When Huang's mother heard about the Qi family, she said with a lingering fear:
"Oh my god! This is such a scam! They've got all these advertisements. Are you going to believe anything now? Is the only way to keep my money in the bank?"
Seeing that everyone in her family was there, Xu Mengyao simply gave them a shot of prevention:
"Advertising is inherently false. How can it attract people without exaggeration? Just remember, don't expect something good to happen. Those who promise you they can invest and earn high interest are simply trying to defraud you of your principal. What's the difference between handing your money over to someone else and throwing meat buns at a dog?
Mom, if you really want to invest, you can buy a house, land, a store, or gold. At least these are things you can see and touch, and no one can take them away."
Everyone nodded as they listened, and Huang's mother also looked thoughtful. From then on, Huang's mother began to frequently go in and out of the department store, and every time she came back, she would bring back different gold jewelry.
That day, Huang's mother came back happily with a bag in her arms. Huang's father was sitting on the sofa in the living room reading a newspaper. When he looked up and saw his wife, he couldn't help but teasing:
"Are you buying gold again? Look how happy you are."
"I bought a complete set of 12 Chinese zodiac animals! It's the only one in the entire Huanshi market. Xiao Gao at the counter called me specifically to let me know."
Huang's mother looked very proud as she put the bag on the table and opened the exquisite red brocade box. Inside were 12 portraits of the zodiac animals, each the size of an adult's thumb, neatly arranged. Each one was carved to be lifelike and had a dazzling luster.
Father Huang looked at it carefully, then picked up a small golden mouse and weighed it gently, saying in surprise:
"Solid? You're carrying it all the way back like this, aren't you afraid someone might snatch it away?"
Huang's mother replied with a smile: "I'm silly. My sister-in-law accompanied me and saw me to the door before leaving. How about it? It looks good, right?" Her eyes sparkled with pride and joy.
"It looks good, yes," Huang's father shook his head helplessly.
"But don't buy any more. It's better to keep the money in the bank. You bought so much gold that I can't even work in peace now, for fear someone might steal it from our house! I'll have to build a tin box and lock all this stuff up in there."
At this point, Huang's mother temporarily stopped hoarding gold and turned to researching fried chicken legs. This change originated from Wenxia's sigh in the fried chicken shop.
"Xia, what's wrong with you? Don't you love fried skewers the most? Why are you sighing?" Hu Zi asked in confusion.
Wen Xia shook his head, a hint of longing in his eyes: "Brother Hu, I have changed. McDonald's is my favorite food now."
"What is McDonald's?" Hu Zi was confused.
"It's Western fast food. There are French fries in it, but they taste better with their ketchup. The hamburgers are delicious too, but the best thing is the fried chicken legs. I've been thinking about it since I came back from Beijing, but it's a pity that I can't eat it for a while." Wenxia said, with a hint of greed in his eyes.
"Is it really that delicious? Badan, buy two chicken legs and let's fry them for Wenxia." Hu Zi suggested.
However, the results of their first attempt were less than ideal. The first chicken leg was cooked on the outside but bloody on the inside, while the second was cooked through on the inside but burnt black on the outside. Not only did Wenxia sigh, but Huzi and Badan also began to doubt their skewers skills.
When Xu Mengyao came to call Wenxia home for dinner, she saw three dejected people. After learning the whole story, she couldn't help laughing:
"Every day you fry vegetarian rice cakes, and the meat you fry is just a sausage. It's normal that you can't control the heat when frying chicken.
And fried chicken isn't done the way you guys do it. The chicken legs need to be pierced several times and marinated with seasoning to remove the fishy smell. Then, they need to be coated in batter before being deep-fried on low heat. When they're almost done, they need to be removed and deep-fried again to achieve a crispy skin. Of course, I've never tried it myself, so I'm sure you'll have to figure out which ingredients to use for the marinade, how long to fry on low heat, and how to mix the batter.
After receiving Xu Mengyao's guidance, Hu Zi and Badan immediately began frying the chicken. However, the process wasn't smooth, and a lot of ingredients were wasted. Huang's mother, watching her two children spend almost their entire salary on chicken legs, fried to the point where even the neighborhood dog wouldn't eat them, felt sorry for them. Remembering McDonald's booming business in Beijing, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
Xu Mengyao gave them some advice: "You can start with smaller meats, such as marinated pork tenderloin and lean pork strips. Cut the chicken into small pieces, coat them with batter and deep-fry them into popcorn chicken. Once you've mastered the cooking process, you can gradually move on to chicken legs."
Huang's mother used her years of culinary experience to explore and gradually introduced different meats to the fried skewers restaurant menu. Once the new dishes were launched, they became very popular.
After many attempts, Huang's mother fried golden and crispy chicken legs again. She looked at Wenxia expectantly and said:
"Try it. I added some new ingredients to the batter this time. See how it tastes."
Wenxia couldn't wait to take a bite. The crispy skin and juicy meat made her nod in praise:
"Delicious! This is the taste!"
Hearing Wenxia's approval, Huang's mother was overjoyed and fried all the remaining chicken legs. In the evening, the family gathered together to taste the fried chicken legs, and everyone gave high praise to them.
"Mom, you're awesome! This tastes almost the same as the fast food we eat in Beijing. With this chicken leg, I guess Hu Zi and his friends won't be able to get in front of their store." Huang Wenbin said excitedly.
Xu Mengyao also nodded in agreement: "Big brother is right, the fried chicken leg business will definitely be more popular. I think Brother Hu and Brother Badan should run it separately. Don't we have a shop that has never been opened? Let Brother Badan use it exclusively for frying chicken legs in the future."
Soon after, the chicken drumstick shop officially opened, and as expected, it attracted a large number of customers on the first day. Busy from morning till night, Badan prepared three days' supply of chicken drumsticks, but they were all gone in a single day. Huang's mother saw this and rushed to the market to restock the stock.
On July 7th, Xu Mengyao, Huang Wenrong and Xiaomei, accompanied by their families, and all the college entrance examination candidates in Huanshi, each walked towards the watershed of the college entrance examination, waiting to open a new chapter in the future. After two and a half days of hard work, the high school career of the three also came to an end.
Outside the exam hall, some students wept bitterly over their poor performances, while others rejoiced after hitting a point they'd reviewed. Xu Mengyao, putting everything behind her, walked briskly out of the school gate, ready to embrace a wonderful holiday.
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