Chapter 36
Suspicion
“This is tofu.”
Zhao Zhan carried the tofu into the back kitchen. A chef saw that Manager Li had followed him in and tactfully gave him a stove.
“Do you have stock in the kitchen?”
“Yes, our inn’s stock is made from a stewed whole chicken. If you want to use it, you can use it to your heart’s content!”
Zhao Zhan was planning to make tofu with chicken soup today.
He only needed to cut the tofu into small pieces, pan-fry the tofu on both sides with a little oil, then add the chicken soup and stew it. When the tofu pieces became slightly fluffy and a little bigger, he would sprinkle some green onion and wait for a moment. He would place the tofu and the soup on a deep plate to make sure that the chicken soup was just right over the tofu.
After some tinkering in the kitchen, his dish was ready to be served.
“Manager Li, please have a taste. This dish must be eaten while it’s hot.”
At first, Manager Li was a little suspicious. All he did was stir fry the food and added some soup, how can this dish be delicious?
He tried to use his chopsticks to pick up a piece of tofu and put it in his mouth. It was hot in his mouth, but he was appalled!
The white and tender tofu had absorbed the soup, and the fragrance of the bean, meat, and fresh and salty taste were all present in the mouth. Furthermore, the tofu had been stewed to an extremely soft state. In the past, Manager Li had thought that the bean sprouts were the most delicious food, but after tasting this tofu, he finally knew what was the most delicious thing on Earth!
“How much for this? We’ll take it!”
Manager Li couldn’t wait any longer, afraid that Zhao Zhan would sell such a good thing to someone else if he was not satisfied.
“Don’t worry. There’s still one more dish that you haven’t tried.” Zhao Zhan’s cooking skills were excellent. He took out two pieces of dried beans and cut them into strips of equal thickness. He also picked half a handful of celery, put some shredded meat in the pot, and quickly stir-fried a plate of stir-fried shredded meat with dried celery and vegetables.
One was stir-fried and the other was stewed.
The man didn’t have any suspicions anymore. He picked up the chopsticks and couldn’t wait to pick up the dried bean to try.
“I can tell that this is made from the same ingredients as the tofu just now. Are your soybean sprouts also made from the same ingredients?”
“Manager Li, you have a sharp eye.” Zhao Zhan picked up a handkerchief and wiped the oil off his hands. He smiled at Manager Li and turned from the guest to the host. “Actually, can we go somewhere else and talk?”
“Of course, we can!”
A single yellow bean sprout was enough to make his restaurant’s business thrive so well that it was bursting with money. With these two dishes, Manager Li was completely convinced that his inn would no longer need to be supported by a half-dead person!
“This one takes a lot more effort to make compared to the soybean sprouts. I can copy the recipes of the two dishes I just made for you. How much are you planning to set the price for them?”
Manager Li calculated in his heart.
If the price was too low, he was afraid that the other party would be dissatisfied and go to another restaurant. However, if the price was too high, these two dishes were, after all, vegetarian and not meat dishes. He felt heartache thinking of the best possible route.
“If you don’t have any ideas, how about I give you a price?”
Manager Li was a little apprehensive.
The last time he saw him, he was very honest in front of his wife. However, they met up alone, Manager Li felt that this man was not easy to deal with.
Although he was still a little shy when they were chatting, it had to be said that he was completely able to hold his ground. His true thoughts could not be seen from his expression.
“I’m planning to share the tofu and dried bean curd with Manager Li,” The businessman couldn’t sit still and couldn’t help but ask, “One dish can’t make much money. You don’t know much about the inn’s business, do you? Don’t look at how many people there are even if there are many tables. You’ll have to take the risk and split the profits with me. Why do you have to do this?”