Chapter 13 smells really good.
The number of people on weekends is indeed greater than on weekdays, and even old streets like Surrey Street, which are gradually declining, have become more crowded.
Gu Qingqiu originally thought that serving nine tables of customers at noon was the peak, but who knew that even more customers would come in the evening.
It was only six o'clock and all seven tables were already full. Luckily, she bought extra ingredients when she went shopping in the morning, and she had prepared a lot of meat and vegetables after a busy afternoon, so she could manage and the speed of serving the dishes was not affected at all.
After one table of customers left, she noticed that the new table of customers were her old acquaintances, Grandpa and Grandma Lin, who seemed to have brought their son and his family to eat.
Gu Qingqiu smiled and went over to greet them: "Hello Grandpa Lin and Grandma Lin, welcome to dinner. Just tell me what you'd like to eat."
Grandma Lin smiled kindly: "Oh, good, Xiao Qiu, your business looks pretty good. I knew with your cooking skills, you wouldn't have to worry about not having customers."
Although she hasn't come to Gu's Private Kitchen to eat these days, she has noticed that whenever the restaurant is open, there are customers sitting inside eating.
Also, when people at the senior activity center mentioned Gu's Private Kitchen and Xiao Qiu, they no longer made sarcastic remarks like before. People who had eaten at the restaurant kept praising the meat dishes, saying they were even better than those in other restaurants.
Some, still somewhat skeptical, changed their minds and said they'd come to the restaurant sometime to try the food;
Some stubbornly refused to believe it, even claiming that those who praised the taste of Gu's private kitchen dishes had received favors from Xiao Qiu, and gossiping that opening a restaurant on Suli Street with such high prices was bullying the old neighbors of Suli Street.
Grandma Lin belonged to the first type of person, and she often praised Gu's private kitchen for its deliciousness. She wasn't worried about those who were skeptical but said they would try it sometime, or those who gossiped and spread rumors; sooner or later they would be won over by Xiao Qiu's cooking skills.
If not, then they are simply unlucky!
Grandpa Lin nodded with a smile: "The restaurant looks much busier now. Luckily we came at the right time, otherwise we would have had to wait in line."
Gu Qingqiu smiled and said, "I'm happy that everyone doesn't mind my cooking skills."
When Gu Qingqiu arrived, Lin Zhongxuan and his wife Xie Yun smiled and nodded as a greeting. They ignored the old lady and the boss's small talk and looked up at the menu on the wall, wondering what to eat.
In the afternoon, the two of them brought their child to visit their grandparents. Xie Yun also bought some meat and vegetables to cook a meal for her in-laws. However, the two elders said that the previously closed Gu's Private Kitchen had reopened and that the food was quite good, so they wanted to invite them and their child to come and try it.
Lin Zhongxuan still had some impression of Gu's Private Kitchen. His mother seemed to get along quite well with the restaurant's owner. When the owners had their accident, the two elders even visited each other in the hospital.
Sure enough, while I was at home, my mom told me again how miserable the former boss's daughter was, how independent she was, how she graduated with a high degree and worked at a publishing house, and how she came back to open a restaurant and is a great cook. Customers who have eaten at her restaurant all say that the food is delicious.
Lin Zhongxuan assumed his parents were just trying to patronize the girl's business, and since they were so enthusiastic, he agreed to have a meal with them.
Xie Yun had no objections at all. After all, she genuinely wanted to cook a meal for her in-laws after buying the meat and vegetables, and the thought was what mattered.
Eating out saves her time; cooking a meal in the kitchen under the scorching heat of the stove in early summer is unbearable, so every meal less is better.
As for the two children, they love eating out the most and keep saying "Grandpa and Grandma, I love you!"
After discussing it with his parents and children, Lin Zhongxuan and his wife decided to order: "Boss, please give us one serving of everything except the lemon shredded chicken, and also bring us a per-person rice dish."
They also asked, and the lemon shredded chicken is quite spicy, so it's not suitable for children and the elderly.
"Okay, please wait a moment." Gu Qingqiu said with a smile after confirming what kind of tea they wanted. After following the usual steps of printing out the order on the computer, setting out the bowls, chopsticks, washing utensils, and a pot of Pu'er tea, she went back to the kitchen to get busy.
