Chapter 91 Chapter 91 Follow the trend. (Second update)...
The fishball shop owner's unseemly questioning made Chef Xia and his group the center of attention. While many present harbored doubts, believing the competition question favored him, they were mindful of the blue-robed man's attitude and, unlike the fishball shop owner, avoided publicly raising their voices. At most, they glanced at Chef Xia a few times before each of them lowered their heads in deep thought.
The same was true for Chef Xia and his group. At least, there was no sign of emotion on their faces, as if they hadn't heard the discussions or cared about other people's gazes. They just stood there quietly, waiting for the follow-up arrangements from the catering guild staff.
Linzhi glanced at the owner of the fish ball shop and saw that his eyes were dark blue and his body was trembling slightly. He looked uneasy and suspicious.
Wei, the chef beside her, noticed her confusion and paused for a moment before speaking: "Mrs. Lin, haven't you been to the market these days?"
Lin Zhi was puzzled and replied, "It's not the New Year, the shop is closed for rest, and I haven't been out much."
To be precise, she has been eating and sleeping for the past four days. If she hadn't had to look at the competition questions today, she would probably still be lying in bed.
Chef Wei was speechless. The New Year was a good time for food shops in Bianjing City to make money. Other shops would at most shorten their business hours, but he didn't expect Linzhiji to simply close down for a break.
After a pause, Lin Zhi came to his senses: "Market? Is it related to the owner of the fish ball shop?"
Chef Wei chuckled and whispered, "You can go to the market tonight. I heard there are nearly ten fish ball shops at the Gwangju Bridge Night Market."
"That's what he said." On the way home, Linzhi told her parents about this. The couple was also puzzled by the attitude of the fish ball shop owner. They were shocked when they heard him say, "Opening ten fish ball shops? That's too fast!"
"Why don't we go and take a look now?" Lin Sen asked.
"This..." Song Jiaoniang was about to agree when she looked at Lin Zhi worriedly: "Sister Zhi, are you going home to research the fruits for the competition?"
"It's okay, let's go around the city and maybe get some inspiration." Lin Zhi shook her head and said with a smile.
Hearing her say this, Lin Sen ordered the driver to change route and take the family to the entrance of Zhouqiao Night Market.
The three of them got out of the car and looked at the bustling crowd in front of them, the shops with lanterns hanging high, the stalls on both sides, and the various fragrances wafting in the air. The Linzhi family inexplicably felt as if they were being swept up.
They followed the crowds down the street, and within a few steps they noticed changes in the market. Song Jiaoniang pointed to a shop in the distance and said, "Look, that roast meat shop has closed down."
Linzhi glanced over there and shook his head secretly.
They walked for a while longer, but still didn't see the fish ball shop Chef Wei had mentioned. Instead, they saw a fried chicken shop. Not only did they sell fried chicken strips, but even more outrageous was the banner that read, 'Same food as in the preliminaries!'
Lin Zhi: “…”
Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang: "..."
The three of them stared at the long line, their eyes widening and almost laughing in anger. They were so busy preparing for the competition and then closing down for a break that they hadn't noticed that imitation fried chicken strips had sprung up like mushrooms after rain.
"No wonder..." Lin Sen didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "A few days ago, when I went out to buy groceries, I kept seeing people coming to our shop and looking around."
I originally thought I was here to eat and buy roast goose, but I never thought I was here for the fried chicken fillets.
In this way, they missed a good opportunity to make money. Seeing Song Jiaoniang's face becoming more depressed, Lin Zhi quickly persuaded her, "There is no end to making money. Health is the most important thing. We will have plenty of opportunities to make money in the future."
At this point, Lin Sen and his wife quickly cheered up. Just as they were curious about the taste of the fried chicken strips, they heard a customer complain: "It tastes terrible..."
"The meat is dry."
"It's not crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It's soggy on the outside and dry on the inside."
“It’s completely different from what I had at the preliminaries!”
"I'm speechless. This is clearly a scam!"
Lin Sen suddenly remembered what they had said during the food tasting and exchanged glances with the mother and daughter.
