Chapter 59 Hanlin

Si Li was very satisfied with Mr. Qin's compliment. Although she knew that those were two different ways of expression, she naturally had to be consistent with Meng Taotao since she was the one she disliked. When she left, she not only packed a cup for Mr. Qin to take away, but also fried a pot of French fries and packed another bag for him.

Wanglaiju half-closed its door and began to rest, and Mr. Qin, with a cup of milk tea in one hand and fries in the other, attracted a lot of attention. The lunch break at the Hanlin Academy was short, and the young editors couldn't help rubbing their eyes when they saw Qin Dashi bringing in food and drinks.

The French fries were half exposed and could not be mistaken, while the other bamboo tube looked very elegant. The wheat stems sticking out diagonally from it also looked quite elegant in Mr. Qin's hand. For a moment, even the Hanlin who had followed the trend and tried the fresh snacks at Lai Ju could not recognize where it came from and thought it was a newly bought bamboo pen holder.

When someone finally couldn't hold back their curiosity and asked, and got the answer from Milk Tea, the diners who had been to Lai Ju suddenly realized and felt proud for a moment. He and Mr. Qin had eaten at the same snack shop, so they were the same person, right?

The Hanlin Academy, who was not familiar with the young store Wanglaiju, also began to wonder in their hearts. If the food was bought by the great scholar Qin, it must taste good. Even if it didn't taste good, it would be a way to get some of the scholar Qin's literary influence. The young Hanlin Academy editors were too busy with their work to pay attention. In the Hanlin Academy, people could hear whispers everywhere, saying that they would buy the snacks that the scholar Qin liked after work and taste them.

Hanlin, who has eaten there before, vouched, "Who says it tastes bad? You will know if you just try it. It is more exquisite and thoughtful than the snacks specially sold in various restaurants!" He also knows the advantages of Wanglaiju and keeps silent about the shortcomings of the main dishes and banquets of Wanglaiju.

Some people finally remembered when they had heard of Wanglaiju. Wasn't it the restaurant where the great scholar Qin went to buy French fries during the holiday? At that time, they just heard about it and there were no more rumors. They thought that the restaurant was deliberately using the name of the great scholar Qin to promote its own reputation, but they didn't expect it to be true!

Now, everyone in the Hanlin Academy was deeply impressed by the name of "Wanglai Ju" and were just waiting to go to the East Market to take a look in the evening.

However, the news that Mr. Qin had purchased new food for Wanglaiju was not only known to them, but also to the adults of other families.

Everyone in the court knows that Xiao Ruo was a Hanlin before he became the Chief Assistant. The current Chief Assistant Si also came out of the Hanlin Academy. As the current President of the Academy, Academician Qin is only one step away from the Inner Cabinet. Seeing that Minister Liu in the Inner Cabinet is already old, the next person to enter the cabinet will be either Academician Qin or Minister Xiao. Everyone wants to bet on the future changes in the court and show their good intentions in advance. Therefore, when the people from the Hanlin Academy got off work and arrived at the door of Wanglaiju, they heard the news that the food for the day was sold out.

The only Hanlin editor who had sent his servant over early took the last portion of ice jelly from his servant. Amid the envious, jealous or disdainful looks of his colleagues, he waved his sleeves pretentiously and said, "My lords, why don't you come in and have a seat together? I think this looks like the ice jelly picture drawn by the young master of the Du family..."

Si Li held up her stiff smile and said softly, "It was the young master of the Du family who bought one a few days ago."

The Hanlin who received the ice powder had bright eyes and spoke with confidence, "The painting made by the young man of the Du family is the champion of the Imperial College this time. I heard that the elders have sent it to the palace. It is fate that we meet today. It is a good thing to compose poems and paint with ice powder."

He said he was very proud of himself, but everyone knew that Bingfen paintings had entered the palace. In recent years, the emperor had been living in the harem and was unwilling to attend court, so the government affairs were completely in the hands of the inner cabinet. According to past experience, things brought into the palace by the inner cabinet would always be rewarded and appreciated. Seeing that Bingfen paintings were about to be promoted to a high position, Bingfen was likely to be the next center of poetry, and the east wind was about to rise, so they naturally wanted to take advantage of it.

Some wanted to be famous, while others disdained sharing. They crowded into the hall, which was not too noisy and still maintained some order. But the noise of more than ten people talking together still made people's heads buzz, and they were all humble and sour. Si Li felt a little pain in the eyes when she saw them pretending. She took a plate and distributed the ice powder to everyone, asked the shopkeeper Tang to serve the remaining ordinary milk tea, and found an excuse to hide in the backyard.

After leaving the crowded environment, Si Li finally breathed a sigh of relief. Shopkeeper Tang, who followed her into the backyard, was so excited that he didn't know what to say. His hands were shaking as he held onto the door frame. "It's not even afternoon yet, and you've already bought everything?"

He also experienced a period of being sold out when Lai Ju opened, but after running the store for so many years, he also knew that such a grand occasion was hard to come by and was usually only busy on the first day. He never expected to see it a second time.

After finally recovering from the shock, he looked at the calm little girl in the kitchen and slammed the window anxiously, "What time is it? Why don't you get up? If you miss this opportunity, you will never get back to this place. Buy some ingredients and continue cooking!"

