"Business is good, just like always, and the pickled vegetables in the restaurant are selling particularly well."
He Niaoniao said with some pride, "These pickled vegetables are made with our secret recipe. We not only add salt, but also spices such as star anise and fennel, so they taste especially good."
"Really? Then I'll have to ask you for some, haha."
Yun Duoduo sat on a bench, very close to the stove, and took off her embroidered snow cloak, placing it on the empty table.
"Alright, that's about it. As for the rest of the vegetables and potatoes, you can figure it out yourselves. Thanks for your hard work."
He Niaoniao put down the potatoes and the potato peeler, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and said, "You guys finish cleaning, I'm going upstairs with the landlord to talk for a while."
As she spoke, He Niaoniao took off her apron, washed her hands in the copper basin, and gestured for Yun Duoduo and A Xiang to go upstairs.
Yun Duoduo nodded to He Niaoniao, turned around and walked upstairs, with A Xiang following behind, and He Niaoniao also went upstairs.
"Don't worry, shopkeeper, we'll definitely clean it up properly."
The workers, who were sitting on benches and continuing to peel potatoes and wash cabbages, said...
Once on the second floor, the three sat at a table, where a quick-thinking waiter brought them tea and snacks.
"Niao Niao, I've come today to ask that our restaurant add a new dish called vegetarian meat."
Yun Duoduo placed the round, carved bronze hand warmer on the table and poured herself a cup of tea.
"Crispy pork? Little boss, you mean crispy pork, the kind you can dip in osmanthus sauce or rose syrup?"
He Niaoniao said, looking at Yun Duoduo with some embarrassment.
After all, Cai Xiang Ge is a place for preparing ingredients.
"Oh dear, it's not crispy pork, it's vegetarian meat, the 'vegetarian' as in vegetarian dishes."
Yun Duoduo found it amusing, shook her head helplessly, dipped her finger in the tea, and wrote on the table.
"Ah, so that's the character!"
He Niaoniao looked enlightened, then looked at Yun Duoduo with a puzzled expression, "Young Master, meat is a kind of animal, how can it be both vegetarian and meat?"
"This vegetarian meat isn't real pork or beef; it's actually just tofu, dried bean curd, or similar things."
"It's just dried in the sun, so it's dry. Add some salt, and it looks just like the real thing. If you don't eat meat for a long time, this will satisfy your cravings," Yun Duoduo explained.
"Ah, I see." He Niaoniao nodded.
“Okay, I understand. If we use this vegetarian meat, it will have the texture of meat but not be meat, which will attract more customers to come and eat.”
He Niaoniao nodded, "Then I'll have the staff buy more dried bean curd sticks and other similar foods, and then add dishes like stir-fried dried bean curd sticks with wood ear mushrooms and braised dried bean curd sticks to the menu."
Yun Duoduo nodded, "Let's do it that way."
Yun Duoduo picked up a piece of mille-feuille pastry and put it in her mouth. As she ate, she suddenly remembered something and asked, "How are the food boxes and bamboo tubes I asked you to prepare last time coming along?"
"Ah, the boss means there might be more deliveries last time, right?"
“We have prepared all the food containers and other items. I had the staff purchase a lot of food containers and bamboo tubes for delivery. Moreover, many customers now know that we offer delivery services, so they leave their food containers with us and then use those containers to deliver the meals.”
As He Niaoniao spoke, she filled Yun Duoduo's cup with tea.
"Oh, that's good. Where is it? Take me to see it."
Yun Duoduo wiped her hands with a handkerchief, took a sip of tea, and rinsed her mouth.
She picked up the hand warmer, "Oh dear, this hand warmer isn't very hot anymore."
"Lei Zi, go upstairs and take this hand warmer down, and replace it with some new hot charcoal cakes!" He Niaoniao called downstairs.
"Yes, shopkeeper, it's coming right away!"
Yun Duoduo and He Niaoniao stood up and walked towards the backyard, with A Xiang following behind. The three of them walked to the front of a row of low rooms. "They're all here. This side room contains the new food boxes and bamboo tubes. Since the newly purchased food boxes and bamboo tubes have a bit of a smell, the staff have already washed and dried them in advance."
He Niaoniao stepped forward and pointed to the batch of food boxes. "As you can see, the young master, these styles aren't particularly attractive, but they're practical and sturdy. And most importantly, the prices are fair."
Yun Duoduo walked in and looked at the neatly stacked food boxes and bamboo tubes. She opened one of them and examined it carefully. "Hmm, not bad, the quality is indeed good."
The three of them came out, closed the door, and went to another room. "This room contains the lunch boxes of each customer, each labeled with their name and the name of their residence, so that the waiters who pack and deliver the food can find them."
"Yes, that's good. This way of distinguishing them is very obvious and it can also speed up our food preparation and delivery."
Yun Duoduo nodded in admiration.
They looked at the various styles and shapes of lunch boxes displayed on the cabinets and tables, including sandalwood lunch boxes with jade and gold trim, wooden lunch boxes with lacquer and gold-painted figures, mahogany lunch boxes with colorful mother-of-pearl inlays, birds and auspicious beasts, and bamboo lunch boxes with white jade lotus flowers. The styles were very beautiful.
Each food box had a small wooden tag hanging on it, with the customer's name and address written on it.
“Some customers have very valuable food boxes, such as this sandalwood food box with jade and gold trim.”
He Niaoniao pointed to the food box on the cabinet, "The staff are very careful when they take it back and forth. If it is dropped or bumped, this jade is very likely to break."
"Yes, we do need to be careful with these food boxes. We should always wrap them in large cloth bags. If we are very familiar with our customers, we can also mention this issue. After all, it would be a loss for us to have to pay for damaged food boxes."
Yun Duoduo instructed, initially wanting to reach out and take the food box to examine it closely, but then she thought better of it. It wouldn't be worth it if she broke it and had to pay for it.
After checking the food box and bamboo tube, the three of them came out. He Niaoniao closed the door, and Yun Duoduo asked as they walked, "Where are the guys? Do we have enough manpower now?"
"Yes, we have enough manpower. Moreover, our branches are not too far apart. If one branch is short-staffed, we can send someone to the other branch to allocate manpower."
He Niaoniao explained.
"Yes, Niao Niao, you did very well."
Yun Duoduo patted He Niaoniao's shoulder approvingly.
"It was all the young master's good idea; I was just carrying it out," He Niaoniao said modestly.
"Oh, and one more thing, we must manage hygiene well. It's easy to catch a cold in winter, so the chefs must be careful when cooking."
"It would be best if they brought some veils. The restaurant must be kept clean and tidy every day; we absolutely cannot allow anything bad to get into the food, that would ruin our reputation."
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