Chapter 3: Soybean, Fig, and Chicken Feet Soup. ...
As Grandma Lin and her husband approached the corner of Suli Street, they first saw the blooming peach trees. Their gaze then shifted downwards, and the wooden door of the restaurant, which had been tightly closed, was now open again. The familiar natural wood color was evident in the two tables of people eating inside. Business was neither particularly good nor bad, and they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
They went inside and found a small square table to sit down.
Gu Qingqiu noticed new customers entering from the kitchen and came out with a smile to greet them: "Welcome! There's a menu on the wall; please take a look and see what you'd like to eat."
As she finished speaking, she noticed that the two elderly people looked familiar and couldn't help but search her distant memories.
Grandma Lin smiled as she looked at the girl in front of her. The girl had delicate features and two sweet dimples when she smiled, just like when she greeted her many years ago.
She was thankful that the departure of Huifen and her husband had not made the girl introverted.
Grandpa Lin smiled kindly and said, "Okay, let's take a look at the menu first."
Gu Qingqiu recognized them and greeted them with a smile: "Hello, Grandpa Lin and Grandma Lin! I didn't recognize you at first. It's been a long time. You still look so young and radiant."
She remembered that the elderly couple were her neighbors and that she used to have a good relationship with her parents.
During the time her mother was hospitalized after the car accident, Grandpa Lin and his wife visited her several times, even if they could only stand at the ICU entrance and offer a few words of comfort. She has always remembered this warmth.
Grandma Lin was happy to see that she still recognized her and said, "Oh, hello, Xiao Qiu, you've grown more and more beautiful."
Grandpa Lin laughed and said, "We're not young anymore. When we heard you were back to open a shop, we thought we'd come and try your cooking."
Gu Qingqiu understood what he meant and explained with a smile, "I used to watch my parents cook a lot, and over the years my skills have improved quite a bit. So I thought I'd come back and open a shop. I promise you won't be disappointed."
Grandpa Lin smiled and agreed, then looked at the menu.
Grandma Lin came to support the restaurant. After looking at the menu, she said, "Xiao Qiu, we'd like some garlic ribs, chicken and potato, vegetarian seafood, water spinach, a pot of soup, and two bowls of rice."
Grandpa Lin naturally let his wife order.
Gu Qingqiu, however, felt bad and sincerely said, "Grandpa Lin and Grandma Lin, there's no need for you to order so much food, since there are only two of you. If you can't finish it, you can take it home and reheat it, but it won't taste as good. I know you mean well, and I'm already very happy that you came to the restaurant to eat."
Grandma Lin and Grandpa Lin exchanged a glance. They knew this girl was smart, but they hadn't expected her to be so perceptive. Anyway, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future, so they listened to their advice and said, "Okay, then let's remove the garlic ribs."
They are old and don't eat fried food much anymore.
Gu Qingqiu smiled and agreed, "Okay, then please wait a moment."
She first went to get the bowls, chopsticks, and washing utensils, then went back to the kitchen to get busy.
The soup was prepared earlier and simmered over low heat. It can be served directly in the pot now. The chicken pieces and potatoes were stir-fried and colored before being simmered for a few more minutes before serving.
Gu Qingqiu took the pot off the heat and poured in the chopped lettuce, wood ear mushrooms, and carrots, adding a little salt to make the ingredients look better later.
Once the water is heated through, remove all the vegetables from the pot, drain the hot water, and then add the wood ear mushrooms and carrots. Add a little warm water and stir-fry until softened. Next, add the lettuce and stir-fry until just cooked. She then prepares a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce.
On the dining side, Grandpa Lin glanced at the two tables around him, who were enjoying their meals. He smelled the aroma wafting over and said, "It seems that Xiao Qiu does have some culinary skills. The meat and vegetables here taste just as good as those in big restaurants. No wonder she dared to come back and open a shop."
Grandma Lin was a little worried: "It smells pretty good, but isn't the price a bit too high? There aren't any meat dishes this expensive in our Suli Street area. At Old Wang's Home-Style Restaurant, a dish costs around 20 or 30 yuan. Huifen and her husband used to run a shop that was about the same price. Now Xiao Qiu's meat dish costs 58 yuan. I'm afraid the people of Suli Street can't afford it."
