Description
Mr Jiu and Mrs Yi are the owners of a small restaurant in the heart of Canton. Associates for more than 30 years, they operate under a simple rule: she runs the business while he is the king of the kitchen. He invented the restaurants priced speciality: a pigeon roasted with a mixture of particular ingredients, which attracts the majority of their customers, and jealously guards the secret of its preparation. Due to increasing competition, profits have gone down lately; indeed it’s only the success of the roasted pigeon that keeps them going. The crisis is met differently by the two associates: Mrs Yi attempts to get the restaurant classified, but Mr. Jiu, close to retirement, is ready to let go. The big question rests: to whom should he reveal his secret? And under what conditions? To his distress, his son has no intention whatsoever in becoming a chef: he is only interested in the Internet, big cars and an easy life. Jiu hopes that he will change his mind as he grows up. But meanwhile, he visits one of his former pupils, now a successful restaurant owner in Peking, to get an idea of what kind of deal he could strike for his secret. Even his wife wants it, suggesting they should open a take-away. As the story reaches its surprising conclusion, Jiu starts to ask himself, if after all, he shouldn’t keep the secret to himself.
