Open a restaurant

Since that day, Fu Zhiqiao has braised beef for Xie Zhuo several more times, and most of the beef in the ice cellar has been eaten.

Wang Qianxin got to enjoy a lot of delicious food by following Xie Zhuo, and he thought Fu Zhiqiao was amazing! She was perfect for his young master!

Miss Fu is beautiful and kind-hearted. She is good at business and cooking. She is also considerate and thoughtful to her young master. She is simply a perfect person!

As expected of the young master, his eye for talent is truly exceptional!

After tasting the braised beef, Wang Qianxin was amazed. From then on, every time he saw Fu Zhiqiao carrying a food box, his eyes would be glued to it.

Fu Zhi Qiao was happy to see that he liked the food she made. Although the beef tasted good, it was not available often, so she later made braised pork and braised large intestines and sent them over.

"What delicious food did Miss Fu make today? I can smell it from far away."

Wang Qianxin could smell the aroma of the braised food, but looking at the segments on the plate, he couldn't recognize what they were.

"This is called 'fatty intestines,' which is pig's large intestine!" Ginkgo added, seeing his confused expression.

What? Pig intestines filled with poop?

"That stuff smells awful, can you even eat it?" Wang Qianxin stared at the fatty intestines for a moment, finding it hard to bring himself to eat it.

Ginkgo continued to provoke him: "Whether you can eat it or not, you'll know once you try it."

With Miss Fu's help, even the most stinky things could be made delicious. Having mentally prepared himself, he picked up a piece with his chopsticks, closed his eyes, and put it in his mouth. After chewing a couple of times, Wang Qianxin excitedly opened his eyes, "Not a trace of stench!"

The intestines were cleaned very well and had no unpleasant odor.

The braising liquid has completely permeated the large intestine. One bite and the juice bursts out. It's soft, chewy, and the tender intestine bounces around in your mouth, becoming more and more fragrant with each chew!

Wang Qianxin's mouth was stuffed full, so he couldn't speak. He could only stick out his thumb to indicate that he was very satisfied with the taste of the pork intestines.

Xie Zhuo had already changed into his casual clothes and came out. Wang Qianxin, forgetting what he was eating, quickly stood up and bowed.

Xie Zhuo only ate braised pork. The braised pork intestines smelled delicious, but he just couldn't bring himself to eat them.

As a result, a whole plate of braised pork intestines ended up in Wang Qianxin's stomach. While eating, he remarked that if he didn't have military duties to attend to, he would really like to buy some Taibai wine to eat with the braised pork intestines. Drinking wine and eating meat at the same time would be so enjoyable.

Drinking can easily lead to mistakes. He has heavy training duties and doesn't have time to drink, nor does he dare to.

He really misses the taste of Taibaijiu!

"It's a pity that I won't be able to eat such delicious braised meat when I return to the capital."

"That's easy, I'll make some for you to take on the road."

Now that the weather is gradually getting cooler, braised meat can be kept for about ten days without any problem.

"Really? Thank you, Miss Fu!"

After a while, Wang Qianxin sighed again, "If only I could eat this in the capital."

Hey! Don't push your luck! Ginkgo rolled her eyes to herself.

"There are so many delicious foods in Beijing, you won't miss my braised pork then."

"How could that be? Miss Fu's braised pork is the most delicious in the world."

Wang Qianxin looked sincere; he genuinely felt that way. However, being flattered by a burly man in his thirties with a stubble on his face made Fu Zhiqiao feel a little uncomfortable.

However, Wang Qianxin's words gave Fu Zhiqiao an idea: drinking wine and eating meat are a perfect match!

Perhaps she should put her restaurant opening plan on the agenda. No, she needs to go back and take stock of her assets and try to open the restaurant as soon as possible.

Restaurants that aren't located in prime locations won't make much money.

Qingzhou is a major trading city, and various restaurants have opened on several bustling streets. She has a good relationship with several restaurants, such as Penglaiju and Baiweilou, and her Taibai wine sells quite well in their restaurants.

