By the time they had recruited the guards and waiters at the restaurant, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month had already passed, and the fourth brother was about to leave for the caravan. Xu Qinyu also went back to Yuanbao Town to check on Xu Ji. Xu Ji now had many cooks, so she didn't need to worry. Even if she was away for ten days or half a month, the restaurant would still operate as usual and be full of guests.
Xu Qinyu stayed in Raozhou City temporarily. There were too many follow-up matters at the restaurant. In addition to recruiting people, she also had to inspect the house after it was almost built, and move the furniture, kitchen utensils, decorations and other things in. The money for these kitchen utensils, furniture and decorations had only been paid half.
She and her fourth brother initially lived in the Bafang Inn. Later, when Mrs. Lu learned that she would stay in Raozhou City, she specially vacated a two-story house for her to live in on weekdays, so that she wouldn't have to live in the inn all the time.
Xu Qinyu thanked Madam Lu.
She basically has to stay here to guard from behind.
Over in Yuanbao Town, after Fourth Brother left, Wen Shi must have been worried about Yu Niang staying alone in Raozhou City, so she went to Raozhou City with Yu Niang. On weekdays, when Yu Niang went out to do things, she would also follow her.
When Xu Qinyu was busy on weekdays, it was Wen who cooked, washed clothes and took care of her.
Because she not only has to do these things, but also has to teach the ladies how to massage their muscles and bones. This is also hard work. She has to massage them, teach them to recognize the meridians and acupoints, and let them practice with each other. This basically takes up a whole day. Fortunately, these ladies are very serious about learning.
Two months later, the restaurant and the house outside the city were built, and the women had almost learned everything.
Gong Ge'er has basically taught all the guys how to do it.
After the house is built, you can move in after putting all the furniture and other things in.
The houses here are all built with bricks and tiles, and the interior decoration is all handmade with solid wood. No glue is used, which is environmentally friendly. It is also not like in later generations where people dare not live in the house after it is decorated and have to ventilate it for half a year or a year, otherwise it will cause great harm.
Xu Qinyu was too busy to handle all the subsequent matters by herself, but with the help of Gong'er, Tao Qi and Wen, she finally got them all done.
After the restaurant was built, the craftsmen and laborers were no longer needed. They were paid their wages and went home. Only a small number of people were left to move things in when the time came.
These craftsmen and laborers were also very happy. After working here for half a year, each laborer earned several taels of silver, and the craftsmen's monthly salary was basically two or three times that of the laborers.
After all the furniture was put in place, a gardener was hired to help take care of the garden and plant flowers and plants.
However, it will take at least two or three months for these flowers and plants to grow lush. Now, except for some rockery and transplanted trees, the house seems a bit empty.
Another month passed, and it was almost the end of spring, and everything was almost ready.
The silver Xu Qinyu had on her was almost enough.
Because Xu's Restaurant still had an income of three thousand taels of silver every month, and Ning Jie'er also gave her all the money she had saved, so the subsequent money was enough.
Over at the restaurant, there is a large six-story attic restaurant that is more spacious than the largest restaurant in the city, and there is a huge courtyard at the back.
The courtyard is connected to the back room.
Whether it is a restaurant or a house where guests stay, there is a back room.
The back room is also much larger than the ordinary back room. It is where the employees of the restaurant and the house live. It is a row of rooms, each with four bunk beds. In addition, there are four cabinets for the employees to store their clothes and belongings. They are all equipped with locks, so there is no need to worry about theft.
The guys felt more at ease when they saw that the places they were given to live were so nice.
For the past two or three months, everyone has been feeling uneasy. They know the owner is a good person, but if there is no business, it is useless no matter how good the owner is, because they have never seen anyone open a restaurant outside the city.
Xu Qinyu is temporarily assigned as a waiter at the restaurant. Everyone has two days off per month and takes turns to rest.
In addition, the hot springs on the mountain were also dug up. Before leaving, the fourth brother specially left a mark on the mountain to tell Xu Qinyu which place to dig.
