After Xu Ji Restaurant opened, it became even busier with people from Yuanbao Town coming to visit. Even though the breakfast was not cheap, they still wanted to buy some to take home for their families to try.
During the first few days, breakfast was almost sold out until noon. In the end, Cheng Geer told the diners that it was not possible. His master was the only one in the kitchen and he was already very busy and too tired to continue serving breakfast. The diners then left.
Fortunately, there were a few little ones to help. Xu Qinyu went over to wash up, rested for an hour, and then prepared dinner.
There were more guests for the evening meal than usual, so it was postponed for an hour. When they returned home in the evening, Xu Qinyu was so tired that she could hardly lift her hands. Seeing this, Mrs. Wen felt distressed and asked her daughter-in-law to wash up and lie down on the bed.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "What are you doing, mother?"
Wen seemed to recall something and smiled gently, "The late emperor was also very busy in the past. He felt uncomfortable after reviewing memorials every day. I massaged his shoulders, neck and back like this, and he felt much better."
Xu Qinyu said hurriedly, "Mom, this won't happen. I'll just take a nap."
How could she have the nerve to let Wen give her a massage?
But Wen insisted that Yu Niang lie down properly.
Xu Qinyu had no choice but to lie down obediently. Wen sat on the edge of the bed and massaged her shoulders and neck, then her back and waist. Wen's strength was not strong, but it was very relaxing and comfortable.
Wen didn't say anything either, probably because she was thinking of the late emperor and her eldest son.
Xu Qinyu fell asleep unconsciously. When she fell asleep, Wen left. She also told Pei Jianing, "Sister Ning, when you go back to your room to rest, please walk lightly and don't wake up your sister-in-law."
Ning Jieer smiled and said, "Don't worry, mother. I won't have to worry about it."
She also felt sorry for her fourth sister-in-law. Every time she went back to her room to sleep, her fourth sister-in-law was already asleep. She would move very carefully for fear of disturbing her.
When she woke up the next day, Xu Qinyu felt that her body was indeed much more comfortable than the previous few days. She was too busy in the previous few days. Even if she fell asleep as soon as she came home, her body was still sore the next day. Today, it didn't hurt that much.
In the following days, Xu Ji was also very busy. There were still many diners, and many old diners from Donglai Ju came to Xu Ji for breakfast and dinner.
Although these diners had heard that Xu Ji's food was delicious, they didn't like to go to West Street. They felt that even though Xu Ji's food tasted good, the place was too small, and they had to queue up. There was not enough space to sit inside. Donglai Ju was not as spacious, not crowded, and had partitions. However, because Xu Ji was helping the disaster victims, everyone wanted to come and try Xu Ji, even if they had to queue up.
I came here to try Xu Ji and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I told my friends and family, "Everyone who has eaten at Xu Ji said it tastes good. I thought, how good can it be? Donglaiju tastes good. Food is always like that. I was wrong. The food at Xu Ji is delicious. I can't forget it. But there are too many people."
"I told my husband before that Xu's food is delicious. The milk tea tastes rich and mellow, and the sour plum soup is refreshing and thirst-quenching. But my husband didn't believe me. I go there with a few other ladies often, but we have to wait and queue. Xu's will give us a sign and we go in according to the number on the sign. At other times, we can go shopping by ourselves and just pay attention to the time."
These women had already mastered the art of queuing; each time they received a small wooden sign, they would go shopping on West Street to buy some rouge, powder and jewellery, and it would be their turn half an hour later.
As the number of Xu Ji's diners increased, the number of customers at Donglai Ju decreased a lot, but the manager and owner of Donglai Ju didn't say anything.
In addition to the decrease in the number of customers at Donglai Ju, Wen Pingling's restaurant on East Street was finally opened. Her restaurant was called Xiangrui Restaurant, but there were very few diners, which was completely different from the prosperous scene that Wen Pingling had imagined with a large number of guests. She was a little hit, but she also felt that it was because Xu Qinyu was very scheming and gained fame by helping the disaster victims. She also made Xu's restaurant completely popular in Yuanbao Town, so all the diners went to Xu's restaurant, and her restaurant naturally had no business.
It was Yue who persuaded her daughter, "Don't worry, Lingjie, Xuji's good business is only temporary. After a while, when her relief work for the disaster victims is over, who would want to eat breakfast and dinner and queue up all day? Everyone is just trying something new for a while. After a while, people won't flock to Xuji, and our restaurant business will be better. Business can't be rushed."
