novelGrand Opening
| ← Ch.087 | Ch.089 → |
The food in the dining hall was rather stuffy, but the flavor was very ordinary. Huo Sirui, Qu Zongwen and Bu Qingyun were not used to it, but the dishes Qin Mian sent over were delicious, which made it obvious that it was much better than the ones in the Academy. Zhao Tianhe and Wang Shangwen's situation could only be considered average. They could only buy good dishes three or four times a month. This led to the current scene. Lei Daqiang and Madam Du had given Lei Xiangzhi quite a bit of energy every month, but he was a thrifty person himself, so he rarely bought meat dishes.
"The new restaurant must be very busy, how can Big Bro and Big Sis have the time to come visit me?" Lei Xiangzhi asked. He had already been in the Academy for two months, and this was the first time Qin Mian and Lei Tia had come to see him.
Qin Mian said: "Today, other than you, there is another matter that we came to see that requires your help regarding the restaurant. We'll talk about it later."
Just as they started chatting, Qu Zongwen and the others brought a bowl of rice over. The passing students looked at them curiously.
Qin Mian and Lei Tia stood up to give their seats to them, but Qu Zongwen and the others quickly refused.
"How can I accept this?"
Qin Mian laughed unconcernedly, "Don't be embarrassed to eat while sitting down. Tia and I have something we need to trouble you with later."
"May I ask what is the matter? You two are Xiangzhi's older brother and sister-in-law, and are also our older brother and sister-in-law." The person who spoke was a stranger.
Lei Xiangzhi introduced him: "Big Brother, Big Sis, this is my new good friend, Huo Sirui. He is the one who will be ranked first in this year's Palace Examinations."
Huo Sirui and Lei Xiangzhi were around the same age, and even though he had the temperament of a famous clan's young master, he did not have the slightest bit of arrogance nor was he courteous, "Greetings, Big Brother Lei, sister-in-law Lei."
Qin Mian nodded, "Young Noble Huo, it is my pleasure to meet you. You guys eat first, we'll talk after that."
Everyone looked at each other, "This... Wouldn't I have to trouble you two to wait a long time? "
Finally, it was Lei Xiangzhi who spoke out. The few of them did not reject him anymore and sat down to eat.
"There's cherry sauce in here. It can't be left for long." Qin Mian passed the bamboo cup to Lei Xiangzhi.
Taking advantage of the fact that they were still eating, Qin Mian and Lei Tia strolled around the area. They did not walk too far, and after a while, Lei Xiangzhi and the others finished their meal. The plates were also put away in the food box.
Lei Xiangzhi and Bu Qingyun stood up and gave their seats to Qin Mian and Lei Tia.
Qin Mian took out a folded piece of paper from his sleeve, "It's like this. Our family's new restaurant, Shuangzhuan Restaurant, is open for business. It just so happens that the Clear Cloud Academy is on the thirtieth and the thirty-first. We plan to take this opportunity to hold a small talent competition in Shuangzhuan Restaurant, where we will compete in poetry and calligraphy. The top three of each competition were awarded 10 taels of silver, 5 taels of silver, and 2 taels of silver, respectively. Firstly, to advertise our restaurant; and secondly, to create a self-reliant opportunity for some talented students whose families were rather difficult to deal with. We will also hang outstanding poems and paintings in the restaurant to help you make a name for yourselves."
Huo Sirui clapped his hands and praised, "This is a good idea. Maybe I can persuade my father to judge."
Qin Mian asked, "May I know who your father is?"
Bu Qingyun quickly replied, "Sirui's father is the Principal of our academy."
Qin Mian declined to comment, "I would naturally be honored to be able to invite President Huo. However, in the end, the original intention of this competition was to attract customers, and it was still more or less tainted with the air of philistinism; I'm afraid it would be difficult for it to enter your esteemed father's eyes."
Huo Sirui shook his head and laughed: "Sister-in-law Lei must have thought that my father was a man of Confucianism, of high status, or maybe even... Heh heh, a pedantic and old-fashioned person is actually not the case. I'm sure my father will be interested."
Qin Mian happily said: "If we can truly invite your father here, this year, every single fruit from our family's orchard will be sent to your father for ten kilograms."
