Chapter 36: Lamb Stew with Rice. (Second update)...
Song Jiaoniang wrote down the numbers of the dishes one by one and brought them to the kitchen in the back, exclaiming in amazement, "Jijie, didn't you see your father tricking people into coming in with just a few words?"
"The people in the nearby shops looked at him as if they wanted to pounce on him and take a bite."
Lin Zhi was immediately delighted when she heard this: "Dad has such a skill? I didn't know that."
It was a shame she was busy, otherwise she would have gone to see what was going on. Linzhi thought about it, glanced at the menu, and placed the rice on the plate. Then she placed a handful of blanched vegetables on top, and finally scooped up a spoonful of the braised eggplant and pork sauce she had prepared in advance and covered the rice with it.
The rest was handed to Song Jiaoniang. She placed the rice on a tray, then scooped a spoonful of soup into a bowl, placed a small dish on a plate with chopsticks, and finally walked to the front hall with the tray. "Sir, your eggplant and braised pork rice is here!"
“What a fast speed!”
"Your minced meat and tofu rice bowl is here!"
"Sir, you can have refills on the rice and soup. Just let me know if you need any!"
As Song Jiaoniang served more and more rice, the aroma in the shop gradually became stronger. The diners sitting waiting kept looking back at the diners who had received the rice first.
The servant who ordered the diced eggplant and braised pork rice smelled the aroma, looked at the greasy eggplant and pork on top, and swallowed his saliva involuntarily.
The eggplant is cut into small pieces, each piece is wrapped with meat and sauce. When you put it into your mouth with rice, it is so soft and tender that it seems to melt in your mouth, and the taste is so mellow that it makes your eyes shine.
He couldn't stop eating after taking one bite, and he ate the rice clean with the sauce. After he had mopped up all the food on the plate, he began to regret that he had eaten too quickly and hadn't been able to savor the flavors properly.
The man was disappointed, but he had just noticed the side dishes and soup beside him. These two side dishes looked very ordinary, so he had not noticed them at first. Only now did he pick them up and scoop a spoonful to taste them.
As soon as he put it in his mouth, his eyes widened: "What a delicious soup!"
He took a closer look and saw only a few slices of mushrooms and meat in the bowl. It looked clear and clean, but tasted very sweet.
As for the side dish, it was pickled mustard greens and fried soybeans, sour, fresh and salty. He took chopstick after chopstick and finally couldn't help but raise his bowl: "Madam, please give me another half bowl of rice!"
Song Jiaoniang responded cheerfully, "Okay."
The shouts and aromas rang out one after another, making the diners who had not yet received their rice bowls more and more anxious.
The official who had ordered the stir-fried lamb and scallion rice bowl was already fidgeting, glancing back at the surrounding tables. His Adam's apple rolled, and he swallowed silently, but he couldn't help but mutter, "That's the braised eggplant and pork dish? It smells so good, no pork smell at all!"
The others at the table couldn't help but nod. Maintaining their reserve, they naturally didn't dare ask the clerks how it tasted. Instead, they sniffed and listened to their comments, their hearts itching to try it.
Some people were so hungry that they couldn't help but complain: "Why isn't our meal ready yet?"
Just then, a ringing sound pierced the room.
When Song Jiaoniang heard the voice, she hurried to the back and soon brought back several dishes: "Your stir-fried mutton with green onions and rice, please enjoy!"
"Here is your mutton braised rice, please enjoy." Song Jiaonian put down the dish, turned around and asked new guests to sit down. She also had to clean the table from time to time and was very busy.
"Oh oh——" Several people's eyes lit up. After all, the moment Song Jiaoniang put the plate on the table, they smelled an indescribable fragrance.
"Wooow... do you smell that?"
"I smell it! I smell it!" The person next to him swallowed and muttered, "That's quite a lot of mutton."
They looked at each other's plates. The stir-fried lamb and scallion rice was topped with large chunks of scallion and large slices of lamb. The thick soup flowed into the rice, giving it a shiny coating. The sight was so tempting that one couldn't help but pick up their chopsticks, pick up a piece and put it straight into their mouths.
The mutton is cut very thinly, but still very tender, wrapped with fried sweet scallions and soft and glutinous rice. The moment it enters your mouth, you will want to swallow your tongue into your stomach as well.
After finishing one bite, he didn't feel satisfied at all. Instead, he became more excited and picked up another bite without hesitation!
