Chapter 60: Crab Roe Noodles (First Update)...

The more Lin Zhi thought about it, the more likely this was. After all, Madam Yu and her husband had just said yesterday that Juyoulou had been open for decades, a prestigious establishment that consistently achieved the top spot.

The dishes they ordered yesterday were all the signature dishes of this shop. They might even be recipes passed down from their ancestors that cannot be easily changed.

In other words, this shop is most likely hiding the fact that it uses pork as the soup base. Could it be that other shops also have the same situation?

Lin Zhi had a guess in mind, so she told Lin Sen to ask again tomorrow: "Even if there's no pork elbow, there must be pig bones."

If even the pork bones are sold out so early, there must be quite a few businesses that use pork and other ingredients to make soup base.

Lin Sen didn't know the reason, but he just wrote it down.

After the opening today, Lu San and his friends arrived, carrying large and small bags. As they entered, they began shouting, "Brother Lin, Sister Song, and Sister Zhi—you three brought gifts to our house, but why is there no one at your house?"

"We went to a vegetarian meeting yesterday morning." Lin Sen scratched his head, feeling embarrassed.

They remembered sending gifts to several households, but forgot to leave the door open, so when Lu San and others came to deliver the Double Ninth Festival gifts, they didn't see anyone, and they couldn't leave the gifts directly at the door, so they had to wait until today.

"It's our fault. We should have sent it earlier."

"Right, right. Mainly because we forgot you didn't have any servants," Cao Datou said honestly. He and his wife had just come over when they ran into Lu San and his wife. The two families were standing at the doorway, stunned. It was as embarrassing as it could be. "It just so happened that we ran into Lu San's family and even went for a walk together."

Speaking of servants, Lin Sen thought of his troubles again.

After entertaining the acquaintances who came to give gifts and seeing off the diners who came to visit, he went to find the night watchman, paid him some money and asked him to walk around a few more times and tell his family in time if anything happened.

Lin Sen, still worried, went to look for the patrolling yamen runners and guards. Many of them were regular customers of Linzhiji. Upon hearing this, they patted their chests and agreed immediately, "Don't worry, we'll take care of this little thing."

When Lin Sen returned from his busy schedule, he saw Song Jiaoniang putting all the crab shells into a wooden basin. "Have you peeled them all?"

"Yes! You came back just in time. Sister Zhi has just started to make...that crab roe pancake?" Song Jiaoniang turned around and smiled, then lifted the curtain and walked into the kitchen holding a basin of crab shells.

In the kitchen, Linzhi was busy.

Since she was cooking for her family, she was not stingy with the ingredients. She used crab oil soaked overnight and added a large amount of crab meat, crab roe and crab paste, then added daughter's red wine and minced ginger, and finally seasoned it with salt and pepper.

In less than half a cup of tea, the house was filled with the aroma of crab.

Oh, not just Linzhiji.

At the drink shop next door, Mrs. Yu and her husband, who had just had a meal of butter rice in the morning, couldn't help but see off the last customer and hurriedly hung a sign on the door saying "Closed".

The couple went into the kitchen and quickly served hot rice. Then they divided the remaining butter in half and poured it all over the rice.

The golden crab oil wrapped in the orange crab paste and crab meat is like the sun, or like molten gold falling on the rice and drilling straight into the rice through the cracks in the rice.

The aroma of crab instantly filled the air, forcing Madam Yu to take a deep breath, as if to completely devour the aroma of the butter. "Wow...this fragrance, even though I've smelled it once before, it's still irresistible."

As for Shopkeeper Wu, he had no intention of talking. He had already picked up the chopsticks skillfully, stirred it evenly, and then put a mouthful into his mouth without hesitation.

Each grain of rice is covered with crab oil, mixed with crab paste and crab meat. When you put them into your mouth together, the fragrant and glutinous rice, the thick crab paste, the sweetness of the crab meat and the mellowness of the crab oil slowly spread in your mouth, like a horse hoof conquering the earth, sending the wonderful taste to every part of your mouth.

Even though he had just eaten that morning, Shopkeeper Wu was still eating with great enthusiasm. He devoured the rice mouthful after mouthful, finishing it in no time at all, even licking up the sauce on the edge of the bowl.

After finishing the meal, Shopkeeper Wu even coveted Madam Yu's bowl: "You——"

Before he could finish his words, Madam Yu cautiously hugged the bowl and quickly finished the rest: "Hey, I want them all!"

Shopkeeper Wu was still unwilling to give up. He took out the clay pot and turned it over to make sure it was empty before putting it back in its original place in disappointment.

