ryethenovel Chapter 47 A Sneeze
Chapter 47 A Sneeze
Lu Tao didn't answer. He remained silent for a while, then got up, walked to the front desk, squatted down, and rummaged around for a bit before returning to the desk with a box in his arms.
When Lu Tao's wife saw the box, she was about to speak, but Lu Tao glared at her and she sat back down.
When Lu Tao opened the box, it contained stacks of neatly arranged cash, mostly in small denominations of 1, 2, and 5 yuan.
Lu Tao glanced at it briefly, then closed the lid, placing one hand on it and saying:
"Xiao Yuan, although we're brothers from the Lu family, I can't let you learn your signature dish for nothing. Here's 1 yuan in cash, all from recent sales; consider it my tuition fee."
Lu Yuan suddenly remembered that in his previous life, Lu Tao's family restaurant was squeezed out of business by the Wang family.
This cousin is really honest and straightforward; he won't take advantage of anyone even the slightest bit.
Lu Yuan waved his hand and said, "Brother Tao, you'd better put the money away quickly. Do you expect me to charge every brother 1 yuan from now on?"
"No, that's not it..."
Lu Yuan interrupted, "I have my reasons. You don't need to think so much. Besides, if you want to serve this dish, you have to do it according to my requirements."
"Then I'll shamelessly learn it, and you can ask me anything!" Lu Tao blushed, feeling a little embarrassed.
Lu Yuan: "First, the price of this dish is solely up to me. Second, the signboard must be remade according to my requirements; you don't need to worry about that, someone will come and replace it in a couple of days, and it will definitely be bigger and better looking. Third, I can't let anyone else teach it; I will personally teach the Lu brothers who want to learn."
Lu Tao was getting anxious: "I have to pay for the signboard, right?"
Lu Yuan was taken aback by his cousin's straightforwardness and stood up, heading straight for Lu Tao's kitchen.
"If you mention money again, I'll get anxious! Hurry up and learn, I'm busy right now."
Lu Tao hurriedly followed, and Lu Bo, who was about to follow, was kicked away by Lu Tao.
Lu Yuan saw it but didn't stop him. Lu Bo is still young and his skills are not yet stable. If he learns too early, he is likely to make a mistake in making this dish.
Your signature dish must be consistently good. Even if all the other dishes in your restaurant are just average, if your signature dish is far superior to others, your business will still be good.
Lu Tao wasn't satisfied with kicking Lu Bo out, so he sent his wife and her sisters to the backyard and locked the door from the inside.
Another reason why Lu Yuan was willing to teach him was that Lu Tao was honest and reliable, and could make this dish well.
Lu Yuan won't teach all the other Lu brothers either.
If you want to learn, you'll have to spend a few years in the kitchen to toughen up.
Lamb is a staple ingredient in restaurants in northern China, and Lu Tao's lamb is of good quality.
But Lu Yuan insisted that when he ordered this dish, he could only use lamb from Tanzhou.
Good ingredients reflect a restaurant's attitude and the owner's quality, which diners are most likely to perceive.
Under Lu Yuan's guidance, Lu Tao cut the meat into small pieces, and the other side dishes were quickly prepared as well.
Lu Yuan checked it, picked up a rice noodle, pinched it, and said:
"Brother Tao, we need to replace these vermicelli. We need good quality potato vermicelli, don't be afraid of the price."
"I've got it!"
"Okay, pour in the oil, make it wider."
Under Lu Yuan's guidance, Lu Tao put the meat directly into the pot and stir-fried it.
"Stir-fry for a while longer to bring out the aroma of the mutton fat. Okay, add the ingredients."
Lu Yuanbian directed the others, found a small bowl, ladled some soup from the large pot of boiling meat, and tasted it.
"You have to be bold with the seasonings when cooking meat; it will taste even better."
"Now add two spoonfuls of broth and season."
After a while, Lu Tao added the garlic sprouts and green peppers, stir-fried them for a few seconds, and then took them out of the pan.
The aroma of the mutton, with its complex caramelized flavors, is incredibly enticing.
