In front of each person was a row of iron skewers skewered with meat and vegetables. The boys slowly turned the skewers and brushed the sauce onto the skewers.
The meat was sizzling softly, and the green peppers, eggplants, green beans, chives, and potatoes were steaming hot.
More and more people gathered around, all curiously examining the plates of food and the boy behind the grill, wondering what was going on.
Barbecue represents two extreme ways of eating.
Ordinary people can easily build a fire when they're out and about, roast potatoes, peanuts, grasshoppers, and bake a few dry cakes, which they can then sprinkle with some salt to fill their stomachs.
Roasted lamb chops, like those from Tianxianglou, used to be considered high-end.
It's meticulously prepared and seasoned with unusual spices, making it unaffordable for ordinary people.
Tianxianglou has now reopened and also serves barbecue.
However, the dishes displayed on the wooden platters were a wide variety, including both vegetables and meat.
Some people who had eaten roasted lamb chops at Tianxianglou couldn't help but sneer: This is trying to learn Tianxianglou's signature dish but failed, and now they're just using vegetarian dishes to put on a show.
Some people are also full of anticipation: this way of eating is novel.
At least the young men grilling these skewers look pleasing to the eye, and the open-air grilling gives it a rather wild and untamed feel.
As onlookers discussed the matter, the boys by the grill took out some powder and sprinkled it on the vegetables and meat skewers that had been grilled to a crispy golden brown.
Amidst the rustling sound, billowing blue smoke appeared, followed by a strange fragrance.
"It smells so good! It smells so good!"
The aroma is so alluring, not the rich and lingering scent of stew, but a light, restless, and captivating allure, like the swaying courtesan in the Spring Moon Garden.
Everyone was like a mouse that had fallen into a rice jar, looking around blankly with their nostrils flared, trying hard to find the source of the fragrance.
Two men stood nearby, seizing the opportunity to shout loudly:
"Don't miss out! Tianxianglou is launching a tasting event for amazing grilled skewers."
"Once you miss it today, you'll never find such delicious food again!"
"Come on, come on, take a look. Free stuff, no money required."
Such fragrant things are free, and suddenly a crowd gathered around, their hands outstretched.
"Here, I'll have a box to try!"
"It smells strange, but I don't know if it tastes good. It looks burnt."
"Hehe, what is this thing? It's white and slippery."
"Haven't you heard? This box is made of paper!"
Because the barbecue skewers were made of iron and couldn't be taken away, Song Liyun had people take the grilled meat skewers and vegetables down and put them into small paper boxes.
Those who want to try it will each receive a box containing only two pieces of meat and some vegetables, along with a wooden stick to serve as chopsticks.
Some people took the cardboard box and, without even using the wooden pieces, directly picked it up with their hands and put it in their mouths.
After just one taste, I couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, delicious, delicious!"
One person said it was delicious, and everyone else who tried it said it was delicious too. More and more people crowded around to ask for the cardboard box.
The eight people in charge of grilling the skewers were working hard, turning the iron skewers. Their movements were awkward, some of the meat was already cooked, some was still raw, and some skewers were even broken apart when serving.
A lot of the chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and cumin powder mixture was also spilled into the charcoal fire, and the spiciness from the roasting made the onlookers swallow hard.
The rich aroma of barbecue filled half the street, and crowds frantically surged towards Tianxianglou, all wanting to get a taste of something from a small cardboard box.
The amount of food offered outside for free tasting was limited, and some people, not satisfied with just a taste, went inside the shop.
Upon learning that they could dine immediately, they began ordering.
The peculiar way of ordering food is also strange: you order skewers and pay by the skewer: a skewer of mutton costs five coins, a skewer of green pepper costs one coin, and a skewer of eggplant also costs one coin. It seems quite cheap, and you can order one skewer of each to satisfy your craving.
But when the lamb skewers were served, those tiny pieces of meat, barely bigger than a thumb, didn't satisfy my cravings at all; instead, they made me feel incredibly uncomfortable.
The newly opened Tianxianglou restaurant also serves chilled sake. After eating spicy and piping hot grilled meat, taking a sip of ice-cold sake is a delightful experience—the intense stimulation of the spiciness on the mouth followed by an instant drop in temperature.
A bite of food and a sip of wine represent a cycle of life.
What's most frustrating is that when everyone asks for more food, they're told there isn't any left.
Tianxianglou explicitly stated that today was just a trial opening, allowing everyone to try it out.
If they wanted to eat there, they could only leave with a sigh.
Tianxianglou is a two-story wooden building. The second floor contains private rooms, while the first floor is the main hall.
We're short-staffed right now, so we're only in trial operation and have opened the downstairs area.
In just a short while, all ten tables were filled with people.
People came and went like a tide. In the back kitchen, Song Liyun helped two kitchen helpers wash vegetables, cut meat, mix seasonings, and skewer the meat and vegetables. The full bowl of meat and vegetables disappeared quickly.
The waiters in the lobby were also running around, clearing away the plates that had been used.
This is completely different from the leisurely way they used to deliver the food.
Zhou Xiang then led his men to count the iron skewers and collect money from each table... This was a simple matter.
They finally stopped grilling skewers only after all the dishes in the kitchen were sold out, while several groups of people were still gathered outside.
Song Liyun stood at the door with a smile: "Welcome everyone to come and taste again tomorrow. The free event will last for three days. If you don't get to try it, you can come back to the store in the future, where there are even more dishes."
"Hey, female shopkeeper, can you really believe what you're saying? You can eat for free tomorrow?" someone shouted from the crowd.
"Of course you can."
"Okay! I'll come again tomorrow!"
The man squeezed through the crowd and left happily, planning to bring his whole family to try it the next day.
Not far away, on the side of a street, a servant in a blue robe and a small hat pursed his lips, rubbed his nose, and muttered, "It's already open? That's too easy! There aren't even any firecrackers or red ribbons hanging up, but it smells pretty good."
He glanced again at Song Liyun, who was dressed in a blue shirt and white skirt and talking to the onlookers about grilled skewers, then turned and dashed towards the back gate of the county government office.
They turned away onlookers who hadn't received any samples, then carried the oven back to Tianxianglou and closed the shop.
The eight soldiers in charge of grilling the skewers were already drenched in sweat from the heat. Now, they sat down and drank large gulps of chilled sake, then ate the skewers they had grilled themselves, feeling refreshed and invigorated.
These people were specially selected by Song Liyun from the Wei family. They were not only outstanding in appearance, with broad shoulders and narrow waists, but also knew how to grill meat.
The skill of grilling meat was easily acquired in the Zhenbei Army, as it was a required course for their army's field training.
They were simply not used to being surrounded by people while grilling meat.
Especially those young women and wives in the crowd, their gazes were hotter than burning coals, as if they wanted to strip them of their clothes and peel off their skin.
Zhou Xiang was so excited that he paced around the building. He never expected that such simple grilled skewers would solve the problem of Tianxiang Restaurant not having a chef, and even make it famous.
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