Heavens Above!

The customers were craning their necks, all waiting for Lin Zhiqiang's sharp review.

Zhou Yan stood at the kitchen entrance, eagerly awaiting Lin Zhiqiang's comments as well.

"The broth is fresh and flavorful, the beef tender, the tripe crisp, the beef intestines soft, and the tendons wonderfully gelatinous. The heat was controlled perfectly, bringing every ingredient to its best possible state. It's such a satisfying meal!" Lin Zhiqiang praised. "And this dipping sauce is exceptional too. It adds a fragrant spiciness to the meat—it's the perfect finishing touch."

"Also, I think this broth really does drive away the cold. After half a bowl, my whole body feels warm, and most of the chill is gone."

"At sixty cents a bowl, I think it's well worth it!"

Lin Zhiqiang's assessment made the watching customers' eyes light up.

That was some incredibly high praise!

Anyone in Suji Town who claimed not to know about the soup pots in Cattle-Slaughtering Zhou Village would be lying.

The broth was bland, and if the beef offal was not handled properly, it carried a gamey odor that many people could not stomach.

On top of that, a bowl of Qiaojiao Beef at Zhou Erwa Restaurant cost sixty cents, which put plenty of people off.

But Deputy Factory Director Lin's comments had overturned everyone's impression of Qiaojiao Beef and made them want to give it a try.

Hotpot tripe was delicious, but making it at home was a real hassle, and if one was not careful, it would turn tough from overcooking.

And this one bowl came with beef intestines, beef tendon, and beef—more than three taels in all. Thinking about it that way, it did not seem all that expensive.

"Still, I think there's an even better way to eat it. Boss lady, bring me a small dish and put a little salt in it," Lin Zhiqiang called out as he pulled that bottle of East Lake Vinegar from his briefcase.

"Old Lin, what are you..." Zhao Dong looked at Lin Zhiqiang, who had already unscrewed the vinegar bottle, his expression turning rather strange.

"Old Zhao, let me teach you a new way to eat it." Lin Zhiqiang took the small dish Zhao Tieying handed him, poured in some vinegar, then picked up a slice of beef and dipped it in the vinegar before putting it in his mouth. He nodded repeatedly. "Mm! This is the taste! Absolutely authentic!"

"Tsk!"

"Eugh!"

"Heavens above!"

The restaurant immediately erupted with cries of shock, all trailing off with disgust.

If he had not been the deputy factory director, someone would definitely have gone over and dumped his vinegar out!

Who ate clear broth hotpot with vinegar?

"I'll have an order of Qiaojiao Beef, with a chili dipping sauce," Zhao Dong said to Zhao Tieying.

"Sure." Zhao Tieying answered with a smile.

"Auntie Zhao, I'd like an order of Qiaojiao Beef too, and a bowl of rice."

"Auntie Zhao, I'll have a bowl of Qiaojiao Beef too, with double chili powder! I like spicy food! I have to eat spicy food every day."

"Same here! If I go a day without spicy food, I feel awful all over!"

Spurred on by Lin Zhiqiang, several customers immediately ordered Qiaojiao Beef, if only to defend the honor of chili dipping sauce.

Zhou Yan smiled as he turned back into the kitchen. Lin Zhiqiang really was his lucky star. He had helped establish the noodles' reputation, and unexpectedly, he was doing the same for the Qiaojiao Beef.

He was practically the "best food taster" imaginable!

"Sure, I'll make it for you right away." Zhao Tieying agreed happily.

Before long, bowls of Qiaojiao Beef were served to the customers.

"Whoa! This beef is so tender! And why is this chili powder so fragrant?"

"The tripe is so crisp! Only fresh tripe has this kind of snappy texture when you chew it! Amazing!"

"The beef tendon is so soft that it melts in your mouth with a light press of the tongue. So fragrant!"

"The broth is so fresh! Fresh enough to make your eyebrows fall off! It's completely different from other places' soup pots!"

The customers praised it one after another, showing complete satisfaction with the Qiaojiao Beef.

And aside from the broth, what delighted most of them was the dipping sauce. Fragrant and spicy, it was absolutely the finishing touch of Qiaojiao Beef.

Dipped or undipped, it was practically two different dishes.

A dish of chili powder turned the originally mild Qiaojiao Beef into the perfect accompaniment for rice. Paired with the delicious broth, the rice tasted wonderfully fragrant.

After taking two bites, Zhao Dong ordered a bowl of rice too. It really did go well with rice.

His favorite was the beef intestines.

The beef intestines had been handled perfectly, without the slightest odor. Coated in chili powder, they were fatty without being greasy—truly delicious!

He liked strong flavors and loved fatty intestines most of all. He enjoyed their tender texture with a little fat in them, as well as the sensation of the oil bursting between his teeth.

Of course, they had to taste good.

"Old Zhao, want to try it?" Lin Zhiqiang pushed the dish of vinegar a little closer to him.

