GBP Chapter 13 Reactions
Chapter 13 Reactions
Today is Wen Xiaoxiao's grandfather's 90th birthday. Since it's a big birthday, the family decided to organize a gathering with relatives and friends at a hotel to celebrate with him.
They didn't plan to invite too many people, so they only booked 5 tables and bought a cake.
First, everyone created a lively atmosphere, then they all offered birthday wishes to the old man, followed by conversation among the adults, while the younger women and children chatted freely.
She sat chatting with a few other close female relatives, not particularly looking forward to today's meal.
Because she's been on a diet recently, and there are so many banquets during summer vacation, she's tired of eating meat, so she plans to just eat some vegetables later. That's how it is. After Grandpa blows out the candles, everyone divides the cake, and all the dishes are served, they can start eating.
Wen Xiaoxiao glanced at the table full of meat and fish, but wasn't very interested. She then noticed a dish of stir-fried water spinach on the table. Thinking that the water spinach looked pretty good, she reached in with her chopsticks, picked up a stalk, and put it in her mouth.
After chewing a couple of times without much thought, Wen Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up, and she stopped chewing altogether.
Her cousin, noticing her like this, asked with a puzzled look, "Sis, what's wrong?"
After swallowing the food, Wen Xiaoxiao replied, "This dish is so delicious!" Then she picked up another piece with her chopsticks.
"Huh?" The cousin was a little confused. This was just a regular home-cooked dish that her mother often made. But seeing the light in Wen Xiaoxiao's eyes, she decided to give it a try.
This one try was amazing! She had never eaten such delicious water spinach before. The crisp and refreshing water spinach was not greasy at all and did not have the burnt taste she usually ate. There are not many adjectives to describe it, but the feeling it gives is: I want to have another bite!
The two of them kept heading towards the water spinach, which attracted the attention of the other people at the table.
"What's going on? Why are you two kids only eating vegetables and not meat?"
"Yeah, look at you guys eating this dish. Is it really that good? Let me try it."
So the others started reaching for their chopsticks too, and everyone fell silent, then unconsciously sped up their eating, all with that one plate of water spinach in mind.
Unsurprisingly, people at other tables were also drawn to the dish. Some had initially thought of using vegetables to cut through the richness of the food, but the deliciousness of the water spinach dish was quickly discovered, causing them to overlook the other meat and fish dishes and focus all their attention on this one dish.
Even today's birthday celebrant, Grandpa Wen, is very satisfied with this water spinach.
"Oh dear, I'm getting old and often don't have a good appetite, and my teeth aren't as sharp as they used to be, but today's water spinach is really delicious."
Mr. Wen also ate the dish and thought it was indeed very delicious. Hearing his father's words made him even more satisfied.
Looking at the other tables, I saw that this dish was also almost completely empty, so I called over a waiter and said, "Excuse me, could you please bring us five more servings of your water spinach?"
The waiter nodded. "Okay, okay, please wait a moment."
So everyone in the kitchen heard the waiters repeatedly asking for another plate of stir-fried vegetables.
"Why is this dish so popular today?" The other kitchen helpers were all confused.
What's even more troublesome is, "Master, it seems like the vegetables the manager delivered today are almost gone."
Upon hearing this, the head chef's expression changed, and he immediately went to find Manager Wu.
Inside the "I Really Want to Go to Hot Pot Restaurant," Tan Yue was also instructing the staff to wash vegetables.
Beside her was her husband, Wang Li, with a helpless expression. "You rest for a while, I'll take care of these things."
He was out of the shop today, and when he came back, he heard that his wife and mother-in-law had found a young girl to be their vegetable supplier, and had even paid eight yuan to secure her.
He suspected his wife had been scammed, but she firmly believed it would make their shop's business better, and he had no other choice.
To open this shop, they invested most of their savings and even borrowed money from their parents. But now, let alone making a profit, they're struggling to even break even. So he understands that his wife is probably desperate and hasty in her decision.
Tan Yue waved her hand; she was in a state of tension and anticipation, so she wanted to keep an eye on things.
Wang Li sighed helplessly, thinking it was alright, and went off to busy himself elsewhere.
After 6 p.m., people started coming into the hot pot restaurant.
Tan Yue looked at the customers coming in, and since not even half the seats were filled, she sighed and asked the waiter to bring a plate of the freshly bought vegetables to each table.
Because the purchase price was high, she also set the selling price of the dishes higher, so that new customers wouldn't want to order them. She gave each table a small portion as a promotional gift for the day.
Liu Sha met up with her friends for hot pot today. They chose this restaurant simply because it was close by, and they thought that, except for a few exceptions, all hot pot restaurants taste pretty much the same, so they came here.
However, after arriving here, they had some regrets.
"It feels a bit deserted here; it's not as lively as the city center."
"I think so too, maybe it's because this is a new store."
"It's supposed to be a new store, but it doesn't seem like it will last long. The economic situation has been getting worse and worse in the past two years, and most startups are going to lose money."
"Who says otherwise? Look at him, he's selling these bok choy and water spinach for thirty-one yuan a plate, that's almost as expensive as meat."
"It's so strange. I saw that the other vegetarian dishes at their restaurant weren't expensive, so why are these two dishes so expensive?"
"Forget it, let's not worry about it. Let's not be too curious. Let's order other dishes and not be ripped off."
The girls discussed it and then ordered the food.
Soon after, along with the hot pot broth, came a plate of fresh, vibrant bok choy.
The waiter smiled at them and said, "This is our restaurant's promotion today; each table will have a plate of fresh seasonal vegetables."
After thanking them, the group didn't think much of it. Liu Sha was glad she hadn't ordered those dishes, otherwise she would have had to spend tens of dollars more.
But they later regretted this idea.
"It's so spicy! Let's add some vegetables to the mushroom soup, and for the spicy soup, we can just add meat."
"It seems like we're out of lettuce."
"It's okay, I still have the bok choy that was just given to me." Upon hearing this, Liu Sha immediately put down the bok choy that had been given to her.
Once the bok choy was cooked, everyone stuck their chopsticks inside and fed it to their mouths.
As soon as they tasted it, a chorus of "wows" erupted from the seats.
"This bok choy is so delicious."
"I have never eaten such delicious vegetables before. They are even better than the organic lettuce I ordered at a Western restaurant that cost 88 yuan."
"No wonder it sells for 30 yuan, it's such a great deal, it's so delicious."
The group changed their previous disdain for the bok choy and started picking at it with their chopsticks, showering it with compliments.
Meanwhile, other customers in the hot pot restaurant also discovered how delicious the dish was.
They all called for more food, "Boss, we want two more plates of bok choy!"
"We are too."
"Let's add another round, no, three rounds!"
Tan Yue was delighted to hear customers constantly asking for another serving, and Wang Li next to her was also quite surprised.
However, now that they are busy with work, they have started to take turns greeting people.
"Okay, okay, please wait a moment, the food will be here shortly."
Tonight, more and more people are ordering this dish. Regardless of whether the people who came in at the beginning were satisfied or not, they were eventually won over by this dish.
Originally, Tan Yue thought that 50 jin of vegetables would be enough, but she didn't expect to use 80 jin. This alone recouped Tan Yue's costs for the day and also boosted other consumption in the store.
The customers in the store all told her they would come again next time and would write good reviews on the platform.