Chapter 156 City Streets 56

Chapter 156: City Life 56

"So it’s Boss Liu! Please, come in! Come in!" The server clearly knew in advance that Liu Guyu would be coming. As soon as he heard the name, he warmly invited him inside and called out toward the interior, "Manager! Manager! Boss Liu is here!"

Before long, an unfamiliar middle-aged man hurried out, bowed respectfully to Liu Guyu.

"You must be Boss Liu? Please come in. Our boss mentioned you’d likely be visiting these past few days and instructed us to take good care of you."

The shopkeeper, surnamed Ge, was recently hired by Chang E.

The previous shopkeeper, surnamed Yang, had been with the Chang family for many years. However, he went behind Chang E’s back to stir up trouble at Liu's Eatery, shamelessly demanding they sell their recipes at a low price.

When Chang E found out, she immediately dismissed him from his position and reassigned him to a minor supervisor role at a rural estate. This leniency was only because he had been with the Chang family for decades, and some sentiment remained. Otherwise, given Chang E’s personality, she would have outright thrown him out.

Shopkeeper Ge invited Liu Guyu into a private dining room, personally poured tea for him, and said, "Boss Liu, please rest for a while. Our boss has gone to Xiuchun Lou to go over the books and might be a while before returning. If you’re not in a hurry, please sit for a moment. I’ll have someone bring you some food."

Shopkeeper Ge greeted him with a smile, quickly seated Liu Guyu, and immediately had the best pastries from Xichun Restaurant brought out.

Since they were discussing a culinary business, it was only natural to taste the dishes prepared by Xichun Restaurant.

Liu Guyu did not refuse Shopkeeper Ge’s kindness and allowed him to have the waiter bring several plates of pastries.

One was "Orange Jade Delight," served in a glass dessert cup—a sweet dish made from oranges and pears. The oranges were peeled and deseeded, their flesh mashed and seasoned with salt and fruit vinegar. White pears were diced small and mixed evenly with the orange pulp. The orange-and-white fruit mixture arranged in a transparent cup looked quite appealing.

The fruit vinegar was likely a special recipe of Xichun Restaurant, golden in color with a hint of tartness and a stronger fruity flavor, perfectly suited for such desserts.

This was likely an old-fashioned delicacy. Liu Guyu was tasting it for the first time. The first bite tasted somewhat strange, but the sweet and sour flavor was refreshing. By the second bite, he began to appreciate its subtle charm—a clear, sweet taste that soothed the throat.

Shopkeeper Ge introduced: "This snack is excellent for curing a hangover. Few guests order it alone; it’s usually served after they’ve been drinking. Would you like to try this as well?"

He pushed forward a rectangular plate holding four delicate peach blossom pastries, neatly arranged on a celadon dish. Each had five petite petals with a deep red dot in the center.

The peach blossom pastries were wrapped in a crispy, flaky crust that crumbled at a touch. Inside was a filling of salted egg yolk, balancing savory and sweet flavors perfectly.

However, these pastries could become rich if you eat too many and tended to dry the mouth. That’s why they were called tea snacks—meant to be enjoyed slowly with small sips of tea.

Liu Guyu tried one and didn’t reach for more. The taste was good, but it was too easy to feel stuffed and thirsty. Drinking water led to frequent bathroom breaks.

A few more small plates were served, and he sampled each a couple of times. He also asked Shopkeeper Ge to bring Xichun Restaurant’s menu and went through it carefully.

Xichun Restaurant was a major establishment in the prefecture, with skilled chefs overseeing the kitchen. The flavors of the dishes were unquestionably excellent, and the variety was extensive.

Braised mandarin fish with wild mushrooms, salted pork with spring bamboo shoots, water shield soup, stir-fried river shrimp, lotus leaf steamed pork, fish head with tofu, shrimp and eel noodles, salted duck, lion’s head meatballs with crab roe, cherry pork…

The array was overwhelming, but after looking through it again, he began to notice a pattern.

