191, air-dried braised duck
191, air-dried braised duck
The donkey cart stopped in front of the door of the fragrant braised food shop. Lu Mingfei got off the cart and stood in front of the door of his own shop. When he looked inside, he saw his mother busy in the shop and the customers sitting in the shop eating.
At the beginning of this month, their braised food stall moved to the newly rented shop.
Their braised food stall used to only do business in the mornings, but now, after moving here, it's open from morning till night. The staff are now split into two shifts, with one group working the first half of the day and the other the second. Otherwise, if the same group worked from dawn till dusk, they'd be exhausted after more than ten hours a day.
Before, their family had a street stall and didn't have to worry about paying rent. But now that they've rented a shop, the pressure has suddenly increased. If they only work half a day as before, they'll barely make enough to pay the monthly rent. So, they have no choice but to work full-time to earn more profit. Otherwise, they'll work hard all month and only earn enough to pay the monthly rent, which means they're just working for the landlord.
Liu Sanniang, who was working in the store, looked up and saw her eldest son who had returned standing at the door looking at her.
When the mother and son's eyes met, Liu Sanniang smiled and asked her eldest son standing outside the door, "Why don't you come in?"
"Mother." Lu Mingfei then walked over and called out to his mother.
Zhang Qi, who was behind, saw their eldest brother going into the store, so he led the donkey and pulled the donkey cart out of the side door of the backyard.
"Why are you back so early today?" Liu Sanniang remembered that the last few times her eldest son came back, he always returned home after the sun had gone down. But today, when it was still light outside, her eldest son went home, two hours earlier than usual.
"There has been a competition at the Imperial Academy these days. After it's over today, we came back early." Lu Mingfei said.
"Oh, I see. Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something first? I didn't know you came back so early today. The dishes haven't even been put into the pot to cook yet." Liu Sanniang looked at the child who had lost a lot of weight after studying at the Imperial Academy for a month. It would be a lie to say that she didn't feel sorry for her.
"Let me have a sesame bun to fill my stomach first." Seeing the sesame buns on the table, Lu Mingfei took one and tore off half of it to eat.
"I'll get you a bowl of soup, sit down and eat it slowly. Or shall I get you something else to eat?" Liu Sanniang knew at a glance that her eldest son was hungry, so she took a bowl and got a big bowl of bone soup, which was full of bones.
Their bone soup is free for customers, but it doesn't come with bones. Only when customers pay for the bone soup will they scoop out two large bones for them to eat.
There happened to be some large bones at the bottom of the pot today, so Liu Sanniang picked them up and gave them to her eldest son. The large bones in their family were made with meat, not just bones.
"No need, mother. This is enough for me." Lu Mingfei raised the pancake in his hand to show his mother.
A customer eating in the restaurant heard the proprietress chatting with her son. Seeing that the young man was dressed like a scholar and was wearing what seemed to be the uniform of a student from the Imperial College, the customer asked with envy, "Madam, is your son studying at the Imperial College?"
"Yes, I just went there this year." Liu Sanniang said with a smile.
"Oh, so this is the young scholar. This is the first time I've seen such a young scholar." The man looked at the boy and nodded, his face full of satisfaction. He turned to look at Liu Sanniang and said, "Your son is really capable. You can wait and enjoy the blessing of your son in the future."
Liu Sanniang was no stranger to this kind of gaze. She smiled and nodded to the guest.
Not wanting her eldest son to continue being stared at and plotted against by others, Liu Sanniang brought the bone soup and led her eldest son to the backyard, where she asked him to sit down and eat at the table.
Behind the door connecting the shop and the backyard, there are two tables. This is where their family and the guys working in the shop eat.
Compared to eating in a crowded restaurant, Lu Mingfei preferred to eat here. He sat down on the stool without hesitation after entering. He took the soup his mother brought him and took a sip. After swallowing the food in his mouth, he asked his mother, "Mingrui, Mingcong and the others haven't come back yet, right?"
"The students at the private school may not have finished their studies yet, so they won't be home until later." Liu Sanniang said, glancing at the sky.
"Oh, okay, I'll pick them up later. Mom, do you want to eat some?" With half a pancake left in his hand, Lu Mingfei asked his mother if she wanted some.
Liu Sanniang shook her head and said, "I'm not hungry, you can eat. You've only been studying at the Imperial Academy for a few days, how come you've lost so much weight? Didn't you eat well in there?"
"Mom, I'm growing. I'm growing vertically now, and it's not time for me to grow horizontally yet." Lu Mingfei said to his mother half-jokingly.
"You kid, you only know how to joke with me." Liu Sanniang was amused by her eldest son's words. Seeing that he had gnawed the meat off the bones, she asked, "Do you want more? There are still bones in the soup. I'll go get you another bowl."
"No, I still need to save my stomach for dinner. If I eat too much now, I won't be able to eat later." Lu Mingfei ate the remaining half of the pancake and drank the remaining half bowl of soup.
"Will Dad be back today?"
"Well, your father will return to the city today."
"Oh, mother, you go ahead and do your work. I'll go to the private school to pick up Mingrui and the others."
Knowing that the business ahead was busy, Lu Mingfei asked his mother to go ahead first. After putting down the shoulder bag he was carrying, he called Zhang Qi to go out and pick up his younger brothers.
***
When the two of them came back, they were accompanied by three boys who had just finished school, and followed by two maids who were there to pick them up.
