dilapidated place
Putting aside the fact that the restaurant owner was being disrespectful by not telling her to come back, what could a teenager possibly know? Would it have been useful to discuss it with her? And this kid even claimed that she cooked the dishes at the banquet—listen to that, is that even reasonable?
Madam Ji ignored Wang Yao and had Wang Yao call Liu Xiangmei directly. "Ms. Liu, if you really don't want to do this business with me, you can just say so. It's not like I have money to burn, but sending a child to deal with me is a bit too much, isn't it?"
Section Chief Ji was also a bit annoyed. Just half an hour ago, he had helped Liu Xiangmei solve a problem, and now she was being treated like this. It was simply outrageous.
Liu Xiangmei quickly explained, "What are you talking about? You don't know, but the best cook in our shop is my daughter. Because she has to go to school, I usually cook so as not to disturb her studies. The dishes I know were all taught to me by my daughter. Besides, you are a customer, how could I possibly be perfunctory with you? My daughter is in the kitchen right now, and you can see her cooking in a little while."
Section Chief Ji and his wife still didn't believe it. No matter how good a teenager's skills were, how good could they be? But when Wang Yao brought in her lunch, their belief began to waver.
A plate of twice-cooked pork and a plate of stir-fried pork kidneys are both very simple dishes, but they look incredibly appetizing.
Although Wang Yao made lunch for herself, she also thoughtfully provided a set of bowls and chopsticks for the other three people.
After Section Chief Ji and his wife started eating, Wang Yao and Liu Xiangmei began to pick up food. Liu Xiangmei nodded as she ate, wondering why her daughter's cooking skills seemed even better than before. Could it be because they hadn't eaten there in a long time?
Section Chief Ji and his wife were even more amazed after tasting it.
In stir-fried pork kidneys, the original fishy smell of pork kidneys has been completely removed. When you eat them, they are tender, smooth and chewy, and when coated with a slightly sour and salty sauce, they are even more fragrant.
Twice-cooked pork goes without saying. Although it is a very common dish in Sichuan restaurants, Wang Yao's skills are so good that the pork belly is more tender and chewy, and the stir-fried garlic sprouts are still crisp and fresh.
Even Mrs. Ji, who usually prefers light meals, ate several bites of twice-cooked pork. Section Chief Ji, on the other hand, preferred stir-fried pork kidneys. He used to order this dish often when he went to restaurants, but the taste was always a bit strange. Even at Jinzhou Restaurant, the only difference was that the cuts on the pork kidneys looked nicer. He never expected to find stir-fried pork kidneys here today without any strange smell.
"Alright." Seeing that Section Chief Ji was eating non-stop, Madam Ji couldn't help but stop him. He had already eaten a big bowl of rice, so he should just have a taste now. Didn't you see that the other child didn't eat lunch?
Section Chief Ji put down his chopsticks and chuckled, "Boss Liu, you're really not being fair. Such delicious food, why didn't you bring it out to sell at noon? You can't keep it hidden away."
Liu Xiangmei exclaimed, "Oh dear, Section Chief Ji, you've really misunderstood. As I just said, these dishes were just cooked by my daughter. We don't have that skill yet."
Section Chief Ji and his wife looked Wang Yao up and down again, really unwilling to believe that the child could have such good skills. But since Boss Liu had said so, there was nothing they could do even if they didn't want to believe it. Besides, it didn't really matter to them who had the best skills in the restaurant, as long as the final banquet was good.
“Alright then,” said Madam Ji, “let’s discuss the banquet arrangements.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Xiangmei breathed a sigh of relief, but it wasn't time to discuss the banquet arrangements yet.
She said apologetically, "Gentlemen, there's something I need to tell you first. As you know, my daughter needs to cook the dishes for the banquet, but she's still in school, so we can only take on banquets on Sundays. I wonder if you could agree to that?"
The two frowned. Why was there a time limit? But when they counted the days, it was perfect. The old lady's birthday was next Sunday.
Seeing that the two had agreed on the time for the banquet, Liu Xiangmei informed them of the three price tiers available and inquired about their requirements for the banquet.
They were both well-off, but what mattered was appearances and making the old lady in their family happy, so they chose the most expensive banquet at 218 yuan.
To be honest, even they felt the banquet was expensive, but the owner promised a "money-back guarantee if you're not satisfied," so what else could they say?
Finally, apart from the braised pork that the old lady and her youngest son specifically requested, each table had ten dishes and a soup. Since Section Chief Ji only invited close relatives and friends, only three tables were booked in total.
Fortunately, there were only three seats. If there were more, Liu Xiangmei was a little worried that the few people in their shop wouldn't be able to keep up.
On the Friday of the second week, Liu Xiangmei put up a sign at the entrance of the restaurant early in the morning, informing everyone that the restaurant would not be open to the public on Sunday.
Some people come here often and are quite familiar with the staff. They even ask why, for example, Liu Hai.
"Boss Liu, if you don't open the shop, where am I supposed to eat?"
Liu Xiangmei laughed and said, "I'm really sorry, we hosted several banquets that day."
"Banquets? When did you start accepting banquets? Will you continue to do so?" Liu Hai asked.
"Yes, we can accept bookings, but only for Sundays. This week's bookings are already full. Would Mr. Liu like to book for next week?"
