Chapter 410: A Big Client Comes Calling

Chapter 410: Chapter 410: A Big Client Comes Calling

On the day of the cooking competition, East Street was impossibly crowded with spectators. A young apprentice from Quanju Xuan, the one responsible for buying groceries, couldn’t contain his curiosity and slipped out to take a look.

He returned, still shocked and excited, and gave his manager a vivid account of what he’d seen.

He focused on the new seasonings and casually mentioned how packed Hongfu Restaurant was with customers.

Manager Quan was busy at the time and had no patience for the details.

Quanju Xuan’s head chefs and cooks were already among the best in Yeyang City. ’Why would they need any special seasonings to make the food taste better? What a joke.’

"But..." The young apprentice, remembering the scene, grew worried and anxious. "The response was really good. A lot of people were..."

"And why do you think the response was so good? It was because of the free samples. They can pull off a stunt like that once or twice, at most. They can’t just give food away forever. Are they made of money? Can they afford the loss? Once the freebies stop, just you watch. We’ll see if all those people singing their praises ever set foot in that restaurant again."

Manager Quan had never taken Hongfu Restaurant seriously and refused to believe it could ever pose a threat to Quanju Xuan.

But in the last two days, he had started to feel that something was wrong.

First, there was a sudden drop in customers. It wasn’t drastic, but the daily account books didn’t lie.

Then, customers began to complain that the dishes weren’t spicy or fragrant enough. The more short-tempered patrons just called the food bland and tasteless outright.

It was no different from being cursed to his face.

Manager Quan was seething, but he couldn’t lash out in anger.

At first, he thought Liuxian Building was up to some new tricks or had come out with a new dish.

He had an apprentice discreetly investigate, only to discover that business at Liuxian Building had also seen a significant downturn these past few days.

’If it wasn’t Liuxian Building, then who else in the city had the ability to poach customers from Quanju Xuan?’

The answer was soon revealed.

And, in a real slap to the face, it turned out to be none other than Hongfu Restaurant!

As he watched Hongfu Restaurant’s clientele grow day by day, Manager Quan grew increasingly restless. But what truly made him unable to sit still was the move made by Liuxian Building—that old scoundrel with the surname Liu had actually walked through the doors of Ji’s Flavor Industry!

It was almost noon. Only Xu Laifu was in the front of the shop. Ji Huan was cooking in the back kitchen, Zhou was tending the stove, and Guan Shan was in the inner courtyard, supervising Dabao’s homework.

It was at this exact moment that Manager Liu arrived.

Xu Laifu was both surprised and delighted. He greeted Manager Liu with warm hospitality, showed him to a seat, and then called out for Zhou to bring tea.

Zhou took the teapot to the front of the shop and returned a few moments later.

"Ma’am, someone from Liuxian Building is here."

Ji Huan nodded and continued stir-frying her dish.

Seeing that she was unperturbed, Zhou obediently sat back down to tend the fire.

Ji Huan was making a dish called Silken Pork. It was essentially a meat patty, but the preparation was somewhat complex.

First, she took some pork shoulder—eight parts fat to two parts lean—removed the skin, and minced it. She then beat three eggs, mixing the yolks and whites thoroughly, before adding them to the meat and mincing everything together again.

She added half a cup of soy sauce and a pinch of minced scallions, stirring it all into a paste. Then, she wrapped the filling in a sheet of pork caul fat and poured four taels of vegetable oil into a wok.

She pan-fried the patty on both sides, then removed it from the wok and drained the oil. Next, she added a teacup of good wine and half a wine cup of soy sauce, returning the patty to the wok to braise until cooked through.

Once she was sure both sides were thoroughly saturated with the sauce, she removed the meat, sliced it, and arranged it neatly on a platter.

She then added side ingredients like shiitake mushrooms and diced bamboo shoots to the remaining broth in the wok, cooking them through. She scooped them out, placed them in the center of the platter, and drizzled the rest of the broth over the sliced pork. And with that, the dish was complete.

Next, she prepared a dish of pork belly stewed with wide glass noodles.

She seared the pork belly until it was caramelized and fragrant, then added a spicy bean paste. After stir-frying to render the fat, she added water, scattered in the noodles, and let it all simmer over low heat.

