You are unlucky and I am tough

On the last day of May, the new Taibai Building was completed.

At the beginning of summer, the sunlight has become a bit scorching, reflecting a dazzling white light on the bluestone road.

The hawkers carrying loads on their shoulders on the street were shouting one after another, the shop assistants were standing at the door to solicit customers, and a few young men who looked like scholars were waving folding fans and chatting loudly at a street tea stall.

"Have you heard? Taibai Tower is going to reopen!" The porter in brown shorts drank a bowl of cold tea, wiped his mouth and said to his companion.

"I heard a long time ago that this place has been closed for about a month. I miss their pickled cabbage and pork intestines so much. Wow, they are so delicious."

"I love their spicy dishes, they are different from those made with dogwood and Sichuan peppercorns."

"No, I passed by there the other day and saw a sign hanging at the door saying the shop was for sale."

"You probably don't know this, but Taibai Building has moved to a new location. They've built three new buildings in East City. They're really big and impressive."

"That must be tens of thousands of taels of silver. The Xie family is truly wealthy."

Not far away, in the elegant seats on the second floor of Hongbin Building, several well-dressed businessmen and Sun Youzhi were also discussing the same thing.

The middle-aged man with a goatee lowered his voice, "I've inquired around. The Xie family spent over 10,000 taels just to acquire the land. Building the three buildings alone will cost tens of thousands more, plus the renovations and interior design. It's a real investment."

"That's right," the fat businessman continued. "There are over thirty large restaurants in this city, and they're all trying their best to operate. No more than ten of them are doing well, and the business is evenly split. The poor ones won't last more than three months before closing down. The Xie family doesn't think that reopening in a new location will restore Taibailou to its former glory, do they?"

Sun Youzhi said with some disdain, "With such a large scale, if even the lobby in the front building can't be filled, wouldn't it make our colleagues laugh at us?"

"I heard some other news," someone said mysteriously, "but Taibai Tower has invited Master Lan from Baixiyuan to bring the opera 'Dream of Drama', which has been all the rage in the city for over a month, to Taibai Tower's stage. It's going to be performed for three days straight!"

"'Dream of the Red Chamber'?" the fat merchant asked. "I know about it. My wife reads it every day and discusses it with other ladies. She doesn't even go to the card games anymore!"

"It's just a broken script, how much use can it have?" Sun Youzhi was still disdainful. His Hongbinlou business was good and he was now well-known in the city. Naturally, he would not say anything good about his competitors who might steal his business.

The door curtain of the private room moved slightly. The waiter came to serve the dishes. Hearing the conversation, he couldn't help but interrupt, "Boss, I have a cousin who works as an assistant at the Baixi Garden. He said that the troupe has gone to Taibai Tower to prepare for the next few days. The stage there is huge, and the restaurant is even more magnificent!"

Sun Youzhi said, "In that case, let's go together on the opening day to see what the Xie family can do. Let's see how many customers they can retain by relying on a troupe to perform for a few days."

Everyone at the table responded in unison.

The sunlight shines on the gilded plaque, and the three vigorous and powerful characters "Taibai Tower" shine brightly.

The three buildings of the new Taibai Tower are arranged in a "品" shape, connected by corridors for people to walk through. The front building is four stories high, and the buildings on the east and west sides are five stories each. They are all made of blue bricks and black tiles, with vermilion lacquered doors, and the eaves and corners are decorated with exquisite auspicious beasts.

Facing the front door is an artificial lake, surrounded by blue waves, with willows hanging down from the bank, and weeping crabapples and Xiangfei bamboos planted. When the breeze blows, fallen flowers float on the water, and bamboo shadows dance, it looks like a living ink scroll.

A plank road built on the lake connects to the shore. The bridge railings are carved with lotus patterns, the bridge deck is paved with non-slip blue bricks, and a fishing pavilion is also built.

Cheng Shuang stood in front of the main entrance of the front building, with Wei Qinglang and Xie Zhiyou beside her. Today was the day they brought Cheng Guqiu here to formally introduce her to the chef in the building.

The staff in the building, including the shopkeeper, chef, accountant, waiters, helpers, and even the grooms who led and fed the horses were all arranged by Xie Zhiyou.

Cheng Shuang arranged two people, one of whom was Cheng Guqiu, to be one of the chefs, responsible for teaching the chefs in the building to cook new dishes.

A Cheng Pan would come over from time to time to check the accounts.

After Cheng Shuang introduced the two to Xie Zhiyou, Cheng Guqiu went in early and was taken to the kitchen by a waiter.

Cheng Shuang and others were waiting for someone outside.

Xie Zhiyou was mysterious and said he wanted to give them a surprise.

In front of the door, several guys were setting up ladders to hang lanterns. They watched for a while, and the person they were waiting for arrived.

Turning back, they saw a man walking quickly towards them on the plank road. Cheng Shuang and Wei Qinglang were surprised and shouted at the same time, "Shopkeeper Meng!"

Shopkeeper Meng quickly approached and bowed to them, "Forgive me, forgive me. I just moved into my new residence and settled in. I've been delayed for a long time. I've kept you waiting for so long."

Wei Qinglang was puzzled. "Manager Meng, do you mean you've moved to the capital?"

