Chef Hua
Chapter 491: Episode 267: Uninvited Guest_2

Chapter 491: Episode 267: Uninvited Guest_2

The other people also agreed repeatedly.

Hearing these words, Hua Xiaomai felt particularly heartened and pulled out a big smile, "Don’t worry, I know haste won’t help. We just need to do things one by one, and business will come knocking on our door."

...

On this day, after the meeting was over, Chun Xi and La Mei indeed went immediately to find an old Taoist outside the village. They calculated that the 14th of the eighth month was an auspicious day, and the grand opening was set for that day.

Since they planned to use mooncake giveaways as a promotion, they naturally could not skimp on ingredients or the production process. Over the course of two or three days, Hua Xiaomai, Zhangrui, and Master Tan busied themselves in the kitchen selecting ingredients, mixing fillings, making dough for the crust...finally, they finished making all the mooncakes.

Fortunately, making mooncakes hardly produced any grease smoke, and the child in her belly was also cooperative, not causing any trouble, so Hua Xiaomai didn’t feel the slightest bit tired. She divided the people of Daoxiang Garden into two groups, the majority helped at the store, while two or three others went to Fuzhe County to look for helpers to distribute the mooncakes, paying each person twenty copper coins per day. The job was simple, only requiring them to walk more in the city, so there were indeed people of all ages willing to take up the task.

The 14th of August came quickly.

Meng Yuhuai had been busy with Escort Agency matters recently and had agreed with Hua Xiaomai two days earlier that he would make a quick appearance at the noon opening before hurriedly returning to the Escort Agency, unable to stay for long. As for Meng’s mother, she insisted on helping out from very early in the morning.

Her exact words were, "How well your business does isn’t my concern. If you make money, bring it home; if you lose money, don’t think I’ll fill that gaping hole for you. I’m coming with you just for the sake of the child in your belly. Rather than saying I’m helping you, it’s more accurate to say I’m looking after him. Hmph, with so many people around, and you being so absent-minded, if you bump into a corner or get shoved by someone, you’ll be crying too late!"

Her words were clearly out of concern, but she expressed it with a tone more suited for arguing. Hua Xiaomai was well-acquainted with her manner and didn’t take it to heart. Joyfully accepting her goodwill, she ate breakfast early and then set out with her to the east of the village.

The guests they invited were not much different from before, except that Ke Zhenwu, due to ill health, couldn’t come in person and sent someone with a gift instead. Old Master Liu, as usual, was also invited. It was just unknown whether he would have the courage to come after the row with Meng’s mother.

The prepared mooncakes were also laid out on the tables in front of the door.

Traditional mooncakes with thin, soft, and flaky layers of deliciousness; seasonal fruit and vegetable mooncakes; savory and sweet mooncakes made expensive by adding sea scallops and seaweed; unique tea and lotus seed paste mooncakes made by Zhanrui, as well as "piglet cakes" shaped like little pigs that were particularly popular with children...they came in all varieties, filling up the two long tables in front of the door.

A few boys around six or seven years old were hiding behind nearby trees, craning their necks to look this way, seemingly eager to come over but also a bit hesitant. When Hua Xiaomai came out from the hall, she happened to see them and beckoned them over, giving each boy two or three piglet cakes. The boys, as though they had found a treasure, smiled from ear to ear and ran off, shouting as they went, "Mom, the mooncakes are really free!"

More and more people gathered at the entrance to Daoxiang Garden, not only villagers but also traveling merchants who had come down from the official road.

By chance, there were a few groups who used to frequently dine in or order takeout from the small restaurant. Having discovered it had reopened, and immediately recognizing Hua Xiaomai, they eagerly greeted her with loud voices.

"Oh my, I thought your place wouldn’t be in business anymore!" one of them bellowed, "In recent months, whenever I passed this village, I’d always look over and feel utterly awful seeing it closed. Without this little restaurant open, we’d have nothing to buy if we happened to pass by around noon or evening, and could only trudge on with empty stomachs. It was a hard life!"

Another man, undoubtedly more thoughtful, asked right away, "You’ve made this shop so much bigger now, but will you still have that takeout stand? I hope you’re not going to raise the prices, are you?"

After exchanging pleasantries with them, Hua Xiaomai smiled and said, "What was offered before will still be available. As long as the price of vegetables doesn’t go up, my prices won’t increase either. You can all rest assured about that."

With that, the crowd also broke into smiles, chatted for a bit, and then many went straight into the hall to find seats.

At noon, Meng Yuhuai indeed came back to the village for a while, stopped by Daoxiang Garden to take a look, and casually set off a string of firecrackers, then went to greet the people at the two reserved tables. Later, when he had a moment, he couldn’t help but instruct Hua Xiaomai to not overexert herself, and then he hastily returned to the Escort Agency.

The two tables of guests were all acquaintances, so there was no need for excessive formalities. Naturally, the atmosphere was lively with toasting and drinking. The meal lasted until the beginning of the evening before it finally ended. Hua Xiaomai, tired from half a day’s work, had just sat down to take a break when she saw Hua Erniang rushing over in a hurry.

Daoxiang Garden had chosen to reopen on August 14th, something Hua Xiaomai hadn’t mentioned to Hua Erniang or Jing Taihe in advance. The reason was simply because she knew that the two of them had been busy recently, one with taking care of children and the other with opening a blacksmith shop in the county, so she hadn’t wanted to trouble them further. And so it was only last night that she had brought it up to them.

Hua Erniang didn’t come over at noon because she didn’t want to distract Hua Xiaomai. She had purposely estimated that the feast would have ended before making her appearance. As soon as she entered the hall, she grabbed Hua Xiaomai and urgently said, "I didn’t ask you in detail last night, but why did you suddenly open early? Wasn’t it agreed to be after the Mid-Autumn Festival? Hey, I need to talk to you, you..."

Before she could finish, a male voice was heard from outside.

"Sister-in-law, congratulations on the grand opening!"

Hua Xiaomai turned around and was momentarily taken aback.

The visitor turned out to be Lv Bin, who had left Lianshun Escort Agency more than half a year ago, carrying a large and small gift box in his arms, accompanied by a man in his thirties.

Lv Bin used to be acquainted with her when he was at the Escort Agency, but if tracing back their relationship, it was really only due to Meng Yuhuai, and they didn’t actually have much to do with each other. Hua Xiaomai naturally had not sent him an invitation, so how did he find out that Daoxiang Garden was reopening today and even bother to come all this way?

Guessing the question in her mind, Lv Bin smiled and explained, "Although I went to the Provincial City, my wife and mother-in-law still live in Fuzhe County. I come back every now and then, and it was by hearing the townspeople’s chatter, talking about the mooncake delivery, that I learned about your restaurant’s reopening today. It’s only right for me to come and give my best wishes, isn’t it?" (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote with your recommendation ticket and monthly ticket at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)