The hot spring had been dug up some time ago, and the hot spring water gushing out of the spring inside also made the villagers in Raozhou City and nearby very curious. They didn't know why the owner of the restaurant dug an underground hot spring water. You know, this stuff can't be drunk. Drinking it will cause heartburn and vomiting.
It became even more strange when I saw that the owner of the restaurant had a pond built on the spot where the hot spring was on the mountain, and that the spring water was bubbling in the pond.
Later, it was natural to connect the hot springs on the mountain to the hot spring pools at the foot of the mountain.
Behind the houses for both the female and male guests, there is a separate courtyard. That is the hot spring pool built by Xu Qinyu. The hot spring pool is made of some large stones that were cut and then polished. It is relatively non-slip, but it must be cleaned regularly on weekdays.
This courtyard is built in a relatively secretive way. In addition to the courtyard wall, there is also a wooden frame covered with curtains. There are also many natural large trees outside the courtyard with lush branches and leaves, which provides excellent privacy.
There is an open-air pool for men.
This is also because women in this era were treated more harshly, and women's bodies were usually not allowed to be seen by outsiders.
You know, there isn't even a bathhouse for women here.
Girls are not allowed to wash in public bathhouses because they are afraid that others will see them and ruin their reputation.
Xu Qinyu actually didn't think it was a big deal. The hot spring pool was quite secluded, and the people who came to soak were definitely girls. But she was also worried that the girls would be embarrassed to soak together. So, for the female guests, Xu Qinyu provided a large bathtub in each room. On weekdays, they could go to the pool, fetch hot spring water, and pour it into the tub to soak in, which would have the same effect.
Although the waiters on the female guests' side are all women, there is absolutely no outsider to be seen. Even the guards are some women who are skilled in martial arts specially hired by Xu Qinyu.
Although the men's side was also protected by a courtyard wall, there was no wooden frame built on top of it.
The hot spring pool is relatively large and has running water. The hot spring flowing down from the mountain will naturally continue to flow. If the pool cannot hold the water, it will overflow, so it will not get dirty.
The temperature of the hot spring water on the mountain is about 60 degrees, but after being connected by bamboo, the temperature is only about 40 degrees, which is just right for soaking in the hot spring.
As for the female guest, Xu Qinyu had thought more carefully about the room and other aspects, and the furnishings in the room were more exquisite and elegant.
Xu Qinyu even thought of hiring a doctor to sit in the restaurant, just in case the guests came to visit during the day and felt unwell.
On the other side of the lake, Xu Qinyu specially planted a lot of lotus seeds and released a lot of fish fry. Although there are many wild fish in it, in case people come to fish for fun in the future, some fish fry still have to be released, and it is about one batch a year.
In addition, there is a small workshop next to where the female guests live, which is specially used to make rouge, powder, fragrance and cream.
Three months ago, after Ying Shuchang knew that Xu Qinyu came to Raozhou City, she met with Xu Qinyu and discussed with her about coming here to be the shopkeeper.
The restaurant has separate areas, and the shopkeeper who receives the female guests is Ying Shuchang.
The male guest is Gong Ge'er.
Gong Ge'er didn't like to be the chef, so he usually helped Xu Qinyu run errands. Now that Gong Ge'er had grown up, Xu Qinyu asked him to take Tao Qi and others to take care of the men's side.
Ever since Xu Qinyu met Ying Shuchang last year when she wanted to buy land at the foot of the mountain outside the city, she helped him get back the family property left to her by her parents. She then sold all her family property and donated it to the military camp, where she was protected. She has been living in a small courtyard in the city for the past few months. Although the Ying family still harasses her from time to time, wanting to ask her for the recipes of incense and rouge and powder, she refuses to even see the Ying family.
Since she was going to be the manager of the restaurant, a month ago, after the restaurant was built, Ying Shuchang brought Nanny Zhang to live in the workshop, and also brought the dog that was raised in the small courtyard.
The workshop hired two young ladies to help Ying Shuchang make rouge, powder, cream and incense.
This month, I made a lot of rouge, powder, cream and incense, enough for the female guests to use for a while.
At the restaurant, the stove, various kitchen utensils, kiln, etc. are all ready.
