The next day, Su Tian and Su Dashu went to see Liu Er on time. Just as Su Tian had guessed, renting the shop included the tables and chairs.
Liu Er said cheerfully, “The landlord gave me some face. If you rent it, I can reduce one tael from the three-month rent.”
Su Tian beamed. “Thank you so much, Uncle Liu.” She tugged at Su Dashu’s sleeve. “Grandpa, let’s settle it then. Uncle Liu, please take us to sign the contract.”
Holding the contract, Su Dashu felt his heart bleed at the thought of spending five taels at once. In all these years, the family’s annual income had only been seven or eight taels.
Su Tian didn’t give him time to regret it. She immediately dragged him off to purchase supplies.
Now that they had their own shop, she practically skipped as she walked. There was still so much to arrange: a restaurant signboard, printed menus, sourcing ingredients and firewood, booking lion dancers, flower arrangements, and firecrackers for the opening… It was endless. By the end of the trip, nearly another two taels had been spent.
After running around all day, Su Tian and Su Dashu returned home exhausted.
After dinner, the Su family gathered to discuss who would move to help at the restaurant, since the backyard couldn’t accommodate everyone.
“My leg still isn’t convenient for walking,” Su Wanhai spoke first. “Chunmiao can stay home with me. Wenzu is young and strong, so he can help a lot. Let him go.”
Zheng Chunmiao agreed to her husband’s suggestion.
“For our branch,” Su Wanhe said, pulling Wu Fen along, “let your Second Aunt go help. She has worked at the stall before and can assist in the kitchen. The two younger ones at home won’t be of much help anyway.”
Su Tian nodded. “Then tomorrow, the few of us will go clean and tidy up the restaurant. The items Grandpa and I ordered should be ready in about three days. We have three days to prepare. Grandpa and Grandma are older, so don’t trouble yourselves going back and forth. Please help watch the children at home.”
Zhang Guihua readily agreed.
Three days passed by quickly. The restaurant was completely renovated.
Su Tian brought over their homemade soybean paste and soy sauce in small jars. They had started preparing them when they first began selling soy milk. It had been about twenty days now. The soybean paste was nearly ready, but the soy sauce would need at least four months.
“In two days our business will open. Let’s divide everyone’s tasks.” Su Tian said as she clapped her hands.
“Second Aunt and Mother will help me in the kitchen. Father and Big Brother will serve dishes and handle accounts in the front hall.”
Back when the family was better off, the men of the Su family had at least learned basic literacy.
“The kitchen is busiest in the morning when prepping. After that, Second Aunt and Mother can help in the hall too. We will adjust after the opening, if needed.”
No one objected to Su Tian’s arrangement.
Su Wanqing and Su Wenzu went to fetch the finished signboard and menu. Under Su Tian’s direction, they hung the sign above the door.
The name was simple: Su Family Restaurant.[1]The term “Ji” (记) is commonly used in traditional Chinese shop names to denote a family-owned or established business. “Su Ji Restaurant” (苏记) refers to a restaurant run under the Su … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2048189_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2048189_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
A row of nails was hammered into the wall to hang the menu to make it easy to replace whenever new dishes were added.
They had long since consulted with a fortune-teller for the auspicious opening date for the restaurant. Tomorrow would be the grand opening of the Su Family Restaurant. After carefully inspecting every corner of the restaurant to ensure that nothing had been overlooked, they secured the doors and settled in the courtyard to rest. It was destined to be a sleepless night.
Before dawn the next morning, the Su family was already awake. Su Tian, Su Wenzu, and Wu Fen went to collect the vegetables they had ordered. Su Wanqing and his wife arranged the delivered flower baskets and firecrackers.
After returning with the produce, Li Hongyue and Wu Fen rushed into the kitchen to prepare. Su Tian followed them to instruct on the prep work.
By late morning, the lion dance troupe arrived at the restaurant. Su Wenzu lit the firecrackers. The crackling explosions filled the air as the lions began their performance.
Hearing the noise, people gathered nearby. “Su Family Restaurant? Oh, a new place opened here,” someone read aloud.