The three members of the family had exactly the same idea.
They chuckled and immediately lost interest in trying it. Putting aside other things, as long as they couldn't tell the difference between bread crumbs and steamed bun crumbs, hehe, they wouldn't be able to recreate the original taste in a short while.
The three of them were in a good mood and walked straight forward.
Soon they found a newly opened fish ball stall. The small stall was filled with steam. Diners lined up in twos and threes, eating fish balls from coarse porcelain bowls, and from time to time they could hear praises: "Delicious!"
"As expected of the food from the warm-up match."
"This soup base is better than anything I've ever had."
This store’s reputation is much better than the previous one that imitated our own store!
Linzhi seemed to be thinking about something, and then went forward to buy a bowl. The price was the same as in the warm-up match, three fish balls for six cents.
The stall owner was a man in his thirties. Seeing that the family of three only bought one bowl, he didn't complain. He swiftly scooped out three fish balls, filled the bowl with soup, and handed over three bamboo sticks: "Sister, enjoy your meal. If it's delicious, come back next time!"
Lin Zhi thanked him and found a small table in the corner to sit down. Song Jiaoniang picked up the soup bowl first. Instead of rushing to taste the fish balls, she took a sip of the soup and said, "Oh? This soup is good."
Although it has not reached the level of being unforgettable, it is still excellent. The fish soup is warm and mellow, without any fishy smell, and has just the right saltiness. It is very comfortable to drink it hot in winter.
"This fish ball..." Lin Sen poked a fish ball with a bamboo stick, took a bite, and his eyes widened instantly: "It's exactly the same fish ball I ate during the preheating!?"
"Is it true?" Song Jiaoniang was shocked and quickly took a skewer to pick one up to taste.
Linzhi poked the last one away, chewed it carefully for a moment, and then shook her head. "I can't say they're exactly the same, but they're pretty close. The team at the preliminaries used silver carp, which has lots of tiny bones, and you can occasionally taste a small one. This team uses black carp, which has larger bones and thicker meat, making it more chewy and flavorful."
If the fish balls in the warm-up match were rated seven points, then the ones made by this fish ball shop could be rated eight and a half points. No wonder the diners here can't find any bones in them and there is a constant stream of buyers.
After the three of them finished eating, they walked forward and saw four or five fish ball stalls, two or three fried chicken stalls, and snacks such as glutinous rice dumplings and Tibetan meat patties.
At first, Song Jiaoniang was unhappy, but she became numb after seeing what happened. She was just glad that her daughter had made a smart move. The steamed bun bran ingredients had misled most people, and no one could figure out the recipe for fried chicken strips for the time being.
As for other foods, some tasted similar, while others were different. The worst sufferer was the owner of the fish ball shop. The fish balls from several shops tasted quite good, each with its own flavor.
At the end of Zhouqiao Night Market, Lin Sen made another discovery. He stopped and motioned for the mother and daughter to look over there: "Jijie, look at that person."
Linzhi looked in the direction he pointed and saw a shop not far away with a sign that said "Authentic Fish Balls". The owner was busy ladling soup for the customers. It was none other than the owner of the fish ball shop who had caused trouble in the food court today.
Song Jiaoniang also recognized him and took a deep breath, "But his business doesn't look as good as the ones in front!"
"No wonder the owner of the fish ball shop is so anxious." Lin Sen bought three strings of candied haws from the old man selling candied haws next to him, and then asked a few more questions. Only then did he know that the owner of the fish ball shop had been very proud of himself since he got the invitation, and directly raised the price of his own fish balls.
Then, there was discrimination in the warm-up match.
In the two days immediately following the preliminary matches, the fish ball shop's business was brisk. But starting on the third day, several fish ball stalls opened up across the Zhouqiao Night Market and even across Bianjing. Their food was just as good, and their prices were better than his. Not only did his business not hold up, but even his original customers were snatched away.
Nowadays, even if the price is lowered, few regular customers are willing to come back to buy.
"The front team can line up here." The old man pointed to the big tree next to him and sighed.