Grandma Lin watched Xiao Qiu walk towards the kitchen, then turned to her son and daughter-in-law and said, "Look how clean this restaurant is. Doesn't the aroma from the next table make your mouth water?"
After listening to his mother's words, Lin Zhongxuan looked around the restaurant and then took a sniff of the aroma of meat and vegetables wafting from the surrounding tables. He saw the expressions of enjoyment on their faces and heard their occasional words of praise.
"It's quite clean, and the smell coming from the next table is quite pleasant."
He began to change his mind. Perhaps it was true, as his parents had said, that this girl had excellent cooking skills; after all, the food smelled really good. If it didn't smell good, the restaurant on Suli Street wouldn't be packed with customers at this hour.
Xie Yun nodded in agreement: "Yes, Mom and Dad, it's all thanks to you for bringing us here to eat, otherwise we would have really missed such a delicious restaurant."
She has good eyesight and can see how tempting the meat and dishes at the next table look. The braised pork with preserved vegetables is alright, they'll be able to eat it soon, but the lemon shredded chicken looks so tempting, glistening with oil, but it's something they're destined to miss.
Xiao Yuan and Xiao Mei are second graders and kindergarten graduates, respectively. They are sitting in their seats, looking around and smelling the aroma, saying they really want the food to be served quickly. When they catch a glimpse of the drinks in the refrigerator, they can't take their eyes off them and beg to drink them.
Since they were already out for dinner, Xie Yun allowed the brother and sister to each choose a drink they wanted.
Soon the braised pork with preserved mustard greens was served. The glistening pork was covered with brown preserved mustard greens, which looked so tempting that it made one's mouth water.
Grandma Lin called out, "Don't just stand there, eat up!"
She first picked up a slice of braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens and ate it. It was soft, tender, and savory, melting in her mouth. Both the lean and fatty parts of the pork were delicious, neither dry nor greasy. The pork belly, with its sweet and savory flavor from the preserved mustard greens, was perfect to eat with the freshly served white rice.
Grandma Lin quickly thanked Xiao Qiu and ate some rice with her. With the white rice as a accompaniment, the saltiness of the braised pork with preserved mustard greens seemed to have a purpose, making it much more palatable.
Grandpa Lin tasted the braised pork with preserved mustard greens and praised it, saying, "This dish is good. It's easy to eat and tastes delicious."
Lin Zhongxuan and Xie Yun fell in love with the braised pork with preserved mustard greens after trying it; they never expected it to taste so delicious.
The braised pork belly itself is steamed until tender, and the part that has the best texture is the tiger-skin-like pork skin. You can eat it together with the three layers of fat and lean meat, which is savory and delicious.
Xie Yun doesn't usually like to eat the fatty parts of pork belly, but she loves the lean meat that's moist, tender, and more fragrant. She usually only eats the lean meat and throws away the fatty parts. But this time, she was tempted by the aroma of braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens, so she ate the whole white part of the pork belly without finding it greasy. In fact, she found it quite delicious.
Needless to say, Xiao Yuan and Xiao Mei, children love these strongly flavored meat dishes. After tasting them, they would mix them with white rice and eat them, and then occasionally drink a sip of the iced beverage they chose. They couldn't be happier.
When the garlic shrimp, garlic baby bok choy, and fish head tofu soup were all served, the Lin family members, young and old, ate with even greater joy, forgetting to talk and immersing themselves in the delicious food.
Grandpa and Grandma Lin enjoyed the meal. Xiao Qiu is a good cook, and the ingredients she bought were so fresh that the meat and dishes she made tasted even better. It seems that they should come to the restaurant more often in the future.
They both have pensions, so they can easily afford to come here occasionally to relax and improve their meals.
Lin Zhongxuan and Xie Yun completely changed their opinion of Gu's Private Kitchen. They never expected that Gu Qingqiu's cooking skills would be so good after returning to open a restaurant. The meat dishes were comparable to those of four- or five-star hotels. The prices that were once a bit expensive now seemed too cheap. They would have to come here to eat more often in the future.
They ate with gusto, their mouths dripping with oil. Xiao Yuan and Xiao Mei weren't much better off. They ate a lot of braised pork with preserved vegetables, several garlic prawns, and even almost half a bowl of vegetables that they didn't usually like. There was also a bowl of white rice and a bowl of fish head tofu soup. The children's tender bellies were bulging, and they had to stand up to feel a little better.
