Seeing that Zhiqing hadn't eaten the roast duck, Old Liu picked up a small pancake, picked up some shredded green onions, dipped them in sweet sauce, and rolled them up on the pancake. Then he said to Zhiqing,"Sister Qing, I didn't put any meat in this pancake. I only put some sauce and onions. Try it. How does it taste?”
Although she felt a little embarrassed when so many people were looking at her, Zhiqing was very happy that Old Liu thought of her and rolled up the pancake for her. However, her cheeks were flushed red and her face was full of embarrassment. She hurriedly took the pancake and tasted it. It was indeed delicious. She could not help but turn her head and look at Old Liu gratefully.
In the blink of an eye, two roast ducks were in everyone's stomachs. Seeing that they were still not satisfied, Old Liu quickly asked the chef to bring two more. Anyway, there were more than ten roasted ducks today. The rest of the roast ducks in the furnace were hung at a lower temperature on the side of the furnace to prevent them from being burnt after a while.
The few of them ate happily and drank to their heart's content. The meal lasted from noon until dark. In the middle of the meal, Zhiqing went back. Originally, Old Liu wanted Shopkeeper Wang to send someone to send her back, but Zhiqing was determined not to. She said,"Young Master, don't worry. How can I not find this path?”
Therefore, Old Liu did not insist anymore. He sent her to the door and helped her onto the horse. After seeing that she had gone far away, he returned to continue drinking with everyone.
Zhiqing saw that Old Liu had been watching her and couldn't help but feel happy. It seemed that Old Liu already had her in his heart. Otherwise, why would he care so much about her?
After returning to the hotel, Old Liu asked the generals to continue drinking while he and Jian Yong went to the second floor to discuss the opening of the restaurant the day after tomorrow.
"Xianhe, what do you think of the dishes I designed today? With these dishes, will our hotel be full every day?”
"My lord, you can't find a second restaurant in Luoyang for these dishes, especially that signature dish, the roast duck. What are you going to call it? Yong dares to say that just this dish alone will cause the restaurant's entrance to break.”
"How about this dish be called Peking Roast Duck?”
"Beiping Roast Duck, my lord, is there any meaning behind it?”
"Beiping means that the north is peaceful. If you read it in reverse, it means that the north is peaceful. I want to pacify the north in the future.”
"That's great, Yong is stupid, he didn't think of this meaning. I just want the name of the place.”
"Alright, since Xianhe also thinks it's suitable, this dish will be called Beiping Roast Duck in the future. It's also our hotel's signature dish. Each dish is priced at 600 copper coins, and we can roast 60 of them a day. If we sell them all, the roast duck alone can be sold for 36,000 copper coins a day.”
Then, Old Liu asked Jian Yong to find someone to make a wine list in the hall on the first floor. He wrote down all the dishes that he had designed today and hung them on the counter. He would discuss the price with Shopkeeper Wang before deciding. He would also discuss the price of the roast duck with Shopkeeper Wang. If he thought it was suitable, he would pay 600 big coins for one.
" Xianhe, I think we should hang some famous calligraphy and paintings in the private room on the third floor. In this way, we can show the elegance of our restaurant and let the customers know our background. How about this? We can go to Grand Marshal Yang, Minister Cai and our teacher tonight and ask for their calligraphy. Tomorrow, we will go to the street and frame them. After that, we will put them on display..."
Go to those private rooms, there are a total of sixteen private rooms. Prepare according to this number. Also, you can write the lyrics of my songs and hang them among them.”
"Alright, my lord, don't worry. Think about what else you want me to do. I'll do it after I've arranged everything.”
The day after tomorrow was the opening day of the restaurant. There was still one day to prepare. Old Liu calmed down and thought about what else he needed to prepare. Since he wanted to expand the restaurant's business, of course, he needed someone to support him.
Thinking of this, Old Liu said to Jian Yong,"" The day after tomorrow, we will hold a feast and invite those who are useful to us. However, we can't let those who have conflicts have conflicts in our restaurant, so we will invite those who have conflicts separately. At noon, we will invite the ministers of the court, the local officials of Luoyang, and the relevant people in the Yamen. At night, we will invite the eunuchs and nobles in the palace. The invitations will be sent out tomorrow. As for the list of names, Xianhe is more familiar with the situation in the court than me. When you go to my teacher's house, ask him to give you some advice. In addition, I feel that we can use Teacher's two sons. Tell Teacher, if they have nothing to do, they can come to the residence to help us.”
"My lord, you're too thoughtful. If there's nothing else that you need me to do, then I'll go and do these things.”
"Alright, Xian will go with you. If I need you, I will send someone to look for you.”
After Jian Yong left, Old Liu came down to take a look. Those people had almost finished drinking and were all lying on the table. Only Wen Chou was still holding the wine bowl in one hand and the big elbow stick in the other.
Seeing Old Liu come down, Wen Chou hurriedly said,"My lord, drink two more bowls with me. They can't do it. I've drunk them all down.”
Seeing that Wen Chou was almost done, Old Liu said,""Bujun, I still have something to do today. When the hotel opens and I'm free, I'll definitely drink with you to your heart's content.”