If she opens a restaurant in Qingzhou, these restaurants will have one more powerful competitor, and Fu Zhi Qiao will become their adversary to some extent, which will inevitably affect the cooperation with Taibai Wine.

Xu Shangqiang and Manager Wang both have a certain foothold in Qingzhou. In business, it would be bad if they joined forces to suppress me.

However, she definitely had to open the restaurant, and she needed to carefully consider the location.

After Xie Zhuo learned of her idea, he strongly recommended that she open a restaurant in the capital.

Xie Zhuo had his own selfish motives. Firstly, the capital was his sphere of influence, and with his protection, no one would dare to mess with her and the restaurant. Secondly, he could relieve his longing for her and avoid being separated by distance.

Xie Zhuo looked on with anticipation and told her about the popularity of Taibai wine in the capital, saying that even the eldest son of the Duke's mansion had to pull strings to buy it.

Taibai wine became a hot commodity in the capital, something Fu Zhiqiao hadn't expected.

Although Peng Gaofei would come to pick up a batch of wine every two or three months, seemingly a large quantity, there wasn't much left by the time it reached the capital. The wine jars were fragile and transporting them was laborious and time-consuming. The caravans traveled north and south, crossing mountains and valleys, and inevitably some Taibai wine would be lost along the way. They would sell it if they could along the way, so by the time it arrived in the capital, there wasn't much left.

A thought flashed through Fu Zhiqiao's mind: since Taibai Wine had already established a solid foundation in the capital, could she go there and contribute to its success?

"Zhi Qiao, opening a restaurant in the capital is really a good choice." Xie Zhuo lowered his voice and whispered in Fu Zhi Qiao's ear, "I'll help you!"

Fu Zhiqiao looked at him suspiciously. How could this guy be so good at bewitching people?

She thought about it seriously for a moment, then smiled and replied, "I'll consider it."

Hearing her words, Xie Zhuo was instantly relieved. Fu Zhi Qiao was never one to speak carelessly. Since she said she would consider it, it meant she was 70% confident that she would do it.

Fu Zhiqiao had long had the idea of ​​opening a restaurant, but she had no background or connections, and it was probably wishful thinking for her to establish herself in the capital city on her own.

When she first opened the Taibai Wine Shop, she barely managed to gain a foothold in the city with the help of Penglai Residence. It was already difficult to establish herself in Qingzhou, let alone open a restaurant in the capital city full of powerful and wealthy people.

She has money, but what does she value most in the capital?

It's power! It's status!

Under the emperor's nose, you could easily throw a stone down the street and hit a relative of an official. Without a powerful patron's introduction, she, a mere merchant, would find it impossible to make a living in the capital. Who knows how many years and how many obstacles she would have to go through before she was able to open her own restaurant?

Thinking about this, Fu Zhiqiao pondered Xie Zhuo's words carefully.

If she wanted to make a name for herself in the capital, Xie Zhuo's help would save her a lot of trouble. Regardless of the monk's reputation, with the protection of Prince Duan's mansion, ordinary villains wouldn't dare to provoke her.

Besides, she didn't need Xie Zhuo to serve her; she only needed to borrow his name when necessary.

Fu Zhiqiao is extremely proactive; as soon as she got home, she started taking stock of the accounts and writing a business plan.

She made her fortune selling alcohol, so it would be best if her restaurant were also related to alcohol.

Not only that, she also wants to closely link Taibai liquor with restaurants. Taibai liquor already has a sales base in Beijing, so she might as well take advantage of this wave of popularity.

To stand out among numerous restaurants, her restaurant must be distinctive and attractive enough!

The wines and dishes inside are absolutely unique and can't be found anywhere else!

The shop currently offers Taibai wine, plum wine, and Zui Shi Xian wine.

Which dishes use baijiu (Chinese white liquor)? Relying on her memory, she quickly wrote down the menu: ginger wine duck, flambéed drunken shrimp, wine-flavored rabbit, rice wine steamed chicken, chestnut stewed chicken...

With so many delicious foods throughout history, how could we possibly fail to conquer the stomachs of these ancient people?

That night, Fu Zhiqiao only slept for two or three hours.

