Wang An and Sun Nian, each riding a sidecar motorcycle, soon arrived at a moderately sized storefront.
When Wang An stopped the bike and saw the four large characters on the restaurant's signage—"DJ Hotel"—he couldn't help but freeze.
Because Wang An had spent so many years hanging around the county town in his previous life, he truly had never seen this restaurant.
The reason Wang An could be certain that this restaurant didn't exist in the county town at this time in his previous life was that the name had never appeared, and furthermore, this restaurant actually displayed four banners.
Wang An remembered that in his previous life, it wasn't until '85—the year he left the county town—that restaurants with four banners appeared in the area.
However, a restaurant with four banners had appeared early this year. In other words, the events of Wang An's previous life and this current life had diverged once again.
One must understand that in this era, a restaurant capable of hanging four banners was an incredibly impressive existence; they were rare regardless of where you were.
Normally, a restaurant with one banner represented a snack shop or a fast-food joint, with a very limited menu.
A restaurant with two banners represented a medium-sized establishment with a fairly complete variety of dishes; basically, whatever you wanted to eat, they had it.
As for three banners, no one hung three. This was because in many places, including the Northeast, the number three is pronounced as "sā." If you added the word for banner ("huǎng"), it sounded like "sā huǎng," which means "to lie." It wasn't considered auspicious.
A restaurant with four banners, however, was a legitimate high-end establishment. The term "fairly complete" could no longer describe their menu.
Because four banners meant "Order whatever you please."
To put it simply, whatever you wanted to eat, the restaurant would make for you. There was nothing you could imagine that the restaurant couldn't produce.
A restaurant that dared to hang four banners was just that impressive, that arrogant.
Wang An stared blankly at the restaurant that shouldn't have existed according to the normal timeline, wondering in his head: *Where the hell did things go wrong this time?*
Why had a restaurant that wasn't supposed to exist actually appeared?
While Wang An was lost in thought, Sun Nian, who had already reached the door, noticed he hadn't followed and turned around to call him
"Xiao An, hurry up! What are you staring at so blankly?"
Wang An pulled himself back, smiled, and said
"I see this restaurant has four banners. This place is definitely not ordinary."
As he spoke, Wang An picked up the four bear paws from the sidecar and carried them forward.
He had no choice but to carry them; if he left them outside and someone stole them, what then? After all, he had gone through a lot of trouble to carry these down from the mountain.
Hearing this, Sun Nian said with a face full of smiles
"That's for sure. Who would come to an ordinary restaurant? Giggles..."
It was clear that Sun Nian was genuinely quite happy.
Finding a random seat to sit in, Wang An casually placed the four large bear paws by his feet. A delicate-looking waitress then approached enthusiastically with a menu, speaking very politely
"Welcome to DJ Hotel. What would the two comrades like to eat?"
Hearing this, Wang An froze again. Such polite service was extremely rare in this era.
Especially after becoming accustomed to the attitudes of state-run restaurants and supply-and-marketing cooperative clerks, this kind of enthusiastic and polite service seemed all the more precious.
Seeing that Sun Nian wasn't speaking, Wang An looked at the menu and said
"We'll have some Guobaorou and some blood sausage."
Looking up, Wang An asked Sun Nian
"Sister Nian, what do you want?" As he spoke, he handed the menu to her.
However, Sun Nian didn't look at the menu. Instead, she glanced down at the bear paws by Wang An's feet and told the waitress
"We'll have the Braised Bear Paw. Also, recommend something novel that your shop has."
When Sun Nian ordered the Braised Bear Paw, there wasn't a hint of surprise on the waitress's face. One must know that bear paws take a tremendous amount of time to process initially; normally, such a dish required a reservation in advance.
Yet, the waitress didn't hesitate for a second. This indicated that the ingredients were already on hand and had already been processed.
From this, it was evident that a restaurant daring to hang four banners was absolutely well-prepared and full of confidence.
The waitress thought for a moment and said
"Our shop's Flying Dragon Soup has been simmering in the pot; the taste is very good. Would the two of you like to try some?"
When it came to stewed soups, every person's taste differed, so Sun Nian glanced at Wang An and nodded
"Alright, we'll have the Flying Dragon Soup."
Wang An's eyes lit up when he saw the Bingcheng Beer in the liquor cabinet behind the counter. He said to Sun Nian
"Sister Nian, how about we have some beer?"
Perhaps due to production capacity, beer was very scarce in the county town; you couldn't buy it even if you wanted to. Of course, the primary reason was the grain shortage of the era—there wasn't even enough to eat, so how could there be so much wheat to brew beer?
Hearing this, Sun Nian agreed without hesitation
"Sure, let's have some."
Turning around, she told the waitress: "A dozen beers as well."
After ordering, Sun Nian asked Wang An curiously
"Xiao An, what's the most you can drink?"
Hearing this, Wang An suddenly recalled the gestures of a cellmate bragging back in his previous life while in the "fence" (prison). He put on an act and held up a single index finger.
Looking at Wang An's index finger, Sun Nian asked, somewhat confused
"What does that mean? One liang?"
Seeing Wang An shake his head, Sun Nian continued
"One jin?"
Wang An continued to shake his head. Sun Nian grew impatient
"Stop playing riddles with me, how much can you actually drink?"
Wang An gave Sun Nian a teasing look, then wagged his index finger back and forth, saying very smugly
"Drink straight through."
Sun Nian was stunned for a moment, then burst into "giggles..." She laughed so much her whole body trembled, radiating charm and grace.
It had to be said, Sun Nian was truly beautiful when she laughed, enough to make a certain part of Wang An stand up in salute.
About twenty minutes later, the dishes were brought out one by one. This speed of service was much faster than at the state-run restaurants.
As the old saying goes, "A sip of soup before the meal, and you won't be hurt into old age." After each poured themselves a bowl of Flying Dragon Soup, they tasted it carefully.
To be honest, although the soup had been simmered for a long time, it tasted just so-so—not even as good as what Wang An could stew.
But the Guobaorou and the bear paws were indeed delicious. Especially the bear paws; they were soft, chewy, and melted in the mouth. Even after swallowing, the fragrance lingered between the teeth and tongue, leaving an endless aftertaste. In short, the preparation of these bear paws was simply invincible.
As for the blood sausage, the method was similar to others, and it tasted no different from what Wang An had prepared.
Just as the two were clinking beer bottles, a middle-aged man walked out from the direction of the kitchen.