Wen Lingling could only suppress her emotions and wait patiently.
…
In the past few days, in addition to being busy with Xu Ji, Xu Qinyu also asked Gong Ge'er to take Xu Feng and others to the mountains to pick a lot of wild grapes to continue making wine.
She didn't have to worry about chores like washing, picking, and drying the grapes, or washing and boiling the wine jars. She didn't even have to make the wine herself. She just had to divide the grapes and rock sugar, and Cheng Ge'er and the others would help her fill the jars and seal them.
In just a few days, we have brewed nearly seventy bottles of wine, and we will continue to brew more.
The wine jar used for fermentation is an ordinary large wine jar, which costs a few cents each. However, after the wine is fermented, it needs to be poured out and packaged separately, and this is done using better small wine bottles.
It was specially customized by Xu Qinyu.
A small white porcelain wine bottle with the five big characters "Xu Ji Wine" engraved on it.
Such white porcelain carved wine bottles were not cheap, fifty cents each, but she wanted a large quantity and ordered one thousand such wine bottles first, which cost fifty taels of silver. They gave her a discount of two taels of silver.
The first batch of wine can almost smell the fragrance of fruit wine. When Xu Qinyu felt that the smell was almost right these two days, she asked Cheng Ge'er and others to pour the fermented wine into an exquisite white porcelain bottle and continue the second fermentation. The weather was hot, so the second fermentation would take about half a month. After half a month, when the second fermentation is completed, it can be drunk, and there is no need to keep changing the container. This white porcelain bottle is just right.
This small white porcelain wine bottle can only hold about one kilogram of wine. This kind of fruit wine is exquisite and will not be sold too cheaply. Of course, it will not be sold at a sky-high price either. At least the wealthy businessmen and officials in Raozhou City can afford it.
She brewed a large jar of wine that could be filled into about seven small bottles, each bottle costing one or two silver coins.
There was a thin ribbon tied around the thin neck of the small wine bottle. It was the leftover satin that she and sister-in-law Xia bought, and she asked Sister Ning to help cut it. She also gave Sister Ning wages, but she didn't want to take any of it. She said that apart from making bags, she had no other work to do all day, and that all the housework was done by hired personnel, so it was her duty to help her sister-in-law with some work.
Xu Qinyu did not force it. The bags made by Ning Jie'er were handmade and were particularly delicate. Each bag was completely different. Even bags of the same type would have slightly different patterns.
Xu Qinyu saw many girls at the market carrying or slung bags made by Ning Jie'er.
The bags made by Ning Jie'er are not modern ones. They match better with the tutu and long gowns that these rich young ladies wear on a daily basis. They are small and exquisite and can be carried in the hand or worn cross-body. They are said to be used to carry things, but in fact they are just accessories to match clothes, hair styles and jewellery.
After all, bags are more like accessories for women.
Ning Jie'er can make about four or five bags every month. The bags she makes now are all ordered by the daughters of wealthy families who come to her in advance. The price of each bag is between two and five taels of silver. The fabrics she chooses are no longer scraps, but whole pieces of gauze, satin, etc.
In fact, there are imitations of these bags in the market, but none of them are as exquisite as those made by Sister Ning. The patterns are exactly the same as those made by Sister Ning, and they are sold cheaply. However, this does not affect Sister Ning's business at all. The daughters of wealthy merchants naturally want the best and will not be tempted by such a cheap price.
In this way, Xu Qinyu's first batch of wine was packaged into 140 bottles, which were stored in the utility room, waiting for the second fermentation.
Everyone in Xu's Restaurant was busy. After seven or eight days, the disaster victims outside Yuanbao Town were still living outside. They also wanted to stay in Yuanbao Town, but they learned that the settlement fee was five taels of silver per person. Naturally, they could not afford so much money, so they could only go to villages that did not require settlement fees.
But they still cannot leave for now. As for the reason, the county magistrate told them that they should discuss their destination with their superiors.
But these words can only deceive ordinary disaster victims and cannot deceive the Wen family.
Wen was the empress and she saw the problem.
