Chapter 61 Imitators
Xu Qingmeng comforted her, "Mother, Young Master Huang is also going to take the imperial examination. Now is a critical moment. He must be studying at home like Yun Yi."
When He heard this, he agreed. The imperial examination could not be delayed.
The next morning, business was the same as usual. The restaurant was very busy. Soy milk and tofu pudding were sold out quickly, and there was also a lot of sales of buns and pies.
After everyone took a short break, Xu Qingmeng began to prepare the set meal for lunch. She planned to simply stir-fry some vegetables, braise some eggplant, and make some braised pork. She had made these before and they were very popular with the workers.
After the vegetables were fried, she started to make braised eggplant.
Wash the eggplant and cut it into oblique pieces, and cut the green pepper into pieces as well.
Put lard in the pot, add garlic cloves and sauté until fragrant, then add eggplant and green pepper, and stir-fry over medium-low heat until they change color and become soft.
Then pour a little rice wine, soy sauce and sugar along the edge of the pot, stir fry evenly, cover with a lid and simmer for a while. Add appropriate amount of salt to season, and the braised eggplant is ready to be served.
Based on previous experience, Xu Qingmeng saved lunch for his family after making the braised pork, otherwise when the workers arrived, it would be too late to save any more food for them.
Soon the workers went off work. Originally, He, Xinting and Xunger were ready for a tough battle, but unexpectedly, there were far fewer workers coming today than usual.
"Meng Niang, I don't know what happened today. There were fewer people at noon. Normally, the restaurant should be full, but today it is full." He couldn't understand it. This was the first time such a situation had occurred since the restaurant opened.
"Maybe you're tired of eating our food every day?"
Apart from this reason, Xu Qingmeng couldn't think of any other reason.
"My aunt's cooking is so delicious, I can eat it every day and never get tired of it."
"That's right, the food you cook is so delicious."
He couldn't figure out the reason, but she felt that it was definitely not what Xu Qingmeng said.
"Sister-in-law... Mother, no... something's wrong." Yun Sheng ran back quickly with her short legs.
"Take your time, don't be in a hurry."
Yun Sheng was breathing heavily, his little face flushed.
“Several restaurants on the street have also started selling set meals.”
"What?" He asked in surprise.
A worker who came to eat said, "Aunt He, don't you know? Several restaurants sell it, and they also sell one meat dish and two vegetable dishes, but they sell it cheaper than yours. They said it's 16 cents a portion, but today is the first day and they're having a special price of 12 cents a portion. Many workers have gone to those restaurants to eat."
"No wonder. We were just talking about why there seemed to be fewer people today. Meng Niang even said that maybe they were tired of the food she cooked."
"How could I possibly get tired of eating this? Madam Gu's food is so delicious. I heard other places sell it for a lot less, so I was tempted. But when I thought of Madam Gu's cooking skills, I decided to come here."
"Thank you for trusting my Meng Niang's cooking skills. Today's set meal is braised pork. Please wait a moment."
After saying this, He told Xinting to prepare food for them, and then she went to the kitchen and told Mengniang what she had heard outside.
"Meng Niang, what do you think we should do? They sell it so cheaply, the workers will definitely be more willing to go there?"
"If it's because other shops are cheaper, we don't have to worry. I believe in my skills. Mom, let's get busy first and we can talk about other things later."
"Okay, let's get to work first. There are guests outside."
"What is this, such a big piece of meat?"
"This is the braised pork made by our Meng Niang. Try it. It's delicious."
"Oh my! This meat is really delicious, and it's salty and sweet. Not only is it not weird, but it also blends very well."
"Yes, with such a big piece of fat, I was worried that it would be too greasy. I didn't expect it to taste so fatty but not greasy, lean but not dry, and delicious!" said another worker.
"This eggplant is also very delicious, soft and tasty. I really made the right choice."
The workers who were eating the set meals all agreed with what was said. They had indeed come to the right place. They had eaten at those restaurants before. Not only was the food expensive, but it was also not tasty. The price was so cheap, probably because they were jealous of the Gu family's earnings and were following suit.
While the workers were enjoying the delicious food, some workers who had bought set meals at other restaurants appeared at Gu's Restaurant.
"Today's set meal is actually braised pork, and the pieces are so big? Oh, it's all my fault. Why did I try to save money?" said a worker with great regret.
"Aunt He, give me a bowl of noodle soup."
"What's going on? Didn't you eat enough at Li's house?" a worker asked curiously.
He also felt strange. Why did they want to eat again after they had already eaten? She told Xinting to go to the back and let Mengniang serve. She stopped and wanted to listen to what the worker said.
The worker moved a stool and sat down at the table, saying, "Oh, it's all my fault. I coveted the twelve-cent meal, and the owner of the Li's shop was calling at the door, so I went over to buy one."
"Who knows what was served? The worst rice was black. The vegetarian dish was boiled radish and green vegetables without oil or water. The meat dish was five slices of pork belly. It was just a rip-off."
"I was so angry that I argued with him. Not only did he deny it, he also slandered Gu's restaurant, saying that the food they used was not fresh. When I heard this, I got even angrier. I just put the food there and came over."
He was listening at the side and was immediately unhappy. "What's wrong with the Li family? It's fine if they want to steal our business, but why are they slandering us? You may not know that our meat is delivered to us by Boss Liu every morning. You can ask him casually, and they are all neighbors. My Gu family would never do such a conscienceless thing."
"Of course I believe it, so when he said that, I didn't even have a meal and came to your shop. You must ask Madam Gu to give me more noodles, because I'm still hungry."
"Oh, for sure."
He came to the kitchen and became angrier the more she thought about it.
Xu Qingmeng comforted her: "Mom, don't worry about it. There are guests outside. Let's entertain them first and then we can deal with the rest after we are done."
"Okay, okay, I won't say any more."
He was in the front, collecting money and chatting with the workers. The not-so-busy lunch hour passed by. Although the lunch hour business was not very good, she still sold about 60 set meals.
There are relatively fewer fried rice and noodle soups, but the pies are still selling well as always. After all, only Gu’s family has such pies around here.
After the workers left, He, Xinting and Xunger's spirits were obviously not as high as before.
Gu Yunyi came out at this time. He had already learned everything from Xu Qingmeng.
"Mom, you have to believe in Meng Niang."
(End of this chapter)
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