1996: Starting from a bankrupt farmhouse restaurant

Chapter 139 Sha Xiaojuan's Repayment: 30-Year-Old Pickled Radish

The children participating in the guessing game and the adults watching were both dumbfounded, thinking to themselves, "Who's going to count how many people are in someone else's conversation?"

Lu Yuan laughed out loud. He was just joking with everyone, and then asked another question.

In round after round of these games, the children were completely engrossed in playing by Lu Yuan.

In the game, they forgot their identities and their partners' flaws, creating a very lively atmosphere.

Lu Yuan didn't set up the activities to be overly sentimental or educational; instead, he wanted them to accept themselves and others while having fun.

Before the meal, the final segment was a story about One Piece. This novel concept was absolutely unparalleled before the emergence of the online novel system.

The children listened with wide eyes, their imaginations running wild as they heard about the various Devil Fruit abilities, and they began to fantasize about eating one themselves.

After telling the story of One Piece, Lu Yuan arranged for dinner to be served.

Since the target audience is children, Lu Yuan prepared a standard children's meal today.

First up is today's main dish: curry chicken cutlet rice!

Curry is not a new invention for the people of Northwest China; rather, it has been used by some ethnic minorities for a long time.

A seasoning used for many years.

However, back then, there were no curry blocks or curry pastes like in later generations; people only ground their own curry powder.

But that's enough. Curry rice is very easy to make, and Lu Yuan thinks it's actually the easiest dish to make among lazy people's cooking methods.

Simply sauté the onions until fragrant, add the potatoes and carrots and stir-fry until golden brown, then add the curry and simmer until cooked and thickened. Pour the mixture over rice.

However, Lu Yuan added some broth, making the curry rice even more flavorful.

Needless to say, fried chicken cutlets are also delicious. After tenderizing the chicken breast, they are coated with a batter made from flour and starch, so they can't possibly taste bad.

Lu Yuan gave each child a curry chicken cutlet rice, but the portion size was reduced.

Otherwise, one serving of rice would be enough to fill you up, and you wouldn't be able to eat the other dishes.

Lu Yuan didn't consider healthy food combinations at all when preparing today's children's meal.

These children rarely eat meat, let alone have a healthy diet.

This one meal will be enough to keep them from craving meat for a month.

Sweet and sour pork is the first dish served as a side dish in children's meals.

With its sweet and sour flavor and crispy texture, it's a treat that adults love, let alone kids.

After the sweet and sour pork was served, the children quickly devoured it, each chewing it with gusto.

The second dish is a variation of blueberry yam, yam puree!

The reason is simple: fresh fruits like blueberries are simply unavailable. You can count the number of fruits you can buy in the northern region on one hand.

So Lu Yuan made fruit puree using cantaloupe and some canned fruit, and poured it over the yam.

Although it doesn't look very authentic, the taste is quite good, making it a great dish to lighten up today's greasy children's meal.

The third dish was shrimp in tomato sauce. Lu Yuan deliberately made the sweetness a bit stronger, highlighting the strong sour and sweet flavor.

The sweet and sour shrimp are different from the deep-fried meats we've had before. This is a pan-frying and then stir-frying method, which makes them less greasy.

Once the dish was served, it was devoured by the children in no time; the tempting appearance of the prawns was enough to attract them.

Actually, the recipe for wasabi shrimp balls is more suitable for children's tastes, but Lu Yuan couldn't find the yellow mustard sauce and sweet salad dressing, so he couldn't completely replicate the dish.

The fourth dish was fried spring rolls!

Lu Yuan's fried spring rolls are savory, filled with eggs, carrots, zucchini, and wood ear mushrooms.

Although it's a fried dish, it's packed with vegetables, which helps to balance out their current taste.

The fifth dish is fried lotus root sandwiches.

Compared to eggplant fritters, lotus root fritters don't absorb oil as easily, and they're crispy and not greasy at all.

Most importantly, the lotus root sandwich is filled with minced meat, which, combined with the crisp texture of the lotus root slices, makes it crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It bursts with juice with every bite, making it incredibly satisfying.

The sixth dish is a traditional sweet soup, fermented glutinous rice and white fungus soup.

This soup is a must-have at large banquets in rural northern China, and it must be served at the very end of the meal.

