Chapter 17 Braised Beef Brisket with Dried Tofu Skin, Steamed Scallops with Garlic and Vermicelli...
Upon entering the shop, Gu Qingqiu greeted the middle-aged woman, "Please sit down. What's your name?"
The middle-aged woman was a little reserved, but she tried her best to put on a better smile as she looked at the young boss.
“My name is Zhou Ronghua, I am 45 years old, and I live near Suli Street. I saw your job posting this morning when I came to Suli Street, but it wasn’t open yet, so I thought I’d come over at noon to ask about it.”
Gu Qingqiu nodded: "Then I'll call you Sister Zhou. Sister Zhou, have you done similar work before?"
Speaking of her past jobs, Sister Zhou was a little more confident: "When I was young, I worked in the kitchen of a restaurant in my hometown. In recent years, I have been doing dishwashing and similar jobs at a noodle shop on Jianghai Street nearby."
"It's just that people order more takeout these days, and that restaurant owner isn't very good at online things. Plus, there's not much foot traffic on Jianghai Street anymore, so they don't need to hire so many people to work, and that's why they fired me."
As she finished speaking, her voice trembled slightly as she tried her best to explain why she was unemployed, fearing that her boss would dislike her for it.
She's looked for a lot of jobs in the past two months, but either the salary wasn't right, or the bosses thought she was too old and said there must have been a reason why her previous restaurant fired her, or the bosses thought her previous restaurant wasn't doing well and were afraid she'd bring bad luck to their restaurant.
Sister Zhou carefully observed the young boss's expression, afraid that she might show the slightest dissatisfaction.
Gu Qingqiu nodded to indicate that she understood: "I have written the working hours, responsibilities, and benefits in the announcement. Can you accept this?"
Sister Zhou nodded hurriedly: "It's acceptable. The working hours and the work are much easier than at the noodle shop I used to work at, and I'm very satisfied with the salary."
She understood the meaning behind the young boss's words and became very excited.
She is divorced from her husband and now has a third-grade daughter. She needs money for everything and can't afford to be single for too long. She urgently needs to earn money to make a living.
Moreover, what she said was true. Because the noodle shop was busy from morning to night, she had to stay in the shop from 6:30 in the morning to 8:30 in the evening. She only earned 4,500 yuan a month, and naturally, she didn't have social security or medical insurance.
My daughter, who is only in the third grade, has already learned to wake up to the alarm clock every day, eat the breakfast that I have prepared in advance, and go to school by herself with her schoolbag because of my work.
Sister Zhou really likes the working hours at this restaurant. This way, she can have breakfast with her daughter, take her to school, and then come to work at the restaurant. Plus, there's not much work to do; it's even less than at the noodle shop.
The salary here is high, 5,500 yuan, including two meals a day, and social security and medical insurance are also paid!
She thought that many companies couldn't offer such a salary and benefits, and she was even more eager to get the job.
Gu Qingqiu asked a few more questions and was quite satisfied with Sister Zhou's answers: "Welcome to join our Gu's Private Kitchen. There's a one-month probation period, and we'll be paying your social security and medical insurance this month. When can you expect to start work?"
Sister Zhou was delighted to hear this and quickly nodded and smiled, "Thank you, boss. I can start work today, right now."
Gu Qingqiu had an idea and immediately agreed: "Okay, today is the 16th. We get paid on the 1st of each month for the previous month. Come to the kitchen, I want to talk to you about washing the dishes."
"Okay." Sister Zhou quickly stood up and followed the boss into the kitchen.
She noticed that the kitchen area was quite spacious, with the stoves and sinks facing the dining area, allowing customers outside to see what was happening in the kitchen at any time.
The dishwasher, sterilizer, and dish and plate storage cabinet, along with a steamer, are located towards the back of the kitchen.
The sink is spacious and divided into two areas. The height is just right so you can wash dishes standing up without bending over too much. Otherwise, if business is good, you won't be able to straighten your back after washing a batch of dishes.
Gu Qingqiu explained: "In our shop, after closing for lunch and dinner, we need to wipe the tables and wash the dishes. After washing these bowls, plates and chopsticks are placed directly in the disinfection cabinet for disinfection. Before the next business day, these bowls and chopsticks are placed in the dish cabinet in the dining area."
She then taught Sister Zhou some of the function buttons on the disinfection cabinet.
