When Jiang Yanyi had decided to open the hot pot restaurant, she conducted market research.

In this era, there were few entertainment options.

Dining in a large restaurant while listening to courtesans play music or tell stories was already a form of enjoyment.

Inviting courtesans to sing in her shop might make some female customers feel uncomfortable, potentially driving away business.

Moreover, there were only a few popular songs on the market.

If she invited courtesans to sing, Laifu Antique Soup could surely do the same.

Unless she could find a way to memorize all the song lists and scores from later times and have the courtesans perform them, perhaps she could attract a wave of customers with something novel.

But memorizing lyrics and scores was clearly impossible.

Jiang Yanyi had never mastered music; in her past life, even the famous songs that were popular all over the country, she could barely remember one or two lines.

Her talent had been primarily focused on cooking.

Therefore, she also abandoned the idea of inviting courtesans to perform to attract customers.

Hiring a storyteller, on the other hand, was feasible.

Even if she had a goldfish memory, she had grown up watching those classic old dramas and couldn’t forget their plots, could she?

Jiang Yanyi immediately said, “Once our shop reopens, let’s invite a storyteller to come and perform.”

Qui Kui was startled and suddenly remembered something.

She complained, “Huahua, you still haven’t finished telling me the story of the Yang Family Generals!”

Jiang Yanyi smiled and reassured her, “We’ll have the storyteller come to the shop to tell it.”

Storytellers usually recounted well-known tales, and Jiang Yanyi believed that in her previous world, the Four Great Classics had been passed down for centuries, their charm was self-evident.

She believed these stories would surely appeal to the diners.

When the time came, could Laifu Antique Soup not have a storyteller narrate the same stories as hers?

With a new customer-attraction idea settled, Jiang Yanyi instructed Yang Xiu and Bing Shao to go out and inquire about the storytellers in Xizhou City.

She would provide the stories, and they would need to establish a long-term partnership, otherwise, if Laifu Restaurant came over to poach talent, the storyteller would leave immediately.

Wouldn’t that mean she was just sewing clothes for others?

Jiang Yanyi wanted to find someone who was trustworthy and had decent character, at least someone who wouldn’t do something as unscrupulous as taking her stories, gaining fame, and then immediately turning their back on her.

However, in running a business, the most important thing was still the quality of the dishes.

After thinking for a while, Jiang Yanyi concluded that most diners liked to eat hotpot in autumn and winter mainly because hotpot kept warm and wouldn’t get cold no matter how long you ate.

Laifu Antique Soup’s clear broth hotpot boasted the reputation of having imperial chefs, and the chef’s skills in preparing the broth were strong.

She thought it would be a bit challenging to outdo them, but she could still sell dry pot!

In Jiang Yanyi’s original world, dry pot belonged to Sichuan cuisine among the eight major Chinese cuisines, and spicy ingredients had only started appearing in Sichuan cuisine during the Qing Dynasty.

As a young lady from a minister’s family, she had never eaten something like dry pot, indicating that this world didn’t have it yet.

Instantly, Jiang Yanyi was filled with determination; she didn’t believe that the chefs at Laifu Tavern could learn how to make dry pot in such a short time!

That very day, she drew a rough sketch and ran to the blacksmith shop, asking the blacksmith to make ten small stoves that could be placed on the table.

The stoves had hollow centers for silver charcoal, which would help maintain the heat at the bottom of the pot.

However, since no one in this era had proposed making such small stoves, and Jiang Yanyi was a terrible artist, the blacksmith ended up making four or five stoves that didn’t look like what Jiang Yanyi wanted.

After several failed attempts, the blacksmith grew impatient, causing Jiang Yanyi and Qiu Kui to hold their breath in fear.

Fortunately, after four or five revisions, a small stove was finally successfully made.

Jiang Yanyi picked up the cooled stove, inspecting it from side to side, unable to contain her delight.

She flattered, “Master, your skills are truly impressive. There probably isn’t anyone in all of Xizhou who can match your craftsmanship.”

