Guan Er's voice was so loud that half the people on the street turned their heads to look over here. When they heard that it was Guan Ji Shao Dong, they couldn't help but talk about it. In addition to the famous restaurants and restaurants that set up stalls to promote the Buddha Dharma Fair, there were also many small stalls. In previous years, there were chefs poaching on the street, but this year it was a fight for a little girl, so the scene was particularly eye-catching.
After Guan Zhizhen finished yelling, he turned around and saw the person standing in front of the stall. He frowned and said, "Why are you here? Have you met the Prince of Yue?" He bowed halfheartedly and was not in a hurry to talk to the chef. He stopped Jiang Hengyun who was disguised as Jiang Lang and said hurriedly, "I heard from my brother that the Prince of Yue's Mansion doesn't have a winery business. It's not good to just invite her back to feed you. It's better for the prince to let her go and come more often in the future so that we can keep an eye on her."
Even if that's the case, are you afraid of getting a beating if you say it out loud? Si Li quietly rolled her eyes. The snacks at Guan Ji's Pastry Shop are delicious, but why does the young master's brain not seem to be working very well? Is it because of his IQ that he got his culinary skills?
Meng Taotao tugged at her sleeve under the table. Si Li turned her head and met the eyes of the prince of Yue. She felt a little embarrassed for a moment, wondering if the indecent behavior just now was seen by this person. Fortunately, she did not intend to accept the invitation to work, otherwise she would leave a strange first impression on her boss and affect her salary.
"Jiang Lang" looked over as if by coincidence, and quickly looked away. Si Li was waiting to watch the show from the best angle, her thoughts flying around stopped at the top of the young man's head. When the original owner was young, she had met the prince of Yue, Jiang Lang, and the little princess. The age difference between them was not much. She had thought Jiang Lang was childish before, but she didn't expect that he was actually a teenager of 17 or 18 years old and grew fast.
When "Jiang Lang" opened his mouth, his childishness was swept away, "You don't care about being the shopkeeper now, so how can you make a promise?"
The needle hit the target and Guan Er's face turned pale.
Guan Er shut up, and Jiang Lang took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and pushed it in front of Si Li, "Miss, do you know Qiyun Tower?"
The young man looked calm and composed, as if he was not referring to the legendary wine shop in the capital. He only said two sentences, as if he was sure that Si Li would immediately agree when he heard the name.
Si Li glanced at the paper and for a moment she almost forgot to breathe.
It was a contract without signatures or seals, hiring her to be the assistant chef of Qiyunlou. Jiang Lang's determination was not without reason. Although Qiyunlou had not been open for business for many years, its reputation was enough to make any chef who had no faction behind him nod his head immediately.
That's Qiyun Tower! When she first heard the name, she never thought it would fall into her hands. However, Jiang Lang dared to invite, but Si Li didn't dare to go.
Damn, Queen, did you know that your nephew is blind?!
Thoughts were tangled in her mind. Si Li took a breath, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart, and shook her head gently.
Not only Jiang Lang showed a puzzled look, Guan Er blurted out, "No way?"
Si Li pushed the contract back helplessly, "I'm sorry I can't agree to this."
If she had heard the name of Qiyunlou yesterday afternoon or earlier, she would have agreed without thinking. After all, Qiyunlou was a very high starting point, with a large number of guests already coming and going, and it was very easy to leverage them. It was suitable for her to complete mandatory tasks and also suitable for her to trick the chef into satisfying her own food and drink.
However, the system's task of "establishing a liaison office" is still there. An ordinary restaurant would not change its signboard if it hired a deputy chef back, let alone Qiyunlou, which has a glorious history and legend.
Si Li stopped reading the contract and bowed to the two of them. "Everyone knows the reputation of Qiyunlou. Guan's pastries are very delicious. You two are both outstanding people. Thank you for your favor. But I know that my cooking skills are not good enough to be accepted in a high-class restaurant. If something goes wrong, it will damage the reputation of the two old shops and it will be a betrayal. In the future, I will go to the city to settle down. If you are interested, you can come and patronize us more often."