Grandpa Lin is optimistic: "As long as the food tastes really good, even if the people of Suli Street can't afford it, there are always people from outside. The people in the creative park behind, the office buildings in front, and the nearby communities are all quite well-off, and they often come to Suli Street to eat."
Most of the time, people would go straight to Old Wang's Home-Style Restaurant on the street as soon as they came in.
"You'll know once you taste it. You should be happy to eat out, don't worry."
Grandma Lin smiled upon hearing this and relaxed her furrowed brows.
The two had barely finished speaking when Gu Qingqiu brought over a pot of hot soup, followed by chicken, potatoes, and vegetarian three delicacies.
"Thank you, Xiao Qiu."
"You're welcome, please enjoy your meal."
Grandpa and Grandma Lin were immediately tempted by the delicious-looking meat and vegetables in front of them. Usually at this time, they would have already eaten and were sitting down to digest their food and take a nap.
Out of habit, even if I really want to eat chicken, I still drink a bowl of soup first.
Grandma Lin has been cooking for many years. Looking at the color of the soup, she said, "This soup is flavorful, and the ingredients are good. It must have been cooked for the right amount of heat to be so fragrant."
She took a sip, and the warm soup quickly turned sweet in her mouth, with the aroma of chicken feet, the sweetness of goji berries and red dates, a hint of bean flavor, and the sweetness of figs, without being cloying.
Grandma Lin's eyes lit up: "This soup is really good."
Grandpa Lin had already gulped down several mouthfuls: "It's really good."
He finished a bowl of soup in a few gulps, and ate the figs, soybeans, goji berries, and a red date at the bottom of the bowl as well.
Grandma Lin still had chicken feet in her bowl. She scooped them up with a spoon and ate them. The chicken feet were cooked until soft and tender, with a bit of gelatinous texture. Occasionally, sweet broth would overflow from them. She ate them with increasing enthusiasm, without being hindered by her slightly loose teeth.
Grandpa Lin had already taken a bite of chicken. The chicken was soaked in the dark brown broth, and each bite was incredibly savory. The chicken was flavorful, tender yet firm; you could tell at a glance that it was fresh and of high quality.
He then picked up a piece of potato and ate it. The potato was soft, glutinous, and fragrant, and it was also very salty, with the aroma of chicken.
He expertly ladled a spoonful of chicken and potato broth over the white rice Xiao Qiu had just served. Each grain of rice, distinct yet fluffy, instantly turned a deep brown, glistening with oil. Add some chicken and potatoes to eat with it—it was incredibly satisfying.
After finishing the chicken feet, Grandma Lin wasn't so hungry for chicken and potatoes anymore. Seeing the refreshing colors of the vegetarian three delicacies, she picked up a little to eat first.
The vibrant green lettuce was stir-fried to perfection, crisp and juicy, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. This bitterness wasn't unpleasant; in fact, it helped alleviate the oppressive heat of summer.
She then ate a piece of carrot, the sweet aroma instantly masking the slight bitterness and filling her mouth. The wood ear mushrooms were also stir-fried to perfection, smooth yet slightly crunchy.
"This vegetarian three delicacies dish is really good," Grandma Lin praised, then picked up some chicken and potatoes to eat, praising them highly as well, and couldn't help but eat them with white rice.
When Gu Qingqiu served the stir-fried water spinach with fermented soybean paste, they immediately tried it.
To make water spinach taste good, you have to stir-fry it with plenty of oil; this dish looks glossy with oil.
Grandma Lin picked up a few strands of water spinach and put them in her mouth. The leaves were tender and the roots were soft yet slightly crunchy. The salty and savory flavor of the fermented bean paste was infused into the dish. When eaten with minced garlic, the flavor was layered and delicious.
Grandpa Lin also picked up some water spinach to eat, and couldn't help but squint his eyes in enjoyment: "Xiao Qiu's cooking skills are really good. She even stir-fries this green vegetable to make it fragrant. I think you don't have to worry anymore."
He loves good food, but he is also quite restrained, usually eating until he is about 70% full.
But I just had a bowl of soup, a bowl of white rice, and quite a few pieces of chicken and potatoes. I also ate half a plate of vegetarian seafood. Now that I've tried this stir-fried water spinach with fermented bean paste, even though I'm already 70% full, I still want to keep eating.
