After Mother Li Yun left, Jiang Beicheng never returned to the "Li Ji" restaurant.
It wasn't his family's business anymore, and he hadn't paid attention to its development.
His sudden appearance at the restaurant today left the store manager, Xu Ru, utterly shocked.
Xu Ru had been personally trained by Li Yun, who had taken her from a rural girl working in the city to the manager of a high-end business restaurant.
Xu Ru had bought a house, gotten married, settled in the city, and was living her ideal life.
She always remembered Li Yun's kindness. When she heard about Jiang Tao's situation, she had even inquired about Jiang Beicheng's whereabouts.
To see if he needed help.
"Young Master Jiang, are you doing okay?" Xu Ru asked with concern.
Jiang Beicheng smiled and nodded. "The living have to keep moving forward, right, Sister Xu?"
He didn't like it when old acquaintances asked him the same question.
Nor was he used to people looking at him with pity.
He acted as if everything was normal to avoid unnecessary explanations.
"Young Master Jiang, are you here to eat today?" Xu Ru raised her hand, ready to make arrangements.
"Sister Xu, you go about your work. I'm just here to meet a friend," Jiang Beicheng said, heading straight toward the "Lishan" private room.
Xu Ru followed and opened the door for him.
Li Xingying, seated in the private room, turned to look at Jiang Beicheng. She stood up with a smile. "Long time no see."
She extended her hand toward him.
Jiang Beicheng sized up the "old acquaintance" in front of him.
Something felt different.
"Wearing that much sunscreen?" he teased, instantly lightening the mood.
"No way!" Li Xingying laughed, explaining, "I'm naturally this pale. Born with icy-white skin."
"My apologies," Jiang Beicheng chuckled. "I never noticed you were *this* pale before!"
Li Xingying wasn't the kind of beauty who caught your eye at first glance.
But her icy-white skin was definitely a plus.
It made you want to take a few extra looks.
And then, you couldn't tear your eyes away.
She was the kind of girl who grew on you.
"Young Master Jiang never paid much attention to me before," Li Xingying teased back.
She had expected today's meeting to be a bit awkward, worried she might say something to upset Jiang Beicheng.
But Young Master Jiang was still the same as ever.
Wherever he went, he could make the atmosphere light and easy.
It made people feel comfortable, sparking a desire to keep talking with him.
"My oversight," Jiang Beicheng said with a smile. "I neglected the stunning beauty right beside me."
He exchanged a polite smile with Li Xingying and shook her hand courteously.
While they were talking, Xu Ru had already prepared a seat for Jiang Beicheng, showing a level of respect far beyond what she'd offer an ordinary customer. Li Xingying guessed he must have been a regular here before.
She handed him the menu. "It's my first time eating here. What does Young Master Jiang recommend?"
Jiang Beicheng took the menu and said, "Li Ji's Taizhou cuisine is excellent. The head chef used to work at Xinrongji…"
He recommended a few Taizhou dishes: East Sea yellow croaker with sticky rice cakes, green crab steamed with meat patties, Taizhou cuttlefish, Taizhou razor clams with bottle gourd…
Looking up at Li Xingying, he asked, "Care for a drink?"
"I can have a little with Young Master Jiang," Li Xingying replied, thinking it might help lift his spirits.
"Yellow wine?"
"I'll leave it to Young Master Jiang's judgment, but I'm not much of a drinker," Li Xingying said with a smile.
"No pressure to drink," Jiang Beicheng assured her. He handed the menu to the waiter and asked Xu Ru, "Sister Xu, do you still have Baiyu in stock? I didn't see it on the menu."
Xu Ru replied, "Young Master Jiang, these days, people here mostly drink Feitian or Puwu. We don't stock much yellow wine—just some basic ones for cooking in the kitchen."
This restaurant catered to a specific circle of friends and clientele. When the owner changed, so did the drinking preferences—a common occurrence.
Indeed, Feitian and Puwu were more common in business settings nowadays.
