Wanqingsi

Chapter 90 Hot Pot
There is nothing suspicious about the appointment letter. It is Aunt Jin's handwritten letter with her seal, and there is also a secret note on the letter paper when she contacted me.I meditated, wondering why Aunt Jin sent this Wang Jichang to the Cangdu branch.Although this store is jointly opened by me and Aunt Jin, and the money I earn is transferred to Aunt Jin's account every month, but she is such a shrewd businessman, obviously she doesn't feel at ease letting me control the entire branch alone of.This is also the most common mentality of businessmen. Thinking back to our previous joint venture company, even though ordinary employees to the general manager were all mainlanders, the Hong Kong boss would still send a so-called chief financial officer from the head office. The company guards because it is afraid of abuse of power.Now Auntie Jin sent this person to assist in the open and supervise in the dark, which is reasonable and reasonable. I have no ghosts in my heart. If I behave unhappily, I will look petty. As long as he doesn't make trouble for me, I won't tolerate him.

I glanced at this Wang Jichang, and said with a smile: "How long has the shopkeeper Wang been in the store? Is everything going well? I've been away for the past two months. Is there anything special going on in the store?"

"I have been here for more than a month. Boss Ye has laid a solid foundation for the Cangdu branch, and I have done it very smoothly." Wang Jichang said respectfully, "Scattered business has decreased during this period because Boss Ye is not in the store. Therefore, there are no new embroidery products launched, and now that Boss Ye is back, I believe the business will pick up again soon.”

"Really." I smiled lightly, "Where are you now? Are you still used to life?"

He was stunned, and said: "I rented a private house in the city, and my life is not bad."

I nodded and said with a smile: "The shopkeeper Wang came to Cangdu for the first time. If you encounter any inconvenient things in life, you can tell me and I will make arrangements for you. You can open a list every month for the cost of board and lodging." Come on, the shop will reimburse you. As for the matters in the shop, I will trouble the shopkeeper Wang.” Since he is the imperial envoy, then use the soft policy.

"Boss Ye is serious." He thought he didn't expect my attitude to be like this, and his face became disturbed. I smiled, "Then shopkeeper Wang, go out and do some work. Please invite Mr. Mo to come in. I want to see this Account books for two months."

I saw him push the door and go out, and turned to look at Xiaohong: "Xiaohong, how is this man?"

"Receiving business is inferior to Mr. Yu. Do things according to the rules, and there is nothing wrong with it." Xiaohong glanced at me, "Don't you miss Jin Da Niang?"

"There's nothing to worry about, she's also a half-boss." I smiled, "Xiaohong is becoming more and more clever, and can take care of things by herself." Xiaohong is a ghost, I don't need to say Will stare at this guy all day.

"Girl..." Xiaohong gave me an angry look, "It's not because the girl is not here, I have to help the girl keep an eye on him, do you think I am willing to come to the shop every day to guard, I wish I could only serve the girl alone, why bother ?”

"Yes, yes, our Xiaohong is the most obedient." I smiled, "What reward do you want? Tell me yourself."

"It's fine for the girl to come back alive. Why have you been tossing around for two months this time? Didn't you say that you came back for the Spring Festival in a month? I'm still waiting to eat the hairy belly hot pot that the girl said. Now it's half past the New Year's Eve It's been a month." Xiaohong pouted and complained, "Is Yaoyue Kingdom so fun? The girl doesn't want to come back after playing so much."

Yaoyue Kingdom?It's not that I don't want to come back, I want to come back even in my dreams.I sighed, not wanting to frighten her by telling the story of the savage horror on the prairie.I smiled: "Yeah, when I left, I said I wanted to make hot pot for you to eat, why don't you make up for it tonight?"

"That's a good idea. When I heard the girl talk about the hot pot in your hometown, I was so greedy." Xiao Hong narrowed her eyes with a smile, "What ingredients does the girl want to prepare? I'll go back and prepare first."

After knocking on the door a few times, Mo Xiuqi came in holding the account book: "Miss Ye."

"Sit first." I asked him to sit down, thought for a while, and wrote some ingredients to Xiaohong. She turned around and was about to leave. Whatever you like to eat, write it down and go buy it together.”

