Chapter 2: The Wind Rises from Zhongshan Mountain Chapter 13: One orchid leaf, one arrow flower, one day payback, great
In Zhao Hao's original time and space, two hundred years later, Shandong cuisine was able to emerge as a dark horse and take the lead among the eight major cuisines by relying on similar methods.
All the Shandong cuisine chefs who were influential in Beijing at that time came from Yantai and Weihai. They dried the sea intestines and ground them into powder to use as MSG to enhance the flavor of other dishes, which immediately made other cuisines look inferior.
The extremely fresh noodles made by Zhao Hao also have the same effect, allowing the gourmets who have not been spoiled by the various seasonings and additives of later generations to enjoy a hearty bombardment of their taste buds.
A total of twelve hot dishes, eight meat dishes and four vegetable dishes, were served that day. Each dish was familiar to gourmets, but the ones prepared by this Wei Ji Xian restaurant were so amazing and unforgettable!
Accompanied by Ma Xianglan's piano playing, there is no greater enjoyment than this.
By the end of the praise, everyone was at a loss for words and could only keep repeating the word "fresh".
Even vegetarian dishes like stir-fried artemisia with dried tofu are so delicious that people want to eat them with their chopsticks.
Only then did they realize that the name "Wei Ji Xian" was not the store's self-praise, but a true portrayal.
"'The taste is better than any other restaurant in Jiangnan', I think this statement is too modest." With their stomachs full, the diners savored the unprecedented delicious experience and all of them spontaneously praised the restaurant.
"Yes, there is no restaurant in the country that can compare to this..."
“Only if you can have a meal here can you say that you have no regrets in your life!”
"Then don't come again, leave your seat empty and let us come!"
"No, I want to book a private room here and eat until the New Year!"
At this point, the diners looked at Shopkeeper Fang and asked, "Shopkeeper, how much is this table?"
"Today is a business opening to entertain customers. You are welcome to come and there is no need to settle the bill." Shopkeeper Fang replied with a smile.
By this point, he wasn't worried at all about having no repeat customers.
"Ahahaha, we made a profit." Although the diners were not short of money, they were still very happy and asked, "What about tonight?"
"Sorry, sir. We didn't prepare enough food the day before, so we are closed today." Shopkeeper Fang smiled bitterly. This was of course the boss's idea. For things like opening a business to entertain guests, it would just be fine. Those tables of food and wine were all the boss's hard-earned money...
"What about tomorrow?" the diners asked again.
"We will be open for business as usual tomorrow. A table in the lobby will cost five taels, and a table in the four private rooms upstairs will cost ten taels." Shopkeeper Fang said loudly.
The price almost scared Yu Jiachang and Old Man Gao so much that they fell under the counter.
When they heard the host say that they wanted to order 5 taels per table, they thought it was a joke. But they didn't expect it to be true, and it was the price in the lobby downstairs!
The private room upstairs is actually twice as expensive! The two old men thought, who would spend ten taels of silver to come to Caijia Lane for a banquet? Are they crazy?
Unexpectedly, the diners said nonchalantly: "This price is quite fair."
"I'll book a private room for a month first!" Someone immediately bid three hundred taels for a ticket.
"I'm sorry, sir. Whether it's the private rooms or the lobby, our restaurant only accepts orders for one day. We don't accept long-term orders." Shopkeeper Fang looked at the ticket, swallowed his saliva secretly, and explained honestly according to the boss's instructions: "This is to allow more diners to enjoy the food of our restaurant."
"Oh, it's really particular..." The diner put away the ticket in frustration.
Others took out their money one after another and quickly booked ten tables of food for lunch and dinner.
The other diners who had not made reservations were unhappy and surrounded Shopkeeper Fang, clamoring to give him two more days.
They also surrounded Zhao Shouzheng, as if they would not give up until he agreed.
Fortunately, Old Man Gao was smart. He ran upstairs to ask his boss, and then came back to talk to Zhao Shouzheng.
Zhao Shouzheng, as the old boss, announced that tables could be booked three days in advance.
In a blink of an eye, all the tables for three days were booked out, and all were paid in full in advance.
Now everyone could reserve at least one table, and everyone left satisfied.
These naive gourmets asked the waiter to pack up the cold dishes while they discussed how to get free meals from each other so that they could have more meals.
