30 Chapter 30
◎Jiangyanlou◎
The twelfth day of the tenth lunar month is a good day to start a business.
Before dawn, the Jiang family and Xiao Muyan began to get busy.
The originally dim and shabby restaurant appeared bright and new after being repaired and wiped. A new plaque was hung on the lintel, with the three characters "Jiangyanlou" written in vigorous and powerful strokes, shining brightly in the morning light.
The first floor of the store serves as the lobby, with neatly arranged tables and chairs, a charcoal stove and tableware on top. There are no calligraphy or paintings on the walls, but instead there are bamboo carvings, bamboo baskets, bamboo hats and raincoats, which add to the farmhouse atmosphere. The second floor is divided into six elegant rooms, four slightly smaller ones named "Plum", "Orchid", "Chrysanthemum" and "Bamboo", and two larger ones named "Cuizhuju" and "Peony Pavilion". The decorations and objects inside are more refined and elegant than those on the first floor, and are specially used to receive distinguished guests.
In the back kitchen, the freshly slaughtered, still hot mutton is sliced into thin slices and neatly arranged, the fish is sliced into butterfly shapes and neatly placed on plates, the vegetables are washed clean and placed in small bamboo baskets, and pots of various hot pot soup bases are already prepared on the stove, ready to be served on the table as soon as someone arrives.
Everything is ready, with the blast of firecrackers, Jiangyanlou officially opens today.
Amid the lively sound of gongs and drums, a majestic lion dancer leaped at the door to congratulate. Jiang Jingyun stood at the door with a smile on his face to greet the guests. When he met a familiar guest, he welcomed him in warmly.
The loudest and most articulate Jiang Erge shouted at the side: "Dear guests, the hot pot restaurant is open today, 20% off for all items, welcome everyone! The hot pot is fresh and fragrant, welcome everyone to taste it; the exclusive secret soup base, the food warms your heart; the various delicacies are delicious, let you linger and savor, don't miss it if you pass by, come in and try it..."
The people had never heard of such a novel way of hawking, and the air was filled with the aroma of food, luring passers-by to rush in impatiently.
When a few of the students who were on good terms with the academy arrived, the lobby on the first floor was already full. They were a little surprised: "It looks like business is pretty good!"
Jiang Jingyun smiled so hard that his teeth were not visible. He said modestly, "Most of the people who came to support us today are old customers who used to come here frequently. They don't count."
Su Yuheng was about to condemn his hypocritical behavior when a spicy and fragrant smell suddenly rushed into his nose. He couldn't help but sniff and asked, "What is this? It smells so good."
Jiang Jingyun led people to the "Peony Pavilion" on the second floor and answered: "That's our signature hotpot - spicy hotpot!"
"It smells delicious. Serve me one of these later!" Su Yuheng didn't bother to be polite and started ordering dishes directly.
"Okay, no problem," Jiang Jingyun also responded readily, "It's my treat today, so eat whatever you want!"
"That's great!" Su Yuheng clapped his hands and praised, handing over the gift in his hand, "It's just a small gift, I wish you a good opening!"
Seeing Su Yuheng taking the lead, the others also handed out the gifts in their hands. Jiang Jingyun took them one by one and thanked them: "Thank you all for your support. Don't be polite to me later, eat as much as you want!"
Everyone agreed with a smile.
At Su Yuheng's strong request, Jiang Jingyun served them a spicy hot pot base. Considering some classmates who prefer lighter tastes, he added a shuangyuan hot pot base. In addition to the mutton slices, fish slices, fish balls, tribute balls and other meat dishes prepared in advance, there were also green leafy vegetables that were rarely seen in winter, filling up the large round table.
Jiang Jingyun taught them how to make the seasoning to their own taste, and greeted everyone enthusiastically: "Come on, come on, try it, don't be polite to me, if you don't have enough, I will serve more!"
Su Yuheng was the most familiar with him, so he didn't bother to be polite with him. He picked up his chopsticks and put a piece of mutton in the spicy hot pot. His eyes were fixed on the boiling soup pot. He counted to ten in his mind according to the time Jiang Jingyun said, then scooped up the mutton when it was cooked, dipped it in the sauce he had prepared himself, and stuffed it into his mouth impatiently, completely disregarding his usual appearance as a nobleman.
Soon, Su Yuheng's forehead began to sweat, his face was flushed, and his lips felt like they were on fire. He picked up the winter special cold drink recommended by Jiang Jingyun and took two sips. After suppressing the spicy taste in his mouth, he reached out to the pot to blanch the meat without hesitation, and shouted while hissing to cool down his mouth: "It's so spicy! It's so refreshing! I want to eat more, but it's really spicy!"
This cycle repeats itself.
The situation was similar for the rest of the people. Some who couldn't eat spicy food started out eating the clear soup pot, but seeing how well they ate spicy food, they also became eager to try it. In the end, a group of people gathered around the spicy pot, shouting how spicy it was and couldn't stop eating, and even taking time to have a sip of cold drinks from time to time.
The scene was so lively that even Jiang Jingyun, who came over to serve the dishes from time to time, couldn't help laughing. It was so interesting.