Xichun Restaurant’s dishes leaned toward mild flavors, emphasizing original tastes. And due to the abundance of rivers, river delicacies were frequently featured.

Liu Guyu suddenly asked, "Are the dishes at other restaurants in the prefecture also this mild?"

Shopkeeper Ge quickly nodded in response: "The people of Jiangning Prefecture prefer fresh and sweet flavors, so other restaurants also focus on mild dishes. Truthfully, the offerings are quite similar."

This was indeed something Liu Guyu had noticed since arriving in the prefecture.

There were many dessert shops in the prefecture, and even more stalls selling Sweet Oil Balls. Most locals had a sweet tooth.

But Liu Guyu added, "However, I’ve visited the night market. There are plenty of stalls selling sour and spicy rice noodles, spicy braised offal, and pickled pepper chicken slices—all doing good business. This shows that the people here can eat spicy food as well."

Shopkeeper Ge was about to retort but then remembered that he himself enjoyed spicy food and awkwardly fell silent.

Liu Guyu took the last sip of tea and stood up, addressing Shopkeeper Ge, "Let's head to the kitchen first. I imagine Boss Chang E will still take a while to return. Since I need to sample the dishes anyway, I’ll go take a look in the kitchen first."

Shopkeeper Ge immediately nodded and escorted Liu Guyu to the kitchen.

The kitchen at Xichun Restaurant was spacious, with about seven or eight stoves visible, and a long counter at the back where a pastry chef was making pastries.

Several chefs were dressed in identical uniforms, with gray cloth headbands wrapped around their heads—both to protect their hair from oil fumes and to prevent any strands from falling into the cooking pots.

Before Liu Guyu even stepped inside, he overheard voices from within.

The voice belonged to a young apprentice, sounding indignant and dissatisfied: "Master, I heard the boss hired a Xiao Geer to teach us? He’s not even older than me—what could he possibly teach?"

"Even if he’s just going through the motions with us, how dare he try to teach you, Master? When you were learning to cook, he probably hadn’t even been born yet!"

Liu Guyu: "?"

Liu Guyu immediately halted, raising an eyebrow slightly as he glanced at Shopkeeper Ge beside him.

Shopkeeper Ge wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking both embarrassed and awkward.

He recognized the speaker—a young man in his twenties who had only gotten an apprenticeship in the kitchen due to being the head chef’s nephew. The young man had learned little skill but had a sharp tongue.

Shopkeeper Ge hurriedly bowed apologetically to Liu Guyu and was about to lift the curtain to scold the speaker when, before he could say a word, he heard someone inside already berating them.

"Yeah! Why should he? He’s only in his twenties—how can he be a boss while you’re still an apprentice here? Because you’re stupid? All height and no brains?"

The speaker was Xichun Restaurant’s head chef, surnamed Xu, a man in his forties whom Chang E had hired at a high price from outside.

To be fair, there were older, more experienced chefs at Xichun Restaurant who had been there longer. By seniority, he shouldn’t have been made head chef. But his culinary skills were exceptional, and since Chang E had hired him at a high price, it was agreed from the start that he would serve as head chef.

Another chef chimed in: "Chef Xu, there’s no need for that! Ah Li isn’t wrong—that guy really is young, and he’s a Xiao Geer. I bet the number of years we’ve spent cooking is longer than his age! It’s not just me who distrusts him. The boss is young too—maybe she’s been fooled."

The chef speaking was the apprentice’s master and uncle. In his fifties, he had been cooking at Xichun Restaurant for half his life. By rights, the head chef position should have been his!

Who would have thought that after the young boss took over Xichun Restaurant, she’d quietly hire a new chef to be head chef? He had long been discontented!

Hearing this, they couldn’t listen to this anymore—it was an insult to the boss!

Shopkeeper Ge’s face darkened, and he stormed into the kitchen, scolding the chefs: "That's bullshit! You only dare to talk shit behind people’s backs!"

