Starting from a Bankrupt Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant

"Grandpa’s favorite was the braised pork head?" Duan Yu Yan mused, looking at her grandmother. "Then, Grandma, is your favorite the braised beef?"

Mrs. Qiu gazed out the window in silence for a moment, then smiled wistfully. "Perhaps it is," she said.

Duan Yu Yan quietly watched her grandmother’s profile. ’She must be reminiscing about the past right now,’ she thought.

’My grandmother is so beautiful, though. Still a stunner, even at seventy.’

’Grandpa was so lucky.’

The dishes they ordered began to arrive one after another.

Duan Yu Yan really liked eating at Feiyan Restaurant. The food was delicious, the plating was exquisite, and the atmosphere was nice, making for a very pleasant dining experience.

As the dishes arrived today, however, her eyes were fixed on the braised pork head.

The braised pork head was sliced coin-thin, its color a glossy, ruddy red. Soaked through with the braising liquid, the pieces looked like amber, shimmering with a light sheen of oil. They were arranged in a circle around the edge of the plate, then piled high in the center, looking surprisingly beautiful and appetizing.

"The plating for this braised pork head is really exquisite. It doesn’t look like any I’ve seen before," Duan Yu Yan said, a little surprised.

"The meat itself looks about the same, but this cold-dish chef’s Knife Skills and plating are a good deal better than the last one’s," Mrs. Qiu said with a smile. She picked up a piece of the pork with her chopsticks, examining its texture and color closely before putting it in her mouth and chewing slowly.

Duan Yu Yan hesitated for a moment before she, too, picked up a piece of the braised pork. She turned it over and over, examining it for a long moment while frantically trying to psych herself up.

Before coming to Sichuan, she would have never eaten things like this—pork head, pig ears, pig tails... In her eyes, they were all rather disgusting foods.

In Xiangjiang, she mostly ate Western food.

Her father loved Sichuan Cuisine and had even hired a special chef for it back home. That chef cooked with a heavy hand, piling on the numbing and spicy flavors. He would even put Sichuan peppercorns in stir-fried bok choy. Those peppercorns, hidden among the leaves, were like little assassins; they had made her cry from the overwhelming numbing sensation more than once when she was a child.

So, most of the time, she chose to eat steak or the lighter fare of Yue cuisine.

She didn’t like fatty meat. When it came to Twice-Cooked Pork, she would only pick at the lean bits. But that was considered rude, so when eating out, she wouldn’t even touch the dish.

And pork head was a classic example of a half-fat, half-lean cut.

But this piece of braised pork, soaked through with the braising liquid, had taken on an amber hue that colored even the normally greasy-looking fat. It didn’t look oily at all.

Bringing it closer, she could smell the faint, spiced aroma of the braising liquid. It was... a little tempting.

’Just one bite! I’ll just see what Grandpa’s favorite braised pork head actually tasted like,’ Duan Yu Yan told herself, putting the piece into her mouth.

It wasn’t greasy like she’d imagined. As her teeth sank in, the texture was tender and soft, yet with a slight springiness. After a few chews, her mouth filled with a rich, savory flavor. It was luscious but not greasy, and the aroma of the braising spices was intense!

Hmm?

’Hey, this is pretty good!’

After she swallowed, the savory taste lingered. She couldn’t resist picking up another piece and popping it into her mouth.

When she and her dad had first arrived in Rongcheng at the beginning of the year, the local staff hosting them had taken them to eat braised beef. It was from a supposedly famous local shop specializing in braised meats. Business there was indeed booming, and the food was pretty good, too.

But that shop’s braising liquid was nowhere near as good as this one’s. It wasn’t as fragrant, and it was a little too salty.

"Grandma..." After eating three pieces in a row, Duan Yu Yan looked up at Mrs. Qiu, ready to share her thoughts. But just then, she saw a tear roll from the corner of her grandmother’s eye. She froze for a second, then asked softly, "Grandma, are you okay?"

Her grandmother raised a hand to gently wipe the corner of her eye, shaking her head with a smile. "I’m fine. I was just remembering some things. It’s been over twenty years... I never thought I’d taste this again."

"Over twenty years?" Duan Yu Yan was stunned. "I wasn’t even born then."

Mrs. Qiu put down her chopsticks and said softly, "Forget you—your father was barely in his early twenties back then. Before he left for Xiangjiang, your grandfather packed him, your great-uncle, and your Little Aunt a portion of this braised pork head and a bag of steamed buns, and put them on a train heading south."

Hearing this, Duan Yu Yan asked in confusion, "Grandma, then why didn’t you and Grandpa flee with them? You stayed behind and suffered so much."

Mrs. Qiu smiled, her tone even. "This is our home. Why would we flee? Your grandfather loved this land deeply. He always said that he studied abroad to gain knowledge for the sole purpose of developing and building up our country. Since he had chosen to return, he was never going to leave again."

"But Dad said it was Grandpa who made them leave," Duan Yu Yan said, still confused. "He even sewed several small gold bars into their clothes."

"Staying was your grandfather’s choice, and mine. Letting the children go was the better choice for them at the time," Mrs. Qiu said, her smile gentle. "Your grandfather was a stubborn man. He could endure any hardship himself, but he couldn’t bear to see his children suffer."

"Then he could bear to see *you* suffer?" Duan Yu Yan asked, a hint of indignation in her voice. "You stayed behind with him, and you went through so much."

"He had arranged everything back then—the tickets, the contacts—he wanted me to go with them." Her grandmother shook her head, her smile softening. "But staying was my choice, too."

Duan Yu Yan stared blankly, as if she was beginning to understand something.

One chose to stay and build his country; the other chose to stay and be with him.

"Grandma, you should come to Xiangjiang with me," Duan Yu Yan said gently, her eyes turning red. "Dad, Great-Uncle, and Little Aunt have all started their own families and careers there. Wouldn’t it be wonderful for the family to be reunited? It’s too hard for you to be here all by yourself."

Her grandfather had passed away three years ago. For three years, her grandmother had lived alone in the old family house, with none of her children by her side.

They had only just been able to come back and visit at the beginning of this year. ’How lonely she must have been all this time.’