On the Beginning of Winter Festival, the emperor welcomes winter and the scholars and officials worship winter.
The weather seemed to have suddenly turned cold, and there was white mist in my breath after I woke up early. It was still early when Si Li got up. Meng Taotao was already sitting in the yard, flipping through a book, her fingers were frozen and slightly red, and she curled them up in her sleeves. The sound of her murmuring while reading became clearer as she approached.
She watched quietly for a while, and Meng Taotao, who had just finished his morning class, noticed her and said, "The manager is here. The water has been boiled and should still be hot."
"Busy all day long." Si Li sighed, feeling a little guilty. Loyalty determined that Meng Taotao was still devoted to her, but Meng Taotao reprimanded the Huang family for making trouble at the Buddhist meeting, but she was only a little better to Meng Taotao now. "Are you too tired?"
Meng Taotao looked over in confusion, and Si Li explained, "I promised to make your life better, but in reality..." There was no need to explain the difficulties and busyness of Wanglaiju. Most of the preparations before the opening were done by Meng Taotao and Xiao Que. Si Li smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry."
"Why do you think so?" Meng Taotao exhaled, rubbed his fingers, and smiled cleanly and gently, "On the contrary, I think the current situation is good enough. You said you would work hard to get better, and you did it, didn't you?"
The tension before the opening was soothed, and Si Li also smiled. There was a knock on the front door, and Wang Ting's voice outside was a little distorted, "Shopkeeper, open the door!"
There was a donkey carriage parked outside the door, and Wang Ting took a chubby baby down from the carriage. The baby was obviously well taken care of by Wang Ting, wrapped in a light red cotton coat, and looked like a dumpling in a New Year painting. When he saw Si Li, he grinned, struggled to get off the ground, walked forward, and bowed to the ground in a proper manner, "Hello, shopkeeper."
The sweet voice is enough to melt everyone's heart.
Si Li touched his head and said, "The little bug is here. Let's go and settle down. We'll be open soon."
At this time, the city gate had just opened, and most of the shops in the East Market were closed, but the excellent small advertisements in Wanglaiju were already working. Children who had just finished breakfast ran in front of Wanglaiju, and Meng Taotao's jingle followed their steps and spread throughout the streets and alleys of the capital. Even in front of the girls' school in the far west city, there were children singing and running past.
After getting up early and paying respects to the ancestors at the school, the pretty girls went out together and were almost bumped into by the children running by.
"What do you mean by a place in the east where people live?" Lin Ying was startled. She retreated to the school gate and pulled Si Tang. "It's been a while since I saw a new wine shop opened in the East Market. Atang, do you want to go take a look?"
Liu Wuling, who was following behind, said disdainfully, "They are all wild kids who don't follow the rules. I remember this family, they went to the Buddhist meeting to sell potatoes, it was really hilarious. I don't know what the Prince of Yue saw in their family, he can't really eat those potatoes, right?"
Si Tang, who was walking in the middle, was a little tempted, but when she heard about the Yue King's son and the Buddhist meeting, she immediately put her mind to it. The Yue King's son and the Crown Prince were both of marriageable age, and if they happened to meet by chance, she would not be able to explain it.
"You'd better go back early. Mother is hosting a small party. Do you want to join us?" Si Tang did not mention Wanglai Ju and changed the subject.
"The lotus cakes you made last time were simply amazing..."
“And Longjing Shrimp!”
"Atang's craftsmanship is extraordinary, you should know that."
The four of them were standing in front of the door talking about the Beginning of Winter Banquet. As they were flattering and agreeing, a cold voice rang out from behind them, "If you don't want to go out, get out of the way."
"Xiao Qi?" Si Tang pulled a few people out of the way and said aggrievedly, "I forgot the time for a moment. It's my fault. Ah Qi, do you want to come with us?"
"We are not that familiar with each other." Xiao Qi was obviously an outlier among the girls dressed in colorful clothes. She wore a short Hu costume and had her long hair tied up high. If it weren't for her overly bright eyes and eyebrows, someone might have mistaken her for a young man.
Xiao Qi walked through the path they made way for, jumped on his horse, and disappeared on the long street, leaving behind a group of angry girls.
"Why is she like this? What is she so crazy about?"
Si Tang stopped them from talking, rubbed his eyes, raised his head with red eyes, "Let's go, mother will be very happy to see you."
---
At this time, Si Tang didn't know that he had missed the opportunity to discover the secret. On the other hand, in the living room, the white steam from the steamer in the back kitchen and the smoke from the iron pot frying were blending. Wang Ting, who had been keeping an eye on the time, came in and urged Si Li and Meng Taotao again. Si Li then put down the oil pan and colander and pulled Meng Taotao out together.
The tables and chairs in Wanglaiju were wiped twice and rearranged. Outside the door, a plaque written by Meng Taotao herself was covered with a red cloth. Two long strings of firecrackers were hung from the roof to the ground. The long table that blocked half of the door was still empty, waiting for the food to be distributed today to be brought over from the kitchen after the plaque was unveiled.
Xiao Que stood behind the table and counted the paper cards in his hand again. In order to retain repeat customers and enhance the dining experience of customers, Si Liqian racked her brains and thought of the activity of collecting cards and redeeming meals. The expensive jade paper in the pen and ink shop was white and smooth, and was cut into piles of rectangular paper cards. The paper cards were printed with ink-colored form boxes, and the name of Wanglaiju was written on the top. Ah Fu, who always wanted to help, carved out the stamping grid, and the smallest lotus stamp in the previous cake stamp was used to stamp the collection card.