After serving them another round of dishes, Jiang Jingyun went downstairs to help greet the customers. There were many customers in the store today, and everyone was very busy. Even his second brother, who was shouting outside the door at the beginning, had returned to the store early to help serve the dishes.
Just as Jiang Jingyun was seeing off a table of guests, he saw Sun Xiucai and his family walk in. He greeted them with surprise and bowed, saying, "Hello, teacher. Today, we are honored to have such a distinguished guest. Our shop is suddenly honored. Please come in..."
"Stop flattering me. No matter how busy you are, you can't fall behind in your studies, or I'll make you suffer!" Sun Xiucai was harsh in his words, but his face was very happy. He handed the gift in his hand to Jiang Jingyun, "Here, it's for you."
Jiang Jingyun happily accepted it, and said in a tone as polite as an old man: "Look at you, why do you bring anything when you come? You wrote that plaque for me, which is the best gift I can ask for myself. The guests who came today said that the calligraphy is good, with strong strokes and flowing strokes. They all asked me which master wrote it..."
Sun Xiucai was relieved by the flattery. He no longer pretended to be serious and looked at Jiang Jingyun with a smile: "Humph, you know what's good."
Jiang Jingyun raised the corners of his lips slightly. Teacher Sun was a little arrogant. He usually liked to pretend to be a serious and rigid gentleman, but in fact, he was just a little old man who loved to eat and coax. He stretched out his hand in front to lead the way: "Teachers, please go upstairs. I specially reserved the largest 'Cuizhuju' for you. Today, try the signature hot pot in the store and give us some suggestions. If you are interested, leave me some calligraphy, it will be great, hehehe..."
"Lead the way quickly, you are the only one who talks too much." Mr. Sun rolled his eyes at him and didn't say either yes or no.
"Okay, this way please." Jiang Jingyun just said it casually. He didn't get angry when being rejected. He led people to the box quickly.
The teacher's family includes both old and young, and considering the taste, Jiang Jingyun directly served them a pot of spicy hot pot and a pot of clear soup. The meat and vegetables were also the same as Su Yuheng's, and a few extra dishes suitable for the elderly and children were added.
Although the rest of the things were novel, they were actually ordinary things that were carefully made into something special. However, the green color among the meat dishes on the table was a bit surprising. Sun Xiucai pointed to the small basket of green vegetables and asked Jiang Jingyun: "How did you get these vegetables in this cold winter when everything is withered?"
Jiang Jingyun was helping to prepare the dipping sauce and personally demonstrating how to shabu-shabu the meat. When he heard the teacher ask him, he looked up and followed the finger, and said nonchalantly, "Oh, those are grown in the greenhouse, they are more precious, so the quantity is not too much."
Sun Xiucai asked doubtfully: "Hothouse?"
"Well, building a kang and burning firewood indoors to increase the temperature in the vegetable shed consumes a lot of firewood, so I built a small shed outside the kitchen, which is directly connected to the stove. I can use it to boil water and cook, which saves some firewood..."
In principle, it should be somewhat similar to the kang in the north. Jiang Jingyun accidentally saw a video of a kang on the Internet in modern times. When he was making a list of ingredients needed to open a store, he thought that it would be a bit monotonous if the vegetables only had radishes and dried vegetables, so he imitated the kang to build a small vegetable greenhouse. Unexpectedly, the effect was quite good.
As the place is not big, there are not many vegetables that can be grown. He also got some leeks, onions, garlic and other things. However, as leeks are not very compatible with hot pot, he also figured out how to grow bean sprouts. So there is no problem with the supply of vegetables, but there are relatively few leafy vegetables. He has already brought out a lot to attract customers for the opening today.
"Well, this method is quite ingenious..." Su Xiucai pondered. Hothouses have existed since ancient times, but because they are expensive and a bit extravagant, they are generally only found among the rich and powerful. "But, with the small space in your house, can you supply it every day?"
"Of course not. My house is so small that I can't even supply the restaurant or keep much for my own consumption," Jiang Jingyun replied confidently.
"Then..." Mr. Sun was a little confused. He didn't pay attention when he first came in. But when he thought carefully, there seemed to be a small basket of vegetables on many tables in the lobby on the first floor.
Jiang Jingyun blinked slyly, "Of course it's not enough for my family alone, so I mobilized the villagers to build a greenhouse and grow vegetables together."
The previous rumors made Jiang Jingyun realize one thing: the small benefits brought to the villagers by the short-term acquisition could not win their hearts, but might make people more jealous.
After thinking about it for several days, Jiang Jingyun happened to be thinking about building a greenhouse to grow vegetables. He thought this was a good idea, so he took Uncle Jiang to see the old village chief that day to discuss and sign a contract: he would provide the method of growing vegetables and the initial cost of building a greenhouse, and the villagers would need to sell all the vegetables they grew to him at a set price later, and they were not allowed to pass the recipe on to others without permission. Otherwise, they would need to pay compensation in silver. If they could not afford it, they would need to mortgage the land deeds of the same amount in their home to the Jiang family.
Because it involved the long-term supply of vegetables for the restaurant, in order to deter certain people with bad intentions, he deliberately set a higher amount of compensation.
As expected, when the issue of compensation for breach of contract was raised, many villagers backed off. For a moment, no family was willing to cooperate with the Jiang family.
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