The Secret of Angelica

Master Li had been working at "Old Chengdu" hot pot restaurant for seven years, making him a veteran. His expertise wasn't in stir-frying spices, but in recognizing angelica. The angelica used in the restaurant was all hand-picked by him. He said that good angelica has a special fragrance, and smelling it for a long time can calm your heart.

He was responsible for the miscellaneous tasks in the back kitchen. His daily job was to spread out bundles of angelica, pick out the ones with poor appearance, and then slice them according to the standard and dry them. When slicing angelica, he was always very serious, as if he were sculpting a work of art. At this time, he would always hum the songs he loved to sing when he was young, songs he learned when he was a soldier. He had long forgotten the lyrics, but the tune was imprinted in his bones.

Recently, the restaurant had been doing exceptionally well, and the back kitchen was also incredibly busy. Master Li's workload also increased, and he had to slice several large bundles of angelica every day, his hands developing blood blisters. But he didn't complain; on the contrary, he was happy and would often joke with everyone.

"Master Li, you're in a good mood today!" Xiao Liu joked. He was new and always treated Master Li with great respect.

Master Li chuckled and pointed to the freshly sliced angelica on the cutting board, "Look, these angelica are so beautiful, like blooming little flowers? How can I not be in a good mood looking at them every day?"

Xiao Liu smiled, thinking Master Li was really a strange person, who could even see flowers in sliced angelica.

That afternoon, the back kitchen was particularly chaotic. Master Li was so busy that he forgot to go to the toilet. He was uncomfortable, but he couldn't leave, so he had to find a deserted corner nearby to relieve himself. He quickly cleaned himself up and continued to work, not daring to mention it to anyone.

The next day, an inspector in uniform came to the restaurant, saying they had received a report and would conduct a surprise inspection of the back kitchen. Master Li's heart skipped a beat, but on the surface, he pretended to be nonchalant and cooperated with the inspection.

The inspectors were very meticulous, not letting go of any corner. Finally, they focused their attention on the angelica slices on the cutting board.

"Why does this angelica smell like urine?" The inspector frowned, his tone stern.

Master Li was stunned. He sniffed hard, but smelled nothing. Perhaps his nose was too dull.

"These were just cut, there's no way they would have an odor," Master Li argued.

"Impossible? I smell urine!" The inspector raised his voice, and several people emerged from behind him, each of whom smelled the slices and said that they did have a urine smell.

"This, this is impossible, could you have smelled wrong?" Master Li was flustered. He quickly picked up a slice of angelica and sniffed it carefully, but still smelled nothing.

The inspectors ordered the back kitchen to stop work and sealed up all the angelica, taking it back for testing. Master Li felt a sense of powerlessness looking at the sealed angelica. He had been slicing angelica for seven years, how could it suddenly have the smell of urine?

A few days later, the test results came out. The angelica slices did indeed test positive for trace amounts of urine. The restaurant was fined, and the back kitchen manager was fired. Master Li was also called in by the boss and scolded. However, he still didn't understand why there was urine in the angelica.

After leaving the hot pot restaurant, he returned to his old profession of repairing bicycles. His life became calm again. Only occasionally did he think of those angelica slices, and that "urine smell" he couldn't smell.

One day, he noticed an old customer buying angelica, getting ready to make medicine. He couldn't help but ask, "Brother, where did you buy this angelica?"

The old customer pointed to the herbal medicine shop at the corner of the street, "It's a time-honored brand, I always buy it there."

Curious, Master Li walked into the herbal medicine shop and saw jars of angelica on the counter. He picked up a jar, opened it, and was immediately stunned. A familiar smell wafted out, it was not the smell of urine, but a faint, special fragrance, a fragrance that was like, the smell of angelica itself.

He suddenly understood, it wasn't that the angelica had a urine smell, but that what he had been smelling all along was not the original smell of angelica, it was the unique, mixed smell of various things in the hot pot kitchen, the "processed" smell of the angelica! The angelica he had sliced into petals had never been pure angelica from the beginning. Every day, he was dealing with "angelica" whose truth he wasn't even aware of, and then, because of a slight deviation, he was eliminated. Yet, he still couldn't understand the truth. He gave a wry smile and shook his head.

He understood, the secret of angelica was far more than this.