Si Li took the time to go over the promotional slogan with Xiao Que again. She looked outside the door. She didn't know whether it was because it was still early or for some other reason, but there was no other customer outside the door except the little radishes who came running over to wait after smelling the fragrance.
Okay, we have to open the business no matter how difficult it is, right?
The children outside the door had already covered their ears. Si Li pulled off the red cloth and announced loudly, "Wanglaiju opens today!" Meng Taotao and Wang Ting lit firecrackers almost at the same time. The three of them covered their ears and jumped aside.
Amidst the chaotic sounds of surprised laughter, scared screams, and firecrackers, Xiao Que was the only one who was frantically holding down the little bug that was watching the excitement and wanted to catch the sparks, "Don't go!"
After setting off two strings of firecrackers, the children rushed into the lobby with Si Li and the other two.
"chips!"
“I want candy!”
"There are rice cakes. I want to eat this!"
Most of the copper coins distributed in the past three days still had one or two left in their hands, and they waved their arms and stuffed them into Si Li's arms.
Si Li clapped her hands, "Quiet, quiet, come one by one. A bag of fries costs ten cents, and each person can have one. Ask Sister Meng to sprinkle the seasoning on you. There are also small portions, one cent each, and Sister Meng will pay for it!"
This is the fundamental reason why Si Li did not hire them directly for food. The money goes to the children and then they pay her. Isn't it just a one-time reception expense?
With the cooperation of the four people from Wanglaiju, the children lined up obediently. With the experience of the Buddhist Dharma Assembly, Si Li and Meng Taotao were quite familiar with the tasting process. Soon, each child held a French fry in his hand, and they squeezed together to take a taste of each other, and the scene was very harmonious.
The children who were willing to spend more money were already holding a cone-shaped mini paper tube made of straw paper, eating a French fry with care, and running home with the tube in their hands. The child who was frightened by the sound of firecrackers also recovered, took a bite of the crispy French fry, and a small smile appeared on his face.
[Smile: After using the bonus, there is a 99.9% chance of feeling slightly happy, and a 0.1% chance of feeling slightly sad. ]
Such a system bonus is most suitable for welcoming new customers on the opening day. Si Li looked at the progress bar that rose to 10% in an instant and felt very satisfied.
The children holding French fries slowly dispersed. Tang, the owner of the nearest dessert shop, turned the corner with a wooden spoon in his hand and frowned at the empty lobby. "With so many things, can we sell them all?"
"Manager Tang, would you like a taste?" Si Li pointed to the wooden barrel on the long table.
Shopkeeper Tang poked his head out to take a look. Clearly, there was clear white steam floating above the food that had just come out of the pot. The closer he got, the more the aroma penetrated into his nose. Especially since there was a round-faced girl sitting behind the table holding a child and eating with the sound of her crunching food, the food sounded very crispy.
"Which one can I taste? I'll take one bite and then go back to the shop." Shopkeeper Tang said this. After finishing the fries that Si Li handed over, his face was full of unsatisfied expression. "It's just one, what can I taste? Give me another bite."
Si Li laughed at him, "You can buy a handful for a penny, and then you can taste it. My business is booming."
Shopkeeper Tang compared the sizes of the two paper tubes, one for one cent and one for ten cents, and waved his hand, "Just to take care of your business, give me the ten-cent one, and I want it to taste like plums!"
I never thought that Tang, the shopkeeper, who looked like a big and strong man, actually had such a girlish taste. Si Li smiled and agreed, "If it's not sweet or sour enough, I'll make you a powder next time you come."
"That's great, but you're so sour and not pleasing to the eye." Shopkeeper Tang said he didn't like it, and took the paper tube back to the shop, making a non-stop clicking sound along the way.
This little girl, you know what, how come things smell so good once they pass through her hands?
Shopkeeper Tang was guarding the shop and stopped shouting. He ate the fries while they were still hot, like a hamster, and didn't even notice the customers coming.
"Shopkeeper? Shopkeeper! What is this thing in your house? It smells so good."
The person who came was an old customer of the shop. He knocked on the door twice before the shopkeeper Tang came back to his senses. He finished chewing the French fries in his mouth and hurried over to greet him. "Good morning, would you like a bowl of sugarcane water chestnut juice?"
"No hurry, what are you eating?"
Before tasting Si Li's cooking skills, Shopkeeper Tang was just thinking about doing the job casually, after all, no one eats potatoes and sweet potatoes. But after eating them, he praised them in a completely good tone, "The Wanglaiju next door opened today, did you know? This thing is called French fries, although it is fried potatoes, but it tastes completely different from boiled potatoes, not to mention how delicious it is. You will know if you go there and have a taste, and it's free to try. I have some water chestnut juice for you, you can drink it after you come back!"
The old customer sniffed. It smelled really good. He was skeptical about the fried potatoes he said were delicious. "Save my water for me. If it doesn't taste good, today's meal is yours."
A bowl of sugarcane and water chestnut water is not expensive, and the horse hoof counter does not care. "Hurry up, hurry up, the kids have been running around these past two days, and you may not be able to eat it if you go too late."
The singing of the rhyme in three days made at least one-third of the people in Beijing hear the name Wanglai Ju. Although this was not enough to make them curious enough to have a meal, when they saw children running by on the street on the day of the beginning of winter, smelling the fragrance, and taking advantage of their free time on the holiday, many people set out to check out this new restaurant.