Chapter 456: Set Meal Blind Box

Ling Guangzhao wasn't bragging. As a Beiping child born and raised, the current boss of Babaozhai, and a former young proprietor, he indeed knew Xia Mubing very well.

To say how familiar, and how much Xia Mubing appreciated him, that was pure bragging. In Ling Guangzhao's description, Xia Mubing's temper became more and more eccentric with age. At least when he was a child, Xia Mubing was much easier to talk to than now.

Ling Guangzhao had played in Fen Garden when he was a child.

Fen Garden, as the number one private kitchen in Beiping, was essentially not a private kitchen restaurant, but a courtyard house—a complete, three-entrance, extremely large courtyard house. The part open to guests for business was only one entrance, and the rest was where Xia Mubing and his apprentice Zhang Guanghang lived.

Fen Garden opened very early. Before Ling Guangzhao was born, Fen Garden was already a very famous private kitchen restaurant in Beiping City. In that era, everyone's economy was not too wealthy, and even children from families like Ling Guangzhao's could eat at Fen Garden a few times a year, which was considered spoiling the child.

At that time, Fen Garden's main customer group was foreign guests. In Ling Guangzhao's words, when Master Xia slaughtered foreigners, it was truly ruthless. The dish prices weren't doubled, but a 0 was added directly. In the millennium, a dish of Peach Blossom Pan (poured sauce scorched rice) could be sold to foreign guests for 1888 per portion, and it had to be booked and snatched in advance, earning a full pot of gold.

Compared with the dish prices at that time, the current dish prices of Fen Garden were already considered very approachable. Ling Guangzhao even suspected whether Master Xia felt that he had earned enough money in the early years and couldn't spend it all, and money was really just a number to him, so he hadn't raised the dish prices much.

Fen Garden hadn't raised prices for a full 5 years.

After listening to Ling Guangzhao's emotion, Qin Huai only had one thought: Master Xia was quite good at diner psychology. In the millennium, a dish of scorched rice in Fen Garden had to be sold for 1888, and now a table of dishes averaged only tens of thousands. When everyone felt that Fen Garden's dishes were expensive, they would recall that dish of Peach Blossom Pan back then, and then comfort themselves that they had really earned it now.

"Master Xia should be over 90 years old this year, right?" Qin Huai asked.

Ling Guangzhao didn't expect that after saying so much, what Qin Huai cared about most was Xia Mubing's age. For a moment, he was a bit moved, feeling that Qin Huai was really a good person in his bones, caring so much about the old man's health, and nodded uncertainly.

"Should be... Actually, we are not very clear about Master Xia's age. We only know that he is very old, and maybe he himself is not very clear. Many old people are like this, unable to remember their birth date, only remembering a rough range."

"Plus, Master Xia has no children or grandchildren, only this one apprentice, Zhang Guanghang. He himself doesn't care much about things like birthdays. Anyway, I have never heard of him holding a birthday banquet... It seems that no one really knows. This is also normal. I heard my father say that Master Xia was originally from Beiping, fled outside because of war when he was young, and returned to Beiping after peace."

"No relatives, alone, so his personality has always been relatively withdrawn. I heard that he has no hobbies, just likes money. He earned so much, but Master Xia didn't enjoy it after earning so much money, as if he used it all to buy houses, land, and antiques."

"Assistant Xiao Qin, you are not from Beiping, so you might not be clear. About ten or twenty years ago, it was especially prosperous to buy antiques. My father also followed the trend and bought some, and was pitted miserably. I heard my father say that the number of pieces he bought didn't even reach a fraction of Master Xia's. There are several rooms in Fen Garden specifically for piling up those broken antiques Master Xia bought, and no one knows if they are true or false."

"Master Xia bought things back and didn't play with them, nor did he find anyone to look at them, just threw them in the warehouse."

"So Assistant Xiao Qin, you asked me what to pay attention to when going to Fen Garden for dinner. Actually, there is really nothing to pay attention to. The only thing to pay attention to is not to run around. A strange thing happened a few years ago. Two petty thieves didn't know where they heard that the antiques in those rooms in Fen Garden were worth a fortune, so they used connections to spend a lot of money to book a seat for dinner at Fen Garden, and delayed time while eating, wanting to steal things in Fen Garden under the cover of night."

"As a result, they were caught on the spot by Master Xia. The two petty thieves in their 20s couldn't beat Master Xia in his 80s or 90s. Later, when the police came, they even persuaded Master Xia not to rush to the front line to catch thieves at such an old age, be careful not to flash his waist."

