Chapter 185 Drunken Prawns with Dipping Sauce [First Update]...
Wu Na stood excitedly in the crowd; it had been almost a year!
God knows how she got through that year!
Since working a summer job at Wenji last year, Wu Na has never tasted the owner's cooking again!
Many people may only vaguely feel that Wenji's dishes are not as good as the legends say, but for Wenji's old customers, after eating Wen Fan's cooking, eating other people's dishes is like heaven and earth.
For a whole year! Wu Na would miss the taste of Wenji every few days.
Now, we've finally seen Wenji renovate and upgrade.
Seeing Wen Fan standing under the plaque, Wu Na felt a surge of excitement.
She took out her phone to take a picture when someone accidentally pushed her, and the person quickly apologized.
"...It's you!"
Yang Tao greeted Wu Na with a cheerful smile: "Long time no see!"
Wu Na smiled slightly, recalling how Yang Tao used to deliver food two years ago.
Logically, since he no longer delivers food, he shouldn't be so dishonest, but the opposite is true!
Yang Tao is so dark-skinned, it looks like he just came back from Africa!
Wu Na held back for a moment but couldn't help but ask, "Why are you so dark-skinned?"
Yang Tao chuckled: "I'm traveling all over the country these days, the UV rays are really strong."
His restaurant review account skyrocketed in popularity, and in recent years he has become a well-known online celebrity. Yang Tao finished his civil engineering courses this year and finally obtained his graduation certificate after much hardship.
Sure enough, his mother called him and said that Wenji was reopening, urging him to come back and support them.
"Have you graduated from university yet? Have you found a job?"
"Found it, it's a hospital internship."
"That's great! Which hospital?"
"The People's Hospital."
...
Yang Tao and Wu Na both found the topic boring, but strangely, neither of them finished talking. They just stood there awkwardly, trying to have a proper conversation!
Wen's mother was chatting with Feng Huijuan, Song Hui, and Yao Qingqin at the door. Yao Qingqin nudged Wen's mother and gave her a wink.
Wen's mother smiled and tugged at Song Hui's arm.
After closing her stationery store, Song Hui went out quite often, sometimes alone, and sometimes with her son. However, she clearly knew the importance of sun protection and didn't get as tanned as Yang Tao.
Seeing her son chatting with a girl, Song Hui's eyes lit up, and she grabbed Wen's mother's hand: "I told him to wear sunscreen properly but he wouldn't listen... Now he's as dark as a black egg!"
Standing next to a girl, someone who didn't know better would think he was a reporter interviewing coal miners.
Afraid of interrupting Heidan's conversation, Song Hui quickly pulled Wen's mother into the store.
There were so many people today, not only many, but also a mountain of flower baskets piled up at the entrance.
Aside from those who sent gifts from people he was on good terms with, Wen Fan's classmates and regular customers almost all sent gifts.
After greeting her friends, Wen's mother invited them to a private room.
"We'll eat lunch here. Xiao Fan will be cooking today."
Just like when people move house, they need to start cooking; when a new store opens, they also need to warm up the stove.
On the first day of business for the Wen family, apart from the few private rooms that had been reserved, the remaining private rooms were all arranged for friends.
Han Lulu entered the private room and immediately began shouting excitedly.
Wow! This decor is so high-class!
The private rooms were neat and tidy, each with a window and several potted plants on the windowsill.
Qin He sat calmly in her seat and teased Han Lulu, "Stop jumping around, wait a bit before turning on the line."
After finishing her senior year of high school, Han Lulu got double eyelid surgery, and also had laser treatment to remove the freckles on her cheeks that, while not affecting her daily life, did affect her appearance.
Han Lulu sat in her seat, prying open her eyelids to show Qin He: "No, it's almost completely healed. Look at it, it looks so natural!"
He Yuzhen, who was sitting two seats away, had also had double eyelid surgery. Soon after, the two of them got together to share their experiences.
Qin He found it fascinating; in less than a month, all her classmates seemed to have undergone a complete transformation. The boys had styled their hair, and the girls had started paying more attention to their outfits. With their new clothes, their youthful energy was impossible to hide.
...However, the topic hasn't been changed yet.
Which school are you planning to apply to?
"The scores haven't come out yet, let's talk about it later!"
