Anyone in Suji Town could be Zhou Yan's shill, but no one at the textile factory believed the old factory director was one.
The old director was highly respected at 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 approve of Chef Xiao's dishes, so it was unlikely he would specifically act as a shill for Zhou Yan.
Everyone was more convinced that the food at Zhou Erwa Restaurant was indeed delicious.
The menu on the wall wasn't cheap, about the same price as state-owned restaurants.
Zhao Dong finally voiced the question everyone wanted to ask but were too embarrassed to ask, proving himself worthy of being the one who dared to lead the charge against the factory canteen.
"The director and the others ordered everything on the menu yesterday, and after eating, they all said it was good, without any particular preference." Zhou Yan said with a smile.
"Ah? They all said it was good?" Zhao Dong was a little surprised.
The guests exchanged bewildered glances. Was Zhou Yan exaggerating?
"It's true. I ate at the restaurant last night. The old factory director ate each dish and gave his critique, praising it highly." Three customers entered the restaurant, one of whom approached Zhou Yan: "We'd like order a crucian carp with perilla leaves and a double pepper minced beef."
"Sure, table number three." Zhou Yan picked up a pen and paper and quickly wrote it down.
After the worker sat down, then smiled and said, "The old factory director said it was excellent. But after finishing the crucian carp with perilla leaves, he added, '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 perilla leaves and a double pepper minced beef." Zhao Dong immediately said. Following trends when eating out is less likely to lead to mistakes, and he'd been craving double pepper minced beef with rice for a long time.
"I'll have one too..."
Everyone sat down and ordered. The crucian carp with perilla leaves was the most expensive dish, yet it became the most sought-after.
It was expensive, but the portion was huge!
Two eight ounces crucian carp, perfect with rice.
Rongcheng Restaurant was a legendary high ends restaurant for most workers. It was said that many leaders visiting Rongcheng would eat there; the quality was exceptionally high, and so were the prices.
They didn't know when they'd be able to eat Rongcheng Restaurant's crucian carp with perilla leaves, but they could order it for lunch today at Zhou Erwa 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 took few tables orders and then went to the kitchen to get busy.
There were quite a few new faces today; that was good news.
The former factory director has become a top livestream salesperson, bringing many new customers to Zhou Erwa Restaurant with just a few words.
The workers' enthusiasm even exceeded Zhou Yan's expectations.
Not only factory leaders and senior technicians, but also many long-serving workers 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 responsible for tending the cross-legged 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 a time, so the food came out quite quickly.
The stir-fried beef with double peppers was prepared in advance, and it only took a little over a minute from cooking 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.
One dish after another was brought from the kitchen to the guests' tables, with exclamations of praise rising and falling.
"This fish is incredibly fresh! The taste is absolutely amazing!"
"This minced beef is delicious! I think it's even better than the meat stew I had this morning. It's freshly cooked, with that wok-fried 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 now is practically pig swill."
The guests were enjoying their meal, and their praise was unabashed.
Zhao Dong ate with gusto, repeatedly exclaiming, "This braised crucian carp with perilla leaves is absolutely fantastic! Even Chef Xiao probably couldn't 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 delicious meal." laughed Zhu Zhe, the deputy director at the same table.
"The prices are about the same as the state-owned restaurants, but the food tastes better, and it's located 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, okay? Don't eat alone!"
"Okay, let's eat this every three days. Zhao Dong nodded.
"Okay, otherwise we can't afford it." Zhu Zhe also nodded.
The three of them had reached a preliminary consensus.
…
"Fry the fatty meat until it's dry! Is it even twice-cooked pork if it's all watery?"
"I told you to fry it dry, not burnt! This is harder than your grandma's dentures, how can the guests chew it?"
"I told you to slice the liver thinly, not to chop it into small pieces! Who cut this kidney? I'm speechless!"
Huang Fusheng, holding an iron ladle, pointed around the kitchen, sweat beading on his forehead, his eyes constantly glancing towards the door.
