Mr. Jing and His Little Husband

Grand opening and good luck.

With the help of the Lin family, the preparation work was expedited. By the time it was close to 9 o’clock, Third Uncle from the Jing family also arrived. After exchanging greetings, they rolled up their sleeves and started helping out. So by around 9:30, all the preparations were basically ready.

The lobby was clean and tidy, with clean floors, walls, tables, chairs, and even the window gaps were cleaned, giving a very neat and hygienic appearance that reassured people about food safety.

On the four rows of shelves against the east wall, rectangular wicker baskets were neatly arranged. The baskets were placed at a slightly tilted angle in the grooves of the cabinet, making it convenient to see the dishes inside the baskets at a glance and easy to retrieve.

The categories on the shelves were arranged from top to bottom as follows: meat, vegetables, and staple food.

There were not many types of meat, apart from the common pork, lamb, chicken, and duck, there were also some offal like heart, liver, lungs, and head that didn’t require much effort. Since the people in the town don’t like offal, they were placed on the top shelf beside the other meats.

The vegetable section was well-prepared, with a wide variety of leafy greens, tuberous vegetables, as well as mushrooms and wood ear fungus.

It was early November now, and it was estimated that in a while, the leafy greens would be gone, so they would have to add other varieties at that time.

As for the staple food section, they only prepared noodles for now, not too many. There were also items like tofu, dried tofu, pig’s blood, and duck’s blood.

Jing Yi thought they would sell and see first, and if it’s not enough, they would add more.

With ten minutes left until opening, Jing Yi and his cousin Jing Zheng and cousin Jing Feng carried out the table for taste testing.

Jing Father and Lin Father also carried two wooden barrels filled with a lot of skewers of spicy hot pot, and they placed them on the table outside the shop. The two barrels were steaming hot, and the rich aroma filled the air, attracting passersby to stop and watch.

For this grand opening, Jing Yi invited only a few people from the village, those with whom they had a very good relationship. This included Third Uncle’s family, the village chief’s family, the carpenter’s family, Uncle Meng’s family, and several other families with whom they had good relations, a total of seven or eight families. Except for the Third Uncle’s family, who brought their whole family of seven, the other families mostly only sent the head of the household or couples.

Of course, they also invited the innkeeper from Jixiange Pavilion, the official from the pier surnamed Gu, and familiar enforcers, even Zhang San, all of whom had helped him in previous business dealings.

At exactly ten o’clock, all the guests arrived. Grand opening and good luck!

Jing Yi and Jing An carried a string of firecrackers with 600 shots to the entrance. The men stood on the street to show support, while the women and children who were afraid of firecrackers crowded around the windows of the shop to watch the excitement.

“Ladies and gentlemen, today our humble shop is having its grand opening! I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has come here to support us. For those who dine in our shop today, you will enjoy an 20% discount, which means you only need to pay 8 wens for every 10 wens worth of consumption.”

After a brief speech, Jing Yi shouted loudly, “Don’t miss out as you pass by! The true deliciousness will leave you wanting more!”

Finally, Jing Yi asked everyone to step back and set off the firecrackers. The firecrackers crackled and the atmosphere instantly became lively. The surrounding onlookers were also infected and cheered, applauding enthusiastically.

After the firecrackers, Jing Father and Jing Mother invited the villagers, shopkeeper Huang, and the official Gu into the shop to eat. Outside the shop, Jing Yi took charge of the taste testing, while Jing Zheng and Jing Feng helped out.

With the large number of people during the opening, it became chaotic and they couldn’t manage it for a while. Third Uncle’s family and the Lin family were close to the Jing family, so not to mention the adults, even the Lin family’s eldest daughter and Jing Zheng’s wife were busy taking care of several children playing in the courtyard.

Inside the house, Jing Mother was explaining to everyone how to order. Each person would take a small bamboo basket and a pair of tongs to pick the skewers from the shelves. After selecting, they would hand the bamboo basket to Jing Mother behind the counter.

Jing Mother would then take out two identical signs, one would be attached to the bamboo basket, and the other would be handed to the customer. Afterwards, Jing Mother would take the bamboo basket to the kitchen in the yard and hand it over to Jing Father to start cooking. Once the dishes were ready, they would be served according to the signs.

A few condiments were placed next to the food shelves for customers to take if they needed.

This format, not to mention the people of Xiwan Village, even shopkeeper Huang and the official  Gu, who were used to eating at restaurants, found it fresh and couldn’t help but look forward to the finished product.

Jing Father and Jing Mother were obviously too busy, but fortunately, Aunt Lin and Chuxia were smart enough to fill in the gaps. Although they didn’t recognize the Arabic numerals carved on the signs by Jing Yi, they could still match the shapes, so they helped with serving the dishes.

Third Uncle and Aunt couldn’t handle delicate tasks, so they took a big basin of water and waited to help with washing dishes and plates.

Lin Father looked around and finally chose to help his own wife and son in carrying bowls and plates. Moreover, all the service staff in the hall were women and young boys, so he had to stay there.

The taste testing outside the shop was even more lively. The people peeked their heads to look at the buckets in front of Jing Yi and others. The soup looked milky white with a touch of red, which was strangely pleasing to the eye. They just didn’t know what it was.

“Boss, what is this food? What is this red thing?” Some eager eaters couldn’t wait and asked before Jing Yi could introduce.

