In the 5th year of Zhenguan, on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month, the Double Ninth Festival, Chang’an’s West Market South Street bustled like a boiling pot.
The clean scent of zhuyu mixed with the cooking smoke from every eatery and drifted through the air.
Just as dawn broke, Xiaoyao Tower’s vermilion gate slowly opened, and the door hinge let out a “creak,” like opening a brand-new storybook.
Two lines of waiters wore blue-cloth uniforms, with the words “Xiaoyao” embroidered on their left chests, and they shouted in unison, “Xiaoyao Tower opens today, and we respectfully welcome honored guests from all directions!”
Their voices rang out so loudly that everyone passing by stopped to look.
A crowd of commoners had already gathered in front of the building, packed so tightly that not even water could seep through.
Some came to see that youth who had “a chicken that could move in his paintings”… everyone said not only was he a god at painting, but the dishes he stir-fried could smell fragrant for ten li.
Others heard that even the Emperor praised the food here, and they wanted to taste something new.
More people were drawn by the couplets at the entrance… “One dish, one standard; the heat reveals the truth; 100 dishes, 100 flavors; the human heart is the Mandate of Heaven,” with words that looked novel and lines that rang true, as if profound principles were hidden inside, making them unable to resist going in to take a look.
Du Heng stood inside the doorway in a clean linen shirt, wearing neither gold nor jade, yet his gaze was as steady as a deep pool.
He did not wear a shopkeeper’s long robe, and he looked like an ordinary cook, but the calm poise on him came from studying the principles of gewu.
Princess Changle did not show herself, and she only sent a trusted palace maid disguised as a rich young lady to sit in a corner on the first floor and watch the whole scene.
The maid gripped a glass cup tightly in her hand, and the four characters “gewu zhizhi” at the bottom of the cup glimmered faintly in the light.
At the Si hour and three quarters, the first customer finally arrived, and it was actually Cheng Yaojin!
He strode inside in big steps, with Yuchi Jingde and Qin Qiong following behind him, and none of the three wore official robes, only everyday clothes, yet their presence felt like tigers entering a marketplace, making no one dare come close.
“I heard there’s a little young lord whose stir-fried dishes can perfume all of Chang’an?”
Cheng Yaojin’s voice was loud like thunder, shaking even the wind chimes under the eaves into a “ding-a-ling.”
“I, Old Cheng, am starving, so hurry up and serve the dishes!”
Du Heng hurried up to greet them and led them into the “Gong” character private room.
Diagrams of levers and pulleys hung on the wall, and the serving hatch was still left on the tabletop.
A waiter shook the bell, and as the “rattle-rattle” sounded, dishes rose up from downstairs through the serving hatch.
Yuchi Jingde stared so hard his eyes went wide, and he slapped the table and shouted, “Brilliant! The waiters don’t have to run around, and no one can see it either, so it’s extremely private!”
Du Heng first served four small appetizer plates: sliced cured meat, dried apricots, cucumber sticks, and mint candy, along with a cup of rose dew.
“These are the four appetizer flavors, and they cleanse the palate and lift the spirit, so the main dishes will taste even better later.”
His voice was not loud, but every word could be heard clearly.
Cheng Yaojin grabbed a piece of cured meat and stuffed it into his mouth, and after chewing twice, his eyes lit up.
“Good! It smells even better than the cured meat my family makes, it’s chewy, and it’s not greasy!”
Before long, the main dishes were served: Xiaoyao Pork, Kung Pao Chicken, fish-fragrant eggplant, and Cucumber Stir-Fried with Cured Meat.
Du Heng personally stir-fried all of these dishes, and as soon as the iron woks went “sizzle,” bluish smoke rose and the fragrance instantly filled the entire building.
“So fragrant!”
“How is it smoking, yet still so fresh?”
The diners could not help craning their necks to look, and even Hu merchants passing by stopped and peered into the building.
Cheng Yaojin picked up a piece of Xiaoyao Pork and put it into his mouth, and it melted with a light press of his tongue, making him shout “satisfying” again and again as he ate five bowls of millet rice in a row.