"Fang Weiyue went abroad. That's strange. If she decided to go abroad a long time ago, why was she still preparing for the college entrance examination?"
"She went abroad on a full scholarship, and it seems she's not from the same place as Fu Chuan?"
"Who knows? I heard that Fang Weiyue's father went bankrupt. If he hadn't, she probably would have been released by now."
"Her dad is something else. He doesn't seem to know his daughter is gone. He went to the school a few days ago to look for Fang Weiyue but couldn't find her, and he made a huge fuss. Apparently, he keeps telling her to go back and get married. Tsk tsk, what era are we living in? Still so feudal."
“I heard that her father went bankrupt because her grandfather donated a large sum of his estate when he passed away. Her father was furious and kept cursing Fang Weiyue.”
"Why are you scolding Fang Weiyue? It's not like she asked her grandfather to donate it."
"Yeah, she's crazy. It's a good thing Fang Weiyue ran away! Good riddance! Her dad used to be so arrogant at parent-teacher conferences, but he'd fawn over Fu Chuan like a king."
"Fu Chuan isn't having an easy time either. His father's affair caused the stock price to plummet and the cash flow to dry up."
"...Hey, isn't it a bit unlucky to talk about Fu Chuan? Let's not mention it."
...
"Hey Qin He, you must have it much easier than us, right? You got a direct admission, I'm so envious of you."
Qin He: "...I'm going back to school next month."
Students: ...
Qin He said expressionlessly, "The teacher told me to go and register early."
"...Where is the class monitor? Can someone call and urge him?"
"Want me to come with me to the bathroom?"
"I'm so hungry, when will the food be served?"
Qin He's words almost gave everyone psychological trauma. They had finally made it through their senior year of high school, and now they had to study hard to get into college.
It's terrifying to even think about!
Qin He accepted the offer well. She was admitted to university through a special program in the second semester of her senior year, based on her ranking in a math competition. She had a relaxed period in the last few months of her senior year, but with a major like math, the next four years would undoubtedly be incredibly tough.
The group chatted and laughed. Wen Fan reserved two private rooms for them, but everyone insisted on sitting together. The new waiter couldn't handle it, so he called Du Min over.
Du Min immediately changed the group to a private room with three tables, enough to seat more than thirty people.
Wen Fan greeted us before serving the dishes. Stepping inside felt like returning to a classroom, a scene of utter chaos.
"Wen Xiaofan is here!"
"You look beautiful in that red dress!"
"Wen Xiaofan, I want to eat braised pork!"
Wen Fan: "I told you not to call me Wen Xiaofan... There's braised pork."
After greeting his friends, Wen Fan came out and saw Ji Baiyi again. Grandpa Duan and the Qu family were also there today, so Ji Baiyi was naturally seated at that table.
However, Ji Baiyi didn't act like a guest and went to help in the kitchen after only sitting for a short while.
Seeing him carrying a tray, Wen Fan joked, "What? Haven't you had enough of being a part-time waiter yet?"
Ji Baiyi laughed: "Yeah, let's ask if we still need summer jobs this summer."
Wen Fan glanced at his watch; time was almost up. He tossed out a "Yes!" and hurried off to the kitchen.
Ji Baiyi said something in a low voice, but Wen Fan didn't hear it clearly.
Wen Fan quickly entered the kitchen, changed his clothes, and stood in front of the stove, a surge of heroic spirit rising in his heart.
Besides Xiao Ge and Master Da Jin, Wen's father and Du Min were also dressed in chef's uniforms. There were also several young people who looked very young. These people were all there to be apprentices, and were nominally Wen's father's apprentices.
Facing such a well-equipped kitchen, Wen Fan finally rediscovered the thrill he once felt when he was directing the imperial kitchen.
"Let's begin."
...
Wearing sunglasses, Su Tiantian mingled in the crowd and queued for a long time before finally managing to enter her reserved private room.
Once inside, she quickly took off her mask and hat.
"So many people."
Her agent, sitting across from her, rolled her eyes: "Knowing that many people are going to come and eat, what are you waiting for in a few days?"
Su Tiantian: "No way! I want to eat here on the first day!"
The door creaked open, and this time it was the director of the variety show who rushed in, also wearing a hat in a sly manner.
