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墨書 Inktalez
The next morning.
As soon as Ziyan opened her eyes, she remembered that she had something very important to attend to today.
With a quick stretch, she got out of bed.
After carefully dressing and tidying up her clothes, she glanced at her reflection in the nearby bronze mirror, simply gathered and tied her hair, and immediately opened her bedroom door.
She was greeted by Ling Young Master, who was already dressed neatly and standing before her with a spirited demeanor.
Ziyan smiled sweetly and gently said, "Good morning."
"Mm! Good morning."
Ling Yuxuan did not say much more; he nodded gracefully to his Beloved One while taking the little hand of his Beloved Child, and together they walked down to the first floor, arriving at the front hall.
Upon entering the front hall, Ziyan couldn't help but cover her mouth in surprise and exclaimed, "Wow—this is amazing!"
Overnight, just as she wished, everything here was completely transformed.
At that moment, Wu Xiang was busy cleaning the Braised Meat Cabinet with a group of Clerks. The new tables and chairs in the hall were all neatly arranged and sparkling clean.
In the next moment, Ziyan approached Wu Xiang, gave him a thumbs up with one hand, and patted his shoulder with the other, saying, "Your efficiency is really impressive!"
Wu Xiang paused his work, bowed his head slightly in response.
He replied, "Miss does not need to praise me; this is what we should do."
After responding, Wu Xiang looked up and met Ling Yuxuan's cold gaze. He immediately took a few steps back and resumed his work.
Ziyan certainly noticed Wu Xiang's inner concerns: maintaining a proper distance was the safest option for them. Otherwise, this new Young Master would surely get jealous, and that could lead to big trouble!
Ziyan shot Ling Yuxuan a fierce glare, then quickly ran up to the second floor. Upon seeing that the several private rooms she had requested were all completed, with tables and chairs neatly arranged in the middle, she felt relieved.
Without time to think further, she returned to the first floor. At this moment, the Braised Meat Cabinet was spotless and clean.
Ziying and Zhou, along with several Clerk, were placing bowls of last night's marinated Braised Meat onto the shelves.
Looking towards the entrance, she noticed a Clerk holding a large bundle of firecrackers. She quickly shouted loudly while pointing at him until the Clerk, confused, approached her with a puzzled expression.
Ziyan explained, “Today is just for everyone to taste for free; save those firecrackers for the grand opening.”
“Uh? Oh, yes, I understand,” replied the Clerk, bowing and nodding in acknowledgment.
After speaking, Ziyan walked to the street side and looked up at the new sign hanging nearly two meters above the main entrance. The rectangular plaque was still covered with bright red silk cloth.
Taking a deep breath, Ziyan leaped up, and before anyone could react, she had already pulled down the red silk cloth.
At that moment, the words “Zi Family Spiced Braise” written in gold powder appeared before everyone's eyes.
Meanwhile, Wu Xiang, who had been busy nearby, quickly stepped over to Ziyan and asked in confusion, “Miss, isn't today just a trial operation with no charges? Why not wait until the grand opening to reveal it—?”
He pointed at the red silk cloth in Ziyan's hand as he spoke.
“It's no problem!”
Ziyan smiled lightly as she casually stuffed the red silk cloth into Wu Xiang's hands.
"This—"
Wu Xiang looked somewhat confused and turned to Ling Yuxuan for help, unable to understand Ziyan's actions. Since they weren't allowed to light the firecrackers, why reveal the plaque in advance?
Ling Yuxuan understood Wu Xiang's confusion and observed the big guy's stubborn expression.
He couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for Wu Xiang, and the small hostility he had always harbored towards him instantly vanished.
He couldn't help but think: How could he see through and understand the unexpected and whimsical ideas of his Beloved Child?
Only he was clever enough to understand her, and only he deserved her.
With this thought in mind, Ling Yuxuan rarely showed a faint smile at Wu Xiang, then said, "Well, Wu Xiang! Listen to me, no matter what happens in the future, just follow her arrangements."
The meaning was clear: your intelligence is only enough to be a compliant follower.
Fortunately, while Wu Xiang's intelligence couldn't keep up with the two masters who had absolutely advanced thinking, he still understood what his master meant.
So after hearing Ling Yuxuan's instructions, he obediently bowed his head and replied, "Yes, I will only follow the orders of Young Master."
Seeing this, Ling Yuxuan nodded in satisfaction at Wu Xiang: "Good, now go ahead."
Meanwhile, Ziyan had been circling around the newly made large Braised Meat Cabinet several times. After finding no faults, she turned around with great satisfaction.
Muttering softly to herself, she said, "Everything is ready; we just lack the east wind."
After finishing, Ziying strode towards the kitchen across the courtyard, entered, and began to busily prepare chili powder, oil, and some white sesame seeds on the stove.
