Chapter 46
Su Guoer, Chunniang and Pang Ya were busy in the back.
There were seven tables of people and a total of thirty-two dishes. Not only did it take time to wash and prepare the vegetables, but it also took time for her to cook them herself.
It seems that she needs to recruit two apprentices so that they can cook a few simple dishes for her when she is busy.
However, since her braised meat is quite famous, most people who come at noon order the braised meat as a meat dish. She just needs to cut it, put it on a plate and serve it to her, which saves her a lot of trouble.
As for other dishes,
More people order vegetarian dishes, and there are also various soups such as mixed soup.
Vegetarian dishes such as fresh minced meat and diced lotus root, vegetarian stew with three shredded vegetables, scrambled eggs with leeks, and cold seaweed salad are also relatively affordable and popular dishes.
There were more and more people in front, and the waiters couldn't find Su Guoer, so they called Li Si and ordered a plate of freshly cut braised pork, a plate of stir-fried lotus root, a plate of steamed minced pork and bamboo shoots, and one or two bowls of rice wine.
Three dishes and three bowls of rice are enough for three people.
Li Si: "The total is 550 wen."
A plate of freshly cut large pieces of braised meat costs more than one hundred coins, and the rest is the cost of the other dishes combined.
The guys were busy saying, "Pack two more portions of braised pork for us to take away later. Can we take them together?"
After rounding off the decimals, Li Si accepted one or two taels of silver from them.
"This one ounce of silver can buy three plates of braised meat, what a bargain!"
"Not only that, have you seen the dishes on other people's tables? There's a lot in one portion. The three of us can probably leave with a full stomach today. But if you want to say what's the most delicious thing in this restaurant, it has to be the lamb pot stickers."
“It’s a pity that it can only be sold in the morning.”
Li Si listened to their conversation and said: "We sell it in the evening. The shopkeeper said that we can sell it tonight. If customers like to eat it, they can come and buy it in the evening."
The waiter said, "Oh! Well, if you say so, I have to come and try it! And this braised pork, I'll buy some and bring it back for my mother to try. She always says that braised pork in noodles isn't tasty, so this time I'll let her see the world!"
Other guys: "That's great, call me over tonight, I'll buy some for my wife to try too."
The few of them agreed on this. Their voices were not loud, but in this square shop, others could hear them clearly.
As soon as they heard that there were other things for sale at the night market, they had to come and take a look.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t buy anything, it’s good to come and join in the fun.
Su Guoer had just handed the cooked dishes to Madam Cui to take out when Chunniang came over with a piece of paper. Are there more guests coming?
After taking the paper and looking at it for a while, Su Guoer asked, "How many tables are there outside?"
I guess it's almost full.
Chunniang: "There are a lot of people outside. The first floor is full except for the two tables at the stairs. No one wants to go up to the second floor."
Su Guoer: "I'm afraid you'll find it troublesome to go upstairs." After all, climbing stairs requires physical strength.
Except for the two tables at the stairs, there are already nine tables of customers in her store.
The minimum price for one table is one tael of silver, and nine tables means nine taels of silver. It only took an incense stick of time to collect nine taels of silver. Not bad, not bad. Su Guoer worked harder and harder.
Chunniang and Cui Niang took turns helping her in the kitchen, so she didn't feel so tired.
But after all, they are neither chefs nor apprentices, so the vegetables they cut are not good-looking.
Before leaving, he did not forget to instruct Chunniang to tell Li Si to add the news of recruiting apprentices to the recruitment notice at the door.
She had to recruit an apprentice as soon as possible and then sign an agreement where she would teach him the skills and he would do odd jobs in her kitchen.
As for cooking skills? You can teach them or not, it depends on the other person's character and personality.
Lunch time is only about an hour.
After lunch in the afternoon, people in the restaurant left one after another.
Only two scattered tables of customers remained, still chatting away. Presumably, they were people who didn't have to rush to work.
Su Guoer stood in front of the counter as usual, fiddling with the abacus, calculating how much money she had earned at noon.
There were 23 tables of guests coming and going, and I made 33 taels of silver, minus the 8 taels of silver I had invested...
Most of them are vegetarian dishes, and in fact they weigh less than 8 taels.
But all he heard was a guest at one of the tables say, "Hey, have you heard? Master Qi has been arrested and is now imprisoned in the Imperial City Prison!" The man who said this had a white scarf on his head and looked like a peddler.
The man next to him, also dressed in black, asked, "Which Qi family?"
"Which Qi family?" The man pinched a pickled peanut and threw it into his mouth, continuing, "It's the fifth-rank official salt transport officer, Qi Hongen, the Lord Qi!"
"The one who lives near Qing Street and Liuxiang."
The dark-faced peddler was surprised. "Him? How did he get arrested? What did he do to deserve being imprisoned in the Imperial City?"
"Did he kill someone? Or did his youngest son molest some young lady again?" Ordinary criminals would at most be sent to the government office or the Kaifeng prison, and there was no need for the Imperial City Administration to intervene.
But if the Imperial City Bureau intervenes, the situation will be serious. You know, the Imperial City Bureau is directly under the command of the emperor.
The man with the turban on his head did not answer his question directly, but continued to speak vividly, just like a storyteller. In this empty restaurant, his voice was particularly loud and could not be ignored. Su Guoer also listened to a few words.
"I saw with my own eyes a group of people wearing imperial fish-control uniforms, carrying precious swords, rushing into the dilapidated courtyard of the Qi family and taking Master Qi away from inside."
"When Lord Qi was being taken away, he was still cursing. His two sons, the eldest, Qi Xian, hurried out so fast that one of his shoes fell off. The second son, Qi Zhang, even cried and clung to his father's thighs, refusing to let go, demanding that the people from the Imperial City Bureau release him."
"Master Qi was also a hot-tempered man. He immediately started cursing, saying, 'Pei boy, you have slandered my innocence without any evidence and thrown me into jail. Heaven will surely punish you severely. I will just sit and wait, waiting for the day you receive your retribution. I wait for the day when the Heavenly Family will depose you and banish you from the government forever!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, that's such a vicious curse! How old is Commander Pei? He looks like a teenager, and he's being told he'll never be able to enter the government? Isn't that the same as cursing him to end his career as an official? What a vicious curse for a young man!"
The black-faced peddler said, "That's not true, but I still don't know why Master Qi was captured."
"What on earth did he do wrong?"
The turbaned peddler shook his head and said in a pretentious tone, "What else could it be? There are only a few things that would call on the Imperial City Bureau to intervene."
He explained, "Corruption and bribery, embezzling the people's money, speaking wildly and inciting public opinion, insulting the royal family, and anything more serious than that is beyond words. Anyway, anyone who can enter the Imperial City Bureau will generally be convicted of a serious crime!"
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