"Okay, boss, I've got it all." Sister Zhou nodded in response. She rolled up her sleeves, put on dishwashing gloves, and stood in front of the sink to start washing the dishes.
Gu Qingqiu was even more satisfied to see that she washed the dishes with a good attitude and quick hands and feet.
Seeing that Sister Zhou was wearing the same dishwashing gloves she used to wear, which looked a little tight on her arms, she said, "Sister Zhou, why don't you find some time to buy a suitable pair of dishwashing gloves? I'll reimburse you."
"No need, no need, boss, I'll just pay for it myself," Sister Zhou replied, her hands still busy washing dishes.
Gu Qingqiu insisted, "It's alright, these are work tools after all. Dishwashing gloves are also easy to wear out. You can buy some later and I'll reimburse you."
Sister Zhou then agreed.
Gu Qingqiu watched for a while, then simply went outside to sit and play on her phone.
Having someone else help makes all the difference; otherwise, she'd be struggling to wash the dishes in the kitchen right now. But wait, I usually only wash the dishes after I've woken up.
In short, having more people to help makes the day much easier, Gu Qingqiu thought to herself as she relaxed and started scrolling through her phone.
After Sister Zhou finished washing the dishes, Gu Qingqiu said, "Your rest time is usually from when you finish washing the dishes until 4:30 in the afternoon. You can rest here in the restaurant, but there are no beds for you to sleep on. You'll just have to rest here on the table. If you live nearby, you can go home to rest and come back when it's time."
Sister Zhou thought for a moment and said, "Boss, I'd better go home and rest. I'll definitely come to work on time this afternoon."
She can go home, take a nap, and then cook dinner for her daughter when she gets home from school. Unlike at the noodle shop, where she works from morning till night and has no time to take care of her family.
Gu Qingqiu nodded: "Okay, see you this afternoon."
Then, as if remembering something, she asked, "You have a health certificate, right?"
"Yes, yes." Sister Zhou hurriedly took out her health certificate from her pocket and showed it to the boss. "It's right here."
Those working in the catering industry all need a health certificate, which she brought with her when she went out for the job interview at noon.
"Okay, no problem. You can go back now," Gu Qingqiu said.
Sister Zhou smiled and said, "Then, boss, see you this afternoon."
After Sister Zhou left, Gu Qingqiu closed the wooden door, went upstairs to her room, and turned on the air conditioner. She had already scrolled through her phone enough in the main hall, so she wasn't thinking about it now and obediently closed her eyes for a nap.
After waking up from her afternoon nap, Gu Qingqiu found herself with a more relaxed time than usual. The dishes in the kitchen downstairs had already been washed, and there was still plenty of time before she could prepare the food for the afternoon.
Thinking that the second floor wasn't usually kept tidy, she decided to organize the things on the coffee table a bit, water the potted plants by the window near the dining table, and then sweep and mop the floor.
After a flurry of activity, Gu Qingqiu was covered in a light sweat, and the entire second floor looked much cleaner.
She went to the bathroom to get a towel, wrung it out, and wiped the sweat from her face and neck before returning to her room to cool off with the air conditioning on.
I picked up my phone and checked my WeChat Moments. It seemed that a colleague from a publishing house had resigned and joined a more well-known publishing house in Jiang City. The photos and captions he posted had a rather triumphant feel to them.
Without liking anything, Gu Qingqiu exited WeChat Moments. She originally wanted to browse Xiaohongshu, but remembering the girl's suggestion at noon, she decided to download Dianping and start researching.
She registered an account and logged in. After browsing through the posts, she found that quite a few people were posting notes and recommending food.
It might be a location issue, but the first things that pop up are restaurants nearby, including those in Shenghui Plaza and Yongrun Plaza, as well as those near Suli Street.
Surprisingly, Old Wang's Home-Style Restaurant on the street has received quite a few positive reviews, mainly praising its affordable prices and delicious taste.
Gu Qingqiu tried ordering from some restaurants in Shenghui Plaza and found that they not only had various dish recommendations and customer reviews, but also some group-buying coupons, which were cheaper than ordering on-site.
There is also a queuing function, which allows customers to queue online before arriving at the store and see the current queue status in real time before going to the store.
Just as the young girl said, there is indeed a display of business hours. For example, if a restaurant is open now, its logo will show "Open for Business".