The blacksmith was a burly man with a dark face, straightforward and hot-tempered.

Hearing Jiang Yanyi’s praise, he showed no visible signs of pleasure and merely replied, “If your sketch had been a bit better, I wouldn’t have wasted so much effort.”

Jiang Yanyi was momentarily at a loss for words: “…”

It seemed that in the blacksmithing trade, customers were not necessarily regarded as gods.

As a terrible artist herself, she felt utterly hopeless…

Qiu Kui, who usually was timid, shot a resentful glare at the blacksmith after hearing him speak to Jiang Yanyi.

Noticing the hostility in Qiu Kui’s gaze, the blacksmith looked over, and Qiu Kui instantly shrank back, appearing as small as a quail, yet still puffing her neck to glare at him, as if all her courage was spent in those fierce eyes.

The blacksmith glanced at Qiu Kui a few times but said nothing more.

When he spoke again, his temper had calmed a bit: “The remaining stoves will be ready in three days. You can come to pick them up then.”

Jiang Yanyi watched him as he worked, knowing that crafting such a seemingly simple little iron stove required considerable effort.

Worried he might skimp on quality out of annoyance, she said, “Master, your skills are excellent. I’ll add five more coins for each stove as a token of appreciation for your hard work.”

After working up a sweat, the blacksmith tugged at his brown linen robe, mindful that Jiang Yanyi and Qiu Kui were women. He impatiently replied, “Once the price is set, it can’t be changed. I need this skill to earn a living; I won’t ruin my reputation. If the stoves delivered in three days are of lesser quality than this one, I won’t pay you for your batch!”

Though the blacksmith’s words were not particularly pleasant, he had a straightforward attitude toward customers, as if saying, “I’m the boss; what can you do about it?”

Jiang Yanyi politely thanked him, paid the deposit, and left with the completed stove alongside Qiu Kui.

Even after they exited the blacksmith shop, Qiu Kui was still shaken, murmuring to Jiang Yanyi, “Hua Hua, that blacksmith is so fierce.”

Jiang Yanyi replied, “He may seem hot-tempered, but I think his character isn’t bad. Sometimes, you can’t judge a person just by their appearance.”

After pondering for a moment, Qiu Kui asked, “So is he a good person?”

This question stumped Jiang Yanyi.

She struggled for an answer: “We’ve only interacted with him for a short time today. It’s hard to definitively judge someone’s character. Human nature is inherently complex. Good people can have dark moments, and bad people can do good deeds. Many things in this world aren’t simply black and white.”

Qiu Kui nodded, seeming to understand a bit.

As they returned after buying the ingredients, they ran into He Xingniang from the jewelry shop, who was leaning against the door and cracking sunflower seeds.

Upon seeing Jiang Yanyi, she immediately put on a mocking face: “Manager Jiang, why hasn’t your Antique Soup shop opened yet? Those who don’t know might think you’re afraid of Laifu Tavern!”

Jiang Yanyi thought to herself, what a gluttonous person He Xingniang was, always looking for trouble.

With a calm demeanor, she replied, “Is your throat feeling better today?”

He Xingniang’s expression instantly darkened.

She spat out the sunflower seed shell from her mouth and said disdainfully, “In a few days, we’ll see how long you can keep being smug. The chef at Laifu Antique Soup is a descendant of imperial cooks. Today, people who went to eat hot pot have all said that the taste of your restaurant’s pot can’t compare to theirs!”

Jiang Yanyi handed some ingredients to Okra, asking her to take them to the kitchen, and replied to He Xingniang, “Whether my restaurant can continue operating is none of your concern, Sister He. Although I’ve heard that your family gets a share from Laifu Restaurant, the Antique Soup branch is separate. I doubt you’ll be able to benefit from their profits, so what’s there to be so pleased about?”

He Xingniang hadn’t expected this quiet little girl to have such sharp words when provoked.

Furious, she put her hands on her hips and said, “I just think your restaurant won’t last, and that makes me happy, doesn’t it?”

