Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 755 - 382: Side Quest Completed 2

Back when Wang Gen Sheng was just an ordinary old man, the other old men and women tolerated him as much as they could, seeing that Wang Laogen seemed to have signs of Alzheimer’s, and treated him as background noise. But ever since Wang Gen Sheng became an insider at Yunzhong Restaurant and could easily eat from the little stove, the old men and women couldn’t take it anymore.

You, who are already eating from the little stove, still have to babble and bother us; indeed, what is tolerable and what is not?

It had been a long time since Wang Gen Sheng had reminisced freely about the past.

Now that Wang Gen Sheng had met Shi Dadan, a new friend who was willing to listen to him reminisce about the past, was very interested in his past, and had witnessed his forty-year accounting skills firsthand this afternoon, how could Wang Gen Sheng not be delighted?

How could he resist reminiscing a few more times?

Wang Gen Sheng immediately began to reminisce: "Back in the day when I was an accountant at the cotton spinning factory, I remember I had just graduated from university and had been assigned to the cotton spinning factory here in Gusu. During my internship before being confirmed permanently, my salary was just so little. Being young and fond of eating, my salary would be gone after eating two good meals. When I had no money, I would even take a detour to pass by the state-owned restaurant just to smell the aroma. At that time..."

Once Wang Gen Sheng started reminiscing, he couldn’t stop, leaving Gong Liang bewildered, evidently not understanding why the story was developing in this direction.

Shi Dadan listened intently, interrupting at the right moment: "Were the state-owned restaurants back then similar to the current Huang Ji Restaurant?"

This question stumped Wang Gen Sheng; he stopped reminiscing and started to scrutinize the private room, not very sure: "It seems, not quite..."

"The current Huang Ji was expanded on the foundation of the previous state-owned restaurant," Gong Liang quickly explained. "The first floor was expanded, and the second floor was also expanded. The second floor of the previous state-owned restaurant was very small, with only two private rooms and a storage room."

"Yes, this room 111 was refurbished after combining the two former private rooms. This is the only room that was, all other rooms were newly established after expansion. Initially, I mentioned to Old Huang, who is Master Huang Shengli, whether we should demolish the state-owned restaurant and rebuild it, after all, rebuilding actually costs less than expanding."

"But Old Huang didn’t want to. He thought if he was to open a new restaurant, it could be anywhere, no need to take over the old state-owned restaurant. Since he took it over, it should be expanded on the original site, leaving a bit of nostalgia for the neighbors, at least letting everyone know that Huang Ji was originally the state-owned restaurant, so people wouldn’t forget it."

This part was originally Qin Huai’s lines. However, Gong Liang, being quick with words, snatched all of Qin Huai’s lines.

Qin Huai specifically asked Huang An Yao to reserve room 111 for him because room 111 is the only original site private room. Although just by the looks of the decoration, nothing much is visible now, and most likely, Wang Gen Sheng hadn’t dined in a private room before (no money and not the level), this original site advantage still works at critical moments.

Upon hearing Gong Liang say this, Wang Gen Sheng was immediately touched, sighing: "Huang... Master Huang has really put his heart into it."

Seeing this tactic worked, Shi Dadan pursued further: "I remember you, Old Wang, telling me that the buns and baozi of the state-owned restaurant were delicious. I love eating buns and baozi the most. It’s such a pity I didn’t have the fortune to enjoy them like you all did back then."

Upon hearing Shi Dadan say so, Wang Gen Sheng started reminiscing again: "Yes, Master Jing’s craftsmanship was truly unmatched. Back when I had just become permanent, the first thing I did after getting my salary was to queue at the state-owned restaurant to buy..."

"That..."

"It was truly..."

After Wang Gen Sheng finished reminiscing, Shi Dadan inquired again: "That sounds really nice, but I just heard you say, Old Wang, that you would queue to buy snacks and bring them home. Did you ever sit in the state-owned restaurant to eat?"

When asking this question, Shi Dadan was already being quite deliberate. Even Gong Liang felt that Shi Dadan’s questions were somewhat strange. Liking to listen to people reminisce about the past isn’t odd, but continuously probing, focusing mainly on the state-owned restaurant, even questioning whether he had ever eaten inside the restaurant...

This makes it hard not to find it strange.

But Qin Huai had prepared for this; he had preemptively warned Gong Liang that Shi Dadan might not be very clever, and because of this, any question he asked would be reasonable.

Gong Liang didn’t think much of it but merely sighed in his heart, thinking Qin Huai is indeed a somewhat abnormal friend, and that when looking for a topic later, he should find a somewhat abnormal one.

As for Wang Gen Sheng, he was already completely immersed in the joy of reminiscing about the past, and no matter what Shi Dadan asked, he would answer.

"I ate stir-fried dishes a few times, but I only once had a dish made by Master Jing, and that was thanks to a friend’s influence."

"The state-owned restaurant back then wasn’t as big as it is now; the dining hall had only seven or eight tables, and seats were hard to get. I didn’t even know there were two private rooms on the second floor; I always thought there was only one on the first floor."

"Back in the day..."

"It was truly..."

"At that time..."

Wang Gen Sheng then babbled on reminiscing, saying things similar to his normal reminiscing pattern, but because of Shi Dadan’s continuous questions about the state-owned restaurant, he mentioned the state-owned restaurant more and also focused more on the snacks.

Without mentioning the Double Crab Bun.

It’s normal too.

Under normal circumstances, when reminiscing about the past, Wang Gen Sheng certainly wouldn’t first recall the Double Crab Bun. What he’d most likely think of first would be the Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns because they were relatively cheaper, and he had eaten them the most before.

This is when Shi Dadan’s prompting comes into play.