*

At the end of September, the military training was coming to an end, and Xie Zhuo would soon be returning to the capital to report back.

Mingbo was packing Xie Zhuo's belongings.

Dinner that day was rather somber, with neither of them in high spirits. The past month together had brought them closer, and the time for parting was fast approaching.

"Come to the capital sooner, and I'll take you to see the maple leaves."

"Mmm." Fu Zhi Qiao responded sullenly, and the person leaning against him silently lowered their head.

Xie Zhuo gently stroked her soft cheek, his dark pupils surging with emotion. This time, his return to the capital was to first take a detour to bring the new recruits to Yizhou and hand them over to General Luo Zhenhai, before returning to the capital to report to the Emperor.

This time, the Great Wei army of more than 200,000 men marched north to resist the northern barbarians. Among them, 100,000 troops were mustered in Yizhou and went to Liangzhou as the vanguard to fight.

Xie Zhuo was assigned to the second batch of troops, and he was responsible for providing supplies. He couldn't reveal the specific departure time to Fu Zhi Qiao, but he subtly reminded her that he would stay in the capital for a while longer.

Come soon, I'll be waiting for you in the capital!

After a long day of non-stop travel, it was completely dark, and we could finally take a break.

When it was time to eat, they set up camp on the spot. Wang Qianxin took out four white flour pancakes, first roasted them over a fire, then cut a slit on the side of each pancake with a knife and set them aside for later use.

Then he took out the braised meat that Fu Zhiqiao had prepared, sliced ​​it, put it in the pancake, and opened another jar, scooped out a spoonful of Sichuan peppercorn oil and spread it on the meat.

A simplified version of roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) was ready; this way of eating it was taught to him by Miss Fu.

The Sichuan peppercorn oil was also made by Miss Fu. Before they left, Miss Fu made braised meat and Sichuan peppercorn oil for them to take with them.

Miss Fu said that this Sichuan pepper oil is made from Sichuan pepper and dogwood. It is fragrant, spicy and delicious. Adding a spoonful to rice or porridge makes it even more appetizing. Most importantly, it will not spoil for two or three months.

Fu Zhi Qiao missed the taste of chili peppers, but Da Wei had not yet introduced chili peppers, so she had to extract a little spiciness from Sichuan peppercorns and dogwood.

Wang Qianxin made a total of four roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), two for Xie Zhuo and two for himself. The difference was that the two roujiamo he gave to Xie Zhuo had significantly more meat in them.

Xie Zhuo sat in the general's tent, engrossed in eating a roujiamo (Chinese hamburger).

Wang Qianxin took his two roujiamo (Chinese hamburgers) and walked to the fire, eating them while warming himself by the fire.

The other generals, seeing the meat-filled pancake in Wang Qianxin's hand and then looking at their own dry pancakes, couldn't help but drool and shamelessly came over to ask for a bite.

"Guard Wang, what are you eating? Could I have a bite?"

There's no way we can share it. This was made by Miss Fu with great effort for him—no, for the young master. He only managed to get a few bites before he couldn't bear to give it to anyone else!

Wang Qianxin's eyes darted around: "This is called a roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), it's a treat the general gave me."

Xie Zhuo's trip to Qingzhou was personally assigned by the emperor, and his status as the heir apparent was no secret within the cavalry.

Although Wang Qianxin did not hold a position in the cavalry, he was Xie Zhuo's confidant and was mainly responsible for his safety. Other generals would respectfully call him Guardian Wang.

Upon hearing that the food belonged to General Xie, the generals gave up their desire and dared not ask General Xie for food, no matter how tempted they were.

Wang Qianxin ate the roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) with gusto. The braised pork, with its perfect balance of lean and fatty meat, was coated in Sichuan peppercorn oil. The fat from the meat was completely absorbed by the bread, making each bite rich but not greasy—it was incredibly satisfying!

Watching Wang Qianxin enjoy his roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) with such a blissful expression, the others could only take a resentful bite of their own bread. It's just a plain white bread with a piece of meat inside! Is it really that delicious? Why make such an exaggerated expression?

snort!