Chapter 46

Li Hehua turned around to go back, and the first thing she saw was Zhang Tieshan standing not far behind her. She pressed her lips together without speaking and walked directly past him.

Zhang Tieshan quietly followed behind her. Even when Li Hehua set up her stall and started doing business, he never said a word. But whenever Li Hehua couldn’t move something heavy, he would step forward to help, ignoring whatever she said to him.

Li Hehua felt helpless and could only ignore him.

With Xiao Yuan’s addition, they weren’t as short-handed anymore. When Li Hehua saw that Zhang Tieshan wanted to help as usual, she quickly stopped him, saying: “Zhang Tieshan, I’ve hired a new assistant here. I have enough people now and don’t need your help. If you insist on helping, I’ll pay you wages. If you don’t want wages, then don’t lift a finger.”

Zhang Tieshan’s brow furrowed, his heart filled with indescribable feelings. After a long while, he slowly put down what he was holding and stepped aside.

Li Hehua’s heart also felt uncomfortable. She knew he wanted to help her, but she was determined to reject him. If she still let him help, what kind of person would that make her? So, let it be this way. After a few more times, he would be driven away by her attitude, and then everything would be fine.

Li Hehua forced herself not to think about it or look at him, focusing on promoting her new dishes.

To promote new dishes, someone definitely needed to take the lead in trying them, so Li Hehua recommended them to a regular customer. This regular customer’s family ran a business, which had now been handed over to his son, while he enjoyed a leisurely retirement.

The old man had no particular hobbies except one thing: good food. He especially loved eating delicious food. If someone mentioned something tasty, he would definitely go try it. Ever since he first accidentally came to eat at her stall, he had been coming every few days, not only eating himself but also taking food home.

It could be said that the old gentleman was Li Hehua’s loyal fan.

When Li Hehua saw the old gentleman arrive, she said to him: “Old sir, today my shop has added three new dishes. Would you like to try them?”

The old gentleman was indeed interested and said: “Girl, quickly tell me in detail, what new dishes have you added?”

Li Hehua then carefully introduced the three new dishes.

As Li Hehua explained, the old gentleman became increasingly interested and said: “Then girl, make me one of those spicy hot pots, let me taste it.”

Li Hehua nodded, “Alright, old sir. Since it’s just you eating, I’ll make the smallest portion. And I remember you can’t handle too much spice, so I’ll add just a little bit of heat, okay?”

The old gentleman nodded with satisfaction, “Good, good, you remember my taste preferences very clearly.”

Li Hehua smiled, “Of course, you’re my regular customer. How could I not remember clearly? Old sir, please go sit down, the hot pot will be ready soon.”

Many people around were listening to their conversation and naturally heard about the three new dishes Li Hehua mentioned. Everyone was quite curious, but most people didn’t dare to try first. Now seeing this old gentleman order one, the surrounding people were all waiting to see what it would be like.

Li Hehua skillfully took out a prepared portion of hot pot ingredients, lit the fire, added oil and seasonings, then braised everything. In no time, a spicy hot pot was ready. Since she hadn’t had time to order smaller pots yet, Li Hehua temporarily served the dish in a soup bowl and brought it to the old gentleman, along with a portion of white rice.

“Old sir, here’s your hot pot, please try it.”

The old gentleman first smelled the aroma and thought it smelled wonderful, more fragrant than the fried rice and rice bowls he’d eaten before, and it looked more appetizing too. So he immediately picked up his chopsticks and put a bite of food in his mouth.

The old gentleman chewed slowly, taking a long time to swallow. Then, without saying a word, he scooped up a mouthful of white rice, and again picked up another bite of the dish. Although he still ate unhurriedly, even a fool could see the enjoyment on his face.

Without even looking, you could tell he was extremely satisfied.

The old gentleman ate three bites before pausing slightly and said to Li Hehua: “Girl, you’ve made this hot pot well! There are many varieties of ingredients, both meat and vegetables, and it’s delicious!”

This old gentleman was always conservative in his speech and didn’t praise people easily. Even with her previous dishes, he would only say “not bad.” Now getting a “delicious” showed that the old gentleman was very satisfied.

Li Hehua felt relieved and went back to continue cooking.

Other people saw what the hot pot looked like and heard the old gentleman’s evaluation, and many were moved. Quite a few well-off regular customers followed suit and also requested a serving. Some people heard that spicy hot pot soup was similar to the hot pot and requested a serving of that instead. For a while, Li Hehua’s two new dishes were selling well.

However, the hot pot and spicy soup were relatively expensive, and some people were reluctant to spend the money, so they tried Li Hehua’s vermicelli noodles instead. These also sold well, so overall, today’s three new dishes were successfully launched.

Because of these three new dishes, today’s business was especially good. It wasn’t until more than an hour after noon that the crowd at the stall gradually dispersed, and everyone could finally rest completely.

Besides being tired, everyone was extremely hungry. Da He swallowed his saliva and said: “Aunt Hehua, I’ve been smelling this hot pot and spicy soup for most of the day. The aroma made me want to drool, and my stomach has been growling. Aunt Hehua, please make us a serving for lunch too.”

Although Xiao Yuan didn’t speak, his eyes looking at Li Hehua were also full of anticipation. This child probably wanted to eat too.

Li Hehua slapped the table, “Good! Aunt Hehua will definitely fulfill this request. I’ll make it for you right now.”

Both Da He and Xiao Yuan smiled.

Li Hehua also smiled, but looking at Zhang Tieshan quietly waiting at the side of the stall, she couldn’t smile anymore.