If I ask you to set up a stall, why do you always run to deserted places?

At He Sen's private restaurant.

Mr. He stared blankly at half a piece of shortbread.

The pancakes have been brought back from the top of Mount Tai for several hours. Even if they are reheated in a frying pan, they will definitely not taste as good as when they were fresh out of the pan.

Even so, this pancake was excessively delicious.

The outer skin is crispy, the meat is juicy, and most importantly, you can taste the Sichuan peppercorns, crisp bamboo shoots, chicken thigh meat, and fried dough. Yet, none of them completely overpower the other's flavor.

This kind of balance cannot be achieved simply by adding more oil or more meat!

"How is it?" He Sen couldn't help but ask after holding back for a long time.

"It's alright," Mr. He said expressionlessly.

After saying that, he lowered his head and took a big bite.

He Sen: "........"

You should just put it down!

A quarter of a pancake, gone in two bites!

Mother He noticed this too, and she reached out to take the last piece from the plate.

But the moment the hand reached out...

Mr. He slammed the plate closer to himself. "What are you doing?"

"Let me try some," Mother He said, completely exasperated. "Sen'er brought all this back, wasn't it just for the two of us to eat?"

"You don't understand this," Mr. He said very seriously. "I have to try another piece to see if that last bite was just a coincidence."

Mother He: "???"

Can eating things really be a matter of chance?

How come she never noticed before that this old man had such a thick skin?

"Dad," He Sen said, barely suppressing a laugh, "didn't you say that making food isn't like making perfume, where smelling nice is useless?"

"I said it doesn't matter if it smells good, I didn't say it doesn't matter if it tastes good!"

"Didn't you say that street vendors rely on using more oil, more meat, and a bit of artificial flavoring?"

"I'm talking about a regular roadside stall!" Mr. He glared at him. "Is this pancake regular?"

He Sen was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly felt a sense of relief.

If his father could say those words himself, then the trip to Mount Tai was definitely worthwhile!

Mrs. He didn't tolerate Mr. He's behavior. Taking advantage of his inattention, she snatched the last piece from the plate.

"Hey! I haven't finished researching it yet!"

"What are you researching? You'll have finished eating by now!" Mother He said, taking a bite.

The next second, her mouth, which had been speaking, stopped.

"This..." Mother He wasn't a chef, so she couldn't explain the cooking time or the proportions.

All she knew was that this pancake, which had already cooled down once, was actually tastier than most of the freshly baked pastries in their shop.

"Sen'er, is this really made from a small stall on the mountaintop?"

"Really."

"How old is the boss?"

"She looks younger than me."

"Younger than you?" Mr. He suddenly looked up. "You're not mistaken?"

"You read that right." He Sen took out his phone and opened Tang Guo's live stream, which was still going on. "It's still airing."

On the phone screen, Su Yun was wearing a hat and a mask, and the movements of her hands were so fast that they were almost blurry.

Rolling out the dough, brushing on the pastry, rolling up the dough, wrapping the filling—every step was done cleanly and efficiently.

Mr. He originally wanted to find some fault, but after less than half a minute, the expression on his face became completely serious.

The layman sees the spectacle, the expert sees the technique. Su Yun looks like he's doing it quickly, but there isn't a single unnecessary movement in his hands.

Especially when filling the filling, the dough for each pancake is of different thickness. Lamb has more fat, so the dough is slightly thicker. The brown sugar tends to flow when heated, so an extra layer is specially pressed at the sealing point.

Chicken thigh meat has a high water content, and the ratio of oil to fat is completely different from the other two types.

In other words, these six types of pastries are not simply new products with different fillings! Every single one has been completely redesigned, from the dough to the filling, from the cooking temperature to the technique!

"This kid..." Mr. He stared at the screen for a long time before finally managing to utter, "He's a bit strange!"

"They don't call it weird, they call it skill," Mother He said.

"Do you think I don't know he's capable? Do you need to tell me?" Mr. He said, though his eyes never left his phone.

Only after all the pastries were cooked did he slowly raise his head and look at the round tables covered with dust cloths.

The shop was eerily quiet. Sunlight streamed in through the half-open door, landing directly on the menu on the wall that had been in use for seven or eight years.

Sweet and sour fish, braised pork tendon with scallions, four-happiness meatballs, and crispy chicken are all signature dishes of the He family.

Each of these items has been sold for many years.

"Sen'er," Mr. He suddenly spoke, "You said you wanted to change the menu six months ago, how were you planning to do it?"

He Sen was stunned. Holy crap! He had been waiting for these words for a whole six months!

