Chương 53: Good Death!

The old director was highly respected in the textile factory, having led it step by step to its current state, with workers' wages steadily increasing and their lives becoming more prosperous. The long-time employees genuinely admired him. Moreover, the old director was a well-known gourmand and could cook himself; he didn't even like Chef Xiao's dishes, so it was impossible for him to be a shill for Zhou Yan. Everyone was more convinced that the food at Zhou Erwa's restaurant was indeed delicious.

The menu on the wall wasn't cheap, about the same price as state-run restaurants. Zhao Dong voiced the question everyone wanted to ask but were too embarrassed to ask, befitting Director Zhao who dared to lead the charge against the factory canteen.

"The factory director and the others ordered everything on the menu yesterday, and after eating, they all said it was good, no one said which was better," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"Huh? They all said it was good?" Zhao Dong was a little surprised. The guests also looked at each other, wondering if Zhou Yan was exaggerating.

"It's true, I ate at the restaurant last night. The old factory director praised each dish highly." Three customers walked into the restaurant, and one of them approached Zhou Yan: "We'd like a crucian carp with mint and a double-pepper minced beef."

"Okay, table number three, please." Zhou Yan picked up a pen and paper and quickly wrote it down. After the worker sat down, he smiled and said, "The old factory director said it was good, but after eating the crucian carp with mint, he said: 'It's as good as restaurants in Rongcheng.' He also said that Chef Zhou's dishes are better than those of top chefs in Rongcheng. Don't worry, you won't be disappointed." Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up.

"Then I'll also have a crucian carp with mint and a double-pepper minced beef." Zhao Dong immediately said. Following the crowd when eating out is less likely to lead to mistakes, and he had been craving double-pepper minced beef with rice for a long time.

"Me too..." Everyone sat down and ordered. The crucian carp with mint was the most expensive, but it became the dish that everyone rushed to order. It was expensive, but the portion was also large. Two eight-ounce crucian carp, perfect with rice. For most workers, Rongcheng Restaurant was a legendary high-end establishment, said to be where many leaders dined during their inspections of Rongcheng; the quality was exceptionally high, and so were the prices.

They didn't know when they'd be able to eat Rongcheng Restaurant's braised crucian carp with mint, but they could order it for lunch today at Zhou Erwa's restaurant. At two yuan a serving, it suddenly seemed like good value.

"Ordering like this, the forty crucian carp that just arrived probably won't survive until dinner," Zhou Jie chuckled softly.

"Fish is easy to handle, just have Boss Gao send more," Aunt Zhao said, beaming as she helped with taking orders and arranging seating. Zhou Yan ordered several tables' worth of food and then went to the kitchen to get busy. There were quite a few new faces today, which was good news. The old factory manager had become a top salesperson, bringing many new customers to Zhou Erwa's restaurant with just a few words. The workers' enthusiasm even exceeded Zhou Yan's expectations.

It wasn't just the factory leaders and senior technicians; many long-serving workers also came in small groups to try it out. When it comes to food, the people of Sichuan and Chongqing really don't skimp. Zhou Jie, who was originally in charge of tending the braised beef hot pot, was unexpectedly called into the kitchen to prepare fish, and Zhou Yan couldn't manage it all by himself. Fortunately, the large earthen stove and wok could fry eight fish at once, so the food came out quite quickly.

The double-pepper minced beef was prepared in advance, and it only took a little over a minute from putting it in the pot to serving. As for the pre-cooked beef with bamboo shoots and braised pork ribs, they only needed to be heated up and were ready to serve, looking perfect. As dish after dish was brought from the kitchen to the guests' tables, exclamations of praise rose and fell.

"This fish is so fresh! The taste is amazing!"

"This minced beef is so delicious! I think it's even better than the meat sauce I had this morning. It's freshly cooked, with that wok hei (wok aroma), and the beef is even more tender!"

"I'm living the life of the rich in Rongcheng now."

"I knew the old factory director wouldn't lie!"

"Compared to this, the food in the factory canteen is practically pig swill." The guests were enjoying their meal, and their praise was unabashed. Zhao Dong ate with gusto, nodding his head and exclaiming, "This crucian carp with mint is absolutely delicious! I doubt even Chef Xiao could make it taste like this. Zhou Yan is so young, how can his cooking be so good?"

" That means he's a genius. We're lucky to have such a meal," said Zhu Zhe, the deputy director at the same table.

"The price is about the same as the state-run restaurant, but the taste is better, and it's right at the factory gate. We'll come here every two or three days from now on," said Song Yang, another finance manager.

"Remember to call me, don't eat alone!"

"Okay, we'll eat here every three days," Zhao Dong nodded.

"Okay, otherwise we can't afford it." Zhu Zhe nodded. The three of them had reached a preliminary consensus. …

"Fry the fatty meat until it's dry! Is it still twice-cooked pork if it's all watery?"

"I told you to fry it dry, not burnt it! This is harder than your grandma's dentures, how can the customers chew it?"