Yuchi Jingde tasted a bite of Kung Pao Chicken, and it was so spicy that sweat broke out all over his head, yet he grinned especially happily and said, “That hits the spot! It feels even better than going to war!”
Qin Qiong slowly savored Apricot-Fragrant Soft-Scrambled Eggs, nodded, and said, “Light and nourishing; with my old problem of asthma, eating this is just right.”
After the three ate until their bellies were round, Cheng Yaojin patted Du Heng on the shoulder as he left and said, “Kid, you’ve got real skill! Tomorrow I’ll bring my sons to eat here again!”
By noon, more and more customers arrived, and every seat in the building was filled.
Hu merchants led camels over, pointed at the menu, and ordered dishes in the Hu language, so A Ruan quickly handed them small slips written in the Hu language, and the Hu merchants beamed and gave her a big thumbs-up as soon as they saw them.
Scholars came with their book boys, and they ate while looking at the suggestion book at the entrance, and they even picked up a brush and wrote, “I suggest adding more soy milk.”
There was even an old farmer who, after selling his vegetables, pulled out ten wen and ordered a bowl of Cucumber Stir-Fried with Cured Meat, and as he ate, his eyes turned red.
“I’ve lived sixty years, and this is the first time I’ve eaten food this fragrant, and it isn’t even expensive!”
Du Heng stayed so busy in the kitchen that his feet barely touched the ground, controlling the heat, adjusting flavors, and sending dishes out, yet nothing became chaotic.
A Ruan passed seasonings as fast as a gust of wind, Zhou kept accounts quickly and accurately, and the waiters never made a single mistake delivering dishes.
Even the cleaning laborers divided tasks clearly… red rags wiped tables, blue rags washed bowls, and they were never mixed.
What surprised people most was the “Transparent Kitchen”… diners could see stir-frying inside through bamboo curtains.
They watched Du Heng’s swift technique and his extremely precise control of heat, and even when the oil reached seventy percent heat, there was not much smoke, so they could not help sighing, “So stir-frying has to be this meticulous! It’s not enough for your hands to be fast; you also have to be careful!”
But at the Wei hour, trouble suddenly broke out.
The shopkeeper of Drunken Immortal Pavilion barged in with five burly men and shouted loudly, “Du Heng! You put gu poison in your food, and you made my Drunken Immortal Pavilion lose thirty percent of its customers! People who eat your food will become stupid, so you’re poisoning the commoners!”
The crowd instantly erupted, and a woman hurriedly hugged her child and retreated.
Du Heng was not flustered at all, and he said loudly, “Please have Lord Censor bear witness!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Investigating Censor Wang Gui slowly walked in, holding a yellow silk notice in his hand.
“This official has been supervising here these past few days, and Xiaoyao Tower’s ingredients are not poisonous, the cooking is compliant, and all operations are open, so these rumors are all fabricated nonsense!”
“I have already recorded statements, and it will be handled according to the law!”
The Drunken Immortal Pavilion shopkeeper’s face instantly turned deathly pale, and he tried to sneak away, but he was stopped by Cheng Chumo… Cheng Yaojin’s son… who had brought people to block him.
It turned out Cheng Yaojin already guessed someone would cause trouble, so he specifically had his son keep watch here.
“According to Great Tang law, those who fabricate rumors to mislead the masses will be flogged with sixty strokes and fined ten guan.”
Wang Gui said coldly.
The Drunken Immortal Pavilion shopkeeper collapsed onto the ground with a “thud,” and the commoners watching all clapped and shouted, “Xiaoyao Tower is innocent!”
“Young lord Du is kind-hearted!”
At the Shen hour, more honored guests arrived.
A carriage with blue curtains stopped in front of the building, and Li Shimin arrived in disguise with Wei Zheng.
The commoners did not recognize them, and they only felt that these two carried an extraordinary bearing and were unlike ordinary people.
Du Heng hurried up to greet them and led them into the “Nong” character private room.
