised his thumb and hummed twice, "There's no way there can be a better steamed bun than Grandpa's meat buns, absolutely not!"
At the dining table, Xiao Wu wolfed down his food, as if he could hear the sound of being slapped in the face.
"Delicious! How can it be so delicious!" Xiao Wu exclaimed, his mouth greasy from eating.
The crab roe bun is huge and heavy; once broken open, it's filled with crab roe and crab paste.
Little Wu ate with gusto, biting and sucking, until his eyebrows almost fell off from the deliciousness.
Although both were boys, Xiao Liu was much more refined and meticulous than him. He first bit open a thin layer of the bun skin, blew on it, and then began to gently sip the soup.
Xiao Liu squinted his eyes, his eyebrows curving upwards, clearly delighted by the delicious soup. The sweet and savory flavor danced on his taste buds, making him eager to take a big bite. He forgot all about manners and gradually ate more and more, finding it increasingly delicious.
Han Fei didn't eat immediately. Instead, he observed the customers in the restaurant. They were dressed differently and spoke different dialects. There were many private cars parked in front of the restaurant, most of whom had driven from afar. There were very few locals actually eating there.
After these people finish eating, they pack a lot of food to take home, and most of what they pack is raw.
There are experienced chefs making the buns on-site behind the glass. Every single one is made to order, and there are discounts available. You can take away 10 cooked buns for 90 yuan or 12 raw buns for 99 yuan.
For less than 100 yuan, you can get 12 raw steamed buns, freeze them at home, and eat them whenever you want. They also don't contain preservatives.
Anyone would choose the crab roe buns that cost around 8 yuan each, no wonder Han's frozen buns aren't doing well here.
This is just one of the shops that tourists like to visit. It's actually on the higher end of the price range, and it's understandable that the prices are always a bit higher for tourists.
I haven't yet visited the crab roe bun shops that are truly popular with the locals and offer genuine local specialties; perhaps those would be even better value for money.
Xiaoqi took a bite and put it down. She licked her lips. The little girl was actually very hungry, but she looked at her grandfather with her big eyes, then at her two good-for-nothing brothers, and said in a soft, childish voice, "It's not tasty, not tasty at all! Xiaoqi doesn't like it! Xiaoqi only likes the meat buns that Grandpa makes!"
Han Fei was taken aback, and the two little boys froze in their eating of steamed buns.
Xiaoqi raised her voice: "Xiaoqi thinks it tastes fishy, Xiaoqi doesn't like it, she doesn't like it at all!"
The locals sitting at the next table laughed heartily: "Oh my, this young lady has a good palate! Indeed, the crab roe at this restaurant is a bit fishy. They're just trying to fool tourists. If we weren't hungry and happened to be nearby, we wouldn't have come in to eat here!"
"We locals love to go for dim sum. The crab roe buns at dim sum restaurants are the authentic ones for us! They're not this big, but that's where the real essence is! This bun is made bigger by putting too much meat and pork fat in it, so there's actually not much crab roe!"
The tour guide smiled awkwardly: "Indeed, this is the place tourists like to come to the most, after all, it's been featured on CCTV."
The locals scoffed, "So what if you're on TV? It just means you have connections! Come on, I'll take you to eat authentic crab roe buns! Besides crab roe buns, the dim sum restaurants also have many other local delicacies!"
There were three locals at the table, two men and one woman, all of whom were warm and hospitable. The middle-aged woman, in particular, exclaimed upon seeing Xiao Wu, "An angel is weeping!"
Xiao Wu wore a mask the whole way, and only took it off to eat. I didn't expect to be recognized so quickly.
Xiao Wu finally realized: I think I've become famous.
Han Fei did not waste the food; instead, he packed up all the crab meat buns on the table to study later.
We followed the locals to the local morning tea street.
The locals enthusiastically introduced: "We have steamed buns, braised dried bean curd strips, steamed dumplings, and everything else! Xinghua is famous for its crabs, and we have crab roe buns all year round. From June to September, the crabs are roe-rich, and the crabs are roe-rich, so you'll definitely fall in love with our city and want to stay here for morning tea every day!"
Along the seemingly endless tree-lined path, rows of morning tea shops line the roadside, and bicycles are parked everywhere. Many of the visitors are locals who have walked here, clearly indicating that this is a culinary paradise exclusively for the locals, a secret haven that they haven't yet revealed to tourists from other places.
The locals, speaking in their local dialect, ordered a table full of morning tea and said with a smile, "It's on me, eat whatever you like!"
Han Fei shook his head: "We can't do that. We've already delayed your business by bringing us here for morning tea. We can't let you spend money on this. I have to pay for this meal."
After some refusals, Han Fei still lost. He couldn't handle the enthusiasm of the locals. In fact, the biggest reason was that this middle-aged woman was a true fan of Xiao Wu.
This can be considered as Han Fei reaping the benefits of his grandson's legacy.
"This hot dried bean curd strips are a must-order! You guys have to try them!"
The middle-aged woman was taking pictures like crazy, which made Xiao Wu a little embarrassed to wolf down his food. He could only take small bites and pretend to eat.
A layer of seasoned oil is poured over the dried bean curd strips, and the aroma is instantly released. The super tender texture makes Xiao Wu forget about maintaining his image and eat it in big bites, with dried bean curd strips sticking to his mouth.
In addition to the local specialty crab roe buns, there were also local meat buns on the table.
Han Fei's first choice was a meat bun. He took a bite and found that the skin was thin and the soup was plentiful. The savory filling contained chopped scallions, but no ginger. The meat was quite large, almost the same size as a typical Han's bun. With its thin skin, it seemed to contain even more meat.
Fresh steamed buns are only 3 yuan each, so who would buy frozen ones?
Han Fei narrowed his eyes, pondering his future development plans in this area.
Xiaoqi pursed her lips, and when the enthusiastic aunt put food on her plate, she turned her head away and refused to eat any of it.
"Little one, this won't do. Picky eating will stunt your growth." The middle-aged woman spoke earnestly. She loved Xiao Wu, and by extension, Xiao Wu's younger siblings were also her darlings, the apple of her eye. Especially this little girl, whose eyes were so beautiful, so fair and tender, she was simply a little angel.
Han Fei looked at his little Qi, who was clearly swallowing her saliva but stubbornly refusing to eat, and felt a surge of tenderness in his heart. He reached out and picked up a crab roe bun and put it into the little girl's bowl, saying lovingly, "Grandpa wants to learn this. Little Qi, eat a couple more and remember the taste. In the future, when Grandpa makes it, Little Qi will be able to tell which parts are different from the others."
"Grandpa, are you here to learn?" Xiaoqi blinked her big eyes. "But Grandpa is already very good!"
"The cuisine of China is vast and profound, and there is no end to learning. Grandpa also wants to create some delicious new products. The signature products will not change, but we must always incorporate fresh ideas to keep things fresh and keep the business running."
"Then...then Xiaoqi will have to make the sacrifice and help Grandpa taste it, and remember its flavor." Xiaoqi emphasized in her childish voice, "It's definitely not because Xiaoqi likes to eat it, Xiaoqi's favorite food is still Grandpa's cooking!"
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