Bringing out the same shameless spirit as she had during the annual summary that year, Si Li thought she had spoken very tactfully. Before she had even finished her words, she saw Guan Zhizhen's face flush and she turned her head away.
"It's not me who did it, why are you praising me?"
The way she saluted was really casual. Jiang Hengyun glanced at her and then looked away, "It's nothing, I won't blame you."
It's over, Si Li thought sadly, the Queen's nephew seemed quite smart and cute when he was a child, but how come he became blind when he grew up and couldn't understand human language.
With a determined heart, Si Li simply pointed out the real problem, "Wanglaiju is very important to me. The prince wants me to do something. If Qiyunlou is willing to change its name, we can sign the contract now."
Meng Taotao's hand holding her sleeve almost ripped it off, and the tourists and stall owners who were watching the situation here gasped. Si Li didn't dare to look back at Meng Taotao's eyes. No need to guess, she must be heartbroken after hearing her squandering things and looking at her like she was crazy.
Because all of this is written all over Guan Er’s face.
The real owner "Jiang Lang" didn't even move his eyebrows. He pondered for a moment, folded the contract, nodded, and said, "In that case, see you tomorrow." Without saying much, he turned and left. Si Li seemed to see the bright and smooth road move away from her eyes, and felt extremely heartbroken for a moment.
Wuwu, if it happens again, she will definitely not brag about giving the system the opportunity to release tasks.
After one party left, the excitement naturally faded, and the tourists and stall owners who stretched their necks and pricked up their ears continued to do their own things. Several restaurants that noticed the commotion here sent their waiters to find out who this obscure "Wanglaiju" was. They followed Si Li all the way back to Si's manor, and were so shocked that they dared not to investigate further.
After Jiang Lang left, Guan Zhizhen stepped forward, looked around, squinted her eyes, and smiled, "Little shopkeeper, so what do you think is the most delicious Guan Ji?"
Si Li could see that he didn't want to hire her as a chef, otherwise he wouldn't have stayed after clearly refusing. She couldn't figure out Guan Er's intentions for a moment, so she said frankly, "Others are expensive. I've only bought sachima and donkey rolls. Compared with the two, sachima is more milky and delicious."
Guan Zhizhen was stunned for a moment, and said dryly, "It is a bit expensive." His expression was a little gloomy, and he whispered, "If that's the case, why don't you agree to it, Prince? I, I didn't peek, but the one thousand taels of salary he wrote a year is too obvious."
Si Li could see his awkwardness. She was always a little embarrassed to mention that someone was broke. However, she didn't even look at the contract carefully. She only looked at the location and position and pushed it back to Jiang Lang. If it was any later, she was afraid that she would agree to it in a rush. Now that she heard that the salary was one thousand taels a year, Si Li felt her heart bleeding.
After opening the system panel and staring at the one hundred taels of silver that had not been taken out from the item list, Si Licai prepared himself mentally and said, "Wanglaiju is not Qiyunlou, and Qiyunlou is not Wanglaiju. I earned the money myself, so it's nothing."
In Guan Zhizhen's eyes, the girl looked calm, and was quite proud of her cooking skills. She was young and promising, so she was naturally the most confident in her family's inheritance. As a result, she couldn't bring herself to ask her to finish the dishes for her brother.
After thinking it over, Guan Zhizhen bowed hastily and said, "Thank you for your advice." But then she said goodbye and left.
Before Si Li could finish the question mark on her head, Xiao Que hugged her from behind. The little girl was so excited that her voice was shaking, "Boss, can we really make a thousand taels?!"
Si Li was amazed by Xiao Que's ability to grasp the key points. She pulled Xiao Que down and nodded, "I will." As for when she earned so much, she didn't know.
Hearing this, Xiao Que jumped and danced with joy, shaking the straw hut twice, and Wang Ting was so scared that he hurried to hold the pillar. Meng Taotao's face was still flushed, and she tried her best to calm down and pack her things. When Si Li looked over, she saw her putting the oil paper into the still wet pot, and she quickly snatched it away. Meng Taotao went to get the sign hanging on the table in her sleep. Seeing that she hadn't come back to her senses, Si Li simply pushed her onto the donkey cart to rest.
