The plate of Twice-Cooked Pork was devoured, down to the last leaf of garlic sprout. All that remained was a pool of shimmering red oil.

"That was delicious. I love it! Next time, I’ll buy the meat and you can cook it. Make a big batch—I could eat another whole bowl of rice with it." Zhou Jie, his craving still unsatisfied, was already planning the next meal.

"This Twice-Cooked Pork with garlic sprouts is truly amazing. Should we add it to the menu?" Mrs. Zhao asked, looking at Zhou Yan. She had completely accepted that he had taken over as head chef and was already thinking about how to get this delicious dish to their customers.

It was the same dish, Twice-Cooked Pork, but Zhou Yan’s version was on another level of deliciousness. No home-style cooking could compare.

The ingredients were more or less the same; the difference lay in the Fire Control and the seasoning.

Not only was it delicious, but it also paired perfectly with rice. The customers were sure to love it.

"We’ll add it tomorrow. I’ve already spoken to the Knife Maker and asked them to set aside the second-cut pork for me," Zhou Yan replied with a smile, plucking two grains of rice from the corner of Zhou Momo’s mouth.

"Brother, are we having Twice-Cooked Pork for dinner?" Zhou Momo looked up at him with pleading eyes, blurting out a single word: "Yummy!"

"Of course. We have about four liang of meat left, enough to make one more plate tonight," Zhou Yan said with a smile and a nod.

"Brother, you’re the best! I’ll love you forever! May you live to be a hundred years old!" Zhou Momo snuggled closer, rubbing her head against Zhou Yan’s hand like a docile little lamb.

"Momo, what about me? What about me?" Zhou Jie asked with a wide smile.

"Brother Jie..." Zhou Momo tilted her head in thought. "I wish that you’ll always have smooth poops!"

"Huh?" Zhou Jie scratched his head. "Well, that’s a nice blessing in its own way."

For most adults, this blessing was just as comforting as being wished a long life.

After the meal, Zhou Jie and Zhou Yan sat under the tree by the entrance. He spoke up, "Zhou Yan, I’ve pretty much learned your method for Kneeling Beef. If I do it your way, should I also price it at sixty cents a bowl?"

"You’re set up at the docks. If you sell it for sixty cents a bowl, you probably won’t even sell twenty bowls a day. You’d end up making less than you did before." Zhou Yan shook his head.

Zhou Jie grew anxious. "But I can’t possibly sell it cheaper than you, can I? If I did, it would look like I’m deliberately trying to undercut your business."

Zhou Yan smiled. "I’ve actually given this some thought. Why don’t you create a pricing tier? Sell the Kneeling Beef without added beef for fifty cents. That’s ten cents more than your old price, but the flavor is significantly better, and you’ve added medicinal herbs, so the cost increase is justified. Customers will be more willing to accept it."

"Sell the version with beef for sixty cents. That’s ten cents for four slices of beef; we won’t make a single cent of profit on the meat itself. Customers who know good food will definitely choose the sixty-cent version with beef after trying it once or twice. But for more price-sensitive customers, the fifty-cent option is still there."

Zhou Jie mulled it over for a moment after hearing the plan, then clapped his hands. "That’s a great idea! Zhou Yan, you’ve really got a sharp mind!"

"Come on, let’s head to Jiazhou now to buy the spices and herbs. It’ll be a good way to walk off our meal," Zhou Yan said, getting up to get his cart.

"But Suji has herbal medicine shops too. Why do we need to go all the way to Jiazhou?" Zhou Jie asked, confused.

"If our Kneeling Beef takes off and sells well, it won’t be three days before people start trying to copy our recipe," Zhou Yan explained with a smile. "Someone determined could just go to the local medicine shop and ask what we bought, and they’d know our ingredients. They could tweak the amounts and get something pretty close. After all, it’s just a pot of soup; how much technical skill can be involved? But if we go to Jiazhou and each of us buys from a different pharmacy, it’ll keep them guessing for a good long while. By then, you’ll have already built up your reputation."

"I get it," Zhou Jie nodded.

"Actually, even if they figure out the general spices and herbs, it’s not a big deal. At the end of the day, it’s the little details that make a dish stand out. Customers are sharp; they can tell which one is better after just one taste."

"The reason your soup stall stood out at the docks was your mastery of the broth’s flavor. That’s why no one else in Zhou Village could compete with you."

