Chapter 121: What’s in the Bag?
With such fine wine, they’d definitely have to enjoy a few glasses tonight.
As for the spicy crayfish, everyone was equally looking forward to it.
In the past, hardly anyone ate crayfish.
Back then, crayfish were considered a real nuisance in the village.
They would riddle the ridges between paddy fields with holes, making it impossible to hold water.
But now, crayfish were becoming more and more of a hot commodity.
Li You walked into the kitchen and got to work.
’I’ll start with about sixteen pounds. If that’s not enough, I can always make more.’
The crayfish were already cleaned, and all the ingredients were prepared. All that was left was to fire up the stove, pour the oil, and start stir-frying.
He cooked them in two batches.
Soon after, both batches of crayfish were done, filling three large basins to the brim.
He brought them to the table.
Everyone quickly gathered around, unable to wait any longer.
His dad started pouring the wine.
After pouring a glass for himself, Li Zhong, and Liu Jialiang, he asked Li You if he wanted some.
Li You shook his head, saying he wouldn’t drink.
For some reason, he never felt comfortable drinking in front of his parents.
So it was just his dad, Li Zhong, and Liu Jialiang drinking.
His dad took a sip and was more surprised than he’d ever been.
’This wine is even better than I imagined.’
’Selling this for twenty yuan per serving feels like a huge loss.’
However, since Li You had already set the price, he wouldn’t object.
Li Zhong and Liu Jialiang downed their wine in one gulp, completely satisfied.
It wasn’t just the wine that was good; the crayfish was also delicious.
After eating a crayfish, Li Zhong said joyfully, "This is so, so much better than the crayfish we make ourselves."
Li You smiled. "Then everyone, dig in tonight. If this isn’t enough, I’ll go make more."
"It’s enough, it’s enough."
The guests all said there was plenty.
Gradually, all three basins of crayfish were finished. Li You then cooked a bowl of beef noodles for everyone.
After finishing the noodles, everyone was completely and utterly satisfied.
...
「The next morning.」
Li You cooked three bowls of Yangchun Noodles. After eating with his parents, he got ready to head back to the restaurant.
He grabbed the crayfish his dad had caught two days ago, as well as the crayfish Li Zhong and Liu Jialiang had delivered yesterday afternoon.
All together, it was about forty-four pounds.
He set off on his motorcycle.
After returning to the restaurant, he opened the doors.
Da Bai and Xiaohai immediately came to greet him. "Morning, Boss!"
Li You smiled. "Morning!"
Then, he took out fifty medium-quality crucian carp from the Spatial Fish Pond.
Each one weighed about half a pound.
"Da Bai, Xiaohai, clean these fish first."
"Yes, Boss."
Da Bai and Xiaohai began cleaning the fish. Descaling, degilling, gutting—they were professional and swift.
They were even faster and better at it than Li You himself!
Li You was very satisfied.
Today, besides launching the spicy crayfish, he was also going to introduce Agastache Crucian Carp.
So, he had them clean some crucian carp to have on hand.
Now, it was time to add the two new dishes, Spicy Crayfish and Agastache Crucian Carp, to the "Today’s Specials" board.
As for the prices, Li You had decided on them long ago.
The spicy crayfish would be sold by weight, thirty-five yuan per pound.
This price was definitely not expensive.
The Agastache Crucian Carp would be twenty-five yuan per serving.
Each serving was one crucian carp, weighing half a pound.
After adding both dishes, Li You lay back in his rocking chair, scrolling on his phone while waiting for customers to arrive.
Time slowly passed. At ten in the morning, cars carrying Xia Xiaoyue and several of her classmates pulled into the parking lot one after another.
The car doors opened, and about twenty young, beautiful girls got out.
Xia Xiaoyue, Mu Qingye, Yu Wei, and the others were all there. The rest were mostly familiar faces as well.
The group of girls walked over.
Before they even got close, Xia Xiaoyue called out from a distance, "Boss, where are Da Bai and Xiaohai?"
’Huh?’
’They already know about Da Bai and Xiaohai?’
Li You was a little surprised. But he quickly figured it out—the female teachers, like Chu Yiwei and Lin Xin, must have told them.
They had added each other on WeChat long ago.
When the girls got closer, Li You said, "So Teacher Chu and the others told you about Da Bai and Xiaohai?"
Xia Xiaoyue nodded. "Yup! They said Da Bai and Xiaohai are not only super smart and capable, but also really cute. Boss, so the helpers you mentioned the other day are robots. We thought you’d hired two new employees."
Li You said, "It’s not easy to hire staff out here!"
Xia Xiaoyue said, "No way! If you’re willing to hire, I’m sure plenty of people would want to work here. But Teacher Chu said Da Bai and Xiaohai are even better than real waiters. So I guess you don’t need to hire anyone. Boss, where are they? Hurry up and let us meet them!"
Xia Xiaoyue looked incredibly impatient.
Mu Qingye, Yu Wei, and the other girls were the same.
Li You smiled slightly and called into the restaurant, "Da Bai, Xiaohai, come out and greet the guests."
’Er...’
’Why does that sound so strange?’
All the girls had strange expressions on their faces.
Then they saw two adorable robots, one black and one white, walk out.
They really were incredibly cute.
Whether it was Xia Xiaoyue, Mu Qingye, Yu Wei, or any of the other girls, they all instantly fell in love with the two.
"Distinguished guests, hello! I am the server, Da Bai..."
"I am the server, Xiaohai..."
"We have arrived!"
The two of them had a different opening line every time, and this time their coordination was so perfect that the group of girls let out a collective "Wow!" and were ready to pounce on them.
They were just too lovable!
"Hi, Da Bai, Xiaohai. I’m Xia Xiaoyue..."
"Da Bai, did the boss give you your name? His naming skills are really terrible. Do you want us to give you a new one?"
"Xiaohai, they say you’re very capable. What can you do?"
"..."
The girls surrounded Da Bai and Xiaohai, touching them all over and bombarding them with questions.
Li You clicked his tongue in amazement. ’These two are definitely more charming than I am.’
’If only I could be that charming someday.’
Then he turned his head to look at the road not far away.
He saw Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao was wearing a backpack and pushing a suitcase. On top of the suitcase was a wool-felt bag.
The bag was bulging. ’I wonder what’s inside?’
’This girl sure packed a lot.’
Li You walked toward the road, intending to help Lin Xiao with her things.
’Why is Lin Xiao alone? Didn’t Elder Zhonghai see her off?’
’Strange.’
As Li You got closer, he said, "You’re here, Lin Xiao."
Lin Xiao was thrilled to see Li You and called out cheerfully, "Boss."
Li You walked closer and said, "Did you walk here with all this stuff by yourself? Didn’t your grandfather bring you?"
"He did!" Lin Xiao said. "Grandpa brought me on his tricycle. When we got to that spot over there..."
At this, Lin Xiao pointed in a direction and continued, "Grandpa turned back and told me to walk the rest of the way myself."
’So that’s what happened.’
Li You understood. Lin Zhonghai must have been afraid that Li You would insist he stay for some crayfish, so he dropped her off at a distance and turned back.
’The old man is being too polite!’
By this time, Li You had reached Lin Xiao. "Here, let me take your suitcase," he said.
"Thank you, Boss!"
Lin Xiao handed the suitcase to Li You.
Li You took the suitcase and looked at the wool-felt bag on top. ’Something feels a bit odd about this.’
’This doesn’t seem like something a girl would bring!’
He couldn’t help but ask curiously, "What’s in this bag?"
Lin Xiao replied, "Crayfish!"
Crayfish?
Li You froze for a second.
...