In the Ming Dynasty 1498, my restaurant connects two worlds.

A table of home-style dishes: lamb stew with radish? Chicken stew with mushrooms? Braised crucian carp in soy sauce? And what's that flat, whole thing? Roast duck? Salt and pepper shrimp?

No one paid any attention when they entered, since the main purpose of today was to look at Zhu Zhishan's cursive script manuscripts, and eating was just a side thing.

"Mr. Wu, Mr. Chen, esteemed masters, shall we have a drink?"

"Let's skip the alcohol. Drinking will impair your eyesight and judgment. Let's have a quick meal and get down to business."

"Okay, Pearl, serve everyone rice. I have one last dish."

"Brother Xiao Yi, it's just a simple meal, no need for too many dishes."

"It's alright, it's all home-style cooking, just the last one, it'll be ready soon."

......

"What kind of rice is this? It smells so good!"

"Hmm~? This rice is really fragrant! Wait a minute! This kind of rice is no longer available!" Old Wu came from that era and, living in Beijing, has eaten all sorts of good food. But he had never tasted rice this fragrant before, only when he was a sent-down youth!

"Mr. Wu, the rice is right here, there are still several dozen kilograms left. My college classmate came to visit and brought it over for me."

There are still some discerning customers; let's keep fooling them for now.

Old Wu got up and walked to the rice bag. It was a very old and worn burlap bag. Indeed, these were the burlap bags of that era.

"Xiao Yi, it's not that I'm taking what others like, but this rice..."

Song Xiaoyi understood the implied meaning and said, "It's alright, Mr. Wu, if you like it, take it all. I'll contact my classmate and ask him to bring me some more next time. Actually, we're used to eating white rice, so we're not quite used to this kind of japonica rice."

Song Xiaoyi's tactful manner earned him Wu Lao's favor once again. "You lot, don't worry about it. I won't get much back anyway. Those old brothers who went to the countryside with me just love this kind of food."

"Old Wu is never one to eat alone, so this rice must be special. I'll have to have a few more bowls."

"Hahaha~, you little rascal."

The "casual meal" started in a cheerful atmosphere.

Wang Fengqi, the curator of the Suzhou Museum, is a typical Suzhou native and loves shiitake mushrooms. So, his first bite was a shiitake mushroom, and he froze as he put it in his mouth. Teacher Chen, sitting next to Curator Wang, hadn't even touched her chopsticks yet. Seeing this, she hesitated, looked at Curator Wang, and asked, "Old Wang, what's going on?" Then she whispered, "Even if it tastes bad, don't spit it out..."

Before Teacher Chen could finish speaking, Director Wang quickly chewed the first shiitake mushroom, then picked up a second, and then a third...

Even the fool realized it at this point, and together they reached for the mushroom and chicken stew with their chopsticks.

"Holy crap! Delicious! Brother Yi! What kind of mushroom is this?!" Wu Fei, the old secretary, couldn't help but swear after eating the third mushroom.

"Hey, hey, hey~ Old Wang, don't try to fish it out! It's gone!"

"Teachers, please wait a moment. There's still some in the pot. I'll go get some." Song Xiaoyi returned to the kitchen, scooped a bowl of mushrooms from the stew pot, and brought it back. In just a short while, the whole bowl of mushroom and chicken stew on the table was empty.

"Um, there's chicken soup too, I'll go get some more..."

"Xiao Yi, please sit down first. There's also Zhu'er. There are other dishes here. I can tell that your Song Family Restaurant is definitely not simple. To have a signboard personally written by Wen Zhengming, it must have something special. Even I, an old man with so much experience, have misjudged it this time."

"Mr. Wu, you flatter me."

"Is that too much of a compliment? Let's eat first, or as you put it, let's have a taste. After we finish eating, I'll give you an explanation."

"Mr. Wu, you're too kind. It's just one table of dishes. Don't scare Xiao Song."