Even the ingredients are ordered from the city and delivered every morning.
At the beginning, Xu Qinyu didn’t order much ingredients because she was worried that there would be little business.
She knew very well that there would be no business at the beginning, and the money earned from Xu's Restaurant might have to be reinvested in the early stages.
After everything was ready, Xu Qinyu chose an auspicious day to open the business.
Three days later is a good day, and Xu Qinyu plans to open the business three days later.
At the restaurant, in addition to Cheng Ge'er, Xu Feng and Da Niu, Dong Qian and Chef Wang also came.
It was definitely not busy at the beginning, so not many people were transferred over.
However, the kitchen helpers and chefs hired by Xu Qinyu still stayed here and had to learn how to cook from Xu Qinyu, Chef Wang, and Dong Qian, and learn all the dishes of Xu's restaurant.
Three days later, it was gone in a flash.
During these three days, Xu Qinyu worked with Wen and others to write a lot of lists.
That is, the flyers of later generations were distributed in the city to the shops and residents on East Street and West Street.
In addition to the menu, the list also states that guests can stay at the restaurant, soak in the hot springs, go fishing and picnic during the day, etc. It also states that for the first half month of opening, the price will be charged at 80%.
When these lists were passed around to many people, many couldn't help but sneer when they saw the dishes listed. "How dare this restaurant? They really dare to list the dishes above. This roast suckling pig is six taels of silver per portion, the bird's nest soup is two taels of silver per bowl, and this thing called Fu Shou Quan is fifty taels of silver per can! My God, this is more expensive than the dishes at Zuixianlou, it's ridiculous. What kind of dishes are these? How dare they charge so much?"
The restaurant opened by Xu Qinyu outside the city has attracted quite a lot of attention. Many dignitaries and wealthy businessmen in the city are quite curious about it. After waiting for more than half a year for it to be built, it is finally completed and ready to open. Look at the menu above, the prices are so expensive that you can't leave.
In fact, the prices of Xu Ji Restaurant's original dishes on the menu are still the same as before, but there are also many new dishes, which are all new dishes that Xu Qinyu has re-prepared in the past six months. The overall price is also dozens to one or two hundred coins more expensive than the dishes of Xu Ji in Yuanbao Town.
Another dish, roast suckling pig, is more expensive and the preparation process is more complicated. Although the ingredients are simple, Xu Qinyu does not plan to sell it too cheaply.
As for the clear soup bird's nest, it is made with the best bird's nest and broth.
To make bird's nest, you must use the best quality bird's nest as the ingredient, and it takes four to five days just to soak it.
Then use chicken soup and many other ingredients to make the broth, and then go through the tedious process to make the clear and sweet soup bird's nest.
Two taels of silver is just one example, which is almost the amount of a bowl.
Moreover, this clear soup bird's nest dish also needs to be ordered several days in advance. If it is just the quantity for one portion, and the order is not accepted, at least ten portions must be ordered.
As for Fu Shou Quan, it is Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. This dish is more expensive, costing fifty taels of silver per can.
There is no way to make clear soup bird's nest and Buddha jump over the wall, as the ingredients themselves are quite expensive.
Buddha Jumps Over the Wall requires a variety of dried goods and seafood, which have to be shipped from the south. They are relatively rare in Raozhou City. Sometimes, even if you make a reservation, you cannot buy all the ingredients and cannot make it.
More than a year ago, Xu Qinyu made the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall for Old Lady Zhu. It took her more than two months to collect the ingredients, and she asked Madam Lu and the caravan from her fourth brother to help her find the ingredients.
So these are considered the most expensive dishes in the restaurant.
There are also some other new dishes, but the prices basically do not exceed one or two taels of silver. However, there are a few other dishes that cost one or two taels of silver.
So when seeing the dishes on the list, most people were a little bit incredulous, wondering if the owner of Xu's Restaurant had something wrong with his brain to dare to sell such expensive dishes. Most people had no intention of leaving the city to come and support the restaurant, thinking that the dishes in Zuixianlou in the city tasted very good already, so why bother coming to a fancy restaurant like this outside the city.
