Chapter 20 020 Sesame Leaf Tofu Soup, Sesame Sauce Chicken Rice Noodles [...]
After the lunch rush, Wen's mother looked somber.
She didn't mind when business was bad or life was tough. But suddenly facing the darkness of human nature made her feel terrible.
Wen Fan brought out a pot of sesame leaf and tofu soup and served a bowl to his mother.
The aroma of sesame whetted Wen's mother's appetite, and she realized that she had been so busy that she hadn't even noticed she was hungry.
Wen Fan said softly, "Lunch will be simple, just some soup. I made a few roujiamo (Chinese hamburgers)."
The roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) uses pork belly from a braising pot. Large pieces of meat are tied up to prevent them from falling apart and then boiled in the braising liquid until thoroughly cooked. After being taken out, it is minced and mixed with diced green peppers. Because it's for family consumption, the meat is stuffed in generously, making the roujiamo bulge out, with juice practically oozing from the bottom of the flatbread.
With a crunchy bite, the crispness of the sesame flatbread and the rich aroma of the meat blend together in your mouth, making everything else seem insignificant.
Then, take a sip of sesame leaf tofu soup, and the hot, fragrant aroma will rush down your throat.
Yang Tao's eyes widened; he had never tasted this soup before!
Wen Fan: "This is what my dad said, and this is what I did."
Knowing that his wife was in a bad mood, and remembering how they used to work in the city and often made this soup for her when they returned to their rented room, Mr. Wen was reminded that he often made this soup for her.
He told his daughter about it, and she easily made a soup that was a hundred times more fragrant than the one he had made before.
There were two clumps of dried sesame leaves in the refrigerator, bought in the spring. Soak the dried sesame leaves in water until softened, then add seasonings and mix well. Next, dry-fry flour in a wok until it turns slightly yellow. Then add water to make a paste. In a separate wok, heat oil, add scallions, ginger, garlic, and five-spice powder. Once the water boils, add the sesame leaves and diced tofu, stir-fry the paste, season, and then add some sesame paste and crushed peanuts. Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.
This soup doesn't look particularly appealing, but once you taste it, the rich aroma of sesame explodes in your mouth like fireworks. The sesame flavor is so intense that it travels all the way to your stomach.
The refreshing aroma of sesame leaves, the caramelized fragrance of crushed peanuts, the tender smoothness of tofu, and the rich and flavorful broth.
After drinking a bowl of soup, Wenmu was fully recovered.
As she ate her food, she said, "I've thought about it, we won't lower the price."
If she lowers her prices every time others start a price war, isn't she just being led by the nose?
Besides, Mrs. Wen felt that she hadn't lost any money selling it for fifteen yuan!
Mr. Wen slammed his hand on the table: "I think so too!"
Mother Wen: "Even if we don't lower the price, we can't just sit here and wait to die. We still need to think of something to do."
Father Wen: "I think so too!"
Mother Wen: "Xiao Fan, Xiao Tao, and Xiao Yu, what are your thoughts?"
Wen Fan said lazily, "Let her be, it won't make any difference anyway."
Her skills speak for themselves; she refuses to believe that anyone who eats her food can eat someone else's.
It's only a summer vacation; it won't even last half a month before they collapse.
Yang Tao, on the other hand, advocated a tit-for-tat response: "I just want to promote her, how can you do this!"
Yang Tao was determined to have a serious talk with his biological mother, Song Hui. Although they didn't have any special relationship, it was rare to see someone on the same street directly stealing business like this. Sun Mengyun and her husband were really unethical.
Qu Xiaoyu also quietly offered to help distribute flyers while delivering food; since the other party had already done it, the Wen family should too.
Wen Fan's eyes flashed: "She really picked up a sesame seed and lost a watermelon. It's easy for her to change her ways now, but it will be difficult for her to change back."
Mother Wen:......
Yang Tao immediately perked up: "That's right, she sells set meals, we'll sell rice noodles! Our sister's rice noodles will definitely taste better than theirs!"
Wen's mother hesitated for a moment.
What she couldn't understand was this: Sun Mengyun kept complaining, why couldn't she just buy a few meals to try? If she had tasted them herself, she would know that there was no future for any restaurant on this street that sold the same food as hers!