Lei Xiangzhi smiled and said to Huo Sirui: "Just now, you have also tasted a cherry, wasn't it? All the fruits in my big brother's house are excellent, plump and sweet."
"Alright, it's a deal." Huo Sirui said confidently.
Qin Mian continued, "In addition, all of the students participating in the competition can have a free meal in this restaurant."
Wang Shangwen was surprised, "This way, your restaurant will lose a lot of money."
Qin Mian smiled slightly, "I'm not done speaking yet. In order to prevent anyone from wanting to come in and eat and drink, and even impersonate a student, only those scholars who can produce a poem on the spot can participate in the competition, and will have the opportunity to eat and drink for free."
Lei Xiangzhi and Qu Zongwen both nodded slightly.
Huo Sirui looked at Qin Mian and Lei Tia in admiration, not knowing which one of them thought of this method.
"The details are in this flyer." Qin Mian passed the flyer to Lei Xiangzhi, "We want to trouble Fifth Brother and everyone else to help us with this matter. If any of you are interested, you can also come and participate. If I remember correctly, the college entrance exam was held in October. This match will also help to warm up everyone, won't it? "
Lei Xiangzhi nodded: "Indeed."Sister-in-law, let us handle this."
Qin Mian took out another piece of paper, "This is the restaurant's menu, I also welcome everyone to bring your relatives and friends to di er.
When Qu Zongwen and the others saw that there were many names of dishes on the menu that they had never heard of before, they started to salivate secretly.
Qin Mian stood up, "Your class' time is almost up, right? I won't bother you in your studies anymore. Tia and I have to go somewhere else to distribute leaflets."Goodbye."
"Please."
Qin Mian and Lei Tia left the academy with Little White in tow. They did not personally issue out the promotional pamphlets, but rather found four cleverly-looking children around twelve years old who were playing at the mouth of the alleyway. They divided the two hundred pamphlets between the four of them, and asked them to send it to the owners or waiters of the shops by the side. He would first pay them a deposit of ten coins. After the promotions were done, he would give each of them forty coins.
The person who received the flyer curiously looked at the flyer. On it, other than the brief introduction of the Shuangzhuan Restaurant Restaurant and the i
, the specialties, the preferential event, talent competition, and other similar contents, there was also a line of eye-catching and warm reminder: Shuangzhuan Restaurant and the tasty dishes belong to the same family. With just that one sentence, those who knew that the restaurant was filled with food would be able to conclude that the taste of Shuangzhuan Restaurant's food would not be bad.
Returning from the county, after going through Flowing Water Town, Qin Mian bought six large vats and sent them back.
After returning home, he and Lei Tia invited four nimble young men and four clever women to work in the orchard. The men climbed the word ladder to pick cherries, and the women washed the cherries and removed their cores. It is not difficult to remove the nucleus, you can use chopsticks to poke.
There were a total of six cherry trees, he had picked three for the time being. When Qin Mian paid the villagers, he gave each of them half a jin of cherries.
Qin Mian and Lei Tia used the cherries they had picked to soak in three large vats of cherry wine and squeezed half a vat of cherry juice. Qin Mian made the remaining cherries sauce and filled it with two basins, saving them for the Shuangzhuan Restaurant competition.
After it got dark, Qin Mian moved the vats over to the space to keep it fresh.
May 30th, the opening day.
When the auspicious hour arrived, firecrackers crackled loudly. Qin Mian and Lei Tia removed the red cloth on the plaque, revealing the words "Shuangzhuan Restaurant" in golden letters.
Guests swarmed over to the door, and a few dressed in scholar's robes who did not seem like scholars shouted, "I want to participate!"
Lei Xiangzhi blocked the way and smiled: "Sure. However, please write a poem with the title of 'Spring'. The qualified contestant will be awarded a small red flower. The contestant will be eligible to participate in the competition and will also enjoy the free treatment of eating and drinking. This little one is untalented, and is the second place candidate for this year's examinations."
As soon as the last sentence came out, some of the people who wanted to sneak in to cheat in the name of the tournament immediately gave up on that idea and disappeared into the crowd in shame. It was not easy to fool someone who was ranked second. If there was someone who was unwilling to accept this, they could only dig their own money out of it.
