Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Preparation.
Madam Xu couldn't believe it, but she was afraid that the young lady would use her own ingredients and seasonings, so she had taken everything out in advance. In other words, the ingredients now in the kitchen were all brought in by the young lady!
Not to mention the fishy smell, the aroma made her mouth water!
Madam Xu recalled what she had just said, her face turning pale, red, and purple. After a while, she managed to utter three words: "How could it be?"
In the moment of shock, the aroma streamed through the open hall and outward. A traveler who had just returned from outside caught a whiff of the aroma, his eyes suddenly brightening. He exclaimed happily, "Manager Zhang, what's the delicious dish you've prepared today? It smells like meat! Finally, it's not stewed fish!"
It’s not that the food at Zhangji Inn is bad, but the variety is really limited. If you stay there for three days, you can try all the dishes on their menu, and there may even be some that you repeat.
Another person nodded and echoed, "This smells delicious! My mouth is watering. Could it be lamb? Hey, I'm going to wait for the food on an empty stomach today!"
Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Zhang could barely contain his smile and explained awkwardly, "Sorry, it's a customer who's cooking..."
Upon hearing this, the passenger was stunned.
Linzhi was busy in the kitchen for more than half an hour before coming out. As soon as she looked up, she found that the people in the lobby were craning their necks to look at her - some of them were holding food boxes in their hands, and some were even swallowing their saliva while walking towards her.
The greedy look in his eyes, nearly emitting a green glow, made Lin Zhi furious. She stood still and shouted, "Dad? Mom? Where are you?"
Hearing the noise, Lin Sen and his wife immediately leaned out from the second floor. Seeing the scene downstairs, they also showed alertness. The people in the lobby just came to their senses and either pretended to be talking, hurriedly left the hotel, or hurried back to their rooms.
Lin Sen hurried downstairs. He originally wanted to deliver the meal to Ms. Lu's house personally, but after seeing what happened just now, he couldn't help but murmur in his heart.
He simply asked the shopkeeper to find a delivery man, paid a few cents and asked him to deliver one of the food boxes to Madam Lu's house. He took the other food box from Linzhi and went back to the room with his wife and daughter.
You wouldn't believe it! Just as the family of three was enjoying their meal, someone actually knocked on the door. Lin Sen went over to check with a dark look on his face, sent the person away, and then told his wife and daughter, "The neighbor smelled the aroma and asked where we bought it. I said I made it myself and even wanted to pay Sister Zhi to make it."
"You promised?"
"How is that possible! We're going to open the shop soon, so it's a good thing to let Sister Zhi have a rest now. Besides, if she helps with cooking, she'll have to ask the shopkeeper to borrow the kitchen."
Lin Sen complained, "When I went to talk to him yesterday, his wife had a very sullen face, as if we were going to take advantage of her."
"She didn't agree until I told her to bring her own ingredients and seasonings, and that we didn't have to prepare our own dinner."
While muttering, Lin Sen quickly returned to his seat, picked up a piece of lettuce with oyster sauce with chopsticks and put it directly into his mouth. The lettuce was green, crispy and sweet, and paired with the unique sauce, he really couldn't let it go.
"tasty!"
At Madam Lu's house, the sickly-looking old man took a bite of the dish and tightened his grip on the chopsticks. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared at the dish on the table and murmured, "You said this is a dish made with oyster sauce?"
"Yes." Madam Lu served her parents-in-law their meal, then picked up some pork belly with chopsticks and put it into her children's bowls: "Come, you guys try it too."
The pork belly has been stewed into a beautiful amber color. When you pick it up with wooden chopsticks, the pig skin and fat on the top will tremble, which makes people's appetite just by looking at it.
Once it’s put into the bowl, it becomes even more tempting.
The sauce-colored soup wrapped around the top slowly flows down along the top, seeping into the rice placed underneath, dyeing the rice grains into agate color.
"Mom, the meat smells so good." The little girl with two buns had sparkling eyes and was reluctant to eat the pork belly.
"Is this really pork?" The boy who looked like the real thing also spoke up, poking the pork belly with chopsticks curiously.
"Well... it's made with the seasonings your father found. Come and try it." Madam Lu looked at her two children who looked like her husband, and tried hard to suppress the bitterness in her heart.