"Inviting Boss Liu to teach was something the boss decided long ago. She even asked for the opinions of the chefs back then. If you were unhappy, why didn’t you speak up then? Now, while the boss is away, who are you raising your voice at?"

The chef hadn’t expected his grumbling to be overheard by the shopkeeper. Glancing at the young man standing at the entrance—good-looking, with a headband covering his forehead, clearly a Geer—that had to be Boss Liu!

Being caught badmouthing someone—there was nothing more embarrassing.

The faces of the chef and his apprentice, one old and one young, turned white then red, speechless for a long time.

Truthfully, it wasn’t that the chef looked down on Liu Guyu. He was dissatisfied with the boss’s arrangements and the new head chef, using the opportunity to complain and also to take Chef Xu down a peg, letting him know that he was an old-timer at the restaurant and couldn’t be bossed around.

Stammering, at a loss for words, Shopkeeper Ge spoke first: "Since you’re unhappy with the boss’s arrangements, it seems Xichun Restaurant can’t keep you. Get your things and leave! Take your foolish apprentice with you! He can’t even serve dishes correctly—just as brain-dead as you! I only kept him on before out of respect for you, but now there’s no need to keep anyone!"

The chef choked with anger: "I’m a longtime employee here! What gives you the right to fire me? Only the boss can fire me!"

Shopkeeper Ge: "On the grounds that I’m the shopkeeper of Xichun Restaurant! If I can’t decide who stays or goes, what kind of shopkeeper am I? And the rest of you—if anyone else is dissatisfied with the boss’s arrangements, you can pack up and leave now too!"

The chef, enraged, slammed his ladle down, untied his apron, and flung it to the ground. He glared at his apprentice and snapped, "What are you waiting for? Move it! Do you want to wait for them to kick you out?"

He knew that Shopkeeper Ge indeed had the authority to make such decisions. Even if he waited for the boss to return, once she heard what had happened, he would undoubtedly be dismissed.

The previous shopkeeper was kicked out in exactly the same manner.

He stormed out angrily, while his young apprentice, too frightened to utter a word, scurried after him, pale-faced.

The remaining cooks and apprentices didn’t dare speak another word, hardly daring to breathe as they busied themselves with their tasks.

Only after dealing with the situation did Shopkeeper Ge turn to Liu Guyu, looking embarrassed and apologetic as he said, “Boss Liu, I’m sorry you had to witness that. What do you think…?”

He wanted to ask Liu Guyu to teach his recipes, but after that embarrassing scene, he wasn’t sure if Liu Guyu was upset or if the collaboration was now off.

Liu Guyu, however, didn’t hold it against him. Though he had been a little annoyed at first, Shopkeeper Ge’s quick response and the head chef’s respectful attitude had quickly eased his irritation, leaving him more amused than angry.

Liu Guyu said, “It’s fine. Since you’ve handled your internal affairs, I can begin now.”

Shopkeeper Ge breathed a sigh of relief and promptly invited Liu Guyu inside.

There was a small, separate kitchen within the main kitchen, usually reserved for the head chef. This time, Liu Guyu was invited to use it.

Since the contract hadn’t been signed yet, Liu Guyu couldn’t simply cook in front of all the chefs—experienced cooks could easily pick up techniques just by watching, which wouldn’t do.

So he worked alone in the small kitchen, with the door closed to keep his methods secret. Once the dishes were ready, he would have the chefs and Chang E taste them. If they approved, the contract could be signed, and only then would he teach them the recipes.

Liu Guyu entered the small kitchen, tied the brand-new apron prepared by Chef Xu around his waist, and got ready to start.

He planned to make hotpot base and mini cream cakes—one spicy, one sweet, a perfect combination.

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Author’s Note: ① “Chengyu Sheng” is from *The Mountain Family’s Light Provisions*—this dish actually existed in ancient times. I’m genuinely curious about how fruit would taste with salt, soy sauce, and vinegar… It sounds rather unusual.