Ever since their father and mother moved into the backyard of the braised food shop with their family, they rarely cook in Chunxi Road. Now the whole family eats at the braised food shop.
The yard over there is where Lu Mingfei stays for a night when he comes back from vacation, and the three boys in his family usually go there to take a nap at noon.
So after picking up his younger brothers, Lu Mingfei brought the children back to South Street.
When they came back, they saw his father and godfather drinking tea in the backyard. Lu Mingfei smiled and called out, "Father, godfather."
"Dad, Uncle Lu."
"Dad, uncle."
Both Lu Mingrui and Lu Mingcong ran towards their respective fathers.
Zhang Xiaobao, who was behind, walked to his brother's side.
Zhang Qi raised his hand and touched his brother's head. He thought to himself that it would be a lie to say that he didn't envy other people's fathers. He thought of their father who was nowhere to be found, and felt a little worried and missed.
However, the young Zhang Xiaobao had never seen his father since he was born, so he had no memory or impression of him. In his heart, his brother was just like a father. So when he came out of the private school and saw his brother coming to pick him up, he felt very satisfied.
Lu Youtian, who was sitting here, caught his youngest son who rushed towards him, looked at his eldest son who came in from behind, and replied, "You're back."
"I heard from your mother that there is a competition at your Imperial College today?" Lu Qingfeng asked.
"Yes, we came back early after the competition." Seeing a basket on the table with something inside, but wrapped in oil paper, it was hard to see what was inside. Lu Mingfei asked, "What is this?"
"This is the braised duck made in our workshop. I thought it was good today, so I brought some back for everyone to try." As Lu Youtian spoke, he stood up, untied the rope tied on the oil paper, revealing the braised duck inside.
The duck, which has been marinated and then air-dried, has a reddish-black surface. Once the oil paper is removed, you can smell a fragrance.
"The duck looks good and smells nice too." Lu Mingfei could smell the aroma of the braised duck from a close distance. "How many braised ducks did we make this batch?"
"It was our first time, so we didn't dare to make too many. We only made about 300 ducks in the first batch, and then we made two more batches, which should add up to about 700 to 800 ducks. However, the two batches of braised ducks we made later were not aged enough, so they need to be air-dried for a while before they can be sold." Lu Youtian was quite satisfied with the braised duck they made for the first time. They also tasted it themselves and the taste was pretty good.
"We thought that if it sells well, we will follow this recipe. If it doesn't sell well, we will think of other ways."
"It will definitely sell well." Lu Mingfei was still very confident in their braised duck, so he said to his father and adoptive father: "We will cut one every day for the next few days, cut it into smaller pieces and put it in the store for everyone to try. If anyone buys it, we will sell it."
"It would be best if we could recommend it to those caravans. If they could buy from us, we could sell out the hundreds of ducks we make very quickly."
"Well, yes, your godfather and I said the same thing. Let's try selling it in our two stores first to see how much we can sell. Your godfather and I will also get to know the people in the caravan, and then we will go back to promote our duck to them and ask if they want it." Their two families have been doing business on this street for many years and they know many people in the caravan. Lu Youtian thinks it should not be too difficult to promote their newly made braised duck to the caravan.
"We'll cut up a duck later to add to the dish, so our family can try our homemade braised duck."
"Okay, I also want to try it and see how it tastes."
"You can try it now." Lu Youtian went straight to work and tore off a duck leg for his eldest son.
Lu Mingfei took it and tore off a piece of the duck leg and put it in his mouth. The duck meat had a salty and fragrant taste and was a bit chewy. It was quite delicious. "It's quite good. If you like drinking, it would be a good snack."
Seeing the three boys next to him looking at him, Taiyi tore off a piece of meat and put it into the mouths of the three boys.
Seeing these three guys eating like three little mice, Lu Mingfei found it funny again. He gave the remaining bone to Zhang Qi. However, Zhang Qi didn't want it, so he stuffed it to Zhang Xiaobao.
After finding a seat and sitting down, Lu Mingfei picked up the teapot and added tea to the cups in front of the two fathers. Then he took a cup and poured himself a cup. He asked the three boys and Zhang Qi who had returned, "Would you like some tea?"
"I want it." Lu Mingcong ran over and stood beside the table, staring at his brother.
"Why do you want everything?" Lu Qingfeng slapped his son on the butt.
"Dad, don't spank me. I'm already grown up." Lu Mingcong moved a little further away, until he was at a distance where his father could not hit him. Then he turned around and glared at his father, expressing his protest.
This sentence made all the adults present laugh.
Seeing that his own son was really angry, Lu Qingfeng, the biological father, had to quickly coax the child, "Okay, okay, daddy won't spank you in the future."
Only then did Lu Mingcong nod in satisfaction, his raised little chin full of pride.
"Here, your tea." Lu Mingfei did not interfere in the affairs between other fathers and sons. He just poured the tea for the boys who came back.
Lu Mingrui took the tea given by his brother, stood in his father's arms, and drank the tea in small sips while holding the teacup.
Lu Mingcong and Zhang Xiaobao drank it all in two sips. Lu Mingcong came back and took Lu Mingrui out to play.
Zhang Qi didn't drink tea and went to the front to help with the work.
Seeing that the two fathers were interested in their monthly exams, Lu Mingfei had no choice but to sit down and talk to the two fathers about their monthly exams.
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