By the 3rd day after Xiaoyao Tower opened, there was no one in Chang’an City who did not know about “the Du family stir-fried dishes”.
In the West Market, Hu merchants traded gold cakes for seats just to taste a plate of “Kung Pao Chicken”… spicy yet fragrant, sour then sweet, which actually made him think of the spiced stewed chicken from his Persian homeland; in the wards, an old woman saved copper coins for 3 days just to bring her grandson to eat a bowl of “Apricot-Fragrant Soft-Scrambled Eggs”, and the child ate until his mouth was full of sweetness and kept saying, “Grandma, let’s come again tomorrow”; there were even scholars who copied the suggestion book to circulate it, saying, “One meal at Xiaoyao Tower is better than reading 10 years of books”… because each dish came with an investigating-things note that talked about ingredients, heat control, and principles, so that one ate with reflection and savored with understanding.
Du Heng, however, did not let the praise go to his head, as he knew very well that **reputation rose easily but was hard to keep, and fame came easily but was hard to hold**.
After closing every day, he always gathered the entire staff for a “review meeting”, come wind or rain.
“Today a guest disliked the Xiaoyao Pork for being too salty because the batch of soy sauce was different.” He pointed at the suggestion book. “Starting tomorrow, grade the soy sauce into 3 levels… light, medium, and strong… mark it on the menu, and let the customers choose for themselves.”
“The cucumber stir-fried with cured meat is slow to come out because the cured meat has to be sliced to order.” A Ruan reported this, with stove ash still on her forehead.
“Change it!” Du Heng made the decision. “Pre-slice the cured meat and store it in vacuum-sealed clay jars so you can take it out as needed… this will both preserve the flavor and improve efficiency.”
Old Zhou then presented the accounts, his voice trembling slightly. “We have already sold 73 stored-value cards, with a total stored value of 1 guan 800 wen. Calculated on an average daily customer flow of 300 people, we can store 10 guan a month, enough to pay 3 months of wages for the Gezhi Institute glazed kiln.”
“Good.” Du Heng nodded. “Set levels for the stored-value cards: 100-wen Silver Card (comes with mint candy), 500-wen Gold Card (comes with sauces), and 1,000-wen Jade Card (enjoys priority for private rooms, tastings of new dishes, and a complimentary meal on the cardholder’s birthday).”
He also ordered people to carve a wooden plaque to hang at the tower’s entrance: “Today’s recommendation: Apricot-Fragrant Soft-Scrambled Eggs (fresh green apricots just picked, incomparably tender)”… it was changed every day to entice customers to try something new.
**Marketplace acclaim came surging in like the tide.**
At the tea shop opposite Drunken Immortal Pavilion, an old regular drank coarse tea and sighed, “I have lived 70 years, and this is the first time I have seen a restaurant open up its back kitchen! That Du Xiaolang, when he stir-fried dishes it was like performing martial arts; his control of the heat was precise and his gaze was focused… truly a craftsman!”
Hu merchants, in turn, spread the word in the Persian trading house: “The Tang people have a wondrous building called Xiaoyao; its dishes are fragrant to the bone, and its service is as warm as family. If you come to Chang’an, you must go! If you don’t, you are unworthy of calling yourself a traveling merchant!”
What surprised people the most was Princess Gaoyang.
On the 2nd day after opening, she actually came riding on horseback with 10 palace maids, her red robes snapping in the wind, and booked the “Ji” character private room… its walls hung with steam models and its table fitted with pulleys leading to the serving hatch. When she ordered, she sneered, “If it isn’t good, I will smash your signboard!”
But when the Kung Pao Chicken was served, she took a bite, choked and coughed, yet burst out laughing, “The spicier the better! Bring 3 more plates!”
After the meal, she tossed a gold ingot onto the table. “A reward! Tomorrow I will bring the polo team!”
Du Heng accepted the gold ingot but told A Ruan to pack a jar of “Changle chili sauce” to send into the carriage. “If the princess likes spicy food, this sauce is even fiercer and can be offset with apricot cream.”
Gaoyang lifted the curtain, her gaze like lightning. “You know how to please my sister, and now you are trying to please me as well?”
“Chili sauce does not distinguish between sisters, only between tastes.” Du Heng cupped his hands, his expression calm. “If the princess finds it too fierce, she can take it with apricot cream to offset it… its sour sweetness balances the yin and protects the stomach without harm.”
Gaoyang started, then actually accepted it and murmured, “…You are 100 times better than those fawning flatterers.”
With media support, the momentum grew even stronger.
Ma Zhou… the poor-born scholar who had once painted murals and written poems for Du Heng… was at that moment compiling sample issues of the Great Tang Daily in a shabby alley, and when he heard of Xiaoyao Tower’s flourishing business, he came in person to experience it.
He ordered a bowl of cucumber stir-fried with cured meat, eating while taking notes, and when he returned he wrote the Record of Xiaoyao Tower, which was copied and circulated throughout Chang’an:
> “The tower has no carved beams, yet it contains the spirit of investigating things; the dishes have no rare delicacies, yet they possess the true flavor of everyday smoke and fire. > The back kitchen is transparent, the ingredients traceable, there are bells for service, and opinions are promptly acted upon. > The waiters smile, neither servile nor arrogant; the shopkeeper personally mans the stove, neither vain nor proud. > This is no mere restaurant but a bridge of public trust and a model for craftsmen! > Investigating things to attain knowledge lies not in the study but in the bowls of the common people.”
