The craziest thing Su Qianqian had ever done was probably driving for 40 minutes to bring her father to the Starry Sky Restaurant for a meal.
Her father was speechless.
He kept saying in the car, "Couldn't we just eat downstairs? Driving for 40 minutes? We could cross into another city by train in that time. What food could possibly be so good?"
Su Qianqian replied, "Don't worry about it. I'll take you to try it, and then you'll understand."
Su Qianqian was a devoted fan of Starry Sky.
She had been following their livestreams, and as soon as she learned they had opened a restaurant, she immediately went.
As a long-time fan, she knew all too well Starry Sky's status in everyone's hearts.
If she didn't go now, it would be painful trying to get a spot later.
Her colleague could attest to this. At first, her colleague had managed to snag a ticket for the pop-up store.
But it was on a workday.
They had to work on weekdays, and the new supervisor was very strict about taking time off.
While hesitating and before even paying, she was kicked out after just 15 minutes.
When the first batch of reviews came out, they were all positive.
Everyone was saying how worth it the 400 yuan was.
They could immerse themselves in the experience for a day and enjoy a grand meal – either aspect alone was worth the ticket price.
But she hadn't gone at the time.
She regretted it so much.
Later, she found out that tickets for the Starry Sky pop-up store were being resold at high prices.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt she had missed out. It had almost become an obsession, always on the tip of her tongue.
Now that the restaurant was open, it was the old fans of Starry Sky who spread the news.
The restaurant hadn't made any grand announcements.
So as soon as she got confirmation,
She immediately drove over. Her father chattered non-stop along the way.
Saying they could eat anywhere, why did they have to go so far.
It was getting on her nerves a bit.
When they finally arrived at the restaurant, the air was filled with the smell of firecrackers.
Flower baskets were arranged outside, giving it a very impressive look.
As soon as they entered, she realized there were probably quite a few people like her.
By the time they sat down, more than 10 tables were already occupied before and after them.
Then they ordered. A round-faced waiter kindly asked, "What would you like to eat, customers?"
Su Qianqian glanced at the menu and ordered a dish of iron plate beef tendon.
She had been craving this dish since seeing it on the livestream, and could finally taste it.
She also ordered braised pork.
She had been using videos of Starry Sky's children eating braised pork with rice to whet her appetite every lunchtime.
There was also a specialty dish today – blood tofu.
It sounded a bit like a bizarre delicacy, so she wasn't planning to order it.
But her father's eyes lit up at the word: "Oh, they have this good stuff? This is a seasonal dish – you can't get fresh ones without a pig slaughter!"
He immediately ordered it, along with pork crackling buns.
They ordered two out of three specialty dishes.
With just two people, they also added a small cold dish.
Thinking they couldn't finish too much.
All of this only cost 158 yuan.
The food prices here weren't expensive.
The surrounding tables were just like them, and there were even streamers holding phones and livestreaming nearby.
Her father commented, "So this is an internet celebrity restaurant?"
Older people now scroll through short videos every day too.
They even know more popular phrases than young people sometimes.
Her father said, "Internet celebrity restaurants are all scams, just marketing."
Su Qianqian didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Old man, you even know about this?"
Her father raised his eyebrows and said, "Don't look down on me! What don't I know? Your third uncle also mentioned an internet celebrity restaurant before, with extremely long queues and a two-hour wait for food. We thought it must be delicious, but it turned out to be just average."
Since then, he had no good feelings towards internet celebrity restaurants.
Su Qianqian was also feeling nervous.
Because her expectations were too high.
When expectations are too high, disappointment often follows.
Plus, she had brought her father along.
She was starting to regret not coming alone.
If the food really wasn't good,
She really wouldn't be able to face her father's criticism.
Soon, they could smell the aroma wafting through the air.
The neighboring table's food had arrived.
And they had arrived at the restaurant just moments apart.
She hadn't expected the food to come so quickly.
She immediately looked over. That table had ordered a full set of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
The golden soup looked rich, topped with Sichuan peppercorns, abalone, sea cucumber, dried bamboo shoots, and the like.
It looked delicious.
She immediately asked the waiter, "How much is that?"
She thought this dish shouldn't be cheap.
To her surprise, it was 58 yuan.
Su Qianqian said, "We'll have one!"
When it arrived,
Her father immediately ladled himself a small bowl.
The restaurant sold it cheaply, and the portion wasn't large. Each serving was about two small bowls.
When she tasted it, the fish maw was sticky and glutinous, without any fishy smell.
Taking a sip of the soup, it was so delicious it could make your eyebrows fall off.
Few people had ordered Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
But after one table ordered it, other tables started adding it to their orders.
Some even ordered one serving per person.
It was too good.
One small bowl wasn't enough.
After a while, all their dishes arrived.
The food came quite quickly here.
Her father's eyes went straight to the blood tofu. He scooped up a spoonful, it looked like steamed egg custard.
As he ate it, it slid smoothly down his throat.
Then he started eating it spoonful after spoonful.
Su Qianqian, on the other hand, went for the braised pork and iron plate beef tendon.
The iron plate beef tendon had a slightly crispy skin.
It was soft, glutinous, and chewy when eaten.
It would be perfect with rice.
She then took a bite of the braised pork and looked surprised.
How did they make this braised pork?
How could it be so fragrant?
One bite was extremely satisfying.
Sure enough, many people around them started asking the waiters for rice.
It would be a waste not to have rice with such good dishes.
When she used to watch videos of Starry Sky's children eating, she thought they were wolfing down their food.
Even though there was so much, and no one was competing with them for it.
But when she ate it herself, she finally understood why.
Because it was impossible to control oneself.
Eating big mouthfuls of rice was incredibly satisfying.
Her father kept focusing on that plate of blood tofu.
It made her curious too. Overcoming her fear, she took a bite.
There wasn't any strange taste at all, it was smooth and tender.
Her father said, "Back in the day, I wanted to eat this but couldn't!"
Her father used to be a sent-down youth.
He said that in those poor times, when a pig was slaughtered, they would be given a little pig blood.
What they steamed themselves wasn't as delicious as this.
But it was still a rare delicacy in those days.
Now that living conditions have improved, it's rare to eat this dish.
He had intended to reminisce about the hardships of the past.
But he didn't expect it to be so delicious.
This small portion was only 16 yuan.
It really brought back memories of the past for him.
It was even fresher and more delicious than in the past.
Finally, he picked up a pork crackling bun and took a bite.
The fragrance of the pork cracklings combined with the cabbage filling was crisp and delicious.
Dipped in a bit of seafood soy sauce, vinegar, and chili oil,
He felt that just eating one of these big buns from the whole table of dishes would be enough.
Su Qianqian was eating non-stop.
Her father was devouring the buns, and she couldn't resist taking a bite.
Her father actually protected his food, lightly tapping her hand with his chopsticks: "Eat the other dishes."
The more her father said this, the more Su Qianqian wanted to eat it.
She knew her father's little habits too well.
Her father wasn't usually like this, only when he ate something particularly to his taste would it trigger this food-protecting instinct.
After much persuasion, she took a bun and had a bite. It was truly delicious.
