When Xu Qinyu and her group arrived at the restaurant entrance, the three waitresses had just arrived.
The three of them greeted Xu Qinyu, all looking very excited.
Xu Qinyu looked at the sign on the restaurant that was still covered with red cloth, walked up and pulled off the red cloth, revealing the four big words "Xu's Restaurant".
Wen, Ning Jie'er, Cheng Ge'er and Gong Ge'er were so excited that their faces turned a little red. Xu Qinyu didn't show any emotion on her face, but she was deeply moved in her heart. She walked forward and opened the door of Xu's Restaurant. The tables, chairs and benches inside were clean and neatly arranged.
Xu Qinyu turned around and smiled, "The restaurant is officially open today, everyone should go back to their work."
The three waiters had nothing to do for the time being, so they went to the backyard to help.
Xu Qinyu has a lot of things to do, and even Cheng Ge'er can't help much. Xu Qinyu has to do all the kneading of the dough by herself. Even a simple kneading of the dough, such as how much water to add and how many times to add it, and the strength of kneading, will affect the taste of the final noodles.
Cheng Ge'er also washes and cuts vegetables.
There wasn't much the others could do to help. They just helped boil water, sweep the floor, fetch water, and put the snacks Xu Qinyu had packed into the big steamer.
They didn't need to help with the rest of the time when looking after the steamer. Xu Qinyu just smelled the food and knew when it was best to turn off the fire.
Everyone is full of energy.
Time passed by unknowingly.
Restaurants and hotels are usually the first to open at the market, but no one would come in for breakfast at this time.
Other shops gradually opened their doors and resumed normal business at 3:15 am, waiting for customers.
Although most rouge, powder, cloth and jewelry shops open at 3:15 am, they only have time to stroll around the market and do some shopping after all customers have finished their breakfast.
So even though all the shops and vendors in the market had come, there were still not many customers.
Fan Cuifang, the female owner of the rouge and powder shop next to Xu Ji Restaurant, came over slowly at three quarters past noon.
She was the owner of a rouge and powder shop, and usually earned two or three taels of silver. She was a widow who had fled to the southwest ten years ago to escape famine. All her family and children died in the famine. She was lucky enough to be saved by the wife of a wealthy man.
Later she stayed with the wife of the official to help.
The wife of a wealthy man owned a shop that sold rouge and powder. She was also good at making perfumes. The rouge and powders were added with the perfumes she made, which made them more popular with customers. The wife of a wealthy man was also very kind and paid her to help her make the perfumes.
Later, the wife's business grew bigger and bigger, so she moved to Raozhou City and opened another rouge and powder shop, but the store in Yuanbao Town was still open, so she continued to stay here as the shopkeeper.
She worked as a shopkeeper in the shop, with a salary of three taels of silver a month. In addition to her perfume-making skills, she also received a red envelope every month. It depended on how much the rouge and powder shop could sell each month. The more she sold, the more red envelopes she got. Sometimes she could get four or five taels of silver, and sometimes she could get two or three taels.
Because not every rouge and powder is suitable for adding the fragrance she mixes.
She could earn about seventy taels of silver a year.
She bought herself a small house with two entrances and a maid. The maid was only seven or eight years old when she was bought, so it was more appropriate to call her a daughter. Now she is eleven or twelve years old, and she and the maid depend on each other on weekdays.
Fan Cuifang was considered a wealthy person in Yuanbao Town, so she usually ate breakfast outside, and occasionally took her maid out for dinner.
After opening the shop, Fan Cuifang went to get water and sweep the floor, but she smelled a strong aroma, a mixture of milk, meat, and noodles. It should be that the nearby restaurants or snack stalls were preparing breakfast.
"Strange, why does today's breakfast smell so good?"
Fan Cuifang was a little surprised. It was so fragrant. She had never smelled such a fragrant breakfast before.
Could it be some new food made by someone?
As she was thinking this, Fan Cuifang suddenly remembered that there seemed to be a new restaurant next door, run by a young cook in her teens. She vaguely remembered that it should have opened in the past few days. Could it be the restaurant next door that opened? Was this aroma coming from next door?
