Chapter 875 The Taste of Memory
Boss Qiang's store is not big. Apart from the kitchen at the back, there are only four tables outside where people can sit. It is already past one in the afternoon, past lunch time , and no one is dining there. At a table inside, a little boy about ten years old is doing his homework at a desk. He seems to be Boss Qiang's son.
"Please sit anywhere. What would you like to order?" Boss Qiang greeted Song Yuanchao and his family warmly.
Song Yuanchao smiled and said, "This is my first time coming to your restaurant. There are four of us, two adults and two girls. Why don't you recommend one to me? I heard from my friends that your cooking skills are better than repairing bicycles."
"Hahaha, don't listen to their nonsense. It's just a casual home-cooked meal." Boss Qiang laughed, then thought for a moment and said, "In that case, let me help you arrange it. Three hot dishes, a soup, a dessert, and some snacks, okay? You two little girls don't eat much, so these dishes are enough. Any more would be a waste."
"No problem, thank you for your hard work."
"Why work so hard? We're opening a business. Just wait a moment, it'll be ready soon!" Boss Qiang said this with a smile, turned around and walked towards the kitchen. When he entered the kitchen, he brought his son who was doing homework in to help him.
"Do you know this boss? Why haven't I heard you mention him?" Lin Yan overheard the conversation between Song Yuanchao and Boss Qiang. After Boss Qiang left, she couldn't help but ask.
"I kind of know him. Boss Qiang used to run a bicycle repair stall nearby, and later he also ran a car repair stall. But a few years ago he changed his business and opened a restaurant. This restaurant is his, but this is my first time here since it opened."
"Is the food here good? Is it hygienic?" Lin Yan couldn't help asking as she looked at the small shop. Although Lin Yan and Song Yuanchao were both educated youth, when they were educated youth, let alone hygiene, they couldn't even get enough to eat. Who cared about these things at that time?
However, in recent years, because of the changes in life, she has gradually started to pay attention to these things. It’s not that Lin Yan is pretentious, but it is mainly for the health of the children. Children have weak stomachs, and if they eat unhygienic food, they are prone to diarrhea.
"Don't worry, if it was unhygienic would I bring you here?" Song Yuanchao gave her a smile, and Lin Yan nodded. At this time, Nana was yelling that she was hungry and wanted to eat. Yangyang was older and more sensible. Although he was also hungry, he did not do the same as his sister. He just sat on the chair and swallowed his saliva. After all, this was a restaurant, and it was filled with the aroma of food. How could a child stand it?
Lin Yan held Nannan in her arms and coaxed her, saying that she would be eating soon. Nannan was very well behaved and stopped complaining of being hungry after hearing what her mother said, but her big round eyes still showed anticipation.
After a while, Boss Qiang brought over a plate of food and asked them to eat first and wait for the rest.
After thanking Boss Qiang, Song Yuanchao looked at the signature steak in front of him. He picked up the chopsticks and picked up a piece for the child and Lin Yan first, then picked up a piece for himself, dipped it in a little sauce and put it in his mouth.
As soon as he took a bite, a familiar delicious taste spread in his mouth, and Song Chaoyuan instantly thought of the scene in his previous life.
In his previous life, he had been here countless times, most of the time either with colleagues or friends. He also celebrated his 50th birthday here. Of course, the restaurant was already very large at that time, and it was no longer as shabby as it is now.
"Mom, this meat is so delicious!" Nannan was grinning from ear to ear while eating the rich and delicious steak. Not to mention Yangyang, who had been hungry for a long time and was "struggling" with the steak in front of him, with his mouth full of juice.
Lin Yan told him not to rush and to eat slowly, and took out a handkerchief to wipe the juice from the corner of his mouth. Yang Yang nodded, said thank you to his mother, and then continued to eat.
Next came the seafood fried dough rolls, followed by a dish of fresh wine and vanilla, then a pickled pork with preserved vegetables, then the dessert of green bean puree, and finally Boss Qiang brought over two taels of Shengjian, which was both a snack and a meal.
After the dishes were served, Boss Qiang smiled at Song Yuanchao and told them to eat slowly. Then he walked out of the store and stood outside the store to smoke and bask in the sun as he had just done.
These dishes may not look very impressive, but they tasted really good, especially the green bean puree, which was the most popular among the two children. Seeing that the children were enjoying the food, Song Yuanchao took a bowl and gave each of them a bowl. He tasted the rest himself and gave it all to Lin Yan.
"You know what, the food here is really good." Lin Yan ate quickly because she had to take care of her young daughter. She stopped eating after eating one shengjian.
"Look, let me tell you, I made the right decision by bringing you here, didn't I?" Song Yuanchao said with a smile.
"Well, you've found the right place. It's not far from home. I'll tell Linlin and Xiaoyun when I get back. I'll bring them here to try it next time."
"That's no problem, but Boss Qiang's business is very good, and the place is small, so when you come, try to tell Boss Qiang in advance, otherwise you will have to wait if there is no seat."
"Yeah, that's true. By the way, ask Boss Qiang if he has a phone number. If he does, leave one. I'll call him before I come next time."
"Okay!" Song Yuanchao nodded. He had almost finished eating, so he stood up and said, "I'm going to go to the door to talk to Boss Qiang and smoke a cigarette. You guys eat slowly."
