Chapter 105 Chapter 105 Lin nodded...
Lin nodded, and the maid beside her helped her to eat behind the curtain.
On the round table carved with ice flake patterns, steamed buns and various side dishes for breakfast were neatly placed on it, and Lin sat down.
The maid introduced them one by one: "This is a soup dumpling, this is a steamed dumpling, this is a meat dumpling..."
Lin looked over and was immediately attracted by the buns that were as big as a baby's fist. "What kind of buns are these?"
"Xiaolongbao, would you like to try it, ma'am?"
Lin nodded, and the maid put the buns on the plate in front of Lin after getting her approval.
Lin then picked up the chopsticks and took a small bite.
You know what, I thought that such a small bun must not have much meat filling, but when I took a bite, I found that the skin was quite thin, and the aroma of green onions mixed with the aroma of meat, with a rich salty and fragrant taste, leaving a lingering taste in the mouth. Lin's mouth is not small, and she finished one in two bites.
"Not bad," she praised.
Seeing this, the maid said, "Madam, try these soup dumplings. I just went there and many people were buying them."
"It's been ages since I've had them." There was a soup dumpling shop in Chang'an. Before Lin married, she'd often go there with a friend. She could eat three in a row, while her friend could only eat one. Whenever they finished, her friend would look at her with admiration, praising her for her delicious food. Those days were so carefree, as if they would never change. But things are unpredictable. Her friend's voice and face are still ringing in her ears, but she'll never see them again in this life...
Lin couldn't bear to think about it anymore, so he collected his thoughts and started to eat the soup dumplings. The soup dumplings were still warm and filled with soup, which seemed a little overwhelmed. The soup inside swayed when he touched it lightly. Lin picked up the soup dumpling and placed it on the spoon. He took a small bite and the soup in the soup dumpling flowed out. A strong and delicious smell came to his face immediately. There was no other word to describe it except "delicious".
These soup dumplings are much more delicious than those in Chang'an.
However, Lin only ate one and could not eat any more. Perhaps she was thinking of the past, or perhaps she had a poor appetite, so she gave the rest to the servants around her.
.
On the other side, it didn't take long for all the buns Su Li made today to be sold out. There was no time to count how much money she had earned, so Su Li and Chen and others started preparing lunch together. The braised dishes that were braised last night did not need to be made again. In addition, spicy fried pork trotters, pickled fish, twice-cooked pork, fish-flavored shredded pork, braised pork, leek and egg, spicy fried cabbage, stewed radish, fried yam with black fungus, mapo tofu, etc. were to be made today.
The division of labor among the people was clear. Mrs. Mo, Mrs. Lu and Mrs. Chen were responsible for killing fish and washing vegetables, Su Li and Su Hong were responsible for cutting and cooking vegetables, Mrs. Wu was responsible for making fire, and Su Tao and Old Man Su took care of the front yard. Everyone had their own things to do so that they would not be too busy. If anyone finished their own work temporarily, they could help each other.
Just like that, along with the rising bright sun, the aroma of food wafted out from Su Ji Fast Food Restaurant.
People living nearby could smell it as early as when Su Li fried the first dish.
The husband of one newlywed couple came home from work at the government office for lunch. While washing his hands, he said, "There's a new food store next door. While my mother is away, don't cook today. Let's go out for dinner."
Upon hearing this, his wife, Mrs. Song, was somewhat tempted. She had been married for so long and had never gone out alone with her husband. However, she felt a little embarrassed. "How can this be good? I cooked..."
Qi San didn't understand what he said, so he said, "What's wrong with that? Come on, I'll take you to eat."
After saying that, he went to hold Song's hand.
"Brother Qi, please don't..."
“I was seen…”
"No." Qi San said, taking the opportunity to kiss his wife's face again. He stopped when he saw his wife's face dyed red like gauze.
Song could only be angry, but she couldn't do anything about him, so she kept glaring at him until she left the house.
Qi San's face showed no expression, and he greeted others calmly.
"Is Constable Qi going out now?"
"Is Constable Qi ready to eat?"
…
Let's not talk about all that for now, let's just say that when Qi San and his wife arrived at Su Ji Fast Food Restaurant, there were no other diners in the restaurant, only Su Tao. After Qi San and Song came in, they were first attracted by the layout of the restaurant, and then by the row of food on the table. Qi San had never seen a restaurant that prepared food before selling it, but with his newlywed wife next to him, Qi San could only pretend to be knowledgeable and went forward to order.
Because of her experience selling food at the dock some time ago, Su Tao is no longer the girl who gets panicked when she sees diners. She patiently introduces the ordering process, payment, and the dishes and prices in the store.
"You mean the meat dishes are 12 cents and the vegetarian dishes are 6 cents?" Qi San was a little shocked. You know, in other restaurants, any dish costs more than 20 cents, but this restaurant only costs 12 cents. Isn't it too cheap?
Su Li didn't understand why and thought it was too expensive. After all, both at the pier and in front of the county school, one meat dish and one vegetable dish were sold for 12 cents. She had no choice but to explain that the meat and vegetable portions were larger in the food store and smaller at the pier.
However, Qi San didn't think it was expensive at all, but he didn't explain. He thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll have one of these pig's trotters."
After saying that, he did not forget to ask Song: "Madam, what do you want to eat?"
Song whispered, "I can do anything."
Qi Sancai ordered a plate of twice-cooked pork and a plate of mapo tofu.
Su Tao: "One serving of twice-cooked pork, one serving of spicy fried pork trotters, one serving of mapo tofu, and two bowls of rice, a total of 32 wen, sir."
