Luo Qingqing got up early today and shamelessly pestered the System Lord until she got her kitchen back.
There were still quite a few tiger skin rolls, soft cheese desserts, and milk cakes left, but only one slice of matcha mille crepe cake remained. The two children had been greedy and ate quite a lot yesterday.
So today, she planned to make another matcha mille crepe cake, and she also needed to bake some cookies. After all, she was asking others for help, and having too little to offer would not look good.
For breakfast, she had almond baked milk and sandwiches. Luo Qingqing tried spreading some peach jam on the bread slices, and it had a unique and delightful flavor.
Gu Jing’an and the two children had gone off to school, so she took the jam and pastries with her to Drunken River Pavilion. At noon, Gu Jing’an would bring Yan Mingzhi over for a meal, and they would discuss planting chili peppers at the farm estate.
“Good morning, Manager Li!” When Luo Qingqing arrived, the restaurant was still quiet. It usually only became lively closer to noon, after all, not many people ate hotpot first thing in the morning.
“Madam Gu, you’re here!” Manager Li looked up and greeted her with a smile.
“How has business been?” Luo Qingqing wanted to know how much they had earned. She was eager to buy a house in town soon, so she would not have to keep traveling back and forth.
“Take a look, Madam Gu.” Manager Li smiled so widely his eyes nearly disappeared as he handed her the account book. Back then, the dishes in the restaurant had not been cheap, yet the profits were barely half of what the hotpot now earned. Luo Qingqing called it “small profits, high turnover,” and it truly made sense.
After reading the accounts, Luo Qingqing was stunned. The town’s economy was thriving.
“Manager Li, this is only seven days, and we’ve already made a net profit of two hundred taels? I’m not seeing things, am I?” It was so fast it felt unreal. Could someone pinch her?
“Of course it’s true. From noon until night, the restaurant has been packed without pause. And with the sour plum drink, egg fried rice, and pickled vegetables you introduced last time, we’ve attracted even more customers.” Madam Gu was truly his benefactor, he had to treat her well.
“Madam Gu, are you in urgent need of money?” Since Luo Qingqing had previously mentioned distributing profits at the end of the month, Manager Li could not help but ask, worried she might need funds.
“Yes. My husband and younger siblings have to attend school. It takes them nearly a quarter and a half hour to walk from home to the academy. Normally it’s fine, but in winter, snowy roads make travel difficult, and people become sluggish, so I’m thinking of buying a two-courtyard residence in town.”
Such a good girl, why was she not his daughter-in-law? So considerate and thoughtful.
“I happen to know quite a few people in town. If you trust me, I can help you look. Since the restaurant belongs half to you, if you need money, just take it from the accounts,” Manager Li offered.
That was exactly what Luo Qingqing had been waiting for. She smiled brightly. “Of course I trust you. Thank you in advance, Manager Li.” She was not local, so it would be easy to get cheated when buying property. Manager Li, having been here for years, certainly knew far more than she did.
After settling the matter with him, she went to the kitchen. The daily rent for the restaurant was not cheap, so she could not afford to waste the morning.
When Chef Xu saw Luo Qingqing arrive, his eyes instantly lit up with eager curiosity. “Boss Luo is here!” The pickled peanuts from last time had completely won him over. Simple ingredients, yet after Luo Qingqing’s touch, they became something entirely different.
“Chef Xu, do we have a pastry chef here?”
“Yes, Chef Li. Boss Luo is looking for you.” He called out to a middle-aged man to his right.
Chef Li set down the dish he was holding and walked over.
With a respectful tone, he asked, “Boss Luo, what instructions do you have?”
“I wouldn’t dare give instructions. What kinds of noodles and pastries can you make?”
“Steamed buns, mantou, noodle soup, stewed dough pieces, wide noodles, thin noodles, boiled flatbread…”
That was quite an extensive list.
They called Manager Li over, and after some discussion, decided to serve breakfast items like buns, porridge, and noodles in the mornings, all to be handled by Chef Li.
They settled on three kinds of porridge: century egg and lean pork porridge, eight-treasure porridge, and millet pumpkin porridge.
Five kinds of noodles: sour soup noodles, oil-splashed noodles, dry mixed noodles with minced meat sauce, tomato and egg noodles, and scallion oil noodles.
Four types of bun fillings: braised meat, mushroom chicken, corn carrot vermicelli, and red bean paste.
Luo Qingqing wrote down all the recipes for Chef Li. She had been craving dry mixed noodles with minced meat sauce for a long time, so the two of them worked together, he kneaded and stretched the noodles while she prepared the sauce.
The minced meat sauce used a ratio of about three parts fat to seven parts lean meat. First, the fatty meat was stir-fried to render oil, then the lean meat was added and cooked. Salt, vinegar, light soy sauce, Sichuan pepper, ginger slices, garlic, star anise, bay leaves, and cinnamon were added in sequence. Finally, pre-cooked diced potatoes and carrots were added, and everything was covered and simmered for about fifteen minutes.
The moment it touched her lips, Luo Qingqing felt completely satisfied. Chef Li’s hand-pulled noodles were wonderfully chewy, far better than anything she could make.
“Delicious, so delicious…”
“Our boss really has an incredible mind!”
“Tomorrow morning, the restaurant will definitely be packed from the start.”
Chef Li had made many types of noodles before and even bought recipes from others, but none compared to Luo Qingqing’s. The freshly rolled noodles paired with vibrant green vegetables, topped with two spoonfuls of minced meat sauce, a drizzle of chili oil, and a splash of hot oil, were so delicious one could almost swallow their tongue.
She had made quite a lot of the meat sauce, so Luo Qingqing called everyone over. Since there were no customers yet, she let them all have a taste.
Exchanging a glance with Manager Li, Luo Qingqing spoke, “Starting tomorrow, our restaurant will introduce new dishes. Everyone will be busier than before, but with effort comes reward. Manager Li and I have discussed it, and at the end of each month, everyone will receive an extra hundred coins. At the end of the year, there will also be red envelopes. Let’s all work hard together and make Drunken River Pavilion the number one restaurant in Linyi!”
Her speech stirred everyone with excitement. One hundred coins a month meant over a tael of silver a year, with extra besides, enough to cover more than half a year’s expenses for an ordinary household.
“Thank you, Boss Luo! Thank you, Manager Li! We will definitely work hard!”
“That’s right, we’ll give it our all!”
Everyone hurried to express their loyalty.
Sure enough, no matter the era, people were always eager to bite into a grand promise. Fortunately, she was a good boss.
Manager Li was becoming more and more impressed with Luo Qingqing. Not only did she have countless recipes in her mind, but she also spoke with remarkable persuasion. Even he had almost stood up to shout his own pledge, if not for the accountant pulling him back.
If his future daughter-in-law could be even half as capable as Luo Qingqing, he would be satisfied. Thinking of his disappointing son made him irritated, and tonight he would have to give that boy a couple of kicks to vent his frustration.