Chapter 80: Tan's Cuisine at Jingcheng Hotel

After sending Chen Aiguo on the train, Li Changhe held his niece and went to find a place to eat with Zhang Shiqi.

Li Changhe is young after all, and when it comes to finding food, he can't compare with Zhang Shiqi, the gourmet in the capital.

No one knew what connections the other party had, but he actually took Li Changhe directly into the restaurant of the Beijing Hotel.

"How is it? It's high-end, right? It's much better than those old restaurants in Cuihualou. Everything is based on foreigners' standards."

After sitting down, Zhang Shiqi said to Li Changhe proudly.

In this era, the decoration of foreign-related hotels such as the Capital Hotel is indeed completely different from the outside world.

Zhang Shiqi originally wanted to see Li Changhe's shocked expression, but he never expected that Li Changhe just took a glance and lost interest.

All the five-star hotels in later generations are decorated more luxuriously than this, not to mention the lighting and sculpture designs.

In comparison, Li Changhe prefers the various dishes on the menu.

Compared with the single cuisine of Cuihualou, Jingcheng Hotel can be said to have gathered cuisines from all over the country, including Sichuan, Cantonese, and Huaiyang cuisine.

"Okay, stop looking. Just listen to me about what to eat today."

"If we talk about the most authentic food here, it has to be the Tan family cuisine,"

"The Tan family's cuisine is cooked slowly and carefully, and their shark fin and bird's nest are the best. Let's try some shark fin today and see what shark fin we have today, and give this girl some tonic."

Generally speaking, delicacies such as shark fins in Beijing restaurants have to be ordered in advance, but gourmets like Zhang Shiqi know that the kitchen usually has a certain kind of food prepared in advance to prevent emergencies.

There are many ways to cook shark fin in Tan’s cuisine, such as “braised shark fin”, “shark fin with three shreds”, “shark fin with crab roe” and so on.

As the two men were talking, a man in a Zhongshan suit came over with a smile.

"Hey, old man, why are you here today?"

The other party obviously recognized Zhang Shiqi and greeted him warmly.

"Director Qi, it's not the end of the Chinese New Year yet. I'm taking my kids out to see the world. You're busy, so don't bother with me."

"I just came here to have a meal today, I don't have any foreign affairs mission"

Zhang Shiqi spoke to Director Qi in a familiar tone.

Director Qi nodded: "Okay, you eat, and call me if you need anything. We'll see you later."

After saying that, he looked at Li Changhe and Niu Niu again, smiled slightly, nodded in greeting, and then left.

"Okay, sir, you seem to be more prestigious than I thought."

Li Changhe praised with a smile.

The Capital Hotel is a foreign-related hotel that specializes in entertaining foreign visitors. If you want to dine here, you can't just get in if you have money.

Even ordinary cadres cannot come in without special needs and letters of introduction.

Zhang Shiqi led them directly in.

Zhang Shiqi shook his head: "Boy, you are wrong. It's not that I am better than many people."

"It's just that some things are like a leaf blocking your view of the big picture."

"Take foreign affairs as an example. For the country, this is a big deal. Since it is a big deal, it often requires various experienced people to serve this matter. Over time, this group of people will form a fixed circle."

"People outside can't get in, and people inside don't want to go out, so this circle is sealed off."

"Things that you think are unattainable are not worth mentioning to us."

"But on the other hand, outside this circle, we are just like that. A small commune director can control me."

"So, don't think I'm that awesome."

This old man really sees things clearly. No wonder he lives so clearly. It's a pity that he was born in the wrong era.

Afterwards, the two of them ate a meal of Tan's cuisine slowly in the Beijing Hotel. In the end, Li Changhe was not asked to pay the bill. It is estimated that there may be some rules for settlement.

Zhang Shiqi suggested that Li Changhe should treat him to the next meal, and Li Changhe did not object.

After leaving the Capital Hotel, the two men walked down the stairs.

"Where to go? To Liulichang?"

Li Changhe asked Zhang Shiqi with great interest. Zhang Shiqi thought about it and shook his head.

"Don't rush to Liulichang yet, let's go to the Trust Store first to see if we can find something."

"Trust store?"

My goodness, that’s not a proper official second-hand market in Beijing.

In fact, a trust store should be a combination of a second-hand market and a pawn shop, but it is state-owned.

The biggest advantage of trust stores is that the items there generally do not require tickets, and you can often find good stuff there, such as second-hand foreign gadgets like watches and cameras.

Of course, for later novelists, the most common thing here is to collect antiques. Some old items would be thrown into trust stores for sale these days.

Li Changhe had thought about this before, but because of the special situation last year, he did not come.

After all, the situation was still sensitive last year, antiques were still considered old things, and the most important thing for Li Changhe at that time was the college entrance examination.

But now, it's 78, and I've been admitted to Peking University, so I can be bolder.

"Which trust store?"

"Flyover? Dongdan? Or Xidan?"

Li Changhe remembered several famous trust stores, all of which were nearby.

There seems to be one in Xinjiekou in front.

“Don’t go to these places.”

"There are too many of these families, and their businesses are all looking for foreign goods. The chances of finding those good things you want are slim."

"The best items are either passed on to state-owned stores after being appraised by the master chefs, or bought secretly by the chefs themselves. Only one out of ten survives."

"How can it be so easy to find a bargain?"

Zhang Shiqi pointed at Li Changhe and then pointed in the direction.

"I'm going to take you to a secret place today."

Chongwenmenwai Street, Huashikou, and San Tiao Hutong.

Li Changhe held Niuniu in his arms and followed Zhang Shiqi to the entrance of the southern alley.

Sure enough, there is also a trust store here with a sign hanging on it with the words "Flower Market Trust Store" written in large letters.

"Hey, old man, you're here?"

As soon as he entered the door, the salesperson at the door greeted Zhang Shiqi warmly.

Zhang Shiqi smiled and nodded: "My relatives are getting married, so I want to come here to buy some old furniture."

"Then you can go and have a look inside. There are quite a few good things delivered recently. Someone sent a whole set of good things a few days ago and put them there for consignment. They are all made of Huanghuali wood."

The salesperson then whispered to Zhang Shiqi.

Zhang Shiqi looked at him in surprise and asked curiously, "Why are you selling this kind of thing now?"

This kind of furniture was either smashed or burned in the past few years. How could it be preserved and only be sold now?
"I heard that a few days ago the G Committee cleaned up the old houses to prepare for the return of educated youth to live in. Some of the old houses were used as warehouses to store some things."

"It says that the items will be returned to their original owners. This set is said to be returned to its original owner."

"But they didn't dare to keep it. They were afraid, so they sent it to us and planned to sell it."

"But it's not like they don't know the value of the goods. They're selling it on consignment, with a price tag of over 300 yuan. Who can afford it?"

There are two models of trust stores. One is that the trust store estimates the value of the goods and then resells them.

The second type is consignment by the seller. The trust store only charges a handling fee in the middle, and the consignment price is generally set by the customer himself.

Once the item is sold, the trust store will send a letter to the seller, informing him that the item has been sold and asking him to come and collect the money.

"Let's go and take a look."

Zhang Shiqi became interested and called Li Changhe to go inside.

(End of this chapter)