She knew that there were three villages under the jurisdiction of Raozhou City where victims had contracted diarrhea. Currently, the villages were sealed off and people were sent to protect and treat them. However, the victims outside the town had not been released yet. It was obvious that they did not dare to release them. Why did they not dare to release them? The higher-ups had not given the order yet. For such a serious matter as diarrhea, the governor of Raozhou City could not make a decision. He would definitely write a secret memorial to the capital. Given the temperament of the two people in the capital, they might very well wipe out the problem completely. They might even think that Yuanbao Town was also affected by the disaster victims and slaughter all the people in Yuanbao Town together.
In fact, Wen knew in her heart that Empress Dowager Fu originally wanted to kill all the descendants of her lineage.
But the officials were so violent that Empress Dowager Fu did not dare to take action and exiled them.
Because she was worried that the two people in the palace would order the massacre of the town and the village, Wen was a little absent-minded when doing the accounts these days. When she went back home in the evening, she said that she was helping Yu Niang to massage her muscles and bones. Xu Qinyu couldn't help but ask her about it. She had noticed that her mother-in-law had been uneasy these days.
Wen thought about it and told Yu Niang about her worries without hiding it from her.
After hearing this, Xu Qinyu's heart skipped a beat. It seemed that her previous guess was correct. The new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu in the palace were definitely not good people. They might really massacre the whole town and the whole village.
Wen said, "Don't worry, Yu Niang. The officials in the palace will not let them do whatever they want. Besides, diarrhea can be prevented and cured nowadays, so there shouldn't be a massacre."
As Wen spoke, her eyes could not help but fall on Yu Niang.
Yu Niang was lying on the bed, with her head slightly tilted, half of her snow-white cheek exposed, and the other half of her brows tightly locked, still worried about what she said.
In fact, diarrhea in Yuanbao Town was preventable before. Wen didn't think that it was the preventive method that was thought up by Yang County Magistrate. It was Yu Niang who went to the yamen in person that day, and this preventive method was proposed. I'm afraid it was Yu Niang who came up with it. This method has never been recorded in any book, miscellaneous notes, or travel notes. Otherwise, even if there was a chance, it would have been discovered by the world and found out to try to prevent the plague.
Fortunately, Yu Niang knew clearly that her family could not take credit for such things. Otherwise, if the two people in the palace knew about it, they would think that Yu Niang and the Pei family were a threat and would not let them go.
But Wen was thinking about something else at the moment. Yu Niang really knew a lot...
Wen couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Forget it. No matter what, Yu Niang is just Yu Niang, a Yu Niang who is devoted to her family and treats them all very well.
Wen reached out and tucked the hair that was sticking to Yu Niang's cheek behind her ears, and massaged her shoulders and arms.
Because Wen mentioned the two people in the palace, Xu Qinyu was worried for several days.
Fortunately, the two did not worry for too long. A few days later, soldiers from Raozhou City came to post notices, saying that the emperor was gracious and, thinking of the prevention and cure of diarrhea, had sent people to various places to provide disaster relief, provide protection, and treat diarrhea patients.
After the notice was posted, the disaster victims outside the town packed up and left Kaiyuanbao Town, settling in villages where no settlement fees were required.
The town finally returned to its former tranquility.
It is already midsummer and many crops have begun to be harvested. Xu Qinyu bought a lot of tender peanuts and planned to make five-spice salty dried peanuts. This kind of salty dried peanuts are with shells. The taste is best when made with new peanuts. After they are made, they can be stored for a long time and can be kept even after the New Year.
The method is also simple. Wash the dirt off the fresh peanuts, pour them into the prepared brine, cook them, and then leave them for two hours until they are fully flavored, then spread them out in the sun to dry.
You can also eat fresh peanuts that have been brined directly. This is the brined salt-boiled peanuts with shells. They are very tasty and full of spiced juice. The peanuts also taste salty and powdery. They are the best side dishes for drinking. Now that the weather is hot, guests who usually have dinner are taking out some wine, so these brined peanuts have also been added to the menu.
A plate costs twenty cents and is a must-order for almost every table.
Half of the halogenated peanuts are sold on the same day, and the remaining half are spread out on the clean stone slabs in the yard to dry. However, they are not crispy enough after drying, so they must be dried a second time. She has a kiln, in which she slowly bakes the peanuts over low heat. These are salted peanuts, which taste especially crispy. The children prefer this kind of salted peanuts. The halogenated peanuts taste powdery and are more suitable for drinking.
The first batch of wine brewed by Xu Qinyu has also been fermented twice and is ready to drink. She tasted it herself and found it to have a strong fruity aroma, a light wine flavor and sweetness. It is called wine, but it can actually be drunk as a drink, with a sour and sweet taste. Her first fermentation was good, and after the second fermentation, these wines can be stored for one or two years without any problems, but the wine flavor will be stronger at the end, not as strong as the fruit flavor at the beginning.