It seemed that Wang Ting was the only one who was calm and composed among the three, as if the previous invitation had never occurred. He packed up his things and asked them to get in the car. Si Li was very surprised by his calmness. After the four of them got on the donkey car and headed towards the capital, she found an opportunity to ask him.
Wang Ting said as if it was a matter of course, "Opening a shop is opening a shop, but it is unreasonable for a young lady to work for others."
Okay, you are worthy of being the manager, Xiao Wang.
Guan Jiang and the other two were delayed for some time, but fortunately, the goods they brought in the morning were basically sold out. There were only some pots and bowls on the donkey cart, and with the weight of four people, it was not moving very slowly. When Si Li and his party went down against the flow of people and arrived in the capital, there were still more people leaving the city to Guanghua Mountain, and fewer people entering the city.
The donkey carriage in the capital was simple and had no windows. Xiao Que lay on the door and looked around. She would exclaim "Wow" when she saw something strange from time to time. This happened twice in a row. Wang Ting couldn't stand being stared at by passers-by with strange eyes. He pushed her shoulder and said, "Keep your voice down."
"What are you doing?" Xiao Que pushed back, almost pushing Wang Ting out of the car. Si Li held Xiao Que down and asked softly, "Where are you going?"
Wang Ting slowed down the pace by pulling the reins, "We are almost at the mansion, do you want to go back and get some expenses?" Wang Ting just realized in the past two days that the eldest lady came to the manor without bringing anything with her. He felt a little pitiful for her because she had to change into two sets of clothes, and he couldn't help but say something.
A faint light shone through the gaps in the curtains of the donkey carriage. Si Li lifted the curtains a little and looked out. The first house in the alley ahead was Si's mansion, with green tiles and white walls, a tightly closed vermilion door, and golden inscriptions on the door with flying dragons and dancing phoenixes. Dismounting stones and stone lions stood on both sides, showing the honor bestowed by the imperial power. However, all this had nothing to do with the original owner.
From a distance, one could see a tree with lanterns hanging on its dead branches stretching upward from the courtyard. If she remembered correctly, it was the pear tree in the original owner's courtyard. It was not a rare variety, but in spring the tree was covered with snow-white flowers, which was extremely beautiful. Si Tang always came to her courtyard in spring to pick pear blossoms to put in a vase, year after year. Now, only the top branches of the pear tree have not been climbed and broken, and it is growing higher and higher.
"No need, let's go around it." Si Li said softly, "Hurry up and finish checking the shop. It will be better if we can have a meal in the city before going back."
After being scolded, Xiao Que perked up again, and excitedly pulled Meng Taotao to ask what delicious food there was at this time of year. Meng Taotao listed a series of dishes as if he was naming them, and the three people in the car felt a little hungry.
When Si Li visited the capital in his previous life, he had heard that the east is rich, the west is noble, the south is poor, and the north is mean. However, the old distinctions have basically disappeared. The alleys and courtyards are neat and tidy, and they are full of the atmosphere of fireworks. Except for the newly built major centers, everything is the same. The capital of the Ning Dynasty has demonstrated this saying vividly. The donkey carriage enters from the west gate, bypasses the imperial palace in the center, and the magnificent facades with carved beams and painted rafters gradually become low and ordinary.
In the distance is the golden roof of the Buddhist temple, behind is the residence of the important official, and in between, the low wooden doors of the ordinary people's houses and the noisy market entrance seem particularly abrupt.
"Miss, you haven't seen it before, have you?" Wang Ting smiled and waved to the child who ran by. "The capital is too big. Let's go to the East Market now and visit three houses along the way. After we are done, we can go back."
Si Li said nothing. The original owner had indeed never seen these things. Many of the memories left to her were limited to within the courtyard walls. Xiao Que had never seen the capital city, so in fact, she could not be said to have seen it.
"We're here." Wang Ting stopped the car and explained in a low voice, "This place is in the south city, far from the manor and the farm. It's expensive and there are not many customers, but the location is very good. Miss, take a look first. If you don't like it, don't say anything."
Being far from Si's house and the manor was an advantage for Si Li. Wang Ting went downstairs to look for the owner of the house first. Si Li got out of the car and was startled by the small building in front of her.
