Chapter 108: The Culinary Tycoon

Visit from Lord Cai

In the kitchen, Yu Qingze brought out the steamed fresh fish, while Chang Le finished three servings of Fish-flavored Eggplant.

“Serve the steamed fresh fish to Table 5 and Table 9! Serve the Fish-flavored Eggplant to Table 10, Table 11, and Autumn Chrysanthemum Pavilion!” Yu Qingze called out as he placed the two dishes in the serving area. Immediately, a waiter came in and took the dishes out.

“Brother Le, next I’ll make Sautéed Clams, and you make Spicy and Sour Chicken Offal. There are four tables for the Spicy and Sour Chicken Offal, so make four portions,” Yu Qingze looked at the menu hanging above their heads and said to Chang Le. They both used large woks for cooking, allowing them to prepare multiple servings at once, saving time.

Chang Le nodded and turned to wash the wok, filled it with water, and started heating the oil.

Yu Qingze looked at the orders for the clams and called over the waiter who was waiting at the entrance. He said to him, “Go and call Xiao Cong from the second floor, I need to see him.”

“Okay, Boss Yu,” the waiter nodded and went upstairs.

After a while, Xiao Cong came down. “Boss, you called for me?”

Yu Qingze saw Xiao Cong coming down. He said, “Xiao Cong, I remember that Lord Luo cannot eat seafood, and clams are from the sea. Please go and confirm with the customers.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Cong replied, “Boss, Jiabao already told me about this. I confirmed it when they placed the order. It’s for Madam Luo and his two children, not for Lord Luo.”

“Is that so? Very well, both you and Jiabao did a good job. Remember this incident and in the future, if Lord Luo comes, make sure to keep this in mind. We must never let him consume seafood,” Yu Qingze said, surprised by the attention to detail from Jiabao and Xiao Cong. He felt pleased with them.

Receiving praise from the boss, Xiao Cong smiled and nodded, saying, “Okay, I’ll remember. I’ll also inform Brother Qing.” Brother Qing, like Xiao Cong, was responsible for the second floor.

“Good, tomorrow morning I’ll emphasize it again to everyone. Now, go and attend to your tasks,” Yu Qingze said.

“Yes,” Xiao Cong replied and went back to work.

After Xiao Cong left, Xiao Shu came in to serve the dishes. Yu Qingze took the opportunity to ask about the situation outside.

Xiao Shu smiled and answered, “It’s going well. The customers are praising the food, but some of those who haven’t received their dishes yet are getting impatient. There was a little boy who had three bowls of rice and still wanted more, but his father didn’t allow it. The boy started crying, and it took some effort to calm him down. I was worried he might overeat and have problems.”

The people in the kitchen all laughed when they heard that. Da Song, who was chopping vegetables, chuckled and said, “The first time I ate the boss’s food, I couldn’t stop, let alone kids.”

Qiu Shu, busy tending to the fire, teasingly remarked to Da Song, “You little rascal, eating me out of house and home. When you were fourteen or fifteen, your father used to say that all the family’s food was consumed by you.”

Everyone laughed.

Xiao Shu picked up a freshly cooked stew and said, “That’s right, he even sneaked into his family’s field to dig up sweet potatoes to munch on. His mother scolded him for a good while when she found out.”

Da Song jokingly scolded, “Xiao Shu, you’re no better than me. Weren’t you digging them up with me? You were so smart, only digging up mine. You didn’t think of taking me to dig up yours!”

“If I took you to dig up mine, wouldn’t it be my mother scolding me?” Xiao Shu replied, then carried the dishes out.

Everyone burst into laughter once again. Yu Qingze and Chang Le couldn’t help but laugh when they heard the banter.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

It wasn’t until the second half of the hour of Wei (1 p.m. to 3 p.m.) that the number of customers in Yu’s House of Prosperity restaurant began to decrease, and everyone finally got a little rest.

Yu Qingze gathered everyone for a small meeting to hear about the issues they encountered during lunchtime.

This was an old tradition in snack shops. Xiao Shu, Brother Qing, and Xiao Hai were already accustomed to it and took the lead in sharing their experiences. Upon hearing this, the others also began to speak up.