The queuing function seems quite difficult to operate at the moment, since the queuing status needs to be updated in real time. Gu Qingqiu plans to use the business hours display function first.
She exited the current page and went to the merchant registration page to fill in the restaurant's information.
This also requires submitting the store's business license, etc. Gu Qingqiu went to find them, took photos and uploaded them. As for the store's profile picture, she simply went downstairs to the entrance, took a photo of the front of Gu's Private Kitchen, and uploaded it. She also uploaded the address in real-time location.
After confirming that all the information was filled in correctly, Gu Qingqiu clicked upload and then waited for the review.
She stayed in the room for a while longer before turning off the air conditioner, going downstairs, leaving the wooden door open for ventilation, and then going into the kitchen to prepare meat and vegetables for dinner.
There was still some time before 4:30 when Sister Zhou arrived. Seeing no one in the main dining area, she went into the kitchen and greeted the owner, "Boss, I'm here. Is there anything I can do for you?"
Gu Qingqiu was chopping pork filling. After greeting her with a smile, he said, "You can sweep the floor of the dining area and then sit down for a while. You'll be busy serving customers when the restaurant opens."
"Okay, I'll go sweep the floor now," Sister Zhou replied.
She went to get a broom and started sweeping the floor in the dining area. Occasionally, she would catch a glimpse of a slender, busy figure in the kitchen and couldn't help but sigh. The boss was so young and capable; he was even the chef in the restaurant.
She had heard from others that the meat and dishes at the restaurant tasted especially delicious.
Of course, Sister Zhou had also heard about the boss's parents' situation. As someone who also has a daughter, she felt sorry for the boss just by putting herself in his shoes. In addition, with such good working conditions, she secretly told herself that she must work hard.
Soon it was lunchtime, and the first table of customers arrived.
Gu Qingqiu had just taught Sister Zhou how to use the computer to place orders, so when she saw customers coming in from the kitchen, she didn't rush out to serve them as usual, but instead quietly observed them.
Seeing that Sister Zhou was warm and generous in greeting customers, had no problem operating the computer to place orders, and had no problem serving tea, bowls, chopsticks and washing utensils, Gu Qingqiu smiled and continued to busy herself with her work.
Sure enough, with Sister Zhou helping to serve customers in the dining area in the afternoon, Gu Qingqiu had a much easier time and could focus on cooking.
All seven tables in the outdoor dining area were full; two or three tables of customers had already finished eating and left.
Seeing that all the meat and vegetables had been served and there was nothing else for the customers in the dining room to attend to, Gu Qingqiu called Sister Zhou to come to the kitchen for a meal.
She left some of each meat dish, as well as two bowls of coconut chicken soup, and sat down to eat with Sister Zhou at the small table.
At first, Sister Zhou was a little reserved, but she immediately relaxed after tasting the dishes prepared by the owner and focused on enjoying the food.
She smelled the irresistible aroma of meat as she went in and out of the kitchen to serve the dishes, and she had already gotten a sense of how good the owner's cooking skills were. No wonder the restaurant was so popular.
Eating the braised pork now, I find it tender, flavorful, and not greasy at all. The abalone is fresh and tender with a slight elasticity, and it's quite large, with the savory aroma of the braised pork.
The stuffed shrimp with green peppers was delicious. The green peppers were crisp and slightly spicy, and the shrimp paste was fresh, fragrant, and had a slightly grainy texture. She watched the owner chop the shrimp paste with a knife in the afternoon, it was truly handmade.
The steamed four treasures in lotus leaves were all delicious. The pork ribs were flavorful with garlic, the meatballs were savory and tender, the pumpkin was soft and sweet, and the loofah was refreshing. Each dish had a subtle lotus leaf fragrance. The owner was really amazing to come up with this dish.
The stir-fried beef noodles were very fragrant. The beef was tender and not tough. The bean sprouts, carrot shreds, and scallion shreds were all stir-fried with a savory aroma. The rice noodles were outstanding, smooth and with a hint of rice flavor. I don't know where the owner got such delicious rice noodles.
Lettuce is delicious, crisp and sweet. Topped with a layer of garlic sauce, it has a strong garlic aroma. The sauce coating the lettuce leaves is thick, making the lettuce slippery and giving it a great texture.
