AGN -Chapter 235 The Eel Banquet

This time, when Old Master Wang reminisced about the past, it was different from usual.

In the past, whenever he talked about old times, he would always start by mentioning how he had never made a false or incorrect account in all his years of work. Then he would briefly recall his glorious youth working at the Gusu Cotton Mill, pick out one or two negative examples for comparison, and highlight how outstanding his own professional ability was.

Finally, he would modestly praise himself for having been well-liked back then—a good colleague and a good accountant at the mill.

It was always more or less the same pattern.

But today, perhaps because the Three-Head Banquet was just too delicious, what Old Master Wang reminisced about was not his excellent work ability, nor his good interpersonal relationships, nor the glorious moments when he was praised by leadership, nor his eventful years after leaving Gusu.

Instead—

It was the dishes at a birthday banquet.

Old Master Wang directly began listing dish names.

Soft Pocket Eel, Eel Soup, Flash-Fried “Tiger Tail,” Oolong Wrapped Egg, Silver Thread Eel, Silver Thread Fried Noodles, Eel Balls, Eel Thousand-Layer, Crispy Eel Pastry, Eel Shaomai, and Big Braised Butterfly Slices.

The way he rattled off those dishes left everyone present with no doubt that Wang Gensheng did not have dementia. That memory was first-class—after so many years, he could still recall every dish name clearly. Truly worthy of being a gold-medal accountant at the cotton mill—a human ledger.

As for always forgetting things—like forgetting to bring fruit today, forgetting soy sauce yesterday, or garlic the day before—that must be because he didn’t take Chen Juan’s reminders seriously. Xu Tuqiang strongly suggested that Chen Juan should “carry out righteous justice” on Wang Gensheng when they got home and give him a proper lesson!

Many of the dishes Old Master Wang mentioned were unfamiliar to everyone, leaving them stunned.

Only Huang Anyao seemed to understand, looking both shocked and confused. After Wang Gensheng finished, he spoke: “Old Master Wang… what you had that day was an Eel Banquet.”

“Eel Banquet? What Eel Banquet?” Wang Gensheng looked confused and waved his hand. “You must be mistaken. It was just a friend’s 20th birthday. I just went to grab a meal—nothing like a banquet.”

“With my status back then, how could I attend a banquet? Even weddings didn’t really have banquets—just some fancy candy as wedding favors was already considered extravagant.”

“But the dishes you just listed are all part of an eel banquet,” Huang Anyao said.

“What’s an eel banquet?” Qin Huai asked on behalf of everyone.

Only then did Huang Anyao realize that no one present was a professional and quickly explained: “‘Longyu’ (long fish) refers to eel. Huai’an produces a lot of eel, and local chefs are very skilled in cooking it. The prototype of the eel banquet dates back to the Qing Dynasty. It was later developed and refined by Huai’an chefs into what became one of the five great national banquets.”

“All the dishes in an eel banquet are made from eel. A complete eel banquet has 108 dishes and is served over three days. Each day includes eight large bowls, eight small bowls, sixteen plates, and four dim sum items.”

“Even back then, very few chefs could complete a full eel banquet. Even if masters worked together with their apprentices, producing 108 distinct eel dishes over three days—each unique and flavorful—was extremely difficult.”

“Take my father, for example. He’s already considered quite skilled with eel dishes. His specialties include Sizzling Eel Shreds, Soft Pocket Eel, Fried Eel Segments, and Eel Soup. Altogether, he probably knows a dozen or twenty ways to cook eel—but 108…”

“Even Master Pei Shenghua from Chengfang Residence might not be able to do it.”

“The dishes Old Master Wang listed earlier could already form a simplified eel banquet.”

“Soft Pocket Eel, Flash-Fried Tiger Tail, Oolong Wrapped Egg, Big Braised Butterfly Slices, Silver Thread Eel—these are all famous dishes from the eel banquet. For a simplified version, this is already very impressive. Most chefs wouldn’t dare take it on.”

Qin Huai quickly whispered, “The Master Jing that Old Master Wang mentioned is actually your grandmaster.”

A legendary figure who could produce S-grade recipes with ease.

Huang Anyao immediately understood—and even felt a little envious.

“My dad ate really well when he was young.”

Qin Huai: …

Had Master Huang Shengli really been so low-key all these years? Not even bragging about his own master to his son? Zheng Da, on the other hand, bragged constantly—Zheng Siyuan’s eyes lit up whenever he mentioned their grandmaster.

Old Master Wang was stunned and muttered, “So that table of eel dishes was actually that amazing… I even thought it was strange at the time. It was the factory director’s son’s birthday, yet they only served eel. What’s so special about eel? There’s plenty of it in the fields—kids in the countryside wouldn’t even bother catching it unless they were starving.”

Chen Juan: …

For some reason, she suddenly felt the urge to “administer justice” to her husband.

“Which factory director’s son? You knew the director’s son? Which one? Why haven’t I seen him?” she pressed.

Wang Gensheng’s expression changed slightly. He seemed reluctant to talk and replied vaguely, “The youngest son of Director Xu from our cotton mill… you wouldn’t know. By the time you joined, Little Xu had already…”

Chen Juan froze and said nothing more.

Wang Gensheng looked at the leftovers on the table and sighed: “If Little Xu were still here, that would be great. He loved eating. If he could sit here today and enjoy a meal like this, he’d probably be happy for days.”