The main issue they faced was how to handle various customer requests. Currently, they were not able to handle them flexibly, and this was where the difference between experienced and inexperienced staff became apparent.

Although Xiao Shu, Brother Qing, and Xiao Hai had some experience dealing with customers in the snack shop, the operating model there was different. Customers would order and receive their items directly, making it simple. So, when it came to serving tables in the restaurant, they were still relatively new to it. However, their frequent interactions with customers in the snack shop made them less prone to nervousness when facing customers in the restaurant.

On the other hand, experienced staff like Xiao Cong, Da Hui, and Da Lin were more adept at handling such situations, and thus encountered fewer problems.

Yu Qingze asked them to share their methods and demonstrated them to the others.

Xiao Cong generously explained how he would respond to customers, and Da Lin also shared a few sentences. Da Hui touched his head and said, “It’s probably similar to what Xiao Cong and Da Lin said.”

Xiao Shu and the others listened and gained some experience, which made the dinner rush much smoother.

At the end of the first day of business, everyone cleaned up the restaurant and left. Xiao Cong and the others went home, and the employees from the village went back to their rented houses to wash up and sleep. Jiabao also went with them to stay overnight.

The restaurant had only two rooms. Yu Qingze and Chang Le stayed in one, while the other room was used to store many ingredients, which had an unpleasant smell. So, Yu Qingze let Jiabao stay there as well.

On the second day of opening, Grandpa Chang came over to fetch water and brought a small basket of potatoes for them.

“Aze, these potatoes were this big nearly half a month ago, and now they’re still about the same size. It seems like they’re not growing anymore, and the leaves are starting to turn yellow,” Grandpa Chang frowned as he held a potato and spoke to Yu Qingze.

Yu Qingze took one and examined it. It seemed smaller than when Da He brought them back from the river. He recalled that in his previous life, potatoes were mostly harvested in winter and spring. He said, “It might be because the temperature was too high before. Should we dig them up if the leaves are turning yellow?”

Grandpa Chang nodded. “Yes, we should dig them up, or else they’ll spoil. Look at this one. It was eaten by insects. I checked, and some of them are not covered by mud, and the skin has turned green.”

“Yes, potatoes that are exposed to the ground tend to turn green. Grandpa, let’s dig them all up. We can plant them again in a couple of months,” Yu Qingze said.

Grandpa Chang replied, “Alright.”

During lunch that day, Yu Qingze made the potatoes into a spicy and sour shredded potato dish for everyone to taste.

Another day passed, and Grandpa Chang dug up all the potatoes. He came to the city again and said, “There are three baskets in total. I’ve stored them in the empty room to keep them cool. In a few days, it will be time for harvesting. You won’t go back, will you?”

With the restaurant just opening and business doing well, it wasn’t feasible for them to go back home.

“We’ll go back. If we don’t, how will you manage everything on your own?” Yu Qingze replied.

Grandpa Chang said, “We can hire help for the harvest. Besides, there’s no need for us to plant rice seedlings anymore. A delay of a couple of days won’t make much difference. The restaurant is doing great, and the money we earn in two or three days exceeds the value of all the grain.”

Yu Qingze pondered for a moment and said, “Then could you go and ask the village chief for help? I also need to ask the other staff in the restaurant. If most of them want to go back for the harvest, the restaurant won’t be able to handle the workload.”

There were already around twenty employees from the village helping out at the snack shop and the restaurant, with nearly half of the households in the village providing labor to Yu Qingze.

Taking advantage of the absence of customers, Yu Qingze asked them. Three of the employees were planning to go back, and two others had younger siblings who couldn’t help much, so they also needed to return home. The rest of the employees were undecided.

Out of the five who planned to leave, one was responsible for cooking, and the other two were in charge of vegetable preparation. Without them in the kitchen, it would be overwhelming for the remaining staff. Yu Qingze decided to close the restaurant for four days during the harvest.

By the second day of opening, Yu’s House of Prosperity’s reputation had already spread.

Initially, Yu’s Delicious Delights’ reputation in Tongshan City was already quite prominent, and now with another restaurant, Yu’s brand had become synonymous with gourmet food in Tongshan City.

