No. 39 Tianping Road

Introduction to No. 39 Tianping Road Chen Jianguo is 48 and a native of Shanghai. He spent twenty years as a middle manager at a foreign company in Caohejing. On the day of the layoffs, he calmly signed the paperwork and tossed his employee badge into the trash, then went back and picked it up. Starting the next day, he continued to leave home in his suit as usual. He spent the morning at the Xujiahui Library, then went to the Tianping Road community canteen for an 18-yuan set meal. He thought his act was flawless, but his wife, A Zhen, had seen through him long ago. The collar of his shirt was worn white. She ironed it every day, so how could she not know? At the community canteen, he meets Lao Zhou, a retired man living alone; Xiao Dongbei, a migrant in Shanghai hoping to get a chef’s certificate; and Teacher Li, who organizes a mutual-aid group for people seeking new jobs. A group of people left behind by the times gradually grow closer amid the bustle of everyday life in the alley. Lao Zhou’s house has been empty for three years. Xiao Dongbei suggests opening a stall serving Shanghai cuisine, and after much hesitation, Chen Jianguo ties on an apron. From “Mr. Chen” to “Chef Chen,” from the office tower to the stove. On the day Little Kitchen No. 39 opens, Lao Zhou takes a bite of the braised pork and says, “Tastes a little like my wife’s cooking,” then gets up and leaves. This is a story about “falling down the ladder,” and about ordinary people holding one another up. Beneath the plane trees on Tianping Road in Shanghai, they use a pot of braised pork to redefine dignity and self-respect. Tags: Realistic fiction | Urban life | Midlife crisis | Shanghai alleyways | Everyday bustle | Heartwarming and healing