Chapter 58

Time passed, and more and more customers began to arrive at Fengwei Restaurant. As soon as they entered, they saw a sign on the counter saying that the new dish was available for a two-day trial at a 30% discount.

Oh, a 30% discount.

Almost every customer asked what the new dish was. When they heard it was garlic clams, their interest immediately waned. But when they also heard that the garlic clams were still priced at 35 wen per serving, even with the discount, most of them left.

After all, a plate of stir-fried clams at Fengwei Restaurant normally costs only 8 wen, and everyone knows that clams are cheap on the island. With a 30% discount, it was still 35 wen—that would mean the original price is 50 wen per plate…

It just didn’t seem worth it.

No one wanted to be the “sucker,” and as a result, no orders for the garlic clams were coming in from the kitchen. Shopkeeper Yu, however, wasn’t in a hurry. He kept collecting money and keeping accounts while recommending the new dish to the new arrivals.

An incense stick later, Shopkeeper Yu’s eyes lit up.

The gourmets had arrived!

“Young Master Fu! Young Master Qi! Are you two here alone today?”

“Yes, Young Master Huo is staying home today, so it’s just me and Young Master Qi,” Fu Yuanling said, noticing the sign on the counter. “New dish? Shopkeeper Yu, I didn’t expect you to come up with another new dish this month! What is it?”

Shopkeeper Yu had been prepared for this. He immediately began extolling the virtues of the garlic clams.

It was well known that Young Master Fu loved good food, and whenever any restaurant came out with a new dish, he would try it. So Shopkeeper Yu was confident that he could get Young Master Fu to be the first customer… cough, to try the new dish.

“This new dish, is it made with clams?” Fu Yuanling asked.

Just as Shopkeeper Yu was about to answer, he heard Qi Xiao’s displeased voice from the side.

“Why are clams so expensive? Something you can catch by the handful by the seaside is selling for 35 wen? And that’s with the discount?”

Though Qi Xiao wasn’t paying today, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable with the high price of the dish.

Shopkeeper Yu awkwardly laughed. “Clams are indeed cheap, but the main ingredients used in making the dish are expensive. Young Master Fu, once you taste it, you’ll know it’s worth every wen.”

“Alright, for your sake, I’ll try it. But if it’s bad, don’t blame me for speaking bluntly. Also, bring us a few of the signature dishes, just like usual.”

Fu Yuanling gave his orders and led his friend to a well-lit spot to sit.

“Are you really just too rich to know where to spend your money? Ordering such expensive clams…” Qi Xiao grumbled, still upset about being charged so much.

“It’s only 35 wen, what’s so expensive about that? The signature dishes are way pricier than this,” Fu Yuanling replied.

“Signature dishes use high-quality ingredients, but clams? They’re just a cheap ingredient, only worth a few wen per kilogram .”

“Well, it’s already ordered, so stop complaining. We’re regulars here at Fengwei Restaurant. Shopkeeper Yu would be eager to please us, and he’d never intentionally try to offend us. If he recommends this dish, it must be worth trying.”

Fu Yuanling waved his fan, still feeling curious.

Soon, the first dish arrived: the garlic clams.

The waiter brought the dish through the dining hall, and many guests caught a whiff of the rich garlic aroma. Everyone was curious about Fu Yuanling’s reaction.

“It smells pretty good…” Fu Yuanling remarked. He had always thought clam meat was a bit bland, but this was the first time he encountered such a strong flavor in clam meat.

The garlic aroma enveloped the freshness of the clams, and the taste was indeed surprisingly impressive.

“Ah Xiao, try it. It’s really delicious! I guarantee you’ve never tasted anything like this.”

Qi Xiao could smell the aroma too. Though he kept saying it probably wasn’t that good, his chopsticks were already picking up a second clam, showing his true interest.

The dish didn’t have many clams, just around twenty or so, and by the time they’d eaten, it was gone.

“Waiter, bring another plate of garlic clams!”

“Coming right up!”

The waiter called out the order and rushed to the kitchen. Other guests in the dining hall became interested, wondering if the dish was truly as good as Fu Yuanling’s reaction suggested.