"Alright, my lord, you must keep your word.”
It was almost dusk. Old Liu came outside the restaurant and looked at the construction of the parking lot.
According to his plan, the surrounding area had been fenced with wood, and the parking lot had been separated with white ash. There were dozens of hitching posts on the side. At the same time, there were dozens of donkey carts parked, and it was not a problem to tie dozens of horses.
When they returned to the hotel, Old Liu was going to ask the chef to make a bowl of hangover soup for the generals. They would wake up first and then go back after dinner. However, they could not drink any more wine during dinner.
Just as he was telling the chef how to make hangover soup in the kitchen, he heard a burst of chatter in front of him. Then, Wen Chou barged in and said,"My lord, there are many young women outside. They are all quite beautiful. What are they here for? Is the lord going to reward them to us?”
Knowing that it was the waiter Shopkeeper Wang had hired, Old Liu said,""Don't talk nonsense if you're not handsome. These women are our restaurant's waiters, just like the waiters.”
As he followed Old Liu out, Wen Chou kept muttering,"My lord, I haven't married yet. If you see someone suitable here, help me get one. I'll remember your kindness for the rest of my life.”
"Alright, Bujun, I promise you…
Yes, I'll definitely find you a wife in the future.”
Hearing that Old Liu had promised him, Wen Chou happily ran back to the group of people and showed off to Yan Liang.
When they reached the hall, Shopkeeper Wang had indeed returned with more than twenty women and four or five tailors.
Seeing Old Liu, Shopkeeper Wang hurriedly came over and said,""Young Master, I've found the waiters you wanted. They're all women from ordinary families. Originally, we wanted 20, but I heard that we're hiring waiters here, not those brothels. Many people are willing to send their daughters here, so now there are more. I counted and there are about 23.”
After saying that, Shopkeeper Wang quickly lined up the women and stood in front of Old Liu.
Old Liu looked around and found that they were not bad. They were all passable. There were a few of them who were as Wen Chou had said. They were indeed very beautiful. It did not matter if there were more of them. They could be used on the second floor too.
Therefore, Old Liu said," It's okay to have more. Since everyone is willing to come to our restaurant to be a waiter, then you can all stay. Other than the sixteen private rooms on the third floor, the rest will be served in the cubicles on the second floor. However, there's no need for each person to have a room. We'll split the cubicles on the second floor equally among them. Each person will take care of a few cubicles.”
Seeing that the tailors had arrived, Old Liu brought them to the table and sat down. He took out a pen and paper and drew out the style of the qipao for them. However, the opening on both sides was much lower than the current one. They were all below the knees. Then, he handed it to the tailors to see if they could make it.
A few tailors looked at it. Although they had never seen this kind of clothing before, they could definitely make it. They said to Liu,"Young Master, we can make this kind of clothes, but how many do you want to make? When do you want it?"
Old Liu said," Make one for each of them first. There are twenty-three pieces in total. We need them by the morning of the day after tomorrow at the latest because they will be wearing them at noon."”
"No problem. We will make it together with a few tailor shops and it will be delivered tomorrow night. But Young Master, from the drawing on your clothes, it seems like it is for summer wear. It is still cold now. Although it is warmer in the restaurant than outside, I am afraid it will be very cold when you wear it.”
Thinking about it, it was true. However, this was not a problem for Old Liu. After thinking for a moment, Old Liu said,"You can make an inner layer and put some cotton in the middle. It doesn't have to be too thick.”
"No problem, then we will do as Young Master says.”
After choosing the fabric and color with them, a few tailors took out rulers and size of the waiters. Then, they took notes so that they could make them according to these measurements when they went back.
In order to make it easier to change, Old Liu asked the tailor to make three cheongsams for each person. The colors could be different. In addition, they also made three cheongsams for summer wear. Finally, both parties discussed the price. Old Liu asked Shopkeeper Wang to pay the deposit first. The rest of the money would be given to them after the finished product was handed in tomorrow.
There were many rooms at the back of the restaurant, so Old Liu asked Shopkeeper Wang to vacate a few rooms as the dormitories of the waiters. Each dormitory had four people. Today, they would be sent back first. Tomorrow morning, they would bring their belongings here. By then, Old Liu would train them to understand their duties, some rules and skills when serving customers, etc.
Upon hearing that he was going to send the waiter back, Wen Chou, who had been waiting for him to look over, became excited. He hurriedly ran to Old Liu and said,"My lord, leave the matter of sending them back to me. I promise to send everyone back safely.”
"Bujun, are you familiar with the roads in Luoyang?”
"Well, I'm not very familiar with them, but my lord, you can send someone familiar to lead the way. My main job is to protect their safety so that no one will bully them.”
"Alright, since you're willing, I'll get Old Wang to send someone to bring you there. It's just that you're not handsome. Don't cause trouble on the way. After you're done, go back to the residence. Gongming, you used to be a servant, so go with him.”
Xu Huang agreed and went out with Wen Chou to send him off.
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This book comes from：m.funovel.com。