She's now given up rice noodles to do something else, and it won't be so easy for her to switch back.
Is this okay?
"What's wrong with that? If she does it on the first day of the month, can't we do it on the fifteenth? I think she doesn't want to sell rice noodles anymore, so let's do it!"
Wen's mother felt a little sorry for them. They had all run small businesses before, and by doing this, they had cut off all their escape routes.
Father Wen: "Let's not do that."
Yang Tao exclaimed, "Uncle, don't suddenly become a saint!"
Mr. Wen said helplessly, "What saintly father... I think it's too much of an honor for them to make rice noodles just for the sake of the competition."
"Making rice noodles requires changing the stove, and Xiao Fan has to worry about how to modify the recipe. Even the takeout boxes have to be prepared separately. We've finally settled down, and we're already too busy to handle everything. Adding another thing like this, with so much extra work, just to drive them off this street?"
Father Wen shook his head: "They won't succeed sooner or later, so why bother dealing with them?"
Qu Xiaoyu remained silent for a long time before suddenly speaking up: "Uncle is right. Our goal is to cross the river, not to fight crocodiles."
Several people suddenly stared at Qu Xiaoyu in disbelief.
Qu Xiaoyu's face suddenly turned bright red: "I...I just saw it online..."
Yang Tao patted Qu Xiaoyu on the shoulder silently: "I almost made you the Philosopher King."
However, Qu Xiaoyu's words did calm everyone down.
Only Wen Fan stood there dumbfounded.
Throughout her life, no one ever told her that the goal of life is to live a good life, not to fight with bad people.
These words were like a wake-up call for her. Back in the palace, infighting had become a survival instinct; everyone wanted to step on others to climb up themselves. Even she had moments when she resorted to unscrupulous means.
This is why she instinctively wanted to retaliate against Sun Mengyun and her husband.
Because in that cannibalistic place, if you don't eat others, others will eat you.
Ultimately, she also died in such a struggle.
She once thought that her excellent cooking skills would allow her to avoid trouble, and that as long as she climbed up the ladder, no one could bully her.
But in the end, it turned out that it was all in vain.
After a thousand years, she finally understood a truth.
The problem isn't anything else, but the environment that puts a group of people in a jar and forces them to fight.
Mother Wen made the decision: "Then forget it, let them do as they please."
Yang Tao smacked his lips: "I'm just afraid that if we don't intervene, others might have their own agendas."
Sun Mengyun and her husband's rice noodle shop does good business on this street; otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to stay open for three years without going out of business.
Now that they've given up their business, someone has to come in to fill the void.
Yang Tao grinned mischievously at Wen Fan and said, "Little sister, shall we have rice noodles tonight?"
To scare the couple and also to remind them.
Wen Fan:......
I did make rice noodles that night.
Yang Tao proactively ordered a bowl of rice noodles from a nearby chain restaurant for Wen Fan to try; it was a chicken rice noodle dish.
A layer of red oil floated on the thin rice noodles, and a spoonful of small pieces of chicken was added. It was supposed to be chicken soup, but Wen Fan took a sip and spat it out.
"It wasn't freshly made."
Yang Tao was unsurprised: "Of course, these kinds of shops sell chicken soup powder. Just put it in, stir it up, and it becomes chicken soup. Add some high-tech rice noodles, and you'll be hooked. I used to crave it if I didn't eat it for a month."
Wen Fan couldn't understand, but showed respect and pushed the bowl of "tech rice noodles" in front of Yang Tao.
"Dad, go buy a chicken this afternoon."
If you're going to do it, do it properly. Rice noodles don't need to be made fresh, but chicken soup always needs to be freshly made.
****
Sun Mengyun fanned herself, beaming as she saw the notifications on her phone.
"I told you, this place really does generate orders."
A meal set costs ten yuan, which is cheap enough and much cheaper than takeout.
So many parents joined the group because of the price. There were also some students preparing for exams who were struggling financially, so the cheap packages were naturally very appealing to them.
In just one morning and noon, there were already more than a hundred people in the group.
Sun Mengyun beamed as she received the money, but when she saw her husband's gloomy face, she tossed the fan she was holding to him.
"Look at you, so useless!"
Wu Daneng was restless, constantly peeking out and cautiously watching the Wen family's shop.