"Why……"

"Why…………"

The couple sighed in unison.

Shopkeeper Wu felt a little regretful. At first, they thought the crabs sent by the neighbors were a bit too many. If they had known earlier, they should have asked them to send a few more baskets. Maybe if they had sent more crabs, they could have gotten two more bottles of butter.

At this moment, Madam Yu suddenly said, "Actually... Sister Zhi didn't make it behind my back yesterday. I saw how the oil was made."

Shopkeeper Wu was stunned at first, then horrified. He waved his hands repeatedly: "Madam, that's not possible. Sister Renzhi did it in front of you because she trusts you. If we do it ourselves, wouldn't it be -"

Before he could finish, Madam Yu punched him: "Who do you think I am? I just said we should go and ask if we can make some for our own use instead of selling it to others."

"I just think the crab season ends right now. When the weather gets colder, the crabs will be gone and we won't be able to eat them even if we want to."

After hearing what Madam Yu said, Shopkeeper Wu finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Then—shall we go ask now?"

The couple walked out of the store and turned to the entrance of Linzhiji. Just by reaching out and pushing open their hands, they smelled a familiar smell, and then they heard the puzzled voice of a passerby behind them: "Hey? Where does that fragrance come from?"

"It's not a fragrance, it's a fishy smell, right?"

"Shit, it's clearly a fresh and sweet fragrance..."

Mrs. Yu and her husband remembered what happened with the duck blood rice noodle soup, and quickly and decisively slipped into the shop and closed the door straight to prevent the aroma from flowing out.

Then, they both looked forward at the same time, and happened to meet the blank eyes of the Linzhi family. The couple wanted to say something, but their eyes shifted downwards and fell on the bowl of noodles in front of them.

That's the familiar bald butter!

The crab roe was poured on the rice cake, which lay in the golden soup. As Lin Sen and the other two stirred it, the tempting crab aroma filled the room. Madam Yu and her husband couldn't help but feel their Adam's apples rolling, and their stomachs, which had just been filled, felt burning again.

"Want...a bowl?" Song Jiaoniang asked.

"Okay... no, no, no." Madam Yu nodded subconsciously, then quickly shook her head frantically, feeling very embarrassed: "We just finished eating at home."

Song Jiaoniang suddenly realized and continued to enjoy the crab roe cake. She was eating with great intoxication. Each cake was filled with crab meat, crab roe and crab paste, and every bite was full of fragrance.

Even Linzhi rarely speeds up to immerse itself in the charm of crab meat noodles.

The three of them devoured the noodles in no time. Only after they had finished their meal did Song Jiaoniang realize her own impoliteness and quickly stood up to inquire about the Yu family and their purpose.

"Actually..." Madam Yu blushed and stammered for a long time, but didn't say what she wanted to say.

Mainly, now I think about it, was I too impulsive? To be honest, nowadays, restaurants, and food stalls all keep their recipes as secrets, afraid that others will see them.

Want to learn a craft? You'll need to become a disciple. Not to mention the entrance exams, the apprenticeship can take anywhere from three years to ten or even longer. During this time, apprentices typically receive no fixed salary, only guaranteed food and lodging, and must be approved by the master before they can graduate.

And wanting to use it just by asking for it, isn't that too shameless?

Madam Yu couldn't help but feel like retreating when she thought of this. She said awkwardly, "No, actually, that..."

Song Jiaoniang was suspicious: "What happened?"

Madam Yu pulled Shopkeeper Wu and tried to run away, but after taking two steps, she was stopped by the quick-eyed and quick-handed Lin Sen.

Song Jiaoniang and Lin Zhi stepped forward to pull her along, their faces filled with uncertainty. After all, Madam Yu was usually very swift and forthright, unlike the hesitant and timid one just now. It was truly worrying. "But what happened? We're neighbors, so if you have any problems, just let us know!"

Madam Yu struggled for a moment, but finally revealed her intention. She lowered her head, feeling rather embarrassed. Unexpectedly, she heard Lin Zhi's laughter the next moment: "So that's what you're talking about. Madam Yu just wants to make it at home. Of course, that's fine."

Madam Yu looked up in surprise: "Really?"

Lin Zhi smiled and said, "Really, if you don't mind the trouble."

Madam Yu was overjoyed and thanked him happily, then took Manager Wu out the door.

She was so focused on getting home to study the bald yellow butter that she didn't notice that Hua Niang was standing at the corner of the street not far away. She looked at Yu Niangzi coming in and out, and her brows knitted into knots.

