Chapter 218 Opening
The next day, the weather was fine.
The sun was high in the sky, and perhaps because the provincial school was closed today, there were a lot more people on Baiyang Street than usual.
Before the hot pot restaurant opened, there were already quite a few people gathered at the door, talking.
“I heard this is a hot pot restaurant.”
"Hot pot, what is this?"
"But I heard from Zhou Yuanjia that this is a way to eat it, and it's delicious."
······
Xinting came early with Aunt Rong and others to cook the big bone soup and the base for the tomato pot. A lot of butter base had already been made before, so they just had to put them into the four-square grid and add water to dissolve them.
In the backyard of the shop, the newcomers are all very efficient at work, washing vegetables, cutting meat and putting it on plates.
The waiters in the hall were all wearing uniform employee uniforms and standing in two rows.
When the time came, Gu Yunyi and others opened the door, lifted the red cloth on the plaque, pulled it off, struck the gong three times, and the waiters behind them said in unison.
"Welcome!"
"Welcome!"
"Welcome!"
Everyone was immediately intrigued by this scene. Of course, there were also some students in the prefectural school who knew Gu Yunyi and others.
"Brother Gu, what exactly is this hot pot?"
"That's right, listen to Brother Zhou every day."
He hurried out pushing a small cart.
This cart was custom-made by Xu Qingmeng. If he just explained it to everyone with words, it would be difficult and might not be clear. This way is just right so that they can see it directly.
Before He arrived, everyone smelled a spicy and fragrant aroma. There was no charcoal fire before, but once the charcoal fire was lit and the beef tallow hot pot base melted, the aroma burst out.
“This smells delicious, doesn’t it?”
"Yeah yeah!"
"This smell makes me feel a little hungry."
"you do not say!"
"I wasn't hungry."
As everyone was talking about it, they saw He Shi coming out pushing a small cart. On the cart was a four-grid pot embedded in the center. Steam was coming out, and the aroma was emanating from it.
One of the grids is dark red with a layer of chili floating on it, which smells very fragrant; the other is tomato, orange-red, with a sour and sweet scent that makes people fall in love with it at once.
The other two have one clear soup and one that is a bit cloudy.
"Is this hot pot? The one with the chili peppers floating in it looks very appetizing."
"Yes, I heard that the red chili oil in the noodle shop in Fucheng comes from this Gu family. It smells so good!"
"Really? I guess this hot pot isn't bad either."
······
He looked at everyone's reactions and said quickly, "This is the hot pot. This pot is specially made with four compartments, and there are four flavors in it. The one with chili is made with butter, this one is made with tomato, which is sweet and sour, and this one is made with bone soup... All of our tables have this kind of pot, so everyone can have every flavor."
"On the left hand side of the entrance, there are various small ingredients, such as crushed peanuts, sesame paste, sesame oil... You can adjust what you like. If you don't know what to add, you can tell the waiter and they will help you."
“After the soup base is boiled, you can put the vegetables in. For example, beef and mutton, just put them in and they can be eaten after they change color. And the tripe, you can eat it after a while. Don’t leave it for too long, otherwise it will become old. And our special shrimp paste, fish balls…”
"Of course, our hot pot restaurant also has special services. If the diners who eat hot pot that day have a birthday, our restaurant will prepare a small surprise for the guests. Of course, if it is not your birthday, don't be discouraged, we have other activities, secret codes..."
After He finished speaking, Zhou Yuanjia took a board with the prices of food and placed it at the door. They served food with clear prices, even the dim sum shops in Yan County did the same.
Everyone looked at the price and talked about it.
"This price is not expensive, it's within my budget, and it looks so novel, I'll try it for you first."
"Even if it's expensive, I'll go in and try it just for the aroma."
"It seems like my birthday is today, I must give it a try."
"Really? Then we must try it so that we can see what surprise it is."
"Me too, me too."
Of course, you also have to think that the price is more expensive.
"This pot base costs thirty-five cents. Isn't that too expensive?"
"And this little stuff costs money, shouldn't it be free?"
"That's right. And this beef costs fifty cents for a plate. I guess I can't even get two slices of meat. If I have that much spare money, I might as well buy some meat and cook it myself at home."
"That's right. Forget it. Let's go back."
······
Xu Qingmeng didn't care too much about this kind of thing. After all, it was impossible to make everyone happy when opening a store.
There were still quite a few people in the city who were not short of money, and a young man went in immediately.
As soon as we sat down, the waiter brought the menu and tea.
"Give me a butter base, and a tomato base, and a portion of beef, mutton, tripe, potatoes, fish balls, etc."
Someone in the group asked, "Waiter, what is this shrimp paste?"
"Shrimp paste is only available in our store. It's made with fresh prawns. Would you like one?" the waiter introduced.
"Okay, give us two servings."
"Okay, please wait a moment."
The waiter took the menu and led them to the side dish area.
"The bowls are here. There are ten kinds of them. Guests can add them according to their preferences. There are also free snacks..."
Everyone prepared the condiments and returned to their seats. The pot base had already been served, and the dishes were also served one after another.
Then everyone saw the waiter carrying a stove of charcoal and adding some more charcoal to the bottom, and the bottom of the pot immediately began to boil.
“This is really wonderful!”
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The bottom of the pot began to boil, and the overbearing aroma was stimulated.
"It smells so good. It smelled good from the front, too, but now that I'm closer, the smell is even more tempting."
"Yes, yes! This tastes amazing."
"That's right! It's a good decision to come to the capital this time."
"Don't just eat the tomato ones? The butter ones are more delicious."
"No, no, I can't do it with so many peppers. But this butter one is indeed more fragrant. What a pity."
······
A group of people started putting vegetables into the pot while talking.
The beef and mutton are very tender and smooth. Put them in the pot and dip them in the prepared dipping sauce. They are covered with the rich dipping sauce and are so delicious when you take a bite.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
