A farmer has a shrewish wife; he's busy making money every day.

At cockcrow, Ye Qingxue brought Chen Shi to the county again.

While pulling noodles, Chen asked Ye Qingxue, "Young Master Ye, what is a tomato in today's new dish? What does it look like? I've never seen one before, so I'd like to find out."

Ye Qingxue, who was helping to prepare the base ingredients, shook her head and said, "We're not making tomato and shredded pork noodles today; we'll make something new."

Although Chen was surprised, she did not refute it. Ye Qingxue was now her boss, so she naturally had to listen to her boss in everything.

Ye Qingxue randomly picked a noodle dish from the recipes in her mind.

Let's make hot dry noodles today!

Chen responded and quickened her pace.

He couldn't help but admire Ye Qingxue, thinking how extraordinary she was, able to come up with so many novel ideas.

The key point is that none of these have used any meat yet!

Ye Qingxue had almost finished preparing the base ingredients, so she went to tidy up the tables and chairs.

Soon, it was time to open for business again.

As soon as the tent was opened, guests rushed in, and the host was very welcoming.

Their noodle shop's daily new product offerings have been very attractive to customers these past few days.

The main reason is that the new noodle styles are novel and delicious.

The guests eagerly anticipate what kind of noodles will be served the next day.

This causes customers to wait outside long before the store even opens.

"Hey buddy! A bowl of sour soup noodles, please!"

"Two servings of spicy noodles, please!"

"Hey! I'd like a bowl of noodles with stir-fried green peppers and eggs!"

"Hey bro, your noodles smell amazing! I didn't get enough of the ones from the other day, and now you've got new ones again! I can't possibly try them all!"

As Ye Qingxue served the noodles, she smiled and replied, "Then please come and eat here often!"

"Hahaha! I've been coming here for five days in a row!"

"Thank you for your support!"

Ye Qingxue turned her head and exchanged a glance with Chen Shi. They both saw the joy in each other's eyes. Ye Qingxue secretly gave Chen Shi a thumbs up.

After noon, the crowds gradually dispersed, and Ye Qingxue finally had some free time.

"Aunt Chen, let's not rest at the stall today. Let's go out and find a restaurant for lunch."

"Eh."

Ye Qingxue led Chen Shi to the street.

Head towards the most crowded area.

"Toys for sale! Look, this rabbit's head can move!"

"Palm-leaf fans—selling palm-leaf fans—"

"Honeydew cake! Please try this sweet and delicious honeydew cake!"

Along the way, Ye Qingxue and Chen were dazzled by all sorts of novelties.

Chen wanted to go up and buy it several times.

But Ye Qingxue wasn't searching blindly; she had her own purpose.

Finally, upon reaching the busiest spot, Ye Qingxue spotted a restaurant.

The three-story pavilion has a plaque with dignified and elegant gold lettering that reads "Shi Ding Lou".

This is the most upscale, delicious, and famous restaurant in the eyes of diners.

Ye Qingxue pulled Chen Shi into the Shidinglou restaurant. Although it was past lunchtime, it was still bustling with people.

It seems that it truly deserves the title of "most in three aspects".

Madam Chen quietly tugged at Ye Qingxue's sleeve: "Young Master Ye, this place looks very expensive. Are we really going to eat here?"

Ye Qingxue patted her hand reassuringly: "Aunt Chen, it's alright. We earn money to spend, and we should enjoy it when it's time to enjoy ourselves. This meal is on me, so don't be shy."

Ms. Chen had no choice but to follow them inside.

The waiter was very shrewd. When he saw that Ms. Chen was hesitating, he didn't rush to serve her. Only when he saw that the two of them really wanted to eat did he come over.

Seeing their coarse clothes, he didn't show any disdain and still greeted them with a smile.

"Are you two guests? Alright, this way please!"

After being seated by the waiter, Ye Qingxue looked at the names of the dishes hanging on the counter.

"I'd like one serving of sweet and sour pork tenderloin and one serving of sweet and sour spare ribs."

Since Aunt Chen was illiterate, Ye Qingxue picked out another dish for her as well.

"Another serving of Dongpo pork and another serving of beggar's chicken, please."

After the waiter left, Madam Chen whispered to Ye Qingxue, "These are all signature dishes; this much will cost three hundred copper coins..."

Ye Qingxue smiled and said, "I've already ordered, so I can't cancel it. Just eat."

