Chapter 56: Yi Pin Zhai

The town had two major restaurants: one was the long-established Yi Pin Zhai (First-Class Abode), and the other was the more recently opened Zui Xian Lou (Drunken Immortal Pavilion). Both were located on East Street. Cao Xiangnan chose Yi Pin Zhai, reasoning that if it had become a long-standing establishment, it must have something special to offer.

It wasn’t yet lunchtime, so the restaurant wasn’t busy.

“Two esteemed guests, please come in…” As soon as the waiter saw customers approaching, he immediately greeted them with a smile.

“We’re here to see your manager. Is he in?” Cao Xiangnan glanced around, not seeing anyone in charge, and asked with a slight smile.

He was satisfied with the waiter’s attitude. At least they didn’t try to drive them away because they were wearing coarse linen clothes; otherwise, this business deal wouldn’t be possible.

“The manager just stepped out. What do you need him for?” The waiter’s smile faltered. Seeing that the visitors weren’t there to eat but to see the manager, he asked with a hint of doubt.

Just then, Manager Liu, who was coming out from the back, heard someone asking for him and came over to see two young men saying they wanted to see him. Manager Liu walked over, sizing up the visitors. One of them was using crutches, his leg was obviously injured. Both men had unfamiliar faces; he was seeing them for the first time. He asked, “Did you want to see me? What can I do for you?”

“My name is Cao Xiangnan. I have some unique dishes that I’d like to recommend to Yi Pin Zhai. I wonder if the manager is interested?” The one who spoke was a tall, thin man, around forty years old. Cao Xiangnan looked at him with a smile.

He was confident that the manager would be interested. Anyone who ran a restaurant would have a hard time refusing someone who offered them new recipes, unless they were a fool. He was betting that Yi Pin Zhai had good character.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, Manager Liu’s expression changed. He asked, “Is that true?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t dare to come to your door to deceive you,” Cao Xiangnan said, sounding well prepared.

“Please come inside. We’ll talk inside.” Manager Liu gestured. His restaurant’s business had been slow lately, and he was thinking of ways to improve it. Now, someone was offering to bring him recipes. Even if he was suspicious, he would meet with them first.

“How about the manager takes me to your restaurant’s kitchen? I’ll personally make two dishes for you to try. If the manager is satisfied, we can talk. What do you think?” Cao Xiangnan asked with a confident smile.

Empty words are meaningless. He needed to show his skills first, which would give him a 70% chance of success. The remaining 30% depended on whether the price they negotiated would be satisfactory.

“Alright.” Manager Liu agreed without hesitation and led them toward the kitchen, saying, “This way.”

The kitchen staff had already bought the ingredients for the day. The chefs were there, and they greeted Manager Liu, curious as to why he was bringing people in. Manager Liu said, “Old Zhao, I’m borrowing your kitchen.”

Outsiders were generally not allowed in the kitchen, but since Manager Liu had personally brought them, Chef Zhao wouldn’t refuse. “Manager, you can use the kitchen whenever you want. There’s no need to say ‘borrowing’,” he said.

Chef Zhao was Yi Pin Zhai’s head chef, a short, fat man with a big belly and a smiling face like a Maitreya Buddha.

Seeing Manager Liu bringing people to their kitchen, he followed behind, curiously watching the people who went inside. Could it be that Manager Liu had hired a new chef? But it didn’t look like it. “Who is this, little brother?” he asked in a low voice to Manager Liu.

Manager Liu didn’t say much. Chef Zhao understood and stood there watching.

“Chef Zhao, can I borrow someone familiar with the kitchen’s layout?” Cao Xiangnan looked around the kitchen and, unfamiliar with its layout, turned to ask the chef standing with Manager Liu.

“Xiao Liu Zi,” Chef Zhao called out. A kitchen helper responsible for odd jobs came out and offered assistance.

Cao Xiangnan told the helper what he needed one by one, asking him to bring out the ingredients. Xiao Liu Zi was efficient and quickly gathered everything he asked for.

Sun Ji placed the food box he was carrying on the table, opened it, and stayed there to assist Cao Xiangnan.

Cao Xiangnan took out a large bowl of river noodles. Meeting Manager Liu’s probing gaze, he said, “This is called river noodles, made from rice. I have a stall at the docks that sells river noodles. If you don’t believe me, Manager, you can send someone there to check.”

“There are many ways to cook river noodles – stir-fried, braised, stewed, mixed. I’ll make you two unique dishes now: stir-fried river noodles with sliced pork and casserole river noodles.” Cao Xiangnan looked at the large fish in the tank and said, “Fenshui Town has no shortage of fish, but I believe there aren’t many who can cook fish well. I’ll also make you two fish dishes. Manager, what do you say?”

He knew that his river noodles weren’t the most attractive thing for the restaurant. What attracted Manager Liu should have been his offer to cook two fish dishes.

Manager Liu waved his hand, signaling him to proceed.

The first dish was stir-fried river noodles with sliced pork. Cao Xiangnan sliced the pork into thin pieces and marinated them with salt, oil, cornstarch, and rice wine. He had brought the cornstarch from home, as well as some seasonings that he would need later.

He soaked the river noodles, chopped the scallions, and prepared two eggs.

“Help me beat the eggs.”

He prepared the ingredients for the casserole river noodles. Fortunately, the kitchen had chicken soup simmering, which Cao Xiangnan used as a base. Since he couldn’t find a small casserole, he used a larger pot instead.

With Sun Ji helping him, Cao Xiangnan worked methodically. The kitchen helper could also assist him.

