Chapter 281: Chapter 281: Open for Business
"What kind of characters are these, such a disgrace! Such a disgrace!"
Among the first batch of customers entering the restaurant were scholars, who couldn’t help but shake their heads in criticism upon seeing the characters in the images on the wall.
Seeing this, everyone else shrank back a bit and kept silent.
The court valued literature over martial arts, granting scholars a high status.
When scholars spoke, ordinary people hardly ever contradicted them, even if they thought things were not quite as the scholars described.
The scholars accompanying this one echoed his sentiments.
In an instant, the originally lively hall turned silent, and the atmosphere became particularly strange.
Today, the one in charge of the lobby was Qi Quanyin.
Unlike his hot-tempered brother Qi Quanli, Qi Quanyin was much more tactful.
Seeing the situation, he immediately approached with a smile: "Ladies and gentlemen, there are no scholars in my family; we barely know a few words. Please pardon us if we’ve made a fool of ourselves."
"Today is the first day our restaurant is open; we’re offering a twenty percent discount on all dishes. Please have a seat. The images on the wall are our signature dishes. Why not order a few to try? If anything is unsatisfactory, we welcome your feedback."
He spoke with a smile and courteous tone, making it difficult for anyone to find fault with him.
The scholars exchanged glances, and one spoke up, "Brother Yan, we’re here to eat. Come on, let’s sit down first. We can discuss other matters after we’ve eaten."
"Yes, yes, let’s eat first."
Another person chimed in.
The man addressed as Brother Yan grunted and then took a seat.
Though he no longer spoke of disgrace, he remained critical: "What are these drawings? So unrealistic, utterly nonsensical."
However, the others at the table found the drawings vivid and somewhat amusing.
Though not as ethereal as landscape ink paintings, if a small restaurant actually hung a few such pieces, that would indeed be out of place.
But they didn’t say anything, simply changed the subject and began ordering.
For the grand opening, Yi Meng had set six signature dishes.
Braised pork, sweet and sour ribs, squirrel fish, and guobao pork - four meat dishes.
Additionally, there was a vegetable dish and a dessert, respectively, stir-fried seasonal vegetables and candied vegetables.
Candied vegetables, originally named candied yellow vegetables.
The character "yellow" was feared to offend the Royal Family’s "royal," so it was changed to "golden" vegetables.
The ingredients for this dish are eggs and sugar.
Beaten eggs are diluted with a bit of starch, mixed well into the egg mixture.
The mixture is spread thin and cooked until done, then cut into diamond shapes.
Deep-fry the diamond shapes until they puff up, then start simmering the sugar after removing them.
Once the sugar syrup is ready, add the fried diamond pieces to stir and coat with syrup, then it’s ready to serve.
This dish is simple but can be difficult.
If the diamond pieces don’t puff up, the dish loses some texture.
With the word "gold" in its name, it naturally attracts people.
Who among the common folk can resist treasures of gold and silver?
"The prices of these dishes aren’t too high."
One of the scholars, examining the menu engraved on a wooden plaque, smiled and said, "These dishes have interesting names, especially the candied vegetables. I’ll have an order of that."
Upon hearing this, Qi Quanyin quickly said, "Sir, this dish is sweet. If you don’t like sweet flavors, you might find it unappealing."
"No matter, bring an order."
The scholar waved his hand and continued, "And this squirrel fish looks interesting – I’ll have that too."
"Gentlemen, what do you think?"
He didn’t forget to consult his companions, passing the wooden plaque to the person beside him.
Everyone took a look, and besides the two dishes just mentioned, they added stir-fried vegetables and braised pork.
Even scholars are human.
Those indifferent to food wouldn’t be here ordering, so naturally, they wanted to try the fish and meat.
Qi Quanyin noted each dish in his notebook.
The notebook was made from cut rice paper, with a charcoal pencil handcrafted by the Qi Family, wrapped in clean fabric to prevent dirtying fingers.
After quickly jotting down the orders, Qi Quanyin tore off the paper and rushed it to the counter.
At the counter, Qi Ercai quickly transcribed the orders before sending the list to the backyard.
Qi Quanyin went to greet more customers at other tables.
Today was the first day the restaurant opened, and the entire Qi Family was present, though those not scheduled to work didn’t come downstairs.
After the official opening, they moved to the second floor.
Originally, they intended to act as fillers for their own restaurant, but the townsfolk were so curious about the new place that the downstairs tables quickly filled, leaving the Qi Family to occupy the upstairs private rooms.
Even so, the upstairs private rooms soon filled as well, with even one on the third floor being occupied.
The two hired waitstaff were also busy.
Compared to Qi Quanyin, they were faster.
These two waitstaff originally worked at a teahouse, but after being dismissed by the previous owner, they searched the city for places hiring.
When they saw their former teahouse hiring again, they joined others in applying.
Familiar with the place and experienced from their previous jobs, they were hired smoothly.
Qi Quanyin now served as their supervisor, answering customer inquiries cued and composed.
In the backyard, Qu Laodi paced back and forth until seeing Qi Dalang arrive with a list, and she excitedly approached: "Dalang, how’s it going? Any orders? What did they order?"
"Yes, yes."
Qi Dalang, beaming and visibly excited, replied, "Four dishes ordered! Aunt, please let me through; I need to deliver this to the fourth aunts!"
"Oh, come on, tell me!"
Qu Laodi pleaded anxiously.
After all, today was the grand opening, and this was the first order; she truly wanted to know.
Qi Dalang sidestepped Qu Laodi and strode toward the kitchen, reporting the dishes as he went.
Upon hearing the names, Qu Laodi clapped with joy, "Great, great, these four dishes are our signature ones; they’ll surely win over the customers!"
Qi Dalang acknowledged with a nod, dodging Aunt again, and sprinted to the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, Qi Dalang called out loudly, "Candied vegetables! Squirrel fish! Stir-fried vegetables! Braised pork!"
"Alright, alright, starting now!"
Mu Yunniang, typically taciturn, couldn’t help but repeatedly express approval.
But when she stood at the stove, her hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
Yi Meng, seeing this, shook her head helplessly, "Sister-in-law, let me do it first!"
The excitement overwhelmed her to the point of trembling, making it risky to add seasonings; too much salt or sugar would ruin a dish.