Ms. Chen sighed, but still managed a smile.

It's expensive, but the employer hired him, so it's not good for him to always have a long face.

Besides, she was also quite looking forward to seeing what it would taste like; she hadn't had meat in a long time.

"Young Master Ye, once I've made some money, I'll take you to a nice restaurant!"

“Okay!” Ye Qingxue smiled, her eyebrows curving upwards.

Actually, her trip wasn't entirely for the food.

She had some ideas in mind and wanted to test them.

After all the dishes were served, Ye Qingxue picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of sweet and sour pork, and chewed it slowly.

Then he picked up a piece of spare rib and ate it.

Just as she predicted.

Seeing Ye Qingxue start eating, Chen picked up her chopsticks and followed suit.

When the dishes on the table were almost finished, Ye Qingxue asked Chen Shi.

"how do you feel?"

Ms. Chen nodded: "It's alright."

It was alright, but it wasn't very tasty.

"to be honest."

Ms. Chen shook her head again: "The taste is a bit too strong, sour to the point of being pungent, and sweet to the point of being cloying."

Ye Qingxue frowned and nodded.

This is true.

The vinegar-making process in that era was not perfect, so the vinegar produced had a pungent smell.

It's fine for regular seasoning, but it's not really suitable for making dishes that are mainly seasoned with vinegar.

Ye Qingxue, wanting to understand the reason, continued to pick up the two dishes next to her, thinking that she would go and chat with the manager after she finished eating.

Unbeknownst to her, a richly dressed man was descending the stairs leading from the lobby to the second-floor private area, staring intently at their table.

The man was accompanied by a fat chef.

The chubby chef frowned and said, "Young master, the customer who ordered sweet and sour sauce this time still doesn't like it. We've already made improvements many times. Maybe we should just give up. After all, we can always find customers who aren't too picky."

The man shook his head: "No, in our line of work, we have to constantly improve based on the customers' suggestions. We're not that lucky to always encounter customers who aren't picky."

Just as Ye Qingxue was pondering how to get a word in with the manager here, there was a knock on the table.

"Esteemed guests, I would like to ask you about the problem with these two dishes."

With a gentle and refined voice, Ye Qingxue looked up and saw a handsome man dressed in a light blue plain brocade robe, bowing to them with a gentle demeanor.

Wealthy yet not arrogant, noble yet not haughty, this person has excellent character.

Ye Qingxue gave him his first impression.

"you are?"

"I am Wen Yanyu, the young master of Shidinglou Restaurant. Please enlighten me."

Ye Qingxue's face lit up with joy; thankfully, she no longer needed to figure out how to meet the manager!

She pondered for a moment and replied, "The vinegar in your sweet and sour dish is too pungent, so you use more sugar to mask it. However, the two flavors don't blend well, which is why it tastes so strange."

Seeing that she had directly pointed out their predicament, Wen Yanyu couldn't help but ask, "Then what is your solution?"

Ye Qingxue smiled and took a tomato out of her pocket: "My suggestion is to try a different way to balance the sour taste."

When Wen Yanyu saw that she had taken out a bright red fruit, he had never seen it before.

It resembles a red bell pepper, but is not entirely similar.

Ye Qingxue added, "This vegetable is called tomato, and it comes from Dongsheng Shenzhou. I obtained it by chance. Young Master, you may try it."

Wen Yanyu took the tomato, wiped it on his sleeve, and took a bite.

The juice bursts in your mouth.

Wen Yanyu's eyes lit up noticeably.

"It's crisp and tart with a hint of sweetness, and so juicy—you could easily mistake it for a fruit!"

Ye Qingxue nodded: "Use it as a sour seasoning for sweet and sour sauce. You can add less vinegar to make it much milder. I have two more here. Young Master can try them."

He then took out two more tomatoes and handed them over, leaving Wen Yanyu without giving him time to react.

After the two left, Wen Yanyu stared at the tomato in his hand for a long time.

The portly chef spoke up, "Young master, are we really going to try these red vegetables? They look rather intimidating."

Wen Yanyu pursed his lips, as if he had made up his mind, and handed the tomato to the fat chef.

"Take it and give it a try, it might work."

"Alright, young master, if it can be done—"

"I will find out about the background of these two people. We might have to cooperate for a long time in the future."

(Secret stash: 27 taels plus 100 cash)