In his previous life, Cao Xiangnan had learned to cook at a young age, and his cooking skills had always been good. Later, when he was working, he had also worked in the kitchen. The chefs there saw that he was diligent and eager to learn, and they had personally taught him how to cook. Although he didn’t become a master chef, he could still make a couple of dishes.

These things accumulated over time and settled in his mind, so when he thought about them again, he could use many of them.

He scooped a large fish out of the tank and cut off the head to make a spicy chopped pepper fish head later.

He wanted to slice the remaining meat to make sauerkraut fish, but then he suddenly remembered that there was no sauerkraut here, which was a headache. Manager Liu, who was standing there without leaving, noticed Cao Xiangnan’s pause and asked, “Are you missing something?”

“Yes, I do need an ingredient. I wanted to make sauerkraut fish, but without sauerkraut, it can’t be made. This dish requires me to marinate it myself, which will take about a month,” Cao Xiangnan nodded and temporarily changed his mind. “I’ll switch to sweet and sour fish instead. It tastes good too,” although he preferred sauerkraut fish.

“Alright,” Manager Liu replied.

“Sizzle…” Oil was poured into the pot. Cao Xiangnan skillfully poured in the sliced pork, stir-frying it until half-cooked before scooping it out. Then, he stir-fried the eggs until cooked. Finally, he stir-fried the river noodles, being careful not to break them, adding seasoning, and then pouring the pork back in.

While he was stir-frying the river noodles, the casserole river noodles were also done.

“Manager, why don’t you move to the front? Should I bring the stir-fried river noodles with sliced pork out first for you to taste? It won’t taste good if it cools down. I’ll continue cooking the rest of the dishes,” Cao Xiangnan turned to look at the manager and asked.

“Hmm.” Manager Liu didn’t say much. After seeing him skillfully make two dishes, he looked at the young man differently. He turned and went outside. The waiter carrying the dish followed him out, keeping up with the manager.

Chef Zhao stood there, reluctant to leave. It was the first time he had seen this kind of cooking method, and he nodded from time to time.

The next two dishes, spicy chopped pepper fish head and sweet and sour fish, were perfect in color, aroma, and taste. The colors were vibrant, and the aroma made people drool. After making the two dishes, Cao Xiangnan also led Sun Ji out of the kitchen.

“Young Master Cao, our manager is waiting for you upstairs,” the waiter waiting at the door led them upstairs to find the manager. Pushing the door open, Manager Liu, who was standing there, pointed to the chair in front of him and said, “Sit down.”

The dishes he had made were on the table, and they had clearly been tasted.

“We’re from Caojia Village. I’m Cao Xiangnan, and this is my companion, Sun Ji. Manager, I don’t know how to address you?” Cao Xiangnan didn’t sit down immediately but stood in front of Manager Liu and asked.

“My surname is Liu. People in the shop call me Manager Liu,” Manager Liu said.

After the other party sat down, Cao Xiangnan sat down and had Sun Ji sit down with him. Cao Xiangnan looked at Manager Liu and asked with a smile, “I wonder what Manager Liu thinks of the taste of these dishes?”

“I’m very satisfied with these dishes of yours.” Manager Liu had been working in Fenshui Town for seven or eight years. The restaurant’s business was good at first, but after Zui Xian Lou opened, it took away some of the customers. The business was neither good nor bad but not as good as before.

Manager Liu had tried all the dishes, and the taste was naturally good. The dishes were also fresh, with excellent color, aroma, and taste. If their restaurant launched these dishes, their business would definitely surpass Zui Xian Lou.

“I want Yi Pin Zhai to be the only restaurant in Fenshui Town that has these dishes. Can you guarantee that?” Manager Liu was straightforward, asking directly without beating around the bush. He took out a tael of silver from his pocket and placed it on the table, saying, “If you have good recipes in the future, as long as you come to our Yi Pin Zhai, I’ll give you a satisfactory price. What do you think?”

“These… river noodles that you make, deliver them to our Yi Pin Zhai every day. Send twenty catties first, and we’ll discuss it further if they sell well. As for the sauerkraut fish you mentioned, if you make the sauerkraut, you can only sell it to our Yi Pin Zhai in the future. As for the price of the dish, we’ll talk about it then.” Manager Liu had tasted both fish dishes, especially the spicy chopped pepper fish head, which was fragrant, spicy, and delicious.

He remembered that the young man had said something about sauerkraut fish earlier. Manager Liu was looking forward to what kind of surprise that sauerkraut fish would bring him, so he booked it in advance to prevent the young man from going to Zui Xian Lou, which would be a disaster.

Cao Xiangnan looked at the silver on the table, met Manager Liu’s determined gaze, raised his lips, smiled, and said, “Since Manager Liu is so straightforward, I’ll be straightforward too. Okay, it’s a deal. I guarantee that the recipes won’t leak from my side, but if they leak from your side, then it’s your problem and has nothing to do with me, right?”

“That’s natural,” Manager Liu nodded.

“Words are not enough. Let’s make a written agreement, Manager Liu. What do you think?” Cao Xiangnan asked.

“Alright,” Manager Liu called out, and someone pushed the door open from outside. He ordered, “Bring pen and ink.”

The helper went down and came up with pen, ink, paper, and inkstone in a short while.

Cao Xiangnan wrote down the recipes step by step and handed them to Manager Liu, who solemnly placed them in a box. Then, both parties made a written agreement, signed their names, and made their marks, and they were sent out the door by the waiter.