While such competition for business may not lead to any serious consequences, it often ends in a fight or a verbal altercation between the women.
He was waiting for Wen's mother to come over and start yelling at him.
Sun Mengyun didn't care about any of that and rolled her eyes: "If she comes to insult me, I'll insult her back! What's wrong with that? Can't I change my own business? If she's capable, she's naturally not afraid of me squeezing her out. If she's not capable, she deserves to be squeezed out."
Wu Daneng couldn't quite put his finger on it. Sun Mengyun's words seemed to make a lot of sense, but he still felt that something was off.
“I saw that the Wen family served cold dishes and braised dishes yesterday.”
Sun Mengyun said confidently, "It's no big deal. Let her sell for a few days. If it sells well, we'll join in! We'll still be cheaper than them!"
Even if it's cheap, there's still money to be made. With the Wen family having paved the way, Sun Mengyun was determined to carry out the plagiarism to the end.
Wu Daneng looked worried: "All you do is talk, what are you going to do with tomorrow's meal?"
He's not good at fancy dishes; he can cook simple home-style meals, but the flyer says that no pre-made dishes are needed, everything is freshly made. Isn't that making things difficult for people?
Sun Mengyun: "It's no big deal. Just do it casually. What more do you want for ten yuan? You don't need the best rice. Just buy some cheap rice. Go pick out the leftover vegetables this morning. Tomorrow, I'll make braised chicken. There's plenty of frozen chicken at the frozen food market."
Wu Daneng hesitated and said, "Will this work? People these days are very picky."
You can tell if rice is fresh just by tasting it.
Sun Mengyun looked at him as if he were a fool, then took something out of her pocket and threw it on the table.
"You really think all stores use new rice these days? They all use this!"
Wu Daneng picked it up and saw a bottle labeled "Rice Flavoring Essence." He unscrewed the cap, and a strong aroma of cooked rice wafted out.
It's so thick it's disgusting.
Sun Mengyun: "My sister-in-law's braised chicken shop uses this. Let me tell you, you only need a few drops of this stuff, and the aroma of the rice comes out; you can smell it as soon as you walk in. My sister-in-law said that's how it's done now. Why do bakeries smell so good? Most of them put flavoring on the mop, and as soon as they finish mopping, the whole room smells like cake. I also brought some back with me; remember to add it tomorrow."
Wu Daneng was amazed.
Sun Mengyun said smugly, "Don't worry about it, everyone does it this way!"
These days, do you really think you can make money through hard work and diligence? Don't dream about it. Without taking a shortcut, how can you make big money!
Sun Mengyun happily went to prepare her things.
She also posted tomorrow's menu in the group chat.
Braised chicken, stir-fried pork, and blanched vegetables.
Sun Mengyun hummed a song and could get more than a hundred orders a day. How could she not make 30,000 to 40,000 a month?
As for the shop, she can change it back when school starts.
She'll see which of Wen's products sell well and add them to her own menu. Price wars may be shameful, but they're actually effective.
However, by evening, Sun Mengyun could no longer laugh.
Wen Fan made a big pot of chicken soup rice noodles.
Whether intentionally or not, Yang Tao's mother took her rice bowl and went to chat with someone at the jianbing (Chinese crepe) shop next door.
"Wow, Xiao Fan's cooking is really good. The rice noodles are delicious."
The aroma of chicken soup wafted over, and Sun Mengyun's face instantly turned ugly.
But Song Hui seemed oblivious, and even shared a small bowl of the jianbing (Chinese crepe) with the owner.
"Try it, this soup is freshly made."
In a large bowl of golden chicken soup, thin rice noodles sank to the bottom, topped with stir-fried shiitake mushrooms and diced chicken. Wen Fan generously piled each bowl with ample toppings. A few specks of black scallion floated beside the chicken, the glossy scallion oil and vibrant green chives floating on the surface. A layer of crushed, reddish-brown fried peanuts was sprinkled on top, followed by a spoonful of sesame paste.
This bowl of sesame sauce chicken rice noodles is so delicious that the aroma alone is irresistible.
"Some people steal other people's business, little do they know that other people's skills are much better than theirs."
"If you fight and fight, you might end up with nothing."
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