Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 170 Goodbye Lou Family
Along the way, the driver kept talking and Yan Jiekuang was absent-minded, but the car still stopped in front of a villa halfway up the mountain and Yan Jiekuang got out of the car.

Looking at the huge gate, Yan Jiekuang knew that the Lou family had made a fortune in Hong Kong Island.

Yan Jiekuang searched for a long time but didn't know how to knock on the door. He turned around and saw a small door next to it with a doorbell. Yan Jiekuang walked over and rang the doorbell. After a while, a middle-aged woman in white opened the door and asked Yan Jiekuang, "Sir, what can I do for you?"

Yan Jiekuang asked, "Excuse me, is this the Lou family? Is Lou Xiao'e here?"

The middle-aged woman frowned and asked, "This is Lou Mansion, who are you?"

Yan Jiekuang knew that he was a wealthy man. Hong Kong Island was in chaos right now, so it would be better to be careful. He quickly said, "Please inform me that my name is Yan Jiekuang and I am from the Forbidden City. What do I do if Lou Tan is mine?"

When the middle-aged woman heard this, she took it seriously and said, "Please wait a moment, the lady is at home."

Yan Jiekuang did not enter the room. The woman was still very careful. She closed the door and went in to report.

After a while, Yan Jiekuang heard the sound of anxious footsteps at the door. The small door opened suddenly. Lou Tan saw Yan Jiekuang and hugged him immediately, saying, "Son, I missed you so much. Why did you come just now?"

Following behind were the servants of the Lou family, and they were all shocked to see the lady like this.

Yan Jiekuang comforted Lou Tan and said, "Godmother, I'm here, you should be happy."

It took Lou Tan a while to recover. She held Yan Jiekuang's hand tightly and took him directly into the yard.

Yan Jiekuang saw a large courtyard. A straight stone road led to a huge three-story villa. Yan Jiekuang followed Lou Tan into the villa, and then Lou Tan started to prepare things. After a while, the servants brought all kinds of fruits and snacks.

Yan Jiekuang quickly stopped Lou Tan who was still preparing, and said, "Godmother, let's sit down and talk. Don't prepare anymore. I'm not hungry."

When Lou Tan heard this, she realized it was right, so she quickly sat down and asked, "Why did you come here? Are you staying or staying for a while?"

Yan Jiekuang quickly explained the purpose of his visit to Hong Kong Island, saying, "I will only stay for five days this time. I am mainly here with a business delegation. Time is a bit tight. I have to participate in the finals of the chef competition the day after tomorrow."

When Lou Tan heard this, she showed a strange expression. Yan Jiekuang asked, "What's wrong, godmother?"

Lou Tan smiled and said, "If we knew you were participating, our restaurant would not have participated in this competition. It's obvious that we won't win the championship."

Yan Jiekuang was stunned. It turned out that the Lou family opened a restaurant in Hong Kong Island called Tan’s Restaurant. It was very famous in Hong Kong Island. Several chefs in the restaurant were from the Tan family, who were specially brought from the inland by the Lou Tan family.

Yan Jiekuang said: "No, I am just a special guest and will not participate in the competition."

Afterwards, the two chatted about each other's experiences. Yan Jiekuang was a little confused when he heard about Lou's father's business. Lou's father was engaged in plastic flower business and building materials business in Hong Kong Island. Yan Jiekuang thought to himself, isn't this the business that the Li family started from?

Lou Tan called Lou Xiao'e. Lou Xiao'e is now the head of Tan's Restaurant and has been very busy. But when she heard that Yan Jiekuang was coming, she immediately put down what she was doing and rushed home.

As soon as Lou Xiao'e saw Yan Jiekuang, she hugged Yan Jiekuang like Lou Tanshi and refused to let go. She burst into tears and said while crying, "You damn boy, have you forgotten me, have you?"

Yan Jiekuang was at a loss, and he tried to comfort Lou Xiao'e in a soft voice. When Lou Xiao'e heard that Yan Jiekuang could only stay for five days, she became unhappy again. Yan Jiekuang said, "It was a coincidence that I was able to come here this time. It's great that I met the leaders of the Ministry of Commerce. I was able to have this opportunity. I will strive for it when I have the chance in the future."

Lou Xiao'e temporarily let Yan Jiekuang go, pulled Yan Jiekuang to the kitchen, and said that she had not eaten the food he cooked for a long time.

