Chapter Summaries

Zhou Yan and Zhao Tieying introduced Qiaojiao Beef at Zhou Erwa Restaurant, drawing workers in with its aroma and claims that it drove out cold. Lin Zhiqiang tried the new dish at lunch and was delighted by its broth and tender beef, while Zhao Dong watched and waited to hear his verdict.

• Zhou Yan and Zhao Tieying set Qiaojiao Beef at sixty cents a bowl and promoted it as a medicinal dish simmered for eight hours.
• Zhao Tieying drew workers' curiosity by describing Qiaojiao Beef outside Zhou Erwa Restaurant during the morning rush.
• Lin Zhiqiang, feeling unwell, persuaded Zhao Dong to eat at Zhou Yan's restaurant and spotted the new dish on arrival.
• Lin Zhiqiang ordered Qiaojiao Beef while Zhao Dong chose Double-Pepper Beef Tossed Noodles, and the other diners watched to see how it tasted.
• Zhao Tieying served Lin Zhiqiang beef offal, tender beef, vegetables, broth, and dipping sauce, and he praised the fresh soup and tender beef.

Lin Zhiqiang and Zhao Dong praised Zhou Yan’s Qiaojiao Beef and rice, drawing more customers to order them. The chapter ended with Zhao Dong asking when Zhou Yan would add stir-fried and braised dishes to the restaurant.

• Lin Zhiqiang praised the Qiaojiao Beef and broth, then shocked the customers by dipping the beef in vinegar.
• Lin Zhiqiang and Zhao Dong ordered Qiaojiao Beef, prompting several customers to order it with chili dipping sauce and rice.
• The customers praised the tender beef, crisp tripe, flavorful broth, and fragrant chili powder, while Lin Zhiqiang and Zhao Dong disagreed over vinegar versus dry dipping sauce.
• Zhao Dong tasted Zhou Yan’s rice and recalled his mother’s skill at steaming rice for their village.
• Zhao Tieying explained that Zhao Hong had joined the restaurant as a server, and Lin Zhiqiang praised the broth’s warming effect as customers enjoyed free refills.
• Zhao Dong praised Zhou Yan’s Qiaojiao Beef and rice, then asked when the restaurant would start serving stir-fried and braised dishes.

Zhou Yan’s Qiaojiao Beef sold well on its first day, and he planned to expand into stir-fries and braised dishes once the business stabilized. Lin Zhiqiang returned to Zhou Erwa Restaurant for more Qiaojiao Beef after crediting it with easing his chill.

• Zhao Dong told Zhou Yan he would stop eating small stir-fries at the Factory Canteen if Zhou Yan began selling them, while Zhou Yan considered but set aside recruiting his former master Xiao Lei.
• Zhao Tieying reported that the restaurant had sold thirty portions of Qiaojiao Beef for eighteen yuan, while noodle sales also remained strong.
• Zhou Yan rested outside with Zhou Momo, who told him that Huihui and Fanwa would visit to play the next day, and he fell asleep as she chatted.
• Lin Zhiqiang gave a technical sharing session at the Textile Factory, and Wang Hongliang told him his work had been submitted for a Ministry of Light Industry technical award.
• Lin Zhiqiang returned to Zhou Erwa Restaurant, praised the Qiaojiao Beef, ate a bowl with two bowls of soup, and packed food for his children.
• Zhou Momo asked Zhou Yan when Sister Yaoyao would come eat noodles again.

Zhou Yan’s restaurant sold 69 portions of Qiaojiao Beef but had 31 left, which he shared with the Textile Factory guards and workers. At dinner, the family agreed to close on the factory’s day off, planned a visit to Zhou Yan and Zhou Momo’s grandmother, and celebrated their first day of turnover above 100 yuan.