"I told you to slice the pig liver thinly, not to chop it into pieces! Who cut this kidney? I'm really impressed!" Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Huang Fusheng held an iron ladle, pointing and gesturing in the kitchen, his forehead covered in sweat, his eyes constantly glancing towards the door. Wang Defa stood there, looking at the empty stir-fry area, his face ashen. The worst had happened.

Overnight, all the customers in the stir-fry area had left. An apprentice had just gone to the door to check, and most of them had gone to Zhou Erwa's restaurant. Huang Fusheng felt like the sky had fallen. Just last Saturday, he had made a solemn promise to Wang Defa, saying that he would win back all the customers lost in the stir-fry area. Now, the stir-fry area had no customers left to lose. What are the chefs in the kitchen doing now? Probably… a performance without customers?

Huang Fusheng tried to keep himself busy to avoid looking too awkward.

"Huang Fusheng, get out here!" Wang Defa said coldly. Huang Fusheng slumped down his ladle, but quickly forced a smile and strode towards the door, shamelessly following Wang Defa, whispering, "Director, don't worry, I've already made arrangements…" … The dishes were all appetizing, and the workers ate quickly, so Zhou Erwa's restaurant had a high table turnover rate. The first round of customers had almost finished eating, and the second round of customers sat down, leaving a few empty tables.

(The latest novels are first published on 69shu. com!) Just then, a tall, thin man with a pockmarked face, smoking a cigarette, walked into the shop with three young men in synthetic floral shirts. They looked around for a moment, then chose an empty table near the center and sat down. Zhao Tieying glanced at the four men, her brow furrowing slightly. These hooligans usually hung out on the streets; what were they doing in a shop today?

But since everyone who enters is a customer, Zhao Tieying stepped forward and said, "The menu is on the wall. Just look and order; we still have some dishes." Wang Mazi, the leader, first sized up Zhao Tieying, then dismissed her as a rural woman, his gaze finally settling on the menu on the wall.

"Hiss… two yuan a serving of crucian carp with mint, so expensive?!"

"What?! One yuan and six jiao for a serving of ribs? That's half a month's worth of cigarettes!"

"Brother Mazi, what do we order?" The other three youths, after looking at the menu, all changed their expressions and turned to Wang Mazi.

"What are you yelling about?" Wang Mazi straightened up slightly, coughed twice, and looked at Zhao Tieying, saying, "One of each of these dishes, please."

"Okay." Zhao Tieying replied and went to the kitchen.

"Those four hooligans don't seem like they're here to eat properly. They don't have a penny in their pockets, yet they order one of each dish." Once inside the kitchen, Zhao Tieying whispered to Zhou Yan.

"Let me see." Zhou Jie, still holding a crucian carp, peeked inside.

"Isn't that Wang Mazi, that scoundrel? He was arrested and locked up for six months last year during the crackdown. Does he still dare to cause trouble?"

"It's alright, just serve him what he orders. We're pretty close to the security office," Zhou Yan said with a smile. In 1984, the least of their worries were hooligans causing trouble. If you made the first move, the hooligans would accuse you of being unreasonable.

"Yeah, my knife isn't dull either," Zhou Jie nodded, brandishing the fish-killing knife in his hand.

"If anything happens later, you can call the security office, but you two aren't allowed to act rashly. These days, getting arrested means you'll be in big trouble. You have to be reasonable," Aunt Zhao warned, pointing at the two men before leaving the kitchen. The four hooligans, with their legs crossed, waited for the food, chattering incessantly, either boasting about which widow they'd slept with or how powerful Brother Chao of the Jiaozhou gang was.

The workers all turned their heads, their eyes filled with disgust. Feeling the attention they were receiving, the group of hooligans became even more enthusiastic, daring to say anything. The dishes arrived quickly: braised crucian carp with mint, braised pork ribs… quite a feast. The group immediately fell silent, swallowing hard. They spent their days wandering the streets, never having seen such dishes before.

Even at a rural banquet they'd practically mooched, the cooks couldn't whip up this braised crucian carp with mint.

"Eat, eat, eat until you're full," Wang Mazi said, picking up his chopsticks and taking a piece of pork rib. The others followed suit, wolfing down their food. It wasn't that they didn't eat well, they just hadn't had a proper meal in days. This food was the most delicious they'd ever tasted in their lives. Two bowls of rice, five dishes, and a soup for five people. They slurped the fish head clean, even using the mint-flavored crucian carp broth to mix with their rice.

"Burp…" Wang Mazi let out a satisfied burp, still wanting more. It was truly delicious; he'd never eaten anything so good in his life.

"Brother Ma Zi…" The young man sitting next to him nudged him under the table, slipped something into his hand, and whispered, "I accidentally finished eating… what do I do?" Wang Ma Zi's expression froze. He looked at the empty plates on the table, cleaner than his face. He glanced around, gritted his teeth, quickly put his hand into the plate, then slammed his hand on the table and stood up, shouting, "Boss! How come you found a cockroach in this dish! I think you don't want to keep this shop open anymore?"

"I've been waiting for you to do something bad, you little bastard!"

"Damn it! You dare to throw a cockroach into my plate!"

"You'd better die!" Zhao Tieying grabbed a kitchen knife from the stove and charged at Wang Ma Zi.