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
11 / 90
A white Delta coffee cup on a table inside a petrol station shop, with snack shelves, a person by the door and a lorry behind.
A white Delta coffee cup on a table inside a petrol station shop, with snack shelves, a person by the door and a lorry behind.
29 · 09 · 2026 · Motorway · Petrol station · Sam Wang
LIFE NOTE

Petrol Station

I got back into the car at the last service area. Once on the motorway, I noticed a fly inside. I opened the window, but it would not leave. All right, then, I’ll take you along for a while;

Next stop, a petrol station.

The station is small, with plenty of lorries parked outside and drivers coming and going; the fly staying with me is, after all, a little companionship along the way;

“I’ve been drinking coffee without sugar for many years now;”

I CHING READINGOpen another reading
I CHING READING · Author’s interpretation
Hexagram 56

Lü · The Traveller

Classic text · interpretive translation
The traveller: small success. Steadfastness on the journey brings good fortune. — Zhou Yi · Lü, Judgment

Lü speaks of small success and the condition of staying away from home. At the station, drivers, vehicles and the person drinking coffee have their own destinations, briefly sharing a place to pause; a short stay has an order of its own.

The driver first wanted the fly to leave, then allowed it to travel along. His way of seeing the encounter changed. Calling it companionship is the author’s gesture; the fly’s destination remains unknown. Read through Lü, sharing a stretch of road can leave both free to part, without requiring a lasting relationship.

Reading in briefShare a stretch of road, with room for separate destinations.
MUSIC VIDEO CHOSEN FOR THIS STORY

Journey · 旅行

Xu Wei

Xu Wei’s “Journey” accompanies this chance companion. The car stops, there is a cup of coffee, and the road goes on.

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READER ECHOES

What stays with you here?

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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 →