• Xia Yao told her roommates Zhu Yuyu and Deng Hong about Zhou Yan, the man who saved her, and promised to take them to eat noodles in Suji.
• Zhou Yan shared the leftover Qiaojiao Beef with the security guards and night-shift workers, and Luo Weidong promised to look after the restaurant.
• Zhou Fei gave Zhou Momo a woven grasshopper, delighting her and making Zhao Hong smile.
• Zhou Yan told his family the restaurant would close on the Textile Factory’s day off and take one day off each week, and Zhou Miao suggested visiting their grandmother.
• Zhou Yan announced that the restaurant’s turnover had reached 106 yuan and 60 fen, and the family toasted the launch of Qiaojiao Beef.

Zhou Yan’s restaurant continued to grow, and he accepted a system quest to become the most popular restaurant near the Textile Factory. The next morning, business improved again, while Zhou Momo endured her mother’s rough attempt to wash her face.

• Zhao Tieying and Zhou Miao celebrated Zhou Yan’s earnings on the ride home and kept the restaurant’s success quiet to avoid stirring up trouble in Zhou Village.
• Zhou Yan tallied the day’s sales, considered repaying his debts, and accepted a quest to reach 1,000 points of influence around the Textile Factory, starting at 380.
• Zhou Yan prepared ingredients for another busy day, and Zhou Erwa Restaurant sold sixty-three bowls of noodles that morning.
• Zhou Momo asked Zhou Yan for Spare Rib Noodles, then told Zhao Tieying she loved her to avoid being scrubbed too hard.
• Zhao Tieying washed Zhou Momo’s face with a hot towel, and Zhou Momo asked her to be gentler next time.

Zhou Yan welcomed his nephews while Xia Yao returned to Jiazhou Textile Factory with a group from Sichuan Fine Arts Academy. At lunchtime, their leader, Su Jun, chose Zhou Erwa Restaurant over the factory canteen, saying he planned to teach his students a lesson there.

• Zhou Momo got her nephews Zhou Lihui and Zhou Lifan to call her Auntie before leading them off to play.
• Zhou Yan noticed Xia Yao among the visiting Sichuan Fine Arts Academy students, and she smiled at him.
• Lin Zhiqiang showed the students around Jiazhou Textile Factory and introduced Zhou Erwa Restaurant and its Qiaojiao Beef.
• Wang Defa welcomed the group to the Factory Canteen, but Su Jun asked whether they could spend their meal allowance elsewhere.
• Su Jun announced that the group would eat at Zhou Erwa Restaurant, surprising the people gathered outside the canteen.

Zhou Yan welcomed Lin Zhiqiang, Su Jun, and more than thirty teachers and students from Sichuan Fine Arts Academy after they chose Zhou Erwa Restaurant over the Factory Canteen. Su Jun then examined Zhou Yan’s outdoor Qiaojiao Beef stove as an example of brand building and asked whether the idea had been Zhou Yan’s.

• Su Jun chose Zhou Erwa Restaurant for the group’s lunch, and Lin Zhiqiang agreed, leaving Wang Defa humiliated as workers mocked the canteen’s food.
• Lin Zhiqiang led the teachers and students to Zhou Erwa Restaurant, drawing curious workers along the way.
• Zhou Yan prepared to serve the group, adding more beef to each portion of Qiaojiao Beef to make it more generous.
• Su Jun asked the students to analyze Zhou Yan’s prominent outdoor stove, its signage, and the aroma of the simmering beef as promotional tools.
• Su Jun described the setup as a representative example of brand building and asked Zhou Yan if it had been his idea.

Su Jun and the visiting university group admired Zhou Yan’s handmade stove sign and ate at his restaurant, where the food impressed the students and professors. The chapter left the restaurant packed with diners praising Zhou Yan’s dishes.