Shopkeeper Meng smiled and nodded, "The boss sent me a letter half a month ago. Since the boss thinks highly of me, it's understandable that I won't respond. My whole family has moved to the capital and has settled in over the past two days."

"What do you mean?" Cheng Shuang asked.

Xie Zhiyou smiled and replied, "I have already arranged for the previous Shopkeeper Xie to work in other businesses at home. From now on, Shopkeeper Meng will be the head shopkeeper of the building, and I have also arranged two deputy shopkeepers to assist him."

"Mr. Xie is indeed reliable." Cheng Shuang was very satisfied with this surprise. If she were to choose, Manager Meng would be the most suitable candidate for the manager.

However, because it was said before that the Xie family was responsible for the restaurant's staff and they would not interfere, it was not mentioned. Unexpectedly, Xie Zhiyou really invited Manager Meng.

The business was about to open in a few days, and after a few casual words, Manager Meng had all the employees in the building called to the open space in front of the building to give them a lecture.

Cheng Shuang and his group walked into the front building and began to visit the restaurant.

As you enter the door, you will see a grand lobby with a ceiling that is five meters high. Four vermilion columns stand tall, and huge palace lanterns are hung on the columns. The lamp bodies are made of silk as thin as a cicada's wing, and are painted with landscapes, flowers and birds. The soft light shines through the silk, casting a warm and bright halo, making the lobby look like a dream.

A large pearwood carved stage stands majestically in the center. The base is three feet high and surrounded by hollow railings with twined branches. Double spiral staircases lead to the second floor on both sides of the stage.

The lobby's dining area for individual guests is furnished with thirty-eight exquisite round eight-immortal tables, and on one side, there is a huge screen.

On the screen is a double-sided painting depicting the market scene of Luohe Prefecture. The characters are lifelike, as if telling the stories of human life. Xie Zhiyou spent a lot of money to hire several highly skilled literati to paint it.

Wei Qinglang and Xie Zhiyou had seen it a long time ago, but Cheng Shuang came here for the first time after the restaurant was completed. She liked the painting very much and took Cheng Pan around it before going up to the second floor to continue the visit.

There are ten private rooms on the second floor, and there are also scattered seats outside the stage, which are prepared for customers who do not seek privacy and want to integrate into the lively atmosphere and enjoy the performance.

Each private room has a different name. The doorframes are inlaid with carved camphorwood panels depicting the twelve seasonal flowers. When you run your fingers over them, you can feel the subtle undulation of the petals. The window lattices are all round, carved from a single block of camphorwood into a twining pattern. Sunlight filters through the gaps, casting dappled shadows on the floor.

The layout of the private rooms is similar to that of ordinary restaurants, with only some calligraphy and paintings, potted flowers, and carved ornaments.

The difference is that the round table in the middle is larger than the one in the lobby and can accommodate twelve people dining at the same time. Wei Qinglang designed a rotatable turntable for the table to make it convenient for guests to take dishes.

The chair was also designed by Wei Qinglang. The backrest is S-shaped to fit the curve of the spine, and there is a small pull-out table hidden in the armrests.

After looking at a private room, the four of them walked to the east terrace on the second floor.

The third floor is also a private room, and the fourth floor is a guest room for customers in need to rest. The interior decoration is similar, so Cheng Shuang was too lazy to look at each floor one by one.

There are also eight scattered seats on the terrace, surrounded by carved stone railings. When dining here, you can have a panoramic view of the scenery outside.

The tables and chairs are all made of stone, so there is no need to worry about damage from wind and sun.

The terrace also has a corridor connecting to the East Building, which can be used for passage or for guests to view the scenery.

Even if you don't visit the three buildings in detail, it will take half an hour to walk around them. The west building will be used exclusively for hot pot in the future and will open in a few days, so it is not open for the time being.

Only the first, second and third floors are used to receive guests for meals, and the fourth floor is used for banquets for some literati or ladies.

There are only four rooms, with a large terrace in front, from which you can overlook the magnificent view of the water street.

The fifth floor is a luxurious living area with four rooms, two for the Xie family and two for the Wei family. They are used for their daily residence and no outsiders are allowed to go up.

Cheng Shuang and Wei Qinglang lived in one room, and the other was given directly to Cheng Pan. She would come to the restaurant frequently to check the accounts in the future, and needed a room and a quiet environment.

After waiting for the people from the west building to come down, they went straight to the kitchen.

I could smell the rich aroma of crayfish before it even arrived, which whetted my appetite.

When I stepped into the kitchen, there were quite a few people. Eight chefs led by Chef Li and a group of helpers were watching Cheng Guqiu cook.

The kitchen is spacious and bright, with two rectangular islands in the middle. The surrounding areas are divided into different functional areas such as the helpers' washing and cutting area, the chef's cooking area, and the pastry area.

There are also stoves and furnaces with different functions such as stir-frying, stewing, making soup, and steaming, which can meet the cooking needs of different dishes.

There are ten cooking stoves lined up in a row. They are not the common large iron pots on the stove, but small stoves equipped with customized small iron pots, which can be used for cooking.

Cheng Guqiu was busy cooking on the stove at the moment, sweating profusely. On the table next to him were prepared spicy crayfish and spicy fried rabbit cubes.