A crop-rotation diagram was painted on the wall, and freshly harvested millet was even set on the table.
Li Shimin ordered the “princess set meal,” and Wei Zheng only wanted a bowl of Apricot-Fragrant Soft-Scrambled Eggs.
When the dishes were served, Li Shimin tasted a bite of Xiaoyao Pork and praised, “Fat but not greasy, and the heat is just right; it tastes like what I dreamed of eating back when I went to war.”
He tasted another bite of Kung Pao Chicken, and it made him cough twice from the spice, yet he smiled and said, “Satisfying! Just as satisfying as when I fought the Turks back then!”
Wei Zheng slowly savored Apricot-Fragrant Soft-Scrambled Eggs and suddenly asked, “How can this dish be so tender it’s like congealed cream?”
Du Heng explained, “Green apricots have natural fruit acids, and when they bind with the proteins in egg whites, the structure becomes tighter, so it tastes tender. I also added a bit of honey, which balances the sourness and gives the flavor more layers.”
Wei Zheng stroked his beard and nodded.
“The principles of gewu can actually be applied to cooking, letting commoners understand principles while eating, which is truly marvelous.”
After the meal, Li Shimin called Du Heng into the courtyard and said in a low voice, “In my view, you are not just a cook, but someone who can teach commoners principles. When commoners know that heat is like the human heart, they understand that doing things requires focus. When they know ingredients can be traced to their source, they understand the importance of integrity. When they know the people who work have dignity, they understand that everyone deserves respect.”
Du Heng knelt and kowtowed.
“Your Majesty is wise, and this commoner is willing to use food to pass on principles and use this Xiaoyao Tower to educate the people.”
Li Shimin helped him up and patted his shoulder.
“Work hard, and I trust you.”
At the Xu hour, Xiaoyao Tower should have closed for the day.
Everyone checked together: the first day’s income was one guan and 320 wen, which was quite a bit more than expected, and 372 people came to eat, including 17 Hu merchants, 43 scholars, and 292 commoners.
There were 89 messages in the suggestion book, and ninety percent were praise, while the rest suggested “add more spice,” “add some soup,” and “make more soy milk.”
After Zhou finished verifying the accounts, he confirmed there were no mistakes.
After A Ruan finished counting the kitchenware, the waiters swept the floors and wiped tables, and not a single one slacked off.
Even small notes delivered by beggars that read “sweetened the mouth” were pasted onto the suggestion wall.
Du Heng walked up to the rooftop and looked at Chang’an’s night scenery.
Amid the lights of countless homes, Xiaoyao Tower’s glass lanterns shone the brightest, and the light that spilled out looked like the moon.
Princess Changle’s carriage quietly stopped at the mouth of the alley, and she did not get out, only lifting the curtain to watch from afar.
When she saw Du Heng’s figure standing straight as a pine tree, the corners of her mouth could not help lifting, and she whispered, “He did it.”
On the way back, she told the palace maid, “Tomorrow, I will go to Xiaoyao Tower in my true identity.”
Du Heng returned to his room, spread out fresh paper, and wrote down the first day’s situation: the opening day was a success.
His reputation had already been established, the rumors had been crushed, and the nobles had acknowledged it too.
The next step was to launch membership stored-value cards that could record names and also be transferred as gifts.
He also planned to build a franchise model, teach others the techniques, and charge a bit of brand fee.
He would invest the money earned back into the Gezhi Institute to research glass, medicine, and farm tools.
Outside the window, the autumn wind felt especially comfortable, and the sound of the Qujiang waters faintly carried over.
Xiaoyao Tower’s cooking smoke had already blended into Chang’an’s glorious night.
This day was not only the opening of a restaurant, but more like the beginning of a new era.
The principles of gewu zhizhi began spreading from the smoke and fire of everyday life, and the vision of a flourishing age slowly took shape in the bowls of the commoners.
And that small peach tree in Dujiawa had already quietly grown flower buds, waiting for the spring breeze to come so it could bloom and bear fruit.