The small building was three stories high, with red pillars and carved rafters. One had to look up to see the pointed eaves on the top floor. Even though the paint on the exterior walls had faded, it was clear that a lot of money had been spent on the decoration. Si Li thought about the description of "the asking price was also expensive" and realized that this shop was obviously unaffordable. She immediately decided to give up and look for another shop.
"Miss?"
Si Li turned around and saw Wang Ting and a short, fat middle-aged man coming from the right. She was a little surprised, "Why are you coming from there?"
Wang Ting coughed dryly and rushed over two steps ahead, "It's not this one."
After taking a closer look, Si Li's face flushed. There was a sign with the three characters "Qiyun Building" clearly hung on the door of the first floor of the three-story building. She was so attracted by the grandeur of the building just now that she didn't pay any attention to it.
"This is the Malay treasurer, and this is my family's storekeeper." Wang Ting introduced first.
Si Li exchanged a few words with the horse shoe counter. The horse shoe counter smiled wearily, "Nice to meet you. Brother Wang gave me a brief introduction yesterday. Miss, come and take a look at the shop first."
Qiyun Tower is at the corner at the end of the East Market, facing the lake, with Huguo Temple across the lake and the South City Wall in the distance, occupying the southeast corner of the city. Ma's shop is built on the left side of Qiyun Tower, a low bungalow in the shadow of Qiyun Tower. If you don't look carefully, you might think it is the corner gate of Qiyun Tower. No wonder she didn't notice it just now.
Normally, a shop on a corner with streets on both sides should have good business, but the door of Qiyunlou was closed, and there was no one in front of Ma's shop. Instead, the shop selling sweet snacks behind the two shops was hawking its wares, and the business was quite lively.
She just rejected Qiyunlou, and now she is looking at the house next door. What kind of bad fate is this? Si Li felt emotional. The fact that Qiyunlou was next door made her avoid it. She just wanted to finish looking quickly and move on to the next one.
The front of the Ma family shop was relatively spacious and clean. The red paper spring couplets on the pillars had faded a little, and a new piece of paper was pasted on top, with the words "Available for rent or lease" written on it. Si Liduo took a quick look and followed Ma, the shopkeeper, into the shop.
There was a small courtyard and two side rooms behind the shop. The Ma family was engaged in hot pot business. The kitchen was set up in the small courtyard. When the door was opened, there was a strong smell of mutton. There were rows of pots and bowls inside. It was unknown how long it had been since the fire was turned on. The side room and the small courtyard were probably only enough for three or four people to live in. Si Li had never seen other shops, but judging from the high price of land in the capital in his previous life, the Ma family shop had some assets in the capital.
However, compared with the magnificent Qiyunlou next door, the Ma family is nothing. It is past mealtime now. If it were a stall on the official road, there would still be individual customers looking for food at this time, but not only is no one coming into the Ma family, there is not even the smell of rice in the shop, which is very strange.
Si Li took a quick look at the store. As an outsider, she could only judge that the business of this store might not be very good. She could not say anything else and could only look at Meng Taotao. Seeing her nod, Si Li knew what was going on and asked, "How much is the price of the horseshoe cabinet?"
Ma Laicai sighed before he spoke, "I, Old Ma, will tell you the truth. I bought this shop more than ten years ago. There were many people boating and outing across from it in the past, and it cost me more than three hundred taels of silver to renovate it. A few years ago, I benefited from the good business of the neighbor next door, and they offered to buy it, but I was reluctant to sell it. After a while, the neighbor closed down, and my business has been in decline for the past two years. If you really want to buy it, I'll give it to you along with the pots and pans inside for only one hundred taels of silver."
It sounded like a great deal, so Meng Taotao nodded and said that one hundred taels was a normal price for a small courtyard like this in the capital. If you consider the high price of food, this piece of land is a bargain.
But Si Li didn't plan to spend all the money in one go. She ignored the horse shoe counter and continued to cry. She just asked, "How do I pay for the rent?"