Yan Jiekuang gave a bitter smile to Lou Tan and followed Lou Xiao'e to the kitchen. Cooking was Yan Jiekuang's strong point, and he was very excited when he saw the rich ingredients in the Lou family kitchen. However, he did not cook Tan's dishes, but palace dishes.

After a while, Yan Jiekuang and the servants of the Lou family came to the restaurant with dishes. The mother and daughter of the Lou family had been waiting for a long time. Yan Jiekuang said: "This is the first time I use raw materials to make these four dishes. You know we have nothing there and have no chance to make them."

As he spoke, he opened the lid of the meal. The four dishes were shark fin, stir-fried cuttlefish shreds, sweet-scented osmanthus fish strips, and dragon crab with drumsticks. There was also a dish of braised pheasant shreds and bird's nest in a soup pot.

Seeing the exquisite presentation and the fragrant dishes, Lou Tan was very satisfied and said to Yan Jiekuang, "Your cooking skills have improved again. If you cook Tan's dishes now, I guess you will be second to none."

Yan Jiekuang scratched his head embarrassedly and said, "You also know that there is not much to do in the inland. When you have nothing to do, you always have to find something to do. I always read books on cooking and try to cook it myself."

Lou Xiao'e was not polite. She served herself a bowl of bird's nest soup and said, "This is the first time I've eaten such a dish. What is it?"

Lou Tan patted her and said, "You don't act like a lady at all. These are palace dishes. They are dishes for the emperor's banquet."

Yan Jiekuang also urged, "Eat it while it's hot. The taste will change if it gets cold."

The three of them raised their chopsticks and took a few bites before Yan Jiekuang said, "I have some steamed phoenix tail dumplings on the stove. They will be ready in three to five minutes. I'll have someone bring them over later."

Just then, footsteps were heard outside. Yan Jiekuang turned around and saw that Lou's father had returned, accompanied by a man and a woman.

Father Lou was surprised to see Yan Jiekuang and said, "Why are you here? When did you come? Why didn't you tell me in advance so that I could arrange someone to pick you up?"

Yan Jiekuang quickly stood up and said, "Hello, Uncle Lou. I'm here with a delegation, the trade delegation, and I won't be staying for a few days."

Father Lou said, "Just now in the living room, the family said that a guest had come and they were having dinner. I was wondering who had come."

Suddenly, Father Lou smelled a delicious aroma and looked at the table. Wow, all the dishes were new to him. He hurried to serve them, but suddenly remembered that he had brought someone with him. He turned around and said, "Secretary Wang, you and Miss Xu should go back first. We will discuss the company's affairs in the office tomorrow. I am very sorry that we have a distinguished guest at home today."

The two men had already been surprised. When he came in, the chairman's attitude towards this young man in old clothes was quite surprising. At this time, they also knew that he had a special relationship, so the two men tactfully took their leave quickly.

The three members of the Lou family and Yan Jiekuang started to eat around the dining table. Lou's father wanted to ask Yan Jiekuang something, but with delicious food in front of him, he decided to eat first and talk about the details after dinner.

After a while, the servant brought in two steamers. Yan Jiekuang introduced that one steamer contained phoenix-tail steamed buns, and the other steamed bun was a surprise for Mrs. Lou Tan and contained Cixi's steamed buns.

When Lou Tan heard this, her eyes lit up and she couldn't wait to pick one up and put it on her plate. Lou Xiao'e pulled Yan Jiekuang to want to know what Cixi Xiaowotou was. Yan Jiekuang told her the origin of this dish. After listening, Lou Xiao'e reached out to grab it.

Father Lou didn't even look up. He just ate without saying a word.

After the meal, the plates were really clean, without any residue left. Only then did Father Lou say, "Your cooking skills have improved. If you participate in a chef competition, you will definitely win the championship."

Lou Tan laughed and said, "Chairman, you are right about this matter. He really went to participate in the chef competition. He was invited by the Huo family."

Father Lou suddenly became interested and looked at Yan Jiekuang, wanting to know the purpose of his visit.

Yan Jiekuang did not hide anything and explained the whole story clearly, emphasizing that the head of the delegation wanted to meet Lou's father.

Father Lou said, "Let's go to the study to talk. Madam, bring some tea."

(End of this chapter)