Chapter 77
By the time they finished their promotion and returned to the front yard, it was already half past twelve in the afternoon. Ye Han and Ye Jiayin were staring at the plate of fried pork offal on the table and drooling.
"Huh? Aunt Ye, Sister Jiayin, didn't I tell you to have lunch first? You don't have to wait for us."
Ye Han raised his head and smiled: "It's okay, we're not hungry, it's more delicious if we eat together."
Ye Jiayin stared blankly at the pig offal and murmured, "Yes, I'm not hungry, I'm not greedy."
When the meal officially started, they quickly stuffed the pork offal into their mouths with an intoxicated look on their faces.
"Mom! I'm telling you, Laoyou noodles are so delicious, and Laoyou fried pork offal must be even more delicious! Do you believe it this time?"
"Yes, yes, it's delicious! Lao Su, you guys are opening tomorrow, right? Jiayin and I will be your first customers, okay? We also want to try the self-service porridge, fried pork offal, and braised food!"
When Su Yuanzheng heard Ye Han calling him Lao Su, he was stunned. He used to be Xiao Su at work, but now he is Lao Su.
"Of course, you can just come and eat whatever you want."
…
The whole family started working early the next morning. Based on the enthusiasm of the diners yesterday, Su Miao and Su Yuanzheng decided to cook more dishes and more porridge.
We bought some additional tableware and kitchen utensils to supplement the supply, including a large bucket of light white porridge, a large bucket of corn porridge, and a large bucket of thicker white porridge. Guests can choose according to their preferences.
Ye Han, who wanted to try some delicious food yesterday, didn't get to eat it after all. She was woken up by a phone call in the early morning, and she picked up the luggage bag she always prepared and went out. She didn't know how many days this trip would take. Now that she had arranged her daughter's meals, she could feel more at ease on her business trip.
However, the flower baskets she ordered for the opening of Su Ji Food Store were delivered in the morning, and they were placed on both sides of the store door, sparkling brightly. Ye Jiayin came to see if there was anything she could do to help since she had nothing to do.
They had lunch early and were waiting for the foraging army to arrive.
At 11:30, Su Yuanzheng lit the long red firecrackers in front of the store. The "crackling" sound echoed throughout the street, and the red firecracker paper flew everywhere.
This scene attracted many nearby residents and passers-by to stop and watch, especially the neighbors who had tasted the pork offal yesterday and rushed over.
As the sound of firecrackers gradually died down, Su Yuanzheng carefully lifted the red silk cloth on the sign, revealing the four eye-catching characters "Su Ji Food Shop". These four characters were written in gold paint, sparkling in the sun and particularly eye-catching.
At this moment, the aroma wafts out from the open door, making your mouth water. Through the door, you can vaguely see more than a dozen exquisite small dishes displayed in the store, each one with attractive color and fragrant aroma.
The onlookers smelled the fragrance and couldn't help drooling. They couldn't wait to taste these delicious dishes.
"Boss! This is officially open! Can we go in now?"
"Boss! Boss! I've been waiting here since early morning. I have to go in first!"
"What? You obviously just got here! I've been waiting here since early morning, and I even tried it yesterday!"
"You should let me go first. I brought a lunch box to pack up some pork offal to take back. It won't take up any space. After I leave, you guys can slowly grab a seat!"
…
Su Yuanzheng said to the diners, "Our restaurant is newly opened today. We specialize in self-service porridge, our signature Laoyou stir-fried pork offal, and braised dishes. The price list is behind the cashier. Buy your ticket first, then pick up your food. We have plenty of food today, so everyone is welcome to come and support us!"
The diners responded enthusiastically: "Good!!!"
Su Yuanzheng continued, "To thank everyone for their support, on the first day of opening, we'll be offering a 20% discount on all our stir-fried pork offal and braised dishes. You can dine in or take out! Alright! Everyone, come in and enjoy!"
Diners poured into the restaurant like a tide. Su Miao and Ye Jiayin answered everyone's questions at the cashier. After collecting the money, they wrote down the customers' orders on a piece of paper. The customers only needed to take the order and walk a few steps inside to pick up their food.
Su Yu skillfully served porridge and pork offal to the guests, while Su Yuanzheng focused on the braised food. Every dish was carefully prepared to ensure excellent taste.
When picking up their meals, guests need to hand in their slips, which also prevents people from picking up meals repeatedly.
Because the food is already cooked, customers don’t have to wait long. They can basically eat after waiting in line for two or three minutes. Soon the store is full.
We are all neighbors, so we automatically sit at the same table and drink porridge together. We often praise the delicious food, talk about family matters, and share interesting things and gossip in life. The whole atmosphere is very harmonious and the experience is also very good.
Su Miao specially invited the elderly couple who ran the convenience store across the street to come and have free porridge and braised food. The two elderly people came over with a smile, each holding a bowl of porridge.
"Thank you, my lady. My old man and I haven't eaten such delicious pork head meat in a long time."
"That's right, this taste is really unique."
The two of them praised the food while eating, and the people around them nodded in agreement.
After finishing her meal, the old lady noticed the large bucket in the corner for collecting the dishes. She put down her dishes and turned to the neighbors around her and said:
"Everyone! I have a suggestion. You see the boss and his team are very busy, so we, as neighbors, can save them some trouble. After eating, just put your bowls and chopsticks in the bucket over there. This will save them the time of collecting the bowls and chopsticks, so that those who come after you can eat earlier."
When everyone heard this, they thought it was a good idea and responded one after another.
In this way, the neighbors began to consciously put the used dishes in the bucket. The scene was very harmonious. Since everyone knew to take the initiative to clean up the dishes, the efficiency of dining was greatly improved.
Drinking porridge is different from eating other hot food, and the eating speed is relatively fast, so by 12:15, when the get out of class and get off work crowd arrives, two waves of neighbors have already left, and the seats are just empty.
While they were drinking porridge, some neighbors had not left yet. Seeing the neighbors taking their empty bowls and chopsticks and putting them away, they thought it was the restaurant's rule and followed suit.
Gradually, this became an unspoken understanding between the old customers and Su Ji.
Later, Su Miao heard the story of the old couple from other neighbors. They had three sons, all of whom died in the self-defense counterattack.
The government allocated them housing and paid them pensions, and they used the pensions to open this veterans' store.
Later, this place became the head office of Su Ji Food Shop, and it sold more dishes, but it did not sell cold drinks.
Whenever customers, while enjoying their braised food and pork offal, ask the waiter if they have any cold drinks, the waiter will point to the small shop across the street and say, "Yes, they do! They're cheap and delicious."
This continued until 15 years later when the old couple passed away one after another, and the veterans' store became history. When staff from relevant departments came to deal with the funeral, they found a key and a note on the table.
Following the note, they opened the wooden box under the bed, which contained the old couple's savings over the years and a will.
The content of the will was that half of the 30,000 yuan in the passbook would be used as party dues, and the other half would be given to Su Miao.
Su Miao handed over the portion allocated to him to the Civil Affairs Bureau to be used as funds to solve the resettlement problem of veterans of the Self-Defense Counterattack War.
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