"You eat it yourself. I like dry dipping sauce." Zhao Dong hurriedly pushed the vinegar back and straightened the dry dipping dish. "Qiaojiao Beef still has to be dipped in chili powder."

"I think it tastes quite good with vinegar." Lin Zhiqiang still stuck to his opinion.

Well, everyone had their own favorite. Neither could convince the other.

Zhao Dong's rice arrived. He scooped up a mouthful, chewed it a few times, swallowed, and nodded repeatedly. "This rice is steamed really well!"

It was soft and pleasant to eat, every grain distinct and not sticky in the least, with just the right amount of moisture. It was better than the rice steamed in the cafeteria.

He loved rice more than noodles. His family had been poor when he was little, and he rarely got the chance to eat rice. Every New Year's Day, what he looked forward to most was his mother steaming rice in a wooden barrel.

His mother used to steam huge pots of rice for everyone in the village communal cafeteria. She was the best rice steamer in the village. The rice she made was just like this—every grain distinct and not sticky at all, while the fragrance of the rice was perfectly preserved, along with a faint scent of wood.

Later, he started working, entered the Textile Factory, and even became a workshop director. Life improved day by day, and he could eat rice every day.

But over the past two years, his mother's mind had grown muddled. She was always forgetting things, and sometimes she could not even recognize him.

She had even burned the rice she was best at steaming twice, and once she had nearly set the kitchen on fire. They did not dare let her enter the kitchen anymore.

He had not expected Zhou Yan's rice today to bring back that feeling from his childhood.

The moisture and the heat had been controlled without the slightest flaw.

It was exactly like the perfect Steamed Basket Rice in his memories.

"Old Zhao, what are you thinking about? You've gone completely quiet," Lin Zhiqiang asked with a smile.

"Eating this Steamed Basket Rice made me think of my mother. She used to steam huge pots of rice for the collective in our village. She could make enough for more than a hundred people, and everyone praised it after eating." Zhao Dong smiled. "Little Zhou's rice is steamed with real skill. It can rival my mother's."

"You should count yourself lucky that your mother is still around. I don't even have anywhere to go if I want to think of mine." Lin Zhiqiang spoke with a touch of envy, then curled his lip. "What's so good about rice? It's not even something to go with a meal. No matter how good it is, can it be better than Little Zhou's hand-pulled noodles?"

"Old Lin, you wouldn't understand." Zhao Dong smiled and shook his head.

Just then, Zhao Hong brought over their two bowls of noodles.

"You hired a new server?" Lin Zhiqiang said with a smile. "That means the restaurant's business has improved and its scale has expanded."

"My son and I couldn't manage everything ourselves, so we asked my nephew's wife to come help at the restaurant," Zhao Tieying replied with a smile.

"Very nice." Lin Zhiqiang smiled, then first drank up the Qiaojiao Beef broth in his ceramic bowl.

After finishing that large bowl of broth and over three taels of beef offal, his entire body felt warm. He had even sweated a little, and he felt far more energetic. He was not sneezing anymore either.

"This Qiaojiao Beef broth is really good. I do feel much better after drinking it," Lin Zhiqiang praised.

"Then I'll ladle you another bowl of broth." Zhao Tieying picked up his ceramic bowl and filled it with another serving.

"How could I accept that? I still have a bowl of noodles to eat." Lin Zhiqiang waved his hands repeatedly.

"What's there to be embarrassed about? At our restaurant, when you order Qiaojiao Beef, you can refill the broth for free. No extra charge." Zhao Tieying set down the ceramic bowl and smiled. "It's the same for everyone."

"Very nice." Lin Zhiqiang nodded.

"Great!" The customers who had ordered Qiaojiao Beef smiled as well.

The broth was so delicious that they could easily drink another bowl. It tasted far better than plain boiled water.

Lin Zhiqiang and Zhao Dong had established Qiaojiao Beef's reputation. Quite a few people in the restaurant ordered it, and they ate with great enjoyment.

When later customers casually asked around, they received enthusiastic recommendations from their coworkers, and many of them ordered it too.

While carrying noodles to the customers, Zhou Yan made a point of coming out to greet Lin Zhiqiang and Zhao Dong.

"Little Zhou, your Qiaojiao Beef is really excellent. Not only does it taste good, but after eating it, even my cold is gone." Lin Zhiqiang gave Zhou Yan a thumbs-up, looking at him with high praise.

"I've eaten at several soup pot places in Zhou Village, but none of them compare to Little Zhou's. Looks like the true recipe really ended up with you." Zhao Dong smiled as well. "And your rice is steamed wonderfully too—far better than the cafeteria's."

"You're both too kind." Zhou Yan smiled modestly.

"When are the stir-fried and braised dishes coming out? Not to mention anything else, Braised Spare Ribs, Beef Braised with Dried Bamboo Shoots, and Suihua Beef—those three toppings could absolutely stand as dishes on their own. They'd be perfect with rice." Zhao Dong asked with a concerned expression.