Zhou Jie nodded repeatedly, impressed. "You make a lot of sense."

"You should change your sign, too," Zhou Yan suggested. "Call it ’Zhou’s Kneeling Beef.’ We can standardize it. In the future, we might be able to make this business bigger and stronger. By the time the new millennium rolls around, we’ll be on our way to becoming an old, established brand."

"I don’t know anything about ’brands,’ but if you’re willing to let me use the name, I’m all for it," Zhou Jie said with a wide grin. "And I won’t use it for free. I learned how to make Kneeling Beef from you. From now on, I’ll give you a twenty percent cut of whatever my little stall earns."

"I can’t take your money. How much can a single stall make? You still have to split it with Haizi, and two whole families are depending on that income."

"But..."

"If you ever decide to open a proper shop in Jiazhou or Rongcheng, then we can talk about giving me a stake," Zhou Yan cut in with a smile. "But even then, I’d just invest some capital and be a silent partner waiting for my dividend at the end of the year."

"Deal." Seeing how firm he was, Zhou Jie didn’t press the issue. "Once we’ve figured out the ropes, we’ll look for a real storefront. Then we brothers can go in on it together and make it big!"

The two rode off toward Jiazhou, chatting idly as they went.

Zhou Yan actually had high hopes for Zhou Jie. He was a down-to-earth worker and was savvy when it came to dealing with people. The fact that he was able to stand out from all the other soup stalls at the docks and build up a base of loyal customers was a testament to his ability.

What he lacked was a bit of foresight and a sense of future direction.

A dish like Kneeling Beef could be the foundation of an entire restaurant. In the future, it would become one of Jiazhou’s signature dishes, as famous as sweet-skinned duck, bobo-ji, and malatang.

Zhou Yan wasn’t content to focus solely on a Kneeling Beef restaurant, but he could let Zhou Jie take on that task. He could invest, offer advice, and leave the operations to Zhou Jie, collecting his dividends at the end of the year.

Once Jiazhou’s tourism industry took off, an old, established Kneeling Beef brand would be a real moneymaker.

This was the best way he could currently think of to maximize his resources: help the trustworthy people around him grow and improve their lives, and in doing so, earn a handsome return on their success.

Upon returning from Jiazhou, Zhou Yan divided the spices and herbs. Zhou Jie took his portion and headed home to prepare for the next day’s upgraded service.

The gossip today was explosive. Through one Dragon Gate Formation after another, the reputation of Zhou Yan Restaurant was cemented. That evening, many new customers, drawn by the talk, headed straight for Zhou Yan Restaurant.

Zhao Dong showed up with a lunch box to get a takeout order of braised pork ribs, saying he wanted to bring it home for his two kids and his mother to try.

While waiting for his order by the door, he didn’t stop talking for a second:

"You have to try it! Even the factory director ate here and said it was great."

"Old Qian, have a bowl of Kneeling Beef before you head home. I guarantee your wife will be treating you like a king tomorrow."

"Which dishes are good? Honestly, you can’t go wrong! If you want something that goes well with rice, get the Huo Xiang Carp or the double-pepper minced beef. If you like braised dishes, the braised beef with dried bamboo shoots is incredible. If you’ve got hungry kids at home, get the braised pork ribs..."

"The factory cafeteria? Unless they get a new head chef, not even dogs would eat that slop!"

The workers: "..."

’Easy for you to say!’

What did that make them, who ate at the factory cafeteria every day?

But thanks to Zhao Dong’s hollering, a good number of people made a last-minute decision to go in and eat.

Zhao Dong was beaming. He was thrilled that Sun Meili and Wang Defa had been taken away today, a satisfying feeling, like a great wrong had been avenged.

Zhou Yan, who had lit the fuse for the whole affair, was now his friend. It was only right to drum up some business for a friend’s restaurant.

’Of course, things were a bit miserable for Old Xu. Who knew if he’d even show up for work tomorrow.’

He’d mentioned that if Old Xu was in a really bad mood, he could take the day off tomorrow.

’No one would be in a good mood if they were in his shoes.’

When Zhao Hong came in to drop off a lunch box, she told Zhou Yan about Zhao Dong helping to drum up customers. As Zhou Yan packed the ribs, he threw in a few extra pieces for their enthusiastic promoter.