She walked into the house with a sullen face. Before she could complain, she was met with a sullen look from Shopkeeper Zheng: "I told you to deliver the Double Ninth Festival gift to Linzhiji. Where did you send it?"

"Didn't I send it?"

"Then what is this?" Shopkeeper Zheng brought two jars of fine wine to the table and asked coldly.

If he hadn't been idle and cleaned the shop, he wouldn't have realized that Hua was so bold that she could even withhold the gifts sent to Linzhiji.

"..." Madam Hua's eyes drifted, and after a while she stammered, "We have nothing to do with them, so why would they send us such nice things? Two boxes of fruit and two pots of chrysanthemums would be enough."

Shopkeeper Zheng was almost furious. What for? Of course it was for his nephew's business! But if he said that, Hua would definitely start to act up again.

"Wait?" He suddenly thought of something else. Manager Zheng's expression suddenly changed: "You dared to embezzle the Double Ninth Festival gifts for Linzhiji? You didn't embezzle the gifts for other families, did you?"

When he raised his eyes and met Hua Niang's flickering look, he immediately became furious.

At the same time, Lin Sen, who had just seen off Madam Yu and her husband, suggested, "Why don't we put the crab rice bowl on top?"

"Then we have to ask someone to peel the crabs." Song Jiaoniang remembered that she had been peeling crabs for most of the hour and her fingers were numb. She shook her head and hurried to the house to get a bottle of pearl cream. Not only did she apply it on her own hands, she also called Linzhi to apply it on her hands.

Lin Zhi spread her fingers and let her fiddle with them. "Actually, the river crabs themselves aren't expensive. The problem is that peeling them is time-consuming and laborious. We can peel them occasionally for ourselves, but if we do it regularly, we'll have to hire someone to peel them. The cost of hiring someone, plus the effort involved in making the crab oil... I'd have to figure it out for at least a hundred or two hundred coins, right?"

"Hiss! This price..." Song Jiaonian paused, shocked by the price, but after thinking about it, it made sense.

"Why not put it up higher and put it up for reservations?" Lin Sen was quite calm. "If someone wants it, then do it. If no one wants it, then just leave it up."

As for pre-orders, well! One more pre-order in the shop wouldn't make a lot, and one less wouldn't make a lot either. At most, it would just mean hiring two more idlers.

Linzhi thought about it and agreed.

Seeing this, Lin Sen wrote a flyer for crab meat rice and placed it outside the door along with the wooden stand.

While he was busy, he heard the faint sound of quarreling again. However, after the previous incident at the drink shop, Lin Sen subconsciously thought that it was Madam Yu and her husband arguing again, so he didn't take it seriously and returned to the shop again.

When the restaurant opened in the afternoon, a customer noticed the newly added menu item: "Crab Roe Rice Bowl... Wait? Two hundred and eighty-eight a bowl!?"

The exclamation attracted quite a few people. The diners who had ordered earlier picked up the menu again and looked at it: "Wow, it really is?"

"Crab roe rice bowl, 288 yuan a bowl?" A new customer was stunned and looked through the menu carefully. If Lin Zhi was in the main hall, she would probably recognize this person as Ping Ge'er, the waiter who ordered the dishes at Juyoulou.

This story started yesterday. Ever since Madam Cui came up with the idea, Chef Zhou asked someone to find out something. He found out the location of Linzhiji that very day. He also learned from the people he had inquired that the shop had only been open for ten days and its roast duck had already become famous.

Today, he specially sent Ping Ge'er to buy some roast duck and other food to take back and see how Linzhiji tastes.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Ping Ge entered the shop, he encountered a huge shock. It was obviously just a pitifully small foot shop, but it was actually selling crab meat rice bowl worth 288 wen?

He could hardly hide his shock, and looking at the expressions and reactions of the diners around him, he was sure that this shop would soon suffer a backlash.

But the next second, a customer asked Lin Sen, "Shopkeeper Lin, do we have to make a reservation for this as well?"

"Yes." Lin Sen smiled, "It comes with ginger tea, a special snack, and three side dishes. Would you like to order one?"

Ping Ge'er rolled his eyes secretly. Just some unknown snacks and dishes, and you still want people to pre-order them? Dream on!

The next moment, the customer said with a smile, "How about I order one portion? It'll be together with the three pounds of roast duck. The total is five hundred and twenty-eight coins, here."

Lin Sen smiled and said, "Okay, I'll round off the amount and charge you 520 coins."

????? ?????

Ping'er's eyes widened. This is, this is a shill! ?