Today, Xiao Bojian was dressed in a dark green round-collared robe with a matching green belt tie around his waist. Other than a simple square piece of jade, he hadn’t hung anything on his belt, let alone a small pouch for some accessories. Although he was dressed in such a low-key colour, to the point that it could even act as camouflage, his broad shoulders and narrow waist carried the robe well and made him stand out instead. Under his round collar, there was an inner piece of fabric that extended beyond the collar and wrapped around his throat, giving him an air of restraint.
He Changqi’s close friends were rather good-looking and they all came from distinguished family backgrounds. Thus, their temperaments and dressing stood out above most. However, when they stood next to Xiao Bojian, they paled in comparison and became foils to his handsomeness instead.
Thus, Xiao Bojian had given Madam Zou a very deep impression from just that short period at the small gathering today. The moment she caught sight of his back, she could tell who it was.
Although Xiao Bojian wasn’t really well-known amongst the social circles of the nobility in the capital, he did have some fame in the Imperial College. Even Madam Zou had heard of Xiao Bojian once or twice before.
Her gaze was stuck on Xiao Bojian’s back until he vanished through that connecting door. Next, she traced the small path he had taken with her eyes and she realised what laid in that direction.
At the end of the small path that Xiao Bojian had just taken… was Songtao Court!
Suddenly, all sorts of thoughts flared up in Madam Zou’s head. In a short moment, she clenched her fists in excitement!
By the time Heir Zheng and the rest had woken up from their drunken stupors, they attempted to stay in the Jing’an Estate for dinner. When he thought back to those new delicacies he had eaten at lunch, Heir Zheng even wanted to badger He Changqi to let him stay over at the Jing’an Estate for some time!
Sob sob sob. That damned He Sanlang was way too lucky. Why did the heavens bestow him with such a virtuous wife who could cook so well? I can’t go on like this! I have to get Grandmother to send someone to House Ying to check if they have any single ladies to wed when I get home!
He Changqi didn’t know how to react. These friends of his! Normally, he’d have to invite them a few times before they would come over. However, now they were trying to drag out their stay and were even refusing to leave. Did they have to be so shameless?
He Changqi was a little troubled. If these dishes had been made by his own wife, then he would have just treated them to one meal. However, it was Third Sister-in-Law who had cooked the meal. He wasn’t so shameless as to trouble her again.
“Isn’t that enough for today? Did you forget your manners? My sister-in-law isn’t a cook at your beck and call!”
Marquis Weiyuan complained with a cry of, “Brother He’s being petty!”. However, they were all gentlemen, so they understood the rationale behind He Changqi’s statement. As much as they really wanted to have another meal, they could only stop with their requests.
Each of them sighed with laments. They suspected that they wouldn’t be able to eat anything else when they returned home to their estates.
He Changqi was rather helpless upon seeing the situation like this. He suddenly recalled something that his grandmother had mentioned offhand to him while chatting the other day. He then called out to the men who were on their way out, “If you really want to eat Third Sister-in-Law’s cooking again, you can wait until Guilin Restaurant opens again. Grandmother gave her Guilin Restaurant over to Third Sister-in-Law to manage, so it shouldn’t be too long before it reopens.”
“Really? Honoured Lady Jinyi is going to run a restaurant?”
The three of them were overjoyed. Since Chu Lian was going to open a restaurant, it was definitely going to have some specialties. Thus, if they craved for those delicious foods in the future, they wouldn’t need to throw away their dignity to beg He Changqi for a meal then.
“I’ll definitely let all of you know when Third Sister-in-Law’s restaurant reopens.”
With this news in mind, the group returned home in high spirits.
The next day, Chu Lian brought Wenqing and Wenlan along with her to Guilin Restaurant again. She passed on some instructions regarding the restaurant’s renovations before rushing home.
The renovations were almost done. She had chosen a chef from one of the servants who had followed her from House Ying when she had gotten married. The novel had mentioned this person before. He was a loyal servant, and the original ‘Chu Lian’ had frequently used him to send letters out to Xiao Bojian.
Mao Zhangzhi’s parents were still alive and well, and they were all servants under Chu Lian’s name. He was eighteen this year. His father used to be a third-rank cook in House Ying, so he had learned some culinary skills from his father at a young age. He did have some talent in cooking.
Chu Lian had never kept her handmaids and senior servants away while she was cooking. Xiyan was meticulous and had learned how to cook quite a few dishes from her, so Chu Lian sent her to teach Mao Zhangzhi how to make the specialties for Guilin Restaurant. From Xiyan’s report, Mao Zhangzhi had already managed to learn most of them. He was even better at cooking some of the dishes compared to his temporary teacher, Xiyan.
Last night, she had specially ordered Mao Zhangzhi to cook dinner for Songtao Court. After tasting his handiwork, Chu Lian was pleased.
The bookkeeping was still left to Guilin Restaurant’s old Bookkeeper Wang.
As for the manager, she let Manager Qin, the manager she had temporarily borrowed from Matriarch He, take up the post.
In the past few days, the thirty-something Manager Qin had been very diligent and conscientious in his work for her. What was even more rare was that he wasn’t stuck in old ways and was open to new ideas. He was also quite smooth when it came to talking business. He was the third son of Matriarch He’s main steward. The matriarch had been thinking of training him to become a main steward at first, but she had specially sent Manager Qin over due to her love for Chu Lian. Thus, his abilities were definitely top-notch.
After some discussion, Chu Lian and Matriarch He had decided that the first of September was a good day. Thus, the reopening of Guilin Restaurant was set to be on that date.
Chu Lian had already prepared gold-embossed invitations to be sent out. All she had to do next was to decide who to invite.