These noodles were different from what she was used to. The locals called them *xianfen*; they were flat, somewhat round, and a dull gray color. But as they slowly soaked up the meaty broth, they became translucent and sparkling. One bite revealed a texture that was perfectly soft, yet delightfully springy.

The pot bubbled for a long time. When Ji Huan estimated it was about done, she lifted the lid, and a fragrant steam billowed out, rushing to escape.

Out front, Xu Laifu had been chatting with Manager Liu for a while, but they kept beating around the bush.

Manager Liu remained perfectly composed, asking about each of the seasonings for sale, though he didn’t seem interested in buying any.

Still, people don’t make house calls for no reason, so Xu Laifu suppressed his impatience and continued to humor him with small talk.

In truth, Manager Liu was also suffering. The lingering aroma from the first dish had already made his stomach rumble, and now a second wave of fragrance washed over him... He had already downed two cups of tea to distract himself.

It wasn’t just him; even pedestrians passing by the entrance were craning their necks, looking around as if trying to locate the source of the incredible smell.

"This aroma..." Manager Liu set down his teacup. "Is this the work of a new head chef you’ve hired?"

Xu Laifu cleared his throat. "That’s our proprietor."

Manager Liu was quite surprised, and his curiosity about the female proprietor deepened.

’But it seems I’ve come at an inopportune time. I didn’t realize they ate so early... It smells wonderful, of course, but staying any longer would be awkward. It would look like I came specifically to get a free meal.’

After a moment of internal debate, Manager Liu stood up, ready to take his leave, just as Ji Huan emerged carrying a tray.

"Manager Liu, if you don’t mind, please stay for a simple meal. We can discuss whatever is on your mind over lunch."

Unable to refuse her hospitality, Manager Liu accepted the offer and sat back down.

There were five dishes and one soup. In addition to the Silken Pork and the Pork Belly with Wide Glass Noodles, there was sweet and sour fish and sweet and sour pork ribs. The only vegetable dish was a plate of stir-fried napa cabbage with vinegar.

It wasn’t an extravagant feast, and nothing seemed to have been specially prepared for him, yet the longer Manager Liu looked, the more astonished he became.

After everyone had washed their hands and sat down, Ji Huan gestured to the table. "It’s just some simple, home-style fare, Manager Liu. Please, help yourself."

"Then I won’t stand on ceremony," Liu said.

Manager Liu picked up his chopsticks, momentarily unsure of where to even begin.

His chopsticks hovered over the spread before finally settling on the plate of Silken Pork.

He had barely taken two bites when he couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

"You’ve added egg to the filling, haven’t you? The flavor is savory and incredibly rich. The meat isn’t tough or dry, the mushrooms are tender, and the diced bamboo shoots are crisp. Exquisite! Simply exquisite! And this outer wrapping is especially fragrant. I don’t suppose..."

Ji Huan smiled. "Pork caul fat."

After his initial surprise, Manager Liu asked, "It doesn’t seem to be made entirely of caul fat, though."

"That’s right. Half of it is tofu skin."

Although pork caul fat is fragrant, it’s also extremely high in fat, so it’s best eaten in moderation.

"Since you’re so curious, Manager Liu, why don’t you guess whether or not I added any salt."

Manager Liu burst out laughing.

"I may be getting on in years, but my tongue hasn’t failed me yet. I can certainly tell whether a dish has salt in it or not."

"And yet, this dish was made without a single grain of salt."

"Truly?" Manager Liu was astonished.

Ji Huan pointed to the nearby vats of sauce and vinegar. "The entire dish was seasoned using our own home-brewed soy sauce."

"So that’s how it is..." Manager Liu nodded, looking thoughtful.

While the two of them were talking, the others had already started eating.

Guan Shan and Dabao were composed enough, still eating in their usual unhurried manner. Xu Laifu and Zhou, on the other hand, had each piled their bowls high with the glass noodles and were devouring them with gusto.

Seeing this, Manager Liu couldn’t resist trying the noodles himself.

The noodles, saturated with the rich broth, were plump and translucent. As they slid into his mouth, the fragrance shamelessly assaulted his senses. Combined with the perfectly soft and chewy texture, the experience was simply sublime!

Next, he tried the sweet and sour pork ribs and the sweet and sour fish.

Ji Huan could tell that he seemed even more pleased with these latter two dishes.

When the meal was over, the table was cleared and tea was served.

No longer wasting time beating around the bush, they got straight to business.