• Su Jun praised Zhou Yan’s handwritten sign and learned that Zhou Yan had designed it to promote the restaurant after he could not afford a neon sign.
• Zhao Tieying seated the visiting students, teasing Wang Chen by calling him “Glasses,” “Chubby,” and other names.
• Xia Yao recommended Zhou Yan’s noodles to her classmates, who teased her about whether she liked him.
• Su Jun explained to Lin Zhiqiang that he had added the factory visit to meet Zhou Yan, who had saved Xia Yao from drowning.
• The university group and factory workers filled the restaurant, then praised the noodles, Qiaojiao Beef, and other dishes as they ate.

Zhou Yan’s restaurant drew a crowd after college students praised its noodles and Qiaojiao Beef, and they arranged to return for dinner. After the busy lunch, Zhou Momo came home muddy with an eel, and Zhao Tieying celebrated her catch instead of scolding her.

• Su Jun, Lin Zhiqiang, and the students praised Zhou Yan’s food, and the group decided to return to Zhou Erwa Restaurant for dinner.
• Xia Yao took dinner orders from the students, while Lin Zhiqiang watched her and Zhou Yan with an indulgent grin.
• Xia Yao told Zhao Tieying that the students would leave for Mountain City the next morning, then walked around Suji Town with Deng Hong and Zhu Yuyu.
• News of the students’ praise brought more customers to the restaurant, where Zhou Yan sold out his noodles and Zhao Tieying reported that they had sold sixty-two servings of Qiaojiao Beef.
• Zhou Momo and her cousins returned muddy from the fields with eels, and Zhao Tieying praised Momo’s catch and offered to make her braised eel for dinner.

Zhou Yan delivered Ma Xingye’s love letter to Xia Yao, who passed it to Deng Hong and learned that Deng Hong’s feelings were returned. After buying ingredients, Zhou Yan went to the docks and told Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai that his soup pot business was beginning to sell.

• Zhou Yan agreed to deliver Ma Xingye’s letter to Deng Hong through Xia Yao.
• Xia Yao briefly mistook the letter for a confession from Zhou Yan before learning it was for Deng Hong.
• Deng Hong excitedly opened Ma Xingye’s love letter after Xia Yao told her he had confessed.
• Zhao Tieying told Zhou Yan to buy puffed rice candy for Xia Yao before she left for Mountain City the next morning.
• Zhou Yan bought beef and ribs, then told Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai at the docks that his soup pot was starting to sell.

After revealing that Qiaojiao Beef had sold exceptionally well at the Textile Factory, Zhou Yan offered to teach Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai his improved recipe. They agreed to learn from him, while Zhou Liangliang secretly set off toward the Textile Factory after hearing about the business.

• Zhou Yan told Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai that he had sold seventy bowls on his first day and expected to sell a hundred bowls at sixty cents each.
• Zhou Liangliang was shocked by Zhou Yan’s sales and price, while Zhou Yan anticipated that other Zhou Village vendors would soon compete at the Textile Factory.
• A side quest appeared, asking Zhou Yan to take on an apprentice and pass down the Qiaojiao Beef recipe, and he accepted it.
• Zhou Yan persuaded Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai to learn his improved recipe, and they agreed to meet him at the restaurant next Monday.
• Zhou Yan left to prepare seasoning for students from Sichuan Fine Arts Academy, while Zhou Liangliang headed toward the Textile Factory and left his wife to mind the stall.

Zhou Yan’s restaurant drew a crowd of textile workers after university students ate there, while Zhou Liangliang decided to start selling noodles and hotpot himself. Zhou Miao arrived with two crucian carp, which Zhou Yan’s system identified as acceptable-quality farmed fish.

• Zhou Yan bought Puffed Rice Candy for Zhou Momo, Zhou Lihui, and Fanwa, then invited Zhou Lihui to learn how to cook.
• Lin Zhiqiang and Su Jun reached a preliminary school-enterprise partnership between Jiazhou Textile Factory and Sichuan Fine Arts Academy to build the factory’s brand.
• After hearing about Zhou Yan’s busy restaurant and seeing workers and students heading there, Zhou Liangliang resolved to sell noodles and hotpot starting the next day.
• University students and textile workers bought out Zhou Yan’s noodles and Qiaojiao Beef, and Zhou Yan told disappointed customers that the restaurant would reopen Monday.
• Xia Yao took Zhou Momo out to play while Zhou Yan’s family finished serving customers.
• Zhou Miao arrived with two crucian carp, and Zhou Yan’s system judged them acceptable-quality farmed fish fed on grain.