Instantly, a crowd formed in front of their restaurant.
Su Tian cleared her throat. “Honored guests, our shop opens today. Please show your support! All dishes are 20 percent off today!”
“Isn’t this the young lady who used to sell tofu pudding?” someone recognized her. “Her tofu pudding was excellent! The dishes must be good too!”
Su Tian smiled. “Please come inside.”
Soon, the restaurant was full of customers.
“Miss, I’ve never seen these dishes before,” a table of four near the door said, staring at the menu.
“For four people, three dishes and one soup will be enough.”
“Alright! We’ll take Garlic Pork Slices, Spicy Shrimp, Fish-Flavored Eggplant, and Seven-Star Fish Ball Soup!”
Su Tian nodded with a smile and then headed to the kitchen.
Garlic pork had been prepped earlier. Wu Fen sliced and plated it, drizzled the sauce, and passed it out. The shrimp had also been cleaned in advance.
Su Tian deboned a fish and minced the meat. She fried the shrimp until golden, sautéed garlic, ginger, and diced chilies, then tossed the shrimp with salt and pepper.
She cleaned the wok thoroughly before making the soup. The fish paste was mixed with starch, wine, and salt, beaten until elastic. As water boiled, she squeezed fish balls into the pot one by one. Egg strips were added at the end.
At the same time, the eggplant was fried, then stir-fried with minced meat, chili, aromatics, and her homemade soybean paste until thick and glossy.
“Big Brother,” she called out to Su Wenzu as she placed two dishes at the window. He then hurried over to serve them.
All the dishes took less than about fifteen minutes in total.
“Wow, this spicy shrimp is so appetizing! I’ve only ever had boiled shrimp before, always a fishy taste. This one has none!”
“Try this garlic pork—fat but not greasy!”
A man nicknamed Brother Zhao let out a deep sigh after tasting everything. “Good thing we came in, or we would have regretted missing this,” he said, with a satisfied smile.
They stayed busy until nearly the third hour of the afternoon, finally seeing off the last guests.
Su Wenzu collapsed into a chair. “Sis, it’s only the first day and I’m exhausted.”
The dining hall was more tiring than the kitchen with tasks like serving, taking orders, and settling accounts.
“Let’s stop for today,” Su Tian suggested. “We’ve nearly used up this morning’s ingredients anyway.”
Everyone agreed to close early.
Su Wanqing counted the money from today’s sale. “Three thousand two hundred fifty-three wen!”
“Wait,” Su Tian said, taking out her notebook. “Ingredients cost nine hundred forty-five wen. That means our net profit is… two thousand three hundred and eight wen in total.”
“That’s over two taels! And we only did lunch!” Li Hongyue beamed.
“Once I build up stamina, we can operate from morning to night!” Su Wenzu declared.
“We’ll add more quick dishes like garlic pork,” Su Tian added. “That’ll save time.”
Half a month passed by in a blink. The restaurant’s reputation spread quickly. Everyday from noon until night, they were constantly busy.
On their scheduled half-month rest day, they closed early and headed back to the village. Su Dashu and the others were waiting at the entrance.
This time, Su Tian rented a donkey cart. The restaurant was earning well so they no longer needed to walk to save money.
From afar she leaned out and waved. “Grandpa! Grandma! We’re back!”
Little Wenchen ran like a cannonball toward the cart. He was lifted up and nestled in Li Hongyue’s arms.
“Did you miss us?” asked Li Hongyue to her son, Wenchen.
“Yes… and Sister too.” Su Tian’s heart melted.
They unloaded bundles of goods from the donkey cart.
Zhang Guihua scolded lightly, “Why bring back so much? You don’t know how to save!” But her smile betrayed her happiness.
Su Tian hugged her. “Grandma, the restaurant’s busy. Father said we should buy cloth for everyone to make new clothes.”
Zhang Guihua’s eyes reddened with emotion.
Zheng Chunmiao inspected Su Wenzu approvingly. “You look more spirited.”
He grinned foolishly.
“Alright, enough standing around. Your grandmother and aunt cooked a lot. Go wash up and eat,” Su Dashu said.
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