fictionpage Chapter 28 Wang Po's Freshly Ground Tofu
Chapter 28 Wang Po's Freshly Ground Tofu
"How do you think it tastes?"
The diner said, "I'm giving it a thumbs up, it's absolutely fantastic!"
However, at that moment, Xu Liang saw the text that pop up on the game panel interface.
[+1 in recognition from diners]
Xu Liang witnessed the diner in front of him eat his tomato and Sichuan pepper beef stir-fried noodles clean, leaving not even a drop of oil.
This is a true food lover.
However, this also shows that Xu Liang's new dishes are quite delicious.
Then, after the diner finished eating the fried noodles.
Several more diners entered Xu Liang's small restaurant; this time, it was a group of people.
The young man in the middle was wearing a yellow and black checkered shirt, but not the kind of color scheme that looks like cigarette butts and ash.
The person behind him was wearing green pants and had a nonchalant attitude.
The people next to them were slightly more normal, but they still looked as shrewd as ever.
He doesn't even wear the factory uniform when he goes to work; he's probably been scolded a few times at the factory.
He had never met Xu Liang before, so he couldn't make a conclusion.
However, the diner who had just eaten the fried noodles knew that group of people; they were from the same factory and the same department as him.
Moreover, they often bumped into each other at the factory.
After finishing his fried noodles and wiping his mouth, the diner stood up from his chair.
The group also recognized the diner as an old acquaintance.
"Brother Ye, so you're here! You're a regular at this little restaurant too."
"You guys also like coming to this little restaurant!"
It seems that the first customer was quite influential; his group actually called him Brother Ye.
They held high positions and were very prestigious in the factory, but unfortunately, they were not employees of Xu Liang's factory; they came from another factory.
"You just arrived, I'm already full!"
"Hey, Brother Ye, what are you eating? Is it spicy beef noodles or congee with preserved egg and lean meat?"
Those people asked Xu Liang about today's first customer.
I didn't eat either of them.
Upon hearing this, a look of surprise appeared on everyone's faces.
They seemed completely baffled.
Everyone was very puzzled.
Just as those people were about to become Xu Liang's first customer, Xu Liang spoke up.
"This customer is trying a new dish today!"
Their eyes widened even more, each one filled with anticipation!
"What new dishes? We want to try them too!"
Their voices were still very loud.
It was still a working day, and suddenly, passersby poured in.
This is the Pleist effect from that physics book from my past life, and so many people have been drawn to it.
Among them were several group leaders and above from the factory who came to watch.
At that time, the small restaurant was already full of diners.
Xu Liang greeted everyone warmly, "Please come in and sit down. Tea has already been prepared on the table. Let's chat for a while, and I'll start cooking right away."
Xu Liang went over to each of them and asked.
These diners were mostly there to try the new dish, tomato and pepper beef stir-fried noodles.
As soon as this new dish was introduced, the first customer tried it and word spread quickly, and it soon became a hit.
Therefore, his Xiaoliangzi Restaurant was packed with customers within minutes.
After settling the guests in, Xu Liang hurriedly ran to the kitchen.
Today's order volume is exceptionally high again, looks like this morning will be another tough battle.
So Xu Liang unleashed his hidden speed, quickly and methodically processing the ingredients.
He would quickly wash tomatoes, onions, beef, and green vegetables three times before cutting them.
In about ten minutes, Xu Liang had already satisfied the appetite of all the diners in the small restaurant.
He didn't use the cheat code, because Xu Liang's cheat code was the kind that increases proficiency and solves problems in the dish catalog.
This has no effect on Xu Liang's speed.
However, having cooking experience from a previous life is enough; as for the rest, you can only rely on your own hands.
One after another, fragrant and appetizing stir-fried noodles were served on the tables where the diners were seated.
But when the diners started eating the fried noodles, some of them looked very excited, and their happy smiles were truly radiant.
Suddenly, a middle-aged man appeared out of nowhere, wearing glasses, a yellow work uniform issued by his own factory, and black safety shoes, and then ordered Xu Liang around.
Anyway, the man in front of him wasn't from Xu Liang's old factory, and he didn't know him or how to address him, so he just called him "worker" at random.
Even middle-aged people can only be called "buddy". If it is a young person like themselves, then they are called "little buddy". If it is a middle-aged person older than themselves, then they are just called "buddy". If it is much older than themselves, then they are called "old buddy".
"Hey buddy, what kind of help do you need?"
The middle-aged man stuffed some money into Xu Liang's hand without hesitation.
