CHAPTER 600: CHAPTER 600: LIANG FAMILY COMPENSATION

After the Yuan Family People left, Liang Zhuzi and Liang Dunzi also arrived, both brothers having driven a mule cart and brought many congratulatory gifts. These gifts were not only from the Liang family, but also included those from Manager Feng of Changfeng Building in Hukang County, and Manager Lin of Yongxing Building in Daxing Town.

"Today is Dongzhi, and both managers had to stay at home for ancestral worship and celebrate the festival, it’s way too far for them to come, so they had us bring the gifts instead. They said after Dongzhi, they would come to Yanfu Building for a good meal to support you all," said Liang Dunzi, while Liang Zhuzi was handling the gifts.

Since being scolded by Gu Jinli last time, Liang Zhuzi has become much more obedient. Surprisingly, he hasn’t gained any weight this time but rather lost quite a bit, and no longer wore brocade, but instead the cotton-padded jacket common among affluent families.

Seeing this, Gu Jinli nodded internally, thinking that Liang Zhuzi was reasonable and continuing cooperation would be no problem. If he didn’t listen and failed to recognize his place, then he couldn’t blame her for being harsh.

Qi Panzi heard and said, "Manager Feng and Manager Lin are being too polite. Their restaurants come to our marinated food shop for supplies every day. Everyone is familiar with each other, so it doesn’t matter if they didn’t make it today."

Initially, he and Daya thought that opening on Dongzhi wasn’t very auspicious, but Xiao Yu said that there was a big market in town today, with many people coming to town in the morning to shop, and they might as well stop by their restaurant to buy dishes to take home. Moreover, opening on Dongzhi would make a memorable impression and make their Yanfu Building known to more people.

Daya always listened to Xiao Yu, and thus agreed.

"Uncle Liang, please come in quickly, have some dishes before heading home," said Gu Jinli.

Hearing this, Liang Zhuzi was very pleased. He was initially afraid that Little Xiao Yu might scold him again and worried about jeopardizing his family business. Hearing her speaking to him alleviated his concerns, and he smiled, "Just arrived in town and heard that your restaurant’s pastries and dishes are excellent. I must have a meal before returning."

After presenting the gifts, Liang Zhuzi followed Qi Panzi and Qi Kangping to the main hall on the first floor for a meal.

Meanwhile, Boss Hu from Futai Building in the county also sent a steward with congratulatory gifts.

Upon seeing the Crystal Osmanthus Cake, the steward from the Hu Family was astonished, his eyes widening as he pointed to the cakes and asked, "Are these pastries? They’re so crystal clear, like flowers blooming inside ice."

Qi Kangming, who hosted Steward Hu, smiled and said, "Indeed, they are pastries called Crystal Osmanthus Cake. If Steward Hu likes them, I will pack up a couple for you to take back later."

Naturally, Steward Hu was overjoyed, and after exchanging a few polite words with Qi Kangming, he followed Dashan into the restaurant and sat down in the main hall to eat.

When the dishes were being served one after the other, Steward Hu was even more astounded, pointing at the dishes on the table and asking, "What are all these dishes?"

Qi Kangming introduced them one by one, "This translucent meat is called ’Crystal Pork Hock,’ made from pig’s feet, tasty and chewy; this fried fish is called ’Squirrel Fish,’ tasty and festive; here are Osmanthus Glutinous Rice Lotus Root, sweet and sour ribs, crispy roast pork, Tai Chi Tofu..."

Hearing these dish names, Steward Hu was so amazed that he couldn’t snap back to reality. "What, I’ve never heard of these dishes?"

He recognized the meat, the fish, the tofu, and the lotus root, but once they were made into dishes, he couldn’t recognize any of them.

Qi Kangming chuckled, "These are just some humble dishes concocted by our family, not fit for grand halls, only sold in our small town. We wouldn’t dare to bring them to the county to show off, so naturally, Steward Hu wouldn’t know about them."

Humble dishes concocted by their family, not fit for grand halls, only dared to be sold in their small town, this statement, made their Futai Building’s life difficult.