The restaurant’s business was thriving day by day, and the number of customers kept increasing. Sometimes people had to wait for twenty to thirty minutes, or even half an hour, to get a table.

Yu Qingze hurriedly ordered a batch of chairs to be placed under the eaves outside for waiting customers. He also prepared small wooden cards for Jiabao to distribute according to the order of arrival, to avoid any confusion or disputes.

On September 23rd, Yu’s House of Prosperity closed for four days for the autumn harvest.

Some customers who specifically came to eat saw the closure notice and shook their heads with regret. Yu’s restaurant was great in every aspect, except for the fact that they had to close for a few days during the summer and autumn harvests. However, these loyal customers had become accustomed to it and were willing to wait.

During lunchtime, Luo Mingda returned from the county government office. When he looked at the dishes on the table, he felt that something was amiss. The appearance and aroma of the food seemed off.

“Why isn’t it the food from Yu’s today?” he asked in a harsh and unhappy tone.

Madam Luo served him a bowl of rice and replied, “Yu’s House of Prosperity has closed for four days for the harvest.”

“What? Closed again? And for four days?” Luo Mingda frowned. “What about the snack shop?”

“That’s closed for four days as well,” Madam Luo answered.

Luo Mingda: …

He frowned and sat down, taking the rice from Madam Luo’s hand. He looked at the dishes made by their own cook on the table and hesitated to pick up the chopsticks placed in front of him.

“Don’t you like it?” Madam Luo asked, observing his expression.

Luo Mingda shook his head and finally picked up the chopsticks. He leisurely picked up a piece of twice-cooked pork.

This dish of twice-cooked pork was made by their cook imitating the one from Yu’s House of Prosperity. It looked somewhat similar, but the taste was miles apart.

It had a greasy flavor that made his mouth feel oily.

Luo Mingda didn’t like fatty meat; it was too greasy. He had enjoyed the dish at Yu’s House of Prosperity before because it wasn’t greasy, but now…

He furrowed his brow instantly, struggling to swallow it down. He quickly took a sip of tea to alleviate the sensation.

Seeing his reaction, Madam Luo said, “Why don’t you eat some vegetables?” He picked up a piece of greens and placed it in Luo Mingda’s bowl.

Luo Mingda looked at the greens in his bowl with a bitter expression and forced himself to eat them. Why did the dishes prepared by their own cook taste so awful after eating at Yu’s for the past few days?!

“… There’s still a bit of leftover spicy chicken giblets from Yu’s last night. Should I heat it up for you?” Unable to bear seeing him suffer while eating, Madam Luo suggested.

Luo Mingda quickly nodded and said, “Yes, please, hurry.”

“Leftovers?” Madam Luo reminded him. Luo Mingda had always been brought up in a privileged manner and never ate leftovers. Every meal had to be freshly prepared. Even during the years of war, when his family wasn’t heavily affected, he never had to eat leftovers. They might have had simpler meals, but everything was freshly cooked.

Hearing this, Luo Mingda furrowed his brow and looked at the dishes on the table, then turned to his wife with a pitiful expression.

“… Alright, let’s wait. I’ll ask Ming Shu to heat it up,” Madam Luo said, walking to the door to instruct the servant.

Luo Mingda quickly nodded, set down his chopsticks, and waited.

“Wife, is there any of that eggplant casserole from yesterday left?” Luo Mingda asked.

A little boy of four or five years old next to Madam Luo replied, “Father, it’s all gone. I ate it this morning.”

Luo Mingda: “…Oh.”

The next day, as soon as Luo Mingda sat down at the county yamen, he saw the governor, Lord Cai, accompanied by his aides and two attendants, coming in.

“Lord Cai? How come you have time to come down?” Luo Mingda stood up to greet him.

Lord Cai smiled and said, “Good news. Change into lighter clothes and call the deputy county magistrate. We’re going to visit the villages nearby.”

Luo Mingda asked, “Ah? Go to the villages?”

Lord Cai replied, “Yes, to see the autumn harvest situation. Hurry up!”

Luo Mingda: “…Oh.”

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