Lu Tao couldn't help but swallow hard upon smelling it, and exclaimed, "Now I know why your business is so good!"
"Alright, let's invite your sister-in-law and the others to try it. We'll serve this dish after the signboard is changed. I'll be going now."
Ten minutes later, everyone at Lu Tao's restaurant sat together around an empty plate.
Lu Tao's wife smacked her lips, incredulously saying, "Xiao Yuan really taught us this dish just like that?"
Lu Tao looked down at his hands, feeling a mix of emotions.
She was a chef who had been cooking for much longer than Lu Yuan, so why couldn't she make such good dishes before?
They are busy every day, working from the moment they open their eyes until they close their eyes.
He hadn't thought about whether his cooking was delicious or not for a long time.
He still remembers the excitement he felt when he cooked for his family after returning from his culinary apprenticeship.
When everyone tasted this dish just now, that feeling seemed to come back.
Something within Lu Tao revived and began to rise again.
. . .
A Jeep with a Beijing license plate was parked on the side of a national highway in Gansu Province.
Two pretty girls were sitting on the ground in the shade on one side of the jeep.
Each of them was holding half a watermelon, with a few small pumpkin pancakes inside.
If there were a drone overhead at this moment, the scene would be quite peculiar, because on the other side of the jeep is an endless expanse of Gobi Desert.
One of the girls, with curly hair, scooped up a piece of watermelon that had turned pink from soaking and fed it to her, muttering something in a garbled voice:
"Zhaoyan, if it weren't for your rural mother-in-law's watermelon soaked in fried dough, I would have died in this Gobi Desert."
Zhao Yan swallowed a small piece of watermelon in her mouth and gently poked the other girl's ribs with the handle of her spoon.
"Chen Nuo, don't talk nonsense. Aunt Wei is a very nice person."
Chen Nuo dodged for a moment, half of his body swaying into the sun, before quickly retreating back.
"When I say 'mother-in-law,' I mean 'auntie.' You'd only think something's wrong if you had something to hide!"
"Then why do you have to emphasize every single sentence!" Zhao Yan frowned slightly, looking quite adorable with her pout.
Chen Nuo defiantly met Zhao Yan's gaze:
"Who told you to keep saying how delicious Lu Yuan's cooking is ever since I got off the plane? You were the one who emphasized it first!"
"It's super delicious to begin with..." Zhao Yan said, feeling a little guilty but also a little savoring the memory. She had indeed been emphasizing this.
"What kind of delicious food doesn't we have in Beijing? You're so obsessed with it. I think it's not just the food that's delicious, but you're quite the charmer too, aren't you?" Chen Nuo teased.
"Chen Nuo, you're talking nonsense again!"
. . .
After returning from Lu Tao's house, Lu Yuan had a rare leisurely afternoon.
While I was sleeping in a rocking chair in the backyard, I suddenly sneezed without warning.
Lu Yuan rubbed his nose, then changed his position and continued sleeping.
"It's all your fault! If you have a cold, stay away from our son. He's so tired all day, and you caught his cold!"
Wei Yinghong glared at Lu Changming with a reproachful look, and Lu Changming said aggrievedly:
"Xiao Yuan just sneezed, it can't be that serious."
"What do you mean it's not serious? How could you catch a cold for no reason in the middle of summer? I think you caught a cold from being so bored. Now you don't raise sheep or farm the fields anymore, and you just sit at the front desk with a cup of tea all day, acting like you're all that!"
Lu Changming felt a pang of grievance; he had clearly recovered from his cold last week.
And he's not doing nothing; he's spending his days studying all the forms Lu Yuan made for him, and it's driving him crazy.
But I can't tell this to this old hag.
Wei Yinghong and Lu Changming were dismantling the sheep pen and chicken coop in the yard. They had no time to raise chickens and sheep since the restaurant got busy.
The chickens and sheep have already been slaughtered and given to the restaurant, leaving the sheepfold and chickenfold empty.
They happened to have some time today, so they planned to dismantle it and clean it up properly.