In the northern style of cooking, besides stewing fermented glutinous rice with white fungus, orange segments must be added to enhance the fruity aroma.

This soup is also one of the children's favorite foods at the banquet.

However, they weren't too keen on the soup today, because the curry chicken rice and the previous dishes had already filled them up enough.

Children with small appetites are already burping after just one bite of shrimp in tomato sauce.

Lu Yuan controlled the amount of food quite well, ensuring that there was no waste and that everyone ate their fill.

Lu Yuan didn't keep the CEOs who had gathered in the private room waiting.

Lu Yuan served the children the exact same dishes they were supposed to eat.

But for them, as adults, this amount of food is far from enough.

So Lu Yuan served them cold beef salad, braised duck, cold shredded vegetables, and stewed free-range chicken.

In addition, Lu Yuan also let them choose their own staple food, either curry rice with the children or noodles with minced meat sauce.

Anyway, today's staff meal was noodles with minced meat sauce, which is very quick to make.

Zhao Yan watched the whole thing from the sidelines. At first, she was just curious why Lu Yuan wanted her to organize this event herself.

As she watched, she understood that Lu Yuan's activities were interconnected, from breaking the ice at the beginning to using One Piece to push the atmosphere to a climax.

There was no rigid preaching throughout; the themes of "youth, hard work, and friendship" were simply incorporated into each game.

This inevitably provides her, as an educator, with some thought-provoking insights.

As educators, we often reflect on whether our domestic education system is too dogmatic and that we should always learn from the open education systems abroad.

But Lu Yuan's approach made her feel that the foreign education model might not be necessary.

After all, the cultural background is different, so it cannot be copied directly.

Education, in the final analysis, is still about teaching by example. Although Lu Yuan was playing games the whole time, what impressed her most was his level of engagement and his ability to engage each child's emotions.

After today's gathering, all the children agreed to get together again next month.

Lu Yuan not only didn't charge CEO Wang and his family, but also treated them to a free meal.

When they left, they also gave them a carefully prepared gift box of cooked food.

This is also Lu Yuan's principle in doing business: each party has its own agenda.

I'm inviting you to my event. I'll provide you with the best food and drinks, and even give you freebies and gifts. You'll definitely leave with something to eat and a fantastic experience.

When you dine at my restaurant, there will be absolutely no discounts. I will provide the best service and guarantee your satisfaction.

In the catering industry, a small business, the biggest taboo is mixing personal relationships with business, otherwise you won't even know how you lost money in the end.

Sha Xiaojuan's daughter, Dandan, also attended the gathering today. The little girl's dark face seemed to find companions when she saw the children with cleft lips, and she felt a sense of sympathy for them.

After finishing the children's gathering, Lu Yuan threw himself into the busy private banquet.

The private banquets on Saturdays and Sundays are the busiest. Everyone is on their day off anyway, so they arrive late and leave late. By the time Lu Yuan was finally free, it was already 9 p.m.

Lu Yuan was exhausted today, mainly because he hosted the children's gathering in the afternoon, which was very mentally taxing.

Just as Lu Yuan was resting outside, Sha Xiaojuan, carrying a jar and accompanied by Dandan, came to Lu Yuan with great effort.

Lu Yuan looked curiously at the jar in her hand. It looked quite old and was sealed very tightly.

She carefully placed the jar in front of Lu Yuan, panting, and said, "Boss Lu, President Lu Hua has already given us the surgery fees. You are our savior, thank you!"

Lu Yuan then remembered that Dandan was going to have surgery in a couple of days, so he asked, "Who's going to go with Dandan for the surgery?"

"I'm all alone..." Sha Xiaojuan answered with her head down.

Lu Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Forget it, I'll have Brother Hua take you there. You're a widow and her children, don't lose the money."

"Thank you, boss!" Sha Xiaojuan did not refuse. Faced with her daughter's life-or-death situation, she seized every possible opportunity for help.

Then she pointed to the jar in front of her and said, "Boss, I don't have much to repay you with. This was brought back by my husband. He said he got it in Guangdong Province. It's very valuable, so I asked him to keep it."

Lu Yuan moved the jar; it was quite heavy, weighing about ten kilograms. He wondered what was inside.

He asked with a smile, "You're giving me your man's treasure? Aren't you afraid he'll come back and beat you up?"

