Chapter 251: Chapter 251: Setting up a stall to sell West Lake vinegar fish at West Lake? What a peculiar idea!
The bustling street quieted down again as Jiang Feng finished his vending for the day. The rented restaurant space also had to be returned to the landlord.
The customers weren’t surprised at all, and some were even quite happy.
"Boss Jiang, come set up your stall under my apartment building. There are a lot of residents there; your business will surely be good."
"Boss Jiang, come to our place to set up your stall! Summer’s coming, and our area is full of long-legged beauties—really long legs!" a few customers suggested.
Upon hearing about the long-legged beauties, Jiang Feng felt a trace of interest. However, he just smiled and said nothing more.
"It depends on the situation; no telling where I might go," Jiang Feng said with a smile. "I’m going to take a few days off. We’ll meet again if the chance arises."
He seemed very happy, visibly more relaxed. Although live streaming wasn’t allowed in the restaurant, customers could still record videos with their phones; this wasn’t restricted. Several people aimed their cameras at Jiang Feng.
Someone noticed something and remarked, "Boss Jiang, you seem happier than you were a couple of days ago. Is it because you’re about to finish work?"
At these words, Jiang Feng paused slightly. Was it that obvious?Indeed it was.To think that someone noticed. He replied, "Not really, I just thought of something happy."
The week’s vending finally came to an end, and the atmosphere was still very merry. Many people who filmed him uploaded videos to the internet, which netizens also enjoyed watching. His popularity kept rising.
And the more Jiang Feng tried to maintain a quiet stall, hoping for fewer customers, the more excited netizens became, and the more customers sought him out. Everyone seemed to enjoy seeing that helpless look on his face.
The customers inside the restaurant were laughing. Many praised Jiang Feng’s cooking skills and how tasty his rice noodles were. Jiang Feng just smiled and thanked them.
"Boss Jiang, how come you know how to do everything!"
"Everyone wants to know, you must have made many kinds of delicious dishes!"
"And they’re all geared towards the general public; you’re amazing."
"How long did you study for?" another person asked.
This was a question many people were curious about. Jiang Feng responded, "I just like to try new things, thank you all for your support."
He couldn’t admit to having a system, of course, so he could only remain mysterious.
With this week’s business finished and the last customers served, it was time to tidy up and prepare to leave. Some of the kitchen tools he had brought himself, like pots, pans, and ladles, had to be packed up. Other items belonging to the restaurant had to be left behind.
The most disheartened were the staff of the funeral home. They definitely didn’t want Jiang Feng to leave, but there was nothing they could do. It was just Jiang Feng’s style. A man like the wind, impossible to keep.
"We won’t get to eat such delicious rice noodles anymore, what a shame!"
"If he sets up his stall nearby in the future, I’ll go find him and queue."
"I feel the same. His food is really tasty and also very creative."
"There’s a reason for his popularity," the staff chatted idly.
After Jiang Feng finished up in the restaurant, he went home to rest for a few more days.
Back at home, Jiang Feng first took out the system’s reward: a Golden Leifeng Pagoda.
The Golden Leifeng Pagoda was a miniature, not very tall, and weighed about 23 kilograms. One kilogram of gold was currently worth around 250,000 yuan, so by that calculation, its value easily exceeded 5 million yuan. Another huge sum of money.
Jiang Feng wasn’t short on cash now. The restaurant’s business was doing very well, and profits were stable. His employees were getting better and better.
Because Jiangyue Terrace offered good benefits, and word had spread, many people wanted to apply for jobs at Jiang Feng’s restaurant, among them many who were highly educated.
Jiang Feng reviewed the resumes Liew Yan sent but rejected them all. There’s no choice. Catering is, after all, part of the service industry. They needed servers, and there just weren’t that many positions available. Besides, his restaurant wasn’t short-staffed at the moment.
Jiang Feng examined the Golden Leifeng Pagoda in front of him. The craftsmanship of the pagoda was extremely exquisite, almost a one-to-one replica of West Lake’s Leifeng Pagoda. Even the tiles on the tower’s roof and the grooves in the railings were replicated. The level of skill was very high. This object was much more refined than the golden frying pan. It was a real work of art.
Perhaps because Jiang Feng was planning to open a restaurant by the side of West Lake, this piece of art was just perfect for display.
Little Black and Kitten were frolicking beside Jiang Feng. Kitten had grown a bit and looked very spirited. She had a calm and steady personality; being a little female cat, she appeared very demure, in stark contrast to the lively Little Black. Both little pets were very cute, and Jiang Feng was happy to have them around.
