Chapter 473 Helped you with marketing
After spending the whole morning together, the two of them had become much more familiar with each other, and their relationship seemed very harmonious. Zhao Xiaojing was amused by their flattery of each other. "You two can't do without each other. You're both the chosen lobby managers of our Xinfuquan Hotel! The three private rooms are all very well decorated. I didn't expect you could get them for just over thirty yuan. But the Jinbangtiming room seems to be a little different from the other two."
"Yes, junior high school students are in the rebellious period. If we make a conventional theme room centered around getting a good score in the college entrance examination, it won't be attractive to them. It's better to cater to their interests and prepare some grains. Maybe they will be happy." After chatting for a long time, Mo Feixiang finally remembered to get down from the ladder. He moved the ladder towards the next window while speaking.
"Millet? What's this new word?" Zhao Xiaojing was very confused.
"It's those 2D merchandise that students love these days. Mr. Mo also educated me about it today. And that blackboard, you definitely don't understand it either, do you?" Nian Fusheng held onto the ladder, watching Mo Feixiang ascend while smiling at Zhao Xiaojing. "Mr. Mo said it's a favorite among middle school students. With the blackboard, they all rush to leave messages and draw on it, and even compete to draw their favorite anime characters. They can have fun for ages!"
Zhao Xiaojing immediately gained new insights.
"Hey, you don't have to cook?" Nian Fusheng asked again.
"Ah, my soup is simmering in the pot. I thought you two were busy setting up and didn't have time, so I asked Mr. Nian if I could help you with the red beans and hawthorns. I'm going to make some side dishes soon anyway, and I was worried you might be pressed for time. I forgot to mention that I'm actually pretty good at making soup dumplings and sweet soups. If you need dough or something, tell me what you need, and I should be able to help."
Mo Feixiang was in charge of the red case, and his series of preparatory work had been divided among everyone, but Nian Fusheng was a top talent in the white case. Although everyone knew some of the white case skills and could do it well, they could not compare with the chefs who specialized in white case. Therefore, Nian Fusheng did not ask everyone to help share the work. Everyone was afraid of messing up, so they tacitly did not bring it up.
Zhao Xiaojing was also lacking in confidence at first, but seeing that the two of them had been preparing for so long, she was afraid that Nian Fusheng's case work would be delayed. She thought carefully about the ingredients Nian Fusheng asked her to buy, and felt that helping to make the dough or process the ingredients would not be technically difficult, so she spoke.
"Oh, it's already one o'clock. I've been so busy without realizing it." Nian Fusheng looked up at the clock. "Time is a bit tight. If you have time, please help me soak the dried hawthorns. Then wash the red beans, add water and freeze them. Also, wash the red dates, cut them open and remove the cores. It's a lot of work, so I'm really sorry to bother you."
"It's a small matter, no trouble. But now that you remind me, shouldn't we have lunch?" Zhao Xiaojing also glanced at the time and remembered that she hadn't had lunch yet.
"I didn't realize it at first, but now I'm actually a little hungry." Nian Fusheng touched his stomach belatedly.
"Then I'll go cook first."
Back in the kitchen, the fat man's pork belly had been marinated, and Lu Pengyun's scallion oil had been boiled. A bowl of each was placed in front of Zhao Xiaojing's workbench. The dry ingredients for the frying oil were also wrapped in gauze and placed in a basin as Zhao Xiaojing requested. Zhao Xiaojing took a look at it with satisfaction and was about to ask for everyone's opinions to start cooking. When she turned around, she found that the rice had been cooked without her knowing. She took another look and saw that Lian Yulan had finished frying a pot of vegetables, and another pot was almost done in the pot.
"Deputy Captain, please go out and call President Nian and President Mo. Dinner will be served soon. We just agreed to have a simple meal in the kitchen and then continue working."
"Oh, okay." Zhao Xiaojing, who had just walked into the kitchen, walked out of the kitchen quickly.
Lunch was very simple. Two large dishes were prepared, one for meat and one for vegetables. One was stir-fried shredded potatoes and the other was stir-fried pork slices with lettuce. There was not only food for the eight of them, but also for Gu Yanghui and his friend.
Ten people gathered around the empty workbench to eat, without saying a word to each other. They quickly finished their meal in ten minutes, and Gu Yanghui and his duo, who were either getting something for free or on their way to getting something for free but didn't get much of a bargain, cleaned the workbench and washed the dishes.
"Are they so self-conscious?" Zhao Xiaojing, who was surprised but didn't ask, quickly chatted with the fat man after returning to the stove.
"How is that possible? This is Nian Yulan's request. This is the condition for them to eat here. If they were so self-aware, they wouldn't have come to me to trick me." The fat man snorted disdainfully.
"What are you trying to get me to say?"
"I want to find out if the brine you make is worth three cents, whether it's easy to make, and whether I can replicate it myself. I also want to lower my price. I want three cents to let me give him the glazed pigeon, haha."
"Did you agree on the last five points?" Zhao Xiaojing asked without any surprise.
"Yes." The fat man smiled like a fox.
The 80-point Jiangnan Hundred Flower Chicken I mentioned to the two of them earlier was just a metaphor; I hadn't actually intended to make it for him. Not only was Jiangnan Hundred Flower Chicken difficult to make, but making an extra chicken wasn't as simple as adding another dish. Even if he did, his 2888 yuan banquet price wouldn't cover his profit margin, and he'd still have to deduct points, impacting the entire team's score.
So what Fatty really planned to make for him was actually the Glazed Pigeon, which was slightly cheaper in price and also more complicated to make, but still required much less effort than the Jiangnan Hundred Flowers Chicken.
These ten squabs, three for each, could be divided into four equal parts, making twelve pieces each, just enough for a standard banquet for ten people. They had one for each of the Hua Hao Yue Yuan and Jin Bang Ti Ming tables, and their first choice for the remaining four was to give three to Gu Yanghui to split the bill, but if they couldn't agree, that was fine. After all, with eight people here, half a pigeon per person would be just enough for themselves.
"Oh, I also helped you market it. I showed off the vegetables you bought to him and showed him the butter I ate from my chicken. I told him that if I had to choose, I would definitely buy vegetables from you and it would not be unfair to you. You didn't see how dark his face was at that time." The fat man added a few more words as he fried spices that Zhao Xiaojing didn't recognize in the wok.
"Then he must think we are ripping him off." Zhao Xiaojing glanced at the time, poured the ribs into a large basin to soak in the blood water, looked around, washed her hands and prepared to start helping Nian Fusheng process the ingredients.
"If he really knew what he was doing, he would have known I wasn't cheating him. If a chef doesn't even have this much discernment, then this top 50 is just too good to be true."
"That's true. It depends on whether he's willing to spend that little bit of money for a convenience."
Zhao Xiaojing didn't care much about what she said. After she finished speaking, she turned around and went to the specially designated area for white bread. She rinsed the dried hawthorn slices and red beans twice, soaked one in water, and put the other in the refrigerator with water.
Hawthorn and red beans are used by Nian Fusheng as pastry fillings, specially prepared for the Songhe Changchun table.
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