Sha Xiaojuan shook her head firmly, indignantly saying, "I want a divorce! He took the family's money and went out to squander it, bringing back this pittance. He can't even afford Dandan's surgery!"

Lu Yuan nodded without speaking; it wasn't his place to meddle in other people's family affairs. However, he was very curious about the jar, so he asked, "Do you know what's inside?"

Mentioning this, Sha Xiaojuan wiped away tears of anger, then said apologetically, "This contains dried radish that's been pickled for over 30 years. I'm so sorry, Boss Lu, I really have nothing else to give you. I don't even know if this is actually valuable. If it's useless, please throw it away. I'll save up and pay you back!"

When Lu Yuan heard about the dried radish that had been around for over 30 years, his eyes lit up.

Considering the sealed jar and the fact that it originated from Guangdong Province, the answer is obvious!

Old preserved radish!

It's preserved radish that's over 30 years old; this stuff is a treasure!

Going back 30 years, it was an era of scarcity and food shortages. The fact that someone could preserve preserved radish for 30 years speaks volumes about its value.

In 10 years, this stuff will be 50-year-old preserved radish, and it will fetch an astronomical price. It's a rare delicacy.

Although, in terms of current price, it is not as much as the surgery fee that Lu Yuan gave her.

However, in terms of value, preserved radish is now in high demand but not readily available, as it is homemade and rarely sold to outsiders.

Moreover, the distance from the northern border to Guangdong Province is so great that it would be quite a hassle to get a jar of it.

After Sha Xiaojuan took Dandan back, Lu Yuan couldn't wait to carry the jar back to the kitchen and carefully opened it.

Immediately, a mellow, fermented aroma wafted out, and Lu Yuan's face lit up with joy. This smell was just right!

It is absolutely authentic aged preserved radish, and it has been aged for a very long time.

After the jar was fully opened, the old preserved radish, which was jet black and oily with an amber luster, immediately came into view.

That's it, that's it!

Lu Yuan was extremely excited!

In this remote place in the north, he gets extremely excited whenever a new ingredient appears.

Lu Yuan pressed it gently, and the preserved radish immediately oozed out its oil. This was something that would only happen if the preserved radish had reached the required age and been properly pickled!

Lu Yuan held the jar tightly, treating it like a precious treasure. After a while, he found several small jars in the house.

He repackaged most of the old preserved radish into small jars, sealed them, and stored them for at least a few more years.

Only one small jar was left open, and we ate as we went. By the time everything was done, it was already past 10 o'clock.

Just as Lu Yuan was about to go to sleep, Wei Yinghong came over, looking anxious, and said to him, "Xiao Yuan, could you make some porridge or noodle soup? Yan Yan's stomach is really upset right now, probably because she caught a chill during the day. She said she took some medicine, but she still looks very uncomfortable."

Lu Yuan glanced at the small jar of preserved radish in front of him and thought to himself, "This is just the perfect opportunity! It seems that Zhao Yan is a little glutton!"

This year's preserved radish is no longer suitable for direct consumption; it's more often used as a condiment, added in small amounts to dishes.

The protein in radish is slowly hydrolyzed by salt-tolerant microorganisms and endogenous enzymes, continuously producing glutamic acid, succinic acid, and fruity and honey-scented substances such as ethyl acetate.

The umami flavor of aged preserved radish far surpasses that of chicken essence and MSG, and it also has a rich, mellow aroma.

Besides its unique aroma, preserved radish also has certain medicinal value.

In a local farmer's home, the children had a slight cold, cough, and stomach upset. He cooked some preserved radish into white porridge, and the children recovered quickly after drinking it.

This is also why old farmers generally don't sell their old preserved radish. Selling it won't make them rich overnight, but keeping it for their own use is extremely beneficial.

Upon hearing that Zhao Yan was feeling unwell, Lu Yuan immediately thought of this simple dish.

Lu Yuan took out a small clay pot and put the rinsed white rice into it.

Bring the rice porridge to a boil over high heat. After cooking for a while, when the rice grains are plump but not yet burst open, add a small amount of diced preserved radish.

Cook until the rice grains burst open, the water content decreases, and the soup thickens slightly, then turn off the heat.

Old-fashioned pickled radish is essentially a type of pickled radish, which is very salty and has a unique umami flavor, so it doesn't need to be seasoned separately.

