After seven consecutive days of busy work, Lu Qiqi's new store is finally about to open.
Upon learning that Lu Qiqi had taken over a shop, Liu Tong packed up early and went to the new shop to see if there was anything he could help with.
Liu Tong ran ahead, while Zhu Zi and Dun Zi quickly packed up their stalls behind him, eager to get over and take a look as soon as possible.
As Liu Tong stepped into the shop, he saw Lu Qiqi directing several employees to carry dishes into the kitchen.
"Please put these bowls in the cabinet on the cutting board."
After giving instructions to the waiter, Lu Qiqi turned around and saw Liu Tong standing at the door, staring at her with a silly grin.
Lu Qiqi said with a faint smile, "Uncle Liu, come and see the kitchen I prepared for you. Do you find it convenient?"
"Sigh," Liu Tong responded and walked towards Lu Qiqi. "Qiqi, you're really capable. You can take over a shop all by yourself. If you had told me earlier, I would have asked Zhuzi and Dunzi to help. Why did you have to run around all by yourself? The heavy lifting should be done by the boys."
“You need to take care of the stall. If I transfer them away, you won’t be able to manage on your own,” Lu Qiqi said, leading Liu Tong inside. “Besides, I’ve had the other employees do all the heavy lifting, so it didn’t take much effort.”
'My legs are sore from running,' Lu Qiqi thought to herself.
Liu Tong followed behind Lu Qiqi. What Lu Qiqi said made sense. The spicy noodle stall was doing incredibly well. They were busy all day and didn't even have much time to rest.
The shop that Lu Qiqi took over originally sold ready-made clothes. The kitchen in the back was a bit far from the main hall, so Lu Qiqi had a marble countertop built in the main hall.
Seeing the two holes in the middle of the counter, Liu Tong asked, somewhat puzzled, "Seventh Girl, why did you cut two big holes in the counter?"
“I had two stoves built here, and we’ll be using coal to cook noodles,” Lu Qiqi said, pointing to the side. “I also had cabinets built down here to store bowls, which will be used in the kitchen for washing dishes and vegetables.”
This was the first time Liu Tong had ever seen a kitchen set up in the lobby. He asked, "Are we going to make spicy noodles in the lobby?"
“Yes,” Lu Qiqi said, “We don’t have many people, and making noodles in the back kitchen is too much trouble. Moving it to the main hall will save us a lot of trouble.”
After Lu Qiqi showed Liu Tong the new shop, Liu Tong couldn't stop smiling. He said, "Qiqi, you have such a good business sense. You arrange everything perfectly."
***
The next day, the new store opened, and Lu Qiqi and her whole family went to the city, including Grandma Zhou.
A family stood in front of the noodle shop.
"Fat Brother Spicy Noodle Shop," Lu Yao read out the large characters on the signboard in a crisp voice, "and the little figure drawn on it is Uncle Liu!"
Everyone looked up and saw that the plaque indeed depicted a chubby little figure laughing while holding a bowl of noodles. The little figure's expression and actions made people chuckle.
Mrs. Lu exclaimed with delight, "There really is a Little Chef Liu on this!"
Lu's words made everyone laugh, and Lu Qiqi laughed along with them. She also really liked this chibi version of Liu Tong.
Because Fatty's Spicy Noodle Restaurant has recently become quite popular in Qingshui Town, Lu Qiqi didn't do any promotion and simply held a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
They also put up a sign at the original noodle stall location, informing everyone that the noodle shop had moved to a location only fifty meters away from the stall.
This time, Lu Qiqi drew pictures of spicy noodles, pork bone noodles, and braised meat, framed them, and hung them on the wall so that customers could easily see what they wanted to order.
As soon as the shop opened, two men came in. Lu Qiqi had set up a cashier at the entrance and greeted the customers with a smile, "What would you like to eat, sir?"
The man in white said, "Two bowls of spicy noodles."
Lu Qiqi said, "Okay, that'll be four large coins in total."
The man in white thought that Lu Qiqi was doing business by asking for money as soon as she entered the door, and he felt that her way of doing things was different from others. However, he was not angry and said, "It is strange for a young lady to do business. Others invite people to sit down first, but you ask people to pay first."
Seeing that the other party wasn't angry and was just curious, Lu Qiqi explained, "My shop is short-staffed. You can order and pay here, and I'll give you a menu. Just take the menu to the back to get your noodles."
The man in white and the man in black exchanged a glance and said, "This is quite amusing. I come here to eat noodles, and instead of serving them to me, you make me get them myself."
Lu Qiqi blinked her innocent big eyes and said, "It's a small business, we can't afford to hire too many employees."
The man in white was overjoyed. If he hadn't known that her noodle shop was famously successful, he would have been fooled too.
The man in white took four large coins from the man in black and handed them to Lu Qiqi.
Lu Qiqi took the money and handed two bamboo tokens to the man in white, each with the word "spicy" written on it.
After the man in white and the man in black walked towards the counter, Madam Lu, who was standing next to Lu Qiqi, whispered in Lu Qiqi's ear, "What if the guests feel slighted by doing this and refuse to eat?"
Lu Qiqi didn't have such concerns. As long as it becomes a habit, there's nothing wrong with it.
Lu Qiqi said, "Back then, some villagers in Lijia Village didn't want to queue up to eat donkey meat. Later, they got used to it and started to queue up spontaneously to get porridge. This way, the efficiency is much faster."
Lu Shi didn't understand what efficiency meant, but this certainly saved a lot of trouble.
As noon approached, long queues of people began to form to eat noodles. Lu Qiqi's arrangement prevented mistakes from happening in the rush. Lu Dahai and Li Qingshan stood to the side, but seemed to have little use.
They thought they could help with taking orders, serving noodles, and clearing tables, but Lu Qiqi took on the task of taking orders all by herself, the six Zhou brothers were in charge of clearing tables, and Madam Lu and Madam Li were washing dishes in the kitchen.
In the end, the two grown men, feeling sorry for their wives, also went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.
The man in white finally got to eat the spicy noodles he'd been craving and exclaimed, "No wonder Yuan Chengyi was willing to write something that surpasses even the finest delicacies; it really does taste good. Gu Chen, why aren't you eating?"
Sitting opposite him, Gu Chen said, "The young master sent us to Luzhou Prefecture to investigate the matter of the Holy Maiden. Aren't you afraid of delaying the young master's orders by eating and drinking here?"
Lin Bai dismissed it, saying, "What trouble could a bunch of people cause by offering tree roots to the Holy Maiden? Besides, we've been here all day and haven't heard of any religious ceremony being held. You can put your mind at ease. Once the young master is done with his work, he will come to Luzhou Prefecture in person. We have plenty of time to investigate."
Gu Chen remained silent, instead eating his noodles with a bitter expression.
Lin Bai couldn't help but chuckle at his expression. If he hadn't just praised the spicy noodles, he would have thought Gu Chen was being given some kind of poison.
Lu Qiqi, of course, had no idea that someone was eating her noodles with a distressed expression. At that moment, she was busy collecting money, and as she watched the cashier's treasury grow larger and the bamboo tokens dwindle, her smile grew even brighter.
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