Li Xuan came to Wangfujing in Beijing. This place was not far from Li Xuan's courtyard house, only three kilometers away. Wangfujing could be said to be the most famous street in Beijing. Not only were there many historical buildings and century-old shops, but there were also many financial buildings and very famous department stores in China.
Li Xuan came to Wangfujing Street and walked to the entrance of a restaurant. This restaurant had a very ethnic characteristic. It was a three-story ancient building with a floor area of up to 1,000 square meters. In Wangfujing, where every inch of land was worth an inch of gold, it could be said to be very eye-catching.
There was a plaque above the entrance of the restaurant with the words "Palace Restaurant" written on it. It wasn't because they only knew how to cook imperial cuisine. There were also Shandong, Cantonese, and Sichuan dishes.
As for why Li Xuan knew so much, it was very simple. It was because he was the owner of this restaurant. Li Xuan looked at the palace restaurant in front of him and smiled. Then, he walked in.
As soon as Li Xuan entered, the greeter in a cheongsam at the door said very politely,"Welcome, sir.”
Li Xuan looked at the receptionist and said,"Call your lobby manager over and give this to her."”After saying that, Li Xuan took out a card from his pocket. This card was completely transparent and very thin. There were not many words on it. It only said the Palace Restaurant, then Li Xuan's name, and the three letters VIP. This was the Supreme Card of the Palace Restaurant, and only Li Xuan himself was qualified to issue it. It could be said that there were currently no more than five such Supreme Cards.
When the receptionist saw Li Xuan's card, she first revealed a puzzled expression because she had never seen such a VIP card before. However, the words 'Palace Restaurant' were written on it, so there was no mistake. Therefore, the receptionist said to Li Xuan,"Okay, please wait a moment." With that, the receptionist went to the front desk of the hotel.
After only five minutes, a woman in a black uniform rushed to the door. When she saw Li Xuan, she immediately revealed an excited expression. Li Xuan also had a smile on his face when he saw the other party.
The other party directly gave Li Xuan a big hug and said to Li Xuan,"Xiao Xuan, when did you return to Beijing? Why didn't you tell me in advance?”
Li Xuan said to the woman,"Sister, I just returned to Beijing today and stayed at home for two days."”The woman's name was Nalin. She was a Manchu and was also a noble of the Eight Banners during the Qing Dynasty. The Manchu surname was Yeh Nala, Lin. This surname was a true banner man. He was 32 years old, married, and had a son. His ancestors had lived in Beijing for generations.
Lin said to Li Xuan,"Let's go back to the office first. Then, we can talk about anything in the office."”After saying that, Lin pulled Li Xuan into the office and made him a cup of tea. Li Xuan saw Lin's appearance and said,"Sister, you don't have to be so polite. It's only been two years. Why are you treating me like an outsider?”
Na Lin looked at Li Xuan and teased,"Our Little Xuan has already grown up. He's no longer the child from before. However, you've also become more handsome, brother. You're more manly than before."”After saying that, Nalin pinched Li Xuan's face. Li Xuan also had a bitter smile on his face. He had no choice. Nalin was such a person. She liked to tease people and joke around.
Li Xuan paused for a moment, then said to Na Lin seriously,"Make a stove for me tonight. I'm going to personally cook and entertain some distinguished guests.”
"Cook personally!" Nalin was shocked when she heard Li Xuan's words. She knew how good Li Xuan's cooking skills were, but there were not many people who could make Li Xuan cook personally. Nalin thought for a moment and asked,"Is it those masters?"
Li Xuan nodded when he heard this. When Lin saw it, she stood up and picked up the phone on the desk to dial a number. Then, she said,"Hello, this is Na Lin. Immediately prepare a stove in the kitchen, as well as all the side dishes and utensils. In addition, prepare a supreme private room.”After saying that, Lin hung up the phone. Then, she took out Li Xuan's Supreme Card and returned it to Li Xuan. She said,"I've already arranged it. Do you want to change your clothes?”
After Li Xuan took the card, he nodded and said,"Yes."
After Li Xuan changed into the chef's uniform, he went to the kitchen. The kitchen of the Palace Restaurant was very big.，Moreover, it was very clean. Back then, someone had recommended Li Xuan to let the Palace Restaurant participate in the Michelin evaluation, but in the end, Li Xuan refused. Li Xuan said to them,"It's a Chinese restaurant, and it's Chinese cuisine. Why should foreigners judge it?”
When Li Xuan arrived at the kitchen, nearly 60 chefs present said to Li Xuan together,"Hello, boss!" Li Xuan was a little surprised when he saw them. Then, he asked Lin beside him,"You told them?"
Lin directly put her arm around Li Xuan's shoulder and said,"Anyway, they will know immediately when you come to the kitchen. So what?”
Li Xuan nodded when he heard this. Then, he said to all the chefs,"Alright, do what you have to do. Don't worry about me.”
"Yes, sir!" Everyone said in unison after hearing Li Xuan's words, and then began to busy themselves with the work at hand.
Li Xuan came to a stove and looked at the various side dishes that had already been cut. He nodded and began to work.
For a full three hours, in order to not let all the dishes lose their taste, Li Xuan prepared many methods. Finally, when everything was waiting to be served, Li Xuan left. In a while, other chefs would carry out the final finishing touches.
Li Xuan looked at his watch and realized that it was already six o'clock, so he returned to the office to change his clothes.