"Okay~" the two children responded.
"Miao Jie, you should eat quickly too." The old lady also picked up a piece of meat with chopsticks and put it into Mrs. Lu's bowl, and said to her daughter-in-law, "You look so thin, eat more."
A family of five sat at the table, stuffing their mouths with rice and vegetables. Unlike the three adults who were silent, the two children chattered non-stop, saying, "Mom, this meat is so delicious!"
“Is this really pork?”
"It's delicious, much better than the meat cooked by Aunt Zhang next door!" The little girl swallowed the pork belly in one gulp, her eyes shining.
The pig skin is very gelatinous and tough, the fat underneath melts in your mouth, and then there is the lean meat that is roasted to perfection.
The three are distinct in layers and each has its own characteristics, but when combined together, with the unique and wonderful sauce flavor, it is truly irresistible.
Mrs. Lu ate bite by bite. After finishing the braised pork, she picked up a piece of garlic and oyster chicken wings. The chicken wings were fried until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The aroma of garlic, sauce and meat all rushed into her mouth along with the overflowing gravy, filling her mouth with fragrance.
Finally, Madam Lu tasted the oyster sauce and lettuce again. She closed her eyes, then looked up at her parents-in-law who were also silent: "Dad, Mom, I want to keep running the shop."
"Miao Jie..." The old man was silent for a moment, then he advised, "You didn't do this before. It's not easy to learn from scratch. After selling the shop, we can go to the countryside and buy a few acres of land. Then we can become idle officials and raise our two children well. Isn't that better?"
"Father, I know you have good intentions and can't bear to see us three suffer." Madam Lu interrupted her father-in-law and said in a trembling voice, "But your husband's dream is to make this Hu's Spice Shop prosperous again."
Madam Lu hugged her children, who looked confused, and murmured, "He's gone, but I'm still here, and Rui Ge'er and Ning Jie'er are here too. We can make the shop prosper."
"As for me, I want everyone in the world to know that what you have found is really a good thing."
The old man wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by the old lady: "Okay, just do what you want."
"Old woman!"
"mother--"
"Old man." The old lady looked at the dishes on the table and choked up, "This is my son's wish..."
The old man opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't say no. He was silent for a moment, then he told Madam Lu, "You must thank this lady."
Madam Lu agreed, and even made up her mind. The next day, she went to the brokerage firm, hired a broker, signed a contract, and rushed to Zhangji Inn to talk to the Linzhi family.
The content of his proposal shocked the three of them.
Lin Zhi couldn't believe what she heard and hesitated, "You mean... you want me to promote this oyster sauce for you after I open a food shop, and then give me half of the profits every year???"
Others might not know the value of oyster sauce, but how could Lin Zhi not know? In her eyes, this suggestion was like giving her a large sum of money every year for free. To be frank, if they accepted this deed, their family would at most be busy for a few years, but after that, they would just have to lie down and wait for money to fall from the sky.
You don't have to chew hard or try hard to swallow it, but someone else has tried their best to force it into your mouth.
Linzhi was silent and shocked.
Madam Lu stood up and bowed: "I hope Madam Lin can agree to my request."
Lin Zhi was speechless. After a moment's hesitation, she spoke her mind, "Madam Lu, this oyster sauce is a pearl covered in dust, worth a thousand gold coins. In the future, its value will be no less than that of pepper... Are you sure you want to sign this contract with me?"
The broker next to him widened his eyes when he heard this.
He subconsciously looked at Madam Lu, but saw that Madam Lu nodded without hesitation: "Yes."
Madam Lu said calmly, "Without your cooking, how would I know the wonders of this thing? I'm afraid it will go bad in two months and I'll just have to throw it away."
Lin Zhi met Madam Lu's eyes, as if she could see the stubbornness and unwillingness in them. She was speechless for a moment, but the more she was speechless, the more she refused to take advantage of her. "If you want, I can sell you the recipes for those dishes."
Madam Lu was slightly startled: "Huh?"
Seeing this, Lin Zhi quickly responded, "Now that we have the recipe, have the chef prepare it and send it to each store. I think it will definitely attract everyone's attention. It may be difficult at first, but it won't last long..."
