The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Fernando shook his index finger. "No, no, no, 50 reais is too little. You should sell it for at least 80 reais! It's too cheap. Anyone will come and stay here. You will lose a lot!"

Lord Melo also nodded in agreement: "It should be a higher-end salon, with a minimum charge of 80 riels."

Min Xi turned around and asked Yun Ji: "Then should we change the price of tea?"

Yun Ji nodded: "Then let's follow your advice."

Fernando hugged the pillow and said, "What is this pillow made of? It feels really good."

Min Xi said: "The long ones are filled with bran. The square ones are filled with cotton."

This pillow was made by asking Amanda and Greta to help sew it using scraps of cloth. The pillow core was covered with cotton gauze, and then covered with patterned cotton cloth on the outside to make it easy to remove and wash.

Fernando rested his head on a long pillow and hugged a small square pillow. He said, "I'm going to live here from now on. Haha! It's so comfortable. I can rest, drink tea and eat snacks. It would be great if I could have some like-minded friends with me. It's so comfortable! Min, how did you come up with such a great idea?"

Min Xixin thought, this is not what I thought of. In the era when he lived, this was seen everywhere.

"This space is quite large. I want to rent it to someone to do something with it. In case there are any disagreements, conflicts may arise, which is quite troublesome. So I might as well use it myself. I can sell snacks downstairs and provide a place for people to eat snacks upstairs," said Min Xi.

"What a great idea!" Fernando high-fived. "I can't wait for the opening. By the way, when is the opening date?"

Min Xi said, "I discussed with Yun and decided to open the restaurant this Sunday, which happens to be the time when the restaurant is closed. You can come here to work."

"Then I will definitely invite some friends to come and support you," said Fernando.

Lord Mello also said, “I’ll invite my friends over as well.”

Early on Sunday morning, before daybreak, Min Xi and Yun Ji got up, and Diego also carried his luggage. Yesterday was his last night in the hotel. From today on, he would live in the snack shop. He had his own bed in the attic, but he did not feel happy.

Min Xi knew that he was reluctant to leave, so she touched the back of his head and said, "Okay, don't be like this, you can come back anytime. You don't have to make snacks at night, so come back whenever you want."

Diego nodded: "Okay."

"Today is the opening of a new store. You are the store manager, so you should be happy. You will be able to take charge of everything on your own from now on. Whether you can make money depends on you," said Min Xi.

Diego clenched his fists and said seriously, "Boss, I will definitely work hard to make a lot of money for you!"

"That's right. Work hard and I'll give you more bonus when you make money. Your wife will depend on this in the future." Min Xi said with a smile.

Diego blushed: "Boss, please stop making fun of me."

The two employees who lived in the attic of the dim sum shop heard the noise downstairs and hurried over.

Several people started to get busy. Today was the first day of opening, so the variety of dim sum should be as rich as possible, even if the quantity was a little small, so that customers could have a wider choice.

It is winter now, and the snacks are not easy to spoil. They are stored in sealed boxes and can be kept for two or three days without any problem.

Today is Sunday and people have to go to church in the morning. The egg tarts can be baked later. Bake the cookies and bread first, and put the goods on the shelves. Otherwise, the store will look empty and it won’t look like a shop.

Yunji kneads the dough and prepares to bake cookies, toast bread, and fry twisted dough sticks.

Min Xi went to make a cake. He planned to bake a big cake as a birthday cake sample for the guests who came to the store today. He asked Diego to help him. Because making a cake requires whipping egg whites and homemade buttercream, it is a very troublesome process, so custom birthday cakes are very expensive. The smallest size birthday cake costs 100 reais, and it needs to be booked at least half a day in advance.

An ordinary small cake is about the same size as an egg tart, but one costs 6 Swiss francs. The cost of ingredients is actually about the same, but the labor is expensive. The price of egg tarts is set by the restaurant and cannot be changed, otherwise it will be sold at a higher price.

The advantage of small cakes over egg tarts is that they can be kept for a day or two after baking, while egg tarts are made and sold on the same day and cannot be kept until the next day.

Two employees helped by lighting the stove and heating the oven.

By eight in the morning, the first batch of biscuits and bread had already been put into the oven. Yunji was also frying fried dough twists.

Min Xi pushed the birthday cake into the oven, came over to take over Yun Ji's work, fished out the first batch of fried dough twists, and said to Diego and the two employees, "I won't make breakfast. You guys hurry up and eat some fried dough twists and go to church. When you come back from church, the store will be open soon. Don't stay outside."

