Chapter 106 105. Deep and shallow marks on Zhou Yi's body
Like the city of Nakagawa Prefecture, which is composed of many basins and plateaus, it is located in the center of the territory of the Daiyou Dynasty and is also an economic center second only to Kyoto. It is home to wealthy merchants from all over the country, prominent officials and dignitaries, and the streets are bustling with activity.
Just throw a stone on the street, and you will find that eight out of ten families have some connection with officials or businessmen.
The food culture of Nakagawa Prefecture that has been nurtured in this way is also unique, with both fresh and mellow flavors, and is famous for its rich and diverse flavors.
The spicy Sichuan cuisine is more popular among the people of Zhongchuan than the light Xiling cuisine.
If Zhou Yi had not stood on the shoulders of his ancestors and made use of chili peppers first, the people of Zhongchuan would have made a fortune from chili peppers.
"I don't know much about Nakagawa."
While Zhou Yi was racking his brains to come up with a recipe, Lei Li was also pondering the Meng family's subsequent plans. "But according to the rumors heard from Zhang Daqiang and the port, as well as the travel notes, the people of Zhongchuan, who love mellow and strong flavors, definitely prefer spicy dishes."
"Since the Meng family has such strong intentions to expand, they will definitely not miss out on the huge market of Zhongchuan. They can open ten stores in Xiling, so Zhongchuan should be even more terrifying."
"There should be at least twenty of them."
As he spoke, Lei Li leaned back in the recliner, rocking gently while sighing, "The Meng family is going to make rapid progress now. Maybe they can even take down the richest man in Zhongchuan."
Zhou Yi thought it made sense, but also felt a little worried. "But the Meng family's rapid rise to power will surely hinder some people, right? The pie is so small, and everyone wants a piece of it. I wonder if the Meng family can withstand it."
"Since the Meng family has the guts to do this, they must have some confidence. Isn't it said that the Meng family is involved with some high-ranking officials in Zhongchuan Prefecture?"
Lei Li was not too worried about this. A broken ship still had three thousand nails, not to mention that the Meng family was in their prime. Besides, high returns were accompanied by high risks, and if you wanted to gain something, you had to spend something.
Thinking about it, Lei Li had another idea. "Don't people in Zhongchuan like to eat strong-flavored dishes? Those pickles you have should be able to be made in Zhongchuan. Is there any way to pickle them faster?"
“You can use old brine.”
Zhou Yi thought for a moment and said, "It's the water that's been pickled once. It's rich in microorganisms, which can promote acidification and shorten the pickling time."
"But we only have sour water at home. Even if we make sourdough out of it all, we won't be able to supply Zhongchuan, right? I think Chen Xiangrang also wants to make sourdough in Xiling."
"Aren't pickled bamboo shoots very fast?"
Lei Li was unconcerned. "We also have sour taro sprouts and sour papaya. They can be made in a few days to a month. Now is the season for bamboo shoots, so we can pickle more and eat them at home."
"Sour white radish is pickled quickly, and you can pickle large or small radishes. It can be eaten as a side dish or a snack, and both adults and children like it."
As he spoke, Lei Li used a bamboo skewer to pick up a small piece of white radish and put it into his mouth, crunching it. "Our baby likes it too. Your appetite is up to you. I didn't like these before, but now I eat them every day and never get tired of them."
"Then the baby should look more like you. He should have some of his father's looks and personality."
Thinking of this, Zhou Yi felt relieved. Lei Li is good-looking but has a bad temper. If the baby follows Lei Li's personality, he will be in dire straits in the future.
...I hope it's not his appearance and Lei Li's temperament, wouldn't that make him a complete bandit?
"You're right."
Zhou Yi thought about what Lei Li had just said and agreed, "Except for ox horns, the pickling time for other sour things is quite short. Besides bamboo shoots, other bamboo shoots can also be pickled sour. The sour bamboo shoot tips are also delicious."
"Small bamboo shoots can be made and eaten as a snack. You should like them now. I'll pick them and soak them for you tomorrow. They will be ready in a few days."
"good."
Lei Li nodded and added, "These sour ones can be piloted in the county and Zhongchuan. If the response is not good, the new store will not add them or use less of them."
"You and Chen Xiang can just ask the shopkeeper to discuss it."
Zhou Yi knows nothing about doing business, but he has always supported Lei Li.
——Except on the bed.
—
After hearing Lei Li's idea, Chen Xiangrang also thought it was feasible. He also drew inferences from it and knew that Zhou Yi could pickle sour foods to make side dishes and pickles, so he knew that Zhou Yi must have more ideas for making side dishes.
Zhou Yi now has one more task on his shoulders.
He classified these dishes into more detailed categories. For example, for home-cooked dishes, he divided them into cold dishes, hot dishes, and even specially divided out river dishes.
Xiling Prefecture City is located in a mountainous area, which can be described as a myriad of mountains and valleys. There are numerous streams and rivers from the mountains. It spans the two major water systems of the Dayou Dynasty - Xihe and Baihe. River seafood and shipping industry are particularly developed.
There are many kinds of river dishes, and new dishes related to river dishes are more likely to gain the favor and welcome of Xiling people.
Sweet soups are also divided into those with water and those without water, such as bayberry and lychee sweet soup, mung bean and water chestnut soup, osmanthus and gorgon fruit sweet soup, cassava sweet soup, winter melon black tea, barley and lotus seed soup, etc. There are also double skin milk, ginger milk, ice flower stewed eggs, multi-mango meatballs, etc. that are more like desserts.
Zhongchuan Prefecture has a developed economy. Milk and dairy products, which are relatively rare in Xiling, are commonplace for Zhongchuan people. Zhongchuan also has many wealthy and idle people, so high-end desserts can more easily gain a foothold.
Although this is also accompanied by great competition, as the saying goes, good wine needs no bush. With good quality and sufficient financial resources and power, you can never lose.
Unless someone competes maliciously.
But that is something the Meng family should worry about.
—
Zhou Yi finally squeezed out the last drop of his remaining resources and gave the recipe to Chen Xiangrang, asking him to run it, while he himself stayed by Lei Li's side to help her take care of the pregnancy.
But unexpectedly, Chen Xiangrang thought that Zhou Yi's idea of hanging those idioms, allusions and poems in "A Sichuan Restaurant" was a good one, and asked him to think about whether there were any good words or sentences to add.
"Of course, we won't just let Boss Zhou do the work."
Chen Xiangrang smiled gently and said, "I will also collect some calligraphy and paintings by famous scholars and hang them in the restaurant. I will also ask some respected people to write inscriptions and plaques."
"But since we should try to do both, we can figure out which one is more popular."
This job is not too difficult.
There's no rush.
Zhou Yi usually wrote down whatever he thought of. Fortunately, he read a variety of books, even some on Chinese herbal medicine - although he started reading because he was fascinated by making soup, and he would study the medicinal properties of the ingredients when he had time.
Poetry, songs and prose are such beautiful and profound things that embody the wisdom of our ancient ancestors and generally have a profound historical background.
Zhou Yi liked it very much. He liked Chinese and history very much when he was in school, but he was not very good at English, physics and chemistry, and his mathematics was just average.
Although he likes it, Zhou Yi is only at the level of "reading 300 poems and reciting them even if he can't write them." If he really were to write, it would be like being an emperor.
It is the famous poem "Ode to Snow":
One piece after another, two pieces, three pieces, four pieces, five pieces.
Six, seven, eight, nine pieces of petals flew into the reeds and disappeared.
However, I heard that the last sentence was not said by the emperor, but he got stuck and the accompanying officials took over. The most essential part is also the last sentence.
Although this poem cannot be written for Chen Xiangrang, otherwise he will definitely be silenced.
But Mr. Zheng Banqiao's seven-character quatrain "Ode to Snow" is okay. The artistic conception is much better than that of Emperor Gan, and the picture is also particularly beautiful and fresh.
Lei Li has little appreciation for poetry and songs.
He didn't even recognize all the common characters. He wrote big characters every day, but he remembered some and forgot some, just like Zhou Yi when he was memorizing English words.
So whenever Lei Li saw Zhou Yimo's poems, he would frown, looking as if he was facing a great enemy. But upon closer inspection, he could see that his eyes were indeed blank, and he would mutter:
"What's written here? I can't even understand it... How can the plum blossoms be invisible if the snow flies into them? Are the plum blossoms spirits? Can they use magic to make the snow disappear?"
“It’s a combination of reality and fiction.”
Zhou Yi explained it to Lei Li again. Seeing that Lei Li still had a blank look in his eyes and raised his eyebrows slightly, he complained softly, "Just write, why make it so complicated..."
“If it’s complicated, don’t read it.”
Zhou Yi touched Lei Li's hair and stroked his fur. He would not think that Lei Li had no substance or was not romantic just because he did not like poetry and songs.
Hobbies are inherently highly individual.
Moreover, only Lei Li has a strong personal style and does not follow the crowd to agree with others.
——Of course, commercial promotion does not count, that is just one of Lei Li’s strategies to make money.
The letter paper filled with poems and songs fell into Chen Xiangrang's hands.
Chen Xiangrang thought it was well written, but he specialized in business and had limited knowledge of language and culture. He just thought it was good but didn't know what was good about it specifically.
Who cares.
Just find a calligrapher to write it and hang it on the wall.
As the days passed, Zhou Yi and Lei Li did not ask Chen Xiangrang about the specific plans for opening the new store. They gave him full authority and acted as if they trusted him very much.
Actually, they were just too lazy to ask.
It’s May.
The weather became very hot, and Lei Li's temper became somewhat changeable and irritable.
He also loves to order people around even more.
"Zhou Yi, I want to drink sweet potato and brown sugar soup."
"Zhou Yi, give me a shoulder massage."
"Zhou Yi, read to me."
"Zhou Yi, I want to drink water. I don't want plain water. I want honey lemon water."
"Zhou Yi, help me take a bath."
"Zhou Yi...
"Zhou Yi!"
He never left Zhou Yi's side for a quarter of an hour.
Zhou Yi has to do everything.
Lei Li seemed to have a disease that made him unable to bear to see Zhou Yi idle. As soon as he saw Zhou Yi, he wanted to ask him to do something. When Zhou Yi spoke, he didn't respond and stared at his lips.
An expression that says "this mouth is for kissing".
It feels like someone is watching closely.
“…”
Zhou Yi covered his mouth while speaking.
Lei Li didn't let him cover it up and was angry. When she was angry, she hated Zhou Yi and wanted to bite him. Within a few days, Zhou Yi's arm was covered with deep and shallow, large and small teeth marks.
Zhou Yi stared at it.
Not as hard as the bite on the bed.
After all, Lei Li was biting and sucking on the bed, and each bite would leave a piece of purple and red stain that would take several days to disappear.
Fortunately, his skin color is not as white as Lei Li's, otherwise it would be more obvious and more difficult to eliminate.
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