After Si Li counted the remaining ingredients in the kitchen, she made a list and gave it to Wang Ting to take Ah Sheng to buy. Seeing the shopkeeper Tang jumping up and down, she smiled helplessly, "I want to sell it too, but now that we have nothing left, what else can we sell?"

The sudden buying spree caught Si Li off guard. Wanglaiju has been relying on recommendations from past customers these days. Although she had some new ideas after hearing about the ice jelly picture, she didn't implement them after all. So the arrival of these customers was a bit strange. Because people kept asking about it, Wanglaiju was forced to open earlier this afternoon. At first, there were only a few people, but later a long line formed in front of the store. Everyone brought their own lunch boxes and wanted to pack everything up. Some people specifically asked for ice jelly.

If Si Li had not been determined to make the candied sweet potato and ice jelly limited editions for high-end customers, and had not made a prompt decision to only sell small portions for tasting when the crowds came, and the large portions of ice jelly would not have been sold until the official opening of business in the afternoon, the Hanlin would not have been able to buy this last portion of ice jelly.

Even so, the servants of the officials and wealthy families who swarmed in had almost consumed the stock of potatoes and various condiments in Wanglaiju. By the time the store officially opened, the candied sweet potatoes had been fully booked, and only ice jelly was left for sale.

The milk tea just served to the Hanlins was just the ordinary kind. Today's newly released silken tofu milk tea has been sold out. Si Li estimated that the milk tea stock in the dessert shop was not much better, but they still greedily wanted more.

Indeed, if sales were liberalized, she could earn more than fifty taels of silver from the ice jelly in just over an hour of sales. But she had to look further ahead. As a high-end snack in the plan, it must not only taste good, but the status and special feeling obtained from buying it are also one of the elements of luxury goods. What Si Li is doing now is to transform normal sales into hungry marketing, making eating ice jelly and candied sweet potato something to brag about and a fashion, thereby raising the value of her products.

There is no other way. To complete the system's mandatory task as a chef, I must be admired by everyone.

"Besides, there is no end to the money we can make. Uncle Tang, you can see that even if we divide ourselves into several groups, it will still be difficult to sell today. It is better to divide the customers and let them beg us to buy. We can make more of the easy ones and limit the difficult ones appropriately. This will make it easier for us and satisfy the customers, and we will make as much money as we want."

Shopkeeper Tang was not a stupid man. After listening to Si Li's slow explanation, he calmed down and wiped his face. "I'll listen to you!" Si Li smiled and sent him out.

In the front hall, Meng Taotao was watching the few remaining diners, and from time to time he apologized to the old diners who had just arrived. His voice had become a little hoarse as he said, "We're sold out today, please come earlier tomorrow."

Si Li patted her shoulder, motioned for Ah Xiang to take the lead, led Meng Taotao away, poured her a glass of water, and said with some distress, "I didn't expect you to be so busy. I'm sorry you've been tired."

Previously, Si Li was busy in the kitchen, and Meng Taotao and a few others were in charge of the front. With so many diners coming, just talking was tiring.

Meng Taotao shook her head. "No, I'm very happy."

"When they talked about Du Xuan today, it reminded me that the outer wall of the shop was painted white during the last renovation. Tao Tao, can you draw some pictures of the food in the shop? I'll ask Wang Ting to find someone to paint them on the wall." Seeing that she was in good condition, Si Li talked about another matter.

Poetry and painting have always been important ways of conveying information. If others can gain reputation through secondary creation, they can also do the same for themselves.

Meng Taotao was a little surprised, "Why do you have to draw it twice? I can just draw it directly."

"Hmm?" Si Li had seen how hard Meng Taotao was studying after their lives had settled down these days. Normally, she was already very tired from having her do this and that, but she had never expected that she would take the initiative to offer to take care of everything. "The store is busy, won't it affect your study time?"

"Why share your relationship with me? Don't I have a share in the relationship?" Meng Taotao smiled. "Besides, if I can be affected, it can only be said that I am unstable."

Having said that, Si Li would be a bit pretentious if she continued to stop him, so she agreed immediately and pulled her to sit in the courtyard, using the chessboard left by the Prince of Yue's Mansion as a base and spreading out the rice paper. The brother and sister from the Prince of Yue's Mansion did not stay long today, and left when the front hall started to get noisy, leaving room for Si Li.

Following her description, Meng Taotao dipped some ink and drew the lines little by little. The paper was not very good, it was the yellow paper used to roll paper, but as the ink fell and the outline gradually became fuller, it had a unique charm.

Meng Taotao's paintings are always beautiful. The four seasons on the bamboo tubes before depicted the mountains and rivers, but the ice jelly and fried food she painted this time have a sense of beauty of fireworks. If she hadn't seen her painting it, Si Li would have suspected that this was a masterpiece by a famous ink painter in the past life.

The French fries that form the forest are sharp and angular, the candied sweet potatoes that form the rocks are floating with sugar threads, the soft and glutinous mashed potatoes that are like quicksand on the shore are scooped up, and the lakes and rocks formed by ice powder and milk tea are full of childish interest and temptation. The little children painted in the corners of the scroll are lying on both sides, and the saliva and bright eyes of the children are telling of desire and happiness, as if they are monsters lured by food.

The fusion of modern food and ancient children made people feel a sense of time and space confusion. Si Li looked at the two children and seemed to see her own pursuit of delicious food. Although she had never seen Du Xuan's ice jelly picture, she selfishly thought Meng Taotao's must be better.