Then, a bowl of coconut chicken soup—the combination of fresh and sweet flavors, the aroma bursting forth, the strong coconut fragrance warming from the mouth to the stomach, making one feel refreshed.
The red dates and goji berries are sweet, the coconut meat is crunchy, and the chicken is tender and smooth, bursting with coconut-flavored broth when you bite into it.
After wolfing down her food, Sister Zhou smiled sheepishly after finishing the coconut chicken soup: "Boss, your food is so delicious! Every dish is wonderful. You're amazing!"
Judging from the way she ate just now, Gu Qingqiu knew she really liked the meat dishes he made.
She smiled and agreed, "I'm glad you like it. This will be your work meal from now on. You need to eat well to have the energy to work."
Sister Zhou nodded emphatically: "Don't worry, boss, I will definitely do my job well."
Gu Qingqiu smiled and agreed.
They ate quite quickly; one was enjoying the delicious meat and vegetables, and the other was also thinking about finishing their meal quickly so they could get back to work when the customers called.
After tidying up the bowls, chopsticks, and plates and placing them in the sink, Sister Zhou noticed a table of customers outside getting up to pay their bills. She quickly went to the cashier to process the payment.
Almost as soon as the first table of customers got up, another table of customers came in from outside. They walked in quickly, took their seats, and after collecting the money and seeing the customers off, Sister Zhou hurried over to clean the table and take orders.
When new customers placed orders, Gu Qingqiu naturally got busy in the kitchen again.
A little after 7:30, all the ingredients in the kitchen were used up. Gu Qingqiu went out and simply hung a sign at the entrance of the restaurant to explain that the restaurant was out of ingredients and would no longer serve customers.
Around 8 PM, the restaurant's customers started paying their bills and leaving. Some of them smiled and praised the restaurant's meat dishes as they left, especially the braised pork with abalone and the coconut chicken soup, saying that the soup was sweet and refreshing, perfect for such a hot and humid day.
Gu Qingqiu smiled and thanked him. After seeing all the customers off, she quickly closed the wooden door of the shop.
Sister Zhou was clearing away the bowls, chopsticks, and plates from each table.
As for leftovers? There weren't any; everything was cleaned up, saving her the trouble of cleaning up and disposing of the food. After cleaning up and wiping all the tables, she went into the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Gu Qingqiu recalled the scene of customers queuing at the door earlier. She sat down at the dining table near the door, opened her mobile shopping app, and searched for suitable tables and chairs to buy a few to place at the door for customers queuing later.
If she were to go out to eat normally and there were long queues with no seats available, she would definitely turn around and leave unless she really wanted to eat there.
A search for restaurant queue chairs brings up numerous recommendations.
These chairs don't need to be too high-end; they just need to be comfortable to sit on and have a backrest. They also need to be easy to fold up so they don't take up space after the store closes.
Gu Qingqiu picked out eight chairs and paid for them; the order showed they would be delivered the next day.
She sat down to rest for a while, then went to the cashier to check today's accounts.
Actually, the QR code for receiving payments is your own mobile phone account. Nowadays, very few people use cash to pay. You can see your daily expenses and income by opening your WeChat account on your phone.
The income is naturally the restaurant's revenue today, and the expenses, apart from the eight chairs we just bought, are the money spent on meat and vegetables.
Even on weekdays, the restaurant does very well, with a daily turnover of nearly four thousand. If it goes on the weekend, the turnover should be able to exceed four thousand.
After deducting the cost of purchasing meat and vegetables, Gu Qingqiu could earn more than two thousand or even nearly three thousand a day, and she was very satisfied with this income.
She knew in her heart that her restaurant's revenue would probably stabilize at this level for the time being.
It's not that she can't sell meat dishes because there are few customers, but rather that she can't cook more meat dishes by herself; her capacity to entertain customers is limited.
Let's talk about the future later; things are fine as they are now.
After she finished tallying and saving the accounts for easy review at the end of the month, Sister Zhou washed the dishes, plates, and various pots in the kitchen. She put the former into the sterilizer and arranged the latter. Then she came out to get a broom to sweep the floor and mop it.
Gu Qingqiu went upstairs to her room to turn on the air conditioner, then came downstairs to sit. After Sister Zhou finished her work and left, she closed the door and went upstairs to take a shower, then began her evening entertainment.
