Time passed quietly in the busyness of the crowd, and noon was almost approaching.
This time, Da Niu paid attention to the time and asked someone to call Tian An when the time came. It was only then that Tian An realized that the door plaque of their house had not been unveiled yet!
At noon, Da Niu unveiled the plaque, and Wang Erdong set off another string of firecrackers. Then, the sound of gongs and drums was heard not far away, and everyone turned to look.
I saw the lion dance team slowly coming towards "A Bowl of Noodles".
Tian An looked at Da Niu and asked, "Did Brother Da Niu invite the lion dancer?"
Daniu shook his head and looked at Peng Zhang again and said, "It's not me, maybe it's Master Peng."
Tian An remembered that when Huibao Pavilion opened, they also invited lion dancers. Peng Zhang really liked this kind of show, so it was definitely him.
As the lion dance reached its climax, the crowd cheered and shouted, "Good! Good!"
Peng Zhang also felt very proud. He walked up to Tian An and Daniu with an unconcerned gait and said proudly, "See? This is what we call a grand opening! This grand opening gift from my master is quite good, isn't it?
Seeing how busy you two are, I know you didn’t hire a lion dancer. How can we not hire a lion dancer for our grand opening? Don’t thank me too much.”
Tian An felt that he was not stingy at all. He did not invite anyone because he did not expect it. Besides, hiring a lion dancer was not cheap.
Forget it, for the sake of the lion dance, I won’t bother with him.
At this time, the county school had already finished afternoon classes. Because of the lion dance performance, the store entrance was crowded with people and the atmosphere reached a climax.
After waiting for a long time for the lion dance performance to end, Gu Jinyan gave her gift.
Two servants walked into the store carrying a plaque that read "Booming Business."
A sharp-eyed student recognized the signature on the plaque and turned around to whisper to his good classmates.
"Did you pay attention to the signature on the plaque just now?"
"Signature? What's wrong with the signature?"
The student looked around, raised his hand to his mouth and whispered, "I didn't look carefully just now, but when I glanced at it, it seemed to be the county magistrate's name."
Even though he lowered his voice, the crowd was so large that several students nearby still heard him. Everyone was curious.
I only heard the classmate say, "Let's go in and take a look! It's the county magistrate's calligraphy! Looking at it more may help us with our exams!"
The two hit it off and went into the shop together. But once you're in, you can't just look at the signboard! You have to order some noodles!
When the others saw the two of them go in, they followed them in. The competition was so fierce, they couldn't afford to lose!
At one point, the store's business was booming again, and there wasn't enough room to sit down. So, Da Niu asked Wang Erdong to go to the backyard and bring some tables and chairs out to the door. If there weren't enough tables, he would bring in more stools to try to avoid having customers standing around.
Qin Yalan also had two pots of welcoming pine trees brought over and said, "With the pearls and jades of Master Peng and Jin Yan before us, my gift seems a little underwhelming."
Gu Jinyan said modestly: "Your two pots of welcoming pines have unique shapes and good meanings, which shows your care."
Qin Yalan replied: "Jin Yan's plaque is even more so. Uncle Gu's calligraphy is not something that anyone can get."
Seeing that the two of them were about to endlessly praise each other humbly, Tian An stepped forward and said, "I'm so happy that you can come to An An, and you chose the gifts so carefully. I don't know what to say."
Gu Jinyan teased, "Then don't say anything."
Qin Yalan also said: "If you keep talking, the threshold of your shop will be trampled down."
Tian An looked back and saw that even the entrance was full.
Before she could speak, Qin Yalan took the initiative to say, "Don't worry about us, go and get busy!"
Gu Jinyan also said: "Yes! Let's find more people tomorrow! Otherwise, even if you have three heads and six arms, it won't be enough."
Tian An also felt that there were not enough people. He could pick out the farmhands for other tasks, but that was not enough for the kitchen and the house. It seemed that he really had to hire more people.
After separating from the three people, Tian An plunged into the kitchen and worked tirelessly.
At noon, Aiyu jelly was also on sale. After leaving the noodles to Mangzhong, Tian An went to make jelly.
All the preparations for the jelly have been done in advance, all you have to do is cut the watermelon and put it in a bowl.
At first, there were few people ordering, so Tian An could go and help with the Mangzhong. But later, when he saw that some people were enjoying it, and that it also contained watermelon, and no one had ever had it, he ordered a bowl to try it.
Then the Aiyu jelly was also a hit.
Qin Yalan and the other two chatted in the backyard for a while and then went back. However, the maids stayed to help.
Guests came in waves, and the dozen or so people were busy until late in the afternoon. All the prepared ingredients were sold out, and there was no way to replenish them, so the guests slowly dispersed.
They had been busy all day! They hadn't even had time to eat! Chen Feng forced himself to make a bowl of noodles for each of them, and then they all sat down in the shop to eat together.
After eating, they rested for a long time before they could barely recover. After the maids of Peng Zhang and the other two said goodbye and went back, they looked at the mess in the shop and suddenly felt weak in the knees.
Taking advantage of the break, Tian An hurriedly explained the things first, otherwise he would have no time when he got busy.
"Wang Erdong, when you go back, go find Chunxi and ask her to pick four more people. Two guys like you will be waiters in the front hall, and two will be there to clean up the tables and chairs and wash the dishes. Men and women are fine, but they have to be quick and efficient."
Wang Erdong repeated it silently in his mind, and when he was sure that he had memorized it, he said, "Miss, I remember it. I promise to do what you asked."
Tian An was satisfied to see that he was serious about his work.
Then he said to Mrs. Du, "Second Aunt, I see you came here on foot today, but something happened to the ox cart."
Hearing Tian An asking her, Mrs. Du quickly replied, "It's not that the ox cart has a problem, it's that the harvest is about to start, and the oxen have to stay in the village. Anyway, we're just taking a few watermelons, so we can take turns carrying them, and we'll be there soon."
Tian An nodded and said nothing.
Just as he finished explaining everything he needed to, the pork stall owner arrived with pork and offal. After the shop was set up, Tian An and the stall owner agreed that they would deliver all the pork to the shop in the future.
Tian An's family needed a lot of pig heads, but none of the pork stalls had so many, so they used to supply them together. So they agreed to each deliver once, and everyone would take turns, so that no one would suffer a loss.
When the pork was delivered, everyone perked up and started to clean it up and wash the meat. They were busy and it was almost dark before they braised the meat.
After finishing their work at the store and getting some simple food, the others set off back to the village. Seeing everyone dragging their tired bodies through the dark, Tian An felt a little uncomfortable.
"Why can a family only afford one cow? If they walk like this every day, how can their bodies bear it?"
Xiaokang heard Tian An muttering and said, "Sister, we can buy a donkey! And horses. Brother Pengzhang, Sister Yalan, and Sister Jinyan all have carriages at home."
One word can wake a person up from a dream!
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