Old Yu is probably about sixty this year.
Medium build, a little chubby—he's pure old-school Yanjing, every sentence dropping an 'er,' speaks Beijing slang smoother than even Master, Senior, or Shen Guofu and those guys.
He's a regular at the shop, too.
But this old fella doesn't eat anything else, only Noodles with Braised Eggplant and Pork Sauce, and he won't touch the kind that's been rinsed in hot water. Just likes 'em straight outta the pot, piping hot.
The Beijingers call it guotiao'er—straight from the pot.
And he insists on eating with whole garlic cloves. Says only this way is really authentic.
Looking at Old Yu coming over to give him the heads-up, Lin Xu asked curiously:
"How does someone buying those shops mess things up for me?"
Old Yu said:
