The fragrance of the medicine spread far and wide
From day one to day seven, Wang Pan'er offered a limited number of free tastings, which helped to establish the reputation of the medicinal cuisine restaurant within a small circle.
Although a large portion of the customers were elderly people who liked to take advantage of deals, on the day the shop officially opened, quite a few gourmets who came looking for good food also crowded around the shop entrance.
With a resounding clang, the drum and gong troupe marched down the street.
Amidst the sounds of gongs and drums, the signboard of "Shanhe Medicinal Cuisine Restaurant" was securely hung in the center of the main entrance.
Wang Pan'er jumped down from the ladder to the clouds, clasped her hands in a fist salute to the elders and villagers, and said, "Distinguished guests, I am deeply grateful for your patronage on the opening day of my small shop. Since ancient times, medicine and food have been considered to share the same origin. The medicinal cuisine that my shop follows has always adhered to ancient methods, emphasizing individual differences and suitability to different times. Therefore, my shop has specially hired a physician to be on-site, providing free pulse diagnosis and tailor-made menus, which are not only wonderful methods for maintaining health but also excellent remedies for prolonging life."
Free pulse diagnosis, health preservation, and longevity – these words exploded like firecrackers among the crowd. Things that were traditionally reserved for the wealthy and powerful were now being offered to ordinary people!
Those who reacted quickly had already rushed to Tao Shuo's workstation and formed a queue.
Li Ru entered the store with an air of nonchalance, nodded to Tao Shuo, and then ordered a "Qi Deficiency Constitution" set meal.
"Hey!" someone pointed at Li Ru, "Why did you just go in like that!"
Looking at the various fabric items in the shop, all embroidered with the words "Shanhe Herbal Cuisine," Li Ru said to the customers queuing outside, "These are all products from our embroidery workshop. These days, I've been drinking Pan'er's beauty soup and liver-cleansing and vision-improving tea, and I feel much better. I definitely want to be the first customer here."
Among the crowd were diners who knew Li Ru well. She looked her up and down several times and noticed that her complexion was indeed much rosier than before.
The dishes in the medicinal cuisine restaurant are mostly stir-fried or steamed, quite different from the savory and rich flavors of Jinzhong. This taste wouldn't have whetted the appetites of the people of Jinzhou with other dishes, but with the added benefits of longevity and health, it made everyone patiently savor the original, refreshing, and delicious flavors of the broth.
A meal includes one meat dish, two vegetable dishes, and a soup. The price varies slightly depending on individual constitution, but it generally falls between fifteen and twenty coins. The price is slightly higher than other shops, but medicinal herbs are not cheap in this era, and there is a doctor who provides free pulse diagnosis, even though she is a female doctor. In the end, everyone accepts it well.
Finally, it was the turn of a customer who knew Li Ru. Her eyes lit up as she made a request to Wang Xiaoyao: "I want to change my soup to a beauty soup!"
"Yes, that's possible, but our combined meals will be more effective. When your body is strong, your appearance will naturally be radiant."
Tao Shuo nodded slightly in agreement upon hearing this.
"Okay, then let's go with the set menu. I'll come back next time for the beauty soup."
Li Ru invited her to sit at the same table: "You can buy the seasoning packets. We all buy the seasoning packets and cook at home ourselves."
"You can do that!" The dishes were served very quickly. The guests had barely sat down and hadn't even finished their complimentary barley tea when the waitress brought out the dishes on a square plate.
Since it was a meal for one person, the portions of each dish were small, just enough to fit in the inherited bowls and plates from the tea shop. Therefore, Wang Pan'er used the celadon pottery personally selected by her former employer, adding some different shapes to make the meal appear more exquisite.
Rice is unlimited; you can take as much as you want as you want, as long as you don't waste it or take it away.
Those who want to splurge will also order a serving of braised beef shank to replenish their energy.
A serving of beef shank costs 69 yuan, and the beef is served on a custom-made four-leaf clover-shaped plate. The beef is neatly arranged in the center compartment of the plate, surrounded by four kinds of vegetarian braised dishes. The sauce is fragrant and glossy, and the unique aroma of herbs and spices makes it incredibly tempting.
A child stared intently at the beef shank on the next table, asking, "Mommy, can we come back to eat that 'qi-boosting' beef shank again next time?"
The woman replied evasively, "If you finish today's food properly, I'll bring you here again next time."
"Alright!" The child danced with joy and ate several more mouthfuls of rice.
On the first day of business, the lively scene was a great sign. Wang Pan'er was working hard in the kitchen, and the pots she was shoveling were almost sparking.
Unfortunately, she never expected that, just as things were getting started, someone would get restless.
As Wang Xiaoyao cried out, "Something terrible has happened!" Wang Pan'er was dragged to the shop entrance before she could even put down her spatula.
A crowd had gathered at the shop entrance. Wang Pan'er pushed her way through the crowd and saw an elderly woman, about forty or fifty years old, lying on a bamboo stretcher, foaming at the mouth and convulsing.
A burly man was kneeling on the ground nearby, kowtowing and wailing, "What a rip-off! What does a little girl like you know about pharmacology? My mother ate braised beef from the medicinal cuisine restaurant yesterday, and she started having abdominal cramps last night. This morning she even started convulsing. You damned monster!"
Wang Pan'er was holding a shovel when someone in the crowd spotted her and immediately shouted, "She's the owner! Stop her and demand an explanation!"
"Heh." Wang Pan'er looked at the mother and son and sneered, "They're both foaming at the mouth, and instead of going to the clinic, they come here to cause trouble. What a filial son."
"What a big mouth! The food was eaten at your shop, are you trying to deny it?"
"The medicinal cuisine restaurant is an ancestral house, and no one has ever had any problems eating there. If it is truly our restaurant's fault, everyone can be a witness, and I will close the restaurant immediately."
Upon hearing that someone had eaten something bad, Tao Shuo grabbed her silver needles and rushed out.
"Make way, I'm a doctor!" Tao Shuo squeezed through the crowd, ran to the old woman's side, squatted down, and placed her hand on her pulse. She frowned, felt for a while, and said to Wang Pan'er, "It is indeed food poisoning."
How to treat it?
Tao Shuo turned to look at the man: "What did your mother eat in the past twelve hours?"
"Only last night did we have some samples of the dishes at the medicinal cuisine restaurant."
"It seems you're not going to tell the truth." Tao Shuo acted swiftly, inserting three needles each into the Neiguan, Tanzhong, and Tiantu acupoints on her wrist.
The old woman convulsed a few times, then spat out a stream of sour, putrid filth from her mouth. The filth spun in the air before splashing back onto her face and body.
The scene was extremely disgusting, and everyone involuntarily took several steps back.
Tao Shuo, being a professional, had already put on a face mask, so there was no need to cover her mouth and nose. She took out a small wooden stick and searched through the filth: "It's oleander."
"That really is a frame-up."
“I know oleander is poisonous, how could a medicinal cuisine restaurant possibly use it in their dishes?”
"Yes, so many people have tried it, and only his family has something going on. That's really hard to believe."
Everyone chimed in with their own opinions.
Wang Pan'er's gaze suddenly turned cold.
It's oleander again.
She looked at the man with a sinister gaze: "Did someone with the surname Wang hire you to do these things?"
The common man was both wicked and foolish, thinking himself clever, unaware that his operation was riddled with flaws, and he hadn't even bothered to find out beforehand that there was a doctor in the medicinal cuisine department. Seeing his scheme exposed, the man began to argue: "What oleander? Why would we eat it for no reason?"
Wang Pan'er deftly deflected the argument: "Then let's go to the authorities. There are coroners in the yamen; they can verify the facts with a single examination."
Upon hearing that the matter had been reported to the authorities, the man felt guilty.
He gestured to the people who had helped carry the old woman over, and pretended to be magnanimous: "Forget it, my mother has stopped smoking now, I'll let you off the hook for now."
Tao Shuo said, "Don't forget to go to the clinic, or you'll drag your mother to death."
Some people were dissatisfied with Tao Shuo's sarcastic remarks: "As a doctor, Miss Tao should remember the benevolence of a physician. Why didn't she treat that woman on the spot?"
Tao Shuo threw away the wooden stick and gathered the silver needles into the discarded syringe: "If you repay evil with kindness, how will you repay kindness?"
Everyone was disappointed.
Wang Pan'er caught up with the man who was about to leave and stopped him: "Go tell the people who ordered you to do this that I'm giving them one last chance today. If they keep bothering me, I'll make sure they get a good prison sentence."
The man responded vaguely, his voice barely audible. Wang Pan'er couldn't hear what he said, but finding it unlucky, she gave a disdainful sneer and turned back into the shop.
At some point, Mu Chuan appeared. He sat in an inconspicuous corner, watching Wang Pan'er and Tao Shuo easily defuse a crisis, and clapped his hands repeatedly.
Attracted by the applause, Wang Pan'er saw who it was, her expression brightening and her eyes regaining their sparkle: "You're back!"
"Today is your official opening, and as a major shareholder, I naturally had to come and witness the grand occasion. It was truly a worthwhile trip; I've already seen a good show as soon as I sat down." Mu Chuan placed an exquisite brocade box on the table. "This is for you."
"Oh, you're here, why bring a gift!" Wang Pan'er said with a smile, speaking politely, but without hesitation, she took the brocade box. It was so heavy that she almost lost her balance.
The box contains a pure gold toad, about the size of a palm, symbolizing abundant wealth and prosperous business.
"Young Master Mu is so generous! This is a spur to me to make more money!"
Mu Chuan slightly raised his chin and frowned his handsome brows: "Nonsense interpretation."
"Alright, alright, I'm not teasing you anymore. What do you want to eat? It's on me! If you're tired, let Xiaoyao take you to the inner room for a rest. We can chat again after I'm done with my work."
Mu Chuan obediently nodded and let Wang Pan'er go about her business.
Those awful parents, instead of framing the restaurant, ended up giving it free publicity.
At this moment, the area outside the shop was packed with people, and the food inside was far from enough. Wang Xiaoyao handed out small wooden tags to those who could still get a turn. Diners who didn't receive a tag became dissatisfied and started complaining, like sour grapes.
Wang Xiaoyao naturally couldn't let the diners' bad mood ruin his reputation.
She shouted at the crowd to stop queuing; those who had already lined up would be offered free pulse diagnosis by Dr. Tao to make up for the time wasted waiting.
The saying "He who takes a man's food is bound to him" helped to quell the resentment among the diners.
Wang Xiaoyao breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you for your hard work today, Sister Tao!"
Tao Shuo was so engrossed in learning through practice that she didn't feel any hardship at all. She took a moment to reply to Wang Xiaoyao, saying, "It's nothing. I've studied medicine for over ten years, and I've seen more people take pulses than I have today. Knowledge gained from books is never enough; practical experience brings a completely different understanding."
After a busy day, by the time the customers had all left, it was already late afternoon.
After Wang Pan'er and her helpers cleaned up the kitchen, she stepped into the hall while untying her apron.
Tao Shuo is taking Mu Chuan's pulse.
Wang Pan'er found a spot next to Mu Chuan, slumped down without any regard for her image, and wailed, "I'm so tired, my back is about to break!"
Wang Xiaoyao excitedly sat down on the other side of Wang Pan'er, holding the ledger: "Sister, our revenue today exceeded ten taels of silver!"
What a fruitful result!
Wang Pan'er instantly felt much better, straightened up, and looked at the account book with shining eyes.
Mu Chuan was also quite surprised, and said to Mo Feng and Xian Ying, "How about it, my judgment wasn't bad, was it?"
"Absolutely! Miss Wang is exceptionally intelligent and insightful!"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Mu Chuan blushed deeply. "I'm referring to my eye for real estate."
"Hehe!" Mo Feng chuckled, glancing meaningfully at the five characters "Shanhe Medicinal Cuisine Restaurant" that were visible everywhere.
You can't blame Mu Chuan; mountains and rivers are indeed very easy to associate with each other.
As a result, even the tips of his ears turned pink.
"Our young master is still as shy and timid as ever!" After looking at the account book, Wang Pan'er looked at his handsome face and her hands and heart were itching.
But today, after working for most of the day, with the smell of sweat and cooking fumes mixed together, she unusually didn't directly "bully" this young master.
Before Wang Pan'er could make her next move, a hint of disappointment flashed in Mu Chuan's eyes, imperceptible to others.
He pursed his lips and smoothed out the corner of his sleeve after taking her pulse: "Miss Wang is as abrupt as ever."
"Be careful not to scare away the girl you like with your sharp tongue."
"I wouldn't even consider someone who can be scared away."
"Alright, alright," Wang Pan'er said, soothingly, and asked Tao Shuo, "How is it?"
"Such a rare and peaceful temperament, Young Master Mu must be in good health!"
"That's good. It's just that you've lost a lot of weight and your face has darkened a bit in only half a month. I was worried that you've been working hard and your health has suffered."
It's black!
When he was found that day, Wang Pan'er praised his skin as being as smooth as jade and as white as snow while applying medicine. Although these words were usually used to describe women, making him slightly uncomfortable, it was clear that Wang Pan'er liked him very much. Now that she said he was dark-skinned and no longer touched him, Mu Chuan suddenly felt as if he were facing a formidable enemy!
The two people beside him were still discussing his pulse with great interest.
"You won't lose a single penny!" Tao Shuo covered her face, leaned close to Wang Pan'er's ear, and her delicate face was replaced by a lewd and sly glint in her eyes. She whispered in Wang Pan'er's ear, "Your ten fingers have crescent moons, your knuckles are pink, you have a pure yang body that is rare in the world. Pan'er, you are truly a blessed person!"
Wang Pan'er looked at Tao Shuo, her pupils dilating in shock: "Dr. Tao, you're not exactly a respectable person either."
Mo Feng took a deep breath and carefully observed Mu Chuan's expression.
It changes color from green to red, unpredictable, leaving one unsure whether it's shame or anger.
Mo Feng tentatively asked, "I reckon Xianying's situation is almost settled, young master?"
"Then let's go." Mu Chuan said coldly, getting up from the cemetery and striding away without looking back.
He left without saying goodbye, which suddenly brought Wang Pan'er to her senses.
She slapped her thigh hard: "Oh wow!"
Tao Shuo looked bewildered: "What's wrong?"
Wang Pan'er felt guilty: "He practices martial arts and has excellent hearing. He probably heard every single word you just said."
Tao Shuo opened her mouth wide and held her forehead: "..."
I have nothing to say.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
