The two of them wrote and signed the contract. Dong thought about it in great detail, with every clause and restriction, and almost did not want to take advantage of Xu Qinyu at all. The right to use the Donglai Ju restaurant would be decided by Xu Qinyu. If any of the Dong family members had any ulterior motives, they would compensate Xu Qinyu with a large sum of money.
After signing the deed, the two of them went to Donglaiju together.
Xu Qinyu went to check if there was anything in Donglai Residence that needed to be changed.
Donglai Ju is four stories high, one more floor than the three-story attic shop she was originally looking for.
The halls on the first and second floors are much larger than Xu's.
The third and fourth floors are guest rooms.
Donglaiju was renovated two years ago. The reception hall and guest rooms remain unchanged and are decorated in an elegant and grand style. The windows are large and bright.
Xu Qinyu went to take a look at the kitchen again. It was also very clean and tidy. The only thing that needed to be modified was the cooking table.
There aren't enough stoves, but Xu's has plenty of stoves and steamers, so we'll move them over when the time comes.
The cooking table has been changed into a long L-shape with a sink attached, making it more convenient to cut, wash and prepare vegetables.
In addition, we can build three ovens like Xu’s, so that we can use them for dishes such as grilled lamb chops and dried food in the future, which is very convenient.
Xu Qinyu talked to Dong about it.
Dong said, "This change can be made quickly, in ten days. It will be done in just ten days. During these ten days, we can have people put up the signs for Xu's Restaurant and Donglaiju. During these ten days, Donglaiju will first put up a sign saying that it will be temporarily closed for ten days while the restaurant is renovated."
By then, there will be a large signboard with the words "Xu's Restaurant" hanging on the front door of the restaurant, and a small signboard with the words "Donglaiju" hanging next to it.
Xu Qinyu nodded, and then told Dong how to build the oven, and Dong took note of it.
Dong said again: "There is no need to alarm others during these ten days. Miss Xu, you can just open your business as usual and move in directly when the time comes."
Xu Qinyu also thought it was a good idea. Xu Ji’s customers were all old diners. When the restaurant moves, she should tell them about it and then hang a sign outside the door to clearly state the location. Then diners will know where to go when eating.
Xu Qinyu explained the details of the cooking table, sink and kiln to Dong and then went back.
After Xu Qinyu left, Dong also told the head chef and servants of Donglai Ju that she wanted to renovate the kitchen and let them go home and rest for ten days. Then she discussed with Dong Xi the specific areas that needed to be changed.
Dong Xi also nodded, "Okay, then mother, go back and have a rest. I'll take care of this matter."
Dong also felt a little sorry for her son, because because of Yue Youwei's incident, Xi Ge'er grew up almost in an instant.
After Xu Qinyu returned, she talked about the merger of Xu Ji and Donglai Ju when she had dinner with Xu Ji's kitchen helpers and the three waitresses. Naturally, everyone listened to her and thought that the Dong family was very kind. This condition could be said to be giving Donglai Ju complete use to Xu Ji, as well as Donglai Ju's chef and helpers, without charging a penny.
The reason why Xu Qinyu agreed to merge with the Dong family was because after she moved to Raozhou City, she would not be able to take care of Xu Ji in Yuanbao Town much, and it would have to be taken care of by other people. Now that she had the Dong family, Xu Ji could be handed over to them to manage in the future.
As for the profit share, she hardly had to pay anything, because the recipes accounted for 70%, which was indeed a huge bargain for her.
When the restaurant opens in the future and this is handed over to the Dong family to manage, we can renegotiate the profit sharing with the Dong family. A 50-50 split would be fairer to the Dong family.
Afterwards, Xu Qinyu only told this matter to her family, but not to anyone else. She continued to do what she was supposed to do every day, and did not even tell her diners.
As for Donglaiju, the next morning, Dong Xi had someone hang a sign outside announcing that the restaurant would be closed for ten days, and began looking for craftsmen and bricklayers to renovate the kitchen, and also hired someone to work in the kiln.
A few days later, Shi Laoba came to see Xu Qinyu again and asked her what she thought.