Fan Cuifang went out and took a look, and found that the door of the restaurant next door had just been pushed open from the inside. It was a woman who looked older than her, with a gentle face and beautiful features. When she saw her, she nodded slightly at her.
The restaurant next door really opened.
She was so hungry just by smelling the aroma. Could it be that the little cook had found the head chef?
That doesn't make sense. I saw a notice at the door of the restaurant recruiting kitchen helpers, but there was no sign of recruiting a head chef. Could it be that there already is a head chef?
She really couldn't believe that a fifteen or sixteen-year-old cook could make breakfast with such a delicious flavor.
Just by smelling the aroma, she couldn't wait to go in and taste what the breakfast was like, it was so tempting.
It wasn't just Fan Cuifang who thought this way; the owners of other shops around had similar ideas.
Almost everyone in the market knew that a new restaurant was about to open, but no one thought much of it. They thought that this new restaurant would be like the previous two and would close down within a few months. After all, the food business was not easy to do, unlike a small food stall, where costs were low and losses were not a big deal.
The restaurants and taverns along this market all joked that the location was unlucky and that they couldn't serve food there.
I thought the same would happen with the restaurants this time around, and everyone was looking forward to when they would open and close, with some even placing bets on how many months it would take for the new restaurants to close.
I heard that the bet was made in a small casino nearby.
There are actually quite a few people who go there to gamble.
Xu Qinyu naturally didn't know about this. She was busy for more than an hour and finally put all the steamed food into the steamer.
This was also because she worked efficiently. In addition, there were many stoves and kitchen utensils on the stove. While she was cooking the pig intestines, she could also braise the pig intestines and braised meat on another stove, and prepare the fillings for shrimp dumplings and steamed buns at the same time. That was why she was able to finish the work in more than an hour.
The rest is the raw fish congee and fried noodles.
The fish fillets have been processed and marinated, and the noodles have been rolled and cut. Everything is ready and can be made as soon as a customer orders.
Only then did Xu Qinyu go to let Wen see the door of the restaurant and officially open it!
It's probably around nine o'clock now.
There were already some customers arriving at the market, but they were all here for breakfast.
There are many wealthy businessmen on West Street. Although some of them are also workers, their wages are not bad, so they often come out for breakfast.
When these guests arrived at the market, they smelled a fragrance that included the aroma of flour, meat and milk, which was particularly tempting.
The aroma was different from anything they had tasted before, and they couldn't help but look around.
"What a smell! It smells so good."
"Is there any restaurant or bistro that has new breakfast food?"
"Let's go and look for it."
After seeing the woman open the door to the restaurant, Fan Cuifang couldn't help but go over and ask, "Is this the restaurant open?"
She looked up at the sign again, Xu Ji Restaurant.
Although the plaque was hung yesterday, it was covered with a red cloth and the name of the restaurant was not clear. But when I saw it today, I found that the restaurant is quite famous.
Wen smiled and said, "Xu's Restaurant just opened today. For the first three days, whether you eat breakfast or dinner, you only need to pay 80% of the bill."
Yu Niang said this is called a discount and it can also attract customers.
Fan Cuifang's rouge shop was too close to the restaurant, and she couldn't stand the fragrance at all.
She walked over and said with a smile, "Can I go over and order some food and have it delivered to the rouge and powder shop next door?"
She was the only one in the shop and couldn't leave because the door was still open. He was afraid that if she went in to eat, the things in the shop would be stolen.
Wen nodded gently, "Of course you can."
Fan Cuifang followed the woman into the restaurant. It was clean and bright inside. It had been completely renovated. The environment alone made people feel comfortable.
Everyone likes this clean and bright place to eat.
Wen led the customer to the counter and pointed to the left side with a smile, "This is the breakfast area. Our breakfast includes custard buns, steamed buns with milk, small steamed buns with braised pork, glutinous rice and pork intestines, shrimp dumplings, steamed buns, simmered fish congee, and fried noodles. We also have drinks, soy milk, and milk tea. The prices are listed below."
Fan Cuifang first looked at the breakfast area on the left. There were indeed only these few items, but there were many small wooden signs hanging on the wall on the right with the names of the dishes on them. It should be the evening food area.
