Yipin Farmer

On the day after transplanting rice seedlings, Xiao Ye asked the head of the household, namely Ting Shuang, to walk around the field and pull out a handful of rice seedlings to take home and put them away, which meant a good harvest.All the working people have a good harvest meal together, the most common and most affordable stew in the farmhouse, stewed tofu with pork vermicelli, and steamed buns steamed with new wheat.He also made a jug of wine to entertain the helpers.

Ting Shuang sent Ting Ke and Xiaoye back to the city to continue working. Originally, she wanted to keep Xiaoye as a helper, but when she thought about it, even if Old Master Shi was willing to let him go, he would not be able to give them better treatment now, so let it go.After another two years of hard work, people can be hired.

In the evening, Ting Shuang dug out the money jar from the kang cave, counted from left to right, there were still so many, buying cattle, seeds, farm tools, wine, meat and meals, had already spent a lot, no more could be counted.

sigh.

"Sir, don't sigh." Old Master Chu heard the sigh outside the window, and said, "Your Excellency wants to make money, but I have a way."

"what?"

"I can make roast chicken and teach you the secret recipe. In the future, you can cook and sell it yourself, or open a shop in the city."

"Really?" Ting Shuang was both surprised and delighted. Roasting chicken is a small business, and the money comes quickly, so it should be possible to get it.Even though he was happy, he didn't care about the mistakes in old man Chu's words.

"Go and buy a few old chickens and seasonings, and I'll teach you how to do it."

"This..." Ting Shuang hesitated for a moment and said, "The work in the field is not over yet. Although the seedlings are planted now, I still have to carry water, put fish, build weirs, weed the head and weed. I can do it after the winter is slack." Bar."

Old man Chu shook his head: "It's too late, I'm leaving in a few days, so I'll teach you quickly. It's too late to teach other methods of cooking pickled vegetables. I wrote it down in a booklet, and you can learn it slowly Well, even if you don’t open a restaurant, you can still improve the food at home.”

"Are you going? Where are you going?" Ting Shuang asked him hastily.It suddenly occurred to me that the old man Chu's complexion was particularly bad these days, could it be that he was sick?I've been so busy lately that I didn't bother to ask him.

"Duckweed has no roots at all, so don't ask me when I'm in trouble." Old man Chu refused to say anything.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Ting Shuang didn't want to ask any more. According to his instructions, he bought fifteen chickens and seasonings in the village, slaughtered them, removed their feathers and washed them, and set up a pot to boil water.

Old man Chu took out his package and opened it solemnly. Inside the package was a jar tightly sealed with mud.

"What is this?" Just as Ting Shuang finished asking, suddenly a flash of inspiration flashed in her head, and she shouted, "Could this be the old soup?"

The old soup of stewed pork is the most important. After continuous refilling of water and ingredients, it gets better and better with age.It is said that Kaifeng Tongzi Chicken is the original juice handed down from the Northern Song Dynasty, and it has never dried up. I don’t know if it is true or not. Ting Shuang has eaten Tongzi Chicken in modern times, and the taste is really good.

Old man Chu nodded: "You are right. This is the most important old soup for making roast chicken. I have been saving it and dare not throw it away. I just think that one day I can find a responsible person to pass on this craft to him. I see you Brothers are good people, so I give this to you as a souvenir."

Ting Shuang heard something was wrong and was thinking about what he meant.Ting Hui shouted happily: "Okay, okay, teach us quickly."

Old man Chu took out another scroll, on which was a picture of an old man with a long beard. Then he hung up the scroll, put a bowl of rice wine in front of it, and said, "Come pay homage to Patriarch Yi Yin."

Yi Yin?

Which great god?

Ting Shuang is using her brain to search.Ting Hui had already thought of it first: "Is it Yi Yin, the cook and prime minister who assisted four generations of Shang kings to achieve immortality?"

Old man Chu nodded: "Yes, it is Yi Yin, the No.1 prime minister in China, who is also a master chef, and the ancestor of chefs. Come and pay respects."

There are 360 ​​lines in China, each line has a patriarch. The patriarch of the cook line is Yi Yin, the first chef in China. Ting Shuang knows a thing or two about this custom. I don’t quite understand it. I just find it interesting. The old man had a holy and pious face, and followed suit a few times, begging the patriarch to bless his family to get rich quickly.

After worshiping the ancestor of the chef, the old man Chu solemnly opened the mud seal, poured the dark old soup into the pot, added clean water to boil the chicken, and then put in other spices, anise, cumin, sugar, soy sauce, Tempeh, green onion, ginger, cinnamon, and fragrant leaves were all ready after a while. Old man Chu took out one and tore off a piece of meat for Ting Shuang to taste.

Ting Shuang took a bite and felt that the meat was delicious and mellow, fat but not greasy.

Ting Hui also took a sip, and exclaimed in surprise and joy: "It's so delicious, even better than the ones in the palace."

Old man Chu's face changed, and he said: "Don't talk nonsense, you have never eaten anything in the palace."

Ting Hui asked again: "What's the name of this roast chicken?"

"Well..." Mr. Chu lowered his head in thought, thinking and thinking.

