The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 972 - 951 Opening (Additional update for book friend "Becky’s" reward)

Chapter 972: Chapter 951 Opening (Additional update for book friend "Becky’s" reward)

The Zhou family hung up the signboard covered with red cloth; on the twentieth day, they had prepared all the ingredients and drinks. Zhou Liulang also stewed quite a few dishes with his nephews and niece, kneaded many steamed buns, and simmered a large pot of broth.

Early on the twenty-first, the scent of the broth wafted out, permeating the three or four neighboring shops with the aroma of their ingredients.

Zhou Lijun had prepared ink and an abacus early at the counter. This was the task she had snatched from her brothers, and even Zhou Wulang couldn’t outdo her—it was settled that she would handle the accounts.

Then, arranged by seniority, Zhou Wulang took charge as the manager, and Zhou Liulang naturally became the head chef. Zhou Lichong and Zhou Liwei could only be apprentices, and also doubled as assistant cooks.

Zhou Liulang felt that Zhou Liwei and Zhou Lijun resembled the Zhou, in all aspects except cooking, which they unfortunately inherited from the Second Sister-in-law. Meanwhile, Zhou Lichong wasn’t like the eldest sister-in-law in this regard either.

But, choosing the lesser of two evils, Zhou Liulang after deliberation decided to have Zhou Lichong stay in the kitchen to assist him more.

Manbao, upon learning this, volunteered enthusiastically, rolling up her sleeves, "Sixth Brother, the day will be busy; I can also help in the kitchen."

Zhou Liulang looked at her for a while and said, "You should forget it; you can only make fires."

"What’s wrong with making fires? Do you look down on fire-making? You should know that cooking good food depends on the fire."

Bai Erlang said, "I can make fires too."

"Then will you come and help?"

Bai Erlang quickly regained his composure and shook his head, "Forget it, I’d better help you greet guests up front, but I can help you serve dishes; I’m good at that."

Despite this, the Old Zhou family wouldn’t really let guests serve dishes and fetch water; with so many of them, they were indeed busy enough and a slower pace wouldn’t hurt.

Early on the twenty-first of July, the Zhou’s Restaurant’s backyard became bustling. Manbao and two others jumped off the carriage waving at Daji and, like young calves, they rushed into the backyard, taking a deep breath and exclaimed, "It smells so good."

Zhou Liulang smiled and opened a steamer, "I made large meat buns, will you eat?"

Though they had already eaten breakfast, the three of them nodded, swallowing saliva.

Zhou Liulang served them a bowl of soup and picked out six large meat buns to place on their table.

The buns were still steaming hot. Biting into one, the juices slightly seeped out, the minced meat mixed with the soft, white dough was exceptionally delicious.

Manbao sighed contentedly and asked, "Sixth Brother, aren’t we selling breakfast?"

"Not today; we’ll start tomorrow. Today the large meat buns are for the guests. How do you find them?"

Manbao nodded vigorously, "Delicious."

Zhou Liulang didn’t value Manbao’s opinion much, as she found everything tasty. He looked at Bai Shan and Bai Erlang.

Bai Shan and Bai Erlang also nodded continuously, "It’s really delicious."

Zhou Liulang felt a bit more confident, happily saying, "That’s great. Today we will use these to serve our guests, and start selling breakfast tomorrow."

Mr. Zhuang was calculating the auspicious time and, along with Liu Gui, they arrived slightly earlier. They had just settled on the second floor when Shopkeeper Zheng arrived with a group, including Doctor Gu and Doctor Tao.

Only Doctor Ding remained at the medical shop, even Young Manager Zheng was present.

Besides them, Shopkeeper Zheng had invited several friends to help warm up the place.

Manbao was very happy and invited them upstairs.

Mr. Zhuang had not yet met Shopkeeper Zheng, so this was a perfect opportunity for an introduction.

Shopkeeper Zheng had already heard from Doctor Ji that Manbao had a teacher whom she listened to very attentively, thus he was eager to meet him—one of his purposes for coming to warm the shop.

The two of them greeted each other with beaming smiles and customary clasped hands, got acquainted, and then sat down to chat.

Manbao had just greeted them when new customers arrived downstairs, she peeked down and saw Bai Erlang leading his classmates in.

They were invited to the second floor as well...

Bai Shan had only invited Feng Zongping, Peng Zhiru, and Lu Xiaofu, who arrived a bit later but still before the auspicious time.

All the honored guests were invited to sit on the second floor, and Shopkeeper Zheng, after courteously greeting the guests, noticed Zhou Wu downstairs constantly ushering patrons into the dining hall.

Among them were vegetable farmers he had met these few days, butchers specializing in pork, and shopkeepers from the same street...

When the auspicious time arrived, firecrackers started popping, a crowd stood at the door watching the excitement, and Manbao was so pleased that she clapped her hands red and joined the onlookers in exclaiming in awe.

Zhou Wu was about to look for her, couldn’t find her, and when he heard noises, he located her, pulled her forward, and said, "Manbao, you’re in luck, it’s time to pull the red cloth."

Manbao grabbed the red cloth and yanked it down fiercely, revealing the signboard; the crowd cheered, and Zhou Wu stepped forward clasping his hands, addressing the onlookers, "Today, Zhou’s Restaurant opens, and everyone who comes in to eat will be offered a plate of large meat buns..."

The onlookers bowed in return, those who wanted to eat entered, and those who didn’t turned to leave.

Many people liked to visit newly opened restaurants as they would offer free food on the opening day which was both inexpensive and beneficial.

However, others were not so confident about newly opened places.

Zhou Wu ushered in some customers willing to dine, guiding them to their seats, and Zhou Liwei hurried over to serve, announce the menu, and took a pen to note down the order.

He still had a poor memory and could only jot down the numbers.

Manbao rushed to help in the kitchen, Zhou Liulang finished cooking the dishes and set them on the counter, and Zhou Lichong methodically served them, keeping a decent speed.

Zhou Liulang, having worked at Zhiwei Restaurant, was very familiar with kitchen affairs and quickly adapted to the hustle; Zhou Lichong and others were slightly slower, but they always remembered Zhou Liulang’s advice—better steady than hasty, so they managed without any hitches.

Food was also served on the second floor, Mr. Zhuang looked after Shopkeeper Zheng and others on Manbao’s behalf, Bai Shan attended to his friends, and Bai Erlang to his classmates.

Since they were all students from the Imperial Academy and divided between two tables, they quickly joined together to chat.

Feng Zongping and his friends, as seniors, soon became the center of the conversation.

Feng Zongping was naturally outgoing, and now with people to talk to, he became even more talkative, quickly mingling everyone at both tables.

Peng Zhiru and Lu Xiaofu were somewhat introverted; they hadn’t expected Bai Shan to invite them, mainly because Bai Shan seemed even more reserved, generally disliking talking to people in class.

However, the three shared the common experience of entering the Imperial Academy, so even if they weren’t close to Bai Shan, they came upon his invitation.

Only upon arrival did they realize, aside from Feng Zongping and his two friends, they were the only classmates Bai Shan had invited; they didn’t show it, but they were somewhat pleased internally.

They felt a bit more fondness towards Bai Shan.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.