Chapter 20: Selling the First Bowl of Beef Noodles
Li You smiled. "It just opened recently. You’ll be able to see it next time you go. It’s right at the gorge entrance."
"Okay, then," the girl nodded.
After thanking him again, she said her goodbyes and left.
’She actually really wanted to ask why he would open a restaurant there, but she didn’t ask out loud.’
Li You parked his motorcycle on the side of the road.
He continued to wander through the market.
He actually quite enjoyed wandering through township markets like this. They had a feeling of warmth and familiarity.
After walking for a while, he didn’t see anything he needed to buy.
However, he did see Ye Shengge.
’So Ye Shengge was at the market too.’
At that moment, Ye Shengge was squatting in front of a stall.
The stall was just a white plastic sheet spread on the ground.
On the sheet were a dozen or so termite mushrooms.
Li You’s eyes lit up. Termite mushrooms were a real delicacy!
And these were clearly wild termite mushrooms.
Of course, termite mushrooms were inherently difficult to cultivate artificially anyway.
This was because they were a type of fungus that grew in symbiosis with termites. They could only grow above a termite nest.
Li You was very familiar with termite mushrooms.
In the village, the chances of finding termite mushrooms were high if you took a walk on the mountain after it rained.
However, for Ye Shengge, termite mushrooms were clearly a rare find.
It was hard to buy termite mushrooms in the city.
So, Ye Shengge was clearly very interested in them.
Li You walked over and said, "Thinking of buying some termite mushrooms?"
Ye Shengge recognized Li You’s voice, turned her head, and said with pleasant surprise, "Boss, you’re here too."
After a pause, she continued, "Look, they’re actually selling termite mushrooms here."
Li You smiled. "It’s quite normal at a township market. People find them on the mountain themselves."
The stall owner, a man in his fifties, also chuckled and said, "The young man is right. I found these on the mountain myself. They’re delicious. Would you like to buy some, miss?"
Ye Shengge asked, "How much are they?"
The owner said, "80 yuan a jin. If you take them all, I’ll give them to you for 75 a jin."
Ye Shengge said, "Okay, I’ll take them all."
The owner was very happy and said repeatedly, "Great, great, I’ll weigh them for you."
When Li You heard the owner say 80 yuan a jin, he nodded to himself.
’The price is fair. The owner isn’t overcharging.’
’Besides, if he took them to the county seat to sell, the price would be at least 120 yuan a jin.’
’In the provincial capital, the price would be even higher. Over 200 yuan a jin would be normal.’
After weighing them, the owner said the total was six jin and seven liang, for 503 yuan.
The owner took 500 yuan.
Carrying the bag of termite mushrooms, Ye Shengge was overjoyed. She said, "75 yuan a jin is so cheap. Where I’m from, they’d sell for at least 300 yuan a jin. And you can barely ever find them."
Li You said, "They are indeed expensive in the city and hard to find. What do you think of a township market like this?"
Ye Shengge said, "It’s really nice. It’s so full of life. I think it’s much more interesting than the markets in the city. And I even got to buy termite mushrooms."
Li You smiled. "Besides termite mushrooms, you can sometimes find other edible fungi too. It just seems like there aren’t any others today."
Ye Shengge said, "That’s great. By the way, Boss, what did you come to the market for?"
Li You said, "I came to buy some ingredients. Potatoes, green peppers, red peppers, that sort of thing."
Ye Shengge nodded. "Have you bought them already?"
Li You said, "I have. They’re on my motorcycle over there. Now I’m just wandering around a bit more to see if there’s anything else I need."
Ye Shengge said, "Let’s look around together then. I really find this market interesting."
Li You nodded.
The two of them strolled along, chatting idly.
Ye Shengge bought a few more things. Li You, however, didn’t find anything else he needed.
After they finished looking around, the two said their goodbyes.
Ye Shengge returned to her inn, carrying her purchases.
Li You went to where his motorcycle was parked, got on, and rode back to the restaurant.
Of course, Ye Shengge would be going to the restaurant again later.
She still wanted to try the beef noodles and shredded potatoes.
After returning to the restaurant, Li You put all the ingredients from his motorcycle into the Storage Pavilion.
He opened for business.
First, he wrote down today’s new dishes.
’Beef noodles are a meat-based noodle dish, so the price should be a little higher than Yangchun Noodles.’
Large bowl: 14 yuan.
Small bowl: 11 yuan.
’As for the stir-fried shredded potatoes, 16 yuan should be fine. And the rice will be all-you-can-eat for 1 yuan per person.’
Afterward, Li You went to the kitchen.
He planned to peel and shred a few potatoes to have them ready.
He had the Storage Pavilion, so he could shred the potatoes in advance.
That way, if a customer ordered the dish, he could start stir-frying immediately.
Many people believed that you had to soak the shredded potatoes in water before stir-frying them.
This was because shredded potatoes contain a lot of starch, and if you don’t soak some of it out, they tend to stick together during stir-frying.
But that wasn’t actually necessary.
You only needed to rinse the shredded potatoes with clean water twice before putting them in the wok.
He took out five potatoes, peeled them all, and then shredded them.
As Li You shredded them now, he felt as if his kitchen knife was divinely guided, cutting quickly and perfectly.
Soon, all five potatoes were shredded.
Aside from their varying lengths, each shred of potato was almost identical in thickness, looking quite beautiful.
’Mastering the knife skills has really made a huge difference.’
He put the shredded potatoes into the Storage Pavilion to keep them ready.
...
「An hour later.」
Ye Shengge’s car pulled into the parking lot.
’She’s here.’
The car door opened, and after getting out, Ye Shengge walked straight to the front of the restaurant. She said, "Boss, I’m here. Are the new dishes, the beef noodles and shredded potatoes, available yet?"
Li You smiled. "They are. I was just waiting for you. Which would you like to have first?"
Ye Shengge said, "The beef noodles. A small bowl. I still want to have the shredded potatoes after."
"No problem. Do you want cilantro?"
Cilantro was a great ingredient. But a lot of people couldn’t stand it, considering it a "dark" ingredient.
So, Li You had to ask to be sure.
"Yes, please."
"Alright. Have a seat anywhere. It’ll be ready soon."
After saying that, Li You went into the kitchen.
This was the first bowl of beef noodles he had sold.
Li You was very happy.
...