Chapter 374 - 195: Snowflake Chicken Porridge

Chapter 374: Chapter 195: Snowflake Chicken Porridge

He was here today on behalf of his mother. For him, this journey to find his roots was more like bringing his mother back to her maternal home.

He couldn’t afford to lose face, because the only person anyone here knew was his mother.

"Come with me. I’m not sure if Second Master Kong is teaching right now. If he is, we’ll have to wait for his class to end." Xiao Lei greeted the old security guard, then led the three of them into the culinary base.

"What kind of person is this Second Master Kong?" Qian Siyuan asked.

Zhou Yan explained, "Second Master Kong is the current head of the Kong Sect, a famous Chef in Jiazhou, and a national Special Level Chef with exquisite culinary skills. For the past decade or so, he’s been teaching classes at this base, holding nothing back as he imparts his life’s knowledge. He has trained hundreds of Chefs in the Jiazhou Region and has numerous disciples, earning him deep respect. Our Master, Kong Huafeng..."

Qian Siyuan nodded repeatedly as he listened, getting a general understanding of the Kong Family.

"You certainly listened carefully last time. You remembered everything your Grandmaster-Uncle said," Xiao Lei said with a laugh after Zhou Yan finished.

"It’s about my sect’s heritage. Of course I had to listen carefully," Zhou Yan replied with a smile.

’It wasn’t just that he’d listened carefully; he had even personally witnessed the entire process of the Kong Sect’s legacy being passed down from the second to the third generation and flourishing.’

’And a certain stubborn "stone" got yelled at quite a bit while learning to cook.’

Xiao Lei stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling on a woven lounge chair in the corner of the courtyard, a dazed look in his eyes.

An old man with a full head of white hair and a matching beard was half-reclining in it. On a stool beside him, a tape recorder played softly, the sound of a traditional storytelling performance drifting from its speakers.

"Master-Uncle!" Xiao Lei called out as he walked over.

Kong Qingfeng slowly opened his eyes. He looked at Xiao Lei standing before him, then glanced at Zhou Yan and smiled. "Shitou, Zhou, what brings you two here? No countryside banquets or restaurant service today?"

"The next couple of days aren’t auspicious, so no banquets," Xiao Lei said with a smile.

"Grandmaster-Uncle," Zhou Yan also greeted him with a grin. "I’m actually quite busy. I have to get back to my woks soon."

"And these two are?" Kong Qingfeng had already noticed Qian Siyuan and Wang standing to the side. The two men were dressed in sharp suits, their hair impeccably combed. They didn’t look like locals.

"Master-Uncle, let me introduce you. This is Qian Siyuan. He’s an overseas Chinese who has returned from the United States to find his relatives," Xiao Lei explained.

"Hello, Second Master Kong. I’m Qian Siyuan." Qian Siyuan took a step forward and extended his right hand.

"Oh, back from the United States, are you?" Kong Qingfeng shook his hand from his seat and said with a smile, "Your surname is Qian? Which prominent family from Jiazhou went abroad back in the day? I might even know them."

Qian Siyuan said, "My mother’s name is Kong Simin. This morning, Master Xiao took me to Linjiang, and two elderly people there told me my mother had a younger brother named Kong Huafeng."

"Kong Simin... Simin!" Kong Qingfeng’s eyes flew wide open. He shot up from his chair. Staring at Qian Siyuan, his breathing grew ragged and his voice trembled. "You’re saying you’re Simin’s son? Is that true? Do you have any proof?"

Qian Siyuan took a handkerchief from his breast pocket. He unfolded it to reveal a Gourd Jade Pendant. It was chipped in one corner, and on the back were carved four small words: ’Clever Mind, Agile Thought’.

Kong Qingfeng reached out and took it, examining it closely. His hands couldn’t help but tremble. "That’s it! There’s no doubt! This is my sister Simin’s Gourd Jade Pendant! My mother gave it to her for her sixteenth birthday. It was carved with the words ’Clever Mind, Agile Thought’ on the back, exactly like this one!"

Qian Siyuan, who had been suppressing his emotions since he arrived, finally couldn’t hold back any longer. His eyes red, he cried out, "Uncle!"

Kong Qingfeng looked at him, his own eyes welling up as he nodded emphatically. "Yes!"

A relieved smile spread across Qian Siyuan’s face. After more than twenty years, he had finally found his mother’s hometown and his mother’s brother.

In the land that had raised her, he had found a relative connected by blood.

Everything he had hoped and longed for had been answered today.

This feeling was incredibly important to him.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Kong Qingfeng patted the back of Qian Siyuan’s hand. "Go on, pull up a chair and sit. Let’s, uncle and nephew, sit down and have a proper talk. My sister Simin disappeared in 1917. My master and his wife searched for her for decades but never found any news, and they passed away with that regret. Where did she go? And how did she get to the United States? How was her life afterward? You have to tell me everything."

"Alright," Qian Siyuan nodded.

Wang was perceptive and had already brought over two chairs, one for Qian Siyuan and one for Xiao Lei.

Zhou Yan moved two nearby stools, taking one for himself and handing the other to Wang.

"Thank you," Wang said with a smile, taking the stool and moving to sit at a distance.

As a secretary, he had a strong sense of boundaries; it was best to hear as little of his boss’s family matters as possible.

Zhou Yan, however, didn’t care about that. He ran over to brew two cups of tea, placed them by Qian Siyuan and Xiao Lei’s hands, and then pulled up his stool to sit behind Xiao Lei, his eyes gleaming with a thirst for gossip.

’He’d seen fragments of Kong Qingfeng’s memories but hadn’t noticed his Master’s older sister.’

’According to Kong Qingfeng, Kong Simin disappeared in 1917, and the memory fragments began in Jiazhou in 1918. A year apart, so it was reasonable that she didn’t appear.’

’So, that means his Master wasn’t an only child. He had an older sister.’

Qian Siyuan looked at Kong Qingfeng and began to speak slowly. "My mother told me that she went on a boat trip with a friend. She was drugged by human traffickers, taken onto another boat, and transported south down the Yangtze River in a daze. They said they were going to sell her in Yangcheng.

"When they reached Wuhan, she seized a moment when no one was watching to jump off the boat and escape. She was a good swimmer, but she was incredibly weak from prolonged hunger. With her pursuers close behind, she nearly drowned, but my father, who happened to be strolling along the riverbank, saved her."