Chapter 110 Young Mu Ai

"The shopkeeper Si is young and promising, but how can this be considered learning?" After forcing a smile for a long time, he had to look up at Si Li and talk to her. Some people couldn't hold back their weird temper.

From their tone and Wu You's somewhat embarrassed expression, Si Li understood that the banquet was not going to be a good one, so she stopped thinking and went to the main seat. "I have no choice but to refuse such a grand reception. If you have time, you can come and try the new products that Wanglaiju has released recently, so as to calm down your temper. Shopkeeper Wu told me that it was about a garden party. What is the theme of this year's garden party?"

The girl straightened her back and sat in the main seat. Although her voice was still soft, she quickly got to the point after a sarcasm. She immediately took the initiative in the private room, and silenced several middle-aged men who were not happy to see her sitting directly in the main seat.

Wu You nodded quietly, worthy of being the person he strongly recommended.

The question was thrown out, but no one spoke for a long time. Si Li felt tired of seeing everyone having ulterior motives. Before she continued to ask, Guan Zhiyu coughed lightly and said, "We invited Manager Si to come here today to host the garden party. After all, it's getting late, so we can set the rules early so that everyone can prepare."

Right after she was promoted, Si Li had the impression that Guan Ji sent someone to look for her. She was a little anxious because he couldn't see her and the person didn't say what it was about. Now it seems that Guan Zhiyu had received the news earlier and wanted to remind her.

Si Li smiled at Guan Zhiyu, "With so many elders here, are you overestimating me by expecting a young man like me to take the lead? Besides, it's been so long and no one has mentioned this matter. How come they asked me to host the garden party and set the date so early?"

Speaking of Gao Kan, several old men in the room showed complacent smiles on their faces, but when she asked, their faces fell again and they glared at Wu You fiercely.

Wu You had been hit repeatedly, and after showing his good will to Si Li, he had no intention of causing trouble again. He sat at the last seat and didn't care. Seeing the atmosphere getting awkward, he quickly came out to explain, "The Garden Party has always been the most popular among diners and the techniques are novel. In my opinion, the shopkeeper Si deserves it. As for the time, it's not that I intentionally interfere, but it's always been this time in previous years. If the date is changed, it will lose tradition. I hope the shopkeeper Si will understand."

"It's just borrowing a piece of thong..." someone muttered, but when they went to look for it, they couldn't find who was talking.

Wu You was sweating when he heard this. Si Li looked at the atmosphere in the room and almost understood what was going on. On the one hand, Wu You felt that she should be like this, and on the other hand, the old restaurant in Beijing looked down on her. In addition to the previous incident of the prince proposing marriage, the restaurant owner couldn't refuse openly, so he deliberately gave her a difficult problem.

"Is that so?" Si Li clapped her hands in sudden realization, "That's easy. Since my family is hosting, then everyone should follow my instructions, right?"

Except for the few people who had confronted Si Li before, no one in the room expected her to react like this. Their faces turned cold for a moment. A middle-aged man spoke first, "You are so arrogant despite your young age! How are you going to handle this?"

"Didn't you ask me to do this? Why are you doing it again..." Si Li hesitated, "Why don't you do it?"

"This..." The middle-aged man was somewhat tempted, but seeing the eager look of his opponent, he immediately put away his joy and said, "Why are you making excuses? Since you said it's your job, I will follow your instructions!"

"That's good." Si Li smiled with her eyebrows curved, as if she was really a harmless and naive little girl. "This time the theme is Young Mu Ai. All the shopkeepers can go back and prepare the dishes first. The stewards you brought with you can stay for a while. By the way, the stewards listen to me, right?"

Before they had even warmed up their chairs, the meeting was over. The shopkeepers who had been expecting to ridicule and despise each other looked at each other in bewilderment. The shopkeeper of Sanzhenzhai stood up tremblingly with the help of a cane, and patted the shoulder of the steward behind him, "Well, listen to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper is a hero born in his youth, and he has great ambitions!"

"Thank you, uncle."

The shopkeeper of Sanzhenzhai expressed his opinion first, so it was difficult for the shopkeeper who left later to not give Si Li's permission. He walked out of the door unwillingly, looked at each other, and said sarcastically, "The young girl has learned a few skills and she is talking nonsense. She is not afraid of being exposed! The topic she thought of in such a short time is really a joke!"

"I don't expect her to do anything. She's just a little girl, so that's all she has in her mind."

"Alas, you can't say that. Such a short period of time is not enough. The shopkeeper Si also wants us to prepare well." Although they said this, everyone knew that they had no intention of cooperating in the preparation and just wanted to see Si Li make a fool of herself.

There were discussions everywhere, but no one was optimistic about Si Li's plan. The loud laughter spread to the teahouse, making the sweat on Wu You's forehead flow faster.

"Ms. Si, I really didn't mean to—"

Si Li stopped his apology and said, "It's okay. A blessing in disguise. If it hadn't happened, I might not have had the chance to host the garden party."

"Of course, of course." Wu You pulled out a booklet from his sleeve, the ink still fresh on it, "This is the theme and specific arrangements for the garden party I prepared in the past few years. It would be great if I could help you."

"Speaking of which, I do need to borrow your place." Si Li dared to bring up the subject, naturally she already had a plan in mind, and turned to the managers standing at the door of the private room, "Each store will send two assistants to do the work the day before the garden party. The invoices for the items that need to be decorated will be delivered to the managers later."

