Travel back to ancient times and open a Sichuan restaurant

The second brother Zhong walked into the kitchen and asked Zhong Ruyi: "Little sister, have you taken a look at the pot? There are guests waiting outside." Although he spoke in a hurry, the second brother's face was full of excitement.

When the lid of the pot was opened, a fragrant aroma wafted to the face. Zhong Ruyi picked up the chopsticks and picked up a piece to try. It was ready. She nodded to her second brother, and her second brother took two pieces of cloth to wrap the two handles of the pot and carried it out of the kitchen.

When the guests outside saw him coming out with the braised food, they became very excited and started to make a commotion. Zhong Ruyi, who followed him, asked them to line up and whoever arrived first would be in front.

"I'll go first, I'll go first. I've been waiting here since early morning. Why do you open the store so late today?" The person in the front of the line was Zhang Sheng, who had been here yesterday. He was holding two bowls in his hands, one was lent to him by Zhongji yesterday, and the other was what he brought today.

Standing in line behind the rice shop owner was the proprietress of the tea shop next door. She also ordered two scoops today and talked with Brother Zhong, who was scooping the water, with a smile on her face. Zhong Ruyi couldn't help but sigh that the people in the town all spoke so softly, regardless of gender, age or status, unlike those in the village who spoke loudly and boldly.

There was a queue in front of Zhongji, which was a bit noisy and attracted the curiosity of passers-by on the street. Many people walked closer to watch the fun.

“What does this store sell?”

"Zhongji Snacks? I remember eating wontons here before. Why is it so lively today? Are you all here to eat wontons?"

"I don't know, I've never been here. I just saw a lot of people and came to take a look."

There was no need for Second Brother Zhong to shout loudly, as the guests who came yesterday bought the entire pot. Second Brother Zhong went in and brought out the second pot. Second Sister-in-law was collecting the money, while Zhong Ruyi handed bowls to the guests who didn't bring any, and told them that they were lending them the bowls and that they should remember to bring them back when the time came.

People passing by asked a few questions what was being sold. Some said it was pig offal. Upon hearing the name, some wrinkled their noses in disgust, thinking that people were lining up to buy something as disgusting as pig offal, which really showed that they had never seen the world. Others were curious about what kind of pig offal could attract so many people to line up to buy it, so they also lined up.

"I want some too. I want four spoonfuls. There are many people in my family. I didn't get to eat much when I took it back yesterday. Each person took one chopstick and it was gone. But my family said it was delicious. They urged me to buy more early in the morning. My mother has bad teeth, so she uses the soup to soak rice, which is also very delicious!" The rice shop owner asked for four spoonfuls at once and handed over two large bowls. Two spoonfuls to one bowl was just right. He also brought back the bowl he borrowed yesterday.

The second sister-in-law smiled and replied, "Four scoops cost thirty coins."

After hearing this, the rice shop owner thought to himself, it's so cheap, even if the second scoop is not half price in a few days, ten cents a scoop is not expensive. A pound of pork alone costs fifteen cents, and the offal is cooked food. He ate it yesterday and could tell that sugar was added to it. Sugar is much more expensive than meat. Other seasonings that he can't taste also cost money. The offal with sugar and other ingredients added only costs ten cents a scoop, and one scoop is half a bowl. It's a good deal!

The customers who came to buy yesterday thought it was cheap, and the passers-by who came to join in the fun thought it was a bit expensive at first, but when Brother Zhong opened the lid of the pot and smelled the fragrance, they no longer thought it was expensive, and they were just extremely curious about what kind of smell was so tempting.

There was still some food left after the last two pots were sold out, and it was bought up by Mr. Zhang, the first customer who came back to buy some. He said that he had guests coming to his house in the evening, so he bought more to take back, otherwise there would not be enough to eat.

The three of them cleaned several pots and wooden barrels and basins before sitting down to rest. They glanced at the sun and saw that it should be two or three in the afternoon.

It was not until they sat down that the three of them felt hungry. The second sister-in-law said she was going out to buy some food and would not cook. She asked the brother and sister what they wanted to eat and went out to buy it. The second brother sat for a while and then said he was going to fetch some water. Zhong Ruyi was left alone in the store.

Not long after the second brother left, a woman came to the door, walking in a bit stiffly. Zhong Ruyi thought she was here to buy braised offal, so she said, "Aunt, we have sold out of the braised offal today. If you want it, come early tomorrow and we'll have it."

The woman said a little embarrassedly: "No, no, I'm not here to buy braised offal, no, I'm here to buy braised offal."

Seeing Zhong Ruyi's puzzled expression, she explained, "I want to ask if your family can accept reservations."

"Reservation? Reservation for braised offal?" Zhong Ruyi was a little hesitant. Some stores nowadays can accept reservations for business, but she doesn't know if it was possible in ancient times.

"We have about two pots of braised offal in our store every day. If it is convenient for you, you can come earlier, but we cannot accept the reservation you mentioned." If everyone has to make a reservation, the pressure will be too great.

What if the customer doesn't want to book after the reservation? If you book today for tomorrow, and then have to worry about tomorrow's reservation after work every day, isn't that asking for trouble? When the people queuing on site hear that they can make a reservation, everyone will want to make a reservation, and they have to remember the customer and collect a deposit first, which is really too troublesome.

The woman looked a little disappointed, nodded and left.

Mrs. Zhong happened to meet her when she came back, and the two greeted each other face to face.

Seeing that the two seemed to know each other, Zhong Ruyi asked the second sister-in-law: "Second sister-in-law, do you know her?"

"I know her. She lives on our street. Her family sells noodles." He put the buns and sesame cakes he bought on the table. "What's the matter? Is she here to buy braised food too?"

Zhong Ruyi nodded, "She asked if we could make a reservation."

The second sister-in-law frowned. Reservation? Doesn't her family sell noodles? It's not like she doesn't have time all day long. Can't she just come and buy it when she wants to eat? Reservation is necessary? The second sister-in-law just thought she was weird, but she didn't take it to heart.

Brother Zhong came back from fetching water and sat down to eat. Hearing this, he also felt a little strange. "I'll go to her shop and take a look."

After the second brother finished eating and went out, the aunt and sister-in-law closed the shop and counted the money on the table. They made two pots today, each with 20 scoops. Most of the customers today were the ones who bought yesterday, and they all bought two scoops. Only a few bought one scoop. The total was 315 coins. After counting the money, the second brother just came back, and his face looked a little strange. The second sister-in-law asked him what was wrong, and whether that store wanted to steal our business?

The second brother said, "I just went over to take a look. They still sell noodles, but now they add our sauce, so their business is much better."

Zhong Ruyi then realized that someone had come to her house to buy it yesterday and put it on the noodles, saying it was braised noodles. It attracted many customers, so her family thought of making a reservation. The quantity must have been quite a lot, after all, they could buy more than ten or twenty bowls of noodles a day, and one or two spoonfuls of braised food would not be enough.