Ziyan lit the fire, and after a short while, Ziyan had toasted the sesame seeds. Once done, she poured oil into the pan. When the oil was bubbling vigorously, she turned off the heat and removed the pot.
When the oil cooled down to about 80% of its temperature, she added the chili powder into the pot. With a sizzling sound, she then added the toasted sesame seeds.
Next, a strong and mouth-watering spicy aroma quickly spread throughout the room.
Ziying in front of the stove sneezed several times in succession, unable to resist sniffing at the fragrant smell and exclaimed, "It smells so good!" Her excitement and amazement were evident.
Even Ling Yuxuan, who had been standing silently beside her, had an unusually surprised gleam in his eyes.
Ziyan turned to him and asked, "Does it smell good?"
"It does smell good, but I don't know what it will taste like; it should be quite spicy, right?" Ling Yuxuan thought to himself that he had never eaten anything like this before.
"Of course! And this kind of spiciness will definitely make people crave more; once you eat it, you'll want to eat it again. Do you believe me?" Ziyan raised her eyebrows confidently at Ling Yuxuan.
Ling Yuxuan looked at Beloved Child's proud expression at that moment and couldn't help but chuckle in response, "Well then, let's wait and see. Today is all about your performance."
"Yes, just wait and watch."
Ziyan seemed a bit shamelessly determined as she nodded at Ling Yuxuan and her sister.
Ziying looked at her confident sister and nodded back vigorously, saying, "Go for it, sister! I believe you can do it."
Soon, the sisters brought the separately packed spicy sesame sauce into the front hall to place on the Braised Meat rack.
Ziyan checked everything again to ensure that all the ingredients like scallions, ginger, garlic, and vinegar were prepared.
She then assigned two Clerks to be in charge of cutting the meat while she and her sister Ziying handled mixing the dishes and distributing tasks to all the other staff members, including the Clerks.
Wu San took a group outside to distribute flyers, which were all handwritten.
The content announced that Zi Family Spiced Braise was having a trial opening today, offering a free serving of their signature Braised Meat to each person. It could be eaten in-store or taken home for family to taste, but no extra servings would be given.
Even if someone offered to pay, they wouldn’t sell more!
Then, amidst a lively sound of drums and gongs, the atmosphere became festive.
In an instant, pedestrians passing by and nearby shopkeepers gathered curiously in front of Zi Family Spiced Braise, creating a crowd.
Before long, the entrance was bustling with people—
Some were even tiptoeing to peek inside. Fortunately, Old Man Mo had already notified his acquaintance, the county magistrate, who arranged for several constables to maintain order outside the shop, preventing any disturbances.
Thus, eager customers wanting to try the new delicacies lined up orderly under the constables' guidance to enter the shop one by one.
Immediately after that, Ziyan and her group began working swiftly in front of the meat counter.
In an instant, the sound of knives slicing through meat echoed continuously, accompanied by the clattering of chopsticks stirring in mixing bowls. The two sounds blended together, resembling a symphony that rose and fell without pause.
At this moment, everyone in the shop, whether it was Boss Ziyan, the Clerk, or the customers who came to try the food, wore expressions of excitement and joy on their faces, frequently exchanging laughter and friendly greetings.
However, during this cheerful and harmonious time, an out-of-place voice interrupted: “Second Brother? It really is Second Brother. How could you be so thoughtless? You opened such a big shop and didn’t even inform me or your brothers.”
Originally busy serving dishes and tea to the customers, Zi Lao Er froze in shock as if startled awake in the middle of the night. Everyone turned to see that it was the third and fourth members of the Zi Family supporting Purple Old Man.
Once Zi Lao Er regained his senses, he didn’t dare to be careless and quickly approached Purple Old Man, saying, “Father, it’s not a big deal. I was afraid of troubling you and my brothers—”
“So what? So you just ignored us? You are truly unfilial.”
Purple Old Man interrupted his son before he could finish.
“Hmph! With such a big matter at hand, you have an elderly father above you and brothers as well. You run such a large establishment all by yourself; how can you manage? What can a few women do? You should have consulted me long ago and let your brothers and nephews help you manage it better.”
Wait? These people didn’t come to congratulate him; they were here to take advantage!
Thus, Ziyan hurriedly handed over her tasks to Wu Xiang, who was approaching her.
Then she took a few steps toward Purple Old Man, smiled sweetly, and said, “Grandfather, you’re here! Come, let’s sit over there and try the Braised Meat made by me, my mother, and my sister. You’ve traveled such a long way; let’s eat well with your uncles before we chat.”
Without waiting for Purple Old Man to respond, she reached out to support him and gently guided him to a table in the far left corner of the hall.
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