Just after six o’clock, the only items left on the wall menu were the braised pork ribs and Huo Xiang Carp. All the other dishes were nearly sold out.

Zhou Yan had ordered eighty carp for the day, so it wouldn’t be a problem if a few were left over; they could just be kept in the water tank overnight.

He had prepared twenty portions of the braised pork ribs today and still had six left. It was a niche dish; female workers and children tended to like it, but it was a bit pricey and didn’t pair as well with rice, so fewer people ordered it.

However, the evening rush was already over. The factory workers had all gone home for dinner. The few remaining stragglers looked at the two main dishes left on the menu and hesitated.

Just then, two men in black Zhongshan suits walked in, chatting idly. Two young boys followed behind them.

"Director, Vice-Director, you’re here!" Mrs. Zhao spotted them and hurried to greet them.

"That’s right, Zhao. I’m just having a quick bite with the Director and my two boys," Lin Zhiqiang replied with a smile.

"Mrs. Zhao," Lin Jingxing and Lin Bingwen greeted politely, though their eyes were already darting around the restaurant.

"Little Brothers!" Zhou Momo called out, waving her small hand at them from her high stool.

"Momo!"

The two boys immediately ran over to her. One produced a piece of candy, the other an orange, both very generous.

"Thank you, Little Brothers." Zhou Momo cupped her hands to receive the candy and orange, then turned, pulled a bag of ding-ding candy from a cabinet, and picked out the two biggest pieces to offer them. "Here, have some ding-ding candy."

"Thanks."

The two boys took the candy and immediately popped it into their mouths.

"So sweet!"

"Momo’s ding-ding candy is delicious!"

The two boys praised the candy as they ate.

Lin Zhiqiang watched his two sons fussing over the little girl, a smile on his own face.

He never would have thought that at thirty-eight, he’d be getting pressured by his two sons to have a third child.

Never mind that current policies didn’t allow it—what would they do if they had another son?

He would love a sweet, precious little girl, of course. When Meng Anhe was pregnant with their second, they both dreamed of having a daughter.

Now, the couple was constantly away on business trips. Meng Anhe was even busier than he was, and their two sons were practically raising themselves.

Meng Anhe had left for Rongcheng this morning, and when he was taking the boys to school, they had started clamoring to eat at Zhou Yan’s restaurant.

They couldn’t stop thinking about Zhou Yan’s braised pork ribs, just like their older cousin.

The two little rascals had a strong sense of reconnaissance. When he got home last night, they had pried his mouth open to check if he had secretly eaten something good without them, warning him repeatedly not to sneak out for good food on his own.

Their mother had already given him the money for it, so Lin Zhiqiang couldn’t refuse to take them.

As it happened, the factory director was also an hour late getting off work due to the cafeteria’s account audit, so he invited him to join them for a quick meal.

Normally, Wang Hongliang would have certainly refused.

But upon hearing they were going to Zhou Yan’s restaurant, he agreed without a second thought.

The two men found an empty table and sat down. When they looked at the menu on the wall, they both frowned.

"Only two dishes left?"

Wang Hongliang had been hoping to have the braised beef with dried bamboo shoots again. The aroma of those bamboo shoots had been on his mind all day at work.

Hearing their voices, Zhou Yan came out from the kitchen and explained with a smile, "Director, Uncle Lin, a lot of workers ate here today, so we’re nearly sold out. We just have a few portions of braised pork ribs and some carp left."

Wang Hongliang looked at Zhou Yan and smiled. "Huo Xiang Carp and braised pork ribs are both excellent dishes. How about you also whip up a simple vegetable dish for us?"

"That’s right, Zhou. We’ll have one Huo Xiang Carp, one order of braised pork ribs, and a vegetable dish to go with them," Lin Zhiqiang chimed in with a nod. Even for a casual meal, two dishes weren’t nearly enough for four people.

One plate of ribs wouldn’t be enough for two growing boys.

"I have a piece of second-cut pork in the kitchen," Zhou Yan offered, guessing what they were thinking. "How about I make you a Twice-Cooked Pork with garlic sprouts? It’s a new dish I plan to add to the menu tomorrow." He smiled. "There isn’t much meat, just over three liang, but I’d be honored if you two would have a taste and give me your opinion."

Wang Hongliang’s eyes lit up, his interest clearly piqued.

Hearing this, the other customers in the restaurant all turned to look.

...