Wang Defa stood there, looking at the empty stir-fry area, his face ashen.
The worst case scenario had occurred.
Overnight, the stir-fry section was completely empty of customers.
An apprentice had just gone to the door to check; most of them had gone to Zhou Erwa Restaurant.
Huang Fusheng felt like his world had collapsed. Just last Saturday, he had made a solemn vow to Wang Defa to win back all the customers lost from the stir-fry section.
Now, there were no more customers to lose in the stir-fry section.
So what were the chefs in the kitchen doing now?
Probably… putting on a show 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 dejectedly put 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 Restaurant had a high table turnover rate.
The first group of customers had almost finished eating, and the second group had sat down, leaving a few empty tables.
At this moment, a tall, thin man with a pockmarked face, smoking a cigarette, entered the restaurant with three young men wearing synthetic floral shirts. He looked around first, 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 loitered on the streets; what were they doing in the restaurant today?
However, since everyone who enters is a customer, Zhao Tieying still stepped forward and said, "The menu is on the wall. Order what you want; we still have some left."
The leader, Wang Ma Zi, first sized up Zhao Tieying, then, seeing she was just a rural woman, didn't pay her any attention. His gaze then fell on the sign on the wall.
"Hiss... Two yuan a serving of crucian carp with perilla leaves, so expensive?!"
"What?! One yuan and sixty cents for a serving of ribs? That's half a month's worth of cigarettes!"
"Brother Ma Zi, what do you want to order?"
The other three youths looked at the menu, their expressions changing as they all turned to Wang Ma Zi.
"What are you yelling about?" Wang Ma Zi 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, and they're ordering 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 over. "Isn't that Wang Ma Zi, that scoundrel? He was arrested and locked up for six months last year during the crackdown. Does he dare cause trouble again?"
"It's alright, just serve him what he ordered. We're very close to the security office." Zhou Yan said with a smile.
In 1984, the least of their worries were hooligans causing trouble. If you make the first move, the thug will even accuse you of being unreasonable.
"Yes, my knife isn't dull either." Zhou Jie nodded, brandishing the fish killing knife in his hand.
"If anything happens later, you can call security, but you two aren't allowed to act recklessly. These days, getting arrested is a serious matter. 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, boasting about which widow they'd slept with or how powerful Brother Chao of the Jiazhou gang was.
The workers glanced at them sideways, their eyes filled with disgust.
Feeling the attention, the hooligans became even more animated, daring to say anything.
The dishes arrived quickly: crucian carp with perilla leaves, braised pork ribs… quite a feast.
The few men immediately fell silent, swallowing hard.
They wandered the streets aimlessly everyday; they'd never seen a dish like this before. Even at a village feast they'd practically crashed, the local chefs couldn't whip up this fragrant crucian carp with perilla leaves.
"Eat, eat, eat until you're full, then we'll set the table." Wang Mazi said, picking up his chopsticks and taking a piece of pork rib.
The others also picked up their chopsticks and began to wolf down their food.
It wasn't that they didn't eat well usually; they just hadn't had a proper meal in days.
Today's food was the most delicious they had ever tasted in their lives.
Two bowls of rice, five people dishes, and a soup for five people. They slurped the fish head clean, even using the broth from the crucian carp with perilla leaves to mix with their rice.
"Burp..."
Wang Mazi let out a satisfied burp, still wanting more.
It was truly delicious; he had never eaten such a delicious meal in his life.
"Brother Mazi…" The young man sitting next to him nudged him under the table, slipped something into his hand, and whispered, "We accidentally finished it all… what do we do?"
Wang Mazi'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, stood up, and shouted, "Boss! How come there's a cockroach in your food?! I think you don't want to keep this shop open anymore!"
"I've been waiting for you to do something bad, you bastard!"
"You son of a bi**h! You dare to throw cockroach into my plate!"
"You'd better die!"
Zhao Tieying grabbed a kitchen knife from beside the stove and charged at Wang Mazi.
...