But there are also a small number of people who plan to wait until the restaurant opens and come to try the food. If it is not delicious, they will go back to the city and tell everyone to prevent more people from being cheated.
These people are just curious about the restaurant and don't really want to eat there.
Xu Qinyu didn't explain much.
Three days later, the restaurant opened to the public.
Xu Qinyu, Wen and the restaurant's chefs all still lived in the back room.
At the restaurant, since the waiters include not only men but also some women, the dormitories in the back room are also separate so that they don't disturb each other.
Xu Qinyu built a five-story house for herself, but she has not yet planned to move in. She will wait until her fourth brother comes back and choose an auspicious day, and then they will move in.
At night, Xu Qinyu slept in the back room of the restaurant. She slept in the same room with Wen. She was a little excited and couldn't sleep.
Because this restaurant is also her unfulfilled wish in her previous life, so now in this era and time, she is building the restaurant, and she must be excited.
Moreover, these are all the restaurants have now. In the future, there will surely be more and more entertainment activities. In addition, she also plans to plant more fruit trees on the mountain so that people can pick fruits on the mountain in the future.
As she was thinking like this, Xu Qinyu finally fell asleep.
At the hour of Mao the next day, Xu Qinyu's biological clock made her wake up on time.
Although today is the first day of opening, there is nothing to be busy about as there are no customers for breakfast. This place is outside the city and no one lives here right now, so there is no need to prepare breakfast. We only need to prepare breakfast for the approximately one hundred employees.
For someone like Xu Qinyu, the employee wages and food expenses alone cost several hundred taels of silver every month.
Fortunately, she still had the profits from Xu's business to support her. Otherwise, with only a few hundred taels of silver a month, no matter what era it was, she really couldn't sustain it for a few months and would have to close down.
Xu Qinyu didn't have to prepare breakfast. Chef Wang and Dong Qian prepared it. Because they had to teach the newly hired chefs at the restaurant, the breakfast was all on the menu.
Today's breakfast is raw fish porridge, custard buns, and some vegetarian buns.
We don’t make many custard buns, just one per person, mainly to teach the restaurant’s chefs how to make them.
However, the raw fish congee and vegetable buns are both filling.
Xu Qinyu also had no intention of letting her employees eat coarse food and thin porridge, so that they would not have the energy to work every day, and therefore the food expenses were quite high.
After breakfast, of course I cleaned everywhere, and then there was nothing else to do.
Xu Qinyu also sat under the big tree in the backyard, writing and drawing, preparing some future plans for the restaurant.
Even in the backyard of the restaurant, she planted a lot of flowers and plants, and transplanted a lot of trees, so it will be lush and green in summer.
Around noon, Mrs. Lu from Raozhou City prepared to leave the city with her two good friends and come to Xu's house to play for a few days.
Other people in Raozhou City don’t know how delicious Xu’s food is, but she knows it. In order to eat the food cooked by Miss Xu, she bought a house in Yuanbao Town and lived there for two months to satisfy her appetite. After she came back, she still thought about it from time to time. Now Miss Xu has finally opened a restaurant in Raozhou City. Although it is outside the city, the distance is not far. It is just outside the city and it takes less than half an hour to get there. She is so happy.
Knowing that the restaurant was opening today, I specially invited my two girlfriends to come and enjoy themselves.
The two ladies were of the same age as her, and both had sons, daughters, and daughters-in-law. When they heard that they were going to eat outside the city and stay for a few days, they were a little reluctant and couldn't help but say to Madam Lu, "Li Hua, there are so many fun and delicious things to do in the city. Why don't we go out of the city? It's really remote. Why don't we have dinner early and go back? I feel uneasy staying outside the city."
Mrs. Lu's name was Lu Lihua.
These two ladies, one is surnamed He and the other is surnamed Yu.
He's husband's family is the Earl of Jiyang. She is in her forties and has a grandson at home. Even if she goes out to have fun on weekdays, she usually goes to her friends' homes to have banquets, appreciate flowers, or listen to operas.
The other Yu family ran a money shop in Raozhou City, but it was not a century-old money shop. It was just a money shop in the southwest. They had a very good relationship with Madam Lu and were about the same age as her.