This was not surprising. At least according to the brochure that Si Li had flipped through, in previous years, the garden party had also had a unified decoration and then the stores reimbursed the expenses, not to mention providing partnerships to help. However, this year her qualifications were not enough to convince everyone, so the managers all looked indifferent and responded sparsely.

Si Li was not angry. It was completely unrealistic to expect these guys who were looking to cause trouble to help. But as long as they were willing to pay and send people, it would be fine.

"If you need any snacks, Guan Ji's apprentices are at your disposal." With the help of his brother, Guan Zhiyu read the manual that Si Li threw to him, thought for a moment, and then said, "I can also take care of the supply of rice, flour and milk."

Wu You interrupted, "I've done all that before, tea leaves, utensils, silk cloth, etc. I'm familiar with it!"

Si Li thanked everyone one by one, and Wang Ting returned to Wanglaiju to call the shopkeeper Tang, Ah Quan, and Xiao Que who was resting. After hearing about the garden party, Ah Quan, who was specially asked to help, was very excited and eager to help the shopkeeper, "I can do it, let me do it!"

The garden party was more of a collaboration of restaurants in the market town than a garden party. Such a collaboration could bring huge benefits to the host, in terms of fame, money, and status. Wuweilou was unique among the teahouses in the capital, and it was also due to the fact that it had hosted garden parties for several years. Si Li had already seen this clearly from the manual that Wu You took out.

It is impossible for Wanglaiju to show off more than a restaurant that focuses on dishes, but it can work harder on snacks and marketing. Si Li arranged for Ah Quan to find the carpenters that Tang the shopkeeper had made friends with, and handed the honey lemon sauce pot that Wang Ting brought to Tang the shopkeeper, "Citrus water, is it delicious?"

Shopkeeper Tang scooped a spoonful of the liquid into the water, and after it dissolved, he took a sip. His frown relaxed again. "It's sour and sweet, a little bit astringent, and refreshing. Can citrons be soaked in water and drunk?"

"Yes." Si Li pursed her lips and smiled softly, "Isn't this the feeling of a young Mu Ai when she first fell in love?"

Everyone in the room was an acquaintance. Si Li finished speaking confidently. Only Guan Zhizhen blushed as if blood was dripping. "Heart, heartbeat?" He felt like someone had stepped on him. He looked down and saw his own brother with an expressionless face.

"What's the problem?" Si Li looked at him in confusion, and after getting Guan Zhiyu's unimpeded answer, he continued, "First, I went to Lai Ju to use the flower collection card, different cups and children's lyrics. This time, I want to use these methods together at the garden party. Each attendee can sign in and punch the card at each store to get a stamp. Finally, when the different patterns on the flower collection card are collected, they can redeem a 'Young Mu Ai' set meal at Wang Lai Ju. The set meal includes citrus-flavored French fries, popcorn and a cup of honey lemonade. There is a hidden slot on the lemonade cup, and a poem about heartbeat is placed on it."

In this way, no matter which store the customers are from, they will hear about Wanglaiju and come to see what Young Muai is all about, even if it is out of curiosity. Add to that the potential internet geeks, and this is a rare opportunity for expansion.

"They wanted you to back down, but they didn't expect you to be so ambitious." Guan Zhiyu's voice was gentle, just like the elegant gentleman Si Li had seen before. "Since it's citron and lemon? It's time for me to go back and study the flavor of the new Daifuku."

Si Li's eyes lit up, "Well, those are the gift packages. How about the upgraded version with your snacks and lemon Xiaobei? In fact, the lemon cheesecake tastes pretty good too."

"What is cake?"

Si Li mentioned the general direction of the production and sighed, "It's a bit difficult, but Daifuku is enough."

Guan Zhiyu was thinking about something. Just as she was about to speak, Ah Quan came in with the carpenter. Si Li stood up and saluted, "I'm sorry to trouble you, Master."

The carpenter asked Ah Fu to come forward, and Ah Fu smiled shyly, "I heard that there is an organization that is going to do this, I want to give it a try." He spoke slowly, trying his best to reduce stuttering.

Si Li described the groove and cup shape she wanted, and Ah Fu drew a picture for her. The cup above had two layers, one layer had a wood carving pattern with an opening, and the scroll could just fit inside. "This way you won't burn your hands." Ah Fu took the cup from before and explained, and it turned out to be the thermos cup mode that Si Li had mentioned before.

"That's it." Si Li made the final decision and discussed the price of the cups with the carpenter and Ah Fu. Wang Ting, who was familiar with the market, provided the paper costs. After a while, the stewards who were waiting outside with nothing to do but listen to the surprised shouts from inside the door all got the bill.

They could hardly believe their eyes. It wasn't too expensive, it was too cheap.

It was a tacit rule that the restaurant hosting the garden party would take a portion of the profits, but this time each restaurant only asked for a different amount ranging from one or two taels to ten taels depending on the size of the store, so the cost was quite low.

Can this garden party really be held? This question came to the mind of the restaurant manager, whether he was neutral or pessimistic about Si Li.

As for the suggestions on the bill to purchase citrons and develop citron-flavored dishes, most of them were rejected.

Forgot about it.

Si Li didn't care about this reminder. After all, she had already made plans to support the garden party on her own. She bought most of the citrons that had accumulated in the Jian family, and placed the pickled honey and lemon sauce in the shade at the base of the wall in the backyard of the house, just blocking the small door on the wall.