Xu Qinyu also sent some of the first batch of wine to the Xia, Xu, and Yang families, and the rest were sold in Xu's restaurant. It was learned that the price of a bottle was one or two silver coins, so apart from a few wealthy customers, not many were sold.
Because even if you eat a few good dishes in a restaurant, it only costs one or two taels of silver. This small bottle of fruit wine costs one or two taels of silver. Naturally, not many people buy it. Most of them are wealthy businessmen who buy some to drink at home.
The second batch of wine has also been bottled for secondary fermentation.
The third and fourth batches of wine are still fermenting in the large vats.
Throughout the summer, Xu Qinyu made salted peanuts in addition to brewing wine.
But actually she didn't worry much, as the wine and salted peanuts were prepared by Cheng Ge'er and his friends.
It is almost autumn, and Xu Ji's business is a little slower than it was in the summer when there were disaster victims, but there are still a lot of customers, and it is very busy every day.
Fortunately, there are two days of rest every month, so Xu Qinyu can breathe a sigh of relief.
She wanted to take advantage of the summer holiday to go to Raozhou City. Her wine had been fermented and ready to drink, so she had to find a market for it. There were indeed people who bought it in the town, but the sales were too slow, so she still needed to open up sales in Raozhou City.
On the day when Xu Ji was resting, Xu Qinyu got up early, hired a carriage, and prepared to go to the city. Wen asked Cheng Ge'er to go with her, as she was definitely worried about Yu Niang going alone.
Since Cheng Ge'er can drive a car, there is no need to hire a driver.
Xu Feng must go with them.
Xu Feng injured one of his eyes when he was a child. When he was a little beggar, that damaged eye looked particularly scary. After being adopted by Xu Qinyu, she specially made an eyepatch for him to cover it. The customers in the restaurant got used to it and didn't think it was scary at all.
After more than two months of care, the children not only gained weight but also grew taller.
Xu Feng is taller than Gong Ge'er. Xu Qinyu suspects that he is actually more than ten years old and may be about the same age as Cheng Ge'er. However, he has been a beggar since he was young and doesn't know his specific date of birth. He was not well fed and often went hungry when he was a child, so he must have not grown taller. Now that his nutrition is up to standard, his height has increased dramatically and is normal.
Xu Feng wanted to go along, and Xu Qinyu did not refuse and let him go. The other children looked on eagerly, and Xu Qinyu told them to look after the restaurant, and the children nodded.
In fact, the family had already bought a donkey cart, but it was only used for buying vegetables and picking fruits and mushrooms in the mountains. If we wanted to go to Raozhou City, the donkey cart was too slow, so we had to use a horse-drawn carriage.
Early in the morning, Cheng Ge'er drove Xu Qinyu and Xu Feng to Raozhou City.
It was already getting cooler in the southwest in late summer, and the road wasn't hot either. It was in the countryside, so there wasn't much to worry about. Xu Qinyu opened the car window curtain and looked at the scenery outside.
The road is full of busy farming scenes. This year, the weather in the southwest has been favorable and the crops are growing well.
But even if crops grow well, after paying taxes, what is left is just enough for food, or at most a little left over that can be sold for a few ounces of silver.
If there is a little bit of natural disaster, if God sends more rain or the drought lasts for a few more days, the crop harvest will be affected, and it will be difficult to have enough to eat even if you pay taxes.
Firstly, the tax is a bit heavy, and secondly, the output of crops is just average. If the weather is bad and the harvest is poor, the output will be even lower.
It seems that since the new emperor ascended the throne, land taxes have been increased a bit, and business taxes have also increased a bit, but they are all within an affordable range.
After watching the people harvesting crops along the way, the three of them arrived at Raozhou City an hour and a half later.
When I first came to Yuanbao Town from Raozhou City, it was cold and I had to pay attention to the road, so I didn’t run very fast. Now the weather is good and I can run fast on the road. I can reach Raozhou City in an hour and a half.
I paid the money and entered the city. Raozhou City has not changed much from before, except that it is more lively. Last year it was early winter, and there were not as many people as now.
Xu Qinyu directly asked Cheng Ge'er to drive the carriage to the inn where they had stayed before.