After all, only a truly delicious dish could make someone order a second plate, and Fu Yuanling certainly wasn’t paid to advertise.

Soon, several other tables ordered the garlic clams to try it themselves.

Most of the people dining at the restaurant weren’t bothered by spending a few more wen, so the number of tables ordering the dish grew from two or three to seven or eight. Eventually, the entire dining hall was filled with customers trying the new dish.

The sound of copper coins clinking filled the air. Shopkeeper Yu was both happy and pained. After all, selling at a 30% discount for only 35 wen per plate meant he lost out on some earnings.

After the lunchtime rush, the number of customers gradually decreased. Shopkeeper Yu calculated that they had sold 22 plates of garlic clams, making a profit of 770 wen. The cost of the clams was very low—only 1 wen for 3 kilogram .

Even if each plate contained a full kilogram  of clams, it would only cost around 7 or 8 wen. After deducting the costs for soy sauce, garlic, and oil, he had definitely made a profit of about 700 wen.

The oyster sauce money was earned back in one go.

But unfortunately, he had to sell at a discount today. If he raised the price back to normal tomorrow, he’d surely make even more money!

Just as Shopkeeper Yu was feeling pleased with his calculations, a waiter hurried over from the kitchen.

“Shopkeeper, Chef Sun says there’s only half of the oyster sauce left!”

Shopkeeper Yu: “…”

He had been so caught up in the excitement that he didn’t realize there wasn’t much oyster sauce left in the jar.

What to do now?

He couldn’t stop selling it today, and he couldn’t just stop selling tomorrow either. After all, the new dish that had been launched half a month ago hadn’t been as popular as the garlic clams, so he had to keep selling it.

No, he needed to send someone to Lianjigou to buy more from that mother and daughter pair.

Shopkeeper Yu quickly called his nephew, Yu Ming.

He entrusted this matter to him.

At this time, Yin Huaixi and her daughter had just finished their meal, and the whole family was under the eaves shucking oysters. The house was almost done, with just a bit left to finish, and since there were still outsiders around, they didn’t bring up the topic of selling oyster sauce.

However, they still had to continue making the oyster sauce.

Before leaving today, Jiang Wan had given 20 wen to her cousin and asked her to have Aunt Cuifang and her daughter-in-law go collect oysters while the tide was low. If it was difficult to sell at Fengwei Restaurant, they could make the oyster sauce themselves and eat it. If not, they could sell garlic seafood at the dock. The cost was low, so even with a small profit, they could still make money by selling more.

Today, there was no one to help with collecting oysters, so the family had to do it themselves.

Jiang Wan’s fingers were sore from shucking oysters. She thought that if the business at Fengwei Restaurant stabilized, she would rather spend a little more money to buy the oyster meat directly. That way, their family would only need to handle the final step of cooking the sauce, which would save time and effort.

She planned to visit Fengwei Restaurant tomorrow to quietly check whether the garlic clams were selling well.

What Jiang Wan didn’t know was that Shopkeeper Yu had already sent his nephew in a hurry, struggling all afternoon to shuck oysters.

Yu Ming took a boat directly to Lianjigou, but since he didn’t know exactly where the lady who sold the oyster sauce lived, he planned to ask a local villager for directions.

He didn’t have to walk far before he saw a skinny man holding onto an elder’s leg, crying his eyes out.

“Village Chief! Please help me! I passed the imperial examination at 14 and became a scholar, qualified to be a teacher. Our village has sent people from the Yin and Zhou families here, so you should treat the Cai family the same and take in a scholar from my family!”

The old village chief tugged at his leg, but couldn’t pull it away.

Wasn’t it said that the eldest son of the Cai family was sickly? He didn’t seem weak at all.

“The school in our village is small, we can only hire two teachers. Cai’s son, you’re strong, so if you really want to earn money, I can let you work on a boat.”

On the boat, there was plenty of physical labor to do—throwing nets, catching fish, rowing.

The village chief had mentioned it casually, but upon further thought, he realized it could work.

The Cai family had a lot of people with poor morals, and who knew what kind of person this Cai Shuyuan was.

Putting him on a boat would teach him some hard lessons and straighten him out. Plus, it would also earn some copper coins for food and drink—wasn’t that a win-win?