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
55 / 90
Two neighbours talk beside the coffee machine about the sweets and snacks inside the XIAOXIONG box
Two neighbours talk beside the coffee machine about the sweets and snacks inside the XIAOXIONG box
01 · 09 · 2026 · Parque das Nações · New office · Sam Wang
LIFE NOTE

Neighbours

Colleagues at the office planned a ‘new arrival’ ceremony to celebrate moving into the new office at the Expo grounds.

A box of snacks + an A4 sheet, placed beside the shared coffee machine, like a new ‘neighbour’ quietly stopping by to say hello.

I quoted the line Rick says to the captain at the end of Casablanca: ‘I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.’

Two neighbours were discussing the sweets and snacks inside the XIAOXIONG box;

Olá, vizinhos.

“Hello, September!”

I CHING READINGOpen another reading
I CHING READING · Author’s interpretation
Hexagram 13

Tong Ren · Fellowship with Others

Classic text · interpretive translation
Fellowship with others in the open. Success. It is favourable to cross the great water. The noble one’s perseverance is favourable.

Tong Ren opens connection beyond a familiar circle. Sweets beside a shared coffee machine offer strangers an easy way to respond; closeness begins with a small opening.

The film line expresses a wish; friendship depends on later encounters. A light gesture also allows someone to pass without responding, without demanding immediate return.

Reading in briefMake approaching easy; let encounters build the relationship.
MUSIC VIDEO CHOSEN FOR THIS STORY

As Time Goes By

Dooley Wilson · 1080p HD

The neighbours' sweets and that line from Casablanca on paper. This song will remind me of our meeting;

Quality adapts to your connection. You can select HD in the player settings.Player not working? Open the original video ↗
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.