In the past, whenever the topic of changing dishes came up, his dad would either say that young people were impetuous or that he hadn't even mastered the basics and was already thinking about showing off.

But now, his dad actually asked him!

"I'm not going to remove all the old dishes," He Sen quickly said. "Our family has been doing this for over 20 years, and our regular customers only recognize those few flavors."

"I want to keep four signature dishes, and then dig out the recipes my grandfather left behind and remake them according to the tastes of today's customers."

He Sen glanced at Su Yun on his phone.

"In short, just like this pancake, the chicken leg is still a chicken leg, but he added Sichuan peppercorns and crisp bamboo shoots, and the oil and dough have all changed as well."

"What we need to do is not to simply copy other people's dishes, but to make our guests know from the first bite that this is the He family's cuisine."

Mr. He did not speak.

He walked to the far end of the kitchen, squatted down, and dragged a dusty wooden box out from under the cabinet.

When the box was opened, it was full of old, yellowed cookbooks.

Some pages still have oil stains on them, and the top one is the one left by Grandpa He Sen.

"Your grandfather used to say that selling the same menu for ten years isn't a real skill," Mr. He said, wiping the dust off the cover. "A real skill is when customers still remember that dish ten years later."

"I used to think that as long as the taste remained the same, the customers would never leave."

"Now it seems..." He paused, his expression turning grim, "that I mistook not daring to change for following the rules."

He Sen stared blankly at his father.

Mr. He handed him the stack of menus. "Seven days. We'll have seven days to revise the menu!"

"You're in charge of the kitchen; I'll assist you. He Family Private Kitchen will reopen in seven days!"

"Dad, are you serious?"

"Nonsense!" Mr. He's face darkened. "I've been helping you out; why would I be joking with you?"

Mother He's eyes immediately welled up with tears.

She quickly turned around and wiped away her tears. Good heavens, this stubborn old man in the family has finally come to his senses!

........

Earlier, at the Old Town Police Station.

Ah Long, holding his phone, rushed from the door into the office.

"Captain Zhou! Captain Zhou!"

"Something terrible has happened!"

Old Zhou was tidying up the materials on the table when he heard this. Without even looking up, he said, "Get to the point. Don't make a fuss."

"We have to go to Tai'an this afternoon for an exchange meeting; the car leaves at 2 PM."

"Something really bad has happened!" Ah Long shoved his phone in front of him. "Look, there's a stall on the top of Mount Tai!"

Old Zhou: "........"

He slowly raised his head. "Ah Long."

"exist!"

Do you think I have a lot of free time all day long?

No, that's not it.

"What does it matter to me whether there are vendors setting up stalls on the top of Mount Tai?"

"Yes, it's related!"

Ah Long zoomed in on the video, and in the picture, a man dressed in black was making pancakes.

"What is this? Is it cosplaying a ruthless bandit?"

"No, this is Master Su Yun!"

Old Zhou's impatience paused for a moment. "Su Yun?"

"yes!"

Ah Zu also came over from behind.

"I just watched the video eight times. The cutting board, the pot, and even the tone of voice—it all looks like Chef Su!"

"But why is his face covered?"

"That's not the point!" Ah Long said. "The point is he went all the way to the top of Mount Tai!"

The three of them fell silent.

Selling braised pork rice at the entrance of the morgue was the most outrageous street vendor location they had ever seen in all their years as police officers.

I never expected that not long after all this time, this guy would set up his stall on the top of Mount Tai!

What? The ground isn't enough for him anymore, is it? Is his next step to take a rocket to the moon and sell boxed lunches?

"It might not be him," Old Zhou said, frowning. "There are a lot of people impersonating Master Su online these days."

"But this guy's credentials are exceptionally complete!" Ah Long scrolled down. "Captain Zhou, look, this guy's totally a card master!"

Watching the ruthless gangster pull out his identification documents one after another as if by magic, Old Zhou fell silent.

You know what, this tastes just right. Who carries around a whole folder of documents and ID cards when they set up a stall? Only Master Su, right?

Old Zhou still remembers that the last time they investigated Su Yun, Ah Long would ask him a question and Su Yun would pull out a banknote, until they were all questioning their existence.

"Captain Zhou," Azu tentatively asked, "was our exchange meeting today located at the foot of Mount Tai?"

"Yes!" Captain Zhou nodded.

"Before we start, do we have half a day of free time?" Azu asked again.

"What do you want to do?" Captain Zhou asked, looking at him.

"It's nothing," Ah Zu said seriously. "I just feel that as grassroots workers, we should get closer to the people and closer to nature!"

"Ah, right, right, right!" Ah Long nodded immediately, "It's definitely not for the pancakes!"