During this time, Jiang Feng had accumulated many recipes for Zhe cuisine, with Hangzhou dishes being the most numerous. After all, he was setting up his stall in Hangzhou, so the rewards he received were related to the local delicacies of Hangzhou. He also wanted to find an opportunity to promote the culture of Zhe cuisine. Zhe cuisine has many intricacies. Examples included Dongpo Pork, Longjing Shrimp, Lotus Leaf Steamed Pork, Pickled Greens with Yellow Croaker, Quick-fried Shrimp, and Sister Song’s Fish Soup.
Jiang Feng could not only cook various street snacks but also make elegant dishes fit for a grand hall. Having not made these refined dishes for a while, he somewhat missed the feeling of cooking.
Taking advantage of a few days off, Jiang Feng entrusted Sun Zhuangfei with looking after the cat and dog and flew back to Eastern Shandong himself. On one hand, he wanted to check on the Jiangyue Terrace Shandong Cuisine Restaurant, and on the other, to spend time with his partner. After all, his girlfriend was very beautiful, and they should meet more often.
The Jiangyue Terrace Shandong Cuisine Restaurant had already become a benchmark in the area, loved not only by locals but also by tourists. So it was in high demand every day. It even attracted many foodies to come and review the place. Fortunately, the dishes were solid, the flavors were good, and they could stand their ground. Life was still quite lively.
Hearing that he was back, local government departments even contacted him. Some were organizing youth entrepreneur conferences, while others from the cultural and tourism bureau hoped he would promote his hometown. They even said they would give him a title in an association. Jiang Feng declined many of these offers but did record a few words for promoting his hometown.
After resting for two days in Eastern Shandong, the system released a new task.
The system announced:
New Task: Set up a stall by West Lake for seven consecutive days selling West Lake sour fish, serving 50 diners daily.
Task Reward: One jade fish.
Do you accept?
With the task released, Jiang Feng could choose to accept or not. If he chose not to accept, there would be a one-week cooling-off period, after which the task would be issued again. So it was all up to his preference.
However, seeing this task, Jiang Feng was dumbfounded. If you asked what the most infamous yet famous dish on the internet was right now, it would definitely be West Lake sour fish. Famous indeed. Many people said that when eating West Lake sour fish by the lake, one should choose a seat by the window. That way, after one bite, it was convenient to dump the fish, plate and all, directly into the lake.
There was no way around it; one problem with West Lake sour fish was its fishy taste, and another was its sourness. If not made well, the dish was both fishy and sour, like pouring vinegar over undercooked fish, and it was also expensive. It was nowhere near as sweet and tasty as sweet and sour carp.
Jiang Feng had made West Lake sour fish at home before, and of course, his version tasted much better. But it also depended on the kind of grass carp used.
This time, he was off to West Lake to take on the challenge of making West Lake sour fish. It would be hard not to become famous!He’d probably shoot to the top of the trending searches in no time.There was no telling how many people would queue up.
"This task, I accept!" Jiang Feng declared, having made his decision. It’s just making West Lake sour fish, isn’t it?He had the recipe; he wasn’t afraid.
Moreover, the reward this time was a jade fish. Jiang Feng really liked the jade rewards from the system. It seemed that people from China had a certain fondness for jade. It wasn’t as flashy as gemstones but possessed its own unique beauty.
Having accepted the task, the first order of business was to return to Hangzhou and find grass carp—top-quality grass carp, at that. To make delicious West Lake sour fish, it was essential to use high-quality grass carp, preferably bred in reservoirs or lakes.
His food truck was fully equipped for cooking, so naturally, making a fish dish wasn’t difficult. However, while everyone had seen stalls selling grilled fish, selling West Lake sour fish from a stall was unprecedented. Who else would set up a stall for that!
But Jiang Feng never played by the rules. He wanted to keep people guessing. How could he be called a Culinary God if everyone saw through him?
Therefore, upon returning to Hangzhou, the first thing Jiang Feng did was take his cat and dog and use his GPS to find a suitable aquaculture farm. He’d rather travel further to find the right grass carp. That was the key to making delicious West Lake sour fish.
Driving his SUV, he headed towards an aquaculture farm in the suburbs. The aquaculture farm he chose was quite far from the city. The more remote it was, the closer to nature, and the less likely the grass carp were to be polluted. He planned to buy a few hundred, transport them back, and store them in a water tank or pond. He would prepare them in advance when it was time to cook the fish, then simply start cooking on-site and set up his stall.
This time, he wasn’t planning to be discreet. Selling West Lake sour fish from a stall by West Lake—only he would come up with such an idea. In that case, let the customers come in droves!