This time Xu Qinyu refused directly and said, "The Shi family is making things difficult for me. The restaurant in Raozhou City requires 50,000 to 60,000 taels of silver for the initial construction investment alone. You want to take my business share for 200 taels of silver. If you tell others about it, I'm afraid it won't work. In addition, the Shi family said they want to raise the rent, but the contract that I signed with Madam Yao also stated that there will be no rent increase. Even if I sue the government, Shi Donglai will have no reason to let me raise the rent. Since things have come to this, I'm thinking that when the lease of the shop expires at the beginning of next year, I will not renew the lease."
When Shi Laoba heard this, his face turned pale and he could not help but say, "Ms. Xu, this is not very kind. You have rented a shop from me for three years, and the rent is cheaper than other shops. Why are you still throwing a tantrum?"
Xu Qinyu frowned, "I don't want you, the Shi Dong family, to take over my restaurant business shares worth tens of thousands of taels of silver with just two hundred taels of silver. Does that count as a temper tantrum?"
Shi Laoba said angrily: "This is my shop. I can raise the rent if I want. Since you don't want to rent it, my shop is a prosperous shop."
Seeing him glaring at Yu Niang, Wen Shi, who was listening, also became a little anxious. She couldn't help but step forward and stand in front of Yu Niang and said, "How can you be like this? How did your shop become so popular? It's because of my Yu Niang's good cooking skills that she attracts many diners to eat at home, so your shop has become a popular shop. And if you are so unreasonable and want to raise the rent, you should start from next year, after all, the rent is due at the beginning of the year."
Previously, rent was paid yearly, so it would not be due until the beginning of the year.
"In that case, the rent next year will be twenty taels of silver per month." Shi Laoba said directly.
Wen was stunned, and could not believe his ears. How could he dare to ask for twenty taels of silver a month? The rent of a shop like this was at most five taels of silver a month, which was considered high. The annual rent was basically around fifty taels of silver, but he wanted two hundred and forty taels a year. Wasn't it obvious that he thought Xu's business was good, so he asked for a high price?
Xu Qinyu said, "I've said before that I won't rent it next year. It's up to you to decide how much you want to raise the rent."
Shi Laoba said directly, "If you don't want to rent it anymore, move out now."
He didn't believe that Miss Xu would give up the profit of several hundred taels of silver every month. If she wanted to move away, she would not be able to find a suitable shop in a short time. By the time the shop was renovated, most of the diners would have left. They would go to other restaurants and hotels for meals. It would not be easy to attract diners again.
He still felt that his shop was a bit prosperous. Although Miss Xu's cooking skills were indeed good, luck was also very important.
Xu Qinyu said, "The lease is due next year, so I won't move now. If you, Shi Dongjia, continue to make trouble, I will report you to the police."
Shi Laoba was a little angry and was about to continue arguing with Xu Qinyu when he saw someone walking by. He looked up and saw it was Xu Kongmu, who should be coming to Xu's restaurant. Shi Laoba didn't dare to offend Xu Kongmu. He glanced at Xu Qinyu and said, "Okay, wait a few days and I'll talk to Miss Xu about it." After that, he left in a hurry.
When he ran away in a flash, Xu Kongmu just walked to the door of Xu's. Seeing Xu Qinyu pursing her lips and Wen Shi also looking angry, he couldn't help asking, "What happened?"
He came to get soup. It was noon now and Mr. Xu was taking a rest. He had ordered soup from Miss Xu yesterday.
The weather is getting cold, so Xu's restaurant has created a soup, pork tripe and chicken soup. The soup is rich and sweet, and you'll feel warm after drinking it. His daughter-in-law gave birth to a granddaughter a few days ago, so he, who usually doesn't smile, has been smiling unconsciously lately.
His daughter-in-law is still in confinement after the baby is born. Now everyone at home is taking care of her, so she rarely goes out. The family is also quite frugal on weekdays and only comes to Xu's restaurant to eat occasionally. Because his daughter-in-law has just finished the confinement after the baby is born, he ordered pork belly and chicken soup from Miss Xu and brought it back for his daughter-in-law to eat in the evening.
When he came over, he saw Shi Lao Ba running away in shame. He also saw that Miss Xu and Mrs. Wen both looked a little angry, so he asked.