Zhao Hao came down from upstairs only after Xuelang and the diners had left.
Seeing Zhao Hao coming downstairs, Ma Xianglan, who had already put the lyre into its bag, stood up and said goodbye.
"Gao Wu, call a car to take Miss Ma back." Zhao Hao ordered Gao Wu.
"Don't worry, my driver is waiting outside." Ma Xianglan held the zither and bowed to Zhao Haofu.
When he reached the door, he heard Zhao Hao remind him, "You don't have to come so early tomorrow. Just get there before noon..."
Ma Xianglan nodded slightly and turned to leave.
…
A simple horse-drawn carriage was parked in the alley of Zhao Hao's house.
Seeing Ma Xianglan coming, the old coachman and the maid hurriedly stood up to greet her.
The maid took the zither and helped Ma Xianglan into the carriage. The old coachman then urged the big blue horse to drive out of Caijia Lane and slowly headed south.
In the carriage, the maid pouted and said, "Miss, it's enough to come once today, right?"
"You can come later tomorrow." When there were no outsiders around, Ma Xianglan was as elegant as an orchid, without any worldly airs. "I told you that you don't have to follow me."
"Of course, wherever the young lady goes, I will go too." The maid hurriedly expressed her loyalty, but she couldn't help but said dejectedly: "Young lady, what on earth did that man do to you?"
"He had no choice. I did it voluntarily." Ma Xianglan took out a neatly folded piece of letter from the sachet and read it carefully again in the slightly bumpy carriage.
"A leaf of orchid and an arrow of flower, who will care for me in this lonely place? Since I wrote it on the silver paper, I am not afraid of the cold wind and the slanting rain..."
As she read, she became a little dazed again, holding the poem in her arms, and murmured, "This poem seems to have jumped out of my heart. Every word and sentence is telling my inner voice..."
"It's hard to find a true friend in life. Let alone he asked me to play the piano for him, even if it means I have to go through fire and water for him, what's wrong with that?"
"So that's how it is..." The maid suddenly realized that it was the boy surnamed Zhao who moved her girl with his poetry.
But she had seen Zhao Hao from afar in the morning and couldn't help but sigh and said, "It's just that this confidant is a little young."
"Don't talk nonsense. How noble is Mr. Zhao?" Ma Xianglan thought of the poem that Xuelang recited today and couldn't help but sighed: " He doesn't even want to accept me as his disciple. The so-called confidant is just my wishful thinking..."
…
"A-choo..."
In the private room named "Spring" on the second floor, Zhao Hao suddenly sneezed.
Watching Ma Xianglan's carriage driving away, he couldn't help but curse himself for becoming more and more shameless. He actually used a poem that Ma Xianglan wrote ten years later to impress Ma Xianglan herself.
Is there anything that can’t be beaten?
I just don't know how long this effect will last.
Never mind, never mind, let’s just take it one day at a time… If we let her help for a month, I’m sure Weijixian will be able to completely gain a foothold in Nanjing.
When the time comes, I'll give her a wonderful poem, and then we'll be even.
Master Zhao thought so and tasted the purple bamboo shoots sent by Xuelang with peace of mind.
After tasting it, I found that this tea is indeed best brewed with spring water.
In order to make a big hit today, Zhao Hao ordered Manager Fang to travel all over Jinling to purchase the best ingredients. Even the water used for making tea and soup was brought from Pearl Spring across the river.
At this time, Shopkeeper Fang knocked on the door and came in. He handed the account book to Zhao Hao with a happy face, and his voice changed with excitement:
"Boss, today we collected a total of 420 taels of silver. We made back our investment in one day!"
As he spoke, Fang De's tears kept flowing. He had been having a feeling of unreality for a while, always worrying that when he woke up suddenly, everything would be gone and he would have to go back to selling breakfast at the bridge head.
Until just now, looking at the cash on the counter, he finally felt certain that he had finally escaped from the nightmare and embraced a new life!
Zhao Hao took out a handkerchief and handed it to him. He patted Fang De on the shoulder and said with a smile, "This is just the beginning. Work hard, and good days are still to come!"
"Yes." Shopkeeper Fang nodded heavily and said, "I will sell my life to you!"