"I want another plate, this is so delicious, I haven't had enough."
Upon hearing this, Xu Liang realized that this person was indeed wealthy, but he wondered which factory's competitive eater had come here to splurge.
When the middle-aged man stood up, Xu Liang's sharp eyes spotted his name tag tucked into the right side of his collar.
The large characters above read Wang Shouhong, from the machinery factory next door. Moreover, Xu Liang looked down and discovered that this middle-aged man's position was actually a team leader in the factory's workshop.
He also frequently exploited his workers.
However, the factory in 1995 had a different system than the factory before Xu Liang's rebirth, even though the two-shift system originated from a factory in the UK.
But the machines in those factories can't be stopped. Once the machines stop operating, even after a few hours, minutes, or seconds, the factory owner, or factory manager, will suffer huge losses.
Even a pause of just one second can result in a significant loss of money.
Therefore, the factory operates on a two-shift system. To avoid the machines from stopping, the day shift and night shift alternate. After one person finishes a twelve-hour shift, the next person takes over.
While Xu Liang was working at the factory, his mentor did provide him with some guidance, but some meddlesome team leaders even criticized him in front of his mentor, which made Xu Liang somewhat uneasy.
Because of this, Xu Liang had nowhere to hide his face. No matter what, he still cared about his reputation.
After making money this morning with breakfast, his earnings were quite considerable.
However, not all the diners had left yet.
Not long after the last customer finished eating and Xu Liang saw him off, the small restaurant was almost empty.
In an instant, Xu Liang felt that the small restaurant was empty, and then thought of checking the game panel.
Xu Liang used his mind to open the game panel.
However, they discovered that they had already garnered the approval of eighty-nine diners.
The approval progress has increased from 50% to 89%.
Eleven more approvals are needed to reach the next stage goal.
His next goal is to gain the approval of one hundred diners, that is, one hundred...
Xu Liang was still confident in himself. He had almost finished researching the Mapo Tofu in the main storyline, and then he would make it and sell it to diners in large quantities.
So, by gathering 100 diners, we can achieve 100% approval.
This will unlock the rewards for the next stage.
The most important thing right now is to complete the next main quest.
The next main storyline is about making Mapo Tofu.
The problem now is where to find the ingredients to make Mapo Tofu.
This is a headache.
However, just because Xu Liang himself didn't know doesn't mean others didn't.
So, he thought for a moment and retrieved a memory from his mind.
When Xu Liang was very young, he saw his mother, Zhao Hongzhi, always buying groceries, and many times he saw her buy a white, square-shaped thing.
Xu Liang was still young at the time and didn't know what it was. He only knew that it was very delicious when stir-fried or deep-fried.
It wasn't until he grew up that he learned that the thing was called tofu.
And it's freshly ground.
……
In the evening, Xu Liang went home for dinner.
His younger sister, Xu Tian, was busy with her homework inside the house.
His father, Xu Guisheng, was in the next room with a light on, discussing his work.
However, the mother, Zhao Hongzhi, was busy in the kitchen.
So when Xu Liang got home, there was nothing for him to do. Therefore, he could only sit on the bench at home and look at the game panel.
Proficiency in all three areas is a distant dream.
If his proficiency level were already at its maximum, Xu Liang would have already become a culinary master.
But for now, we can only take it one step at a time.
Success is easier said than done.
Without hard work and dedication, everything will ultimately come to nothing.
As soon as Xu Liang entered the door, Zhao Hongzhi shouted, "Everyone put down what you're doing and get the bowls and chopsticks! And Xu Tian, check if your brother is back yet!"
Then, his sister Xu Tian was the first to come out, and that's when Xu Tian happened to see Xu Liang.
"Mom, my brother is back."
"What? He's back? Tell him to come and get the bowls and chopsticks."
Zhao Hongzhi's voice echoed in the kitchen.
He shouted so loudly that almost the entire kitchen and even the living room could hear him.
Xu Guisheng followed closely behind Xu Tian, only a little slower.
But the younger sister, Xu Tian, went into the kitchen and took a bowl, while her father, Xu Guisheng, took chopsticks.
Naturally, Xu Liang was the last to enter the kitchen to help, so he didn't have much work to do.
However, Zhao Hongzhi, being an impatient person, would definitely not leave Xu Liang without work to do.
Looking at the several dishes that were already cooked, and with the spicy chicken he was currently stir-frying almost ready, Xu Liang had a lot of work to do.
"Liangwa, come here, I'll find you something to do. Bring me these dishes!"
Faced with this request, Xu Liang had no choice but to agree.
