Chapter 202: Chapter 202: Withdraw the Dishes

Translator: 549690339

“No, we didn’t find anyone at all.” Zhang Yongchang said, a hint of anger tinging his tone.

Lian Rong immediately cringed.

No wonder Zhang Yongchang was angry. If it was him, he would also be angry at someone who caused trouble and then huffily ran off, leaving everything behind.

“Master, just calm down…”

While Lian Rong was angry at Feng Yongkang, he also felt sorry for his master. His decision to work as a cook here, stubbornly rejecting many offers from restaurants out of loyalty, the fact that his wage wasn’t high, and that he had to help Feng Yongkang deal with this mess, was infuriating.

“After lunch, go tell the meat shop not to send us any more meat with bones.”

Zhang Yongchang said, “Starting tomorrow, have the sign for Braised Pork Ribs taken down. We won’t be making that dish in the kitchen for a while.” “What?” Lian Rong was momentarily stunned.

“What ‘what’? Can’t you understand me?” Zhang Yongchang slapped Lian Rong on the back of the head.

“I understand, I understand.” Massaging his head for a while, Lian Rong quickly nodded, “After lunch, I’ll go to the meat shop and tell the shop manager.”

Since the shop manager wasn’t considering Zhuang Qingning and even totally ignoring Zhang Yongchang’s painstaking efforts, they shouldn’t be overly considerate of their relationship with Fushun Tower and Feng Yongkang.

There’s no way you can slap someone in the face and still expect to make money off their recipe.

Lian Rong understood this and knew what Zhang Yongchang aimed to do. He was just worried about how to explain the situation to the meat shop manager after lunch.

After giving his instructions, Zhang Yongchang didn’t say anything else, only adding the marinated fish into the oil pan.

With a “sizzle” sound, the mouthwatering smell filled up the whole kitchen.

While Zhang Yongchang and Lian Rong were busy here, Zhuang Qingning started her works in the tofu shop at her home.

At lunchtime, Mrs. Cao made steamed rice, a dish of braised fish, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and a garlic mung bean salad to eat together.

“This was brought from my parent’s home. My younger brother sent these to our family, two big grass carps. My parents-in-law and husband had one at home and I brought the other to the shop so you and Miss Sui can have a taste.” While talking, Mrs. Cao served a big piece of fish into Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui’s bowls: “You two eat more, there’s plenty of fish.”

After saying this, she served a piece to Zhang Qiuying as well.

“This fish is indeed very good, very fresh. It must have been freshly killed, right?” Zhuang Qingning smiled.

“Miss Ning, your pallet is truly refined.” Zhang Qiuying started to giggle, “My uncle delivered it in a wooden barrel, alive, saying the fish could stay alive at home for a few days, this way it could get rid of that muddy smell from the river, and the living fish would be fresher when it was time to eat it, this way the fish wouldn’t go bad during the hot weather.”

“This fish was still alive this morning. It was kept in a basin in the backyard until lunchtime when my mom killed it.”

“No wonder it taste so fresh.” Zhuang Qingning said and served herself another piece of fish.

Mrs. Cao wasn’t a bad cook, she did a good job on the braised fish, Zhuang Qingning thought it was delicious.

Seeing Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui enjoy the meal brought a broad smile to Mrs. Cao’s face.

The meal was cheerful, tasty and satisfying, with everyone chatting and laughing. They washed and cleaned up the kitchen after having lunch.

Zhuang Sifu would be here in the afternoon, as always. With more than an hour to spare, Zhuang Qingning decided to close the shop and have a proper rest in the backyard with everyone.

Meanwhile, Fushun Tower had sent off the last customers and the meal was ready in the kitchen.

Among the familiar dishes, the salted egg yolk with baked pumpkin and the stir-fried river shrimp with chives were particularly eye-catching. The sight of these dishes immediately widened the eyes of the kitchen staff.

The stir-fried river shrimp with chives, a signature dish of Fushun Tower, was easy to close an eye on as small river shrimps were common everywhere. However, the salted egg yolk with baked pumpkin was a different story. It was unavailable due to the season. If good pumpkins were not available, Zhang Yongchang would rather not cook the dish. Moreover, the duck yolk these days tasted much better than it used to, so many people had been longing for this dish. Seeing that it was made today, they were incredibly surprised.

“The shop manager is really generous today.” Du Lai, a worker at the restaurant, praised, “this dish hasn’t even made its way to the front tables, but we’re having it first.”

“This has nothing to do with the shop manager’s generosity.” Lian Rong, who was very upset with Feng Yongkang for today’s incident, said with a pout, “This is a treat from Uncle Zhang. Even the pumpkins used were not from our own stocks but were given by Miss Zhuang from the tofu shop. They were gifts to Uncle Zhang, so he used them to prepare food for us.”

Having heard of the dispute in the backyard from Ma Tong earlier, Du Lai immediately understood what was going on. He quickly corrected himself: “Right, we should thank Uncle Zhang, who went to the trouble to make this dish for us.”

“We also benefited from Miss Zhuang.” Du Lai added, “Brother Rong, please thank Miss Zhuang for me later.”

When you accept someone’s favor, you should be ready and willing to return the favor. After fulfilling their cravings by eating the food someone else provided, they need to be prepared to say some nice things. Otherwise, isn’t that person too rude?

Seeing Du Lai say this, the others also echoed their thanks to Zhuang Qingning.

Hearing this, Lian Rong felt much better.

But then he frowned.

If ordinary people know they should reciprocate when receiving someone else’s favor, as he, who considers himself a dunce, knows how to handle this matter, why can’t the shop manager understand it?

But now wasn’t the time to think too much about it.

There was only one plate of Salted Egg Yolk Baked Pumpkin, a dish everyone was keen on. If he didn’t act quickly, there would be none left for him.

Lian Rong didn’t hesitate, and quickly grabbed a few bites.

The egg yolk was salty and fragrant, with a rich flavor, and the pumpkin was sweet and soft, with a slightly crispy skin and a still-steaming, soft inside. Everything was just perfect, and the dish could be summed up in two words: delicious!

But there wasn’t much of this delicious dish, and after finishing it, they could only be left wanting more.

After having their lunch, the waiters busied themselves with their jobs. After they finished, they rested in the backyard. Lon Rong, having a break, hurriedly went to tell the meat shop not to send more meat with bones to Fushun Tower.

After Feng Yongkang huffed out of Fushun Tower earlier, he headed home..