For the last cold dish, I put the chopped chili peppers, onions, scallion strips, and cilantro into a bowl, added a little more light soy sauce, a little sugar, MSG, sesame oil, and aged vinegar. It was delicious, refreshing, and incredibly simple – Tiger Salad was ready!
The store had just opened for business, and several customers were already seated inside.
Four dishes were served: braised pork ribs with a rich, meaty aroma, braised chicken with a strong scallion flavor, dried and fragrant potato slices, and refreshing cold dishes.
The diners quickly lined up and got their food one by one.
Today's customer traffic is about the same as yesterday's, not as hectic as when the weather is nice.
Seeing that things were still manageable for the time being, Pei Yuezhi remembered the matter of buying firewood.
He asked Liu Yuanyuan to help serve the food first, then went to the kitchen and found Pei Yunzhi, saying, "Yunzhi, you're going home this afternoon. Go and buy some firewood for me. It's not very busy here today, there aren't many people."
Luckily, I bought new plates yesterday, so cleaning the table isn't so urgent.
Pei Yunzhi nodded in agreement. Pei Yuezhi then asked about the price of firewood, and after finding out, she took out her money pouch from her pocket.
"Here's thirty coins. Yunzhi, go buy firewood for one hundred coins and have it delivered this afternoon. I'll pay the rest of the money then."
"Sister, let Yunzhi buy this firewood."
Pei Yuezhi pretended to have a stern face: "I'm your sister, listen to me, go, go, go."
Without waiting for his reply, she pushed him out.
"Mother, I want to go with Uncle too!" Fan Mu said, hugging Pei Yuezhi's leg.
Thinking that the little girl hadn't really explored the town much since arriving, Pei Yuezhi agreed.
"Thank you, Mother! Uncle, wait for me!"
As more and more people came to eat, Liu Yuanyuan saw Pei Yuezhi come out and quickly handed her a serving spoon: "Yueyue, you serve the food. It's easier for me to wash the dishes."
Pei Yuezhi took the spoon and began serving food to the people in line.
Perhaps because they missed a day of work yesterday, some people didn't want to waste any more time, so there were more people than yesterday.
"There weren't many people here just now. I should have known better than to let Pei Yunzhi go buy firewood first," Pei Yuezhi thought to herself.
"What would you like to eat, sir?" Pei Yuezhi was extremely busy at this time and asked without even looking up.
"What am I supposed to eat! I'm about to die from eating your food!" the man shouted.
Upon hearing this, everyone around stopped eating, and Pei Yuezhi was also stunned.
Quickly put down the spoon in your hand and look up.
The newcomer was a man in his thirties or forties, somewhat thin, with a sallow complexion and a somewhat mean-looking face. He was pointing at Pei Yuezhi and shouting loudly.
This energetic look doesn't seem like... he's about to die... at all...
And this shouldn't be the case. You know the food you make yourself; it's definitely very clean. There must be some misunderstanding here.
Pei Yuezhi asked patiently, "Sir, is there some misunderstanding? Everything in our house is very clean."
"I ate your food yesterday, and I had vomiting and diarrhea all night long! There's definitely something wrong with your food!"
"Everyone, be the judge! This place is unsanitary! And the owner won't admit it. Where can we go to seek justice?"
"This is a black-hearted shop, and the owner is heartless too. She made people sick with the food and then tried to justify it."
Pei Yuezhi quickly asked him, "Guest, you said you got an upset stomach, but our family members eat our food, and all these guests have been fine."
"You said your family members ate it, does that mean they really ate it?"
As he spoke, the man glanced around and noticed that the expressions of the diners who were sitting close to him seemed somewhat wavering, but most of them just looked a little skeptical and didn't really believe him.
So he continued, "We're all workers who come here to eat. We do heavy manual labor. If we get sick from eating here, it will really affect our work!"
"Yesterday afternoon, I was just about to move some goods when my stomach started hurting terribly. I couldn't do any work all afternoon. I had diarrhea and vomiting. The doctor said I ate something bad, and if I had come any later, my intestines would have been ruined!"
As he spoke, he observed the state of the guests.
After hearing his words, most people were hesitant to eat. Some put down their chopsticks, and some even spat out the food in their mouths.
At that moment, he glanced at an older man squatting by the door, still hesitating, looking like he wanted to eat but didn't dare to.
He leaned closer and said, "Brother, you still want to eat? Aren't you afraid of suffering like me, not only missing work but also getting a lot of pain? I went home yesterday and didn't earn any money and got a scolding from my wife."
The man was a little stunned. Upon hearing this, he was so frightened that he quickly put the plate aside: "Then I won't eat it. My wife is a real scare. If I get sick from eating and can't work, she'll beat me."
The troublemaker then turned to everyone else: "Everyone, stop eating!"
Hearing the loud noise from the kitchen, Liu Yuanyuan quickly came out to see what was going on. After hearing the whole story, she firmly said, "Impossible, there's absolutely nothing wrong with our stuff!"
At this point, the people around them also became unhappy.
Someone slammed their hand on the table and roared, "You say it's impossible, but they've come knocking on our door! How do you explain this? Do you think it's easy for us workers to earn a living?!"
"That's right, I wouldn't dare eat here like that, no one would be responsible if I ate myself to death."
"I've already eaten half of it. If something happens to me, it's your problem!"
Some people may not say it out loud, but they are also thinking frantically in their hearts, "I've eaten so much, what if something happens to me?"
At this moment, the customers in the shop had different expressions, and a few acquaintances whispered among themselves.
The commotion was quite loud, and a crowd gathered outside the shop.
People in line walked away from the counter, clearly too afraid to eat there.
Pei Yuezhi observed calmly for a while before speaking up, "This guest, if you have any problems eating here, we will definitely take responsibility."
"Take responsibility? Our workers' health is our capital. If your food makes people sick, can you take responsibility?" the troublemaker interrupted.
Liu Yuanyuan said anxiously, "Yueyue, there's absolutely nothing wrong with our stuff!"
"Don't worry, sir. Diarrhea and vomiting could be due to an allergy to certain foods. Look at all these people, they seem fine. Could it be that there are some foods you can't eat?"
Some people nearby still believed in Pei Yuezhi and asked, "Yes, could it be an allergy? I heard from the doctor that allergies can have many symptoms."
"Yes, there must be a misunderstanding. I've been eating here for so long, ever since the proprietress started selling pancakes, and there's never been a problem."
"Brother, do you have some kind of problem? You need to make this clear. It's not easy for two women to run a business."
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