Chapter 205 - 140: Codename: Romantic Encounter
Zhou Yan slowly opened his eyes, and two trails of tears slid from their corners.
He lay there for a long while, his eyes vacant and lifeless, before his gaze finally began to shift.
It felt as if he had watched an incredibly long film, witnessing over a decade of the old lady’s most arduous years. He had seen the people of that era and the efforts and sacrifices they made to defend their homeland.
The emotional impact was intense. After taking a moment to recover, Zhou Yan climbed out of bed, shook his groggy head, and switched on the bedside lamp. He picked up his watch from the nightstand and glanced at it.
Eight-thirty.
He had lain down to sleep around eight.
Since exiting the memory, he must have been lying here for twenty to thirty minutes.
’So, when I enter a memory, it’s highly likely that time doesn’t pass in the outside world.’
’Or, just like when I absorb a recipe, time only freezes for two or three minutes.’
’That’s good. This way, I won’t have to worry about getting stuck in a memory for hours, completely unaware.’
He took a notebook from the bedside cabinet, uncapped his Parker fountain pen, and quickly jotted down a few names. Then he drew lines between them, mapping out their relationships.
’The once-dashing Duan Xingbang has passed away. The fact that Qiu Qi remains in the Qiu Family’s Old Mansion, rather than the Duan Family’s Old Mansion where she spent most of her married life, suggests her lingering regrets aren’t related to Duan Xingbang, who died of old age. It’s more likely they stem from Wang Yu, the man she was once engaged to but was separated from by the war.’
He drew a line extending from Wang Yu’s name and wrote "Wang Ran" beside it. After a pause, he added a question mark.
After the founding of the People’s Republic, Wang Yu was escorted back to Jiazhou to stand trial.
He had served as a high-ranking official in the Nationalist Party and was long active in the coastal areas of Hong Kong, Macao, and Guangdong. He should have been among the easiest to leave the country.
In Zhang Shufen’s memory, Zhou Yan had seen a small portion of the materials Zhou Yi had compiled about him. Wang Yu had joined the Communist Party in 1941 to become an undercover agent, primarily responsible for using Nationalist Party channels to transport desperately needed medicine for the Communists.
Unfortunately, both his contact and his handler had been killed in action, making it incredibly difficult for him to prove his identity. Zhou Yi took a three-month leave and spent nearly the entire time working on the case, calling in numerous favors until he finally found a few leads.
After the information was submitted, Zhang Shufen had no way to follow up, and no one ever notified her of the outcome. Thus, Wang Yu’s ultimate fate remained to be investigated.
’Investigating this now shouldn’t be too hard. I can ask my uncle to pull the records. As long as it’s not classified, I’ll definitely be able to find out what happened.’
Zhou Yan hoped Wang was Wang Yu, yet at the same time, he hoped he wasn’t.
Because Wang Yu’s life had been one of immense suffering.
"With our nation in peril and our land shattered, how can I think of starting a family? I must dedicate myself to our country; saving it comes first!"
His words seemed to echo in Zhou Yan’s ears, a thunderous, rousing cry.
He had served his country without regret, but at the cost of his own happiness for a lifetime.
Zhou Yan stared at the names on the paper as a series of vivid faces flashed before his eyes. It was a long time before he finally closed the notebook.
’Perhaps, in their own minds, many of these memories have already faded.’
’How fortunate I am to be able to see them as they were in their youth, all through the fragments of Zhang Shufen’s memory.’
"Praise be to the old lady!" Zhou Yan said to himself with a smile.
Now that he had untangled the relationships, his first step tomorrow would be to find Wang and test his theory.
After that, he would take a trip to the Qiu Family in Jiazhou to meet Qiu Qi. He needed to figure out how to use the information he now possessed to help her find peace.
Braised Beef!
Zhou Yan opened his system panel and looked at the shimmering, golden [Braised Beef] recipe.
This was his key to opening that door.
The braised beef dish must hold some profound significance for Qiu Qi.
Lying back down, Zhou Yan tapped open the recipe.
After a moment of blankness, the knowledge flooded into his mind.
Zhou Yan had already mastered Braised Beef to the [Decent] level.
Therefore, he quickly absorbed the advanced experience package for the dish and snapped back to reality.
[Braised Beef (Advanced): 99,999/100,000]
The level for Braised Beef on his panel updated instantly.
He glanced at his other stats.
Fire Control, Seasoning, and Knife Skills had all improved significantly!
’Just as I thought, cooking intensively every day really raises my proficiency and skill level.’
’Nice!’
’Once I’ve settled this business, I can add braised beef to the menu!’
Zhou Yan pulled the covers over himself and was out like a light.
...
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Master Zhou and Master Zhou rode their bikes out to buy groceries.
"I heard they’re getting rid of ration coupons," Zhou Miao said to Zhou Yan as they rode. "Soon, the price of meat at the street stalls and the co-op will be the same. The policy will apply to pork, beef, and lamb. They’ve already started a pilot program in Jiazhou over the last couple of days."
Zhou Yan’s eyes lit up. "Really? If Jiazhou has started, Suji is sure to follow. Otherwise, with a price difference like that, it’d be worth making the trip to Jiazhou!"
This was great news for private business owners like them. His restaurant, in particular, was already using over a hundred pounds of meat every day.
Once the prices were decontrolled, his meat costs could be cut by nearly half.
If the menu prices stayed the same, the gross margin on meat-heavy dishes would jump from 50% to over 70%.
Of course, he could also lower the prices on some dishes or increase portion sizes to offer better value and attract more customers.
Take the braised pork ribs, for instance. They currently sold for 1.60 per serving. Using half a pound of ribs, the ingredient cost was 1.10, leaving a gross profit of only fifty cents. It sold decently, but he often had one or two portions left over, so it wasn’t a strong earner.
If the price of ribs dropped from 1.80 per pound to 90 cents per pound, the ingredient cost would fall to just 65 cents. The gross profit would be nearly a full yuan.
Even if revenue stayed the same, the restaurant’s net profit would see a massive boost.