Madam Lu sat at her desk, listening intently to Lin Zhi's words. She suddenly interrupted, "This oyster sauce is produced in Quanzhou. We need to open a shop there to ensure a long-term and stable supply... Do you think I can do that?"
Lin Zhi was puzzled: "Of course."
Madam Lu raised the corner of her mouth: "Just your words are enough."
“???”
"You believe I can succeed, and I believe you can succeed too." Madam Lu winked at Lin Zhi and said with a smile, "Who knows, maybe I'll benefit from your help in the end."
Lin Zhi was speechless. Seeing that even a brief struggle wouldn't help her achieve her goal, she had no choice but to start elsewhere. "How about this, let's sign a five-year contract? How about five years?"
"That's too little!"
"Five years is enough..." Lin Zhi was speechless. She felt that there were not many chefs familiar with Hu Ji Spice Shop, and no one had recommended it to them. If she had recommended it twice, maybe someone would know about it.
But these were just Linzhi's thoughts. In Madam Lu's opinion, Linzhi knew clearly how precious and delicious this seasoning was, but he did not keep it to himself. Instead, he generously showed it to her.
Such craftsmanship and such a collection of sauces are enough for Linzhi to take root in the top restaurants in Bianjing, rather than starting from a small food shop.
Just five years is not enough!
Madam Lu said without hesitation: "That's fifty years."
Linzhi: "...What nonsense are you talking about?"
How long is the life expectancy now? It's still fifty years. She said expressionlessly, "Six years."
The two men argued with each other for a long time, leaving Lin Sen and his wife and the agent stunned.
"Fifteen years... no less!"
"...Alright, alright." Lin Zhi sighed and then changed the subject, aiming for the dividends: "Your family bears all the risks of shipping, stockpiling, and stockpiling. How can you give me such a large dividend? I'd say 20%."
"No, no, no, at least it has to be 40% to 60%."
Lin Sen and his wife and the broker all became quails, sitting quietly aside, looking at each other silently, and then emptying their minds.
After arguing for a whole cup of tea, Linzhi and Madam Lu finally finalized the contract.
After seeing off Madam Lu and the broker, Linzhi held the deed with a complicated expression, only to feel that what she was holding in her hands was not a deed, but gold ingots.
Lin Sen and his wife, who had been breathless just now, finally came forward. Song Jiaoniang took the contract from her daughter and read it over and over again, carefully examining it, only feeling relieved when she was sure there were no traps.
Then she remembered her daughter's comments and asked in disbelief, "Sister Zhi, was what you just said true? Is that sauce really as good as you said it would be?"
"Of course, we were able to find a good opportunity this time thanks to that case." Lin Zhi nodded and explained to Lin Sen and his wife, "I think most of the chefs that Madam Lu knows are from Bianjing. Few are from other places, or they are apprentices of famous chefs, so they are reluctant to try."
The supply channels of large restaurants and hotels are monopolized by big shops, while small shops like Hu Ji Spice Shop specialize in business with small shops or wealthy families.
Small shops have limited skills and funds and are unwilling to try, while most of the buyers from large shops are managers.
Lin Sen, who had worked as a steward in the Xi family for many years, immediately understood when he heard this: "To avoid mistakes, they naturally wouldn't use unfamiliar ingredients and seasonings, but would purchase them according to customary practices."
Just like when he was the manager of a silk shop, he knew that the price of raw silk would rise and he could make a fortune by stockpiling goods, but how could business be without risks?
After weighing the pros and cons, even if you know at the time that the probability of making money is greater, you would rather choose a more secure option that would not affect your status.
After Lin Sen's explanation, Song Jiaoniang understood. She thought for a moment and said, "So, Hu Ji is in need of a storefront, a sign that can promote their business?"
Lin Zhi nodded: "Yes."
She recalled the situation in the shop and thought of the news that Mr. Hu had been missing for two or three months. She also had some comments in her mind: Mrs. Lu is not as bad at business as Xiao Si said in the teahouse. She is calm and self-controlled, decisive and efficient, and has a lot of ideas in her mind.
She said that under Madam Lu's management, Hu's Spice Shop would have a bright future!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
