Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

After searching around the kitchen, Xia Yu found mutton, tofu skin, tofu, dried black fungus, lotus root, and carrots. Finally, Xia Yu's gaze fell on the large carp in the bucket.

"Hey, Uncle Zhao, can I ask you for a favor?" Xia Yu said with a smile as he stepped forward while Master Zhao was not busy.

"What is it? Just say it." Master Zhao glanced at her, wondering what idea she was thinking up again. He took a sip of tea and said.

"Could you please slice this fish into fillets for me?" Xia Yu asked obsequiously.

"Fish slices? How do you slice them?" Master Zhao had never sliced ​​fish before.

Xia Yu recounted to Master Zhao the steps the fishmonger had taken when she bought fish in her previous life to fillet the fish.

After listening to Xia Yu's words, Master Zhao thought about it for a moment and decided that it was worth a try.

"I'll give it a try, but I can't guarantee it will work. I've never done this before," Master Zhao said to Xia Yu, not daring to make any promises.

"Sure, as long as you're willing to try, there's nothing you can't do. If you can't even slice it with your knife skills, then there's no master craftsman in Ming'an County who can make it." Xia Yu immediately showered him with compliments when he heard that he was willing to try.

Upon hearing his words, one of Master Zhao's clever apprentices immediately went to the bucket, picked out the largest fish, scaled and gutted it, and then brought it back to Master Zhao.

Master Zhao mentally reviewed the steps Xia Yu had explained before starting. He cut the fish in two along the back, removing the large bones. Soon, only two pieces of pure fish meat remained on the cutting board, representing the belly. Master Zhao sharpened his knife on the whetstone before slicing the fish along the grain. After slicing the first piece, he glanced at it, shook his head, and wasn't entirely satisfied. Nevertheless, he placed the slice on a plate, picked up the knife, and continued slicing. He examined this slice again after it separated from the meat; it was clearly much better than the previous one. So, Master Zhao slowly sliced ​​both pieces of fish meat into thin slices. If you watched closely, you would notice that although Master Zhao's slicing was slow, each slice was better and more complete than the last. In the end, the slices were almost transparent.

Xia Yu initially stood by and watched for a while, but then she realized that Chef Zhao's knife skills were even better than she had imagined, so she went to prepare the other ingredients. She soaked the dried wood ear mushrooms, cut the tofu into cubes, shredded the bean curd sheets, and sliced ​​the lotus root and carrots, then arranged them on separate plates. After finishing these, she went to prepare the sesame sauce. She didn't touch the lamb; she planned to save it for Chef Zhao to slice thinly. Her slicing skills were terrible compared to Chef Zhao's, and adhering to the principle of not showing off her skills in front of a master craftsman, she decided not to embarrass herself.

Zhang Youtie had already set up the pot, added charcoal and water. He put two slices of ginger and a section of scallion inside, but hadn't added the hot pot broth yet; he wasn't sure how much to add. Because of the unique shape of the copper pot, other diners nearby had already started to notice it, which was exactly the effect Xia Yu wanted.

The waiter brought up the chopped vegetables. Seeing plates of uncooked ingredients being served directly to the table, the diners who had been watching the situation were even more puzzled, wondering what was going on.

Once the mutton and fish slices were all cut and sliced, Xia Yu sat down at the table with the prepared sesame sauce dipping sauce. Manager Liu and Zhang Youtie also sat down at the same time. Chef Zhao had two dishes to cook at the moment and would come over after he finished.

Xia Yu didn't explain much to Manager Liu. She poured the hot pot ingredients into the pot, waited for the water to boil again, and then put the fish slices in. The fish slices were very thin and were almost cooked the moment they hit the boiling water. However, Xia Yu insisted on cooking them for a few more seconds. After taking the fish slices out, she dipped them in sesame sauce and then ate them under Manager Liu's surprised gaze.

Then Xia Yu added tofu skin, mutton, and lotus root, just a few pieces of each. The mutton cooked first, and Xia Yu gestured to Manager Liu to try it.

"Is this ready to eat?" Manager Liu was a little incredulous. It hadn't been cooked long enough; it wasn't like the mutton he usually ate.

"Uncle Liu, give it a try. Just like I did, pick it out and dip it in the sauce." Xia Yu encouraged Manager Liu, then picked up another piece of mutton and ate it.

Seeing Xia Yu's satisfied expression as she ate, Manager Liu finally picked up his chopsticks.

The moment the mutton entered his mouth, a burst of spicy and numbing aroma assaulted his nose and mouth. He quickly chewed a few times and swallowed the mutton. Manager Liu felt that the piece of mutton he had just eaten was too small and he hadn't had enough. So he picked up all the pieces of mutton that were already cooked in the pot, dipped them in the sauce in his bowl, and stuffed them all into his mouth without caring that they were hot.

Seeing how much Liu was eating, the customers at the next few tables couldn't help but swallow hard. It wasn't entirely because Liu's eating style was so tempting, but rather the aroma wafting from the pot—it was so enticing that it made their mouths water, even though they were almost full.

After swallowing the mutton in his mouth, Manager Liu took a handkerchief and wiped the sesame paste from the corner of his mouth. At this moment, he exuded a certain refined air. He put down the handkerchief and said to Zhang Youtie and Xia Yu...

"It tastes great. I never thought lamb could be eaten like this before. You guys..."

Xia Yu interrupted Manager Liu before he could finish speaking, and said with a smile, "Uncle Liu, why don't you try the lotus root and tofu skin? Not only is the mutton delicious, but the other dishes are also very good. If we eat like this, the other diners and new customers can see it too, and it will save you the trouble of recommending other dishes. Isn't that great?" Xia Yu didn't want to talk about business right now; she just wanted to eat some hot food to warm herself up.

As she spoke, she took a pair of clean chopsticks and picked out the cooked lotus root and tofu skin from the pot, placing them on her father's and Manager Liu's plates respectively. Then she took some for herself and added some more meat and vegetables to the pot. However, she still made sure to leave some mutton and fish slices on Chef Zhao's plate.

Hearing her words and noticing the watchful eyes of the other customers, Manager Liu understood Xia Yu's meaning: she wanted to demonstrate the food to everyone. He beckoned a waiter over and whispered a few words in his ear, after which the waiter headed towards the kitchen.

If Manager Liu were in modern times, he would understand that this is definitely a live-streamed food show!

A short while later, Master Zhao came over from behind, carrying two plates of mutton, and sat down casually at the table. Xia Yu solicitously moved a fresh dipping sauce towards Master Zhao. Then she placed the cooked mutton and bean curd sheets, along with other snacks, from the pot onto the plate in front of Master Zhao.

"Master Zhao, try this dipping sauce and see how it tastes."

Chef Zhao still had dishes to prepare, so he couldn't sit here and eat slowly like Manager Liu. Seeing Xia Yu putting food on his plate, he didn't stand on ceremony and started eating like Manager Liu and Zhang Youtie.

"Hmm, it's not bad. This flavor is both numbing and spicy, perfect for winter." Chef Zhao commented as he ate.

At this moment, some of the guests at the nearby tables who had been watching couldn't resist any longer. When they came in, they saw those people sitting around a strange pot, cooking and eating something. So, they randomly found an empty table and sat down, not ordering anything, but just watching to see what they were eating. After watching for a while, the way the group ate made them even hungrier.

One of them called out, "Manager Liu."

Manager Liu, who was engrossed in eating, heard someone call him. He looked up and saw several people sitting there. He quickly wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, stood up, and walked towards them.