Song Jiaoniang's heart trembled as she heard this, and she felt a little scared. After they were far away, she whispered, "During the pre-opening period, their business was comparable to ours. I never thought it would become like this in the blink of an eye."
Lin Sen felt sympathetic: "That's right."
Lin Zhi looked at the fish ball stalls along the way, which were doing a booming business. "Looking at the number of people that day, we can tell that the attention to this game was even more astonishing than we expected."
She knew in her heart that this kind of attention was similar to what later generations called "traffic".
The advantage is that participating shops and chefs can quickly gain fame, their business may be able to reach a higher level, and they may even be able to come into contact with important people whom they rarely see in normal times.
But the disadvantages are also obvious. Once you make a mistake, these attentions will become the stone that crushes your business.
Just like the owner of the fish ball shop, at first he added the silver bowl just to please the rich customers, but was labeled as "disdainful of the poor and in love with the rich" by the people. Later he raised the price blindly. The fish ball making method was easy to copy, so his business did not soar with the help of the competition, but instead fell to the bottom.
"No wonder he had such a big reaction in the food industry today." After a pause, Lin Zhi said, "I think he just realized that during the pre-registration period, most people didn't even bring their signature dishes to the competition. They just picked some common dishes to test the waters."
Lin Sen was still apprehensive and couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. "Fortunately, fortunately, we didn't move the roast goose to the qualifiers... Uh? Wait? It seems that we didn't move it simply because... we're lazy?"
"What are you talking about!" Song Jiaoniang glared at him immediately, "We didn't bring it because Sister Zhi said the kiln was difficult to move, and we were worried that the roast goose baked in the iron bucket would change its taste!"
Lin Sen hesitated for a second before finally sighing, "I know, but we didn't even want to participate in the competition in the first place!"
"That's because Sister Zhi is worried that business will be booming after the competition and the shop won't have enough staff!" Song Jiaonian refuted again.
On the way home, the couple was still arguing about this issue. Linzhi ignored the matter and just leaned against the wall of the car, secretly thinking about the results of the competition.
When she returned to the shop, she sat at the table and wrote and drew, deleting a few and adding a few. Soon the paper was covered with traces of scribbles.
"Jie Zhi, do you have any ideas?" Seeing her daughter sitting motionless, Song Jiaoniang brought her tea and fruit.
"Hmm... I'm a little unsure." Lin Zhi held her chin, her brow furrowed. "The range of fruits these days is so vast, including fresh fruit, dried fruit, candied fruit, fried things like sugar-coated pancakes, steamed or baked foods, and crispy candies. There are differences between what's used for daily tea, for visiting relatives and friends, and for banquets. The styles and types vary widely. I wonder what kind of fruit you're considering for the competition?"
"It should be fine, right?" Song Jiaoniang murmured.
Linzhi didn't answer, but took a sip of tea. She felt that since the catering industry chose "fruit" as the topic of the competition, there must be some consideration and it shouldn't be so casual.
Linzhi stared at the paper and thought to himself: among fresh fruits, dried fruits and candied fruits, not to mention the first two, making candied fruits usually requires several days of preparation in advance, at least three to five days, and at most more than ten days, which is definitely not suitable for making on the spot.
Fried foods and crispy candies have very narrow application scenarios, and they are rarely used as the main snacks during teatime or even at banquets.
In comparison, whether steamed or baked fruits are used as souvenirs, snacks, or at the end of a banquet, they are all excellent products.
Linzhi pondered for a moment and gradually came up with an idea. She thought of a fruit that could be used as a snack, a souvenir, or presented at a banquet, and the ingredients were relatively common and easy to obtain.
She thought about the raw materials and confirmed that she could find everything at home. She just needed to try making one or two tomorrow and adjust the appearance, taste and baking time.
Linzhi stretched and closed the paper.
Song Jiaoniang, who had been peeking in several times, came out this time with a wooden basin in her hand: "Jijie, do you want to go to the perfume shop to take a bath?"
Lin Zhi stood up and said with a smile, "Okay."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com