Let it be, without forcing it;
01
ENGLISH EDITION

Let it be,without forcing it;

Memoirs of a Chinese restaurateur in Portugal, read through life’s changes and the I Ching.

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If you can make ‘creation’ as natural as breathing, it is not because intention is absent; it is because all intention has already dissolved into the breath.
Sam Wang
02 · SERIAL READING

Two parts, twelve moments.

A life told through choices, losses and changes rather than a résumé.

CHAPTER I

Necessity brings change.

From arriving in Lisbon to the Madrid expansion, family, and the pandemic.

CHAPTER II

Change opens the way.

A new digital beginning with XIAOXIONG®.

03 · LIFE NOTES

The city passes.
Memory remains.

Photographs and short texts about Lisbon, restaurants, architecture, and the moments that do not fit inside the chapters.

90 translated notes · English edition
28 / 90
Shou Yi hair salon in the Asian Shopping Centre, with a glass door, partly open entrance and boxes beside it
Shou Yi hair salon in the Asian Shopping Centre, with a glass door, partly open entrance and boxes beside it
18 · 09 · 2026 · Asian Shopping Centre · Barber shop · Sam Wang
LIFE NOTE

The Barber Shop

In the evening, I was having drinks with a group of friends in a KTV room. I stepped out for some air and happened to pass a barber shop downstairs in the Asian Shopping Centre. A barber who had cut my hair before was there, working at his craft.

I said hello. He still remembered me.

Only a few days ago, I had been talking about where to get a haircut nearby, now that the office had moved to Expo;

Looks like I’ll book a haircut tomorrow; 😁

On leaving the room, I took a quick photograph;

I CHING READINGOpen another reading
I CHING READING · Author’s interpretation
Hexagram 44

Gou · Coming to Meet

Classic text · interpretive translation
Under heaven there is wind: Coming to Meet.

Gou illuminates an encounter that comes before a plan: stepping out for air brings a possible answer to the haircut question. Chance opens a possibility; continuation depends on booking and returning.

Being recognised warms the moment. Familiarity reduces distance, while the future relationship remains for both people to build.

Reading in briefChance opens a door; connection continues with the next step.
MUSIC VIDEO CHOSEN FOR THIS STORY

Encounter · 遇见

Stefanie Sun · 2160p HD

Stepping away from the gathering and meeting someone who still remembers you: “遇见” accompanies that small surprise. The connection is the feeling of a chance encounter, without turning the barber-shop reunion into a love story.

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READER ECHOES

What stays with you here?

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RESTAURANTS · ARCHITECTURE · HISTORY · I CHING

Half a lifetime
of notes

Hello, I’m Wang Sanxiong — Sam 🤝

The book’s epigraph is my motto, and the starting point for how I understand life, restaurants, and entrepreneurship.

I am a Chinese immigrant living in Portugal, originally from Qingtian, Zhejiang, and a restaurant owner. I love architecture and the history behind it; I love the I Ching, and use Eastern wisdom to interpret the stories hidden behind history.

A battle for small and medium-sized restaurants to reclaim their own customer channels;
The second half of life should be more exciting than the first — that is only reasonable;

【XIAOXIONG®】

XIAOXIONG®; it is not an advertisement in this book. It is proof that, in the second half of life, I am still willing to change.