Chapter 188: The Sweetness of Childhood

However, Chen Shujie was not only very skilled at running his business, but he also kept his family affairs in perfect order.

Although he had many descendants and factions within the family, his restaurant group never devolved into the kind of palace intrigue plots you’d see in melodramatic Hong Kong Island TV dramas.

The main branch, the supply chain, and even chef training have always been managed by Chen Shujie’s third-generation direct descendants, while the other branch locations are run by the second and third branches of the family.

Hong Kong Island, being their main base of operations, has always been left to the eldest son’s family.

The other southern cities are shared between the other two branches.

Because the eldest son’s family firmly controls the core of the entire restaurant system, the other two branches lack the power to challenge their authority.

As a result, not only do they stay out of each other’s way, but they often end up helping and supporting one another.

The location Li Xiao was at now was, naturally, a branch managed by one of these other family lines.

After all, there’s an unwritten rule in the culinary world: the food at an old, original restaurant is always better than at a new one.

This might not be as severe for time-honored brands that are just starting to franchise, but as the chain expands further, the quality of the food inevitably declines.

This isn’t just a misconception people have; it’s a real phenomenon.

The reason for this is quite simple: it takes too long to train a good chef.

The ones who can be poached, who are willing to leave, are usually the sous-chefs and third cooks.

And while these sous-chefs and third cooks might be slightly better than the head chef in certain specific areas...

...when it comes to overall ability—things like general management, flavor quality, and comprehensive culinary skill—most of them inevitably can’t compare to a head chef.

But when these sous-chefs and third cooks are poached, they become the head chefs at new restaurants.

And when even newer restaurants open, they in turn poach the new sous-chefs from those restaurants, making them head chefs at the newest locations.

And so on and so forth. The faster a restaurant expands, the less time its chefs have for learning and training.

Their skills and experience will get progressively worse. Fortunately, this expansion isn’t infinitely fast.

At a certain point, it reaches a forced equilibrium with the chefs’ rate of development.

After all, if even the head chef’s skills aren’t up to par, the restaurant is bound to attract very few customers.

Without enough customers, there isn’t enough revenue.

Without enough revenue, the restaurant can’t survive.

The restaurant shuts down, and this batch of "rejected" chefs will return to other branches to go back to the grind and continue their training.

Then, they quietly wait for their next chance to make a comeback.

And with the experience from their previous failure, they’ll have made at least some progress, so they won’t fail so miserably the next time.

However, Li Garden’s expansion has always been very slow.

It’s not that their profits don’t support rapid expansion. Rather, to maintain the quality of the dishes at all their locations, they simply won’t open a new restaurant without a sufficient reserve of trained chefs.

That’s why, over so many years, they have only opened a total of 25 branches.

By the time Li Xiao and his friends arrived at the entrance of Li Garden, they could already feel the restaurant’s lively atmosphere.

Even though it was a Monday, the entrance was still crowded with people, and the parking lot outside was filled with all kinds of luxury cars.

When the hostess at the entrance asked, Li Xiao gave her his reservation number.

After confirming that Li Xiao had made a reservation in advance, the hostess’s smile grew even brighter:

"Right this way, our three valued guests."

With that, she walked ahead of the three of them to lead the way.

The moment they stepped into Li Garden, they were captivated by the restaurant’s grandeur and decor. The interior was traditional and elegant, with calligraphy, paintings, and certificates of honor from various Cantonese culinary masters adorning the walls, showcasing the restaurant’s profound history and cultural heritage.

All sorts of precious ingredients were displayed inside a series of glass cabinets.

Li Xiao, being something of a connoisseur, could tell at a glance that they were all extremely expensive treasures.

The hostess led them toward their reserved table. Along the way, they could see a wide variety of exquisite Cantonese dishes being served to other guests.

The fragrant aroma of the food wafted through the air, making their mouths water.

Someone in the livestream chat immediately recognized where Li Xiao was.

"Holy crap, Li Garden!"

"Li Garden is the GOAT!"

"I’m someone who can’t live without spicy food, but after eating at Li Garden once, I fell in love with Cantonese cuisine!"

...

Li Xiao raised his eyebrows. He hadn’t expected his audience to have such sharp eyes.

"That’s right, good eye! I’m currently in Zhujiang New City in Yangcheng."

"The place I’m taking you all to today is the Li Garden Restaurant, also known as the Huangpu Military Academy of Cantonese cuisine!"

"Many of you might be wondering why Li Garden is called the Huangpu Military Academy of Cantonese cuisine."

"It’s actually very simple. Most of the chefs in famous Cantonese restaurants got their start here."

"The rules in Li Garden’s back kitchen are incredibly strict. The number of rigid codes of conduct is appalling."

"I once saw a list of rules for organizing prep trays in the Li Garden kitchen that was circulating online. It was a full A4 sheet of paper. It absolutely terrified me."

"But high demands and high standards also produce high quality."

"Two Black Pearl stars, two Michelin stars, number one on the must-eat Cantonese food charts for 20 consecutive years, and an online rating as high as 4.95 out of 5!"

"Today, I’ll take you all in to see what it’s all about!"

The waitress in the cheongsam led Li Xiao into a small private room for four.

"Hello, sir. Just to remind you, our private rooms have a 10% service charge and a 3,000-yuan minimum spend. Are you aware of this?"

Li Xiao wasn’t too surprised by the minimum charge or the 10% service fee. Most high-end restaurants had this sort of thing.

He nodded.

"Understood completely."

"Okay, here is the iPad for ordering. If you need anything, you can call for service on it at any time."

"Great, no problem."

Li Xiao had already looked at the menu. His assistant had marked down all the signature dishes in a notebook, so he ordered what he wanted on the iPad without much hesitation.

Abalone Sauce Chicken Feet, Supreme Shrimp Dumplings, Durian Pastries, and Molten Salted Egg Yolk Buns.

Crispy Roasted Pork Belly, Crispy-Skinned Squab, Lobster Bisque with Crispy Rice, Agrocybe Mushroom and Squab Soup, and Dragon Soaring Over the Seas.

Li Xiao spotted chrysanthemum tea on the menu, something he hadn’t had in a long time. A wave of nostalgia washed over him, and he decided to order a pot.

In his memory, chrysanthemum tea was always accompanied by sweet white sugar—the favorite taste of his childhood.

Before long, the waitress came in with a fragrant pot of chrysanthemum tea and a small dish of white sugar.

Looking at the scene before him, Li Xiao couldn’t help but feel a pang of nostalgia.

Back then, whenever an elder took him out for tea, he always chose chrysanthemum tea. It was a shared favorite among him and his friends—sweet chrysanthemum tea with white sugar was the unforgettable taste of their childhood.