Zhou Yan supported Zhou Miao's fishing hobby and helped him prepare an agastache carp dinner, then rode Xia Yao to her guesthouse before she left for Mountain City. Their farewell ended with Xia Yao promising to write to him, while Zhou Yan learned Ma Xingye's courtship had succeeded.

• Zhou Yan accepted a quest to support Zhou Miao as an ingredient supplier and gave him ten yuan to buy fish, promising to repay the family's debts.
• Zhou Miao showed Zhou Yan how to clean eels, and Xia Yao gave Zhou Momo her first doll.
• Zhou Yan gave Xia Yao and her friends bags of Puffed Rice Candy and rode Xia Yao to the guesthouse as they discussed their future plans.
• Xia Yao told Zhou Yan she would write to him, and he asked her to include her address.
• Ma Xingye told Zhou Yan that Deng Hong liked him and gave him a gift before running off.
• Deng Hong and Zhu Yuyu teased Xia Yao about Zhou Yan, and Xia Yao said they were still revolutionary friends while privately admiring him.

Wang Defa blamed Zhou Erwa Restaurant for the Factory Canteen’s falling stir-fry sales and gave Huang Fusheng a week to win customers back, while Xiao Lei openly defied them. Back at the restaurant, Zhou Yan cooked Agastache Carp as his family praised the dish and teased him about Xia Yao.

• Wang Defa scolded Huang Fusheng over the canteen’s surplus ingredients and ordered him to restore lost customers within a week.
• Huang Fusheng suggested that Xiao Lei might be advising Zhou Yan, but Xiao Lei rejected Wang Defa’s authority and insulted both men before leaving.
• Xiao Lei rode past Zhou Erwa Restaurant, smiled, and acknowledged that Zhou Yan had skills.
• Zhou Yan returned to the restaurant, where Zhao Tieying and Zhao Hong questioned him about taking Xia Yao home and teased him about marrying her.
• Zhou Yan fried and simmered crucian carp with pickled ingredients, then finished the dish with agastache and scallions as his family admired its aroma.

Zhou Yan’s family praised his Agastache Carp and Braised Eel over dinner, and Zhou Lihui said he wanted to become a chef instead of following his father into cattle slaughtering. Zhou Yan agreed to let him try learning at the restaurant, provided he learned to read and do basic arithmetic.

• Zhao Tieying and the family enjoyed Zhou Yan’s Agastache Carp, praising its flavor and finishing the fish and sauce.
• Zhou Miao suggested Zhou Yan take two fish to their grandmother, and Zhou Yan agreed.
• Zhou Lihui told the family he wanted to learn cooking from Zhou Yan rather than slaughter cattle.
• Zhou Yan questioned Zhou Lihui about his decision, then offered to teach him at the restaurant on Saturdays as a trial.
• Zhou Yan told Zhou Lihui he had to learn to read and master basic arithmetic before he could become his apprentice.

Zhou Yan paid back Zhou Fei, reviewed his restaurant earnings and system progress, then went to Duihe Market to buy food and liquor before taking Zhou Momo to visit their grandmother. The chapter left them heading to the old house at the village’s edge.

• Zhou Yan repaid Zhou Fei the eighty yuan he had borrowed, while Zhou Lihui said he would study cooking with Zhou Yan.
• Zhou Yan recorded his sales, counted his remaining money, and checked his system panel before going to sleep.
• Zhou Yan woke early on his day off, ran around the Textile Factory, and rode to Duihe Market to buy liquor, fish, ribs, oranges, and vegetables.
• Zhou Yan reflected on how the old lady had kept the five Zhou brothers’ families close by having them live apart.
• Zhou Yan brought Zhou Momo along to visit their grandmother, and she happily ate an orange on the way.