After hearing this, the three people quickly ate some fried dough twists and ran to the church to worship. Min Xi and Yun Ji were both non-Christians, and no one said anything to them for not going to church. Diego was an orphan, and it was unknown whether he had been baptized or not. He had to go to church every week, otherwise he would appear to be a maverick and be regarded as an alien.

When Baron Fernando arrived, there was no one in the store, only the wooden boxes on the shelves were no longer empty, some of them were filled with fragrant biscuits and bread. He unloaded the marigolds, pansies, kale and roses he brought from his greenhouse from his carriage and arranged them outside the store.

After finishing all these, he entered the store. He opened a glass lid and took a deep breath of the fragrance: "What a nice smell!" He reached out and grabbed a biscuit and took a bite. It was crispy, refreshing, fragrant and sweet, and tasted really good.

He walked in while eating: "Tsk tsk, your boss is really careless. He doesn't even have someone to watch over the store. Aren't you afraid that someone will come and steal things?"

Min Xi was spreading the freshly made cream on the cake base when he heard Fernando's voice. He smiled and said, "If you don't go to church on Sunday, I only know the Baron."

Fernando stuffed the last bite of the cookie into his mouth and said, "Haha, God is in my heart! What are you doing?"

Min Xi used a cake knife to gently smooth the cream and said, "Spread the cream on the cake and make it a birthday cake."

Fernando looked at the big cake in amazement: "Birthday cake? There is a cake for birthdays?"

Min Xi said, "Yes, it's a birthday cake. Wait for me to decorate it with something."

There is not much fruit in Fulanji in winter, so Min Xi planned to write some words on it with syrup, such as "Happy Birthday". In the future, according to customization needs, he can also add name and age, etc.

Yun Ji came in from the back door with a tray in one hand. When he saw Fernando, he greeted him, "Baron, you are here. Would you like a piece of freshly baked cake?"

The unique sweet aroma of the cake followed Yun Ji into the kitchen. Fernando looked at the box in his hand and reached out to take a piece: "It smells so good!"

He took a bite and said, "It's so fragrant and sweet! I love the taste here so much, it's so fragrant and sweet, it's intoxicating."

The unique aroma of the cake shop is indeed very attractive, especially in this era.

Min Xi spread the cream on the cake and started to boil the syrup in a small pot: "Then please come often."

"Need I tell you that? I'll be a regular here from now on. After dinner at the restaurant, I'll come and lie down here. In the winter, I can even warm myself by the fire. It's so comfortable!" said Fernando with a smile.

Yunji came back from the front hall and brought in two more trays. Fernando stopped him and said, "Let me see, what is this?"

Min Xi looked up and said, "This is a honey bun. You can try it."

"Can bread be baked like this? I've never seen it before!" Fernando took another loaf of bread with a golden surface and took a bite. The surface was spread with honey and was very sweet. The bread was very fluffy, but not as soft as cake. It was chewier and very suitable for the taste of Europeans who eat bread all year round.

"I like this taste!" said Fernando.

"Since you like it, it seems that many people will like it too." Min Xi had already melted the sugar, and then quickly took it and wrote on the cake.

He scooped up the syrup with a spoon and quickly poured the words "Happy Birthday" on the cake.

Fernando watched him perform magic and said, "Very good! This is candy, right? It should taste sweet. I think if there are elderly people and children at home, they will be willing to buy such a cake as a gift for them. What does it taste like? Can I have a taste?"

"It's similar to the cake you had before, but with more cream and syrup. You can't taste it today, I want to keep it as a sample. Tell the guests that they can come to customize birthday cakes in the future." Min Xi finished making the cake, picked up the wooden tray on the cake, and sent it to the front hall, where a display stand had been specially set aside, still covered with a glass cover. There were words written on the side of the display stand, indicating birthday cake reservations, size, price and other information.

Fernando said, "Well, when someone in the family has a birthday, I'll make a custom cake and try what it tastes like."

Min Xi smiled and said, "If you want to eat, you don't have to wait until your birthday to order it. You can come and order it at any time. Be happy every day of your life."

"Haha, what you said makes sense! Then customize one for me today and I can taste it with my friends later. When can I eat it?" said Fernando.

"If you order now, I can make it for you right now, but you have to wait two hours."

"That's fine. As long as we can eat it today, it's fine."

Yun Ji came over from the kitchen with a steaming kettle: "Please come down to the second floor and sit down. I'll make you a pot of tea."

Fernando reached for the kettle: "I'll do it myself, you guys go and do something."

Yun Ji didn't give it to him: "Let me do it. We just opened, so things are a bit messy and you may not be able to find them. If you want to eat something, just pick up a plate and bring it up."

"Ok."