"This... Big brother, what's going on?" The fourth was a little confusing.
So Kui Wu explained the matter to the two of them.
"So that's how it is, since both Second and Third Brothers have agreed, we definitely don't want to be separated from you all, and anyway, it's not like we're doing work anywhere!" The fourth brother said.
The old man smiled and said: "Since everyone is willing, then I will give each of you three taels of silver for a month, how about it?"
"This... Old Master, isn't it too much to give?" The second asked.
"Not much, this watchover is not a pretty sight, may still be injured and encounter danger, this silver is given reasonably. Besides, you are all Kui Wu's brothers, so you can be considered one of our own. It's not a loss." The old man said.
"Thank you, old man. Kui Wu took note of it!" Kui Wu said. He knew that the old man was giving him face, and his heart was filled with gratitude.
"Then how about I treat you at noon, and we'll go to Zuixianlou for a drink or two at noon? "The old man said.
Several of them looked at each other and saw Kui Wu nodding, so they nodded in agreement.
The second one said: "We've rented this house for several years, and it's a bit hard to leave all of a sudden!"
The old man said: "Don't worry, everyone, we will take care of all your food and accommodation."
After the group agreed, they locked the courtyard door and headed towards the Zuixianlou.
Arriving at the entrance of Zuixianlou, shopkeeper Tong saw the old man and said in surprise: "Brother, why do you have time to come to my place? Come in and have a seat."
The old man smiled and replied: "I'm here today to do something important, and I'd like to ask Elder Brother Tong to send someone to invite Master Qian over."
Although Shopkeeper Tong didn't know what the old man was looking for Master Qian for, without saying a word, he called the store's fellow and told him to go and invite Master Qian over.
It's not lunch time yet, so there aren't many customers.
Shopkeeper Tong saw a few unfamiliar burly men following the old man, so he took them all into a private room.
After the waiter brought the tea, shopkeeper Tong didn't go out and sat down to chat with the old man.
"Older brother, why did you suddenly think of looking for Master Qian? Is there something wrong?" Shopkeeper Tong asked after personally arriving at a cup of tea for the old man.
"To be honest, my family plans to open a new store in Qingyun City, so we are thinking of cooperating with Master Qian."
"Brother, business is not easy in Qingyun City. Are you planning to open another barbecue restaurant?" Shopkeeper Tong asked.
"No, it's for other meals. I just brought all the ingredients I needed. Why don't we use the kitchen in Zuixianlou, and Brother Tong, you can try the taste of my newly developed food, how about it?" The old man said.
"That's a good feeling." Shopkeeper Tong said.
"Why don't I go to the kitchen to make preparations before Zuixianlou starts accepting guests, so that I won't delay the cooks' work." the old man said.
Shopkeeper Tong knew that this was the family's secret recipe, so he didn't ask much. He could only say: "Okay, if you need any help, let the chef help."
The old man nodded and pulled Qibao towards the kitchen of Zuixianlou.
Fu Rui also followed Qibao. She rarely spoke along the way for fear of annoying the young lady.
Although the old man had already tasted the delicious hot pot last night, he was afraid that he would screw it up if he was allowed to do it alone, so he took Qibao with him. He would do whatever Qibao said.
Shopkeeper Tong also got up and followed, and Kui Wu was arranged to accompany the five brothers to talk in the private room.
Several people came to the kitchen, and the chef was preparing dishes. When he saw the three people coming in, he quickly greeted them.
They all knew the old man and knew that the vegetables used in Zuixianlou came from the Xu family, so they were very polite.
Shopkeeper Tong said: "Mr. Xu plans to make a new dish. Leave two people to help. Everyone else should go out!"
"Yes, Master!"
When Qibao entered the kitchen, she had the two chefs cut each type of meat into thin slices and arrange them directly on a plate, and had the woman who washes vegetables wash some veggies.
According to the steps last night, Qibao was directing from the side, and the old man followed the instructions. Although the techniques were unfamiliar, the cooperation was quite tacit.
When the base ingredients were almost cooked, Fu Rui asked the chef to light a small stove and send it to the private room.
After a while, the aroma from the hot pot base filled the entire kitchen, and gradually the aroma spread out.
Now shopkeeper Tong and several chefs at the door of the kitchen can also smell this fragrance.
"Shopkeeper, doesn't this smell too good? It smells spicy and fragrant. This is the first time I've smelled such a fragrance in all my years as a chef!" said a fat chef.
"Yeah, it tastes fresh and spicy. I wonder how it will taste." Another chef answered.
Shopkeeper Tong nodded, the taste made his mouth salivate.
In no time, the old man walked out with a small iron pot, and a pot of reddish soup appeared in front of everyone, still steaming.
Seeing this pot of boiling red soup, Shopkeeper Tong was afraid of scalding the old man, and now was not the time to inquire, so he immediately stepped aside.
The old man carried the soup all the way back to the private room.
By now Master Qian had also arrived, and when Qibao entered, she saw him chatting with a group of people with Kui Wu.
The old man put the iron pot on the small stove before he greeted Master Qian.
Master Qian chuckled and said: "I heard from the guy sent by Shopkeeper Tong that the old man has business and wants to cooperate with me. I, Qian, finally have this opportunity."
The old man said: "Master Qian is being polite, why don't we try our family's newly researched food first, and it's not too late to talk about it afterward."
Then, the waiter brought all the meat slices and vegetables cut by the chef.
Everyone was dumbfounded when they looked at the lettuce on the table and the fragrant red soup pot.
"Old man, isn't this similar to barbecue? But what is this red pepper soup?" Master Qian asked curiously.
"Well, I'd say it's the soup that's the key thing."
The old man took the lead and moved his chopsticks, taking a slice of meat and putting it into the pot to cook it.
The chef at Zuixianlou is really talented, the meat is cut really thin.
After the meat slices were all cooked, the old man picked up the meat slices wrapped in red soup, blew on them, and put them into Qibao's bowl.
Qibao didn't refuse and smiled as she brought the sliced meat into her mouth, it tasted just as delicious as the one she ate last night.
Without saying a word, shopkeeper Tong followed the old man's example, picked up a piece of meat and put it into the pot.
By the time he shoved the first bite of meat into his mouth and chewed on it, the fresh, spicy flavor spreading from his mouth, his eyes lit up and a thumbs up was self-evident.
Seeing this, Master Qian also began to move his chopsticks.
The old man saw Kui Wu and those brothers of his swallowing but not making a move.
So he said: "You guys should also eat it, taste it, and you can also give your opinions."
Kui Wu nodded and took the lead in using his chopsticks. Seeing his elder brother's move, several others immediately started to pick up their chopsticks and prepare to eat.
Master Qian kept eating bite after bite.
When there was only one piece of meat left on the plate, Master Qian was halfway reaching his chopsticks when he saw another pair of chopsticks grabbing the piece of meat faster than him and throwing it into the pot.
Master Qian looked up towards the owner of the chopsticks and saw that it was the man known as Fifth who had pinched it away.
Good lord, that's some... hasty eating... not even lifting his head, picking at the meat in the bowl, and wondering how he's pinching it so accurately...
Later on...