Once this article appeared, the scholarly world was shaken, and Imperial Academy Boshi came with his students in a group visit, saying, “This is a living Qimin Yaoshu.”
Commercial imitation quietly began to rise.
Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, Drunken Immortal Pavilion hurriedly changed its menu overnight, adding “stir-fried greens” and “cured meat slices”, but because its control of heat and oil temperature was inadequate, diners cursed, “An ugly woman imitating a beauty, with nothing but greasy oil in the mouth”; there were even small taverns that hung up “Xiaoyao-style” signboards and used inferior soy sauce to pass it off as “Changle chili sauce”.
Du Heng did not grow angry but instead laughed. “If every restaurant under heaven served stir-fried dishes and the common people benefited, why would I not be delighted?”
He did only one thing: apply for the “Xiaoyao” trademark
Through Changle, he submitted a memorial to the Ministry of Works: “Please approve the 2 characters ‘Xiaoyao’ as an exclusive trade name; counterfeiters are to be fined 10 guan of silver and publicly announced for 3 days.”
Li Shimin wrote in vermilion ink, “Approved. The name of investigating things ought to be protected. This is Great Tang’s first case of exclusive trade-name rights and may be entered into the statutes.”
The people’s word of mouth turned into action.
An old farmer, after selling his vegetables, spent 10 wen to buy a packet of cured meat and went home to steam it for his sick wife, and after eating it she said with tears in her eyes, “It is warmer than medicine; even my heart feels heated.”
A young scholar saved on tuition money to bring his mother to eat “Apricot-Fragrant Soft-Scrambled Eggs”, and mother and son embraced and wept, saying, “Mother, your son has made something of himself and can invite you to eat at Xiaoyao Tower!”
There were also Hu merchants who brought their whole families to offer congratulations, presenting a pair of Persian glass cups. “Only with these cups,” they said, “can the dishes in your tower truly show their value.”
These stories were written down by the waiters and posted on the “Warm-Heart Wall”… a special wall set up by Xiaoyao Tower just to display customers’ heartfelt messages, and there were often passersby who stopped beneath it and read until tears filled their eyes.
Standing in front of the wall, Du Heng said to the quietly visiting Changle, “The art of investigating things, if it cannot warm people’s hearts, is nothing but pointless trickery.”
Changle gazed at him, the gentle light in her eyes as soft as water, and said, “You always manage to turn technology into tenderness.”
Late at night, the data served as proof.
Revenue over 3 days was 4 guan 200 wen (far above the average for taverns).
A total of 126 stored-value cards were sold, with a total value of 21 guan.
The member repurchase rate was 63%.
The suggestion adoption rate was 87%.
“We can roll out franchising.” Du Heng said to Changle, “Charge a franchise fee of 1 guan and teach the techniques for 3 days, with unified standards for woks, sauces, uniforms, and service methods. Profits will be split 30/70… I take 30, they take 70… I provide the brand, they provide the labor, and we both benefit and win together.”
“You are not afraid of leaks?” Changle asked.
“The soul of investigating things lies not in secret formulas but in the underlying ideas.” Du Heng laughed. “They can learn stir-fried dishes, but it will be hard to learn the ‘Three No Principles’… do not cheat customers, do not adulterate, and do not neglect. That belongs to the human heart, not to technique.”
Changle nodded. “I will order Zheng Family Trading Company to help you expand to Luoyang and Yangzhou.”
Du Heng was taken aback. “The Zheng family?”
“Zheng Liwan, the young master of the Zheng family.” A faint light flashed in Changle’s eyes. “She is skilled in mathematics and versed in commerce, has once studied abroad in Tianzhu, and understands the Hu merchant network. She has already sent someone to discuss cooperation and is willing to invest 50 guan for a 20% share.”
That night, Du Heng spread out a new chart… the nationwide layout map of Xiaoyao Towe*.
With Chang’an as the core, Luoyang as the wings, and Yangzhou as the throat, within 3 years there would be 100 chain stores, and within 5 years “Xiaoyao waystations” would be set up along the Silk Road to provide food and lodging for traveling merchants and also sell glass, soap, and sauces.
And all of this began with a plate of stir-fried greens, a jar of cured meat, and the sentence, “Heat control is the human heart.”
Outside the window, the Chang’an night market was still bustling, with the sound of Hu reed pipes interweaving with the noise of the streets.
The glass lanterns of Xiaoyao Tower, amid the lights of 10,000 homes, were like rising stars; their light was not blazing, yet it was steady and never extinguished.
This radiance would eventually illuminate every corner of Great Tang… from the banks of Qujiang Pool to beyond Yumen Pass, from the desks of scholars to the stoves of farmers.
Investigating things to attain knowledge was not only about reason but even more about practice; the everyday fireworks of a flourishing age were not only in the court but arose from among the common people.