Chapter 68
After seeing this, Su Guoer knew that she should buy a few more tables outside.
It doesn't take much, just occupy a shop space. When there are many people at noon, pull out the tables and spread them out to serve as seats. After noon, take the tables back.
The officers wouldn't say anything. Strictly speaking, the shop at the door was hers after all.
It was another busy noon. After everyone left, Su Guoer was not idle either. She prepared three dishes and a soup for everyone. After everyone had a delicious meal, they took a rest for a while before going back to work.
The east wing has been repaired and can only be used for sleeping for two days, so Su Guoer is still sleeping in the central hall.
Halfway through her sleep, Wen Qianxi came in with a little maid, cursing, "What the hell? I haven't even said anything bad about him, and he's already scolding me! They have such a big face!"
"Liu Zhu, go tell that shopkeeper Zhu that I will never eat at his place again. Tell him to take care of himself!"
He walked in aggressively, and when he turned around and saw Su Guoer, tears of grievance were about to fall.
"Guo'er, you don't know how much I've been wronged."
Wen Qianxi came forward and took Su Guoer's hand: "I just came back from escorting my father, and I was particularly craving the Eight Treasure Duck at Mingyue Tower. I went in and ordered the dishes, and asked them to bring it over to eat."
"But Shopkeeper Zhu refused to let me go, saying that the dishes ordered from him must be eaten there! I told him to take the food to your shop next door and eat it, and then send it back to him after finishing it, but he refused to do so. I was so angry that I had a quarrel with him, and the duck in my mouth flew away. Ahhh! My duck!!!"
The fragrant Eight Treasure Duck is filled with butter, grains and rice.
She was worried about her eight-treasure duck. The duck was already in the pot.
Su Guoer didn't think much about it and just said, "You should eat there. These signature dishes of each restaurant are only sold in their own store or for delivery. You said you wanted to bring them to me to eat, and I was afraid that I would try to learn how to make them myself.
Then he comforted Wen Qianxi, saying, "This has nothing to do with you. He's just afraid that I might steal his skills. Don't be angry. It's just Eight Treasure Duck. I'll make it for you."
Wen Qianxi's eyes lit up: "Really? Guo'er, you can also make Eight Treasure Duck?"
Su Guoer said, "Yes, but the taste won't be as good as the one in Mingyue Tower. If you want to eat the authentic one, then you have to..."
Wen Qianxi: "Stop talking, stop talking. I eat everything, whether it's authentic or not. During the time I followed my father on escort missions, all I ate were dry biscuits every day. I'm almost dying of greed!"
"Do you have anything delicious here? Can I satisfy my craving?"
"If you have Eight Treasure Duck, you can eat it at night."
Seeing how impatient she was, Su Guoer stopped coughing and went to the kitchen to lift the lid of the pot. The braised meat inside had just been braised. This was the braised meat to be sold in the evening.
He scooped out a large piece of meat with even fat and lean meat for her, and scooped a spoonful of pickles from the jar for her to eat with it.
Wen Qianxi's eyes lit up when he saw it, "It's so beautiful, so beautiful! If I had a bowl of this, I would die of happiness!"
As he spoke, he picked up the bowl and took a bite. The aroma of the braised meat and the sour and spicy taste of the pickles were combined in one bite.
She wanted some more rice, this dish was really good with rice!
Su Guoer scooped out another spoonful of rice left over from lunch and gave it to her. Seeing that she was content with the meal, she was also happy.
I fished a live duck out of the fence at the edge of the yard, plucked it, slaughtered it, and then washed it and pickled it.
This is a necessary step in making Eight Treasure Duck. The duck meat has a bit of fishy smell, so it needs to be marinated with ginger slices for a while, and then two drops of white wine are added to make it easier to remove the fishy smell.
Then soak the glutinous rice in hot water, wash some mushrooms, fungus, diced radish, corn, peas, chestnuts, etc., cut them into cubes and set aside.
Next is the sausage. This Su Guoer was bought from another store. It was also cut into cubes and put together with all the ingredients and marinated with soy sauce. After the glutinous rice was softened, it was stuffed into the duck's stomach.
Then sew it up again with twine.
Brush the duck skin with some sweet sauce and cooking oil to make it taste more natural.
Steam it for two hours before eating. By then, Wen Qianxi should have digested his food.
They took the duck to have dinner in the evening, and Wen Qianxi agreed.
After dinner, people from the store came in one after another. Wen Qianxi saw that the people in Su Guoer's store worked very efficiently and diligently, and no one was lazy. He couldn't help but compare it with Mingyue Tower.
Pulling Su Guo'er to eat melon, he said, "Your place is really nice. I just went to Mingyue Tower and the staff rolled their eyes at me. They looked so arrogant. And the shopkeeper, they all looked so unhappy. I don't know how their shop has been open for so long without closing down."
Su Guoer said as she picked vegetables: "Mingyuelou is a time-honored restaurant in Bianjing. It must have some regular customers, right? With more regular customers, we can always maintain a stable income for this store."
Wen Qianxi: "Where? Old customers? I just heard last month that the staff at Mingyue Tower beat up an old customer and took the matter to the government. And the month before that, they had a conflict with an old customer over price increases. In my opinion, Mingyue Tower is just struggling to survive and is not far from bankruptcy!"
She also picked up a handful of beans and cut them into sections.
Su Guoer pondered over this and finally asked, "Whose family is behind Mingyue Tower? Doesn't the owner care?"
The fact that the shop assistants and the shopkeeper were allowed to do whatever they wanted only showed that the owner was often not in the shop and had no intention of taking care of it, which led to the people here doing whatever they wanted without regard for the reputation of Mingyue Tower.
Wen Qianxi: "Why are you asking this? It seems that the owner has given up on the shop. But it's a shame for such a good location. It's a loss to keep it open like this. It's better to give it to you and expand your shop. I wanted to come to your place for lunch, but I saw that there were people squatting outside."
As if she thought of something, she looked up: "You don't really think so?" she asked.
Su Guoer also responded calmly: "I do mean that, but it's not necessary. My shop is still barely open now."
But if there were more diners...
But it's really not enough.
Mingyue Tower is a big place, with an area three times the size of her restaurant.
The number of tables, chairs and stools in the lobby alone is more than the number of tables, chairs and stools on the first and second floors of her house combined.
Not to mention that Mingyue Tower actually has three floors.
There is a lobby on the first floor, a central hall on the second floor, and three private rooms numbered "Heaven, Earth and Man" on the third floor.
The layout is considered the best among restaurants.
If I could really get it off...
Su Guoer could only indulge in her thoughts.
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