Jiang Yanyi smiled and replied, “I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.”

With that, she closed the shop door, leaving He Xingniang with no chance to retort, only able to furiously shout a few curses at the closed door.

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That evening, Jiang Yanyi made a dry pot dish with a mix of pork tenderloin, ribs, and chicken.

Due to the lack of chili and the high price of pepper, she used a large amount of nutmeg as a substitute.

After washing the pork tenderloin and chicken, she marinated them with ginger, scallions, cooking wine, salt, and dark soy sauce.

To enhance tenderness, she wrapped them in a thin layer of starch.

The ribs were a bit more complicated; after marinating to remove the fishy smell, they needed to be blanched.

Jiang Yanyi heated up a generous amount of oil to fry the ribs.

Using the hot oil, she then stir-fried the chicken pieces until they were about 70% cooked before taking them out.

She also fried the pre-cut potato strips until crispy.

If time allowed, she even considered making tofu and preparing some fried tofu strips as side dishes.

The taste of a good dry pot relies heavily on the preparation of the “five-spice oil.”

This oil is made by frying various spices in oil to extract their flavors.

Using this oil to stir-fry ginger and garlic created an exceptional aroma that filled the entire kitchen.

Jiang Yanyi added the prepared green and red Sichuan peppercorns and nutmeg into the pan, stirring until the spicy aroma hit her nostrils.

She then added the marinated pork tenderloin and stir-fried it until 70% cooked, followed by the fried potato skins, lotus root slices, and bean sprouts.

Finally, she layered the previously fried ribs and chicken on top and added water to simmer for a few minutes.

Once all the ingredients were cooked, she transferred them to a small pot, sprinkled on chopped scallions, cilantro, and white sesame seeds, and a fragrant, steaming dry pot dish was ready.

Yang Xiu and Bing Shao returned just in time for dinner.

Jiang Yanyi placed red-hot silver charcoal in the small stove, ready to serve the pot.

As soon as they entered, Yang Xiu exclaimed, “It smells so good!”

Qui Kui jumped in, “Huahua said this will be a new dish once the shop opens!”

Yang Xiu swallowed hard.

Although he was a trusted aide of Chu Changping, he usually didn’t have spare money for lavish meals.

Many dishes he had never even heard of before.

Seeing Jiang Yanyi make a dry pot, he couldn’t help but feel that all the meals he had eaten in the past twenty years must have been subpar.

He thought, “There will definitely be a lot of people wanting to buy this dish!”

Worried that they hadn’t experienced such bold flavors before and might feel unwell, Jiang Yanyi specifically brewed a pot of chrysanthemum tea to serve.

During dinner, she asked Yang Xiu, “What did you find out?”

Although Jiang Yanyi insisted on a simple atmosphere in the restaurant and that they should treat each other as family, he still didn’t dare to be casual and paused before responding, “In Xizhou City, there are only a few famous storytellers, but they all have old employers, so it’s unlikely we could hire them. However, there’s an old scholar who used to be quite renowned in Xizhou. He once told stories at Laifu Restaurant, but he was kicked out for being unscrupulous, and his reputation was ruined. Since then, no one wants to hire him.”

Jiang Yanyi became interested and asked, “What kind of unscrupulous behavior?”

The charcoal fire in the stove crackled, and the bubbling red oil in the pot emitted a mouthwatering aroma that tempted Yang Xiu to swallow several times.

He had just taken a bite of a rib! He hadn’t even touched the other meats yet.

Bing Shao and Qui Kui were fighting over the meat, with Qui Kui still thinking of Jiang Yanyi as she buried herself in her food, occasionally helping Jiang Yanyi by adding meat to her bowl.

As Jiang Yanyi continued to inquire, Yang Xiu, feeling pressured, hesitated to continue eating.

Just as he was about to answer Jiang Yanyi, Qui Kui suddenly cried out, confused and aggrieved, “Who kicked me?”

Yang Xiu: “…”

Bing Shao: “…”

Jiang Yanyi: “…”

The atmosphere was quite awkward.