Let it be,without forcing it;

In 2008, our first child was born—a daughter. Her arrival made me feel the weight of responsibility for the first time. A baby stroller appeared in the restaurant too.

Friends around me all said that my wife brought me prosperity. Business improved day by day: the second restaurant, the third… SUSHICOME officially began expanding as a chain.

In those years, my restaurants had another nickname — “the sushi training school”. Many people preparing to open sushi restaurants sent their apprentices to SUSHICOME to learn the craft; others left after only two months to earn higher salaries elsewhere. Back then, sushi chefs were in great demand.

Once, I was eating in a private room at Hai Shang Tian restaurant. A young man said he had worked at one of my restaurants, but I could not place him at all.

With the children and my parents arriving from China, the house became lively. But the livelier it became, the less time I seemed to have for my family.

A gambler always thinks he can read wins and losses and find some “pattern” in one game after another. After losing, he tells himself: “Next time I will win it back.” The more he loses, the more he chases; the more he chases, the harder it is to stop.

For several years, the casino was almost my second job. At fifty, I stopped gambling. Perhaps “stopped” is not quite right. I finally understood gambling.