Starting from a Bankrupt Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant

"Mrs. Zhao, we’d like an order of marinated beef, a spicy stir-fried pig liver, and a stir-fried cabbage with pork cracklings."

"We’d like to try an order of the marinated beef too."

The customers sat down, and soon, orders for the marinated beef started coming in.

One after another, plates of marinated beef were brought to the tables.

The marinated dishes at Zhou Yan Restaurant were the same price whether ordered by the plate or by the jin, which let the customers order without any worries.

After all, at many other restaurants, dishes sold by the plate were generally a bit more expensive.

"Mmm! This marinated beef smells incredible! And it has such a great bite to it."

"It’s perfect with drinks! Too bad I have to work and can’t drink."

"Three and a half yuan a jin is quite cheap. The last time I went to Jiazhou, I saw they were selling marinated beef for six or seven yuan a jin."

"That’s normal. Raw beef used to be two yuan a jin. One jin of raw beef only yields six liang of marinated meat, so even selling it at six yuan, you wouldn’t make much money."

"If beef prices hadn’t dropped today, I bet Boss Zhou wouldn’t have dared to put marinated beef on the menu."

The customers murmured amongst themselves, most of them full of praise for the marinated beef.

At three and a half yuan a jin, the price was quite acceptable.

Everyone knew beef was expensive. Since the cost was justifiable and it tasted great, customer satisfaction was naturally high.

Grandma had Zhou Miao cut her a piece from the end. She popped it into her mouth and chewed slowly. After swallowing, a smile spread across her face. "Zhou Yan really has a gift," she whispered. "This marinated beef is much better than the last two times he made it."

"That’s because Mom is a good teacher. If you ask me, it’s still a little lacking compared to yours," Zhou Miao said with a smile.

"It’s close enough. Even I might not be able to achieve this level every time." Grandma shook her head with a smile, her face full of gratification. "He’s truly diligent and eager to learn. It’s wonderful that he can carry on the craft."

"He’s really settled down lately," Zhou Miao nodded in agreement.

"Cut me half a jin of the fattier pig’s head meat," Grandma said. "Li Hua loves my marinated pig’s head meat the most. I was in such a rush this morning I didn’t have time to buy a pig’s head."

"You got it." Zhou Miao replied, picking out a piece of pig’s head meat that was about seventy percent fat. He quickly sliced it and packed it into an oiled paper bag.

Grandma took out her small embroidered wallet, counted out one yuan and thirty cents, and dropped it into the cash box on the side.

"Mom, what are you doing? Why are you paying?" Zhou Miao became a little frantic.

"What are you shouting about? You just work the chopping block, you think you can make decisions for the boss?" Grandma shot him a look, holding the neatly tied kraft paper bag. She smiled and said, "Just focus on cutting your marinated meat. Don’t make a fuss."

Zhou Miao looked helpless. A customer ordered marinated pig ears, and he got busy again.

When lunch service ended, four of the ten jin of beef prepared had already been sold.

The peak sales time for marinated meat was when the factory workers got off in the evening.

Eighty percent of the marinated meat was sold during that one hour, all to customers getting takeout to bring home.

"Grandma, let’s go. We’re going to see Grand-aunt," Zhou Yan said, taking two large baskets off his bicycle and wheeling it out.

"Let’s go." Grandma, who was already waiting at the door with a basket, came forward and held onto Zhou Yan as she got settled on the back of the bike.

"Go to the supply and marketing co-op and buy a jin of rock sugar to take with you. Don’t go empty-handed," Zhao Tieying said, coming over and stuffing a yuan into Zhou Yan’s pocket.

"Mom, I have money," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"Your money is your own. This is from me, for your grand-aunt’s sugar," Zhao Tieying laughed. "Ride carefully. Your grandma is holding the eggs."

"Got it," Zhou Yan replied. He made sure his grandmother was seated securely, then got on the bike. He first rode to the supply and marketing co-op to buy a jin of rock sugar before heading north in the direction his grandmother pointed.

"Grandma, what’s wrong with Grand-aunt’s health?" Zhou Yan asked curiously as he rode.

In his memory, he had only heard his mom mention once that she had bought tofu from his grand-aunt. Other than that, he had no memories related to this grand-aunt who was skilled at making tofu.

After all, she was Grandma’s cousin. His parents’ generation didn’t interact with her much, let alone Zhou Yan’s generation.

"She’s been frail since she was a child. Her husband passed away early, and she had to rely on making tofu to raise her kids." Grandma’s voice was tinged with heartache. "As the saying goes, there are three great hardships in life: poling a boat, forging iron, and making tofu."

"She’d wake up in the middle of the night to grind soybeans and make tofu, and at the crack of dawn, she’d have to carry it all to town to sell. Sometimes it would take her a whole day of selling before she could go home."

"All her illnesses are from exhaustion."

Zhou Yan fell silent. It was hard to imagine that a block of soft, white tofu represented a trade as arduous as poling a boat or forging iron. He asked, "How old is she? Can’t she retire yet?"

"Retire? I’m afraid that’s not in the cards for her in this lifetime." Grandma sighed and said no more.

The bicycle turned onto a country lane riddled with potholes, much worse than the roads in Zhou Village. Zhou Yan rode cautiously.

"It’s that house up ahead, the one that’s half-collapsed," Grandma said.

Zhou Yan looked ahead. By the side of the road was a rammed-earth house. Half of it had collapsed and was covered with a tarp and thatch. The remaining half looked like it was about to fall apart too; it probably wouldn’t survive the next rainy season.

Zhou Yan parked the bicycle, took the bag of rock sugar, and went up to knock on the door.

Grandma stood beside him, holding the eggs and the marinated meat.

"Lai Fu, get the door," a frail, elderly voice called from inside.

Then came the sound of light footsteps.

The latch was pulled back. Zhou Yan, a smile on his face, looked at the young man standing in the doorway and froze.

’It’s him?’

...