Agastache Carp!

"Director, look. Today, there were thirty percent fewer customers ordering stir-fries than usual. We prepared a lot more ingredients to receive those college students, and now all this is left over."

In the Factory Canteen's back kitchen, head chef Huang Fusheng looked despondently at Wang Defa.

The prep counter beside them was piled with all kinds of prepared ingredients—beef, pork liver, pork intestines... everything, and in no small quantities.

Wang Defa's face was dark as he said in a low voice, "Zhou Erwa Restaurant messed things up today. If those college students had come to eat at the canteen, none of these dishes would have been left over. It would've given the canteen more buzz and a better reputation too."

"Exactly! That brat Zhou Yan is really no good!" Huang Fusheng cursed along with him. "Director, you have to think of something. If this keeps up, all our stir-fry customers will run off."

"You've got the nerve to say that?" Wang Defa glared at him, lowering his voice a little, though his anger remained impossible to hide. "I made you head chef not just so you could line your pockets!

If you can't do the job, get the hell out of here early! Do you know how nasty those workers have been talking? They're practically shitting on my head!"

"Yes, yes..." Huang Fusheng's face turned red from the scolding. "I'll make sure to do better."

"Do better, my ass..." Wang Defa was still not appeased. "Get the flavor of those stir-fries right. If any more customers leave, I'll send you back to chopping vegetables!"

"I guarantee I'll make them cook properly from now on. There definitely won't be any more problems!" Huang Fusheng nodded.

"I'll give you one more week to win back the customers we lost." Wang Defa looked at him. "Crush Zhou Erwa Restaurant."

"Got it!" Huang Fusheng nodded solemnly, then hesitated before adding, "Director, I don't think that kid Zhou Yan could've pulled this off alone. He only knows how to toss cucumbers, and he can't even cook Twice-Cooked Pork properly.

His restaurant had practically gone under, but selling noodles suddenly brought it back to life. Someone must be advising him behind the scenes."

"You mean that old bastard Xiao Lei?" Wang Defa fell into thought.

Just then, a middle-aged man dragged a bin of kitchen waste back into the kitchen, returned it to the corner, untied his apron, and prepared to get off work.

"Xiao Lei, come here." Wang Defa called to him, his tone hostile.

"I'm off work. Whatever it is, talk about it tomorrow." Xiao Lei turned and walked away without giving Wang Defa so much as a pleasant look.

"Stop right there!" Wang Defa was so furious he laughed instead. "Aren't you afraid I'll fire you?!"

"Afraid of my ass!" Xiao Lei halted and turned back to look at Wang Defa. Curling his lip, he sneered, "Who the hell are you to fire me? I've got more years on the job than you, and I haven't done anything wrong. What the hell can you fire me for?

But don't go dancing around like a monkey either. If you really piss me off, don't cry when my wok spatula smacks you in the face. I've got better aim than Zhou Yan, and I hit a lot harder too."

"You... you..." Wang Defa's face went black with rage.

Huang Fusheng hurriedly held Wang Defa back while saying to Xiao Lei, "Master Xiao, that's where you're wrong. How can you talk to Director Wang like that?"

"You shut up too. You couldn't even pass the Level Three Chef exam, yet you're head chef. Every day, you're like a toad licking a cow's ass—jumping up to lick Wang Defa. Who the hell do you think you are?" Xiao Lei gave a cold laugh. "My workdays are easy now. I get paid as usual, my seniority keeps adding up, and I just wait for retirement. Better still, I don't have people pointing at my back and cursing me."

"You... you..." Huang Fusheng's face went dark too.

Xiao Lei strode off in a fury without looking back.

As he rode out through the factory gates, he looked back at Zhou Erwa Restaurant and smiled faintly. "That kid really does have some skills."

Zhou Yan had just returned to the restaurant and parked the Twenty-Eight Bicycle against the wall. Zhou Fei was already sitting inside, chatting with Zhou Miao about the big fish Old Zhou had let get away.

He greeted them, placed the package Ma Xingye had brought on the counter, then headed into the kitchen.

"Did you take Xia Yao home?" Zhao Tieying asked.

Zhao Hong also looked at him with concern. That college student was so pretty, with such a sweet personality and soft, pleasant voice. She and Zhou Yan looked so well suited together.

"Yeah. It was getting dark, and it wasn't safe for her to go back alone," Zhou Yan replied casually. He washed his hands first. The fish had already been scored and marinated with scallions, ginger, and cooking wine, while the agastache, green peppers, and red peppers had all been washed.

"Such a pretty girl, of course you had to take her home." Zhao Tieying smiled, then sighed. "It's just so far away. She's from Hangzhou but goes to college in Mountain City. Tell me, how far is Hangzhou from here?"