Li Xuan changed into casual clothes and went to the Supreme Private Room. Then, he began to wait. After waiting for half an hour, the door of the VIP room opened. A man in his forties slowly walked in with an old man.
When Li Xuan saw the old man, he immediately went forward excitedly and bowed 90 degrees. "Master," he said.
When the old man saw Li Xuan, he also said excitedly,"Child, get up quickly. How is it? Are you used to coming back?”The old man's name was Yang Xin. This name might not be very familiar to many people, but it was famous in the painting, calligraphy, and education worlds. Yang Xin was a famous Chinese teacher, calligrapher, painter, and collector. He was the former director of the Arts Teaching and Research Section of Peking University and the founder of the Peking University Painting and Calligraphy Association. He was the disciple of the great painter Xu Beihong and Dong Xiwen.
The most important thing was that Yang Xin was now Li Xuan's master. When Li Xuan first met Yang Xin, it was still 2007. At that time, Elder Yang had already retired. However, after someone introduced him, Li Xuan got to know the old man. In 2008, Elder Yang took Li Xuan as his disciple, and also his only disciple. Elder Yang had countless students in his life, but Li Xuan was the only disciple he took as his master.
The person beside Old Master Yang was his son, Yang Ye. He was an expert in the restoration of ancient buildings and the head of a construction team. Li Xuan said to Yang Ye,"Big brother."”
Yang Ye smiled and nodded, then said,""Brother, the old man has been talking about you every day since he found out about your retirement.”
When Li Xuan heard Yang Ye's words, his heart warmed. Then, he held Old Master Yang's other hand and said,"Master, let's sit down. I'm cooking personally today, okay?”
When Old Master Yang heard Li Xuan's words, his eyes immediately lit up and he said,"Is that so? Then I'm in luck. You don't know, I've been talking about the dishes you made for me these past few days.”Li Xuan smiled bitterly when he heard this. Well, it turns out that he was not talking about me these past few days, but about my cooking.
Just after Old Master Yang took his seat, the door of the private room opened again. This time, two people accompanied an old man in, but the old man was not supported. When Li Xuan saw this, he stood up again and said to the old man,"Hello, Sir."
The person who came was the Peking opera master, Mr. Mei Baojiu. When the master saw Li Xuan, he immediately smiled and said,"Little disciple, your invitation is a few days late.”Elder Mei was telling Li Xuan that he should have invited him on the day he retired. Elder Mei called Li Xuan his little disciple because he had once wanted to take Li Xuan as his disciple, but Li Xuan had rejected him. However, if Li Xuan needed it, Elder Mei would teach him like a master every time. It was also because of this that Li Xuan called Elder Mei 'Sir,' which meant that he was his teacher.
After Li Xuan heard Old Mei's words, he said,"Sir, don't mock me. I'll personally go to you to apologize next time.”
"Alright, I'll be waiting for you." Elder Mei smiled.”Li Xuan smiled and nodded. Then, he said to the two people behind Old Mei,""Hello, Brother Hu, Sister Li." These two people were Elder Mei's disciple, Hu Wenge. He was Elder Mei's personal disciple and also the only male green-clothed man in the Plum Sect's Peking opera. Moreover, Li Xuan got to know Mr. Mei Baojiu because of Hu Wenge. Li Shengsu, Elder Mei's personal disciple. He was also the eldest disciple. At the same time, she was also a national first-class actor.
Hu Wenge smiled at Li Xuan and said,"Brother, I missed you so much."”After Hu Wenge finished speaking, he gave Li Xuan a big hug. Li Shengsu said to Li Xuan,"Be good, Little Xuan." Li Xuan also smiled. After all, Li Shengsu was basically not much younger than Li Xuan's mother, so she did not feel uncomfortable saying this to Li Xuan.
When Master Mei Baojiu saw Old Master Yang, he immediately smiled and said,"I knew you were here.”Old Master Yang chuckled and said,"If my disciple doesn't call me, who else should I call?"”
When Elder Mei heard Elder Yang's words, he immediately knew that Elder Yang was mocking him, so he said,"You, I once said that I wanted to take Xiao Xuan as my disciple. If he didn't agree, he would have been my disciple long ago.”
Old Master Yang laughed and said," There's no other way. Anyway, Little Xuan calls me Master now. He can only call you Mister."”Because Elder Yang and Elder Mei were both masters of the arts, the two of them were also friends. Later on, after Li Xuan became Elder Yang's disciple, whenever the two of them bickered, Elder Yang would use Li Xuan as an excuse. This was because Elder Mei and Elder Yang had once snatched an apprentice. In the end, Elder Yang succeeded, so he had always been showing off to Elder Mei.
Li Xuan listened to the conversation between the two elders and smiled bitterly. The reason why Elder Mei wanted to take Li Xuan in was not because Li Xuan wanted to learn Peking opera. Although Li Xuan did like Peking opera very much, it was because Li Xuan believed that Peking opera was a characteristic of China. Therefore, he wanted to fuse Peking opera with songs and then make Peking opera popular again. However, after Elder Mei heard Li Xuan's voice, he immediately wanted to take Li Xuan as his disciple. However, Li Xuan did not dare to do so. The main reason was that Elder Mei's seniority was too high. If Li Xuan took Elder Mei as his master, he would immediately become a grandmaster. Moreover, his peers in the Beijing opera industry would never see a young man with such a high seniority.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]