13. A Potful of Fresh Flavor

The next day, a lively group of elderly men and women gathered with great presence at the Nanlai Restaurant.

Nan Tu could still recognize their faces from years ago and was quite surprised. “Grandma Zhao, Grandpa Qiao, Aunt Ma…? What brings you all here so suddenly? Please, come in!”

Grandpa Qiao strolled in leisurely, carrying a birdcage. The bird inside proudly chirped, “Meal time, meal time!”

“You’ve grown into a young lady!” he said admiringly. “I heard you reopened Nanlai Restaurant. I always said the restaurant would have someone to carry it on, though your grandfather didn’t want to hear it. I was clearly paying you a compliment!”

Pan Yueyi’s grandmother, Zhao Sufen, caught sight of Nan Tu after many years. For a moment, she felt as if she was still standing inside that cramped but bustling Nanlai Restaurant. Beside her stood an older man who wasn’t yet so aged, and her daughter was still fumbling through motherhood with her own little girl in tow.

Time’s river flows silently; before the people on the shore realize it, it has already traveled far and wide.

“Is that really you? When your grandfather was ill, we neighbors came to visit him. He was only worried about you, telling us to take good care of you. We promised him we would. But look at us now, we’re all a bit forgetful. You’ve been running the restaurant for quite a while, and none of us knew. If it weren’t for our Yueyue buying some mountain yam peaches from you, I wouldn’t have realized you had reopened Nanlai Restaurant. The taste was so familiar!”

Mention of the mountain yam peaches brought a slight redness to Nan Tu’s eyes. Every birthday as a child, she was not the only one eagerly anticipating the day. On her birthday, she was the most celebrated child in the neighborhood. On the streets near the restaurant, everyone who knew her would wish her a happy birthday.

Grandpa’s passing was like the collapse of a protective shelter for Nan Tu. Reopening Nanlai Restaurant was her way of reclaiming the feeling of home she once had.

She sniffed and explained, “Though I’ve been working over the past few years, I never gave up on Nanlai Restaurant. It’s only been open for a month or two. I’m grateful everyone has come to support us. My cooking skills aren’t refined—I’m afraid I might embarrass everyone.”

“We would never doubt your cooking,” Aunt Ma said earnestly. “Back then…” Before she could finish, a sharp voice at the door interrupted.

“Where’s your boss? Hurry out here!”

Nan Tu looked up to see a middle-aged woman standing at the entrance, arms akimbo and bristling with hostility. Xin Huan stood beside her, looking anxious.

Nan Tu had noticed this woman before and wanted to warn her that this was the person who used to lurk suspiciously across the street, but she was engaged in conversation with old neighbors and couldn’t interject.

But now, this woman had come straight into the restaurant!

“I’m the owner. What’s the matter?” Nan Tu approached, feeling the woman looked somewhat familiar.

“You’re the boss?” The woman paused briefly, squinting her drooping triangular eyes, then launched into a tirade. “My grandson ate here last night, and his stomach hurt all night. It must be that your food wasn’t fresh. How can you charge so much and still use rotten ingredients? How heartless! Poor little boy, he suffered all night, pale and unsteady this morning!”

Nan Tu was about to respond when Aunt Ma stepped forward firmly. “Sun Yinfeng, I saw your grandson when I came over just now. He was fine—he was even competing with other kids climbing trees!”

Sun Yinfeng was surprised to find someone who knew her here. “I’m talking about last night. It’s noon now, so he’s better. But he got sick from eating here last night, and that can’t just be ignored.”

“Oh?” Aunt Ma said ambiguously. “What exactly did your grandson eat yesterday?”

Caught off guard by the familiar face, Sun Yinfeng fumbled, her mental script half-forgotten. Glancing sideways, she pointed at a clay pot on a table. “This one. I don’t remember the name, but it has seafood. Seafood that’s not fresh can kill! How can you even run a place like this? My poor grandson…”

She suddenly started wailing and tried to collapse to the floor. Xin Huan quickly pulled her back up. Sun Yinfeng had underestimated Xin Huan’s strength and, after a couple of failed attempts to break free, could only sneer inwardly: this young girl was strong and surely destined to be stuck washing dishes forever.

The other diners witnessed the commotion and put down their chopsticks, hesitant to eat until Nan Tu addressed the matter.

“All our ingredients are absolutely fresh, especially the seafood, which is purchased daily,” Nan Tu responded calmly. “Auntie, are you sure your grandson ate this ‘One Pot Fresh’ dish yesterday?”

“Of course!” Sun Yinfeng insisted.

Aunt Ma found the situation suspicious. She knew Sun Yinfeng well—she lived in the same building and was infamous in the community for rummaging through trash bins, leaving them overturned and messy. She often quarreled loudly with the cleaners.