Jiang Beicheng asked, "So, the jars of Guyue Longshan have all been drunk by customers?"
"There's one left," Xu Ru said. "One jar was drunk by Mr. Zeng and his group, and another was gifted by Mr. Zeng. We've kept one jar on display."
A jar of vintage sealed yellow wine costing over 100,000 yuan was rare even in a place like this. Few people drank it.
The 1959 Hongyu and Baiyu, priced at one or two thousand, used to sell well, though.
"Open it," Jiang Beicheng said. "After dinner, I'll take that jar home."
The vintage wine his mother had personally sourced from Shaoxing carried not just flavor but also sentimental value. It was the last jar, and Jiang Beicheng wanted to keep it for himself.
When it comes to Chinese yellow wine, Shaoxing is the gold standard, and among Shaoxing wines, Guyue Longshan outshines older brands like Kuaijishan in terms of brand value, market scale, and fame.
Naturally, the price reflected that. Only ten jars of this vintage were sealed by the central winery.
Xu Ru was momentarily stunned. Young Master Jiang wanted to open the 138,888-yuan vintage jar?
Wasn't his life supposed to be tough now?
Could it be that Jiang Tao had left him a substantial inheritance?
Xu Ru felt a wave of relief, grateful she hadn't let her sympathy get the better of her and asked if he needed help—that would've been awkward.
"Young Master Jiang, give me a moment. I'll have a glass poured for you," Xu Ru said, leaving with the waiter.
Li Xingying, curious, asked Jiang Beicheng, "Did you used to come here often?"
Jiang Beicheng smiled. "This place was practically my second cafeteria."
"Rich kids really are different. A high-end business restaurant is just your cafeteria," Li Xingying teased.
"Li Ji was founded by my mom," Jiang Beicheng explained. "During high school and college, I was always with her. When the restaurant was busy, I ate here."
"Li Ji is your family's?" Li Xingying said, shocked.
Jiang Beicheng nodded. "My mom's name was Li Yun, so she named it Li Ji. She transferred it out when she left."
"I'm sorry!" Li Xingying apologized.
"It's okay. The memories my mom left me are all happy ones," Jiang Beicheng said.
After the major upheaval in his family, Jiang Beicheng had learned to let go of the painful memories. Whether it was his father or mother, he held onto the love they gave him and focused on living well.
"You're stronger than we imagined," Li Xingying said with a gentle smile.
"We?" Jiang Beicheng asked. "Zhou Yu?"
"Oh, I said something wrong again!" Li Xingying covered her mouth, laughing awkwardly.
She stood up. "Young Master Jiang, I'm going to the restroom."
Jiang Beicheng nodded.
He watched as Li Xingying walked out confidently.
Truth be told, she wasn't bad at all. Without Zhou Yu's "divinely perfect" figure as a comparison, this girl's fair skin and long legs were quite striking.
Before, he'd been blinded by Zhou Yu's perfection, missing out on appreciating other kinds of beauty.
In a way, Zhou Yu's departure had elevated his perspective.
He was no longer fixated on superficial ideals of beauty like curves or figures—there were so many other kinds of beauty in women to discover.
…
Li Xingying went to the restroom to touch up her makeup. She'd laughed so much that her lipstick had faded.
She'd never had a private meal or a one-on-one conversation with Jiang Beicheng before, and today felt surprisingly nice.
Jiang Beicheng seemed to have a good impression of her, too—she could sense it from their conversation.
Li Xingying was even more excited about discussing travel experiences with "Teacher Jiang," hoping to gain insights and inspiration to break through her current career bottleneck.
After touching up her makeup, she headed back to the Lishan private room. Just as she was about to push the door open, she heard a familiar voice.
"Li Xingying!"
It was her roommate and close friend, Jiang Beicheng's ex-girlfriend, Zhou Yu.
"Why didn't you tell me you were eating here? We could've come together," Zhou Yu said, walking up to her. She tossed her hair and smiled. "Who's in the private room? How's it going? Want your big sis to go in and check him out for you?"