"Eh?" Xiaohong looked at me blankly, "Director An?"

"Ah, let's invite Aunt An's family to come over to eat too. Manager An has been very hard on this trip." I knew that Xiaohong must be puzzled by my change of attitude towards An Yuanxi, but she didn't want to say more: "You go out first. "

She went out in surprise. I flipped through the account book that Mo Xiuqi had brought, and saw that the accounts were neat and neatly listed. It seems that the Cangdu branch is really on track. The boss, the manager, and the shopkeeper are three people. I haven't been in the store for two whole months, and there hasn't been any big troubles. It's just that the business has really deteriorated a lot. It turns out that many customers came for Yu Die'er's handsome face and sweet words to deceive people. It seems For the products of Jinxiuzhuang, if they want to grab the signboard of "No. [-] in Cangdu", they have to work hard, at least to compare with "Yunshangfang", which currently occupies the signboard of "Tongpin Xiuzhuang".I rolled my eyes, and suddenly remembered the batch of things I asked Mrs. Jin to make in the capital. When I had an idea, my mood immediately improved.

I closed the account book and took a look at Mo Xiuqi: "I'm not in the shop these days, and I have Mr. Lao Mo. Mr. Mo organized the accounts in the shop so clearly, I saved a lot of worry."

"Miss Ye is serious." Mo Xiuqi smiled, "This is my job."

"Well..." I nodded, "Mo..., I'm fine, Mr. Mo should go back and do his work first."

I wanted to ask Mosang about it, but after thinking about it, it's okay.Seeing Mo Xiuqi go out, I stood up and walked outside the shop for a casual stroll. There was Wang Jichang in the shop, and an embroiderer was watching the embroidery field upstairs. When he came out of the courtyard and saw me, he was startled, lowered his head and said, "Miss Ye."

I fixedly looked at him, his eyebrows and eyes, my dark flame, where are you, is he really you?Seeing me staring at him in a daze, Mo Sang lowered his head: "Miss Ye, I'm going out first..."

He brushed past me, and I whispered softly: "Mingyan..."

He paused slightly, and went straight out.I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall, feeling sore in my heart.

"Miss Ye..."

I opened my eyes, and An Yuanxi walked in front of me at some point, looking at me fixedly, with a faint smile on his lips, and his deep black pupils were warm and gentle: "You just came back, don't be too tired Alright, go back and rest, I'll just watch the shop."

"Aren't you tired?" I looked at him quietly and said softly.

"It's okay." His calm smile made me feel very calm, and I smiled, "Forget it, let's all go back. We've worked so hard for so long, and today we have a holiday. I asked Xiaohong to buy ingredients for the hot pot. In the evening, you, Mrs. An and An Sheng, come to Grandpa Fu's place for dinner."

"No wonder Xiaohong came to ask me what I like to eat, so that's why." He was stunned, and said curiously, "What is hot pot? I've never heard of it."

"It's the delicacy of my hometown." My eyes dimmed. The origin of hot pot seems to have originated very early. Using fire to heat the pot, using soup to conduct heat, and boiling food, this cooking method has appeared as early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. The Maodu hot pot in my hometown originated from the "water eight yuan" at the cheap and affordable street food stalls eaten by Chongqing wharf and Xiali people in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China.The eight pieces of water are all beef offal, cut into thin slices and placed on plates. Spicy butter marinade is boiled in a casserole on the earthen stove of the food stall. Eaters bring their own wine, choose a grid, and stand in front of the stall , pick up the raw slices on the plate, and eat it hot.After eating, the price is calculated according to the empty plate.The price is low, economical and easy to eat, so it is welcomed by dock workers, peddlers and urban poor.In today's Chongqing hot pot, there are many kinds of hot dishes. Anything that can be eaten can be hot, and it doesn't matter the season. In the hot pot restaurant during the dog days, you can see shirtless and blowing fans around the steaming hot pot. Sweaty diners.When I was at home, I had to buy two or three times a month to eat, otherwise it would be as uncomfortable as an addiction. When my mother was alive, the hot pot ingredients were fried by herself. I followed suit. The craftsmanship is not as good as that of hot pot restaurants, but still Composite.At this time and space, I have never eaten it again. People in the capital have a mild taste and like sweets.When I first arrived in Cangdu, I found that the climate here is the same as my hometown. The winter is cold and humid. The people like to drink and eat chili to resist the cold. They should be able to stand the spicy hot pot.