It was the first time for Qi San to pay first and then eat, which was quite novel. So he took out his money and gave it to Su Tao. Su Tao took it and handed Qi San a wooden sign with a number 1 carved on it. "Sir, please take a seat. I'll bring you the food right away."
Qi San and Song chose a seat by the window.
Su Tao took out three bowls, filled them with all the food, and then filled two bowls of rice before bringing them over. "Here's your meal, sir."
Then Su Tao took the wooden sign away. Qi San was puzzled by the whole process. There was no one else in the shop, so why didn't he just give it to them? Wasn't it redundant to give out wooden signs and then take them back?
The owner of this food store might have some mental problems.
However, Qi San soon discovered the benefits of doing this. As more people came into the restaurant, there were wooden signs in front of each table, so it was not easy to get confused when the dishes were served. Unlike other food shops, because of the lack of staff, the owner often remembered the wrong place, or had to shout loudly to know who ordered what. The only disadvantage of this is that it was too noisy. Although noise is inevitable, who wouldn't like a quieter environment if given a choice?
Thinking of this, Qi San looked at the portions of the dishes on the small plates again, and finally understood why it was only 12 cents. This portion was actually not particularly large, only a little more than half of what other places had. One portion was just enough for one person. The advantage was that you wouldn't leave too much to eat, the price was right, and you could have other dishes. The disadvantage was that if it wasn't enough, you had to buy more.
Qi San collected his thoughts and picked up a piece of pig's trotter and started eating. The trotter was not cold yet and was steaming hot. It was covered with green and red peppers, which made it look particularly tempting. Qi San was a native of Qinghe County and loved spicy food. So he took a fancy to the pig's trotter at first sight. Sure enough, the taste of the pig's trotter did not disappoint him. It was spicy, fresh, and especially soft and sticky. He couldn't stop eating it once he started.
Especially in the middle of winter, sweat was coming out of his head. While eating, he did not forget to give his wife some food, "Eat this, this is delicious."
Then he picked up another piece of twice-cooked pork with chopsticks and ate it. The twice-cooked pork was fried until the fat edges were slightly curled and the surface was browned, with garlic sprouts and chili peppers on top. Qi San ordered this meat because he thought it would go well with rice, and it turned out to be very good with rice. After taking a bite, the aroma of the burnt meat mixed with the aroma of chili peppers and fermented black beans, and all kinds of flavors lingered in his mouth for a long time. He was even reluctant to swallow it. It was too delicious. Taking a big mouthful of rice with it was even more amazing.
Not only these two meat dishes, but also this tofu, which was both numb and spicy. It was the first time he ate such tender and delicious tofu, it was absolutely amazing, especially when eaten with rice. After eating it, he was still not satisfied and ordered another serving of twice-cooked pork and three bowls of rice.
The same went for Song. Normally, she could only eat half a bowl of rice, but because the lunch today was so delicious, she actually ate a whole bowl of rice.
At the end of the meal, both of them left with full bellies.
In addition to Mr. and Mrs. Qi, there was also Mr. Xing, an old man who lived in the next alley, who was attracted by the fragrance. His wife died when he was young, and he never remarried. He was alone in his old age. Some people envied him, and some thought he was stupid, but he ignored them all. Decades passed like this. Today, he had only one class in the private school, so he came back early. He originally planned to have a quick bite, but he smelled the fragrance, so he put down what he was holding and decided to have a meal outside at noon today.
"What is this? I want one portion, and one of these leek and egg dishes." Old Master Xing said, pointing at the leek scrambled eggs and braised pork.
"Okay."
There were not many people in the restaurant, so Chen quickly brought over Mr. Xing's food.
"Sir, your meal."
Old Master Xing nodded and gestured to leave it there. After Chen left, he changed his gaze from the surrounding environment to the food in front of him. Old Master Xing's favorite dish on weekdays was braised pork, especially as he got older. He would order this dish in almost any restaurant he went to. The braised pork in front of him looked good, with a rosy color, a perfect proportion of fat and lean meat, and three layers of fat. It looked delicious at first glance. Old Master Xing picked up the chopsticks and picked up a piece. The braised pork trembled with the shaking of the chopsticks. He took a bite... The braised pork melted in his mouth, with a salty fragrance and a hint of sweetness, fat but not greasy, and delicious.
However, what surprised Mr. Xing the most was that the braised pork was sweet. You know, the local braised pork is saltier.
Mr. Xing suddenly thought of his wife. His wife liked to put a lot of sugar when making braised pork, and she always argued that she only put a little bit. Every time she made the braised pork into sweet meat, he had no choice but to pinch his nose and eat it. Every time he finished eating, he had to drink a lot of water to dilute the sweetness in his mouth. At this time, his wife would say that she would put less sugar next time, but she would do the same thing next time and never change.
Until she died in a carriage overturn on her way back to her parents' home, he never had the chance to eat the braised pork she made again, nor did he ever have the chance to tell her that he actually loved the food she cooked, and loved it very much.
But he thought his wife must be angry that he always said her cooking was not tasty, so she had never given him a dream in all these years.
Xing Hai was eating braised pork when he started to cry. He raised his hand to wipe away the tears and found that they were his own.
Chen, who was standing by, saw this and wanted to go up and ask what was wrong, but was stopped by Su Li. She just shook her head at Chen and signaled her not to care. Although she didn't know why the old man was so sad, she knew that sometimes people would rather be alone when they are sad.
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