It was just past nine o'clock when Sister Zhou got home to Jianghai Street, which was almost an hour earlier than when she used to get off work at the noodle shop.
The noodle shop wasn't doing well, so the owner had to extend the opening hours, hoping that customers would come in for a late-night snack. As a result, she, as an employee, also got off work very late.
Her home is in an apartment building, on the fifth floor, and it's rented. Fortunately, although it's an old building with poor facilities, most of the residents are elderly people who have lived here for many years, with only a few young people who work nearby and rent here.
Sister Zhou went up to the fifth floor, and before she could even turn the key after inserting it into the peephole, the door opened from the inside.
"Mom, you're back?" A girl who looked to be just over ten years old walked out of the house. She had long hair draped over her shoulders and was wearing blue pajamas with a cinnamon dog pattern. She looked at her mother with a happy expression.
Sister Zhou smiled and nodded, patting her daughter's head: "Did you take a bath and wash your hair? I told Aunt Wu to invite you home for dinner tonight, did you go home and eat?"
Zhou Fangfang nodded obediently: "I ate. Aunt Wu said you found a new job and left some food for me at home, so I came back to eat. Mom, your dinner was delicious."
She knew her mother was busy with work and was used to going to and from school by herself. Her mother also paid for her meals to eat at Aunt Wu's next door.
She can only eat with her mother when her mother is resting, and there are only four such days each month, sometimes even fewer.
To be honest, the time my mother spent at home without working was the happiest time for her. She was able to have her mother pick her up from school and have meals together.
But Fangfang also knew her mother's worries. She was still young and only her mother could earn money, and they still had to make a living, so she was very happy that her mother was able to find a new job.
However, Zhou Fangfang asked curiously, "Mom, why can you come back and cook dinner for me even though you're at work?"
Just now, when Sister Zhou heard her daughter praise her cooking, she was actually thinking about how delicious the meat dishes at the restaurant were. She'd have to take Fangfang to a restaurant this weekend to try those delicious meals.
Hearing her daughter's question, she snapped out of her reverie and smiled contentedly, "Mom's new job is really great. I don't have to go to work so early in the morning. I can drop you off at school and then go home to do some cleaning or something. I just need to be at the restaurant before 10 o'clock."
"I'll rest after working until 2 p.m. Since the restaurant is quite close to our home, I can go home to rest and have time to prepare dinner for you."
She asked, "Fangfang, do you want to continue having dinner at Aunt Wu's place or have dinner at home by yourself? But I'm a little worried about you being home alone tonight."
Fangfang usually only comes back from the neighbor's house after she returns.
Zhou Fangfang was overjoyed to hear that her mother could have breakfast with her, take her to school, and then go to work. Most importantly, this way her mother wouldn't have to work so hard.
As for her mother's next question, she chose the latter without hesitation: "I want to eat at home. I'm all grown up now, and I'm not afraid to be home alone. I'll be good, finish my homework, take a bath, and wait for you to come home. Mom, you came home quite early today."
Sister Zhou nodded. Although the job posting said she would finish get off work at nine o'clock, the boss would let her leave first as long as she finished her work. So she would get home around nine o'clock after get off work.
My daughter is always well-behaved, and I don't have much to do at home by myself. I'll just ask the neighbors next door to keep an eye on her later.
She agreed, "Okay, then I'll make you dinner after I've rested in the afternoon, and keep it warm for you before I go to work."
This way, she can save on the food expenses for the neighbors every month. The cost of meat and vegetables she buys herself will never exceed the food expenses, and she also wants to cook some delicious food for her daughter.
Zhou Fang clapped her hands with joy, her face beaming with a smile: "Yay! Then Mom, you can take me to school tomorrow!"
She then asked mischievously, "By the way, Mom, how much will you earn this month?"
Knowing that Fangfang is smart and sensible, and would never ask for pretty dolls that her peers like when she goes shopping, Sister Zhou didn't make a fuss and told her to put her mind at ease.
"Don't worry, it pays more than my last job, 5,500 a month. My boss also pays my social security and medical insurance, which is very important."
"Oh, oh." Zhou Fangfang nodded frantically like a chick pecking at rice. Although she didn't understand what social security and medical insurance were, she knew they were definitely good things.