True scholars lined up to write poems.
Dressed in a uniform and neatly tidied up, the waiters were busy leading the other customers in.
"Esteemed guest, would you like to eat or live in a restaurant?"
"Eat."
"Alright, please take a seat inside." The waiter had a warm and decent smile on his face, "Would you like to sit in the lively lobby, the elegant room on the second floor, or the cozy private room on the third floor?"
"Let's just take a seat in the main hall. It's quite lively."
"Okay, this way, please. Customer, this is our restaurant's menu, and the price is clearly marked. What would you like to eat? Sweet, salty, sour, spicy, and always with your taste. If you don't want to look at the menu, I can also give you the menu name. Three days before the opening, when you eat in our restaurant, not only can you get a 20% discount, you can also give me a plate of cherry paste snacks."
"You do have a lot of dishes here."How about this, I have no qualms about it. Just watch as I order three meat dishes and one vegetable soup."
"Alright, I'll serve you some dishes right away." Have some tea first and try our cherry jam snacks, which are unique to the whole county."
"..."
"Dear guest, would you like to have a meal or stay in the restaurant?"
"Residence."
"Okay, please come with me. There were three kinds of guest rooms, one for each room, one for each room, one for each room, clean and tidy, complete with furniture, and a private space for each room. There was also a private room with a VIP suite, which was spacious and comfortable, as well as all kinds of interesting entertainment tools, and it was perfect for staying with family and friends. This is the price list. Three days before the opening, they were all sold at a discount of seventy percent. If you can't decide, I can show you the guest room first."
"..."
Within the great hall, more and more guests arrived.
The gate to Shuangzhuan Restaurant was the most bustling place. The big door was about two meters wide. Lei Xiangzhi was on the left to inspect the students participating in the competition while Qin Mian and Lei Tia were on the right to welcome the guests that had come to eat and sleep here.
Qu Zongwen jumped down from the carriage, and walked over to Lei Xiangzhi's side with quick steps, "Let me help you."
"Thank you, Brother Qu." Lei Xiangzhi said gratefully.
With Qu Zongwen's help, the Scholars divided into two teams, and the group started moving much faster.
A scholar fluently chanted, "The grass tree knows spring and returns soon. It is all red and purple in color."The poplar and elm pods have no talent, but the sky is filled with snow.
"Good poem!" Lei Xiangzhi sighed and nodded, then handed a red flower to him, "Senior, please come in."
It was very lively here; over there, Qin Mian smiled as he welcomed the guests. He brought along the four guards and stood a few steps away, on guard against the pickpockets who might cause trouble.
Suddenly, someone shouted, "Zhaoyang County Drunken Immortal Tavern's Boss Nie wishes to congratulate Yi???? Gain wealth and enter the evergreen tree eight pots, and make eight vats of fine aged wine!"
Qin Mian raised his head and saw that the person who had alighted from the luxurious carriage was indeed Nie Heng. Dressed in a green robe, with a graceful bearing, he slowly walked over, "Boss Lei, Boss Qin, congratulations on opening the carriage!"
didn't think it was strange that Nie Heng would come to a restaurant as he didn't know how to cook food. Didn't they say that one's peers are enemies?
"Many thanks, Boss Nie." Thanks to Boss Nie's patronage, he hoped that he could eat to his heart's content. Tia, accompany Boss Nie inside." Qin Mian was worried about leaving the welcoming party to Lei Tia alone.
Lei Tia nodded towards Nie Heng, "Boss Nie, this way please."
On the other side, there was someone taking care of the carriage.
The waiter respectfully asked, "Excuse me, Boss Nie, do you want to eat or live in a restaurant?"
Nie Heng laughed: "I'll stay for the night."
Lei Tia's eyes flashed.
The waitress asked again, "I wonder if Boss Nie lives in a luxury suite on the second floor or a VIP room on the third floor?"
Nie Heng said without hesitation: "Esteemed guest room."
"Yes, this lowly one will go and check you in right now."
Outside, Qin Mian continued to welcome guests as he smiled bitterly.
| ← Ch. 087 | Ch. 089 → |