The man next to him watched him wolf down his food, and his stomach began to growl. He averted his gaze, dropped his chopsticks, and directly scooped up the mutton stewed rice in front of him with a soup spoon and put it into his mouth.
The mutton with skin is chewy. Every time you bite it, the gravy overflows from it, blending with the saliva in your mouth, instantly exploding in your mouth, and your mouth is full of mellow meaty aroma.
The corners of the official's mouth trembled slightly. Unbeknownst to others, he actually disliked mutton. It was simply that pork had a strong mutton smell, beef was despised, chicken, duck, and goose were too common, and game like deer, catfish, and sparrows couldn't be eaten every day. Furthermore, even the saints and powerful families of the time revered mutton, so he pretended to like it.
In the past, he would just take a few sips, but today he couldn't help but pick up the spoon and put mouthful after mouthful into his mouth.
Just as everyone was enjoying their meal, Lin Sen brought in an acquaintance. Song Jiaoniang wanted to greet him, but the shop was too busy and she didn't have time, so she gestured for him to go inside. "Brother Lu, please go sit inside. Sister Zhi is busy working inside."
The person who came in was Lu Datou. He nodded honestly and walked in happily: "Sister Zhi."
"Brother Lu is here? Sorry, I'm a little busy. Please sit down first." Linzhi only had time to turn around and say hello, then turned around to fry two servings of mutton stewed rice, and then looked at the several large basins filled with vegetables, and pulled the hanging rope again.
As the bell rang, Song Jiaoniang also came in through the curtains: "What's wrong?"
"There are three servings of diced eggplant and braised pork left, two servings of minced pork and tofu left, three servings of shredded pork with mushrooms left, and seven servings of scrambled egg and chicken rice left..."
"Is there any more mutton?"
"..." Lin Zhi glanced back and secretly calculated: "There are still two servings of mutton stewed rice, and stir-fried mutton rice with green onions... I can make one more serving at most."
"Okay, then I'll tell your father not to recruit anyone." Song Jiaonian nodded and hurried out to call Lin Sen back.
Lin Sen was the key to the opening. Nearly 80% of today's customers were brought in by him from the crowd. As a result, he was extremely thirsty after entering the shop. He gulped down three large glasses of water before he was satisfied. "Already sold out so quickly?"
"Yeah." Lin Zhi didn't expect this either. It seems that she underestimated the consumption capacity of those around her.
"Hey, that's great... Ouch!" Lin Sen turned around and saw Lu Datou sitting upright on a small stool. He immediately reached out and patted his forehead: "Look at my memory. I almost forgot about you, Brother Lu."
"Brother Lu, how have you been lately?"
"That's right." Lu Datou answered honestly, "The higher-ups are taking this case very seriously. As soon as Dali Temple Minister Yan returned from court this morning, he summoned all the officials to a meeting in his room. Tao Lang also took Shen Lang to report the matter."
In fact, the sound of firecrackers reached the Dali Temple, scaring not only the officials and servants outside, but also the officials inside the house.
When they found out that the noise was caused by the shop opening next door, a Dali official immediately blew his beard and glared at them: "Nonsense! What if they scare someone? I say they should be dealt with seriously!"
"That's all, it's just a shop opening." Yan Zheng, the Dali Temple official sitting at the head of the table, had a pleasant expression and stroked his beard with a smile: "Look, everyone knows that a new shop has opened."
Seeing that Mr. Yan had a calm attitude, the officials in the hall naturally agreed with him one after another. Even the Dali Chancellor who had just spoken suddenly became quiet and did not mention the matter again.
Seeing that everyone had quieted down, Dali Temple Minister Yan Zheng raised his hand again and tapped the table with his knuckles: "Does anyone have any objections to this case?"
Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads in silence.
The Dali Temple Minister nodded solemnly: "Since that's the case, let's proceed as we just decided."
"Yes." All the officials stood up and responded.
"Leave." The Dali Temple official nodded solemnly to the crowd, and the officials in the room were about to leave. But as they walked out of the door, they heard a solemn voice again: "Tao Sizhi, and Chen Li, you two stay here first."
Tao Yingce, who had just stood up, paused, responded respectfully, and glanced at Chen Yan behind him.
Chen Yan also bowed his head respectfully and replied yes.
Seeing the officials coming out of the hall, Lu San, who was looking forward to it, trotted forward.
