Dressed as a widow, raising cubs, farming and building infrastructure in Ming Dynasty

Chapter 18 A good start for Yanzilou
But the servant motioned for her to put it on the table aside, still standing still.

Qin Liu saw that the young officer had eaten all the food, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

This man looked majestic and elegant, but he had a shockingly huge stomach.

However, she didn't say anything, and quietly took the tray away after the man finished eating.

When she walked out of the kitchen again, she found that the servant was sitting on his buttocks and eating quickly, and the young officer was flipping through the books on the bookshelf.

Wearing a military uniform, he has a strong and tall figure, and he looks elegant and gentle while reading books.Against the backdrop of the oil lamp, the shadow of the sword at his waist was reflected on the bookshelf, making him look even more heroic and extraordinary, making people feel a sense of admiration.

The young officer glanced at her and asked calmly: "Where do these books come from?"

Qin Liu respectfully replied: "This is what a commoner woman copied by herself in her spare time. She puts it in the store for sale. If you like it, you can bring a few copies with you."

The main reason was that the grocery store owner couldn't sell so many books, so she was idle. She copied books when she had time, and it was easy to sell them in her own store.

A sly smile appeared on the lips of the young officer: "Your store is really weird. It's named Yanzilou, but it's a restaurant and it also sells books. It's neither fish nor fowl."

Qin Liu felt slightly unhappy, but on his face he looked like he was asking for advice humbly: "What's wrong with naming it Yanzi Tower? Please give me some advice."

The young officer raised his eyebrows: "You don't know Guan Panpan, the famous dance dancer of the Tang Dynasty?"

Qin Liu opened his eyes wide and waited for him to continue.

The young officer sneered and said: "After her husband died, Guan Panpan moved to Yanzilou to keep her husband safe. Bai Juyi also wrote poems for her, which has been passed down as an eternal legend."

As soon as he finished speaking, the young officer's expression changed slightly, and his dark and deep eyes stared at Qin Liu.

Qin Liu was frightened by his look, and his eyes were a little dodgey.

She complained even more in her heart: "What the hell does Guan Panpan of the Tang Dynasty have to do with me? There are even few swallows in this ghost place. I just hope that the swallows can come here to build nests and help me bring blessings and good luck. Wish me business It’s just prosperity!”

After a while, someone outside the store announced: "Sir, it's time to leave!"

The young officer then withdrew his probing gaze and glanced at the servant.

The servant took out a silver ingot and put it in Qin Liu's hand: "This is meal money."

Qin Liu estimated that the silver ingot weighed five taels, and said quickly: "Sir, this, this is too much! You can't use this money for one meal!"

This meal only cost a little over two hundred coins, so he gave me too much.

The young officer was busy putting on his helmet and ignored her.

Qin Liu explained again: "If you don't have change, you can give it next time. Forget it this time."

The young officer was neatly dressed and pointed to the books on the shelf next to him: "In addition to the meal money, the money for these books is also included."

Qin Liu saw that they went out without picking up the books, and quickly chased them out: "What should I do with those books?"

The young officer had already climbed onto his horse and said neatly and cleanly: "Come and get it when you pass by next time!"

Qin Liu watched the two figures disappear in the heavy snow. His mood improved and he returned to the store.

Books were always expensive, and the books on the shelf were not even worth five taels of silver. She could just copy a few more to make up for it.

She pulled out a steelyard and weighed it. As expected, the silver ingot weighed five taels.

This Yanzilou's first order since it opened is so generous, it can be considered a good start.This rich man's business is easy to do.

As long as there are four or five such customers a month, the business of her Yanzi Restaurant will exceed that of the dumpling shop.

It doesn’t require as much hard work as in a dumpling shop, so it’s a great way to make a living.

That person's advice was also very pertinent.The name of the shop is indeed a bit unusual, and the door is deserted with no customers, so no one comes to eat.

Qin Liu lowered his head to think about ways to improve Yanzilou's business, but suddenly he looked up and found Ma Ang coming.

Qin Liu smiled awkwardly and said, "Brother Ma, you are here."

There was no joy on Ma Ang's face, and there was a gloomy atmosphere all over his body. He found a chair and sat down, lowered his head and didn't speak for a long time.

Qin Liu didn't know what to say, he just felt his heart was stuffy, so he went to cook a bowl of noodles for Ma Ang, which was topped with large slices of soy sauce beef.

Ma Ang finished the noodles without saying a word.

Qin Liu looked at Ma Ang and felt like there was a big stone in his heart that made him unable to breathe.

She gritted her teeth and bit the tip of her tongue when she thought of the one old and two young children who still relied on her in the backyard.

She tried to divert her attention and began to lament that her hard work on cooking in modern society was not in vain.

It takes a lot of skills to make the beef with soy sauce soft, tasty and thinly sliced. She tried it many times before she succeeded. She looked like she was doing chemistry experiments and writing a doctoral thesis.

"Does this noodle taste good? I put pepper in the soup. I thought, if it snows heavily today, if rich people pass by, they will probably want to eat some hot soup. This noodle looks light, but the taste is delicious. It’s rich in layers. After eating the noodles and drinking the soup, my whole body warmed up and I felt comfortable as I continued on my way.”

Ma Ang finished the noodle soup, and Qin Liu added: "If we put the whole copper pot in it, add thinly sliced ​​mutton, and dip it in sesame sauce, I think it would be a delicacy in the world."

An idea flashed in her mind.Can the copper pot shabu-shabu be added to Yanzilou’s menu?

In this world of ice and snow, no matter how cold your heart is, it can still be warmed by hot food, right?

In her previous life, she had eaten a lot of old Beijing copper pot shabu-shabu and boiled meat. It was delicious, sweet and left an endless aftertaste. Thinking about it now makes her tongue wet.

Qin Liu came back to his senses, but heard Ma Ang speak, his voice a little low: "Sister-in-law Li, I will send a matchmaker to Mr. Zhang's house to propose marriage in a while. I may need to borrow your store for a wedding banquet later..."

Qin Liu was stunned for a moment, nodded and said: "Of course, we neighbors should help each other."

When the house was built, the Yanzi Building occupied all the land facing the street. The Li family and the Ma family each occupied half of the land behind the Yanzi Building. There was no fence in the yard between the two houses, only a short fence. The difference is between two families.There is a large section of space in the middle of the fence, making it easier for the two families to move around each other.

Ma Ang finished eating the noodles and left, Qin Liu just walked him to the door.

People get along with each other for a period of time, and it is normal for them to come and leave again.

In the next few days, Yanzilou still had no customers.Qin Liu's many ideas for recipes were not implemented.

She had to be practical and think about how to attract customers.

She stood across the street and observed for a long time, and found that when the guests on horseback passed by, they would look at the Yanzi Tower with doubtful eyes, and finally went to the inn in front to rest and have a meal.

Some people who couldn't get into the inn kept walking forward, looking for places to stay in other restaurants with lots of people coming and going at the door.

She looked at the long queue at the door not far away, and the customers in shabby clothes holding steaming bowls of porridge in the snow at the door of the dumpling shop, and she slowly had some thoughts in her mind.

(End of this chapter)