She looked back to the left and saw prices under each wooden sign.
Except for the milk buns which cost five cents per small basket, all others cost ten cents per small basket. The raw fish porridge and fried noodles are also eight cents per portion.
The two drinks, soy milk cost four cents and milk tea cost eight cents.
Soy milk is common, but a bit pricey because it has sugar. It's usually three cents a bowl outside, but here it's one cent more. And what about this milk tea? Eight cents a bowl?
Wen said, "These portions are not large. There are about two shrimp dumplings in one serving, and four shrimp dumplings."
The portion is indeed not large, and the price is also on the high side compared to the restaurants and taverns along West Street.
But Wen was confident because Yu Niang's craftsmanship was worth this price, or even a higher price.
Fan Cuifang noticed that she had never eaten any of the food on the table except the braised pork buns, so she couldn't help but ask, "What is this custard bun? How big is one?"
Wen said, "Custard buns are mainly made with milk, eggs, and sugar. The filling is delicate and smooth, sweet but not greasy, and the dough is also rich in milk flavor."
As he said this, he compared the size of the custard bun to the customer.
Fan Cuifang was surprised: "So small?"
Each one is not even as big as her fist, which is a bit expensive. From the description, it seems that they are buns with sugar filling. There are sugar buns for sale outside, and each one is only two cents, but there is very little runny stuffing inside.
And those pig intestines, aren't they pig offal? Not many people buy them at one or two coins per pound, yet here they're selling them for ten coins a piece with some glutinous rice. From what the restaurant owner said, it's just two small pieces.
Those shrimps, river shrimps don't seem expensive either...
Raw fish congee, the price of fish is even cheaper...
Fan Cuifang hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't help but order a custard bun and a porridge with raw fish slices.
The main reason is that she likes to eat light breakfast, or drink some porridge.
A custard bun costs ten cents, and a bowl of porridge with raw fish slices costs eight cents, so with a 20% discount, it's fourteen cents, and every tiny change has to be eliminated.
Mrs. Wen asked, "The raw fish congee will take fifteen minutes to make, but the custard buns are ready to eat now. Do you want them to be served together, or should you send the custard buns first?"
"Let's send the custard buns over first."
Fan Cuifang couldn't wait to try what was different about this sugar bun.
"Please wait a moment, sir."
Not long after Fan Cuifang returned to the shop, she saw another woman in her thirties wearing a headscarf, carrying a small steamer. She smiled and said, "Sir, these are our custard buns. Please enjoy them. I'll come back later to collect the steamer."
After the woman left, Fan Cuifang couldn't wait to take a look at the custard buns in the small steamer.
They were small and delicate, a little smaller than her fist, with a milky white outer skin. They smelled different from ordinary sugar buns, full of milky fragrance.
She couldn't help but pick one up and take a bite. The dough was fluffy and full of milk flavor, without any fishy smell of milk. As soon as she bit it, the warm, delicate and smooth sugar filling flowed into her mouth. This sugar filling was completely different from ordinary sugar fillings. The aroma of custard and egg yolk was very rich, and the sweetness was just right. It was not as greasy as sugar buns.
Looking again, the filling is golden and the color is very beautiful.
There is plenty of filling inside.
The sugar buns sold outside are almost all filled with sugar, which can be eaten in one bite, and the rest is white dough.
The custard buns were so delicious that it made Fan Cuifang's scalp tingle.
She had eaten at all the restaurants and hotels in Yuanbao Town, big and small, but she had never eaten anything as delicious as this.
If this was really the food made by that young lady, she would know why she was so confident at the time.
The two custard buns were quickly eaten.
Fan Cuifang was not full at all. She couldn't help but touch her stomach and lick her lips. It was so delicious. She wanted to order all the snacks except the fried noodles, but there was also the raw fish porridge. If she ordered all the snacks, she would definitely not be able to finish the raw fish porridge.
Forget it, let’s wait until tomorrow.
Order all the snacks tomorrow.
While Fan Cuifang and others were enjoying the raw fish porridge, diners from the market also came to Xu's Restaurant one after another.
"Xu's Restaurant?"
