Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

Cai Quanwu came to Niu Ye's house and explained his purpose. When Niu Ye heard that Xu invited him to eat seafood, he thought that maybe he wanted to discuss something with him. He had been in the Zhengyang Sect for so many years and was a well-known figure.

Since Xu Huizhen took over the tavern, Niu Ye has also noticed that this female shopkeeper is a smart and capable person. The tavern is now doing a booming business, much better than when He Yongqiang was running it. Since they invited me over, I have to give them this face.

So he happily picked up the walnut he usually played with and said, "Cai Quanwu, let's go."

The two of them came to the tavern, and Xu Huizhen's dishes were ready one after another. In fact, seafood is very simple to cook, and there is no need to fry or stir-fry. For example, razor clams, add water and boil, and then adjust the seasoning after the pot boils. Mantis shrimps can be steamed in a pot for a few minutes. It can't be said to be very delicious, but it is fresh.

After Uncle Niu sat down, Cai Quanwu poured him two taels of Niulanshan, and Xu Huizhen brought the dishes. She smiled and said, "Uncle Niu, I have a cousin from Tianjin. I went to visit relatives and my cousin gave me a lot of seafood. How can I finish it all by myself? You two help me finish it."

When Niu Ye saw the dishes on the table, he found that they were all ingredients rarely seen in normal times. He said with a smile, "Then let's try the cooking skills of Shopkeeper Xu."

Cai Quanwu saw the clams and cucumbers on the table and asked in surprise: "These are cucumbers. Where did they come from in such a cold day?"

Xu Huizhen had already prepared her words: "This is grown in the greenhouse of my cousin's family in the village. There aren't many, you can have a taste."

Uncle Niu clapped his hands and cheered: "This is a rare commodity. I'm in for a treat today."

Xu Huizhen: "Come on, you guys take your time eating, I'll go check out the dishes below."

The technology of growing off-season vegetables in greenhouses is no secret in this era, but only the rich or powerful can eat them. Ordinary people cannot see them and cannot afford them.

Xu Huizhen did not go to the tavern in front to eat, but ate in the kitchen by herself. Her single status was sensitive, and it would be bad if someone got the news that she was eating at the same table with two men.

There is a saying: There is a lot of gossip around a widow. We still have to be careful, as the social atmosphere in this era is still very conservative.

After Xu Huizhen had a delicious meal, she came to the tavern with Li'er in her arms. Niu Ye and Cai Quanwu were drinking and chatting. When Xu Huizhen came in, Niu Ye gave a thumbs up and praised: "The shopkeeper's cooking skills are amazing! Octopus is delicious to eat like this, and it makes you feel warm all over."

In her previous life, Xu Huizhen had run a restaurant. Although she was not a chef, she was influenced by her surroundings every day, and her cooking skills were comparable to those of a half-chef.

Xu Huizhen smiled and said, "Then you can eat more. I brought back a lot of seafood, including dried kelp, dried shrimp, dried fish, and fresh hairtail, Spanish mackerel, and sea bass. Isn't this just in time for the New Year? I want to sell them to make a little money. Uncle Niu, you know a lot of people, and if any of your neighbors want some, just tell Cai Quanwu. It's not convenient for a woman like me to come forward, don't you think?"

Niu Ye said, "Come on, it's a small matter! It's the New Year and every family is preparing to buy New Year's goods. There are some things on the market now that you can't buy even if you have money!"

Xu Huizhen returned to the backyard and took out some samples of each item for the two men to look at. The three of them discussed and decided on a selling price, which was basically three times the purchase price. In this era, transportation capacity was poor and the flow of goods was not smooth. Some died of drought and some died of flood. Xu Huizhen took advantage of the space and took advantage of this loophole.

When Master Niu left, Xu Huizhen gave these samples to Master Niu and said, "Master Niu, take these back as your reward for your hard work." Master Niu did not refuse and said, "Great, it's a good opportunity for my old friends to see the goods."

After Niu Ye left, Cai Quanwu cleaned up the dishes and went to the backyard to wash the dishes. Xu Huizhen asked him to go into the cellar to take a look at the goods. After Cai Quanwu came up, he asked curiously, "How did you transport so many goods back?"

Xu Huizhen said, "I definitely can't do it myself. I paid someone to bring it back. How about it? Can I sell it before the New Year?"

Cai Quanwu said: “Let’s give it a try.”

Xu Huizhen: "In a moment, I'll get you five kilograms of cucumbers, five kilograms of leeks, and five kilograms of tomatoes. You can also load some seafood on the tricycle and go to Hongxinglou, Hongbinlou, Fengzeyuan, etc. to have a look. If you want to buy vegetables, you have to buy some seafood at the same time. This is called joint sales. If you don't buy seafood, you can go to the next restaurant."

Cai Quanwu: "How much does that vegetable cost per pound?"

Xu Huizhen: "How about 30 cents per pound?" Cai Quanwu said, "It's not expensive. We can eat green vegetables in this cold winter. It doesn't matter how much they are. There are many rich people in this city." After that, he went to drive the tricycle and started loading the goods.

Xu Huizhen instructed, "Put some fish, shrimp, octopus, razor clams, and mantis shrimp in it. Forget about the dried fish and shrimp skins. The restaurant doesn't necessarily require these things. You can ask them. If they do, you can make another trip."

It was unknown when a light snow began to fall from the sky. The snow flakes fluttered in the wind, like white elves falling to the earth. Cai Quanwu had no time to appreciate the northern scenery at this time. He pedaled his tricycle hard and came to Hongxing Building, which was closest to the tavern.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the state successively carried out public-private partnerships for large private enterprises in the city. Although Hongxinglou was well-known in the catering industry, it was still a small enterprise in comparison and was still privately operated at that time. It was similar to Xu Huizhen's tavern, which was about to face public-private partnership.

At this time, there were no customers eating in the restaurant, so Cai Quanwu parked his tricycle in front of the restaurant. He walked into the restaurant, saw the waiter at the counter, and asked directly: "Hello, sir, do you want fresh cucumbers and tomatoes?"

The clerk saw that the visitor was trying to sell his goods and was about to ask him to leave. But when he heard about cucumbers and tomatoes, he immediately became interested: "What did you say? Fresh vegetables? Bring them in and let us see."

Cai Quanwu said arrogantly: "Please come out and take a look. If not, I will go to the next house quickly to prevent the vegetables from freezing." Although Xu Huizhen wrapped the vegetables in a torn quilt, the temperature was low and there was no guarantee that they would not freeze over time.

When the clerk heard this, he came out from behind the counter and said, "Please wait a moment. I'll go get the shopkeeper."

After a while, the waiter brought out a man, short and stocky, with a big head and thick neck, who was either the boss or the cook. There weren't many fat people these days, and it was obvious that he had plenty of food, as expected of a restaurant owner.