Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 556: Manpower Arrives

Jiang Yunqi really missed this fragrant, spicy and flavorful dish. He couldn't help but speed up the pace of his chopsticks.

Before they knew it, there was already a pile of shrimp shells, crab legs and fish bones in front of the men. Jars of wine were also opened one after another.

Madam Han, on the other hand, didn't eat much. She only had a quick taste of the spicy crab and chopped pepper spareribs because she couldn't stand spicy food.

However, the steamed shrimp with garlic paste tastes pretty good. After the shrimp is cut open, it is very flavorful. It’s just that there seems to be a bit too much garlic paste, so you must brush your teeth after eating it.

The chicken soup was also pretty good, the chicken was not too dry and the soup was tasty. Unfortunately, the seasonal vegetables that Qian prepared tasted a bit off.

Madam Han, who was very particular about food, only took one bite with her chopsticks and stopped eating. She looked at Hua Lei and Qian Shi and pursed her lips slightly.

Hua Lei prepared quite a lot of dishes, and the portions were very large. Each dish was served in two large portions, so even if no one picked up the seasonal vegetables, the dishes would still be enough to eat.

Pei Jingyang and Pei Jingyuan ate with gusto and drank glass after glass of wine.

In the end, there were only a few vegetables on the table that were eaten with a few chopsticks, and the rest were empty. The two brothers were also drunk.

Seeing that there were only a few dishes she cooked on the table, Qian's face looked a little unhappy. But she was a new daughter-in-law, so she couldn't say anything.

However, she felt that this was actually unfair to her. Whether it was meat or vegetarian food, most people, unless they were monks, generally liked to eat meat.

Moreover, the dishes made from flower buds have such a strong taste, either a spicy pepper that is hard to swallow, or a garlic smell that is terrible. Really!

Dinner ended with some people happy and some sad, and Hua Lei finally had time to sit down and rest. Everyone sat and chatted for a while, and Rong Jin took Hua Lei and the others back to town.

After a few days, the shops in the back of the house were all renovated. Hua Lei had people clean the shops and bought tables and chairs. Then the boat loaded with food from Yuanying Manor finally arrived.

Almost all the ingredients and cooking utensils needed for Hualei Restaurant have arrived, and what makes people happy is that many people from Hualei's own farm and workshop also came along with the boat, including Tian Changjin and Uncle Zhao.

Now Hualei had enough manpower again. Some masters from the Houfu Pottery Workshop and some managers from other farms also came.

Hua Lei immediately sent them to Pei Jingyang, and after these people rested for a few days, Pei Jingyang placed them in the brick kiln, timber and charcoal workshops respectively.

In addition, there were two chefs and six or seven waiters. These two chefs and waiters were recruited by Tian Xiaocheng in Leyangzhou City.

It turned out that Tian Xiaocheng wanted to buy a shop in Leyang Prefecture because of Hua Lei's instructions, so he had been wandering around the capital of Leyang Prefecture and saw that a restaurant had closed down due to fierce competition.

The shop was in a good location and had a large space, so I wanted to buy it. When I went to see the shop, I saw the chef and waiter of the restaurant packing their luggage to leave.

Thinking that Hua Lei was going to open a restaurant in Mobei Town, I went up to ask about the situation, and it turned out to be the right question.

It turned out that one of the chefs was originally from Mobei Town, but there were not many restaurants in Mobei Town, so he went to Leyang Prefecture to find a job.

Recently, I saw that the town of Mobei had started to develop rapidly, and I had been thinking about returning to the town to find a job. But the restaurant just closed down, so I prepared to go home.

When she met Tian Xiaocheng, she mentioned that Hua Lei wanted to find a chef in Mobei. After discussing it, the two of them took a boat back with him. They also called another second chef and several waiters to come with them.

Hua Lei was happy. This luck was unstoppable when it came. The person that she and Pei Jingyang had been looking for for so long was finally solved so easily.

Now that all the people and things are ready, the restaurant can be opened immediately. During this period, the officials who settled down have already started looking for food.

So, five days later, Hualei's restaurant named "Baiweilou" opened for business. There was no publicity or promotion. The restaurant's dishes were both light and heavy.

Because mutton is relatively popular here and its price is more cost-effective than pork and chicken, Hua Lei used mutton as the main ingredient and made many dishes.

Braised lamb, chopped pepper lamb chops, spicy onion lamb, etc. Of course, for lighter flavors, steamed lamb, lamb and radish soup, and hand-pulled lamb are also available. Hot pot also occupies a corner on the menu.

The charcoal that made Hua Lei hesitate was also solved because of a letter Hua Lei wrote to Pei Jingyang. Originally, Hua Lei thought that burning bricks also required wood, and if she paid a little attention, she could make some charcoal.

However, Pei Jingyang opened a small charcoal shop next to the brick kiln. Now, the charcoal needed for the hot pot in the restaurant has been solved, and it can also be used at home. In two or three months, the demand for charcoal in Mobei Town will definitely increase.

However, despite the lack of charcoal, Hualei still only put hot pot at the end of the menu, after all, spices are also very expensive. On the third day of opening, which was a holiday, Pei Jingyang brought a group of subordinates to show his support.

Officials who were looking for food came in twos and threes. Soon, the dozen square tables in the hall were full. The waiters also carried dishes and shuttled between the square tables skillfully.

At the end of the day, Hualei looked at the account book and found that it was OK. After deducting all the costs, the profit was still very good. However, today was a holiday, so business would definitely be better.

I wonder how business will be like on normal days? Moreover, officials nowadays do not have as much time for lunch as they did when they went to the capital. They only have one hour.

Here, officials' lunch time was compressed into half an hour, so there were very few customers coming to the restaurant for lunch. It was simply too late to come and order food and wait for the kitchen to prepare it before eating.

Sure enough, in the next few days, the restaurant had no business at all, especially at noon, when there was rarely a table, and at night, there were only seven or eight tables of guests. This can't go on! Hua Lei was a little anxious.

However, there is no point in being anxious, we still have to hold on. We just hope that there will be more business travelers coming in, so that we can attract some business back.

Recently, the government office has been very busy, and land reclamation and planting are still ongoing. Hualei will go to the fields from time to time to check the actual progress of land reclamation.

On this day, Hua Lei was wandering around in the fields, followed by Rong Yu, Gao Tiedan, Xiao Yuanzi and others. Next to them were pioneers wielding iron-toothed hoes and turning the soil.