"It was the guy who rented this place a few days ago and was planning to open a restaurant. I heard about it."
"Yes, I heard that some people are betting on how many months this restaurant can stay open."
"Didn't this restaurant hire a kitchen helper before? I know Chef Liu, the one who used to work as a kitchen helper at Donglaiju. He worked there for several years, but he didn't learn much, so he quit. When he was taking a break, he saw this place looking for a kitchen helper and was offered a cooking lesson. Chef Liu thought that since he dared to teach a kitchen helper, the head chef of the restaurant must be a famous chef, so he went to the place listed on the notice. Guess what happened!"
"What's wrong?" Everyone became curious.
The man said, "The young lady who greeted Chef Liu was about fifteen or sixteen. Chef Liu asked her questions for a long time, and finally respectfully asked who the famous chef was. The young lady actually said it was herself."
Everyone burst into laughter.
"Is this young lady trying to play a trick on Chef Liu?"
"I'm not sure about that. Anyway, Chef Liu was furious when he returned. He even said he would never come to this restaurant to eat or help in the kitchen again."
Regardless of whether the young lady was teasing Chef Liu, everyone became curious about Xu's Restaurant. They were curious about who the chef was and whether the fragrance was created with something special or was really emitted by the ingredients themselves.
No matter what, I plan to go in and try it first.
If it doesn’t taste good, I won’t come again.
The group entered the restaurant and nodded at the environment. At least they were very satisfied with it.
Seeing that there were guests, Yuan, Chen and Fang came over immediately to greet them.
The three of them are waiters in a restaurant, so naturally they have to receive customers.
"Guests, what would you like to eat? Come over here and take a look. This is the breakfast area."
One customer couldn't help but ask, "Why are both the waiter and the shopkeeper women?"
Mrs. Chen was straightforward and said with a smile, "Our head chef is a young lady, so the waiters we hired are also women like us. Whatever the guests want to eat, our young lady's cooking skills are really amazing. I guarantee that everyone will want more after eating it. It will definitely be delicious."
"Oh, you're still such a boaster."
Some customers were dissatisfied, thinking that the praise was too much. If it was really a girl of ten years old, no matter how delicious the food was, she would have to start cooking at the age of five, washing, picking and cutting vegetables, and then become the chef. She would only be able to cook for a few years.
After cooking for a few years, I'm afraid I'm not even as good as a chef in an ordinary restaurant.
Chen was a little dissatisfied. They knew best how good Miss Xu's cooking skills were.
I wanted to say something, but these were all guests and I couldn't be angry with them.
Chen could only put on a smile and said, "Would you please order some food to try?"
"Just give it a try," the customer snorted. "We're all regular customers at this market. If it doesn't taste good, your restaurant's reputation will be ruined."
Chen also wanted to snort, but she held it back and just laughed.
The customers came to the counter, saw the breakfast items, and started talking again. "What kind of food is this? I've never heard of it. Forget about the custard buns in the front, and the glutinous rice and pork intestines in the back. How dare they sell pig offal for ten cents a portion? And the river shrimp and fish, aren't they all cheap food? And how much is this portion?"
Wen said gently, "There are two in each serving, and four shrimp dumplings."
Upon hearing that the portion was very small, the customer became increasingly dissatisfied.
"You really think we're being taken advantage of! You dare to sell two small candies for ten cents, and also these offal and fish and shrimp that no one wants to eat."
"That's right, how about we change one now?"
“But it also has a really strong fragrance.”
When is the smell strong? It is mainly these aromas that attract them, especially when they enter the restaurant, they can't help swallowing their saliva.
"Forget it, let's try something. I want a basket of small braised pork buns, a basket of steamed buns, and a bowl of oil-splashed noodles. I've had noodles before, but what are oil-splashed noodles?"
"Then I'll have some to try, too. I quite like sweets. I'll have a basket of custard buns. I want to see what they are. I'll also have some shrimp dumplings and a bowl of fish porridge."
"Then I'll order glutinous rice and pork intestines and steamed buns with milk. Do steamed buns need some porridge to go with them?"
Wen said, "Our milk buns are always served with a bowl of porridge and a dish of pickled vegetables."