After saying that, Song Yuanchao turned and walked out the door. Hearing the noise behind him, Boss Qiang, who was smoking, turned around and saw that it was Song Yuanchao who came out. He smiled and asked, "Have you finished eating? Are you satisfied?"
"They haven't finished eating yet, so I came out to smoke a cigarette with you. As for the food, this is how it tastes!" As he said that, Song Yuanchao gave Boss Qiang a thumbs up, and Boss Qiang smiled happily.
"Come on, have a smoke of mine." Seeing Song Yuanchao reaching for a cigarette, Boss Qiang took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes without filters from his pocket and handed it to him: "Try my cigarettes. They are definitely not as good as yours, but I'm used to them."
"Thank you." Song Yuanchao was not polite. He took the cigarette from Boss Qiang and lit it with the lighter he handed over.
Song Yuanchao hadn't smoked this kind of cigarette for a long time, and now he felt different when he smoked it again. Especially the first puff, the Daqianmen without a filter had a particularly mellow taste, and Song Yuanchao's eyes lit up when he smoked it.
"How is it?" Boss Qiang asked with a smile when he saw Song Yuanchao's expression.
"The taste is really good. I didn't notice it before, but now I feel that the taste is very refreshing. By the way, this cigarette of yours is not specially supplied, right?" Song Yuanchao asked half-jokingly.
"What do you mean by special supply? It's the most common and cheapest kind, which can be bought in tobacco and paper shops." Boss Qiang pointed at a tobacco and paper shop across the street, and then said, "You won't say that after you take a few more puffs. This cigarette is pure in the first two puffs, and becomes more and more spicy the more you smoke. People who are not used to it can't get used to it at all. But I'm a heavy smoker, so this kind of cigarette suits my taste."
I took two more puffs, and just as Boss Qiang had said, as the cigarette butt burned, it became spicier as time went on.
"How's the restaurant business? This shop is more profitable than repairing cars, right?" He chatted with Boss Qiang while smoking a cigarette.
"Business is so-so, slightly better than when I was repairing cars. But running a restaurant is hard work, and the money is earned through hard work."
"That's true. Running a restaurant is hard work, but it will be great once it becomes bigger."
"Haha, let's talk about the future later. You can't make much money even if you work hard, so you can just muddle through." Boss Qiang said cheerfully. Although he said so, Song Yuanchao knew very well that from the time this restaurant opened until Boss Qiang passed away in his previous life, as the owner of the restaurant, he had always been busy and had never had a day of rest.
Boss Qiang is a very low-key person and he doesn't have any extravagant hobbies. In fact, the restaurant has been open for several years now. Relying on this small restaurant, Boss Qiang has already made a lot of money. If it were someone else, they would have already enjoyed themselves with this income.
But looking at Boss Qiang's current appearance, wearing a half-new jacket and shoes, and smoking the cheapest Daqianmen cigarettes without filters, he is no different from an ordinary person on the bottom of Shanghai, and does not look like a boss at all.
In the future, when Boss Qiang's business grew bigger and bigger, and he directly bought three small Western-style buildings nearby, and his restaurant became famous throughout Shanghai, and his net worth reached hundreds of millions, and he became a legend in Shanghai's catering industry, Boss Qiang would still be the same as before, with a hard-working and simple style.
Perhaps it is because of his persistence that he was able to grow his restaurant from a small restaurant to a large-scale restaurant. Song Yuanchao could not help but sigh at the legendary experience of Boss Qiang, and now this legend has just begun. As time goes by, his restaurant has accompanied the memories of two generations of Shanghai people.
After smoking a cigarette, Song Chaoyuan asked Boss Qiang if he had any phone contact information, saying that his wife thought the food was delicious and planned to bring friends to eat there in the future, but was afraid that there would be no seats when they arrived, so she wanted to call him in advance before coming to reserve a seat.
When Boss Qiang heard this, he laughed and said that it was no problem, but he should keep the phone at home since he was usually in the store, so he could just call his pager.
Boss Qiang immediately left Song Yuanchao his pager number. In order to prevent him from not noticing the pager when he was busy, he also left Song Yuanchao the pager number of his wife. If he wanted to come, he could page him half a day in advance. Their pagers were Chinese, so he could just leave a message and they would reserve a seat for him.
After thanking Boss Qiang, Song Chaoyuan was about to say something, but before he could open his mouth, he saw Boss Qiang looking to the left. Following his gaze, he saw an old beggar in tattered clothes staggering towards him. Boss Qiang frowned slightly, then walked towards him.
Boss Qiang walked over and whispered a few words to the beggar, then turned around and went back to the restaurant. A few minutes later, Boss Qiang came out with a bowl of noodles. He came to the beggar and handed the bowl of noodles to him, then whispered a few more words. The beggar looked up at Boss Qiang while holding the noodles, and saw Boss Qiang nod slightly at him. The beggar said thank you with an excited expression, then sat on the sidewalk and began to eat the noodles.
The beggar looked very hungry. He ate a big bowl of noodles very quickly, even drinking up all the noodle soup. After the beggar finished his noodles, Boss Qiang cleared the bowl and chopsticks, took out a five-yuan bill from his pocket and put it in his hand, then stood up and came back.