But he looked left and right but couldn't see Tao Lang and Shen Lang. After asking, he found out that the two were left behind by Mr. Yan.
Lu San instantly stopped smiling, put the matter of Zhi Jie'er's shop opening behind his mind, and stretched his neck to continue looking inside eagerly.
It was a long time before he saw the two people come out.
Lu San trotted forward and was about to speak when he saw the two men's serious faces and whispered something. He had no choice but to hold his rumbling stomach and try to soothe it. He promised that after the matter was settled, he would take him to have a meal immediately.
"Brother Yan, don't take Mr. Yan's suggestion just now to heart. This matter needs to be discussed further." Tao Yingce comforted him.
"I am just a minor official. Mr. Yan is willing to talk to me because we are old friends." Chen Yan shook his head. "The things Mr. Yan mentioned no longer belong to the Shen family."
"But your family's previous losses—"
"Brother Tao," Chen Yan's eyes were heavy, stopping Tao Yingce's words: "My family has already failed once. I don't want to lose, and I can't lose."
One person tried to persuade him again, but the other had made up his mind. Seeing that the two were at odds and the atmosphere was becoming increasingly awkward, Lu San was sweating with anxiety and frantically looking for an opportunity to interrupt.
"Brother Lu San, Brother Lu San!" At this moment, an enthusiastic shout suddenly came from outside the door.
Then, they saw Lu Datou push the door open and walk in, yelling at the top of his voice: "I've been waiting for you at Sister Zhi's for a long time. Why are you still in the government office?"
Lu San looked at him and felt numb all over.
He secretly glanced at the expressions of Tao Yingce and Shen Yan, intending to cough twice to attract Lu Datou's attention.
However, Lu Datou was obviously in high spirits and didn't notice how solemn the atmosphere in the room was. "I'm telling you, Zhijie's business is booming! If we hadn't heard the noise and went to check it out, we would have almost missed it. I'm telling you..."
"Mrs. Lin is opening a shop today?"
"Sister Zhi is opening today?"
Before Lu Datou could finish his words, Tao Yingce and Shen Yan interrupted him in unison.
Lu Datou was startled and scratched his head in confusion: "Yes, I just saw it with Brother Lu San. Brother Lu San said he would come back to inform us, but I didn't see him later..."
At this point, Lu Datou was both depressed and confused: "Don't Tao Lang and Shen Lang know yet?"
At the same time, Tao Yingce and Shen Yan were also very depressed. They looked at the aggrieved Lu San and said, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Lu San: "...No? How can I say that given the atmosphere just now? I'm not Lu Datou."
Tao Yingce and Shen Yan were too lazy to listen to his nagging, so they put down the things in their hands and went out, planning to go to Zhijie'er's newly opened shop to take a look.
"That one has no sense." Lu San finished speaking, and saw that the two had already walked away. He hurriedly wanted to catch up, but Lu Datou stepped forward to stop him: "Oh! I told you that you have no sense. Get out of the way!"
Lu Datou's face was full of gloom. He took out a lunch box and tossed it up and down in his palm. "I thought you guys hadn't eaten yet, so I packed it for you..."
Lu San's expression changed instantly, and he rushed forward: "Good brother, good brother, good father, give it to me quickly!"
While the two were arguing, Chen Yan and Tao Yingce hurried to the gate of the yamen and saw the shop with a plaque of "Linzhi Ji" hanging on the door.
Their eyes lit up, and they hurried forward, just in time to see a minor official come out in a sullen manner: "There's no more..."
Lin Sen walked him out the door with an apologetic look on his face. "Sir, I'm so sorry, we didn't prepare enough ingredients for our opening on the first day. Please come back tomorrow - I'll give you today's price then!"
Upon hearing this, the clerk's eyes lit up and he smiled happily: "Then it's settled!"
The smiles on Chen Yan and Tao Yingce's faces gradually froze, especially Chen Yan, who felt that the scene before him seemed familiar.
Lin Sen saw off the last guest and turned to look at Chen Yan and Tao Yingce. His eyes lit up and he hurried forward to greet them, "Chen Lang, Tao Lang, are you here?"
"Have you tried the meal that Sister Zhi asked Lu Datou to bring back? How does it taste? Isn't it... great?"
Lin Sen's voice gradually became softer, and he looked at the two figures rushing back again with confusion:???
No, why did you run away?
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