The Lin family left satisfied with their meal, and Gu Qingqiu rounded down the bill when it was time to pay. She tried to offer a further discount, but Grandpa and Grandma Lin refused.
The restaurant stayed open until 8:30 p.m. After seeing off the last group of customers, Gu Qingqiu hurriedly closed the wooden door, as there were no ingredients left in the kitchen.
She wasn't in a hurry to tidy up the table; instead, she stood by the cashier and checked the receipts on the computer.
One advantage of using a computer to place orders is that every order a restaurant makes can be specified down to the time, the dishes, and the bill can be automatically calculated. You can also see the total revenue with a single click.
In the evening, a total of twelve tables of customers were served. The tea fee was three yuan per person. Including tea and beverages, the total revenue was three thousand one hundred and sixty-three yuan.
Including the nine tables of customers served at noon, the total turnover was 2,433 yuan, which means the turnover for the day was 5,483 yuan.
The cost of the ingredients purchased in the morning was naturally higher. Gu Qingqiu looked through the payment records on her phone and entered them into the computer to record them. There were more than 1,800 yuan, which means that the profit for the day was more than 3,600 yuan.
This was a considerable income, and Gu Qingqiu was very satisfied with it, feeling that her hard work all day had been worthwhile.
She smiled and subconsciously stretched her arms and legs to relax. To be honest, holding a spatula all day was quite tiring, and her hands and feet were a little sore.
But seeing these profits makes it all worthwhile!
She sat down to rest for a while, then cleared away the dishes and wiped the table. She went to the kitchen to wash the dishes and pots, then put them in the sterilizer to disinfect them, and then cleaned the kitchen.
After finishing her work, Gu Qingqiu went upstairs to the second floor, turned on the air conditioner in her room, grabbed her clothes, and went to take a shower. She felt much refreshed after the shower, and was so comfortable that she could just lie down on the bed. She picked up her phone and checked WeChat, but there were no messages.
Her parents don't have many relatives. Her friends from her school days have barely kept in touch since she started working. Her close roommates' group chat has also grown cold a year after graduation. Her colleagues are just casual acquaintances, and she's even less likely to contact them after resigning. These past few days, she's barely received two or three messages a day on WeChat.
Gu Qingqiu didn't care about this. After so many years in the cultivation world, she had long since learned to be alone and could live comfortably by herself. Sometimes, insincere social connections were completely unnecessary.
It's not like she doesn't have a social life; she talks a lot while entertaining customers during the day.
Finally, it was time to rest. Instead of browsing Weibo and Xiaohongshu, Gu Qingqiu downloaded a recruitment app, registered, and posted a job posting.
Now that the restaurant business is stable and the income is good, she naturally needs to find herself a helper. Otherwise, it's too tiring to be busy buying and cooking meat and vegetables, and also to wash dishes, wipe tables and clean the restaurant. She simply can't take it long enough.
The primary goal of making money is to improve one's quality of life; she doesn't want to exhaust herself.
This employee is responsible for cleaning the restaurant in the morning, serving customers, taking orders on the computer, and serving dishes during lunch and dinner hours. After customers leave, they are responsible for collecting dishes and wiping tables. After lunch and dinner, they are responsible for washing dishes, cleaning the kitchen and dining area.
The workday is divided into two shifts: 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM and 4:30 PM to 9:00 PM. The monthly salary is 5,500 yuan, and the employer provides social insurance and housing fund, as well as two meals a day.
The salary was decided by Gu Qingqiu after careful consideration. Salaries in Suli Street are generally not high, and 5,500 yuan plus social insurance and housing fund is considered a very good benefit. If you do well, the benefits can be increased in the future.
With this in mind, she set an alarm for herself, planning to find time to go to the street-level Party and Mass Service Center to register for flexible employment, and then register her flexible employment social security and medical insurance deduction information, so that the fees could be automatically deducted every month.
After finishing all that, Gu Qingqiu began to relax and scroll through her phone.
The night in Suli Street was quite lively. The nearby neon lights were on, and the fried skewers and barbecue shops were enjoying their peak business. People were leisurely eating skewers, drinking, and chatting. But all of this had nothing to do with Gu Qingqiu, who was curled up in her air-conditioned room, lying in bed and scrolling through her phone.
She enjoys her time alone and relaxing.
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