"Okay!"
Having said that, Xu Liang immediately carried out the order, first serving two small dishes.
After finishing, they quickly returned.
By this time, Zhao Hongzhi had finished cooking the dish in the pot.
After that, Xu Liang brought the remaining dishes to the table in the living room.
Xu Tian was also very diligent; she even took the initiative to place the bowl next to the rice cooker and then opened the lid herself.
I ladled out four large bowls of steaming hot rice for the family of four.
Immediately afterwards, his brother Xu Liang and his father Xu Guisheng came over to serve the food.
Before long, all the preparations were completed.
Next, it was time to eat dinner.
At the dinner table, Xu Liang asked, "Dad, Mom, are you busy today?"
Hearing Xu Liang talk about these things.
The couple simply looked at each other.
Zhao Hongzhi spoke first: "I'm not too busy. I shoveled some soil this morning, and then went to Aunt Xiang's house to play mahjong this afternoon. I won a lot today, I made quite a bit of money."
Seeing that Zhao Hongzhi had a happy look on her face.
But this is ultimately a gamble.
Making money or losing money is purely based on luck.
Moreover, there's an idiom that goes something like "nine out of ten bets fail," which comes from this.
Xu Liang had long discovered that his mother's mahjong addiction was extraordinary. He had tried to persuade Zhao Hongzhi several times, but then he thought about her stubborn temper.
He gave up after all.
Xu Liangyue didn't say anything, but Zhao Hongzhi became increasingly arrogant.
Since then, Xu Liang has never considered the matter again.
"Dad, what about you?"
"Me? I work in a factory!"
"oh oh!"
When Zhao Hongzhi saw Xu Liang asking them these questions, she changed the subject.
She asked, "Xu Liang, how's the business at your little restaurant?"
"It's great, the place was packed with people this morning."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Hongzhi happily said, "You, Liangwa, have quite the knack for running a restaurant. My encouragement for you is to keep up the good work and keep going!"
At this moment, Xu Liang didn't know what to say; he just smiled foolishly at his parents.
But tonight's business is not just about chatting about everyday things.
Xu Liang is quite dedicated to his small restaurant, striving to improve and gradually expand and strengthen it.
Therefore, he has been actively participating in and taking on the tasks that have been assigned, which is his current focus.
Mapo tofu, since it contains the word "tofu," must contain tender white tofu in its preparation.
He had seen it at the market before; there were several tofu shops, and he noticed that the edges and corners of the white tofu were somewhat yellowish. This wasn't something Xu Liang imagined out of thin air, but rather the result of his observation.
If you want to buy the best and freshest freshly ground tofu in town, the experience for diners will be extraordinary.
Xu Liang forced himself to speak to Zhao Hongzhi.
"Mom, do you know which shop in town makes the freshest tofu, and it has to be freshly ground?"
Seeing Xu Liang say this, Zhao Hongzhi thought for a moment, then quickly asked, "I know, Liangwa, why are you asking?"
"I want to buy some freshly ground tofu to make a new dish."
"Oh, I see. There's an old street in the east gate of the town, and there's a well over there. To the upper right of the well, there's a shop with a sign that says 'Wang Po's Freshly Ground Tofu.' You can go and take a look."
"Okay, it's the same shop you used to buy from when you made tofu for me when I was little!"
"That's right. I'm a regular customer there. I call the shop owner 'Auntie,' but you'll have to call her 'Grandma Wang.'"
Zhao Hongzhi kept explaining these things to Xu Liang.
But halfway through dinner, Zhao Hongzhi seemed to remember something and said to Xu Liang, "I thought of a story about Wang Po, Liangwa, do you know Yang Ersao from Lu Xun's hometown?"
"I know, what's wrong?"
"Then do you know that Yang Ersao is the Tofu Beauty?"
"I know, what's wrong now?"
Zhao Hongzhi clapped her right hand with her left hand, and then said to Xu Liang, "I almost forgot. I heard the older generation in town say that she was the tofu beauty on that old street when she was young."
"Back then, Granny Wang was incredibly beautiful; everyone fawned over her and bought her tofu!"
Zhao Hongzhi made this assessment of Granny Wang.
This indirectly shows that Wang Po was not only beautiful when she was young, but also had a very successful business.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have gained so much popularity.
Having said all this, Xu Liang had something on his mind.
He only went to buy tofu because of her beauty. Didn't he also try to take advantage of her?
However, it would be rather embarrassing to taste the quality of tofu in front of people.
Generally speaking, you pay first and then eat!