The name of the inn was Bafang Inn. The owner of the inn was surnamed Zhou. His son was still a chef in the inn. Because Xu Qinyu borrowed the inn's kitchen, his son learned cooking skills from Xu Qinyu for a few days.
Xu Qinyu still remembers that Manager Zhou's son was named Zhou Daqing, a very honest man.
After getting off the carriage, Xu Qinyu entered the inn carrying a few bottles of wine.
The waiter was still the same young boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old. He was stunned when he looked at Xu Qinyu. He felt that the girl in front of him looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who she was for a while. He thought that she might be someone who had stayed in the inn before.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Tienniu, do you still recognize me?"
She also remembered the waiter's name, Tie Niu.
Tie Niu's eyes widened. "You, you are Miss Xu who stayed at the inn last winter!"
At that time, Miss Xu was thin and skinny, with frostbite all over her face. The reason why he remembered her was because of her cooking skills.
When Miss Xu borrowed the kitchen, not only Shopkeeper Zhou and Chef Zhou benefited from it, but he also benefited from it. After eating the food cooked by Miss Xu, he found it so delicious that it had been almost a year, but he could still remember the taste.
Not only he was thinking about it, the shopkeeper and Chef Zhou would occasionally smack their lips and ask if they could have a chance to taste Miss Xu's cooking someday.
Even Captain Liang in the military camp was concerned about Miss Xu's cooking skills. When he learned that Miss Xu had left suddenly, he was dumbfounded. He kept muttering that he regretted that he should have asked Miss Xu where she lived and what her plans were for the future, whether she wanted to open a restaurant or something. In short, when Captain Liang learned that Miss Xu had left the inn, he was devastated.
Tieniu also remembered that although Miss Xu was skinny and had frostbite on her face, her facial features were bright and beautiful. Now Miss Xu has indeed become prettier. She has gained some weight and is no longer skinny. She wears a plain dress, her face is white and tender, and her eyes seem to be able to smile. When she looks at people, her whole body is smiling, and she has become even more beautiful.
He was a little afraid to look Miss Xu in the eye.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Tienniu, Manager Zhou is here. I have something to ask him."
Tie Niu said hurriedly, "Yes, yes, Miss Xu, please wait a moment. I will go to the backyard to find Shopkeeper Zhou."
Shopkeeper Zhou was indeed talking to his son in the kitchen.
When Miss Xu left, Zhou Daqing, the son of the innkeeper Zhou, learned cooking skills from Miss Xu for a few days and knew the recipes of raw fish slice porridge, fish head and tofu pot, roasted fish offal, wontons and pickled fish made by Miss Xu in those days. However, Zhou Daqing did not use these dishes privately to attract business to the inn after Miss Xu left.
In his heart, he regarded Miss Xu as his master. Without the master's permission, there was no way he could steal her skills and use them to make money.
So the inn's business is still average now. The guests all stay in the inn, and as for food, most of them eat out in restaurants and eateries.
However, Zhou Daqing often cooked these dishes for his family, and the taste became better and better. But he knew in his heart that they were still not as good as those cooked by Miss Xu. However, after cooking them more often, they became his specialties, and the taste was still good. With these dishes alone, he could be a chef in a restaurant.
Also, Captain Liang would always come to ask him to make these few delicacies to satisfy his hunger.
He just collected money for the ingredients and seasonings.
Shopkeeper Zhou is discussing with his son the need to renovate the stables in the backyard. The work must start tomorrow, otherwise it will be difficult to repair when the weather gets cold, and the guests' horses may easily freeze.
As the two were talking, Tie Niu rushed in and shouted at him excitedly, "Boss, Miss Xu is here!"
"What?" Shopkeeper Zhou was stunned for a moment, "Which Miss Xu?" He didn't even dare to think about Miss Xu.
He had just finished speaking when he suddenly realized something and stood up and asked with his eyes wide open, "But, but what about that Miss Xu from last year?"
Tie Niu nodded vigorously, "It's that Miss Xu."
Shopkeeper Zhou hurried to the front living room. Zhou Daqing could no longer sit still and followed his father to the front living room.
The three of them came to the living room and found Miss Xu sitting on a bench under a window.
Miss Xu is no longer the same as she was in early winter last year. Her face is now white and she looks pretty.
In addition to Miss Xu, there were several small white porcelain wine bottles on the square table in front of her. The small wine bottles were tied with ribbons, which looked particularly exquisite.