Chen Qingqing, who had been sitting in the corner without saying a word, was very happy to see Chen Feng suddenly understand.
Her eyes were full of encouragement. "Brother, don't be discouraged. As the saying goes, 'Everything is difficult at the beginning.' Business will definitely improve."
Chen Feng shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Little sister, I'm sorry, I failed to make the business work and instead lost everything."
"Brother, don't be in a hurry. Let me finish. Our Ruyi Restaurant is one of the top high-end restaurants in Qingshui Town. We want to attract wealthy customers with our exquisite dishes and attentive service, but that's not enough. As the saying goes, 'To accumulate wealth, you must first accumulate people.' With popularity, wealth will naturally follow. If we want to make our business famous, we must retain every customer. Otherwise, the restaurant will be deserted and the business will not prosper."
“Miss Chen, you’re right. That’s what I was thinking too. If you want to build up your business, you have to attract customers first.” Wang Guotou nodded in agreement.
Liu Dashao disagreed, saying, "That's true, but a single meal here can cost an ordinary family half a year's worth of living expenses. People are frugal and wouldn't come to a high-end restaurant like ours if they wanted to improve their meals."
Chen Feng frowned, his face full of helplessness. "Yes, Brother Liu is right. Ordinary people would never come to a place like ours to eat unless we can come up with a dish that is delicious, inexpensive, and popular."
"Why don't we sell large bowls of noodles? The price is affordable, and it's sure to be popular."
Upon hearing what Wang Guotou said, Liang Caidun waved his hands repeatedly.
"No, no, there are plenty of places in our town that sell all kinds of noodles, so it's not attractive at all. In my opinion, we should steam big meat buns and sell them instead."
"Your idea is even worse. The steamed buns at Qingshui Restaurant are the best in our area. Do you think you can outsell them?"
"That's true. So, what kind of specialty snacks should we launch?"
Seeing that everyone had finished their discussion, Chen Qingqing took over, "Don't worry, everyone. I know how to make a snack. We can try it."
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up. "What kind of snack is it?"
Chen Qingqing had just discovered a lot of sweet potato noodles in the kitchen, which reminded her of her favorite hot and sour noodles.
Hot and sour rice noodles.
Chen Feng was taken aback. "Hot and sour noodles? What's that?"
Liu Dashao frowned. "I've been a chef for decades and I've never heard of such a dish."
"Yeah, how can something that's both sour and spicy taste good?" Wang Guotou asked, his face full of questions.
Chen Qingqing was overjoyed. The fact that she had never heard of it proved that no one in the Great Ning Dynasty knew how to make it. Its sour, spicy and fragrant flavor was popular in the streets and alleys of her previous life, and it would definitely save Ruyi Tower from its predicament.
She feigned mystery, saying, "You'll find out soon enough."
After saying that, she went to the kitchen and began to give instructions.
First, have Liu Dashao prepare the sweet potato starch, then soak it in warm water until soft.
Then he asked Liang Caidun to cut the scallions and ginger into thin strips and mince the garlic.
She then personally began preparing the essential base sauce for the hot and sour noodles.
Put salt, soy sauce, vinegar, Sichuan peppercorn powder, sesame oil, white sesame seeds, and crushed peanuts into a bowl, then add a large spoonful of broth.
At this point, the soaked sweet potato noodles were ready to be cooked. Chen Qingqing instructed Liu Dashao to control the heat carefully and not to cook them for too long, otherwise they would lose their chewy texture.
After the glass noodles are cooked, scoop them into the bowl of prepared sauce.
Place the cooked side dishes on top of the glass noodles, and finally sprinkle with chopped green onions, ginger, garlic, chili oil, etc. Mix well with chopsticks.
The aroma immediately wafted over.
"It smells so good! What's that smell?" Chen Feng unconsciously moved closer and took a deep sniff.
Liu Dashao smelled the aroma filling the air and couldn't help but get excited, "It smells so good."
Chen Qingqing closed her eyes slightly, took a deep breath, and nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, everyone, try it and see how it tastes!"
Chen Feng couldn't wait to pick up the bowl of delicious food in front of him, gently blow on it, and then put a strand of vermicelli into his mouth.
It was a flavor he had never tasted before; a sour and spicy taste lingered in his mouth, leaving his tongue slightly numb and spicy.
"Delicious, spicy and flavorful, it's absolutely delicious."
Liang Cai Dun was already drawn in by the unique aroma of sour and spicy flavors. He picked up his chopsticks, took a bite, and couldn't help but shiver. The spicy, tingling sensation went straight to his head.
He nodded repeatedly, "The tangy flavor hits the taste buds directly, and the spiciness spreads into pleasure. This taste is truly amazing!"
Everyone swallowed hard, then picked up their bowls to taste.
"The glass noodles are crystal clear, soft yet chewy, tender yet firm, with a sour, spicy, fresh, and fragrant flavor, and oily but not greasy. They are truly delicious," said Wang Guotou after taking a bite.
"Yes, yes, it's numbing but not bitter, spicy but not dry, fresh and pure, sour but not tingling, fragrant and rich with an endless aftertaste. It's truly a famous dish." Liu Dashao nodded in praise.
Chen Feng finished the whole bowl, not even leaving a drop of soup. "Little sister, I didn't know you had this skill. Is this what you call hot and sour noodles?"
Seeing everyone's reaction, Chen Qingqing nodded and smiled, "Yes, this is hot and sour noodles. What do you all think if our store launched this specialty snack?"
"Great! This hot and sour rice noodle soup is amazing. It's guaranteed to be a hit." Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Alright, then we’ll officially launch Ruyilou’s signature snack, hot and sour noodles, tomorrow.” Chen Qingqing made the final decision.
Chen Feng quickly asked, "Little sister, how much should I sell this for?"
"I've already calculated that the cost of one bowl is less than one coin, so we'll sell it for three coins a bowl. This price is neither expensive nor cheap, and most families can afford it. What do you all think?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
The next morning, a large red banner was hung in front of Ruyi Restaurant, which read: "Our restaurant's exclusive specialty snack - hot and sour noodles, only three coins per bowl. Customers who spend 500 coins or more will receive a free bowl of hot and sour noodles, and so on, with no upper limit."
Qingfeng Restaurant.
After the discount sign at Ruyilou was removed, the news quickly reached Wu Shiren's ears.
He was smug, convinced that Chen Feng couldn't afford to waste any more time. He thought that whatever hot and sour noodles Chen Feng came up with was just a cheap trick and wouldn't cause any real trouble.
"Zhao Tian, did you see that? This greenhorn who hasn't even grown his first hairs yet wants to fight me? He's too naive."
"Who says otherwise? Just because you've learned a few dishes doesn't mean you're all high and mighty." Zhao Tian and the others noticed that Wu Shiren was in a good mood, so they quickly flattered him, "Manager, since Ruyi Restaurant has taken down the discount sign, shall we continue?"
Wu Shiren glanced at him and said irritably, "If you continue like this, you'll be starving. Tell someone to quickly take down the discount sign and put it up again. It should say: For every 500 coins spent at this store, you will receive a free meat bun. The more you eat, the more you get, with no upper limit."
"Yes, yes, I'll go change it right away."
Zhao Tian rushed into the house.
Wu Shiren narrowed his eyes towards Ruyi Tower, finally able to rest easy, just waiting for Ruyi Tower to close down...
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