Wen couldn't help but say, "Xu Kongmu doesn't know that Shi Laoba is really a bully. He wanted to invest 200 taels of silver in Yu Niang's restaurant in Raozhou City, but Yu Niang didn't agree. Then he proposed to raise the rent, demanding 20 taels of silver a month. My Yu Niang doesn't want to rent the shop anymore and said she won't rent it next year. Now he wants to kick us out now." In fact, she also knew that Shi Laoba was just saying that out of anger and would not really kick people out. She also thought they were joking and didn't really want to move out.
Xu Kongmu frowned when he heard this. "I remember that you two signed a contract, Miss Xu. If he comes to bother us again, you can report to the government office and I will come over to take him to the government office immediately."
Because the contract was signed, it had legal effect, so Shi Laoba had violated the law and would be punished with a beating.
Xu Qinyu nodded and said, "Thank you, Xu Kongmu, but it will only take a few days. In a few days, Xu's Restaurant will move to Donglaiju."
Xu Kongmu was stunned for a moment, "What does Miss Xu mean..."
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Yes, in the future Xu's Restaurant will be merged with Donglaiju into one. When it reopens, we will invite Xu Kongmu to come to our house for a banquet."
Xu Kongmu. "Congratulations, I will get over it in due time."
Xu Qinyu also said, "I am very happy. I heard that your daughter-in-law gave birth to a daughter, and you got a granddaughter."
Xu Kongmu couldn't help but raise the corners of his lips again, it seemed that he really liked his little granddaughter.
After a few more words, Xu Qinyu returned to the kitchen and took out the stewed pork belly and chicken soup and handed it to Xu Kongmu, naturally without accepting money, saying, "I have a good relationship with Yunlan, and Yunlan's sister-in-law is also my sister-in-law. My sister-in-law is in confinement, and I am busy and cannot visit her. Please send this pork belly and chicken soup to my sister-in-law. If my sister-in-law wants to drink anything else, please come and tell me."
She has been with Xu Kongmu's youngest daughter Xu Yunlan for three years and they are now very good friends.
Xu Kongmu thanked him and left with the soup.
When he returned, he gave the chicken soup to his wife Xiang.
The chicken soup is still boiling hot, so you can take it to the kitchen and give some to your daughter-in-law to drink first.
Xu Kongmu told Xiang about Shi Lao Ba again. Xiang frowned and said, "Is Shi Lao Ba crazy? What does he think? His wife lets him do such nonsense."
Xu Kongmu said, "The Yao family probably doesn't know that he is making such a fuss."
You should know that those shops were all Yao's properties. When Shi Laoba married Yao, he was an old bachelor without a penny and only had a shabby house in the village, not in Yuanbao Town.
Xiang couldn't help but ask, "Why doesn't Miss Xu go to Yao to explain it clearly?"
Xu Kongmu said, "She knew her husband's behavior, but she still didn't advise him. She also has some responsibility. If Miss Xu continues to rent her shop, she will definitely have troubles in the future. So Miss Xu plans to move Xu's to Donglaiju, and it seems that the two families will merge into one."
Xiang was a little surprised when he heard this. "Isn't Donglaiju a century-old brand in Yuanbao Town? They are willing to merge with Xu's? Will it be Xu's sign or Donglaiju's in the future?"
"It should be Xu's sign." Xu Kongmu also felt that the Dong family was quite courageous. They could even merge the century-old brand left by their ancestors. Donglaiju might have a different future in the future.
The Xu family was chatting about family matters, and Shi Laoba also went back. Seeing this, Yao Shi hurriedly asked, "Master, has Miss Xu agreed?"
Shi Laoba cursed: "She agreed to nothing, and even threatened me that she would not rent our shop in the future."
"How could that be? Miss Xu shouldn't be that kind of person..."
Yao felt something was not right.
Shi Laoba yelled, "I just think you're easy to talk to. If it's my opinion, you should have a tougher temper. Why do you keep apologizing to her? We rented our shop to her for a few taels of silver, and it's okay for us to go to her to get some food occasionally. You still have to apologize to her and give her money. This makes her think we are easy to bully. She threatens us to stop renting if we raise the rent a little bit. If she really dares not to rent, I will take her surname. She is threatening us."