Malaycai looked even more bitter, "You can only rent the front storefront. I still live in the backyard, so there is really no room for you. I didn't mean to say this, but the rent of fifty taels a year is really not worth it. If you buy it, I will move back to the county to find my son after signing the deed, and I won't cause any trouble for the girl."
Renting half a store in two years will buy the whole store. Si Li roughly calculated and shook her head. "I don't mean to play tricks on you, but I can't make a decision on such an important matter as property purchase. I'll take someone to look around. If there is another more suitable store, I will buy it. Don't worry, no matter what, I will send someone to bring you a message tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."
Malay Cai hung his head and said unwillingly, "I'm familiar with the East Market. No place is cheaper than my house. If you've made up your mind, come here early."
Si Li nodded, but she didn't plan to go back to this store. There was only one month left in the system mission, and the location of the store had to be carefully selected. Half a month for site selection and half a month for decoration was enough to meet the mission deadline.
Before leaving, Si Li took another look at the for-sale sign in front of the door, and the horse-shoe counter's explanation followed closely, "This is what the Empress did. Others thought it was embarrassing and didn't use it often. I had no choice but to put it up again. Now, at least someone comes to see the shop."
His behavior was really despicable. Si Li dragged Meng Taotao back to the car as if she was escaping. If she didn't leave, she would suspect that she had done something extremely evil.
The other two shops Wang Ting mentioned are both in the East Market.
One is in Dongshi Hutong. The shop originally sold perfume and powder. The owner, Mrs. Hu, is eloquent and worried about her daughter marrying far away, so she wants to rent out the shop. The shop has a small front door, just enough for a wooden cart to pass through. Si Li likes it, but the front door is too small. Maybe she will expand it in the future. The small courtyard behind is large and looks clean and tidy.
Mrs. Hu asked for eighty taels a year, and Si Li did not immediately accept the offer. But after comparing it with another shop, he immediately saw the advantages of Mrs. Hu's shop. The owner of the other shop with a wide doorway and his wife lived in the backyard, so whether it was rented or sold, only half of the room could be used.
Wang Ting was most optimistic about the other shop. After the visit, he returned to the car and heard Si Li say that she still thought Mrs. Hu's shop was better. He couldn't understand it at all. "Her shop is only half the size of my old man's. Miss, you sell food, you can't leave customers with no place to sit, right?"
Why not? Which snack bar or tea shop only has a few seats inside? Si Li couldn't explain to him that she wanted to have a place to stay in Beijing, so she just shook her head and said, "Let's go and find something to eat."
"What do you want to eat?" Wang Ting asked without any result. He was disappointed and changed the subject. He sat cross-legged on the front of the car and looked around. "How about some noodles with soybean paste?"
When getting on the bus, Si Li saw the fried bean curd noodles at the entrance of the alley. It looked like there weren't many people there, so she couldn't say how good it tasted. But with Li Niangzi's fried bean curd noodles as a foundation, it would be better to go back and eat it than in the city.
After looking around through the half-raised car curtain, Si Li's eyes lit up, "Let's eat fried tripe? It's the beginning of autumn and we should eat tripe."
In her previous life, she missed the time to eat pao du when she went to the capital. Her companions said, "If you want to eat autumn, you must have pao du," saying that it was the favorite of the Eight Banners children. The spring tripe was not amazing at all under the description of the delicious autumn tripe by her companions, which made her miss it for a long time. She thought that she could only figure out how to make it herself in the future when she came to Daning, but she saw a small stall selling pao du next to the fried noodles.
"What is the custom of eating on the beginning of autumn?" Wang Ting obviously had never heard of the mature food theory. He hurried to the entrance of the alley while mumbling. The stall was neither good nor bad. There were only two benches and no customers sitting. From time to time, people came to eat a bowl of noodles. Wang Ting frowned after looking around. "If you don't want to eat fried noodles, you can eat something else. Let's go to another stall?"
The owner of the stall selling fried tripe was between middle-aged and young. He sat behind the pot with his neck hunched, like a wooden man, not noticing anyone coming. The big pot of lamb soup was placed on the small stove, which looked a bit funny. There was a row of seasonings on the table in front of the chopping board. Just smelling the garlic sauce and sesame sauce made Si Li swallow her saliva.