Zhou Yan visited his grandmother Zhang Shufen with Zhou Momo, shared a meal and heard stories about his grandfather. When his system offered a quest to collect Zhang Shufen’s prized old braising stock, Zhou Yan asked to take it for his restaurant, and she angrily refused.

• Zhou Yan and Zhou Momo arrived at Zhang Shufen’s home after passing Zhou Qi, whom Zhang Shufen had fed sweet potato porridge.
• Zhou Momo greeted Zhang Shufen and left candy by the photograph of her grandfather, Zhou Yi.
• Zhang Shufen advised Zhou Yan to keep his restaurant earnings quiet and told him about Zhou Yi’s wartime service.
• Zhou Yan discovered Zhang Shufen’s decades-old braising stock and received a system quest offering a braised-food guide if he collected it.
• Zhou Yan asked to take the braising stock to his restaurant, and Zhang Shufen shouted at him to leave it alone.

Zhou Yan tried to get his grandmother’s treasured aged brine but persuaded her to teach him the family braising craft and help him make his own. He then welcomed his uncle Zhou Weiguo home and reflected on the family’s inheritance of both culinary skill and military service.

• Zhou Yan asked Zhang Shufen for her aged brine, but she refused to hand over the pot and threatened to call Tie Ying and Zhou Miao to beat him.
• Zhang Shufen told Zhou Yan how the family’s braising recipe had been passed down and how she had used it to support her family.
• Zhang Shufen agreed to teach Zhou Yan how to make and maintain brine, and told him to buy the ingredients and bring her to his shop.
• Zhou Weiguo returned from weeding the fields, and Zhou Momo welcomed him with candy and oranges.
• Zhou Yan noticed Zhou Weiguo’s limp and remembered that his uncle had been wounded in the Sino-Vietnamese War and received a first-class merit award.

Zhou Yan cooked Agastache Carp and other dishes for his family, earning his grandmother’s approval and discovering how exceptional her hot-braised beef intestines were. After dinner, he urged Zhou Weiguo to reconsider his decision to farm and pursue a job serving the people, leaving his uncle newly hopeful.

• Zhou Yan prepared Agastache Carp, braised spare ribs, and hot-braised beef intestines, while his grandmother praised his improving cooking skills.
• Zhou Weiguo, Zhou Momo, and the old lady ate Zhou Yan’s dishes, and the old lady approved the fish for his menu.
• The old lady mentioned that Zhou Ming’s wedding banquet was scheduled for the following Sunday, and Zhou Weiguo said the arrangements were settled.
• Zhou Weiguo asked about Zhou Yan’s restaurant business, and Zhou Yan said he was expanding his offerings and beginning to make money.
• Zhou Yan encouraged Zhou Weiguo to use his military experience in a township or factory job instead of spending his life farming.
• Zhou Weiguo reconsidered his future and murmured that he could serve the people, while the old lady listened with tearful eyes.

Zhou Yan persuaded Zhou Weiguo to seek work and repaid the money he had borrowed. He planned a new braised-dish and stir-fry menu for the restaurant, then learned Lin Zhiqiang wanted to bring guests there the next day.

• Zhou Weiguo agreed to visit the Personnel Bureau after Zhou Yan encouraged him to pursue a meaningful life.
• Zhou Yan repaid Zhou Weiguo one hundred yuan and received a list of spices and bones from the old lady for braising stock.
• Zhou Yan returned home, where Old Zhou was secretly turning embroidery needles into fishhooks, and then headed back to the restaurant.
• Zhou Yan calculated prices for new braised dishes and stir-fries, deciding to launch the menu the next day.
• Lin Zhiqiang asked Zhou Yan whether the restaurant would offer signature dishes besides noodles for a meal he planned to host.