5 Peony Crisps
◎Once the money is in place, everything will be easy to discuss.◎
East Kitchen.
Song Jinyi placed the freshly steamed Danai cake aside and was about to pull up a small stool on the ground to rest for a while when she saw Xu Ruolan come in through the curtains. "A Jin, are you done with your work?"
She didn't understand what was going on. She thought Xu Ruolan had just finished her work in the front hall and came over to chat. She asked in confusion, "Have the guests left?"
Xu Ruolan shook her head and said, "Someone up ahead said he wanted to see you."
"See me?" Song Jinyi pointed at herself and repeated uncertainly.
She looked at Xu Ruolan, who had anxiety in her eyes and spoke a little faster than usual, which was not normal.
Song Jinyi wondered: Could something have happened to the fruit this morning? Did the customer feel sick after eating it? That couldn't be possible. She made it all herself and tasted it herself.
This uneasy feeling infected her, and her heart beat up and down nervously. She frowned and pinched the corner of her clothes unconsciously. What was going on?
Xu Ruolan didn't give her time to think. She walked straight up and pulled her towards the front hall, saying as they walked, "Mr. Feng is here."
"Who is Mr. Feng?"
She was speculating on her own, could it be that a guest named Mr. Feng had an upset stomach?
Xu Ruolan paused when she heard this, turned around, and there was a hint of confusion between her eyebrows, as if she couldn't believe that she didn't know who Mr. Feng was.
She saw a confusion in Song Jinyi's eyes, and she really didn't know who this Mr. Feng was.
If I don't explain it to her, A Jin might not know how powerful this person is. If she offends Mr. Feng, she might not be able to bear the consequences.
She had no choice but to give a brief explanation: This Mr. Feng's real name was Feng Quan. He was a storyteller in his early years. He lost his wife at an early age and had only one son. He was not lustful or fond of gambling, but he loved to eat.
When his son grew up and went to other places to do business, he sent him forty or fifty taels of silver every year. Forty or fifty taels of silver was enough for an ordinary family to spend for two or three years, so he stopped doing the hard work and just thought about what to eat every day with the silver.
Song Jinyi first breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that there was nothing wrong with the fruit. As a chef, he was most afraid that diners would find something wrong with the food and ruin his reputation.
Then he asked in confusion, "He's just an ordinary diner, why does Sister Ruolan care so much?"
"Because he also has the nickname 'Gourmet Expert'. Do you know who gave it to him?"
Song Jinyi shook her head, indicating that she didn't know.
"It was given by the Emperor."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Ruolan lifted the curtain that blocked the door, met the gazes of the tea drinkers in the front hall, and slowly moved to the center of the front hall.
Song Jinyi took a deep breath. At noon, there were usually not many people in the store, but now it was full of people. The most terrifying thing was that their eyes were all focused on her!
Like a thorn in the back!
This place doesn't look like an ordinary teahouse, but more like a theater. She has transformed from a tea chef to an actor who is about to perform on stage.
There were many people in the store, and Song Jinyi was dazzled for a moment, not knowing who was this Mr. Feng. Xu Ruolan gently pushed her on the back and asked her to look to the window.
Sitting at the table by the window was an old man, about fifty or sixty years old, dressed in ordinary clothes, with a straight back, gray hair and beard, and a pair of narrow eyes that were bright. He was holding a teacup and drinking tea slowly and briskly.
I think this should be the Mr. Feng that Sister Ruolan mentioned.
She walked over to the table by the window, bowed slightly, and asked, "I wonder if the old man called me here because he is dissatisfied with the food?"
Mr. Feng tilted his head and looked at the new tea chef without answering immediately.
The waiter beside her came over and whispered to her, "Sister Jinyi, this old man said he doesn't want to eat the fruit offered today and wants you to make something else."
Whether it is a teahouse or a restaurant, the meals and tea cakes served that day and the necessary ingredients are all prepared early in the morning, and they generally do not add unprepared dishes for the guests.
Is this considered picking a fight?
It’s my first week at work and someone’s already picking on me... This is too unlucky.
Song Jinyi curled her lips helplessly, but quickly concealed her emotion and said, "We don't have much prepared, so we may not be able to make the snacks you want. How about you tell me the name of the fruit today, and I will prepare it in advance tomorrow."
Mr. Feng didn't say whether he agreed or not. He just glanced at her and asked slowly, "Do you have glutinous rice flour?"
Song Jinyi was slightly stunned. She didn't expect him to ask this suddenly, so she said, "Yes."
"Have you any lard?"
"There are also..."
…
"Do you have clear noodles?"
…
That’s not true.
She said truthfully: "Not yet."
Mr. Feng stroked his goatee and said, "This Cheng noodles isn't a rare commodity. I think you can buy it in just a few minutes."
Having said that, she still had to prepare tea and snacks in the afternoon and didn't want to waste time on other things. She also saw Xu Ruolan making a gesture to her from behind, telling her not to agree.
She moved her lips slightly, wanting to refuse politely, but she saw the shopkeeper beside her making crazy looks at her.
The shopkeeper had puffy eyes, and his eyelids were bulging like flesh-colored fish bubbles, which compressed his already small eyes into a slit. Song Jinyi tried hard to see, but could only see a tiny bit of darkness in the slit of his eyes.
Forgive her stupidity, but for a moment she really couldn't understand what the shopkeeper meant.
Should she agree or refuse?
