Chapter 60: Grandpa Brought a Lot of Customers
Jiulong Gorge.
In the kitchen, Li You was prepping the Two-blade Pork he had bought.
He needed to boil the pork first, then slice it to have on hand.
This way, whenever a customer ordered twice-cooked pork, he could start stir-frying immediately, saving a lot of time.
He placed the pork in a pot with cold water, adding green onion segments, ginger slices, Sichuan peppercorns, and a splash of cooking wine.
He brought it to a boil.
Once the pork was about sixty percent cooked, he could take it out and slice it.
As it was simmering, a voice called out from the entrance, "Young man, are you in?"
It was the old man from before.
Li You now knew the man’s name: Lin Zhonghai.
Li You walked out of the kitchen and said, "Uncle Lin, I’m here."
Then he saw a group of people standing behind Lin Zhonghai.
There were about ten of them.
They were all in their fifties or around sixty years old.
Li You was a little surprised.
Lin Zhonghai said with a smile, "They’re all from our Taoshan Village. I told them the noodles here are incredible—that they’ve never had noodles this good in their entire lives. They didn’t believe me, so I brought them here to try for themselves."
’So that’s what this is about,’ Li You thought.
Li You smiled. "Welcome, everyone. I’m glad you could come."
"You’re too kind, young man," the villagers all said.
They had all seen this new restaurant when passing by before.
But none of them had ever stepped inside.
They didn’t doubt Lin Zhonghai when he said the noodles here were good.
But to say they’d never had noodles this good in their entire lives? That they didn’t believe.
They hadn’t eaten many exotic delicacies in their lives, but they had certainly eaten plenty of delicious noodles.
This place wasn’t some high-end hotel. No matter how good the noodles were, it couldn’t be a flavor they’d never experienced in their lives, right?
Seeing their disbelief, Lin Zhonghai suggested they all come and try it once.
They all agreed.
They had no problem paying for a bowl of normally priced noodles.
"Young man, we’ll all have large bowls of beef noodles. Let them try the beef you have here. Eleven bowls in total," Lin Zhonghai said.
Li You nodded. "No problem. Please have a seat. I’ll get them ready for you right away."
"Great, great."
Li You turned and went back into the kitchen.
He got out another pot and started boiling the noodles.
Before long, all eleven large bowls of beef noodles were ready.
The Two-blade Pork was also just about done cooking.
He took all the pork out of the pot and set it aside to cool.
Then, he brought the bowls of noodles out to his guests.
After everyone had been served, Lin Zhonghai said smugly, "Look, everyone, just look at it first. Look at these noodles, look at this beef. Doesn’t just looking at it make you feel like you’ve never had noodles this good before?"
At that moment, the others really did feel that way.
They were astonished. And suddenly, they were starting to believe Lin Zhonghai.
’This young man’s noodles really are something else!’
They had to taste it right away.
Everyone picked up their chopsticks and dug in.
With the first bite, they were all overcome with incredulous delight.
Whether it was the beef or the noodles, it was truly a flavor they had never experienced before.
Everything Lin Zhonghai had said was actually true.
It was hard to believe that the noodles from a small restaurant like this could be so delicious.
Everyone was thrilled. They never imagined that at their age, they would get to eat such amazing noodles.
The best part was that the price wasn’t expensive—it was just the normal price you’d find at any noodle shop.
It was a price they could definitely afford.
Plus, the place was very close to their village.
This meant they could come back to eat these delicious noodles whenever they wanted.
This was fantastic!
"So? You believe me now, don’t you?" Lin Zhonghai asked.
"We believe you. We really have never had noodles this good. This young man’s noodles are something special," everyone agreed.
Hearing this, Lin Zhonghai laughed heartily, immensely pleased.
Back in the kitchen, the Two-blade Pork he had taken out of the pot earlier was now mostly cool.
Li You began to slice the pork.
For a dish like twice-cooked pork, the quality of the slicing was crucial.
If the pork wasn’t sliced well, the dish would be a failure.
The slices had to be just the right thickness—not too thick, and not too thin.
But for the current Li You, this was a piece of cake. He could handle it with ease.
Soon, all the pork was sliced.
Li You put it away in the Storage Pavilion to be used later.
He kept the broth from boiling the pork and made sure it stayed at a consistent temperature.
This was because if the sliced pork sat for too long, the slices would stick together.
If he put the clumped slices directly into the wok and tried to separate them there, the fat and lean parts of the pork would easily separate.
Therefore, it was best to keep the broth and maintain its temperature.
This way, before stir-frying, he could use a strainer to swish the stuck-together slices in the warm broth to separate them.
That would keep the fat and lean parts of the slices intact.
Moreover, the moisture on the slices would help keep the pork tender.
Once everything was prepared, Li You walked out of the kitchen.
The customers had all finished their noodles.
Seeing Li You emerge, they all chimed in, "Young man, your beef noodles are absolutely incredible! So delicious!"
"We completely believe what Old Lin told us now."
"Young man, from now on, I’m coming here for noodles every time I come back from the market in town."
"Young man, when we get back, we’ll spread the word for you in our village and the neighboring ones. We guarantee your business will be booming."
"..."
Li You thanked them repeatedly. "Thank you, thank you, uncles and aunties!"
"This young man is great—capable and handsome, too. Do you have a girlfriend, young man?"
"Young man, Old Lin said you’re from Changle Village, right? I know Changle Village very well, I go there often."
"Young man, what are your parents’ names? I probably know them."
"..."
Li You chatted with them, feeling a warm sense of community.
"Haha! You have twice-cooked pork now. This is awesome! Boss, I’ll have an order of twice-cooked pork," a voice called from outside the shop.
The voice arrived before the person did.
But Li You recognized the voice.
It was Zhang Qinghe, a teacher from Wenxian Town Central School.
He stepped outside the shop to look.
And sure enough, Zhang Qinghe, Chu Yiwei, Lin Xin, and other teachers were there.
There were also a few new faces with them. They were probably also teachers who had just never come before.
Just as he thought.
Zhang Qinghe said, "Boss, let me make some introductions. This is Teacher Cai, Teacher Zhang, Teacher Lai..."
After finishing the introductions, Zhang Qinghe added, "Teacher Cai and the others have been hearing me, Teacher Chu, and the rest talk about your shop every day. They finally decided to come along with us today. And as soon as they get here, you’ve launched a new dish, twice-cooked pork. They’re really in luck!"
Li You greeted each of the new teachers and welcomed them.
Teacher Cai, whose full name was Cai Peng, was in his thirties. He smiled and said, "Lately, I’ve been hearing Teacher Zhang, Teacher Chu, and the others go on and on about how delicious the food is here. I had to come and try it for myself today."
Li You smiled back. "I’m sure you won’t be disappointed, Teacher Cai."
...