Old Wu glanced at Chen Tanqiu, said nothing, picked up half a slice of "Songfu Hand-Pickled Meat" and put it in his mouth. While eating, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and pointed to the cold meat dish with his chopsticks, meaning that everyone should try it.

"Try it first, and keep your thoughts to yourselves. We've all been prejudiced and underestimated Xiao Yi."

Everyone took only half a piece of meat and, like Old Wu, began to savor it carefully!

"How is it?"

"When Xiao Yi first served it, I thought it was Zhenjiang braised pork."

"Xiao Yi, what kind of meat is this again?"

"Dean Teng, this is our Song family's ancestral dish, Song Family Hand-Pulled Meat."

"You guys haven't heard of it, have you? Before we came, Xiaofei said that Xiaoyi invited us to try Songfu Hand-Pulled Meat. Besides studying antiques, the old man also loves food, so I had a vague recollection of it. I checked on Baidu, and it's true! It's a family recipe invented by Song Xu's mother during the Ming Dynasty! I didn't expect the tradition to actually be here!"

"Xiao Yi, the old man is going to shamelessly pack up another one to take home."

"Mr. Wu, you flatter me. I really did prepare three servings for each of you teachers, so you can pack them up before you leave. There are three flavors in total. We're eating the Hanyuan peppercorn flavor now, and we also have the Jiangjin green peppercorn and rattan peppercorn flavors in the fridge."

"Oh? Wow, that's impressive, there are even three flavors!"

"Are the other two flavors ready? Why don't we cut a portion of each, and make sure each piece is small, so everyone can try them?"

"Alright! Mr. Wu, please have the other dishes first, I'll go cut them."

When Song Xiaoyi was preparing two other flavors of Songfu braised pork, Old Wu discovered, "This crucian carp is no ordinary fish! It's from the Qingshui River, purely wild, and at least a year old! I just ate a big bowl of rice with chicken soup and I can't eat anymore! And I misjudged it at first. This isn't ordinary braised crucian carp. Its full name should be Songfu Spicy Braised Crucian Carp. There's something special inside the crucian carp."

"Old Wu, you're absolutely right. When Brother Yi was cooking it, he said that this crucian carp was the most suitable for making Song Family Spicy Crucian Carp, and the minced meat inside was even hand-picked by Zhu'er."

"Haha~, I have to try this! It's rare to see Old Wu unable to eat more!"

"I need to get up and rest for a bit. You all help me sample the other dishes. Leave a piece of fish for me, though. I've noticed that Xiao Yi is a slippery fellow; he's trying to trick us with home-style cooking techniques!"

Lamb stew with radish, braised crucian carp, roast duck, salt and pepper shrimp—four people, four directions, eating, looking at each other afterward, then switching...

"Old Wu, you're right, that kid's slippery and utterly dishonest!"

"Director Wang, what did you say? What do you mean by 'authentic'?"

Old Wang said you're a really underhanded guy!

Song Xiaoyi, carrying two plates of meat, was a little confused. "I went down to cut some meat, what did I miss? How can you say I'm being so dishonest?"

"You're being dishonest, kid. You're using home-style cooking techniques to disguise such delicious food, trying to embarrass us old folks, huh?"

Song Xiaoyi finally understood, breathed a sigh of relief, and happily put the two plates of meat on the table. This was a compliment to her own cooking, which startled me.

"You'd better admit it, wouldn't you?"

"Director Wang, please don't listen to this kid's excuses. No, please give me a chance to explain, okay?"

"Haha~, Lao Wang, don't make things difficult for Xiao Yi."

"It's alright, he recognized it. Didn't you see his smiling face? His mouth is practically twisted to his ears."

"Thank you so much for your recognition, teachers." Song Xiaoyi paused for a moment, "My grandfather and parents disappeared one after another, and this family restaurant was closed for more than two years. After graduating from military academy, I should have served the country, but I still couldn't let go of the family's culinary skills. Of course, I also had the idea of ​​looking for my family, so I applied to the army for a transfer."