Among the six dishes, there was one cold tofu skin salad, and the remaining five dishes were all hot: vinegar fried cabbage, hot and sour bean sprouts, spicy fish cubes, Spicy Shrimp, braised tofu, and braised cabbage with stewed meat in a pot—three meat dishes and three vegetarian ones.
She didn’t cook separately for Yan Qing, as the food there was enough for them to eat. So, when Yan Qing arrived and saw that the dishes weren’t made just for him, he felt a bit miffed for a while, but after tasting them, he cast aside those slight resentments.
He took away two servings of each of the six dishes and one soup. Seeing that the Emperor and Crown Prince were so easy to talk to, Xiao Yu even prepared six servings of her homemade milk custard to part with.
The inclusion of a dessert surprised Yan Qing, but Shen Xiaoyu never produced anything mediocre, so he entered the palace full of hope.
As the three of them tasted the food, they saw admiration in each other’s eyes, especially His Majesty the Emperor, who understood even more why his son was so smitten with her. The girl was incredibly skilled and clever.
She won over the stomachs of the four of them almost instantly, which was no small feat, and hastened their desire to meet her.
Yan Qing could only make excuses and said he would find a suitable opportunity to bring her to the palace.
Three days later, Xiao Yu sent the first batch of 200 bottles of skincare products to Yanyu Building.
After trying them himself, Yan Qing also came to a consensus for cooperation with Xiao Yu. However, he didn’t want a share of the profit, he was content just being provided meals.
Xiao Yu was naturally pleased. As long as he was willing to look after her, cooking was nothing!
Completely and utterly satisfied.
As for where Xiao Yu’s skincare products came from and how they were made, Yan Qing was curious but restrained himself from asking, since she had obviously avoided going into detail about it during their contract negotiations. Since she didn’t want to bring it up, why should he pry? When she wanted him to know, he would naturally find out.
Meanwhile, Tasty and Pretty Fisherman’s restaurant carried on with its promotion smoothly, offering a sample bottle with every purchase of 50 cents’ worth. Everyone who tried it took an interest in their products, and the previously neglected skincare shop gradually started drawing customers.
With a shortage of hands, she hired two more girls as waitresses for the upstairs of the restaurant, and these new hires were arranged to share a room with Yaya.
After a month of hard work on the farm, all the grains and vegetables had been planted and watered. The next step was weeding and periodic irrigation.
During their downtime, the long-term workers were dispatched by Xiao Yu to chop down trees in the grove. She wanted all the trees on the mountain felled, for she planned to plant different trees there at the beginning of next year. Useful trees were kept for furniture, and those of no use were turned into firewood.
Having been in Beijing for some time, they had no idea if the letters they sent had reached Port Town.
Xiao Yu also wanted to discuss establishing a maritime line with Uncle Zhang, specializing in seafood. Before leaving, she had written down many recipes for dry goods and sauces, wondering if Uncle Zhang could replicate them perfectly.
On a certain noon in October, just after a well-fed Yan Qing had departed, a luxurious horse carriage arrived at the front door.
Ever since Yan Qing ate here, many nobles had come to see what the fuss was about. Watching turned into a regular occurrence.
Thus, the restaurant staff was no longer surprised by the arrival of these noble personages.
Yet, what came as a surprise this time was that it was a rich young lady wearing a sun hat, and as soon as she entered the restaurant, she was cleared a path.
"Princess Yijia has arrived. You paupers better scram quickly!"