"Hey, there are so many people."
The agent quickly stood up to shake hands, her words full of gratitude: "Thanks to you for recommending our Tian Tian to the station this time. Don't worry, we will definitely cooperate with the program filming in the future!"
The director waved his hand: "It's nothing, it's nothing."
Zhou Xuanli was exposed last month when four girls came forward to expose him, causing his reputation to collapse completely. This also affected several episodes of the show, which had to be edited frame by frame. The station was furious and replaced him without hesitation.
When the director heard about the change of actors, he remembered Su Tiantian, who had performed well on the show before. He quickly finalized the selection, and Su Tiantian started filming last week.
Today, it was Su Tiantian's agent who made the reservation, just to thank the production team.
Soon after, several assistant directors from the production team arrived.
At the same time, Wenji started serving the dishes.
The waiter brought out two plates of cold dishes.
"Hello, marinated freshwater prawns, served with dipping sauce."
The so-called "drunken" flavor is more palatable than simply drunken shrimp. A dozen or so giant freshwater prawns are deveined and soaked in Shaoxing wine for several hours, allowing the shrimp meat to absorb the flavor of the marinade. The sweetness of the shrimp meat intertwines with the rich aroma of the wine, while the Shaoxing wine locks in the shrimp's freshness, resulting in a robust and fragrant dish.
As soon as the food was placed on the table, the agent couldn't help but swallow. Although she knew that Su Tiantian had a high opinion of the dishes, the agent always felt that it wasn't a big city, so how good could it be?
But once the plate of drunken shrimp was served, she couldn't take her eyes off it.
The aroma of the wine wafted into her nose, and she managed to resist saying a few polite words. Just as she raised her glass, she saw the director's eyes light up.
"Eat first, eat first!"
The chopsticks precisely caught one of the shrimp.
Upon first taste, the initial sensation is a sweet aroma mixed with the scent of alcohol; the sweetness of the marinated shrimp is the first thing one notices, followed by a rich blend of spices. Peeling back the shrimp shell reveals sweet and firm shrimp meat inside, with even a faint hint of plum!
The director narrowed his eyes.
"fragrant!"
The heads of giant freshwater prawns have roe, which turns a reddish sunset orange-red after soaking for a long time. The roe is so fresh that it makes your eyebrows twitch.
Su Tiantian had no idea about dieting and looking good on camera; she was so eager to eat the shrimp shells.
The agent looked around; everyone was eating, talking about dinner parties and expressions of gratitude. It seemed only she cared; everyone else had only one purpose.
eat!
But she hesitated for a moment, and the marinated freshwater prawns were gone. She watched helplessly as the group reached for the dipping sauce with their chopsticks. Without further ado, her manager quickly followed suit and started eating.
The name "Zhanpianzi" is incredibly simple. Several ingredients are neatly arranged on a plate. The ingredients are coated with a layer of batter and cooked. That's Zhanpianzi.
Because it was covered in batter, the agent didn't realize he had picked up a piece of cabbage until he took a bite.
After being dipped in the tomato sauce, the sweet and sour flavors enveloped the firm noodles. The cabbage was cooked until soft, but the batter gave it a bit of structure. The irregular noodles were covered in sauce, creating a delightful contrast between the soft, refreshing cabbage and the flavorful noodles soaked in the tomato sauce.
The agent finished eating a slice and then reached for another, picking up a piece of green bean.
The green beans were mostly covered in batter, leaving only a few centimeters of space underneath. Compared to cabbage, the green beans, being vegetables, stood out more. The tender green beans, cooked in hot water, exuded a refreshing aroma. The agent's hand darted to the other side, and the dipping sauce was from a different bowl, clearly spicy.
The tangy and spicy flavor pairs perfectly with green beans, making it irresistible.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the two kinds of sauces.
The dipping sauce Wen Fan served included potatoes, cabbage, spinach, and green beans, which were devoured in the blink of an eye.
The agent was now only regretting that he had missed the drunken shrimp earlier. Looking at the plate of drunken shrimp, even the marinade looked delicious.
Fortunately, the waiter came to serve the food again.
"Camphor tea duck, crispy roasted pigeon."
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Author's note: Sorry for the lateness.
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