Seeing my fascinated expression, he smiled lightly and said, "Where is your hometown? Why have you never mentioned it?"

"Eh?" I came back to my senses and smiled awkwardly, "My hometown is far away... shall we go back?"

"Yeah." Seeing that I didn't want to answer, he smiled lightly and didn't press the question.

Xiaohong bought the ingredients according to the list I opened. The dishes are not important. What I care about is that the ingredients she bought are not all in order, especially butter. Chongqing hot pot mainly relies on butter to enhance the fragrance. Fortunately, I wrote to Xiaohong She bought almost all of Hong's things, and Xiaohong followed me to help in the kitchen.After frying the bottom ingredients and preparing the ingredients, I brought the steaming iron pot to the charcoal stove on the floor of the flower hall.An Yuanxi and the others have already come over, Mo Xiuqi and Mo Sang invited them over, there happened to be a table of ten people, I looked at the room and said with a smile: "Okay, let's all sit around the pot, just squeeze together It has a taste."

"That's all right?" Old Futou looked at the pot, "Why don't you put the pot on the table?"

"The table is too high, it's hard to operate." I smiled, rolled my eyes, "Yes, Grandpa Fu, when you have free time, make a table for hot pot, and I will draw a picture for you."

I greeted everyone to sit down. I was in a good mood. First, I scalded a piece of hairy belly in the pan, then put it in the oil dish, and ate a piece as a demonstration. I said with a smile, "This is how you eat it. Everyone, try it."

As soon as the words were finished, Fu Xiang and An Sheng couldn't wait to follow my example. In a blink of an eye, the two little ghosts had already put the belly slices into their mouths, and their eyes lit up: "It's delicious."

Aunt An stared blankly at the boiling red soup, her face a little embarrassed: "Miss Ye, we don't care, but Yuanxi doesn't eat spicy food..."

"Eh?" I was stunned and blushed, "Ah, I don't know, I knew it was made into a mandarin duck pot..." Why is it so oolong, I didn't even ask the taste of the guests for dinner, I thought Cangdu Anyone can eat spicy food.

"It's okay, it smells delicious, I'll give it a try." An Yuanxi smiled instead, and scalded it with a piece of hairy belly.I suddenly remembered Feng Ge's uncomfortable appearance after eating fermented bean curd, and my heart tightened, and I quickly stopped him: "No more, you can't eat spicy food, I'll go see what else is in the kitchen, let's do it alone..."

"It's okay." An Yuanxi had already put the hairy belly in his mouth. I quickly stood up and went to the table to pour a glass of water and wanted to pass it to him. He chewed it a few times and swallowed the hairy belly. There is nothing wrong with it.Mrs. An stared at him blankly: "Yuanxi, don't you think it's spicy?"

"Fortunately, the taste is really good." He raised his eyes and praised me, his expression was normal, and he couldn't see that he was pretending on purpose. Aunt An breathed a sigh of relief: "When did you learn to eat spicy food? You didn't eat it when you were young. .”

An Yuanxi was startled, and didn't answer her mother's words. She picked up another slice and put it in Mrs. An's bowl: "Mother, try it, it's really good."

I put down the teacup, it seems that I don't have to prepare a separate dinner for him alone.Everyone happily ate. Jin Sha is not used to chopsticks. I boiled them and fed them to her. After dinner, everyone gave a very high evaluation of my hot pot meal. An Sheng smiled greasy mouth : "Sister Ye, if you don't open an embroidery shop, it would be great to open a hot pot restaurant, then we can eat hot pot every day."

"You kid, you just know how to eat." Aunt An spat at him with a smile. I was brought up by An Sheng's mention, right, why don't I open a hot pot restaurant?Clothing, food, housing, and transportation are the necessities of life for the common people, and there will always be a market.I immediately smiled, pinched An Sheng's round face happily, and praised: "An Sheng, you are so smart, I will open a hot pot restaurant, and you will be the first VIP of my hot pot restaurant from now on. No need to pay!"

——2006, September, 11
(End of this chapter)