"For this reason, Master Xia was especially unconvinced, pointing at the two petty thieves and saying that their stealing skills were not even half of his junior brother's back then, and they still came in to steal with this business ability."

"Just because of this incident, everyone was curious for a while, wondering where Master Xia's junior brother came from, as they had never heard him mention it. We had heard of his master. It is said that it was Master Chen of Taifeng Restaurant back then, and the whole family was killed when Beiping fell..."

"The whole family was killed?!" Qin Huai couldn't help but raise his voice, "How were they killed?"

Ling Guangzhao:? The point Assistant Xiao Qin cares about is really strange.

"I don't know about that. That was how many years ago. I don't know if my grandfather was born when Beiping fell." Ling Guangzhao indicated that this involved his knowledge blind spot, "I haven't finished what I just said, just because of those two petty thieves. Originally, Fen Garden had no business hours, just purely lunch and dinner, how many tables were booked, and the diners told Master Xia roughly what time they would arrive."

"Since the theft incident, Fen Garden has only been open until 9:30 PM. Master Xia is too lazy to watch the surveillance any later."

"Those two petty thieves were really stupid thieves. What's the use of picking the night to steal? There is surveillance in Fen Garden, and that camera is also night vision."

Qin Huai subconsciously looked at Zhao Chengan. Zhao Chengan had long entered the slacking mode, not wanting to do any work at all. Seeing Qin Huai suddenly look at him with a somewhat complicated expression, he thought he was slacking off too openly, to the point of ruining Does Zhi Wei Ju's reputation as a roll king outside, and hurriedly started working.

As a result, Zhao Chengan started kneading dough and found that Qin Huai was still looking at him.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Chengan asked.

"Nothing, I just wanted to ask your thoughts after hearing these things." Qin Huai said.

Ling Guangzhao:? Didn't he just tell ordinary gossip? Does Zhi Wei Ju has to express thoughts after listening to gossip, so strict?

Tong Deyan: He now finds it really difficult to judge whose brain is more abnormal, Qin Huai's or Ling Guangzhao's. Both are too natural.

"What thoughts can I have? I knew what Ling Guangzhao just said." Zhao Chengan said proudly, with a face of: Didn't expect it, even though I am far away in Hangcheng, I know the melons of their Beiping.

"Those two stupid thieves behind were sentenced to one year and three months. That matter was on the news back then. Sister Yan also used this matter to educate me, telling me to buy fewer artworks and paintings. Master Xia is so rich and can buy antiques and be pitted to the point of losing everything. With my little money, don't get pitted."

"Can that be the same? This is my investment!"

"Why don't you open the software and take a look at the stock fund that is green with panic?"

"Qin Huai, sometimes you really speak very unpleasantly."

The two looked at each other and buried their heads in making dim sum. Ling Guangzhao didn't leave either, just watched from the side, not knowing if he could understand. The atmosphere in the kitchen suddenly became very silent.

Breaking this silence was Tong Deyan.

Tong Deyan directly carried a plate of Oil-Exploded Double Crispy that had just come out of the pot and was still steaming towards Qin Huai, placing the dish directly on his culinary table: "You didn't come to Babaozhai after you went back yesterday. I thought you should have something to do, and I didn't ask you on WeChat."

"Yesterday's dishes were cheap for Ling Guangzhao. Today, you make do and eat in the kitchen."

Tong Deyan said so, but his face was full of "you'd better give me a reasonable explanation."

Qin Huai:...

Bad, I was too excited after watching the memory yesterday, my head was full of Xia Sheng actually being Xia Mubing, and I forgot to come to Babaozhai for dinner.

"Master Tong, I'm really sorry." Qin Huai hurriedly apologized, "I suddenly got a new recipe yesterday, which is the recipe for the yam cake I am making now. I was too excited and have been studying that recipe, forgetting about eating."

Hearing Qin Huai say this, Tong Deyan's expression eased a lot. As an excellent savory chef, Tong Deyan could well understand getting a good recipe, studying it until forgetting to eat and sleep, to the point of forgetting some small things.

"This recipe is especially good. You will know after I make the yam cake and you taste it later."

"Hmm." Tong Deyan nodded, pointing to the Oil-Exploded Double Crispy, "Eat while it's hot."

"Alright." Qin Huai picked up his chopsticks, took a large mouthful, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed with satisfaction. ===== CHAPTER 457 =====