Rebirth 07: Starting with Saving a Bankrupt Restaurant

After tasting it, Shi Ying realized that this sour soup fish and sauerkraut fish were completely different flavors.

The broth for sour fish soup is made with tomatoes, while the broth for sauerkraut fish soup is made with sauerkraut, even though both are sour.

Shi Ying also tried the soup base again. It was sour, but not as sour as before, and even had a slightly sweet aftertaste.

It was delicious, and it was prepared in a way I had never tried before.

However, Shi Ying wasn't too surprised. She was already used to the reason; it would be an accident if her boss's cooking wasn't good.

Even if it doesn't taste good, it can only be a mistake, and it's not up to the standards expected of the owner.

The broth is a little different from that of tomato and egg noodles; it's not as thick.

The side dishes also absorbed the flavor of the soup very well. As Shi Ying drank the soup and ate the side dishes, she relaxed without even realizing it.

However, Shi Ling felt that the soup base didn't really matter; the most important thing was the fish, which was very smooth and firm.

With a gentle sip, the entire fish meat melts in your mouth.

Snakehead fish doesn't have any small bones, so you can eat it freely instead of having to worry about the bones and only taking small bites.

Dan Wei poured several spoonfuls of broth over his full bowl of rice, stirred it, and then ate it all along with the vegetables and broth.

In the afternoon, Zhou Wen returned to the seafood wholesale market, the same one he had visited before. This time, he was there specifically for the blackfish.

Zhou Wen selected fish weighing around two pounds each, otherwise the fish would be too small, yielding less meat and making it difficult to slice.

Finally, Zhou Wen negotiated a price with a stall owner. The wholesale quantity of blackfish was about 75 to 65 jin, which would be about 30 portions.

Given the restaurant's current capacity, there's absolutely no need to worry about not being able to sell its food.

Many dishes in restaurants are now available in small and large portions, such as pickled pepper bullfrog and cold-served rabbit.

The same applies to this sour fish soup.

A small portion costs 28 yuan, which is barely enough for three people.

night.

Perhaps because the holiday is nearing its end, everyone knows that Zhouji Restaurant will be closed at the beginning of next month, plus there are new dishes launched today.

Therefore, the restaurants are unusually crowded tonight.

Within an hour, the entire first floor was full, and there were also quite a few diners on the second floor.

Almost one out of every three or four tables of customers will choose this sour fish soup.

Like Shi Ying, many diners initially thought that this sour soup fish and sauerkraut fish were the same thing, just with different names.

It wasn't until a customer ordered the sour fish soup that they realized it wasn't the same dish at all.

The broth of sour fish soup is reddish and bright, and pickled fish is also a common dish at street food stalls.

There was no pickled cabbage in this sour fish soup at all.

If you want to know what's wrong with a dish like this, the first thing you'll taste is the broth.

"This broth is pretty good. It's sweet and sour, but not too sweet. It tastes much better than the pickled fish you get outside."

"Come on, it's just that Zhou's Restaurant doesn't serve pickled fish." A diner waved his hand dismissively.

The other diner didn't object and nodded in agreement.

If Zhouji Restaurant makes sauerkraut fish, it will definitely taste better than what you get elsewhere, that's beyond doubt.

As luck would have it, when the restaurant closed, there were only two black carp left, just enough for one staff meal.

……

……

Then came the wait for September to arrive, and even Zhou Wen, the restaurant owner, couldn't contain his excitement.

Since the restaurant reopened, apart from that one visit to Shi Ling, the rest of the time...

From March to September now, time really flies.

August 31st was the last day the restaurant was open. Starting from noon, diners were enjoying the last day of their holiday, which happened to be Sunday.

……

After the evening ended, Zhou Wen cooked a big meal for everyone, and they all enjoyed this meal before the holiday.

Finally, since it was getting late, Zhou Wen let the two sisters leave first, while he drove Shan Wei and Ren Xuan home.

After dropping off the person and washing up, it was almost 1 a.m.

Because he was going back tomorrow, Zhou Wen quickly went to bed to rest after washing up.

Zhou Wen had booked the vehicle the day before, and after having breakfast at eight o'clock in the morning, he boarded the vehicle.

The entire journey home takes about an hour.

I dozed off for a bit in the car, and an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Once you reach your destination, you'll need to take a motorcycle taxi, which will take about ten minutes.

The local houses are all self-built, and because they are from the older generation, the most common type of houses are stone houses.

Of course, he couldn't come back empty-handed, so Zhou Wen bought some food and drinks.

The main door on the first floor was unlocked, and the entire first floor was uninhabited; it was used for worship.

The other rooms on the first floor were filled with miscellaneous items.

After going up to the second floor and walking a few more steps, you will see the two old people, who are having tea with an uncle from the same village.

Therefore, everyone in this village has the surnames Zhou and Zhang.

However, Zhou Wen has some face blindness, so he didn't recognize which uncle this was.

"Songyan, your Awen is back."

Locals customarily add the suffix "A" before the last character of a name.

When the two elders saw Zhou Wen, they thought for a moment that their eyesight was failing.

Zhou Wen put down what he was carrying and said, "Mom, I'm back."

Zhang Mo was pleasantly surprised and quickly stood up.

Clearly, they hadn't expected Zhou Wen to return.

But then, as if struck by a sudden thought, she exclaimed, "What about a restaurant?"

"Take three days off."

Zhang Mo, who was initially happy that Zhou Wen was back, suddenly changed her expression: "After resting for so long, the restaurant is closed?"

"I'm quite busy during the summer vacation, and the other staff at the restaurant also need to rest. Plus, I'm going to Guangzhou in the next two days," Zhou Wen said honestly, without hiding his itinerary.

"Go to Guangzhou? What are you going there for?"

Zhou Wen sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, and said, "Let's go over there and study for a bit."

Zhang Mo remained silent and refilled Zhou Wen's teacup with tea.

I visited the restaurant once during the summer vacation and saw how popular it is now.

However, I still have some doubts. Going to Guangzhou to study? This is something that has never happened before.

She was also a little worried about her son's safety, so she asked a few more questions.

"Will there be any problems?" Zhang Mo asked.

Zhou Wen waved his hand and said, "Mom, it's okay. I'm just going over there to take a look, try the local dishes, and see if there's anything I can learn."