No one responded.

Only Huang Anyao cluelessly added, “That Director Xu must have had a great relationship with my grandmaster. Even a simplified eel banquet is extremely troublesome—it requires at least three or four days of preparation. To make one just for a birthday means they were very close.”

At that moment, Qin Huai finally understood Huang Shengli’s helplessness when watching Huang Anyao negotiate with suppliers.

If the young master could just transfer half of his “talent for explaining dishes” into emotional intelligence, his marketing plans wouldn’t turn out like this.

…

The meal started at 2:45 PM and didn’t end until after 4 PM.

Later, Ou Yang suggested in the group chat that since so many people were gathered, they might as well go to Guanhelou for dinner that evening—he had discount coupons expiring the next day.

Everyone enthusiastically agreed.

Director Liu even proposed cycling to help digest the food before dinner. She knew a great cycling route near her home—30 minutes there, an hour of cycling, then another 30 minutes to Guanhelou. Perfect timing.

The morning jog group eagerly supported the idea.

Doctor Zhou, who had been training his cycling speed every day since he couldn’t eat at Huang Ji, also agreed enthusiastically.

Qu Jing said post-meal exercise sounded good.

Ou Yang suddenly felt like he had shot himself in the foot.

…

Meanwhile, Qin Huai sat at the kitchen entrance, reading the group chat while listening to Dong Shi share the latest gossip. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Huang Anyao excitedly telling Huang Shengli that one of the old men at lunch had actually eaten the grandmaster’s eel banquet.

Huang Ji was always lively during break time.

Dong Shi spoke rapidly—only ten minutes left before work resumed, and he needed to finish the gossip.

Even if it wasn’t verified.

Wang Jun seemed to be in a relationship again—Sixth Senior Brother’s spring had returned.

Just as Dong Shi was enthusiastically describing how Wang Jun’s new girlfriend didn’t seem to care much about appearance—at least not about hair—a server poked her head in and said crisply: “Chef Qin, an old man is looking for you.”

Dong Shi’s gossip came to an abrupt halt.

“Tell me later,” Qin Huai said, heading out, ignoring Dong Shi’s sorrowful expression.

Dong Shi: Later? Work starts soon! Sixth Brother will be back—how could I possibly gossip about his love life in front of him? Do I have a death wish?

…

Outside, Qin Huai found that the person looking for him was Wang Gensheng.

That was rare. The last time Wang Gensheng had come to him alone was back at the Yunzong cafeteria. Recently, Qin Huai hadn’t even prepared special dishes for him to avoid being too obvious, so their interactions had been limited.

“Old Master Wang, what can I help you with? Did Ou Yang take all the takeaway dishes without leaving any for you? That’s unacceptable—I’ll call him right now and make him share!”

“No, no,” Wang waved his hands quickly. “Little Ou Yang is a good lad. Everyone got one box—no kids included. My household even got two, so we came out ahead.”

“I actually… have something to ask of you.”

Qin Huai: !

A request?

Requests were great—perfect for triggering side quests!

“Please, go ahead.”

…

After some rambling, Wang finally explained:

He had a dim sum recipe—very difficult—given to him years ago by a friend who had bought it at a high price from a pastry chef. Later, when Wang needed money for his father’s medical treatment, that friend gave him the recipe to sell.

But Wang never sold it.

Later, after being transferred away and after Master Jing passed away, he learned that the pastry in the recipe had been lost—Master Jing’s apprentice hadn’t mastered it.

Now, after returning to Gusu and reminiscing, he suddenly wanted to eat it again.

The name of the pastry—

Double Crab Bun.

Qin Huai froze in shock.

“The recipe… is for Double Crab Buns?!”

“Yes,” Wang nodded. “You know it?”

“I’ve heard of it. Master Zheng can actually make it, but for some reason he doesn’t, so others think it’s lost.”

“But now isn’t the right season—it’s a seasonal dish. You need autumn, when crab roe is at its best.”

Wang was puzzled.

“But I remember Little Xu eating it in spring too… he even shared a bite with me. It tasted just as good.”

He pulled out his phone and showed Qin Huai a photo of the recipe.

Qin Huai looked—

And was stunned.

This wasn’t one recipe.

It was two.

One used fresh crab roe.

The other used preserved crab roe paste.

Both were extremely detailed—almost like foolproof instructions, explaining every step and even what mistakes might look like.

The version Zheng Da hadn’t learned—Was in Wang’s hands.

“Can you make it?” Wang asked.

“Yes,” Qin Huai said firmly.

With Zheng Da’s crab roe paste and this recipe—

Not only could it be made.

It could be made perfectly.

…

Back in the kitchen, with five minutes left before work resumed, Qin Huai said to Dong Shi:

“I need a favor.”

“What is it?”

“I want you to help me investigate someone. Surname Xu—the factory director’s youngest son, the one from that eel banquet birthday. Treat it like gathering material for a novel. I want to know everything about him.”

Dong Shi was shocked. “You’re writing a novel?”

“…Just an example.”

“Got it.”

Dong Shi rushed off immediately.

“Master! Let me ask you something!”

“Do you know who that guy was—the one whose birthday our grandmaster made an eel banquet for?”

Qin Huai: …

Such a direct approach.

As expected of Dong Shi.