Two days later, Wang Yan and Fatty Wang arrived early in the morning.

Today, we didn't wait for Zhou's tofu shop to deliver the tofu; we bought it directly from the old man who sells tofu.

Today we need not only firm tofu, but also some tofu pudding. I forgot to tell the Zhou family when they delivered the tofu yesterday.

To save time, I had to order some tofu pudding from the old man who makes tofu.

Since this was considered a "high-class banquet" when the guests came, they had to give them some gifts.

People can't just sit there waiting for their food as soon as they arrive, can they? Even the ginger and fermented black beans need to be prepared and chopped, which takes a while. Many of the dishes here need to be stir-fried to order.

So when they arrive, we offer them a pot of rice wine and a bowl of brown sugar tofu pudding to start with.

The old tofu maker was so surprised and excited that he didn't expect the Wang family to buy his tofu. He quickly brought over the tofu pudding.

A short while later, two more tables of people arrived, one after the other. Wang Yan found it all quite unusual.

"Isn't this supposed to be a meeting between two families? Why are they treating us like regular diners, with people arriving in order?"

Aunt Wang glanced at the child and wondered if his brain wasn't fully developed, or if he was mentally challenged.

"You didn't see any young men and women when these two families came over."

They just casually sat at the same table? The two of them were sitting face to face, they must have made up an excuse.

For example, if someone comes to eat here, they can just sneak a peek at the people at the two adjacent tables.

Wang Yan snorted. In modern times, everyone is face to face, and there are even ten-minute matchmaking corners.

Wang Ying patted her sister's head and quickly went to greet her, then led the guests upstairs.

The next table that arrived looked like the bride's family. We led them upstairs, which was now divided into six private rooms.

After the New Year, Aunt Wang immediately found someone to build a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove) on the second floor, and she bought too many bricks.

Our private rooms aren't like other people's; they're individual rooms with just a table and a half-person-high wall next to it.

There were six tables separated by these partitions.

There were two adjacent tables against the wall, separated by a wall about half a person's height. The man was already sitting at one of the tables.

After Wang Ying led them up to the second floor, she let them choose their own seats.

The matchmaker led the woman to a table next to the bride's, and it just so happened that the young man was sitting in the leftmost seat.

Then let our daughter sit in the seat on the far right. There's a half-person-high wall separating them, but if you stand up straight, you can still see the other side.

They are in a straight line, one on the far left and the other on the far right. This way, they can see each other as soon as they look up.

After watching them choose a table and go downstairs, Wang Ying couldn't help but laugh on the stairs. The little cubicles in her own house were really something.

The dishes were served one after another, and the girl was so engrossed in eating her tofu pudding that she forgot to look at the person. It was only when the matchmaker nudged her arm that she remembered the important matter.

The two glanced at each other across the table, then simultaneously lowered their heads to wait for their food.

The weather is neither too hot nor too cold at this time of year. Open the window, let the breeze blow in, feel the fresh air, and you'll be in a good mood. Everything is just right.

A group of people sat comfortably upstairs, waiting for the food to be served.

"Their chair is quite special; it's comfortable to lean on and very soft."

They couldn't just wait around; they had to find something to talk about. So, the group started discussing the layout and decoration of the foot massage parlor.

They sat up there with their legs crossed, leisurely waiting for their food, while Wang Yan and Fatty Wang were busy down below, sweating profusely.

This was in stark contrast to us diners, however, as dish after dish was served...

Our diners are sweating profusely because it's spicy!

The girl was indeed a foodie; she was happy even with the spiciness. "This place really makes amazing spicy food, even better than chicken strips!"

The matchmaker chimed in, "That's right, we only chose this place today because we found out that you like spicy food, Xiuer."

"Otherwise, with five taels of silver, we could even go to Bai Fan Lou."

Jiang Bo's son, Mu Tou, had long taken a liking to Xiu'er, which is why he sent his parents to find a matchmaker.

The young man, like Wang Yan, is too young to understand human language (a common joke). He thinks the matchmaker is showing off? Or scolding someone?

He loudly told his parents and siblings beside him, "Well, we don't necessarily have to go to Baifanlou. Baifanlou costs five taels of silver; how can the food here compare?"

Their food here is almost entirely meat dishes, and they even give you rice wine and tofu pudding as complimentary items.

Furthermore, I think their spicy pork knuckle is much tastier than Bai Fan Lou Lou's.

When Xiuer heard his words, she almost burst out laughing.

She's quite an honest person; she's probably afraid the matchmaker is scolding her, so she's deliberately speaking up for her.

Thinking this way, her mood improved considerably. Xiuer was overjoyed, picked up a piece of the spicy pork knuckle with her chopsticks, took a bite, and almost fainted from the spiciness.

The key is that you get to eat chili peppers. Otherwise, you can kick the chili peppers away and the spiciness is still acceptable, especially when paired with the complimentary sweet tofu pudding.

Seeing this, the matchmaker quickly ladled a bowl of sweet lily soup for the girl to soothe her throat.

The food pairings are really well thought out; drinking something sweet after a spicy meal can definitely provide a lot of relief.

After everyone had finished eating, the grand finale dessert was served at that very moment.