“Hello, everyone. Let me introduce to you. This is our shop’s specialty food – Spicy Hot Pot. It’s the best for nourishment in autumn and winter, with both meat and vegetables, delicious and affordable!” Jing Yi introduced.

“This guest, the red thing is also the finishing touch. Adding this flavor will make it more satisfying and fiery. Both of these buckets are for taste testing. You can choose any skewer, regardless of meat or vegetables. If you find it delicious after tasting, you can come into our shop to enjoy it in more detail! One wen for a vegetable skewer, three wens for a meat skewer.”

As soon as they heard that they could taste it for free, the crowd immediately became active. They rushed forward to get a skewer. It surprised Uncle Jing and the other men from his family. It seemed that people in town loved to take advantage.

Jing Yi quickly took charge of the order and asked them to form a queue. He also signaled to his two brothers to keep an eye on the food in the buckets.

The taste testing proceeded quickly and orderly. As expected, the meat skewers were quickly gone, leaving only a few leftover vegetable skewers.

Seeing this, Jing Yi once again used his eloquence, “Sir, you can tell that you know good food. How about trying this mushroom or cabbage? Trust me, I can’t deceive people in my business. The taste of the vegetable skewers is just as good as the meat ones, and you get more for your money.”

The man was easily persuaded. He immediately ordered a mushroom skewer. After taking a bite, the soup burst in his mouth, filling it with a rich flavor. Combined with the unique texture of the mushroom, it was incredibly delicious. The man enthusiastically gave a thumbs-up to Jing Yi.

The taste testing event was very successful. After the first two buckets were finished, Jing Yi asked Jing Father to prepare another pot to continue.

At first, Jing Mother and Jing Father were worried about losing the income from the two or three buckets, but later, they saw the continuous flow of customers entering the shop after taste testing, and they didn’t mind anymore. The attraction of drawing in customers was immense.

The first batch of guests were invited and didn’t need to pay for their meals. Starting from the first real customer, the cheapest order was ten wens, while those who loved meat and didn’t care about money would order fifty or sixty wens worth. Jing Mother later couldn’t keep up with the speed of calculating and collecting money, so Jing Yi quickly took over.

By around 2 PM, the number of customers finally decreased. After the last two or three tables left, Jing Yi closed the main door and opened the windows, planning to start business again at 3:30 PM.

At this time, not only the Jing family but also Third Uncle’s family and the Lin family hadn’t had lunch yet. After the three families picked their dishes together, Jing Mother and Jing Yi went to the kitchen at the back to cook, while the others casually sat at several tables in the hall, drinking tea and chatting.

This time, Chuxia officially met Uncle Jing’s family. They were the closest relatives to the Jing family, and Third Uncle and Aunt were both amiable and honest people. However, they couldn’t help but tease each other, and Chuxia’s face was blushing the whole time.

When Jing Yi came out to deliver the Spicy Hot Pot, he couldn’t escape this situation either. At this moment, the silly kid only knew how to laugh foolishly and didn’t have the smart and capable appearance he had when doing business.

After the three families finished their meal, Third Uncle and Lin Father looked at the busy scene during lunchtime and wanted to stay and help. But they were persuaded by Jing Father to leave.

This morning they already helped a lot, in the afternoon, the Jing family can handle it themselves.

At noon, they also had to spare some manpower for the taste testing to attract customers and promote the business. It was a bit chaotic at first since it was the first day of business, but later it got much better.

In the afternoon, the doors opened, and Jing Yi was still at the counter doing bookkeeping and cash handling. In the kitchen, Jing’s mother took over. She worked faster and more efficiently than Jing’s father, and she even found time to sit down and rest.

Jing’s father was busy in the hall with Jing An, while Jing Shu played in the courtyard, occasionally helping Jing’s mother.

The whole family was working together, and the afternoon business in town wasn’t as busy as during lunchtime. People in town usually preferred to have dinner at home, so they could manage to keep up with the demand.

At 6 PM, Jing Yi planned to close the shop.

It’s late autumn now, and it gets dark early. By 6 PM, the town, except for the big restaurants and entertainment venues, mostly closed their doors and wrapped up for the day.

Since they had been serving Spicy Hot Pot all day, they decided to have a change of taste for dinner. They asked the noodle shop across the street to deliver five bowls of braised pork noodles and bought some steamed buns from the bun shop. It was a satisfying meal with soup and water.

After dinner, they cleaned up the hall and kitchen, washed the dishes and utensils. Jing Yi and Jing’s father carefully closed the windows and locked the doors. The sky had already turned completely dark, and Jing Yi took the cash register box and went to the backyard with everyone.

In the backyard hall, Jing’s father, Jing’s mother, and Jing Yi sat around the table. To facilitate bookkeeping, they lit two oil lamps in the hall.

The cash register box was placed on the table. Inside the box, there were copper wens and small silver pieces, no longer just copper wens like when they were doing business at the dock.

Excitement and joy reached their peak as they counted the money. Even Jing Yi was somewhat surprised. The total income today amounted to five taels and three coins of silver, and after deducting the costs, the net profit was around four taels. And this was with an 20% discount.

Looking ahead, once the business stabilizes, the daily profit can be maintained at four taels or more. And this is only from selling Spicy Hot Pot. They haven’t even added other beverages and snacks yet.