The old man wasn’t affected by his surroundings. He took out a sign from under the cart and placed it in front of the cart.
[Ludi snack: Republic cold dish roll]
There were only a few big words on the signboard, which made it look very big. There were no fancy embellishments around it, just like the chef’s uniform worn by the old man, clean and neat without a trace of wrinkles or extra traces.
Even without seeing the signboard, Yuan Zhou already knew that this old man should be the snack that Yin ya had mentioned. In fact, one could tell a person’s cooking skills from his attitude and behavior.
Then, the signboard displayed by the old man also confirmed this point. Yuan Zhou’s guess was indeed correct.
Yuan Zhou’s sharp facial features allowed him to hear the commotion coming from afar. He felt that they must be here for the old man. Thinking of what he had promised Yin ya to buy more, he immediately strode towards the old man’s stall.
“Young man, how many servings do you want?” When the old man saw Yuan Zhou coming over, he nimbly rolled up his sleeves and put on the disposable gloves before looking at Yuan Zhou with a smile.
“Give me three sets. This looks very particular.” Yuan Zhou took a look at the several basins on the stall and said.
There were a total of six basins and a seasoning plate on the stall. The ingredients needed for The Cold Dish roll were placed neatly on the plate. The green celery, the bright red carrots, and the White cabbage were all cut into very thin strips and placed neatly in the basin. The fine strips were not messy, which made Yuan Zhou feel very comfortable.
There was also the ‘Ruyi golden-hooped rod’, green bean sprouts, shiitake mushroom vermicelli and so on. With one look at the ingredients processed, one could tell that the chef’s cutting skills were quite excellent. Although Yuan Zhou could still see some shortcomings with his eyes, he could still see the concentration of the chef when preparing these side dishes.
“Hahaha, young man, you have good taste. My cold dish rolls here used to be the signature dish of the Imperial fragrance Pavilion.” The smile on the old man’s face deepened when he heard someone praise his authentic craftsmanship. He seemed particularly happy.
No chef would be unhappy when they heard that someone appreciated their cooking. The old man was naturally a layman.
“Your cooking skills are indeed very good. Is it the old and famous restaurant that has been famous for its Shandong cuisine for hundreds of years?” Yuan Zhou expressed his feelings primly.
Yuan Zhou also had an impression of the Royal fragrance restaurant mentioned by the old man. After all, Zhou Shijie was good at Lu cuisine and Yuan Zhou had always respected Chairman Zhou as an elder. Even though the system hadn’t released any mission about Lu cuisine, it didn’t prevent him from understanding and practicing it.
Yu Xiang Xuan was established at the end of the Qing Dynasty. It was opened by a Royal Chef who was good at Lu cuisine when his family migrated to the kingdom of heavenly mansion during the turmoil.
It was a restaurant famous for its authentic Lu cuisine. If one wanted to eat more authentic Lu cuisine in Chengdu, they would go to this restaurant. Not to mention, he had heard Chairman Zhou mention it before, which further proved its status in the martial arts world.
“Young man, you’ve heard of the Imperial fragrance restaurant. I used to be the master chef in charge of cold dishes at the Imperial fragrance restaurant. This cold dish roll is my specialty. Young man, you have to try it.” When the old man heard that Yuan Zhou knew about the Imperial fragrance Pavilion, he became even more excited.
Although it wasn ‘t’ seeing a fellow townsman makes one’s eyes water ‘, it was still’ Lu Feng doesn’t have too much to say to himself ‘. The old and the young quickly started to chat.
However, several minutes later, Yuan Zhou stood aside. That was because a lot of people came up to him in an instant. Many of them even greeted the fat old man. Judging from their familiar manner, they were all regular customers.
He automatically retreated to one side and waited for Yin ya while watching the old man skillfully wrap The Cold Dish rolls for each customer with standard movements.
“Ta ta ta.”
“I’m sorry, blockhead. I had an urgent document to deal with before I left. Have you been waiting for a long time?” Yin ya walked over hurriedly from the entrance of the alley. When she saw Yuan Zhou was already standing there, she walked even faster.
“We didn’t wait long. Xiao Ya, slow down.” Yuan Zhou walked up to Yin ya with a plastic bag in his hand, so that she could take two steps less.
“You’ve already bought it?” Yin ya noticed the thing in Yuan Zhou’s hand. Her eyes curved and she revealed a smile.
Looking at the fat old man who was almost drowned by the crowd, Yin ya looked at the plastic bag in Yuan Zhou’s hand curiously. What was it that made so many people wait in line?
“Let’s go back to the restaurant for an extra meal. It’s time for afternoon tea now.” Yuan Zhou raised his hand and looked at his watch, only to find it was only 4:05 A. M. And he still had a lot of time to spend with Yin ya.
“Blockhead!” Yin ya recalled the sumptuous meal she had in the afternoon tea previously.
“Don’t worry, there’s definitely enough time. I’ve prepared some cherry blossom mousse today. Xiaoya can try it. It’s completely different from the previous cherry blossom soup.” Yuan Zhou was quite calm.
“Then let’s go.” Yin ya said decisively.
The cherry blossom soup was one of the dishes in the flower banquet that Yuan Zhou had specially prepared to celebrate Yin ya’s promotion. It didn’t belong to any cuisines and wasn’t on the menu. Yin ya liked to eat it very much.
The thought of the slightly salty and fragrant cherry blossom soup made her salivate, and she forgot that she had been worried about her waist getting thicker.
The two of them walked side by side on the way back to the store. Neither of them spoke. Some couples liked to talk non-stop when they were together, while some couples were together. The two of them didn’t talk and were quite happy just to be quietly together.
Not until they returned to the restaurant did Yin ya say,”Mutou, is the old man who sold the side dishes very old? it’s too hard for him to make things and sell them at such an old age. I don’t know if his children are not filial enough.”
“Xiaoya, do you think that the old man is working hard?” Yuan Zhou asked,
“Isn’t that so?” Yin ya blinked her eyes and was a little puzzled.
Yuan Zhou paused for a while and didn’t say anything. However, there was a hint of consideration between his brows.
“Si la”
After opening the packaging, Yuan Zhou placed two snow-white boxes on the small table, right beside the cherry blossom mousse.
Inside was a box of two cold vegetable rolls. Green celery, red carrots, white bean sprouts, black shiitake mushrooms, and some white cabbage with light green inside were wrapped in the thin spring roll skin. The edge of the skin had a touch of yellow, which looked very delicious.
“It really looks good.” Yin ya praised.
“Of course it’s not bad. This is chef Ouyang’s specialty. Although he’s old and his strength is still young, which leads to some unsatisfactory cutting skills, he’s already the best among his age group. Chef Ouyang is very good.” Yuan Zhou gave her a good review.
“Ya, blockhead, you’re amazing. You even know the name of that old man.” Yin ya was a little surprised.
Judging from chef Ouyang’s dressing and style of doing things, Yuan Zhou appreciated this senior chef very much.
The two of them started to eat. On the way, Yin ya understood why Yuan Zhou paused just now. This chef Ouyang who sold snacks didn’t come out to work because his children were unfilial, but because he liked to cook for others. It was a kind of pleasure. It was hard indeed, but he was definitely happy. This could be seen from the fact that he was still wearing his previous chef’s uniform.
……