Wang Caihua complained, "You two keep calling me 'Boss Liu' all the time. Aren't you tired? We're already acquaintances, so don't be so formal. My name is Wang Caihua, and his name is Liu Hai. We're both older than you, so just call me Sister Hua and him Brother Hai. If you need anything, just let us know."
Liu Xiangmei runs a business in the county town. Apart from the few people in her shop, she has no one to rely on. Now that someone has extended an olive branch to her, she naturally accepts it immediately.
"That's great, Sister Hua, Brother Liu. My full name is Liu Xiangmei, you can just call me Meizi." With that, she invited them into the private room. Liu Xiangmei also brought a bottle of wine as a token of her appreciation.
Friday and Saturday have passed, and although there's no need to prepare a buffet for Sunday lunch, the lunch feast is still quite challenging to put together.
The night before, Wang Yao had already held a meeting and assigned tasks to everyone.
"Mom, have you told Uncle about all the dishes I wanted?"
Liu Xiangmei replied, "It's settled. We've already arranged with the market vendors for some things that your aunt's husband can't get."
"Then tomorrow morning, after you and Sister Xiu buy the groceries, start preparing them. Just follow the instructions on this piece of paper for each item." With that, Wang Yao handed a piece of paper filled with writing to Liu Xiangmei and Chen Xiu.
"Is everything decorated in the private room?"
Old Li said, "Alright, I went to River Street and bought a few pots of artificial flowers and a few paintings, which I've hung in the private room."
Wang Yao nodded: "Then Grandpa Li, you'll be in charge of serving the dishes tomorrow, and also dealing with the guests. Keep an eye on them when they ask for water or paper."
...
On Sunday morning, after breakfast, Wang Yao and the staff in the shop got busy.
Killing fish and slaughtering chickens, chopping vegetables and marinating meat... everything was done in an orderly manner. Liu Huahua became like a brick, ready to be moved wherever needed.
The first step is to put the steamed dishes in a steamer, as these dishes require a long steaming time.
Following Wang Yao's instructions, Liu Xiangmei cut the fresh pork belly into thin, even slices, then soaked them in cold water to remove the fishy smell, and then marinated them in a secret marinade for an hour.
After coating the potatoes evenly with rice flour, place them at the bottom of a bowl, top with a layer of potatoes, and then steam them.
Another dish that needs to be steamed is the Jade Pumpkin Bowl. This is relatively simple: cut off the top of a regularly shaped pumpkin, remove the seeds and pulp, put in ingredients such as white fungus, lily bulbs, and goji berries, cover it with the lid, and then steam it.
It was Sunday, and everyone was off work, so around 11:30, Section Chief Ji arrived at the restaurant with his family. Some guests hadn't arrived yet, and the food wasn't ready, so everyone went into a private room to chat.
Wang Yao and Liu Xiangmei had already prepared melon seeds and candies in advance. Section Chief Ji had booked the best banquet, so the melon seeds and candies they prepared were naturally the best as well, including liqueur-filled chocolates, milk candies... things that children would find irresistible.
Putting aside the quality of the food, Madam Ji was already somewhat satisfied with what she had prepared; the money hadn't been wasted.
Although we came to celebrate the old man's birthday, there were always some people who were blind to the truth.
"What kind of shabby place is this? Has Lao Ji run into some trouble lately? It's Aunt's birthday, which only comes once a year. Why did they choose this place?"
Because the three banquet tables were divided into three private rooms, Section Chief Ji and his wife took turns greeting guests in the rooms. This person's words were overheard by Section Chief Ji's wife, who had just walked over, and also by Liu Xiangmei, who had just come out of the kitchen.
Section Chief Ji's wife's face immediately darkened. When she saw Liu Xiangmei at the kitchen door, she felt even more embarrassed, and her face darkened even more.
The customer is unhappy? This won't do.
Liu Xiangmei walked to the door of the private room with a smile and said, "Oh dear, you've misunderstood. To be honest, our restaurant didn't used to accept banquets. Last week, Section Chief Ji and his wife mentioned to me several times that their elderly parents and children really liked our dishes. I only agreed because I saw how filial Section Chief Ji and his wife were."
As she spoke, she turned to the person behind her and asked, "Is that so, Madam Ji?"
Mrs. Ji entered the private room and nodded in agreement: "That's right. We can hold a birthday banquet for Mom wherever she wants. If she can't hold it, we, as her children, will find a way to do so."
Liu Xiangmei gave Madam Ji a thumbs up, praising her for her filial piety, and then said to everyone, "Don't worry, although our shop is small, the taste is definitely not bad. Today's menu was carefully selected by Section Chief Ji and Madam Ji, so you can look forward to it."
The minor conflict here had no effect on the old lady and her grandson in the next private room. The two of them were singing in unison about how delicious the food was. Everyone could tell from their conversation that this was why Section Chief Ji had chosen such a place.
Despite the old lady and her grandson's enthusiastic praise, the restaurant's reputation was what it was—it looked like a place that served home-style dishes. No matter how delicious it was, how good could it be? So, everyone had low hopes for today's food.
Around noon, people gradually arrived, and Madam Ji told Liu Xiangmei that they could start serving the dishes.
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