Yao said, "Why don't I go over and talk to Miss Xu? Since you are not willing to invest 2,000 taels of silver in Xu's business shares, we will definitely not raise the rent of the shop."
Shi Laoba said, "Why not raise the rent? We have been giving her a discount for three years. It's time to raise the rent. Come on, stop talking. I'll decide on this."
"Master!" Yao still disagreed with the rent increase. "We can't be people who don't keep their word. We have already signed the contract. If we increase the rent, Miss Xu will go to the government office to sue us, and we will be beaten with a stick."
Shi Laoba was stunned for a moment, and could not help cursing: "We own a shop, we can set any rent we want. Why do you have to punish us?" But his tone was still a little weak.
It is obvious that he does not understand the law at all and thinks the deed is just a decoration.
Yao said, "I didn't deceive you. The contract has been signed and the government has stamped the official seal. It is legal and we cannot raise the rent at will."
Shi Laoba was now speechless.
But Yao was too embarrassed to go to Xu Qinyu's house to apologize, so the matter was delayed for several days.
However, before Yao arrived, a few days later, the kitchen of Donglai Ju had been renovated.
The day after tomorrow will be pretty good, it will be an auspicious day. Xu Qinyu plans to move all of Xu’s things to Donglai Ju the day after tomorrow.
So when entertaining the guests the next day, the waitresses said to the guests, "Dear guests, our restaurant will be moving tomorrow. From now on, please move to the new restaurant."
The diners were a little surprised, "Why so sudden?"
Yuan smiled and said, "The restaurant is a bit small after all, so our manager is thinking of moving to a bigger restaurant."
"So where did it move to?"
Yuan said, "We've moved to Donglaiju. Xu's Restaurant will be merged with Donglaiju in the future. All Xu's food will be retained, and Donglaiju's signature dishes will also be retained. Whether you want to eat Xu's food or Donglaiju's signature dishes, it's still the same, and it's more convenient. The place is large and spacious, and you don't have to be as crowded as in Xu's. In the future, there will be more chefs and assistants there, and the dishes will be served faster, and you don't have to queue."
When everyone heard this, they were delighted.
There are many gentry and wealthy people among them. They just like to eat at Xu Ji, but they think Xu Ji is too small and a bit crowded. If the food at Xu Ji was not really delicious, they really would not be willing to eat at such a small place.
If they move to Donglaiju, it will indeed be much more convenient. The space alone is spacious enough. Many of them used to be customers of Donglaiju and are used to eating there.
"That's great, hurry up and move. We can go over and eat tomorrow."
Yuan smiled and said, "Yes, we will move tomorrow. Our boss said that the food for the first three days will be 80% of the price."
Everyone was naturally happier. On weekdays, there were no discounts on food at Xu Ji. Since the store is moving tomorrow, it would be rare for the price to be cheaper.
Xu Qinyu was still making tiger skin peanuts in the back.
This is also a fresh food that can be used as a snack before a meal, as a standalone snack, or as a side dish with wine. However, it is currently in the tasting stage and will be on the restaurant's menu in the future.
This is still quite troublesome to make, but you can make a lot at a time and save a lot of effort. The process is relatively complicated. You need to make seasoning paste first, then make sugar syrup, and then sprinkle powder on the syrup. That is, pour the peanuts into the rolling pot, coat them with syrup and then sprinkle glutinous rice flour. This is the most difficult part. The powder on the outer shell of the peanuts must be well coated without sticking. Finally, the rolled peanuts must be dried and then stirred with the seasoning paste made at the beginning. Coat the seasoning paste evenly and it can be taken out of the pot when the color is uniform.
This tiger skin peanut tastes crispy and sweet. It is a sweet peanut.
She also made another kind of tiger skin peanuts with a strange flavor. The process was the same, but she did not use syrup, but instead used a strange-flavored syrup.
After making the strange-flavored and sweet tiger skin peanuts, each table is served a stack of sweet and strange-flavored ones for dinner, so that the diners can taste them.
