A sign was affixed to the tricycle food cart: [Fried Dough Drops - 10 yuan/serving]
The caption was also quite interesting.
"The Enyuan Residence at Nine Gates Snacks is good, but it’s ultimately just an imitation. It still lacks a little something compared to this lady’s skill. It’s rare to find something this delicious in the Capital City. I’m in for a real treat tonight."
This...
Wang Peixing scratched his head. ’Something’s not right. Shang Mingke rarely posts on social media. Even when he does, he usually just shares national news or something similar.’
’What in the world is going on?’
...
Under the overpass, Shang Mingke took back his phone with a dark expression on his face.
"Alright now! Don’t look so grim, Old Shang. It’s a joy to help others!"
Shang Mingke snorted.
’This Boss Su usually seems like such a steady person,’ he thought. ’How is it that the more I get to know him, the more unreliable he gets?’
A moment ago, he had insisted on taking his phone to post on social media, claiming the woman worked hard and that a single post from someone of Shang Mingke’s status could multiply her business severalfold.
How could he refuse to help with something like that?
What a classic case of guilt-tripping!
It had left Shang Mingke completely stunned.
Sure enough, as soon as Shang Mingke got his phone back, he could see the notification count for the post increasing before his very eyes.
[President Zhang of City Rail: Enjoying yourself, President Shang? I’ll head over for a taste right after my meeting. Don’t leave too soon, I’ll bring some wine!]
[Chairman Li of the Group: Mingke, what’s this? Hehe, how could you find a place with such flavor in the Capital City and not invite me? It does look interesting.]
[Chairman Zhang of the Third Company: If President Shang recommends it, we must go! I’ll send out a notice and have all our employees go for a taste!]
[...]
Shang Mingke put a hand to his forehead. He felt like a scholar trying to reason with a brute—it was completely useless.
"Don’t look so grim, Old Shang!" Su Chen had completely thrown caution to the wind now. "Do you know who she is?"
"Who?" Shang Mingke’s gaze followed the direction Su Chen was pointing.
"Do you know the origin of these fried dough drops?" Su Chen asked again.
"What’s the origin?"
Seeing Su Chen strike a pose, Bai Xiaobo whispered, "Here we go, the boss is about to show off again!"
He Shuting pinched him. "If you know so much, then you tell it! If you don’t know anything, then shut your mouth. I love hearing our boss tell stories!"
As she finished, He Shuting’s eyes curved into smiling crescents.
"Legend has it that fried dough drops were first invented by an old woman and her daughter at Qi Family Bridge, just outside Peace Gate. Back then, the two of them opened a restaurant called Guangfu Restaurant, and during the Republican era, it became a beloved local spot."
The moment Su Chen began to speak, everyone fell silent.
"Later, many people scrambled to imitate the recipe. The one who did it best was Dong Enyuan Inn, located in Da Li Shamo Alley outside Qianmen."
Shang Mingke drew in a breath. "You mean the Enyuan Residence in Nine Gates Snacks?"
Men always have a strong interest in such apocryphal historical tales, and Su Chen had successfully piqued Shang Mingke’s curiosity.
"It became a hit, you see, so Enyuan Residence opened two branches—an eastern and a western one, called the East Counter and the West Counter. Later, during the public-private partnership movement, Enyuan Residence became state-owned and was renamed Qianjin Restaurant. It wasn’t until twenty years ago that it closed for good due to demolition, and its trade name was considered completely lost."
"The Enyuan Residence at Nine Gates Snacks was opened by the second-generation heir. Nowadays, their dough drops are all machine-processed. They switched from small woks to a large cauldron for frying, but since tossing a big cauldron is too much work, they just push the food around with a spatula. When costs got too high, they replaced the hand-sliced beef strips with ground meat made from leftover beef scraps. After all those changes, they managed to get the trade name back, but the flavor is a far cry from what it once was."
Shang Mingke was still puzzled. "But what does this have to do with this woman?"
Su Chen chuckled slyly. "Ah, that’s the part you don’t know. Back when the matriarch of the Mu Family and her daughter were running Guangfu Restaurant, they got so busy they hired one of their neighbors to help out."
"The recipe for fried dough drops wasn’t some huge secret. Even after the neighbor learned it, she never had any intention of striking out on her own. After Guangfu Restaurant eventually closed and the Mu Family was left with no heir, their craft was considered lost. But that neighbor’s family..."
Su Chen jutted his chin in the woman’s direction. "That’s her lineage."
Shang Mingke sucked in a sharp breath, his curiosity now fully ignited. "If that’s the case, why doesn’t she open a restaurant? She could call it Guangfu Restaurant, reclaim the trade name, and pass on the craft!"
Su Chen linked his hands behind his head. "And there you have it. It’s the same reason why even places like Cuihua Building are gradually losing their traditional culinary arts. Just look—twenty minutes have passed, and she’s only now getting ready to start cooking. A lot of these old ways just aren’t suited for modern life anymore."
After Su Chen spoke, a strange feeling settled over the group—as if they had gained something, yet lost something at the same time.
Zhang Li said thoughtfully, "That’s so true. Back when I worked at Xinghui, whenever I scrolled past something delicious-looking online, I’d tell myself I’d make it when I got home. But every day, by the time I actually got home, all I wanted to do was collapse into bed."
"Tell me about it..." Liu Shengnan also sighed. "These days, good food has become a luxury. Making it yourself is an even greater one. I guess what most people are missing is time for themselves."
Without anyone realizing it, the conversation had suddenly taken a profound turn.
Su Chen sounded a bit wistful. "Delicious will become more and more refined in the future. The 19th floor, especially, will one day serve only true gourmet cuisine."
"Boss Su."
Su Chen turned to look at Shang Mingke.
"I have a feeling that your company is destined to become a dazzling star in the culinary world."
Shang Mingke said this from the bottom of his heart.
From his business perspective, there truly didn’t seem to be another restaurant in this day and age so singularly focused on elevating the quality of its cuisine.