Initially, Aunt Ma had sympathized with Sun Yinfeng, thinking her poverty led to such frugality. She even gave her some discarded cardboard boxes, only for Sun Yinfeng to complain the effort wasn’t worth it.

This infuriated Aunt Ma.

On one side was Sun Yinfeng, who never got along with her, and on the other was Nan Tu, a young woman she had watched grow up. Naturally, she sided with Nan Tu.

Over the years, the few young people whose birthdays she remembered were her own granddaughter, two grandsons, and Nan Tu.

What was the difference between Nan Tu and her own children?

So, while Nan Tu was speaking, Aunt Ma quietly slipped out.

“If someone fell ill from our food, we would cover medical expenses and compensate as required. But here’s the thing, Auntie—our menu changes frequently, and ‘One Pot Fresh’ is a new dish just introduced today. How could your grandson have eaten it yesterday?”

Sun Yinfeng was momentarily stuck.

She forced herself to say, “Who remembers these confusing names anyway? One Pot Fresh, Two Pot Fresh—I don’t know. But my grandson ate here yesterday and got sick!”

She thought that if she could roll on the floor and kick her legs, the effect would be better. Standing stiffly like this weakened her stance and lessened the pressure on her opponents.

She glared at Xin Huan, who had a firm grip on her.

Xin Huan glared right back, silently mouthing, “You’re lying!”

“You little girl…” Sun Yinfeng was about to sneak a pinch when Aunt Ma’s voice interrupted.

“Your grandma’s inside. Come get a big meal, hurry up!” she called, bringing Sun Yinfeng’s grandson, Tao Tao, into the room.

Hearing this, Sun Yinfeng became anxious, signaling her grandson. Grandpa Qiao stepped forward, placing himself firmly between them and blocking Sun Yinfeng completely.

Aunt Ma asked, “Tao Tao, do you remember what you ate last night?”

Tao Tao thought for a moment. “Not something good. It was noodles, and they didn’t taste good.”

“No seafood? Who made the noodles? Your grandma said your stomach hurt and told you not to climb trees, to lie down at home.”

“My grandma made them. The beans in the noodles were sour. I didn’t eat them. Grandma ate them and had a stomachache. I’m fine. I don’t want to go home to lie down.”

Sun Yinfeng’s face flushed repeatedly.

The truth was clear. Several old neighbors took turns saying, “Isn’t this extortion? They never even ate here and claim the child got sick. Shouldn’t this be reported to the police?”

“Clearly blackmail. This is criminal and punishable by fines!”

“It’s so hard to run a business these days. They see a young owner and immediately act up. How shameful to be so shameless at their age!”

The group of elderly men and women stood protectively around Nan Tu, their voices overlapping. Sun Yinfeng fled with her grandson, leaving Nan Tu untouched by the storm—like a mother hen shielding her chicks.

-----

After Sun Yinfeng’s hasty retreat, the customers could finally eat in peace. Nan Tu brought a plate of cold dishes to each table to calm nerves. The ploy was crude and easily seen through, but no one believed Sun Yinfeng, and Nanlai Restaurant suffered no ill effects.

Nan Tu told those who had helped, “I don’t know how I offended her. If she wanted to extort money, I have surveillance footage proving they never ate here yesterday. No matter how much noise she makes, she won’t get a dime.”

The neighbors speculated, “Maybe she isn’t right in the head and didn’t consider the cameras. If you’d been quick to settle, she’d have walked away with the money.”

“Could she have been hired by a nearby competitor to cause trouble? Nan Tu, you might not make enemies on purpose, but someone is bound to dislike your success.”

It was a possibility, and Nan Tu’s face clouded with worry.

Aunt Ma, unwilling to see Nan Tu constantly on edge, slammed the table and stood. “Don’t worry. I’ll go ask Sun Yinfeng myself. She’s no secret agent!”

After a while, Aunt Ma returned, her expression grim. “She’s truly an ungrateful scoundrel!”

When Nan Tu first opened, business was slow. Leftover ingredients were hard to use up and she hated wasting them. She once saw Sun Yinfeng rummaging through a nearby trash bin and, assuming hardship, gave her some food scraps.

Recently, business had picked up, and she no longer needed to give away ingredients. Sun Yinfeng waited and waited but received no free vegetables, so she came near the restaurant, saw the bustling scene, and understood the situation. Filled with resentment, she decided to cause trouble so the business would falter again, allowing her to get free food once more.

The neighbors were furious. “What kind of person is this? Not right in the head!” “Gratitude lost, grudges gained!” “No, this is clearly the story of the scholar and the wolf!”

The tale ended there.