Let it be, without forcing it;
English
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
46 / 90
AI illustration: Vito Corleone in his study, listening to another father
AI illustration: Vito Corleone in his study, listening to another father
07 · 09 · 2026 · · Sam Wang
LIFE NOTE

Film Review

The Godfather Part I

I watched The Godfather again. I still see it as a film about a father’s love;

In the opening scene, the undertaker Bonasera’s daughter has been beaten, yet her attackers receive suspended sentences. He comes to the Godfather to seek justice for her. A father, unable to protect his daughter, has to turn to another father.

“A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.” — Vito Corleone.

After watching it so many times, this is the line I remembered;

“So; are you seeing it from Michael’s position, or the Godfather’s?”

I CHING READINGOpen another reading
I CHING READING · Author’s interpretation
Hexagram 37

Jia Ren · The Family

Classic text · interpretive translation
The noble person speaks with substance and acts with constancy.

Jia Ren tests words against consistent action. Presence needs time; in the film, protection also involves power and violence. Paternal love does not automatically justify every means.

The reading can ask about protection’s boundaries: can family members express needs and refuse decisions made in love’s name? Relationship includes the protected person’s voice.

Reading in briefLove carries responsibility and makes room for another’s wishes.
MUSIC VIDEO CHOSEN FOR THIS STORY

Any Empty Bottles to Sell? · 酒干倘卖无

Julie Sue · 1080p HD

I read The Godfather as paternal love because I am a father too. This song gives weight to devotion that is hard to put into words; I hear it from the father’s position, not that of power;

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READER ECHOES

What stays with you here?

Waiting for your voice
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Author 04
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.

FOUNDER OF XIAOXIONGWang Sanxiong · Sam Wang
Read this ongoing practice →Chinese original →