Chapter 154 Opening
Just as Zhao Laowu and Liu Qi were walking back with their wives, Zhao Yi came and knocked on the door of the restaurant.
Zhang Xiang heard Zhao Yi's call and quickly got up and opened the door.
After listening to Zhao Yi's story, he went into the house, put on his clothes with Chen Fen, and moved the ingredients to the restaurant.
Zhang Jing also got up and came to help. The loaches had to be processed tonight.
The four of them worked together and soon finished processing the loaches. Zhao Yi told Zhang Xiang what vegetables to buy for the next day, and then took Zhang Jing home to sleep.
Early in the morning, everyone in the state-owned restaurant heard that the cafeteria opposite had now become a small restaurant, and they were all a little curious.
"Master Wang, I heard that a restaurant opened across the street. How about we try their cooking at noon?"
"If you want to go, go ahead. I don't have any extra tickets to stuff over there."
"Just give it a try. It's not like you eat there every day."
Several waiters laughed.
They are not worried at all about the restaurant opening across the street. It is a self-employed business, not a state-owned enterprise, and it has no impact on them.
"Look, why isn't there a breakfast stall across the street?"
“Maybe I don’t have the skills.”
"What skills are required to prepare plain noodles for breakfast?"
The man called Master Wang rolled his eyes at several waiters.
You don’t have to sell soy milk, fried dough sticks and buns for breakfast; people can also eat noodles.
A bowl of plain noodles costs eight cents, and besides salt, there are at most two green vegetable leaves. What kind of cooking skills are required for this?
"I'm worried that the dishes are too monotonous and no one will buy them."
In fact, the food in state-owned restaurants nowadays is still very monotonous. You can't have whatever you want to eat. You have to see what the vegetable market and slaughterhouse supply.
Soon it was noon.
Many people heard that there were delicious snacks here, so they all rushed here. The temptation of not having to pay for tickets was still very great.
But as soon as I walked in, I was a little surprised to see the dishes served on the blackboard.
There are braised pork, fried meat with chili, pork belly stewed with potatoes, cold pork skin, fried pork liver, braised venison, braised loach, steamed fish, and cabbage soup.
The staple food is steamed bread.
All are hard dishes.
The price is not lower than that of state-owned restaurants.
The two waiters from the state-owned restaurant were also a little surprised when they walked into the restaurant, but they still ordered two dishes.
One serving of braised pork and one serving of cabbage soup.
Braised pork costs 80 cents per portion in a state-owned restaurant, and it's the same price here. Cabbage soup is cheaper at only 10 cents per portion.
After all, vegetables only cost a cent per pound, so it would be inappropriate to buy too much.
The braised pork was soon served. The two picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece and stuffed it into their mouths. After chewing for a few times, their brows slightly frowned. The taste was not as good as that of the state-owned restaurant.
But it’s not bad and it’s definitely good for people who rarely eat meat.
Then I tasted the cabbage soup, which was no different, just cabbage boiled in water with two drops of oil added.
The two of them finished eating quickly. There was no such thing as waste now, and a half-pound portion of braised pork for two people was definitely easy to finish.
"One dollar."
Chen Fen said with a smile.
The two men took out their meat coupons and grain coupons, but Chen Fen only took the grain coupons.
"The meat here is obtained through cooperation with the Qixingao Brigade, and the meat tickets are confiscated."
Chen Fen explained with a smile.
"Give us two more, then."
The two waiters looked at each other and immediately smiled. If they charged a ticket for the pork belly, the taste would not be as good as that of the state-owned restaurants. If they didn't charge a ticket, it would be ten blocks better than the state-owned restaurants.
All these things that I worked hard to make all night yesterday have finally been packed up.
Originally they just came to try the food, but they didn't expect to get such a bargain. Everyone who came to eat couldn't suppress the smiles on their faces.
The two waiters were a little curious when they saw the loaches eaten by the sales clerks in the department store. After all, everyone here wants to eat meat, but these people only ordered braised loaches.
And if they asked for take-away, they only packed the braised loach.
I wondered in my heart, is braised loach really that delicious?
Be sure to come and try it tonight.
"By the way, comrade, don't you need tickets for the food here?"
The two waiters asked.
“Just food stamps.”
Chen Fen nodded.
The two waiters looked at each other immediately, smiled and hurried back home.
After a while, we returned to the state-owned hotel.
"What?"
Master Wang looked at the two of them and asked.
"Your cooking skills are not as good as Master Wang's."
The two spoke truthfully.
"Your cooking skills are not as good as mine, and you two are packing it up. One portion of braised pork costs half a pound of meat tickets."
Master Wang smiled bitterly.
"Really? If you don't believe me, try it."
There were still two pieces left in the lunch boxes of the two of them.
Master Wang picked up the chopsticks and tasted it. It was indeed not as good as his own cooking. He was just curious as to why it was not as good as his own. Are you two stupid to pack it up and take it home? Why don’t you come here to buy it?
But it was hard for him to say that.
In a blink of an eye, it was evening and time to get off work. The state-owned restaurant closed late, but everyone saw that not many people came into the restaurant and everyone went across the street to eat. So they quickly asked for leave from the director and ran across the street.
Master Wang saw that the two waiters not only went by themselves, but also brought their entire family, young and old, and were waiting for them at the door of the restaurant opposite.
I was also a little curious.
Since there were no customers, he chose to go off work.
I walked towards the restaurant curiously.
At this time, the restaurant was already packed with people, and tables were set up at the door.
Zhang Jing brought Li Fang and Peng Yiju to help.
Zhao Yi moved two large round tables from his home and placed them at the door.
The food that the two waiters ordered for lunch could only be eaten at the door as there was no room to squeeze in.
When they saw Master Wang, everyone felt a little embarrassed and could only invite Master Wang to sit with them.
Soon Zhang Jing came over with the dishes. The first dish was steamed fish, the second was braised loach, the third was stewed pork tripe with potatoes, the fourth was stir-fried meat with green peppers, the fifth was chicken soup, and the sixth was braised venison.
All are hard dishes.
Master Wang looked at the waiter at this time and thought that the other party was so arrogant. These meat dishes were not cheap, and they all required tickets, except for the stewed pork belly.
As for the loach, Master Wang didn't recognize it at first and thought it was a small fish fried in flour.
Everyone started eating and Master Wang also started to taste it. It tasted just average, just a home-cooked dish, much worse than his own.
But what’s wrong with this family? They seem very happy. They don’t even mind a stranger like me following them. They eat while inviting me to eat.
Generally, people would not prepare such meals to entertain outsiders, but would only prepare them to entertain their own relatives.
The table behind them ordered exactly the same thing. How did these two people make their fortune and they don’t even know it? Could it be that the director forgot about me when issuing the invoice this month?
The meal cost five dollars, why is this guy so happy? Did his sense of taste lose its function? Can’t you taste that this dish is actually better than what you cook?
Everyone who was paying the bill had a happy smile on their face, which was in stark contrast to the reluctant looks on people's faces when paying the bill at state-owned restaurants.
"Master Wang, don't worry about it. The food here is just food coupons. It's definitely not as tasty as yours. But we can't bear to miss out on the meat that doesn't require coupons."
A waiter explained.
Master Wang suddenly realized what was going on. If it were him, he would have to come and consume as well.
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