It's rare for Grandpa Lin to go out to eat, and today is the reopening of Gu's Private Kitchen, so he came to support them. Before long, he decided to indulge himself and continue eating.
Grandma Lin smiled and said with relief, "Yes, I can finally rest easy. Xiao Qiu's cooking skills are even better than her parents', probably almost as good as her grandfather's. Once she makes a name for herself, she definitely won't have to worry about business. And the price is reasonable too."
Such delicious meat and vegetables, at 58 yuan a serving, is not expensive at all.
The elderly couple continued eating slowly.
Gu Qingqiu was collecting payments at the cashier. She typed a few words on the computer and printed out the price of the meat and vegetables she had ordered earlier: "It's 240 yuan in total. Just scan the code."
The QR code for payment at the checkout counter has been changed to hers.
There weren't many customers today either, so I had to rely entirely on memorizing the menu. Starting tonight, I'll still need to process the orders on the computer as soon as they're placed.
Zhang Hong smiled and scanned the QR code to pay: "Boss, your food is really good. We'll come here often in the future."
We decided during our meal that we'll hold our office team building activities here from now on, and we should also come here to eat often.
Wu Dongqing couldn't help but ask, "Boss, your food is really delicious, but could you please add more meat dishes for us to choose from? Although we could eat garlic ribs and chicken and potatoes a few more times without getting tired of them."
Huang Huishan and Liu Jia looked at the owner expectantly. Compared to other restaurants, whose menus were at least two or three pages long, Gu's Private Kitchen's menu was too simple.
Gu Qingqiu explained with a smile, "Our restaurant's private kitchen menu is based on the ingredients we buy every day, so it changes every day. We welcome everyone to come and eat here often."
Zhang Hong smiled and said, "That's great! We'll come over to eat again when we have time."
Gu Qingqiu smiled and nodded: "Okay, take care."
After seeing off this group of customers, she settled the bill for another table, rounding down the amount to two hundred yuan and praising the delicious meat and vegetables. She then said goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma Lin and went back to the kitchen to prepare for dinner.
She fried some garlic ribs for herself, stir-fried some water spinach, and ate it with white rice.
The garlic ribs have slightly charred edges and a golden, crispy exterior, while the meat inside is tender and juicy, without being dry or tough.
The water spinach is stir-fried until tender, and the oil is well controlled, making the leaves more fragrant without being greasy. Combined with the salty and savory flavor of fermented bean paste and the aroma of minced garlic, it's delicious with white rice.
She finished eating quickly, put the bowl and chopsticks in the sink, and saw that Grandpa and Grandma Lin outside had almost finished eating and were about to leave, so she hurried out to pay the bill.
"That's 182 in total. Grandpa Lin, you can just give me 150."
There was no one else in the store at the moment, and considering the old man's good intentions in coming to support the business, Gu Qingqiu gave him a discount.
Grandpa Lin insisted, "That won't do. I'll accept it if you round it down, but I can't accept so much less."
Grandma Lin also said solemnly, "Yes, Xiao Qiu, your cooking is so good, we're actually getting a good deal by coming here to eat. It's not easy for you to open a business, so just charge whatever you're supposed to."
Seeing that the two elders were serious, Gu Qingqiu knew that no matter what he said, they would not agree, so he simply said, "Alright, thank you for coming to help me with my business, I'll transfer 180 yuan."
She was thinking that when Grandpa and Grandma Lin came over for a meal in the future, she would bring them some special side dishes.
Grandpa Lin, a trendy old man, skillfully picked up his phone to scan the QR code and pay. Hearing the crisp notification sound of payment, he smiled and said, "It's been moved. We'll come back to eat again when we have time."
Grandma Lin smiled and encouraged, "Xiao Qiu, your cooking skills are so good, your business will definitely get better and better."
This was the truth; she planned to come over often with her husband, treating the delicious meat dishes as a treat. She would also invite her son's family over when they came.
Gu Qingqiu smiled and nodded: "Okay, take care."
Not long after they left, new guests came in. After greeting them and taking their orders, Gu Qingqiu went into the kitchen to continue cooking.
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