Old Zhou looked at the two of them, his lips twitching violently twice. "I don't believe you guys!"

"Let's have a meeting first." Old Zhou pushed the phone back. "We'll talk about it when we get there."

Ah Long and his companion exchanged a glance and said, "We'll see when we get there," which meant there was hope!

"Oh, right!" Old Zhou walked to the door, then stopped. "Send me the video. I need to confirm whether someone is impersonating me."

After sending it, Ah Long was stunned.

"......." You've confirmed your identity, so what's the point of staring at the menu?

Meanwhile, at the foot of Mount Tai, Liang Wancheng had already entered the scenic area's comprehensive service center.

"Director Song." He placed his phone on the table, his tone very serious. "This isn't an ordinary business dispute; it's a safety issue."

Song Haifeng, the person in charge on duty, watched the video for a while and said, "The order on site seems okay."

"It's okay now, but that doesn't mean it will be okay later!" Liang Wancheng pointed to the constantly changing number of viewers in the live stream. "More than 50,000 people are already watching online, and there are still tourists rushing up the mountain."

"That platform is right next to a slope and stone railing. If a stampede occurs, who will be responsible?"

"Furthermore, this person's permission is also highly questionable."

"What's suspicious?"

"So complete!"

Song Haifeng looked up with a very strange expression. "You have all the documents, so how can that be a problem?"

Liang Wancheng knew his statement sounded off, so he quickly explained, "What I mean is, how could a street vendor who only arrived at the mountaintop this morning possibly have already completed food registration, site usage, and equipment testing in advance?"

"Even for us regular customers, it sometimes takes two or three trips to get a single document replaced!"

"Is his entire licensing process normal?"

Song Haifeng did not answer. He picked up his phone and scanned the QR code on the ID photo. The webpage redirected normally, and the license number could be found.

From a system perspective, there is indeed no problem.

"Mr. Liang, whether the documents are real or fake cannot be determined by guessing."

"The fact that the system can find it at least proves that the certificate itself is genuine."

"The certificate may be real, but the person may not be!"

Liang Wancheng immediately said, "He wore a hat and mask the whole time. Who knows if the person standing behind the stall is Su Yun from the ID?"

Even if it's the person in question.

"A temporary operating license doesn't mean he can attract a large number of users online and crowd hundreds of people onto a single platform!"

That's a very insightful statement.

Song Haifeng looked at the live stream again. Although the line in front of the stall was very orderly, the number of people was indeed increasing.

Especially since many tourists are rushing up the mountain from the bottom, if we don't take care of them, problems are bound to arise later.

"Okay." Song Haifeng stood up. "I'll take two people up to verify it."

"Check everything: food licenses, equipment, electricity usage, operating area, customer flow management."

"But let's make this clear first." He glanced at Liang Wancheng, "If there are problems, we'll rectify them; if there aren't, we'll operate normally."

"We can't just kick people out because it's affecting your businesses."

"Of course!" Liang Wancheng agreed readily.

Once someone is in the building, whether there are any problems or not still needs to be investigated slowly.

If the documents are flawless, check the actual operator. If the actual operator is fine, check passenger flow safety.

There are no issues with passenger safety, and you can also check whether the live stream traffic generation has been reported!

With so many people gathered around, he didn't believe they couldn't find any problems!

Half an hour later, the group boarded the cable car to go up the mountain.

Liang Wancheng was standing at the very back, just about to close the door, when three more men suddenly squeezed in from outside.

It was Lao Zhou, Along, and Azu, who had just finished their exchange meeting.

The six people looked at each other, none of them recognizing one another.

Ah Long looked down at the file folder in Liang Wancheng's hand and muttered to himself, "Why bring so many materials for a mountain climb?"

Ah Zu lowered his voice, "They're probably here to learn and exchange ideas too."

Old Zhou: "..."

Do you think everyone is as shameless as you?

As soon as Lao Zhou stepped out of the cable car after it arrived at the station, someone called out to him.

"Captain Zhou! Stop right there!"

It turned out to be a police officer from the scenic area that Lao Zhou had known before.

The other party had come to ask for advice on management issues and wanted his help with some suggestions, so Ah Long and Ah Zu could only reluctantly follow him to the service station.

Liang Wancheng did not linger and led Song Haifeng and the others straight to the mountaintop platform.

"Let's get those guys!"

"Dry!"

"You dare steal our business? You've got a death wish!"

......

"Stop, stop, stop!"

"Hey you, tall guy!"

On the mountaintop, Zhou Ye had just finished handing out the number plates when a group of gangsters attacked.

"Keep sending them! Yours' here to be collected!"