This was her first time seasoning the food, so naturally she asked the diners to help her taste it and see how it tasted.
But the diners who have tried it just think it tastes good. Xu Ji can make ordinary peanuts taste so different and delicious.
Xu Qinyu could still sense that something was not quite satisfactory about the taste. The crispiness was sufficient, but the ratio of sweetness to strange taste was a little off. She would make two more pots after moving to Donglaiju tomorrow.
As for the two flavors, some people like the sweet taste, while others like the strange taste. In fact, both taste good, but depending on your own taste, you may prefer the sweet or salty taste.
While delivering peanuts, Yuan and her friends also told Mu's diners that the restaurant was going to move to Donglaiju and merge with Donglaiju, and asked everyone to help publicize it. Naturally, everyone agreed.
After finishing their evening meal, Yuan and her friends cleaned the kitchen, and Dong Xi sent people over to move away Xu's stove, pots, bowls, pans, all the kitchen utensils, as well as the tables, chairs and benches.
The shop was empty at first, and now that Xu Qinyu was moving out, she naturally moved all the things inside with her.
Even after moving all the things away, Xu Qinyu had the shop cleaned thoroughly before leaving.
After finishing the work here, Xu Qinyu wrote a sign and hung it on the door to inform everyone that Xu Ji had moved and merged with Donglai Ju.
As for the braised fish, fish head and fish balls, Xu Qinyu had no intention of giving them up even after moving to Donglaiju. This was considered a signature dish of Xu's. Even those diners who were not short of money liked them and would occasionally order a braised fish or fish head and fish balls.
After doing all this, Xu Qinyu, Wen and Ning Jieer returned home.
Xu's restaurant will reopen tomorrow. Xu Qinyu is still a little excited, but she is still confident in her skills and the apprentices she taught. Tomorrow, the head chef and assistant chef at Donglai Ju will have to learn the skills from her and try to learn how to cook Xu's food as soon as possible so that she can also take care of the restaurant.
Dong had already talked to the chef and assistant chefs of Donglaiju, telling them that Donglaiju would merge with Xuji, and that the restaurant would no longer be called Donglaiju, but Xuji. If they were willing to stay in Xuji, they could naturally learn cooking from Miss Xu, but for at least five years, they could not leave Xuji and could not sell the dishes they learned from Xuji to others.
The head chef and assistant cooks of Donglaiju were naturally willing to do so. They also knew about Miss Xu's cooking skills. If they hadn't worked in Donglaiju for many years, they would have wanted to learn Miss Xu's cooking skills. Now that they didn't have to become her apprentices and she was willing to teach them so many dishes, how could they not be willing, especially since they only had five years.
Later they learned that no matter whether they wanted to open a snack stall or a restaurant, no one would stop them. This was a great opportunity, so naturally they were reluctant to leave.
Xu Qinyu returned to Laixi Lane and fell asleep quickly that night.
If the business opens tomorrow and goes smoothly, she will have to start making cured ham after a while.
Last year, she pickled 800 fish, which have been pickled for a year and are almost ready to eat. She plans to keep 300 fish for another year before eating them raw. However, she kept a small half of the 100 fish pickled in the first year, which have also been pickled for two years. The fermentation conditions are better and they are almost ready to be eaten raw. She plans to eat one raw to taste it during the Chinese New Year.
We will definitely have to pickle more this year because the restaurant will open next year.
In the future, maybe this ham can be developed into a business like wine. If we produce a lot, we can also transport it to other states and sell it.
But we have to wait until the restaurant opens, otherwise she will have a lot to do.
This year she plans to make more than a thousand hams, half more than last year.
The next morning, Xu Qinyu got up, washed, and went to Donglai with Wen.
Donglaiju has a dedicated shopkeeper, so Wen won't have to run around anymore. But Wen is used to following Yu Niang around, so she plans to go to Donglaiju to see if there's anything she can do to help.
We hurried to Donglaiju in a donkey cart and saw that the sign of the four-story attic Donglaiju had been changed to Xu Ji Restaurant. There was also a vertical sign "Donglaiju" next to it, which was nearly half the size of the Xu Ji Restaurant sign and was hung next to it.