The villagers laughed and laughed until their noses stung and tears welled up in their eyes.
The days that I thought I could look forward to forever suddenly turned into a ray of light.
This beam of light came from the cheerful young girl upstairs. Everyone looked up at the red figure and unanimously recalled the words of the high monk from thirteen years ago. But the youngest daughter of the Su family was more than just a lucky star for the old Su family; she was clearly a lucky star for the entire Shanghe Village.
Although the villagers felt it was a pity that their children were not selected this time, they were not discouraged. If Huaya could open a restaurant in Qingshui County, she could open a restaurant in other counties or even the prefectural city. What they needed to do now was to make their children proud and strive to be selected next time.
And these older generation members, after returning home, must take good care of the vegetable garden. If the vegetables are good, Su Ji Restaurant's business will continue to be good, and their children will be able to work in the restaurant for a long time.
Su Hua stood by the window and saw the villagers standing in the front yard. She quickly called the shop assistant to invite them in.
The hot pot and barbecue stalls in the lobby were already bustling with activity.
Especially at the barbecue stalls, the charcoal fire crackles under the grill, and on the grill, skewers of tender meat slices, fresh vegetables, and various kinds of dried tofu curl gently over the flames, with oil oozing from the surface of the meat slices. The master chef then sprinkles on a handful of chili, cumin, and other seasonings, and the spicy and fragrant aroma immediately makes your mouth water.
The tables in the lobby gradually filled up, and the queue outside the stall stretched as far as the eye could see. The orders for the private rooms upstairs also kept coming in. The master chef, the five young waiters, and Ah Zheng at the stall were already busy.
The villagers, who had been led into the restaurant, couldn't sit still any longer and immediately rolled up their sleeves to help.
At the counter, Su Erhu's abacus clicked away, while the sound of copper coins clattering against silver rang out from Su Baishi's money box.
On the second floor of the restaurant, Jin Yunyang and his group of young men and women each found a private room to sit down. Each private room could accommodate twelve people. However, everyone has their own taste, and after seeing the paintings and poems hanging on the walls of the private rooms, they all rushed to choose the private room that they liked best.
Jin Yunyang sat in the elegant room of Fanglan, looking at the portraits of Loushanhong on the wall, and suddenly chuckled softly.
Besides eating, his only hobby in life was growing flowers. Among thousands of flowers, he loved orchids the most. However, he had never seen the king of orchids, the Lou Shan Red. The closest he ever came was a month and a half ago when he heard that it had appeared in the neighboring Wuxi Prefecture.
When he received the news, he rushed to Wuxi Prefecture, but he didn't even see a trace of Lou Shanhong.
All that is known is that Lou Shanhong was bought by a young man in black, but no one knows the young man's name, where he lives, or anything else.
I thought I would never have the chance to be with Loushan Red in this lifetime.
Unexpectedly, he saw a portrait of Lou Shanhong at Su's Restaurant today. Although it was a portrait, it was almost exactly the same as the description he had seen in the book. Moreover, whether it was an illusion or not, he could smell a leisurely and lingering fragrance of orchids, which gradually made him feel relaxed.
On the right side of the Loushan Red painting, a piece of running script is even more timeless and elegant: "My spirit is like an orchid, unchanging forever; my heart is like an orchid, steadfast and unwavering."
The waiter brought over a dozen plates of grilled skewers. In the center of the stone table, charcoal fires smoldered, and a hot pot with two broths began to bubble. One side had a milky white beef bone broth, and the other side had a bright red beef tallow broth. Slices of meat and other offal tumbled in the pot, and an irresistible aroma gradually filled the entire private room.
Jin Yunyang swallowed hard. He had only gotten the black gold card to give Qin Yucheng face.
In any case, three thousand taels of silver was nothing to his family. Whether they came or not in the future was not a big deal. But at this moment, he felt that the three thousand taels of black gold card was exceptionally worthwhile.
His family happens to have a courtyard near Tongxin Lane. He is determined to come to Fanglan Yajian every day for the next month, until he gets tired of looking at it and eating at it!
The people at the table were getting a little impatient when they saw that he hadn't started eating.
"Brother Jinyun, are you mesmerized by this delicious aroma today? The waiter just said that these skewers taste best when they're hot!"
"Yes, and the pork intestines in this hot pot are so plump and adorable!"
"I really like these fried tofu puffs and oyster mushroom skewers; they look so tempting. Brother Jinyun is treating us today, so we'd feel bad if you didn't start eating..."
In stark contrast to the bustling atmosphere of Su Ji Restaurant, across the street, Meng Family Noodle Shop's two doors remained open, though a layer of dust covered the doors and tables. The only waiter was dozing off at the counter, his nose twitching occasionally.
Just then, a blue cloth carriage clattered to a stop in front of the noodle shop.
A woman in her thirties or forties got off the car.
Hearing the continuous laughter and noise, she subconsciously looked across the street, only to see a crowd surrounded by layers upon layers of people. A hint of curiosity flashed in her eyes. A month ago, the restaurant across the street was clearly abandoned, but now it was bustling with activity.
And then there's Meng's Noodle Shop right in front of us; it's lunchtime, but there's not a single customer.
The woman frowned, stepped into the restaurant, and saw the waiter still standing motionless behind the counter. She couldn't help but wave her hand in front of him, "Waiter, waiter! Wake up..."
"Who is it?" The moment the voice rang out, the waiter's good dream was disturbed, and when he saw the woman in front of him dressed in coarse cloth, his impatience grew even more. "Auntie, did you call me because you want to eat noodles?"
Would you like a bowl of plain noodles, mutton noodles, or pork noodles?
The woman was infuriated by this attitude, and her smile faded. "I wanted to ask if your manager is here?"
"Our boss is probably back in his hometown right now. He's spent most of this month there anyway." The waiter idly flicked his handkerchief, muttering to himself, his gaze unconsciously drifting towards the street across the street. "The auntie hasn't said what kind of noodles she wants. Plain noodles, mutton noodles, or fresh pork noodles..."
The woman stammered, "Why is your manager always in his hometown? Doesn't he care about the restaurant anymore?!"
The waiter completely lost his patience. "Why are you asking so many questions? Are you here to eat noodles or to have a heart-to-heart talk with the manager? If you want noodles, just say so. If you want to have a heart-to-heart talk, go to the countryside."
"What are you saying? Your manager and I are about to be in-laws. What's wrong with asking him a question?"
Madam Feng blushed at the words, but then straightened her back. "As for you, a shop assistant, how dare you treat your own boss's in-laws like this? If Manager Meng finds out, you might lose your job."
A bowl of plain noodles costs seven copper coins, a bowl of fresh pork noodles costs ten copper coins, and mutton noodles are even more expensive, costing fifteen copper coins. She had just returned from the prefectural city by carriage and had already spent thirty copper coins; her purse was almost empty.
These days, if you go to your in-laws' noodle shop to eat noodles, are you going to charge them money?
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