Actually, authentic preserved radish congee also includes dried scallops and minced meat.

However, Zhaoyan's stomach was upset, so she didn't want to put too much food in it and increase her digestive burden. The plain porridge was just right at that moment.

Wei Yinghong watched as her son put in some dark-colored stuff, and the white porridge suddenly became so delicious that she was stunned.

After cooking the porridge, Wei Yinghong brought it to Zhaoyan's room. Lu Yuan followed behind, helped her lift the curtain, and then, as if possessed, followed her inside.

At this moment, Zhao Yan was curled up on the kang like a pitiful kitten, her little face pale and sickly.

This is the room where Lu Yuan woke up after his rebirth, but it looks completely different now.

Not only were the bed sheets changed to light pink, but a red checkered tablecloth was also laid on the table.

There was a stack of books on top, and an open lesson plan next to it, indicating that Zhaoyan had been preparing lessons for the children.

"Yan Yan, have some porridge, it'll make your stomach feel better."

"Thank you, Auntie!" Zhao Yan forced herself to sit up, revealing a cute bear pajama set. When Lu Yuan saw it, he couldn't help but smile, "So you wear this kind of clothes."

Zhao Yan glared weakly at Lu Yuan, too exhausted to argue with him, and could only slurp her porridge in small sips.

After taking a sip, she immediately looked up, her eyes shining, and said, "This congee is so delicious!"

"Then drink some more!" Wei Yinghong helped Zhao Yan smooth the hair that was about to float into the bowl.

After drinking some porridge, Zhao Yan seemed to have regained her strength and crossed her legs in front of her, which had been in a duck-like position.

Then a delicate pink toe was revealed, crystal clear and white, each toe like a work of art.

Lu Yuan was a little dazed, and the image of that ethereal fairy from this morning reappeared in his mind, except this time he had a pair of bare feet covered in frost.

Lu Yuan shook his head, thinking to himself that he was just too tired, and that's why he kept having hallucinations.

At this time, Zhaoyan finished her congee with preserved radish, her face became rosy, and she had more energy to speak.

"Thank you, Auntie, I feel much better!" Zhao Yan hugged Wei Yinghong's arm and rubbed her head against her shoulder.

"It's good that you're feeling better. Go to sleep now, my dear! Sleep in tomorrow and don't always think about getting up early to help out. There's not much for you to do at the shop!" Wei Yinghong said, patting Zhaoyan's hand.

As Wei Yinghong was leaving, she noticed Lu Yuan leaning against the table, looking towards the kang (a heated brick bed). She immediately punched him hard in the face: "What are you doing in here, you brat? You can't just barge into a girl's room like that!"

Lu Yuan said, feeling wronged, "This is my room!"

"Your room is in the side room, get out!" Lu Yuan was pushed out by Wei Yinghong.

At the private banquet the next day, Lu Yuan changed one of the dishes at the last minute, replacing it with fried rice with preserved radish.

This is also a way to fully bring out the flavor of preserved radish.

However, since these are dishes served at a banquet, Lu Yuan's version would be relatively more elaborate.

What was finally served on the table was: Fried Rice with Preserved Radish, Mushrooms, and Eggs.

The so-called "gold and silver fried rice" is made by separating the egg yolks and whites, mixing the rice with the egg yolks, and then frying the egg whites separately into rice-grain-sized pieces.

Heat oil in a wok again, add diced pork with alternating layers of fat and lean meat and stir-fry until fragrant, then add diced preserved radish.

After releasing the aroma, add diced wild mushrooms and sauté until fragrant, then add diced scallops and shrimp.

Once the ingredients are slightly cooked, add the rice mixed with egg yolk and stir-fry over high heat.

The standard for golden and silver fried rice is that each grain of rice must be golden yellow and not stick together.

This requires you to add the rice and then vigorously stir-fry it at high speed.

Stir-fry the rice until it's slightly browned and fragrant, then add the egg white chunks and finally the chopped green onions. It's ready to serve.

This fried rice requires no seasoning at all; the salty aroma of preserved radish and the umami flavor of wild mushrooms are enough.

Furthermore, no more diced ham should be added; Chinese cuisine emphasizes harmony and moderation, and moderation is key.

Both ham and preserved radish are heavily salted, so adding them together would make them too salty and cause them to lose their individual flavors.