Border Cook

Chapter 223 Rumors
"So the Xiaji stall has been in trouble these past few days, and it's this Gensheng who's behind it?"

"You didn't expect it, did you? I knew that Xia Ji must have offended someone, but I didn't expect that the person he offended was this Gensheng. I'm confused. Why did this Gensheng have such a big grudge against Xia Ji?"

"You are just stupid. That Gensheng is just a waiter. How could he possibly make enemies with Xia Ji? Even if they did, they wouldn't have that much money to hire so many people to cause trouble. It's obvious that Yue Ran Restaurant wants to cause trouble!"

"But Yue Ran Restaurant is doing fine, why would it be so hard on Xia Ji?"

"Yeah, I can't figure it out either. Although Xia Ji's food stall has good business, it is just the home-cooked meals that ordinary people like us eat, while Yue Ran Restaurant serves VIP customers. There is no conflict."

"You don't understand this. There's a saying that goes 'prepare for a rainy day'. Yue Ran Restaurant is afraid that Xia Ji's business will grow and they will also open a restaurant in the future, competing with Yue Ran Restaurant for business, so they want to prepare for it early."

"Why does this logic sound so twisted? Could it be that you have to target someone now because of something you might do in the future? What? I told you that your eyes were not right today and you might hit someone tomorrow, so can I beat you up today as a precaution?"

"Maybe the brains of Yue Ran Restaurant are stuck in the door. They can think of and do such a thing."

"I think, apart from anything else, just based on what Yue Ran Restaurant did this time, it is clear that Yue Ran Restaurant is not an upright business. Who knows what it will do in the future."

"No matter what you do, it's an act that hurts the world and does not accumulate virtue. If you do it too much, you will eventually suffer retribution. From now on, I think we should eat less at Yueran Restaurant, so as not to suffer the consequences."

"That makes some sense..."

As such words spread more and more, everyone began to feel somewhat resentful and dissatisfied with Yueran Restaurant.

Some people are even stubborn and simply never go to Yueran Restaurant again, and only go to other restaurants or hotels in the county to entertain guests for drinks.

The business of Yueran Restaurant has visibly decreased.

Even though it is the end of the year and there are many people inviting guests to dinner, the daily turnover of Yueran Restaurant is still far lower than last year.

Zou Fuquan's face became darker day by day.

When he got angry, he even smashed the cup several times.

Xia Mingyue didn't know these details. She only knew that after Zi Gensheng was arrested, Yue Ran Restaurant was completely shut down and Xia Ji could continue to do business smoothly. She was immediately relieved and just went about her business as usual with Lu and Jiang Zhuguo.

"I heard that because of the dirty things done by Yue Ran Restaurant, the rumors outside were so bad that the business of Yue Ran Restaurant was affected." Jiang Zhuguo said.

"You deserve it!" Mrs. Lu felt relieved. "After suffering a loss this time, I know how to behave in the future. Don't just think about crooked ways instead of doing business properly."

When doing business, everyone should rely on their own abilities and be fair and just. What’s the big deal about playing some small tricks!
It's despised!
Xia Mingyue listened to the two people's casual conversation, pursed her lips, and paused her movements as if thinking about something.

In her opinion, the current situation of Yueran Restaurant is not good enough.

Being bullied like this, Xia Ji needed not only legal and moral judgment, but also her counterattack, so that the evil in her heart could be completely relieved.

But with her current strength and the current scale of Xia Ji, they are not enough to challenge Yue Ran Restaurant.

But it doesn’t matter, there’s always future.

She wanted to make Yueran Restaurant’s worst fears come true.

Xia Mingyue gritted her teeth and continued to wash the hawthorns in the basin. Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu's candied haws business was quite good, selling dozens of strings every day. The two brothers were very happy, and they went to bed early and got up late every day, working hard on their business.

But the clue of this small string of candied haws was soon discovered by others. Those who originally sold candied haws also began to follow suit and made the original large strings of candied haws into small strings. Some people even started vicious competition, selling candied haws at low prices and snatched away a lot of business.

This made Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu very annoyed, and they pulled Xia Mingyue aside to discuss new countermeasures.

"Someone has already lowered the price. If you lower the price again, it won't be very effective." Xia Mingyue said, "For the same quality, we compare the price. For the same price, we compare the quality. In my opinion, we need to think more about this candied haws and come up with some ideas."

"Aunt Xia is right." Zhao Dahu nodded.

"But how does this candied haws work?" Zhao Erhu was a little puzzled.

Candied haws are made of nothing more than two ingredients: hawthorn and sugar. Without that, no matter how hard you try, can you make anything out of it?
Seeing this, Xia Mingyue didn't say anything, but just smiled and kept it a secret, "Watch me."

Aunt Xia has a solution!

The two brothers' eyes immediately lit up and they watched what Xia Mingyue was going to do.

Xia Mingyue brought over several bowls that she had prepared in advance, and in the bowls were white glutinous rice, refreshing green bean paste, and rich and fragrant red bean paste.

The pits of the hawthorns are removed in the same way as for making ordinary candied haws. The hawthorns are skewered on bamboo sticks, and then glutinous rice flour is carefully stuffed into the center of the two hawthorns without pits using a small spoon, making sure the glutinous rice is the same size as the hawthorns. Press it firmly and scrape off the excess around it.

Both the mung bean paste and red bean paste are stuffed in this way, and then coated with a layer of syrup like making candied haws.

After the three kinds of candied haws were dried, Xia Mingyue picked them up from the chopping board and said, "Try it."

There were three or four strings of each kind of candied haws. Except for Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu, Xia Mingyue gave one string to Lu, Jiang Zhuguo and everyone who worked in the central kitchen.

Jiang Zhuguo was given glutinous rice candied haws, which were red and white and looked very pretty. In addition to the sweet and sour taste brought by hawthorn and sugar, there was also the soft and fragrant glutinous rice. The glutinous rice was coated with a layer of sugar, which made it crispy on the outside and sticky on the inside, with an excellent taste.

With the addition of glutinous rice, Jiang Zhuguo, who originally couldn't tolerate sour food, felt that his tongue had room and space to relax. He ate a whole candied haws in one breath. After finishing it, he was still not satisfied and just wanted another one.

Others had the same reaction, thinking it was delicious and not enough.

Seeing this, Xia Mingyue generously made some more.

Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu happily followed to help.

With such novel candied haws, we will never have to worry about business!
The goal of making a small sum of money before the New Year can finally be achieved!

Xia Mingyue looked at the two people busy and enthusiastically, so she simply taught them all the details.

Seeing this, Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu studied even more seriously.

When the new candied haws are brought to the street, they are more popular because of their novel appearance, easier to eat, and no longer monotonous taste.

The brothers' business became more and more prosperous, and the money they earned every day was much more than before.

With the money in their hands, the two men were happy, but they did not forget what they should do.