Pei's father chuckled and said, "I cooked this this afternoon, and then I kept it chilled with well water. I changed the water several times because I was worried it wouldn't be cold enough. You must have been too hot cooking this day."

"It's so delicious! All my fatigue from today just vanished in an instant." Pei Yuezhi finished the plum juice in her bowl in one gulp.

When Liu Yuanyuan heard Pei Yuezhi say it was cold, she drank several large gulps. When she heard that it was Pei's father who had put so much effort into it, she felt a little embarrassed.

"Uncle Pei, you really put your heart into this. This is the best plum juice I've ever had."

"Haha, you're such a smooth talker, give me another bowl." Mr. Pei was overjoyed by her words and immediately poured her another bowl.

Now that everyone else had gone to bed, Pei Yuezhi told Liu Yuanyuan to go back first, while she and her father prepared the pork knuckle together.

"Dad, Yunzhi might be going to help out at the Qiao family in a few days. Could you help me out at the shop then? It's just serving food and collecting money; there's nothing heavy to do." Pei Yuezhi chatted with her father while they worked.

Upon hearing that his daughter needed him, Pei's father didn't hesitate for a moment and replied readily, "No problem, Dad can do any kind of work now, I'm much better. Besides, we've hardly ever worked together before."

"Let me slowly find some trustworthy people, and then we won't have to work so hard. My shop has a lot of secret recipes, so I still need to find people who can use them." Pei Yuezhi explained to him why she was so busy and hadn't hired many employees yet.

Pei's father nodded in agreement: "It's good to be cautious. Take Qingquanlou, for example. They hired an unreliable chef and were poached by Baiweiju."

"Yes, especially for those of us with many secret recipes, we must be discerning in finding the right people."

The father and daughter quickly prepared the pork knuckle and were ready to stew it the next day.

They both went back to rest.

The next morning, since they were going to make a new product, Pei Yuezhi assigned most of the task of making the boxed lunches to Liang Zhenzhen after she started stewing the pig's feet.

If Liang Zhenzhen is unsure about anything, she can ask him for advice. This will also help Liang Zhenzhen improve and graduate as soon as possible.

The dishes I ordered today aren't too difficult to make, and I doubt there's anything I won't understand.

Pei Yuezhi herself began preparing to make a new product: smoked fish.

When I came this morning, I bought another big fish. Together with yesterday's, these two fish must weigh about 20 pounds. Just frying these fish will exhaust me!

First, my cousin-in-law and I will help each other prepare the fish, while Zhang Hongying and Liang Zhenzhen will be able to prepare the other ingredients.

Scrape off the fish scales and the mucus on the surface. Cut off the fins and tail, which are the parts without meat.

Then clean out the black membrane inside the abdomen and the blood attached to the bone, otherwise it will be very fishy.

Cut the fish into pieces about two fingers wide, then cut each piece in half.

Chop some scallions and ginger into sections, smash them with a knife, put them into the fish, add some white pepper powder and a little wine, mix well, and set aside.

Then prepare Sichuan peppercorns, fennel seeds, cinnamon, dried chili peppers, star anise, white cardamom, and bay leaves.

Add a little oil to the pot, sauté the scallions and ginger until fragrant, add two bowls of light soy sauce (Pei Yuezhi used a less salty one), and then add a little dark soy sauce.

After simmering and bringing it to a boil, add the prepared spices and a bowl of yellow rock sugar. Actually, anything will do, but Pei Yuezhi felt this wasn't too sweet, as she didn't really like overly sweet dishes.

Then add a little chicken bouillon, bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for about twenty minutes.

Once the time is up, skim off the dregs, then simmer over high heat until it thickens and coats the spatula; that's about right.

The sauce for smoking the fish is now ready; be sure to pour it out and let it cool completely.

I boiled a lot of juice, and brought out all of it for later use. I'll let it cool down somewhere, or store it in my spatial storage.

Next, we'll start frying the fish. Heat the oil in the pan; a higher oil temperature will make it crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Drain the fish slightly, then fry it in a pan.

After putting it in the pot, let it set before flipping it.

Once each piece of fish is fried until golden brown and crispy, it's ready to be taken out.

Pei Yuezhi demonstrated while her cousin-in-law learned how to fry the fish. Once she understood, she handed over the task of frying the fish to her and went to help cook the other dishes.

Liang Zhenzhen is doing quite well in her studies, but she's not very skilled yet, so she cooks a bit slowly. Once I was almost done with my own tasks, I helped her cook.

Seeing that her cousin-in-law's fish was all fried, Pei Yuezhi quickly went over to process the fish.

"This day has been incredibly busy! I'm going to be swamped!" Pei Yuezhi thought to herself, feeling utterly overwhelmed.

After all the fish are fried, raise the oil temperature and fry them again.

Fry the fish until it turns a darker color and looks crispy, then take it out and put it into the cooled broth.

Soaking the fish in the broth for three or four minutes is enough; this way, the fish will be flavorful without becoming soggy, and it will still be crisp.

It's still early, so let's get it ready as soon as possible. This dish must be eaten cooled down. It will be a bit sweet when eaten hot, but it's just right when it's cooled down and tastes delicious.

Once the fish had cooled down, it was almost time to eat. The rest of the dishes were also ready, so we prepared to tidy up and open the door.

As for the pricing of this smoked fish, Pei Yuezhi plans to price it at the same level as the duck products, at twenty coins per catty.

Although it sounds expensive, live fish here near the river costs seven or eight coins per pound. This fried fish, however, costs more than half the price of live fish per pound.

Selling it for twenty coins isn't expensive at all.

Moreover, Pei Yuezhi also asked her two sisters-in-law, and they both said it was reasonable, so there was no need to worry about anything else. They could open for business!

After yesterday's delicious food feast, many first-time customers came early today.

As soon as the door opened, everyone eagerly squeezed in.

"Yesterday's braised pork knuckle rice was so delicious, I really couldn't get enough, I have to have it again today."

"I had a boxed lunch yesterday. My younger brother told me that the braised pork trotter rice was delicious, so I'll try it today."

"Hey? Boss, what's this dark thing?"

Customers in the new product section immediately noticed the newly arrived smoked fish and asked about it with some curiosity.

Pei Yuezhi quickly introduced to everyone: "This is smoked fish. The fish is fried and then mixed with seasonings. It has a salty and sweet flavor and costs twenty coins per catty."

"Is it sweet? Give me half a pound then, I'll take it back for my wife, she loves sweets."

"I love eating fish, I'll try it too, give me five coins' worth."

"Okay, don't rush, I'll get the pork trotter rice first, and then I'll pack the fish for us."

Pei Yuezhi quickly served the food, then took out lotus leaves and used a small scale to give everyone fish.

Luckily, I cook a lot and know roughly how much each portion is, so it wasn't too slow.