Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

Cai Quanwu returned to the tavern in a happy mood and told Xu Huizhen the whole story of how he went to Dongxinglou. Then he took out the ten yuan given by the fat shopkeeper, handed it to her, and said, "I just mentioned the method of making fish pot slices casually, and the shopkeeper gave me ten yuan, saying that it was for our idea. I won't refuse the free money, so I took it back."

Xu Huizhen said, "Keep this money for yourself and buy two packs of cigarettes. You might need it when you go out and interact with people."

Cai Quanwu refused to accept the money, saying, "You have paid me a lot of money, and I often eat here. I can't accept this money." Then he was about to move the seafood from the cellar. Xu Huizhen stood up to help. She asked Cai Quanwu to wait upstairs while she went to the cellar to pass it out. The cooperation of two people can save both time and effort.

There was a lot of goods this time, and one truck could not carry it all. After loading the truck, Cai Quanwu rode the tricycle to Hongxing Building.

Restaurants like Hongxinglou used to be high-end restaurants, with fine ingredients, meticulous production, high quality and good service. Even to make a clay pot tofu, it needs to be simmered in a thick soup, and ham, chicken, shrimp, etc. are added.

Dishes like fish pot slices are not good enough. But now is a different time. There is a shortage of materials. The state implements unified purchase and sale of materials. Some ingredients are not available when you want them. So there is no need to be so particular. The price of small yellow croaker is cheap, 4.5 cents per pound, the meat is delicate and tastes good. Moreover, this dish is novel and creative. So the shopkeeper ordered more small yellow croaker, wanting to try this dish.

Actually, big fish has its own advantages, and small fish has its own charm. For fish pot slices like this, big fish is not as tasty as small fish. Even if it is pickled salted fish, the taste of big fish is different from that of small fish. (The author's family is by the sea, so he is an expert in eating seafood. Hehe, are you envious?)

After Cai Quanwu delivered the first batch of goods, the fat shopkeeper asked the chef in the kitchen to try it out according to what Cai Quanwu said.

When Cai Quanwu delivered the last truckload of seafood like an old ox, the fish pot slices in the back kitchen were also ready. For these chefs, this dish was like a piece of window paper, which was easily understood. The two chefs made two portions of small yellow fish and knife fish respectively.

The shopkeeper greeted Cai Quanwu: "Brother Cai, come and sit down and take a rest. Try the fish pot slices made by our restaurant's chef. You are welcome to give us your valuable suggestions."

After the two dishes were served, the fish soup in the pot was still boiling, and the cornmeal pancakes were small and exquisite. The browned cornmeal pancakes, paired with the fragrant fish soup, made people drool just by looking at them.

Cai Quanwu sighed in his heart: The dishes in this restaurant are so exquisite and look great.

Several chefs also sat around the table. The shopkeeper took the lead in picking up the chopsticks, and the rest of the people followed suit. After tasting it carefully, the shopkeeper said, "Well, it's not bad. The cornmeal pancakes go well with the fish. Especially the price is cheap and economical. Master Peng, Master Fan, what do you think?"

The two chefs also nodded in agreement. The shopkeeper asked Cai Quanwu: "Brother Cai, how do you think it compares to what your boss made?"

Cai Quanwu ate the delicious fish in big mouthfuls and said without looking up: "I should say, they are both very good. It's hard to tell which one is better."

Upon hearing this, Master Peng became unhappy and thought to himself: "Look at your clothes and you've never eaten any good food, what do you know about good and bad?" So he said: "I'll go to the kitchen and make another one. When you leave later, I'll bring it back and show it to your employer. I'll ask her to give me some valuable suggestions." After saying that, he got up and went to the kitchen.

The posture and tone of his voice clearly showed that he was not convinced.

Master Peng’s meaning is self-evident: to make your boss feel inferior after eating, and to let you know what specialization means.

Cai Quanwu didn't care about their thoughts. In this day and age, this kind of thing was given for free, and it was made by the master chef of Hongxinglou. Anyone who didn't want it was a fool. He took the pot of fish and was about to leave.

The fat shopkeeper stood up and said, "My last name is Sun. If you have any good stuff in the future, you can come to me directly. Especially fresh vegetables, I will take as many as you can get. If you can give me another batch of leeks before the New Year, I can eat dumplings with three fresh fillings."

Cai Quanwu said: "I will go back and talk to our shopkeeper. I don't know if there is any."

Shopkeeper Sun said happily, "Okay, thank you for your trouble."

Cai Quanwu also said politely: "Goodbye!"

Back at the tavern, Cai Quanwu happily brought the fish pot slices to Xu Huizhen, asking her to taste the cooking skills of the chef at Hongxinglou. Xu Huizhen asked in confusion: "What's going on? We sell fish, and the last thing we need is fish. Why did you bring back a pot of fish?"

Cai Quanwu repeated what happened. Xu Huizhen understood: "I guess you praised my fish and Master Peng was not convinced. He used this dish to shut us up! Do you think we should call him out?"

Cai Quanwu looked confused: "How do you challenge me?"

Xu Huizhen said, "I need to think about this carefully."

Cai Quanwu handed the money he collected today to Xu Huizhen and continued, "Boss, I saw some fish and shrimp mixed in the cellar. The restaurant definitely doesn't want this kind of fish. How do you plan to sell it?"

Xu Huizhen said: "When I went to Tianjin, I brought some special products from Beijing to my cousin. The fish were a gift from them, and they didn't charge me. My uncle said that these small fish and shrimps are worthless. In the summer, these inedible fish are used to make fertilizer. What do you think we should do with them?"

Cai Quanwu's eyes widened as he said in grief, "They are so wasteful! Such fresh fish and shrimp! People in the city can't even eat them if they want to. It's such a waste of natural resources."

Xu Huizhen said: "Who says it's not true? As the saying goes, if you live by the mountain, you can eat by the mountain; if you live by the sea, you can eat by the sea. They have no shortage of these seafood, but it's a bit troublesome to transport them back."

Cai Quanwu thought for a long time and said, "The old man who rides the tricycle with me is called Li Shunfa. His wife has no job and he has three children to support. Life is very difficult. I thought, let Old Li's wife sell the tricycles in the market and give her a commission after the sale. What do you think?"

Xu Huizhen: "Sure, don't let her sell in the same market. Move to another place after each sale so that no one will notice her. Sell it for 100 cents per pound, and give her cents commission for every pounds sold. What do you think? You can also give her some kelp and other seafood to sell. This will save you from being too busy to handle it all by yourself."