She grabbed her mother's hand and swayed it from side to side, saying, "Hey, Mom, congratulations! You've finally found a good job."
Sister Zhou smiled and said a few words to her daughter, feeling that the heavy burden on her shoulders had recently eased a bit.
Have you finished your homework?
"It's already finished. You can trust me to get things done!"
"That's good. Go to bed early tonight, okay? I'll wake you up tomorrow."
"Hehe, okay, tonight will definitely be a wonderful night, I'll have sweet dreams!"
"Mom has sweet dreams too."
The next morning, after Gu Qingqiu got up and washed, she opened the window of her room. The fresh air, mixed with the fragrance of grass and trees, was intoxicating.
She went downstairs and quickly made a simple toast with egg and bacon; she had bought the toast from a bakery she passed by yesterday.
The eggs are fried into perfectly round sunny-side-up eggs with crispy edges. A few drops of soy sauce make them both look and taste good. The bacon is also fried until crispy. When sandwiched between the two, the aroma of eggs and meat fills the air.
Taking a big bite of the toast, you get the aroma of bread, and the eggs and bacon are especially satisfying.
While eating breakfast, she remembered something and dug out the number she had just memorized yesterday to make a call.
The call was quickly connected, and there was the usual noise of the market on the other end. Hearing the greeting from the other end, Gu Qingqiu said, "Good morning, Mr. Zhu. I'm from Suli Street. Could you please reserve eight catties of nice-looking pork belly for me and deliver it to Gu's Private Kitchen at No. 22 Suli Street?"
"I forgot to tell you this morning. I still need to go to the market to buy groceries later. Can you deliver them around nine o'clock? I'm sorry."
On the other end of the phone, Boss Zhu readily replied, "I remember, it's you, young lady. Okay, I'll reserve eight pounds of pork for you first, I guarantee it will be beautiful, and then I'll have someone deliver it to you around nine o'clock."
"Okay, thank you, Mr. Zhu. That's all for now." Gu Qingqiu hung up the phone and thought this purchasing method was quite good. She secretly reminded herself to order meat earlier next time.
If it's delivered earlier, I can receive it myself and then go out to buy meat and vegetables.
After finishing her meal, she washed the plates, chopsticks, pot, and spatula, tidied up briefly, grabbed her shopping cart, and headed to the market.
Having saved herself the trouble of buying pork, Gu Qingqiu went directly to buy other vegetables.
She bought eight pounds of beef brisket from the beef stall and ten chickens from the chicken stall. Yesterday, a customer gave feedback that the coconut chicken soup was particularly delicious, so she thought she might as well make coconut chicken soup again today.
The chicken stall owner recognized the young customer and, while picking out whole chickens for her to weigh, said with a smile, "Comrade, I see you buy a lot of chicken every day. Do you own a restaurant? If you buy this much every day, we can deliver to your door every morning if it's not too far."
The beef stall owner asked the same question earlier, and Gu Qingqiu only took down the owner's phone number, saying he would contact him depending on the situation.
The restaurant doesn't serve beef dishes every day, but they do serve chicken dishes quite often.
The chicken at this stall has been pretty good these days; it's mostly chicken of similar quality and handled well, she nodded.
"Yes, it's right here on Suli Street. Boss, can you give me your phone number? If you want it, I'll call you in the morning to have it delivered."
It's quite tiring to stuff ten chickens into the grocery cart every day; they take up most of the space.
The chicken stall owner nodded repeatedly: "Okay, I'll give you a number."
In his delight, he even rounded down the price for Gu Qingqiu, saving her several yuan.
Gu Qingqiu then strolled around the market. When she passed a seafood stall, she noticed that the scallops were quite fresh, and the scallop meat that the owner had displayed for customers to see was also quite large.
She squatted down and picked out the best scallops with her hands. She picked out about thirty, then decided to make it thirty-six: "Boss, could you please tell me how much these scallops cost?"
She then reached into the clean water basket next to her and washed her hands.
Normally, a pound of scallops costs a little over nine yuan, but these scallops are large, so the owner quoted fourteen and fifty yuan per pound. Gu Qingqiu could accept that, so she asked him to weigh them and then paid by scanning the code herself.
Next, she bought rapeseed, dried bean curd sticks, vermicelli, shiitake mushrooms, and starch at a grocery store. After leaving the market, she went to a fruit shop and bought ten coconuts and ten pineapples.
