Rebirth 07: Starting with Saving a Bankrupt Restaurant

Shi Ying placed the food on the table, then gave Liu Neng a deep look, but didn't say anything.

After the food was served, Liu Neng didn't rush to eat. He looked at it for a long time before taking his first bite.

"The food lost some of its flavor when it got cold."

They would watch for a few minutes, then eat a bite of food, and repeat this cycle over and over again.

This contrasted sharply with the other diners in the restaurant, who were wolfing down their food. Liu Neng, on the other hand, ate as if he were savoring some rare delicacy, chewing each mouthful of rice repeatedly until it tasted almost tasteless before swallowing it.

A simple bowl of shredded pork with garlic sauce rice took me almost twenty minutes to eat, given how much I dawdled.

After finishing his meal, Liu Neng ordered another soda.

He slowly sucked through the straw, lingering for a few more minutes, then burped and leisurely wiped his mouth with a tissue.

After watching it one last time and going over it in my mind, I finally stood up.

As Liu Neng walked out of the restaurant, he pursed his lips. Although he had completed the task, he still felt uneasy compared to noon.

After walking a distance, Liu Neng turned around and looked back at the location of Zhou's Restaurant.

I can come here to eat more often in the future; the food is indeed delicious.

The next day, in the morning, inside the Ruyi Hotel.

"How did things go, Liu Neng?" Ma Xianling asked, looking at Liu Neng, who was sitting across from him and still seemed a little sleepy.

Liu Neng rubbed his eyes, perked up, and nodded: "Brother Ma, I went there twice yesterday, once at noon and once in the evening."

I was just scouting the place at noon and picking up some samples, but in the evening I specifically found a good spot, and I've recorded all the items here.

As he spoke, Liu Neng pointed to his head.

"Has no one noticed?" Ma Xianling asked.

Liu Neng waved his hand, looking confident: "Brother, you're underestimating me. I haven't been discovered at all."

Ma Xianling nodded: "Then come with me to the kitchen."

"Going to the kitchen?" Liu Neng was a little confused for a moment, then asked, "What is Brother Ma going to do in the kitchen?"

Ma Xianling looked at him suspiciously and said, "How can I remember everything if you just talk about it without going to the kitchen and showing me the specific ingredients?"

Liu Neng scratched the back of his head, his heart racing, and said, "Oh, I see, bro."

"Is there a problem?"

"No problem, of course no problem!"

Ma Xianling then led Liu Neng to the kitchen.

"Are there any differences in the side dishes?"

"It's just shredded pork, green peppers, carrots, and wood ear mushrooms."

Liu Neng still remembered the side dishes clearly, having eaten them twice himself.

Ma Xianling nodded and said, "Then take a look at these seasonings and see which ones we need to add."

Liu Neng was at a loss for a moment. Just as Zhou Wen said, most of them were bottles and jars. How could he possibly distinguish them clearly?

Seeing that Liu Neng remained silent, Ma Xianling frowned and asked, "Did you even remember it?"

Urged on by Ma Xianling, Liu Neng gritted his teeth and said, "This shredded meat needs to be marinated first."

Upon hearing the answer, Ma Xianling's suspicions dissipated somewhat; the shredded meat did indeed need to be marinated.

Liu Neng looked at the pile of bottles and jars, trying hard to recall what he had seen in the kitchen last night.

He pointed and said, "Add this."

"Add pepper?"

Liu Neng nodded without hesitation and said, "Yes! Add this."

"How much?"

How much to add? Liu Neng had no idea how much to add; he could only remember about 70-80% of the seasoning steps, which was already his limit.

Fearing that hesitation would arouse Ma Xianling's suspicion, Liu Neng confidently said, "Shake it three times."

Seeing that Liu Neng did indeed remember, Ma Xianling said, "Wait here for me for a moment, I'll go get a notebook."

While Ma Xianling went to get a notebook to take notes, Liu Neng picked up the seasonings and began to examine them carefully.

He murmured, "This light soy sauce seems to have some. Is there a difference between light and dark soy sauce? Did the shop owner add it? ...It definitely has starch."

After a whole night, I can't remember much anymore. I should have taken a notebook and written it down properly last night.

By the time Ma Xianling returned, Liu Neng had already thought through his next words.

……

"..."

"That's it?"

Liu Neng nodded and said, "That's all."

Ma Xianling looked at the recipe for shredded pork with garlic sauce from Zhou's restaurant, which was written in his notebook, and nodded in satisfaction.

A satisfied smile finally appeared on his face: "Thank you for your help, Liu Zi."

Then, they took out the prepared red envelopes.

After receiving the red envelope, Liu Neng breathed a sigh of relief.

"If there's nothing else, Brother Ma, I'll be going now."

……

"How's it going?"

Ma Xianling patted his chest and said, "Everything is taken care of."

Liu Fengru seemed somewhat surprised: "You learned the recipe in just one day?"

Ma Xianling nodded and said, "Others went twice yesterday, but they didn't dare to go more, otherwise they would easily arouse suspicion."

Liu Fengru didn't ask much about the method, since she wasn't particularly good at cooking.

"Shall we do it now?"

"If you don't taste it first, what if you wait until guests arrive and serve the food directly? What if there's a problem?"

Liu Fengru took a bite and immediately spat it out.

Are you sure this is the right recipe?

Ma Xianling also picked up his chopsticks and ate the food, chewing it carefully.

It is edible, but the taste is indescribable, and it's not even as good as what I make myself.

"You're a cook yourself, don't you know whether this recipe is good or not?"

Ma Xianling felt somewhat wronged. Although that's what they said, that's what they told him. Besides, Zhouji Restaurant's taste was recognized by many diners, so how could he question it?

"That's what Liu Neng told me, and I even wrote down everything he said in my notebook."

"You're looking for Liu Neng? With Liu Neng's brain, do you think he can remember anything?" Liu Fengru was getting angry.

After such a blunder, Ma Xianling dared not admit that he had given some money back to others.

After this incident, the couple didn't think about finding someone else to steal their skills, and the matter of stealing skills was left unresolved.

……

Zhouji Restaurant is on an upward trajectory every day, even if it's a bit slow. But as long as there's progress, that's a good thing.

Since opening, the feedback on all dishes except cold noodles has been quite positive.

"Do you know what people outside are saying these days? They're saying that our family's Yu Xiang Rou Si (shredded pork with garlic sauce) is nowhere near as good as Zhou Ji Restaurant's."

Ma Xianling's eyelids twitched, but he remained silent.

If you can't compare, it means your food doesn't taste as good as theirs.

Liu Fengru spat and made up her mind, saying, "I don't believe that Zhou's Restaurant can be cheap while also making good ingredients and taste good."