Starting from a Bankrupt Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant

She looked at the earrings in the box, then back at the father and son, still in a bit of disbelief. "You bought these?"

"The receipt’s right here. It’s not like we stole them," Zhou Yan said with a smile. "My dad got an advance on his salary to buy them for you. He said you stop to look every time you come back. He hasn’t bought you any gold jewelry in years, so he insisted on getting these for you today."

"That’s right!" Comrade Zhou nodded, his smile a little bashful.

"They’re so expensive, why would you buy them..." Mrs. Zhao muttered, but she reached out, picked up an earring, and turned it over and over in her palm, her eyes sparkling. "They’re beautiful! Even more beautiful than the pair I saw last year."

"See? My dad’s got a good eye. He said you’d definitely like this pair," Zhou Yan said.

"Zhou Miao..." Mrs. Zhao looked up at Comrade Zhou, her eyes already a little misty.

"They’re a little small. I’ll buy you a bigger pair next time," Comrade Zhou said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and smiling awkwardly.

"They’re big enough!" Mrs. Zhao laughed and gave Comrade Zhou a light tap on the chest. "One pair is more than enough. Do I have two sets of ears? Why would I need so many?"

"Hehe." Comrade Zhou joined in with a silly chuckle.

"Here, hold this. I’ll put them on so I don’t lose them." Mrs. Zhao handed the box to Comrade Zhou and walked over to the department store’s display window, using her reflection to put on the gold earrings.

She then retied her hair, which had been partially covering her ears, pulling it back to reveal both them and the glittering gold earrings.

"What do you think? Are they beautiful?" Mrs. Zhao asked as she returned to Comrade Zhou’s side.

"Beautiful!" Comrade Zhou nodded. "The earrings are beautiful, but the person wearing them is even more beautiful."

"You’ve always had good taste." Mrs. Zhao’s smile grew even brighter.

"Mama’s new earrings are so pretty!" Zhou Momo, sitting on the crossbar, clapped her little hands.

A faint smile touched Zhou Yan’s lips. ’The love of his parents’ generation was simple, but laced with sweetness.’

It was easy to lose track of time in the bustling department store. He glanced at his watch—it was already four o’clock. They had been wandering around for over two hours.

"Let’s go. Since we’ve come all this way, let’s wander around the city for a bit," Mrs. Zhao said with a smile, settling onto the back of the bicycle and wrapping her arms around Comrade Zhou’s waist.

Zhou Yan agreed. "Let’s take a look around and have dinner before we head back. There’s nothing at home anyway."

Mrs. Zhao thought for a moment. "Then let’s head over to Jiazhou Port later—it used to be called Yingchun Gate Pier. It’s really lively over there. East Main Street, Jiaochangba Street, and Ban Chang Street are all very busy, with food vendors everywhere. Lots of restaurants, and plenty of street stalls, too. Speaking of which, I’m craving some Emei Tofu Brain."

"Tofu brain!" Zhou Momo’s eyes lit up when she heard that. "I want to eat sweet tofu brain, too!"

"Then let’s go. We’ll head to East Main Street and eat while we browse." Zhou Yan nodded. He was familiar with that area. It was bustling now, but it would be even more so in forty years.

Comrade Zhou led the way, with Zhou Yan following behind.

Along the way, they passed the Jiazhou People’s Cinema. Zhou Momo tilted her head, looking at it for a moment before asking curiously, "Brother, who’s the pretty lady in the picture? She’s so beautiful!"

"That’s..." Zhou Yan looked at the slightly blurry poster on the wall, unable to recall the name for a moment.

"Those are movie stars. The beautiful one on the left is Gong Xue, and the handsome guy with the thick eyebrows next to her is Zhu Shima," Mrs. Zhao chimed in with a smile.

Zhou Yan immediately remembered.

’So it’s Old Xu!’

’It was obvious Mrs. Zhao was a big fan of Old Xu’s looks.’

"Next time we have a chance, our family should come watch a movie," Zhou Yan said.

Mrs. Zhao shook her head. "It costs money to see a movie at the cinema. They show open-air movies in town every month. You just bring your own stool to watch. It’s free and lively."

Chatting and laughing, the family soon arrived at East Main Street.

Just as expected, it was crowded. The roadside was lined with tricycles, all belonging to street vendors.

Noodle sellers tended to huge pots, while vendors of sweet-skinned duck had rows of reddish-brown ducks hanging from horizontal poles. There were also stalls selling candied fruit skewers, deep-fried skewers, cold pot skewers, and shumai...

Riding through, the sheer variety was dazzling—it was impossible to take it all in.

Zhou Yan glanced down at the wet spot on his leg, then reached out and gently pushed Zhou Momo’s chin up to close her mouth. "Stop drooling. You’re getting it all over my leg."

"SLURP..." Zhou Momo swallowed her saliva, then looked back at him and whined in a cutesy voice, "Brother, hungry."

"This one!" Mrs. Zhao tugged on Comrade Zhou’s shirt, and the bicycle stopped in front of a small stall with a sign that read, "Gan’s Emei Tofu Brain."

The owners were a middle-aged couple. Seeing customers arrive, the wife immediately beamed. "Here for some tofu brain? Have a seat right here."

Zhou Yan also stopped his bike and set Zhou Momo down, but his gaze drifted to the neighboring stall: "Zhao’s Niuwa Tofu Brain."

Besides the large pot of simmering, thickened broth, the tofu brain stall also had three stacks of small steamers next to it. Steaming inside were powdered steamed fatty intestines and beef, which served as toppings for the tofu brain.

’Toppings and tofu brain. What a strange combination.’

Tofu brain.

In other places, the sweet-eaters and the savory-eaters would wage a bloody war over it.

But Jiazhou was different.

Here, they didn’t take part in the sweet-versus-savory debate. Instead, they were divided into the Emei Sect, the Niu Hua Sect, the Jiajiang Sect, the Qianwei Sect...

They fought relentlessly to be crowned the best in the world.

Of course, if you were to say that you only liked your tofu brain mixed with plain white sugar...

...you would likely be besieged by all six major sects.

The tofu brain in Jiazhou was somewhat different from elsewhere. Though it was called tofu brain, a more accurate description would be a starchy bean curd slurry.

The actual bean curd made up less than half of the dish, serving as more of a garnish within the bowl of slurry.

Each major sect added different ingredients, and each had its own strengths, which was the source of their factional rivalry.