Ting Shuang had already come up with a name: "It's so delicious, let's call it Emperor Roasted Chicken."

Ting Hui immediately objected: "You can't call it that name, it's too disrespectful, and you might be beheaded."

Tsk, I almost forgot that this is a feudal society, Ting Shuang curled her lips.

"Let's call it Yipin Roasted Chicken." Mr. Chu has already thought of a name, "Hurry up and sell these in the city, and be careful not to spoil them."

Ting Shuang asked Tinghui to stay at home to work, and carried the chickens to the city by herself. She calculated the cost and income in her heart, prepared them at home and carried them to the city to sell every day, not counting the time for selling chickens. If it takes a long time, the farm work in the field will be delayed, and time is also a cost.How to think of a way to reduce costs as much as possible?

Along the way, after thinking about it, I came up with a preliminary solution.After entering the city, don't sell it first, and go directly to the largest restaurant in the city.

The waiter could tell by his attire that he was a hard-working farmer, but the restaurant industry pays attention to harmony and wealth, so the waiter didn't show a look of dislike the poor and love the rich, neither enthusiastic nor indifferent, and gave up his seat inside.

Ting Shuang asked to see the shopkeeper, and the store clerk had seen such things a lot, and asked, "Are you here to sell things? We have old customers who buy goods in our store. After many years of friendship, it is generally not easy to exchange other people's goods."

"Take a look at my goods first." Ting Shuang said as he lifted the clean white cloth in the basket, and a strong fragrance came out, alarming the shopkeeper.When the shopkeeper learned of his intentions, he expressed regret that the shop does not buy cooked food from outside.

Ting Shuang was very angry, picked up the basket and left, cursing inwardly: "I really look down on people, when I open a restaurant in the future, I will squeeze you to death."

I also wondered, how can it be so easy for others to make a lot of money by selling preserved eggs, bamboo shoots and pastries in restaurants, but not here?

But to blame, the [-] chickens have to be sold. Thinking of Shi Jie's great help, he was busy with farm work these days and didn't bother to visit, so why not give him this chicken as a gift to express his gratitude.

Coincidentally, the historian is not far from here.

Shi Jie happened to be at home, so he was very happy to see him: "Young master came to visit and mentioned something, it's too polite."

Ting Shuang told him honestly about making chickens and selling chickens. Shi Jie immediately asked his wife to cut a plate, tasted it, and said: "This chicken tastes very good, better than the ones I have eaten before. You will definitely be able to sell it if you sell it." make money."

Ting Shuang talked about her own difficulties. She had to do farm work, raise chickens to make roast chickens, and sell them in the city.

Shi Jie laughed and said, "Don't complain about the restaurant either. That Huiyuan Restaurant is the largest restaurant in the county, and the owner of this generation, Feng Decai, is already the fourth generation. It is really not easy to operate through several generations. Do you know what is the most important thing about running a restaurant?"

"Shop sign?"

"That's right. No matter what you do business, the brand is very important. You must never deceive or offend customers." Shi Jie explained to him, "If the cooked food is brought in outside, if the opponent plays tricks or the person who makes the food is not careful, If it is not clean, and the customers have diarrhea or something, that is a matter of smashing the brand, so the big restaurants are very careful in purchasing, and generally do not buy cooked food from outside, and most of the stewed meat is homemade."

Ting Shuang was very disappointed, and understood the restaurant's approach, and was no longer so angry.

"However," Shi Jie said again, "if you trust the other party, the restaurant will agree to long-term supply of cooked food. Don't worry, eldest son, I will accompany you to tell the shopkeeper that he will not lose face."

Shi Jie's shop is not far from Huiyuan Restaurant, and he takes care of his family's business when entertaining customers and negotiating business. The people in the restaurant are also familiar with him.Seeing that he brought people here in person, he made an exception and accepted the chickens.

"Although my eldest nephew's family is poor, he has the best character and is honest. He will never cut corners and use that sick chicken to inject chicken or something. I accidentally lost more than 100 taels of silver a few days ago. Don't be tempted, and returned with a lot of money, with such a character, he will never do such dirty things." Shi Jie introduced to the shopkeeper.

Ting Shuang hurriedly said: "Don't worry, the shopkeeper. Although my family is poor, I also know that I should be a man with a conscience, and I will never do things that cheat customers. I will let you put these chickens here first. If they can't be sold, they will be mine."

The shopkeeper saw that he was introduced by a regular customer, and he spoke beautifully, and he didn't want to be too harsh, saying: "Just now I smelled the smell and saw the color, so I knew that this chicken would definitely sell, it's just that it's so expensive. Be careful with what you say, since the little brother is a real person and Boss Shi introduced him, he can't go wrong."

Immediately set the price, [-] Wen a piece, in front of regular customers, the shopkeeper is also very good at work, paid for ten chickens, and then paid in advance the price of twenty chickens tomorrow.Just one statement, the healthy live chickens that must be slaughtered must not be left overnight after being cooked.

Ting Shuang agreed, and she became more determined in her mind to open a restaurant by herself in the future. The chicken tasted so good that it was a bit cheap at fifty renminbi, but it was the first time to sell it, so I could only let the profit win the reputation first.The days to come will be bright.