The guest finally nodded in satisfaction, "Okay, then these two."
Several other guests followed suit and ordered almost every breakfast item.
But no one has ordered any drinks yet.
However, one customer was curious about what milk tea was. He learned that it cost eight cents and tasted rich, mellow and sweet. The customer liked sweets, so after thinking about it, he ordered a bowl of milk tea.
After learning that they had to pay first and being told a few words by the guests, they finally paid first.
Except for the fish porridge, the other breakfast dishes were served quickly.
The guests were quite satisfied as they saw the breakfast being served in small steamers.
"Don't mention it, this is the first time I've seen this way of eating breakfast. They even brought the little steamer to you."
When the guests started eating, they were shocked by the taste and said in disbelief: "This, this taste..."
The taste is completely comparable to its fragrance, and it is indeed delicious.
"Is this really made from pig intestines? Why is it so delicious? Fragrant and sticky, with a strong meaty aroma, without any offal smell at all."
"Is this a shrimp dumpling? It's so beautiful, crystal clear, you can even see the filling inside, and it's made of whole river shrimp. Let me taste it first."
Xu Qinyu also added spring bamboo shoots to her shrimp dumplings. The shrimps were fresh, and the spring bamboo shoots were also fresh. The collision and combination of the two freshest ingredients were so delicious that when they entered the mouth, you would want to swallow your tongue.
"Here, give me two baskets of shrimp dumplings! They're so delicious."
"Is it really that delicious? Then give me a basket of shrimp dumplings to try."
In the end, almost everyone had a basket of shrimp dumplings.
The small steamer that had been removed was sent back to the kitchen for cleaning. Xu Qinyu put the shrimp dumplings that had been wrapped earlier in the steamer and continued to steam them at the bottom of the steamer.
No matter what breakfast you eat, it is delicious.
"Even this congee and side dishes paired with the steamed buns have a unique flavor. The steamed buns are soft and delicious, with a light milky aroma. Then, a sip of the congee gives off a strong rice aroma, and the side dishes taste sour, crisp, and refreshing. Oh, it was our fault just now. We shouldn't have doubted her cooking skills."
"And this milk tea is really delicious, better than anything I've ever had before, so mellow and rich."
"It's more than just delicious. It's the most delicious and satisfying breakfast I've had in the past ten years."
"Indeed, I'm afraid the breakfast prepared by the imperial kitchen in the palace in the capital is no more than this."
Wen smiled when he heard this.
Even the cooking skills of the imperial chefs in the palace cannot compare to Yu Niang's.
In fact, she couldn't help but feel a little strange. Yu Niang's cooking skills were truly formidable. She was only fifteen or sixteen years old, but she was already so good. How come few people in the capital knew about it?
But Xuan Ge'er told her that everyone has their strengths, and Yu Niang just happened to have an extremely terrifying talent in cooking. The reason she was not famous before was because in the capital, the Dechang Marquis's Mansion was an aristocratic family, and they would not let the girls in the mansion go out to be cooks.
"The price is indeed a bit higher than other restaurants and small hotels, but it's really worth it. I've also eaten at Donglaiju, and the breakfast there is even more expensive than here. To be honest, the white-case chefs there can't compare to the white-case chefs here."
Everyone nodded, they had basically eaten at Donglaiju.
"Is this really the work of that teenage girl?"
Everyone still couldn't believe that it was a girl in her teens who made such a delicious dish.
If other diners hadn't arrived one after another, they would have wanted to wait until the young lady came out to ask her.
The person who knew Chef Liu couldn't help but mutter, "If these breakfasts were really made by the fifteen or sixteen-year-old cook that Chef Liu mentioned, Chef Liu must be regretting it to death."
Diners came one after another following the aroma.
Xia's sister-in-law also brought Shao Ge'er, Xiao Cui and Zhuzi to the restaurant to eat.
After she finished eating, she had to help her master take some food to the shop.
Even Xu Yunlan and Yang Zhizhi brought their families over for breakfast.
It's just that Xu Kongmu and County Magistrate Yang didn't come. If they had come, it would probably alarm many people.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