Their Futai Building’s lotus leaf roast chicken had been a signature dish for decades, but now every dish on the table was comparable to the lotus leaf roast chicken.

Steward Hu was trembling as he picked up his chopsticks to eat, and after finishing, his hand trembled even more, "The taste is excellent, and there’s a unique freshness... did you use Hai Xian Sauce in each dish?"

That really shows wealth! Their Futai Building, despite being large and significant, dared not use Hai Xian Sauce in every dish. A pot of Hai Xian Sauce costs one tael of silver, and one pot is very little, enough for only six lotus leaf roast chickens before it’s all gone. Their Futai Building certainly wouldn’t dare to waste it so casually.

Qi Kangming laughed, "I added something to enhance the flavor and aroma."

Actually, it was soy sauce, made by Xiao Yu herself; she directly sent over five large vats to the restaurant, free for them to use as much as they wanted without worrying about the cost.

Steward Hu wanted to cry; it was too lavish, even more extravagant than their county’s Futai Building.

He looked at the table full of dishes and couldn’t sit still. Pulling out twenty taels of silver, he said to Qi Kangming, "Hey Qi boy, I want to order two tables of top-grade dishes. Cook them well and I will take them back for Boss Hu to try. It’s a holiday today, let’s treat this as an extra order."

And he added, "Don’t worry about the dishes and bowls, I’ll have my servant go buy them. You just need to prepare the food well."

Qi Kangming smiled, "No need, our restaurant has bamboo boxes to pack the dishes. Just use the bamboo boxes. But there’s an extra charge of one cent per box."

Xiao Yu had mentioned that the bamboo boxes were also a way to make money; they could have the villagers make them in the future as a source of income.

Steward Hu pointed at Xiao’er who was packing with bamboo boxes and exclaimed, "So this is the bamboo box? Truly a clever idea."

Why hadn’t they at Futai Building thought of this?

Before, when customers ordered banquet dishes, they would pack them in plates, but many plates got broken, causing a loss.

Qi Kangming nodded, "Exactly."

Steward Hu immediately said, "Alright, we’ll pay extra. Just pack them in bamboo boxes."

Qi Kangming nodded and turned to the kitchen to instruct the chefs to prepare two tables of dishes.

The side dishes were already prepared, some even half-cooked; within 30 minutes, the two tables of dishes were ready. They used bamboo boxes to pack them and tied them with ropes, ready to be carried away.

Steward Hu saw this and remarked, "This method is indeed great, both convenient and saves trouble." It even saved a lot of dishwashing.

Steward Hu took the food and gifts and hurried back to the county with his servant, eager to tell Boss Hu about Yanfu Building’s offerings. My, the food was delicious; if Yanfu Building opened a restaurant in the county, where would Futai Building stand?

Not long after Steward Hu left, Liang Zhuzi and his brothers also took their leave, and it was only then that Gu Jinli learned that Liang Zhuzi had lost weight because he had had a big fight with his wife’s aunt’s family.

Although the aunt loved her daughter-in-law, she favored her own son, Chang Kang, even more. She had hoped her son would open a shop and become a shopkeeper, but that didn’t happen, leading to a huge row. She even instigated Liang Zhuzi’s wife to separate from him and forced Liang Zhuzi to bow his head to them.

Liang Zhuzi’s wife initially felt guilty towards her aunt’s family and had listened to her aunt, even staying at her aunt’s place for a few days, planning to teach Liang Zhuzi a lesson.

But after hearing her aunt suggesting a divorce, she finally saw her aunt’s true colors. She didn’t wait for Liang Zhuzi to fetch her; she packed up her things and returned to the shop.

Her aunt, seeing this, grew even more furious and, along with Chang family members, went to cause trouble at Liang Zhuzi’s shop.

Liang Zhuzi, being an outsider, and because this was a family issue, strangers were reluctant to intervene, and the shop was smashed to ruins.

Liang Zhuzi and his wife had no choice but to go and ask for help from their mother-in-law, who then went back to her parental home to ask her brothers for help. The three families sat down and quarreled for a full day, finally settling it with Liang Zhuzi’s family compensating Chang Kang’s family ten taels of silver.