Almond tofu, despite its name, has nothing to do with tofu in terms of preparation.

He fetched the finest milk, which Fatty Wang had bought early in the morning; a small bucket cost 200 coins.

Then crack some almonds, put the milk in a clay pot and cook it together with the almonds. After half an hour, add an appropriate amount of agar, and turn off the heat after the agar has dissolved.

While the milk is still hot, strain it twice through fine gauze, then put it into ice. It will solidify in 15 minutes.

Cut the solidified milk into cubes the size of tofu, place them in a stemmed glass, drizzle with some osmanthus honey, and garnish with a few candied cherries.

Sweet, fragrant, refreshing, and smooth, this is a dessert that girls often enjoy.

Mu Tou propped himself up and tilted his head to look at Xiu'er, who was happily eating bite by bite, and couldn't help but smile.

Both families came down with smiles on their faces, and Wang Yan was happy to see this as well.

Regardless of why they're happy, the food on our table is fine, and they're definitely satisfied with their meal.

Fatty Wang wasn't as confident as her. What if the other person was happy because of... well, something else?

"Gentlemen, is our meal to your liking today?"

Before anyone else could speak, Mu Tou happily replied, "It's to my liking, delicious. I'm very satisfied, I've always been satisfied."

Wang Yan couldn't help but hide behind the stove, turning her face away from the wall and secretly laughing.

She said Wang Pangzi's question was unnecessary, but he did answer, but was that answer because of his food?

As soon as Mu Tou finished answering, Xiu Er replied shyly, "I'm satisfied too."

The matchmaker clapped his hands in delight, another commission payment in hand.

"Hey brother, I have to say, your food is really good! You put so much care into it, every single dish smells amazing!"

"Okay, okay!"

Even Fatty Wang couldn't tell whether the old matchmaker's praise was true or false. Perhaps he was just too excited?

You know what a mess this is. We ate a whole meal and still couldn't find out how good or bad the food was.

After saying this, the group was about to leave when Wang Yan stopped smiling and quickly handed over the prepared freebies—two large bags of fried chicken strips.

Oh my! We diners were so touched. You can tell how well they handled this. We came to have a meal and they even gave us two huge bags of fried chicken strips.

If you were to buy this, it would probably cost one or two hundred yuan, right? It looks like it weighs less than a pound.

After they left, Fatty Wang turned to Aunt Wang and asked, "Hey, do you think part of the reason they were so happy just now was because our cooking is so good?"

Without saying a word, Aunt Wang took a needle and thread basket and went to the shore to embroider.

He then looked at Wang Yan and Wang Ying with a questioning expression. Wang Ying playfully shrugged, "I don't know?"

Wang Yan, being a cook herself, could understand Fatty Wang's feelings.

"Dad, you don't need to worry. If they're not making trouble, it must mean the food is good."

"And if we go upstairs and clear away the dishes, we can see how much they ate, and then we'll know."

Fatty Wang slapped his forehead. "Right, right, I forgot."

After saying that, he pulled Wang Yan and the two of them upstairs to clean up the dishes.

You know what, when we got to the second floor, Fatty Wang's smile was no less reserved than that of the old matchmaker from before.

"Hahahaha, this dish is so spicy, and they still managed to finish it all. Needless to say, our food is definitely delicious."

He suddenly laughed, just like the laugh of a villain in a TV series, which startled Wang Yan.

"That's right, all the boiled pork slices are gone, and the sweet soup and desserts are all eaten clean. It seems our combination is really good."

Wang Yan relaxed, grabbed a basket, put all the bowls and plates in it, and carried them to the riverbank with Fatty Wang to wash the dishes.

Convincing himself that his own cooking was good, Fatty Wang felt much more at ease.

Two days later, not only did the deduced conclusions arrive, but the actual feedback also came in.

That day, Fatty Wang packed two buckets of fried noodles and two buckets of chicken strips, and rowed his small boat to the Bianhe River dock.

Upon arrival, we paid a 20-coin mooring fee, and then they started selling food.

Just as the sales were in full swing, Uncle Jiang came over, patting Fatty Wang on the shoulder with a beaming smile.

"Brother! This is what your family serves." He then gave a thumbs-up.

"A friend of ours is having his son's 12th birthday party in a couple of days, and we'd like to book a table at your place! What's the price range for a birthday banquet? Can you give us a discount?"

No problem at all! Just cut a couple of meat dishes and add a couple of vegetable dishes. Making money? We're that flexible.

"The birthday banquet costs three taels of silver. If you want something more expensive, we'll have your family's banquet that day cost five taels of silver."

"Okay! Got it. I'll go over there and tell him to give me five bowls of fried noodles and two servings of chicken strips."

Fatty Wang quickly got him some food. He ordered two portions of chicken strips, but the portion he received was quite generous, two and a half portions.

When Uncle Jiang tried to decline, Fatty Wang stopped him, saying, "Hurry up and take it. I still need to thank you for introducing me to this business. Half a portion of chicken strips is nothing."

They know how to handle things! This foot-shop inn really knows how to handle things! Uncle Jiang happily bought the food and carried it to his boat's mooring place.