Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

"Greetings, Master Zhang, Master Liu, and the other gentlemen. I'm so glad you've all come to my humble shop for a gathering today. What would you like to eat? I'll serve you." Manager Liu greeted the guests with clasped hands.

"Manager Liu, what are you eating?" Master Zhang asked.

"Oh, that's a new way of eating from the capital. We're tasting it right now, and if it's good, we're planning to add it to our menu. And I'm not just bragging, but the taste is truly excellent; it really lives up to its reputation as a dish from the capital." Manager Liu was quite the smooth talker. He himself didn't know the name of the dish; the Zhang brothers and little Xiaxia hadn't told him yet, so how could he tell these gentlemen? However, he was also very good at exaggerating, instantly fabricating a prestigious origin for the dish. Fortunately, everyone in Ming'an County knew that the eldest son of Master Shen, the owner of Zuixiaolou, was now a high-ranking official in the capital, a favorite of the Emperor. Therefore, no one doubted Manager Liu's fabricated story.

"Oh, a way of eating it from the capital? It looks quite interesting. Why don't we give it a try?" Master Zhang became even more interested after hearing Manager Liu's introduction and said to the person next to him.

"Give it a try? I think it'll work," said Liu, continuing Zhang's train of thought.

Seeing that the others were also nodding in agreement, Master Zhang said to Manager Liu, "Give us a pot like this too, and you can decide on the meat and vegetables."

"Alright, please wait a moment, sir and gentlemen. I'll go to the kitchen to make the arrangements now and be right back." With that, he returned to the table where they had been eating and called Zhang Youtie and Xia Yu to head to the kitchen.

"Tell me about the situation first, then we'll eat. Those gentlemen are waiting. What's the name of this pot?" Manager Liu and the others asked Zhang Youtie directly when they arrived at the kitchen.

"This way of eating is called hot pot. The pots are custom-made by me, costing two taels of silver each. There are two kinds of hot pot broth: one spicy and one mild. The spicy broth is two hundred coins per pound, and the mild broth is one hundred and fifty coins per pound. Each pound of broth can be put into four pots. As for the other dishes, you can just charge whatever you think is appropriate." She had been listening to Manager Liu's conversation with the group, so when Manager Liu asked, she blurted out everything.

"I brought fifty-five pots this time. How many do you want? I also brought ten catties of each kind of hot pot base. We just had the spicy one." After saying that, he waited for Manager Liu to make a decision.

When Manager Liu heard that a pot cost two taels of silver, he understood that although the price wasn't cheap, it was understandable since it was made of brass. However, he hesitated about how much he could ask for.

"Twenty, please," Manager Liu said hesitantly.

“Alright, as many as you want.” After saying that, he said to Zhang Youtie, “Father, let’s go to the mule cart and unload twenty copper pots for Manager Liu.”

"How much hot pot base do you want? It's cold now, so it should keep for five or six days. But I can't give you all of it; I need to take some to other restaurants to promote our copper pots," Xia Yu said.

Upon hearing Xia Yu's words, Liu Zhanggu suddenly felt that twenty copper pots were a bit too few, but his restaurant only had twenty tables, and there was no room to put more.

"Manager Liu, should we buy the portion from the Fucheng Restaurant as well? This way of eating is perfect for winter," Chef Zhao interjected, having overheard their conversation.

"Oh dear, how could I forget about the ones from the prefectural city? Leave all fifty-five pots behind. Chef Zhao, hurry up and cut the mutton and fish slices, everyone else cut the vegetables, and quickly serve the dishes that Master Zhang and the others ordered." After saying that, she looked at Xia Yu and said, "Tell Chef Zhao what you put in that dipping sauce you just made, and serve it to Master Zhang and the others later. Also, leave all the hot pot base behind, it should be enough for us for a few days. I'll settle the bill with you after I finish this round." After hurriedly saying that, she ran ahead to ask Master Zhang and the others whether they wanted a mildly spicy or a spicy hot pot base.

After he left, the kitchen staff got busy. Xia Yu verbally explained the recipe for sesame paste to Chef Zhao, then went to eat her hot pot. Before leaving, she asked the pastry chef in the back kitchen to roll out half a pound of noodles for her.

Xia Yu ate leisurely at the front, while the waiters and kitchen staff were extremely busy. Later customers who came in couldn't help but ask about the hot pot Xia Yu and her friends were eating, and then wanted to try it too. As a result, the number of customers wanting hot pot kept increasing, and some customers who had already ordered but whose dishes hadn't arrived yet were also clamoring to change their minds and order hot pot instead.

Just when Xia Yu thought the kitchen was about to run out of ingredients, plate after plate of mutton was brought to the tables of the diners in front of her. Xia Yu was surprised; how many sheep had Zui Xiao Lou prepared? The fish was long gone, but the mutton never stopped. When Xia Yu went to the kitchen after she had finished eating, she learned that the mutton prepared for the day was long gone. The rest of the mutton was bought by Manager Liu after he had eaten his first bite. He had instructed the waiter to tell the purchasing staff to go out and buy two more sheep. The other dishes were also purchased later to ensure the supply.

The restaurant was busy until after 3 p.m. during lunch, and Xia Yu was getting impatient with the gloomy sky outside. However, Manager Liu was so busy that she and her father didn't want to bother him. It wasn't until the last table of customers paid their bill and left that Manager Liu remembered that Zhang Youtie and his daughter were still waiting.

"I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting, Brother Zhang. I'll settle the bill for you right now," Manager Liu said to Zhang Youtie, feeling quite apologetic.

"Brother Zhang," Manager Liu said to Zhang Youtie after finishing his calculations, "fifty-five pots cost one hundred and ten taels of silver, ten catties of spicy broth costs two taels of silver, and ten catties of mildly spicy broth costs one tael and five mace of silver. The total is one hundred and thirteen taels and five mace of silver."

"In addition, Master Zhao just came over and said that Xiaxia should also be paid for the idea of ​​teaching him how to cut fish slices and how to make sesame sauce. We discussed it and decided that these two items would be ten taels of silver. What do you think, Xiaxia?"

Xia Yu was genuinely surprised that Manager Liu and Chef Zhao would be willing to pay ten taels of silver for just a method of slicing fish and preparing sesame sauce. Naturally, she was delighted. Although she felt unworthy of the money, she accepted it at Manager Liu's insistence.

"Uncle Liu, could you please calculate how much this meal my father and I ate today cost? I'll pay you." Xia Yu said to Manager Liu, thinking about the table full of dishes she had eaten that day.

"Oh, what are you saying? If it weren't for your meal, our restaurant wouldn't be doing so well, and we wouldn't be able to collect payment. Oh, and the kitchen staff just came over and said they're running low on hot pot broth. You'll need to send some more tomorrow."