Because we bought too much to carry, we asked the fruit shop owner to send an employee to deliver it to the shop.
Gu Qingqiu returned to the shop and divided up the ingredients needed for lunch, putting the rest in the freezer if possible.
Now that she doesn't have to clean the restaurant in the morning, she can use the saved time to relax and play on her phone.
While playing, I heard a knock on the door. A young man came in carrying pork and asked with a smile, "Did you order eight catties of pork shoulder? I'm from Mr. Zhu's stall at the market."
"It's me. How much is it in total?" Gu Qingqiu took the bag of eight jin of pork belly, opened it and looked inside. The pork belly was very beautiful and fresh, with very little black fumes. It seemed that Boss Zhu hadn't been perfunctory. It was almost the same as picking it out personally at the market.
The young man smiled and said, "Pork shoulder is sixteen yuan a pound, so eight pounds here will cost one hundred and twenty-eight yuan in total. I have a QR code here, you can just scan it."
As he spoke, he took out a piece of paper with a QR code from his pocket.
After scanning the QR code with her phone, Gu Qingqiu discovered that the payee's profile picture was the same as the one she had scanned when buying pork at the market. It should be Boss Zhu's account. She entered the amount, clicked confirm, and then entered her password to pay.
She showed the other party the payment success page: "Payment done, thank you."
"You're welcome." The young man left in a hurry.
Gu Qingqiu carried eight catties of pork into the kitchen, setting aside four catties to put in the freezer first, before returning to the kitchen to start preparing the meat dishes for lunch.
Around ten o'clock, she heard someone knocking on the wooden door outside. She went to open the door and saw that it was Sister Zhou. She also left the wooden door open to let in some fresh air.
Sister Zhou was busy cleaning the restaurant, while Gu Qingqiu went back to the kitchen to continue her work.
Gu Chuntang is a freelancer. Besides drawing illustrations to complete her projects, she spends her time searching for restaurants and eating delicious food.
After all, the beauty of freelancing lies in the freedom of time and work. You can't let yourself go hungry after making money, right?
She had stumbled upon a post recommending home-cooked dishes, and the photos looked quite tempting: braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens, glistening with oil; lemon shredded chicken, which looked spicy yet refreshing; orange-red garlic shrimp; and creamy white, fragrant fish head tofu soup.
Even just looking at the photos online, she could imagine how delicious the meat and vegetables must be. Seeing that the restaurant was in Jiang City, she gave it a thumbs up and then chose a less crowded time on Tuesday to come to Suli Street to try the delicious food.
I originally planned to come on Monday, but I had an urgent order to draw, so I had to postpone it to Tuesday.
Who knew that after traveling all the way across half of Jiang City, Gu's Private Kitchen was closed!
Gu Chuntang was extremely frustrated. On such a hot day, she had no choice but to take out her phone and find the nearest Shenghui Plaza. She spent the whole day there eating, drinking, and shopping before going home.
Having been disappointed once, Gu Chuntang was no longer as enthusiastic about this private restaurant and didn't plan to come back. She continued to busy herself with drawing illustrations, playing around at home, and ordering delicious takeout.
but!
Last night, after she finished dinner, she was engrossed in drawing illustrations. When she finished and felt a little hungry, she opened her phone to browse Xiaohongshu (a Chinese social media platform) and saw the post about this private kitchen restaurant.
It's the same account as before, but with brand new dishes: braised pork belly with abalone, stuffed shrimp balls with green peppers, steamed four treasures in lotus leaves, stir-fried beef noodles, and coconut chicken soup. Every dish is so tempting, it's practically a late-night food porn.
The likes and favorites were quite good, and Gu Chuntang reasonably suspected that this account might have received an advertisement from Gu's Private Kitchen, which was why it posted so frequently, twice in a row.
These meat dishes look really tempting! The blogger also mentioned that the owner determines the menu based on the ingredients purchased each day, and the meat dishes available each day may be limited-time offers, so you have to go early if you want to try them.
Well, after finishing the barbecue she ordered from takeout, Gu Chuntang still couldn't resist and decided to go again.
Let's see if the meat and vegetables there really look and taste as good as they do in the photos, or if they've been filtered.
She woke up around 10 a.m., brushed her teeth, washed up, changed her clothes quickly, and went out.
