Sure enough, the next day, the restaurant across the street, Owner Wang's Yingxiang Restaurant, launched a new dish called "Fish Wrapped in Oil Paper"! It tasted exactly the same! That was infuriating! And it was even 5 coins cheaper than here, so many customers were already starting to waver.
Even the usually good-tempered Er Gou couldn't sit still and insisted on confronting him. Lan Ya Mei stopped him, firstly because there was no proof, and secondly because there was no reason for others not to eat the same dish as him.
"We can only proceed with the next step after we catch the person who stole our recipes. Everyone, please be patient, we can't rush things. Tie Tou, these past few days you and the brothers have been greeting guests in the front hall. Have there been any particularly memorable guests?" Lan Ya Mei calmed down and tried to think.
After all, the diners come and go in a diverse and varied manner. It's quite difficult to make a breakthrough solely from this point of view.
But this reminded Er Gou of something, and he hesitated before saying, "Could it be that round-faced girl? The one who ate fish with Master Qiu the other day, the round-faced girl. After all, besides Master Qiu, she's the only one who's ever eaten that fish, and no one else knows what it tastes like."
Upon hearing this, Tie Tou suddenly realized and said, "Oh my! It must be her! Yesterday, as soon as our paper-wrapped fish came out, this girl came over, and the first thing she asked was, 'Do you have any new dishes today?' I honestly said, 'Paper-wrapped fish.' And she ordered it."
"It's definitely her, it's definitely her!" Er Gou and Tie Niu agreed at this moment.
"Alright, don't tell anyone yet, come over and listen to me." The three of them whispered for a while, waiting for the girl to come again next time.
The girl came again on the third day, and as soon as she entered, she asked, "Any new dishes today? Serve up the new dishes!"
Tie Niu agreed without hesitation and went to the kitchen to find Er Gou. The two of them discussed it and made a stew according to the method left by the shopkeeper.
When Tie Niu brought the pot of food to the girl, it contained tofu and vermicelli, cabbage stalks, pig lungs, pig heart and pig intestines, and a thick sauce made with starch. It smelled quite delicious.
"This dish looks quite novel, what's it called?" the round-faced girl asked, taking a small bowlful and tasting it.
Tie Tou chuckled and said, "Girl, the name of our dish isn't very elegant, so you'd better not ask."
“How can that be? You have to know what you ate when you eat, so feel free to tell me.” The round-faced girl said generously, praising how delicious the stew was.
"Then I'll be so bold as to speak," Tie Tou said loudly, feigning reluctance, "You lowlife!"
"Bang!" The round-faced girl slammed her chopsticks on the table, her face flushed red. "You audacious servant, how dare you insult me! I'll have my father cut out your tongue!"
Tie Tou feigned fear and explained, "Girl, I already told you, this name doesn't sound good, but you insisted I say it. Now that I've said it, you're going to cut out my tongue. I'm so wronged! So wronged!"
"You! How dare you!"
Lan Yamei, having received the signal from the fireworks, had already rushed back on horseback and saw the two of them as soon as she entered. Tie Tou quickly said to the girl, "Miss, if you don't believe me, you can ask our shopkeeper what the soup is called, and see if I'm lying."
Lan Ya Mei, of course, knew what was going on, and pretended to be nonchalant, saying, "Oh dear, Tie Tou, how do you serve customers? Look how angry you've made the girl! You better not let me find out that you're in the wrong, or I'll kick you out right now."
Tie Tou pretended to be aggrieved and went upstairs to work without arguing back.
"Miss, is there anything wrong with our service? I'm the manager here, you can tell me anything," Lan Yamei said, feigning understanding.
"Shopkeeper, what's the name of this dish?" the girl asked, pointing to the soup on the table.
"The name is indeed unseemly, but if you want to know, you can tell me. Our shop is called 'Lower-class'." Seeing that the girl was about to get angry, Lan Yamei changed her tone and continued, "The main ingredients here are pork offal, with vegetables, meat, and soup. It's simple to make; just stew it until it's sticky and mushy, hence the name 'Lower-class.' There's absolutely no other meaning!"
After listening, the girl understood; she had been tricked. Without saying a word, she stormed off in a huff.
After that, Manager Wang across the street quieted down.
Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Hua Manlou launched a recharge promotion.
Depositing 1000 taels of silver at Huamanlou is equivalent to using 1200 taels. Depositing 2000 taels is equivalent to using 2500 taels. The discounts are so great that not only Longyang Town but also the high-ranking officials and nobles of Lin'an City felt it was a great deal and flocked to deposit their money.
Lan Yamei's catering business suddenly plummeted to half its original size. There was no use in panicking; she couldn't very well open her own restaurant and challenge Hua Yuhe.
During dinner that evening, Lan Yamei sighed and said, "Has Hua Yuhe ever held a recharge event like this before? Why now of all times? Is there some kind of expert helping her?"
“There has never been one before, I’ve never even heard of it,” Tie Tou said.
"Sigh! This isn't a good thing. We'll definitely be busy every now and then," said Aunt Guan.
Lan Ya Mei was at a loss, but after hearing what Aunt Guan said, she said, "Aunt Guan, eat quickly, I'll talk to you in a little while."
...
"You mean that places like brothels are prone to strange illnesses, and you'll be very busy here in the future?" Lan Yamei asked, her eyes shining.
"Of course, that's the rule. The shop needs to stock up on more medicinal herbs recently, the more the better, just in case we don't have enough. There might be a shortage! Also, it would be best to bring back two or three experienced traditional Chinese medicine doctors to practice, otherwise I'll be too busy to handle everything." Aunt Guan said honestly.
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