"More than four thousand li. It takes three days by train."

"Four thousand li? Good heavens! Who knows how much the fare would cost." Zhao Tieying shook her head repeatedly. She already thought Rongcheng was far away, and she had only been to Jiazhou a few times. She could not even imagine how far four thousand li was.

"Flying is faster." Zhou Yan smiled.

"Flying? Who can afford that?" Zhao Tieying shook her head. "Last time I was handling business at the commune, I heard them chatting. They said the secretary went on an inspection trip with the higher-ups, and he needed a certificate from the county just to take a plane. One ticket cost several hundred yuan—enough to buy a bicycle."

"That expensive?" Zhao Hong sucked in a breath, her face full of shock. "Then if you two get married in the future, how often would she be able to visit her parents?"

"Huh?" Zhou Yan froze for a moment, then smiled helplessly. "Sister-in-law, what are you talking about? We're not dating, and nobody said anything about getting married."

"You're the one who dares to dream, Sister-in-law. I don't even dare dream that beautifully. Even among college students, Xia Yao is among the very best. She's graceful and generous, capable and thoughtful, and she knows exactly how to handle people." Zhao Tieying grew more animated the more she spoke, staring at Zhou Yan. "You should give it a try. She'd make such a wonderful daughter-in-law. If you let her slip away, I won't be able to sleep at night."

"Mom, I'm going to make Agastache Carp. I'll leave the Braised Eel to you." Zhou Yan did not dare respond at all.

He took pickled ginger, pickled long beans, and pickled chilies from the pickle jar, then diced them finely and minced them together with ginger, garlic, and chilies. This step was extremely important.

For the agastache, he used only the leaves and chopped them finely as well, allowing their flavor to fully release.

He heated the wok, added rapeseed oil, and when the oil reached sixty percent heat, he added the crucian carp and fried it until both sides were golden before taking it out and setting it aside.

Using the oil left in the wok, he added another spoonful of lard. Once the oil was hot, he stir-fried the ginger, garlic, and pickled chilies until fragrant, then added finely chopped broad bean paste and fried it over low heat until it released red oil. Finally, he added the pickled long beans and stir-fried everything together.

The fragrance surged up at once—sour, spicy, and aromatic!

When Sichuan people cooked fish, they used plenty of oil, side ingredients, and seasonings. What they wanted was precisely that layered, blended flavor.

At that point, he added a spoonful of water, then seasoned it with MSG, pepper, sugar, and soy sauce to deepen the flavor and freshness, along with a little Baoning Vinegar to remove the fishiness and boost the aroma.

He added the previously fried fish, which was just covered by the broth, then simmered it slowly over low heat.

Zhou Yan glanced at Zhou Lihui, who was standing beside the stove, and smiled. "Huihui, you want to learn how to cook fish too?"

"I do." Zhou Lihui nodded and praised him, "Little Uncle, you're amazing. This fish smells so good, even better than the fish my mom makes."

"Your little uncle is a professional chef, so of course he cooks better than I do." Zhao Hong smiled as she tended the fire behind the stove.

In the wok beside them, Zhao Tieying's eel was also simmering. The chopped eel pieces bubbled in the red broth, and they smelled quite fragrant as well.

After watching Zhou Yan cook these past few days, Zhao Tieying had picked up a few tricks too. One of them was to be generous with the seasonings. As long as the seasonings tasted good, even shoe soles would taste delicious.

After the crucian carp had simmered for six or seven minutes, Zhou Yan took a wide-rimmed plate and transferred the fish onto it first.

He raised the heat slightly to reduce the sauce, added a little starch water to thicken it, and when the sauce became thick and began bubbling, he added the agastache and chopped scallions. After stir-frying a few times to let the agastache flavor fully blend into the sauce, he poured it over the cooked crucian carp.

The thick sauce, chopped scallions, pickled long beans, and green and red pickled chilies intertwined over the crucian carp, making it look incredibly appetizing.

The fish's aroma spread through the room. Zhou Lihui swallowed first. It smelled so good!

"This smells incredible. I didn't expect Zhou Yan to be so good at cooking fish too." Zhao Hong praised him as well.

Zhou Momo and Fanwa gathered at the kitchen doorway, lifting their noses and sniffing constantly.

"It smells so good, Brother!" Zhou Momo's eyes sparkled. "Is it fishy-fish? I wanna eat it!"

"Yeah, Agastache Carp." Zhou Yan handed the plate to Zhou Lihui and smiled. "Go wash your hands. I'll stir-fry one more vegetable dish, then we can eat."