After crossing half of Jiang City again, I arrived at Suli Street and walked all the way until I saw the shop under the peach tree with its door open. I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
If the business closes down again, she really will be tempted to call the police!
There were already two tables of customers eating in the restaurant. Gu Chuntang went in, found a small table, sat down, and looked up at today's menu on the wall.
Today's menu:
Sweet and sour pork with pineapple, 58 yuan;
Braised beef brisket with dried bean curd sticks: 58 yuan;
Steamed scallops with garlic and vermicelli: 68 yuan;
Shiitake mushrooms and bok choy, 28 yuan;
Coconut chicken soup: 88 yuan.
The dishes looked pretty good today, and there was even coconut chicken soup from yesterday. Gu Chuntang sighed that she was lucky.
She was alone, but she didn't hesitate when ordering from the menu; she ordered everything without any hesitation.
If she didn't try all the delicacies at Gu's Private Kitchen, wouldn't she have wasted her trip to half of Jiang City? She'd already invested time, so she had to eat her fill!
When Sister Zhou saw that she had ordered so much food, she couldn't help but remind her that she wouldn't be able to finish it. The rich young lady Gu Chuntang simply waved her hand and said, "It's okay, I'll pack it up and take it home to eat later tonight."
"Okay, please wait a moment, we'll serve the food as soon as possible," Sister Zhou said with a smile, and then went to get busy.
Gu Chuntang washed the dishes and poured herself a cup of chrysanthemum tea. The chrysanthemum tea was very sweet, and it was quite refreshing to drink on such a hot day.
As she waited, she smelled the delicious aromas wafting from the two tables and saw the happy expressions on the faces of the customers enjoying their meals. She knew she had come to the right place.
The first dish served was braised beef brisket with dried tofu skin, steaming hot and fragrant with a rich, dark sauce. The dried tofu skin looked very soft and tender, nestled among pieces of the dark-colored beef brisket. She quickly picked up her chopsticks and took a piece of beef brisket to eat.
The beef brisket, soaked in sauce, is tender and juicy, with the natural flavor of the meat blending perfectly with the savory aroma of the sauce, and a hint of spiciness.
The beef was slightly fatty, giving it a great texture and a wonderful aroma. It was served with tofu skin, which was stewed until very tender and soaked in the beef broth, offering both a meaty and bean flavor.
Gu Chuntang was amazed by the taste and couldn't help but ask the waiter to bring her a bowl of white rice.
She poured the beef brisket sauce over the white rice, instantly making each grain of rice glisten with a dark brown sheen. Eating a piece of beef brisket and some tofu skin together, the rich flavor of the meat and the aroma of the beans blended perfectly, and then a mouthful of white rice followed—it was simply divine.
She eats all kinds of delicious food all year round, which makes her very picky about food. Most of the time, she can tell whether a meat dish is good or not just by tasting it.
This braised beef brisket with dried bean curd is undoubtedly top-notch. First of all, the beef brisket and dried bean curd used are excellent ingredients, and the chef's cooking skills are also very good.
She savored the lingering sauce flavor in her mouth, guessing that it contained fermented bean curd, hoisin sauce, broad bean paste, and other common seasonings. What was remarkable was that the proportions were just right, creating the perfect flavor for braised beef brisket with tofu skin.
Gu Chuntang ate the beef brisket and tofu skin with white rice, never imagining that beef brisket and tofu skin could taste so good.
I only remembered I hadn't taken any pictures when I was halfway through the meal, so I quickly grabbed my phone, opened the camera, and snapped several photos of the still-beautiful half of the braised beef brisket with tofu skin in the casserole. Satisfied, I put my phone down and continued eating.
Soon the staff brought out another dish: steamed scallops with garlic and vermicelli.
Six rather large scallops were arranged on a long porcelain plate. The bottom was probably filled with juices that had dripped from the steamer after steaming. The scallop shells were orange-red with a centripetal pattern, and they were covered with a ring of dark brown vermicelli, as well as plenty of garlic sauce and chopped green onions.
The vermicelli was arranged in a circle on the scallop shell, but garlic sauce was poured over the center; otherwise, you could definitely tell how big the scallop meat was from it.
Gu Chuntang was filled with anticipation. She picked up her chopsticks, took a scallop, put it in her bowl, and prepared to eat.
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