Seeing that she didn't understand for a long time, the shopkeeper's face turned red, he covered his face with his fists, coughed stiffly twice, and turned his head away, as if afraid that others would not understand and ask her to follow him.
Song Jinyi and the shopkeeper came to the east kitchen.
The shopkeeper looked pensive as he pondered, "I've thought about the ingredients I just listed. I guess Mr. Feng wants you to make peony pastry..."
He stared at Song Jinyi with a scrutinizing look and asked, "Can you do it?"
Peony pastry?
She had made this snack in her previous life. In her words, the style was more important than the taste, and it was time-consuming and labor-intensive. Apart from looking good, the taste was not much different from other snacks.
She lowered her head, her brows furrowed. If she wanted to make a peony pastry now, it would take at least an hour including the preparation of the ingredients, or two hours... She unconsciously pursed her lips slightly.
Seeing her hesitation, the shopkeeper thought she couldn't make it, so he said, "If you can make this peony pastry and get Mr. Feng's approval, I will increase your wages to two taels a month, and you won't have to do anything this afternoon. I'll give you half a day off."
Song Jinyi suddenly raised her head and swallowed the words of refusal. After all, she was a worldly person, and everything would be negotiable as long as the money was in place.
******
Song Jinyi went out to Mr. Feng's table and replied, "This clear noodle is indeed not difficult to make."
The implication is that it can be done.
She then asked, "Does Mr. Feng want me to make peony pastry?"
When these words came out, Mr. Feng raised his eyebrows, glanced at her, nodded and replied: "Not bad."
In stark contrast to his calm demeanor were the onlookers around him. At this moment, the teahouse was like a bustling street market, and they were discussing loudly one after another.
He didn't shy away from mentioning her as the person involved.
"Isn't this Peony Pastry Zui Liu Xia's specialty? Those sold elsewhere are all fakes. They can't compare, they can't compare."
"This peony pastry is not easy to make. Even Liuxiangju bought some Zui Liuxia fruit and asked their chef to imitate it, but he only had the shape but not the taste. How could a young girl like her make it..."
"This Mr. Feng is indeed a crazy old man. He gives people problems right from the start."
"I'm not going to watch it anymore. The ending is already decided. There's nothing to watch. I'm leaving now."
“…”
Mr. Feng had also heard these voices and asked her, "Is it possible to do it?"
"Yes, it can, but it will take some time," Song Jinyi answered as usual.
Mr. Feng said that as long as what you are waiting for is worth waiting for, it doesn’t matter if you wait a little longer.
Song Jinyi went to the kitchen to prepare ingredients.
She stood in front of the stove and took out the existing materials one by one and sorted them out.
"Why did you agree to it?" Xu Ruolan's tone was a little urgent, and her voice was heard before she arrived.
She strode over the door curtain, her lavender dress swaying like clouds, and said, "I've been talking to you for a long time, and you just agreed to it. If you can't do it, it will be a big trouble..."
Song Jinyi blinked, a puzzled look in her round eyes.
Seeing her confused look, Xu Ruolan could only sigh softly, slowing down her tone and saying, "I spoke too softly, not letting you understand the pros and cons of this matter."
A few years ago, when he was touring Jiangnan, he came to Yunzhou. It was summer and the weather was extremely hot. The sage was old and could not adapt to the high temperature in Yunzhou for a while. He did not eat for two days.
No matter how many delicacies the imperial chef prepared, none of them worked for the emperor. The imperial physician was asked to examine the emperor, who simply said that damp heat caused the poor appetite and prescribed a few doses of appetite-stimulating medicine, but the emperor could not swallow a single sip.
All the high-ranking officials in Yunzhou were terrified, fearing that if something happened to the emperor in Yunzhou, they would lose their official hats and heads.
Later, the drunk Feng Quan heard about this in the theater and openly ridiculed him, saying that the nobleman had been living a good life and was tired of the delicacies from land and sea. He thought it would be better if he had a bowl of white jade emerald soup to relieve his greasiness. It was guaranteed to cure his illness.
After hearing this, the steward of the current emperor first detained the man, but later found that there was no other way, so he listened to Feng Quan's advice and went to look for the white jade emerald soup hidden in the corner.
I didn't expect that Jin Shang actually drank the tofu and cabbage soup.
The emperor is looking for Feng Quan.
Feng Quan was a storyteller with a fluent tongue. He told the emperor from the bottom of his heart about the delicacies he had seen and tasted in Yunzhou.
This made the emperor happy, who immediately praised him as a "gourmet expert" and rewarded him with a lot of silver. Naturally, the Liu family's soup dishes, which made tofu and cabbage soup, became more popular and the house was full of guests.
Xu Ruolan said, her eyes meeting hers, "Do you understand the pros and cons now?"
Song Jinyi probably knew that Mr. Feng was equivalent to official certification and brand endorsement, and his influence on the product was like that of a traffic star in his previous life, which should not be underestimated.
No wonder the shopkeeper was willing to spend so much money. So that's how it was. If he could win Mr. Feng's favor, he could become the second "Liu Family Soup and Diet" in Yunzhou.
If she fails, the blame for overestimating her own abilities will naturally fall on her, Song Jinyi.
A highly profitable business.
Seeing Xu Ruolan's eyes full of worry, she wanted to persuade herself to give up, but she was indeed short of money, and it was not necessarily true that the peony pastry she made was not as good as Zui Liuxia's.
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