"This is what we want to eat. If you haven't tried it, come and try it." Si Li leaned forward and said loudly, "Boss, two plates of lamb tripe, one plate of beef and lamb tripe, and four bowls of lamb soup!"
"Here it comes!" The stall owner responded, no longer looking dumb as before. He picked up a knife and cut into strips and put them into the pot. The knife light flashed like snow, and the tripe that fell into the pot was picked up in an instant. The stall owner's voice was rough and smiling, "Little girl, you know how to eat. I'll give you another grilled pancake. Come down and mix the dipping sauce yourself!"
"Okay!" Si Li laughed, "Looks like there's no need to add another bowl for Xiao Que."
Of the three people in the car, Xiao Que had never been to the capital city. Wang Ting and Meng Taotao never stayed for dinner in the city. Only Si Li, a fake Beijinger, prepared the dipping sauce and acted like a host.
The shredded tripe just out of the pot was crispy, tender and chewy, with a crunching sound when bitten. If there weren't three people watching, Si Li would have melted in this belly.
Wrap a chopstick of tripe with the prepared scallion, garlic and sesame sauce, and the slightly muttony taste of beef and mutton becomes much lighter. No wonder people say that tripe is the best season in autumn. In autumn, the peeled tripe still has a bit of fat that is hard to tell where it comes from. It satisfies the teeth and gently touches the tip of the tongue. I wonder if this is the taste of the tender tripe in Mianyang, Koubei, as described by Mr. Liang Shiqiu.
It is said that the best thing about eating pao du is the sound of biting into a crispy cucumber, but Si Li thinks that the taste of crispy yet chewy, chewy yet fatty is the most delicious.
"The shopkeeper's cooking is amazing." Si Li satisfied her craving and took another sip of the hot mutton soup. She picked up the blanched white radish and cabbage inside and dipped them in the sauce to eat. It was almost winter, and after taking a sip of the mutton soup, her back, which was a little cold from running and sweating, suddenly felt warm.
The stall owner laughed, "I haven't practiced for many years. When I made mutton hotpot before, I always had too much water to cook, so I just boiled it all together. Who knew that mutton hotpot was not easy to make, but this fried tripe is often eaten. Girl, sit down, I'll cut the pancakes and bring them to you right away."
Xiao Que had already sat down and drank a bowl of soup. Seeing Meng Taotao and Wang Ting hesitate, Si Li waved and said, "Come, sit down and eat."
The stall was not big, and the food was placed on a bench. The four people squeezed on another bench. Wang Ting was a little concerned about his image at first. He took two bites and then buried his head in his food. For a while, the stall was filled with creaking sounds.
Even with a steamed bun given by the stall owner, the four of them still weren't full, so they ate some boiled cabbage. Everyone stopped eating only when their stomachs were full. When getting on the bus, even the most cautious Meng Taotao squinted and yawned.
Xiao Que was already drooling as he slept with his head tilted. In his dream, he never forgot to praise Si Li, "Miss... knows how to eat..."
After having a full meal, Wang Ting felt better. On the way back to the manor, he told Si Li about the locations of various old shops in the capital and the approximate rents of various places that he had inquired about yesterday. While he was talking outside, Si Li was drowsy and could only remember about 70% of it.
When he arrived at the gate of the manor, he suddenly heard Wang Ting gasp, "Why does this person look familiar?"
Si Li perked up, looked out through the gap, and suddenly came to her senses. How could she look familiar? The person swinging a handkerchief and getting on the carriage in front of the farm gate was clearly Qinglian, who had found an opportunity to return to Si Mansion from her side.
I couldn't hear what Qinglian was saying from a distance, but the smugness on her face couldn't be faked. Qinglian was staying in the mansion now, so was it Sitang or her good stepmother who was going to take action?
Si Li whispered, "Wang Ting, just pretend you are passing by and bow your head."
The two cars passed each other on the dirt road.
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The author has something to say:
The article is about Liang Shiqiu's "Talking about Food at Yashe". I can eat a whole plate of fried tripe by myself. Now the fried tripe at Fengta's restaurant is not as delicious as before. I'm sad.jpg