The relationship among the three is the best.
After hearing what He said, Yu couldn't help but nod, "That's right, I also feel uneasy living outside the city, and I feel anxious."
Although there have been no bandits outside the city in recent years.
Just a few years ago, the eldest prince had not yet come to the border town to fight with the Bi Kingdom. At that time, the border town was quite chaotic, and there were bandits outside the city. Ever since the eldest prince severely damaged the Bi Kingdom, the entire southwest has been much peaceful in recent years.
Madam Lu smiled and said, "Listen to my advice. If you don't enjoy the food and entertainment there, we can just go back tomorrow, okay? Besides, the restaurant is right next to the military camp, just a few miles away. There's nothing to be afraid of. Besides, don't you guys occasionally stay at your own farm outside the city for a few days? There's no difference. Just treat it as staying at your own farm for a few days."
She had seen the menu from Xu's Restaurant two days ago and had been thinking about the dozens of dishes and desserts she had never eaten.
Especially the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. Miss Xu had asked her to help find the ingredients, so she was very curious. What kind of food would require so many ingredients? She heard that it would take two days and two nights to make it. Even though it cost fifty taels of silver per jar now, she still wanted to try it, so she made an order with Miss Xu.
But Miss Xu told her that even if she made an order, it would definitely take more than ten days or half a month to prepare the food because the restaurant had just opened and it was difficult to gather the ingredients. She would wait until all the ingredients were gathered and then prepare it for her.
Mrs. Lu was not in a hurry, as there were dozens of other dishes she had not tasted.
So she told Miss Xu a few days ago that she would come over for dinner today and wanted crispy suckling pig, and asked Xu Qinyu to help her prepare two other dishes.
Mrs. He, Mrs. Yu and Mrs. Lu were all true close friends. Seeing that she was in high spirits, they didn't want to say anything else and decided to make plans after they got to the restaurant.
Soon the carriage left the city and arrived at the restaurant.
As soon as you leave the city, you can see the restaurant not far away. It is indeed quite spectacular, with a six-story attic and several huge houses and gardens scattered around it. Halfway up the mountain, you can also see some bamboo pipes winding down.
The entrance to the restaurant is also easy to identify. There is a large stone at the entrance with the four big characters "Xu Ji Restaurant" engraved on it.
After entering, I walked inside and soon arrived at the six-story restaurant.
When Xu Qinyu heard that Madam Lu was coming, she hurried to greet her.
Madam Lu got off the carriage and said with a smile, "Miss Xu, congratulations, I wish Xu's Restaurant a prosperous business."
She also said that she had presented gifts. She had prepared quite a few gifts for Xu Qinyu, all of which were pulled by a carriage at the back. It was a complete set of furniture.
She knew that Xu Qinyu had built a five-story house outside the city and would live there with her family. The furniture inside must not be fully prepared yet, so she gave Xu Qinyu a set of furniture. This set of furniture was made of Huanghuali wood and was quite expensive.
She was not short of money. She made a lot of money from her cooperation with Xu Qinyu in wine making, so she could afford to give away the furniture worth two or three thousand taels.
After Xu Qinyu thanked Madam Lu, she had the furniture sent to her house first.
After the carriages had driven away, Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Ladies, you've all had a hard time on the journey. It's still early, why don't you go to the garden to rest and soak in the hot springs? Then, let me help you relax your muscles and bones, and then take a nap. That's the best way to relieve fatigue."
Madam Lu was still very tempted. She didn't know what a hot spring was, but she had never tried anything that Miss Xu had mentioned. "Okay, it just so happens that we plan to stay here and rest today."
Others helped park the carriage, and others also helped move the boxes and crates that Mrs. Lu brought to Jinxiu Garden.
The house where the female guest lived was called Jinxiu Garden.
The area for men is called Zizhu Garden.
Jinxiu Garden is mostly filled with rockery, ponds, flowers and plants.
There are not many flowers planted in Zizhu Garden, most of them are bamboos.
The restaurant is not far from Jinxiu Garden, about half an hour's walk away.
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