This morning's events didn't affect the restaurant's reputation. On the contrary, news of Zhou Yan reporting Wang Qi for selling diseased pork spread, and people felt that Zhou Yan deserved some credit for Wang Qi's arrest, further increasing their goodwill towards him.
Business was even better today than yesterday.
"Little Zhou, has the letter been mailed yet?" Lin Zhiqiang asked with a smile during their evening run.
"Not yet..." Zhou Yan felt slightly embarrassed, thinking about how sleepy he had been writing last night, but quickly straightened his back. "I'll definitely finish it tonight."
"Replying is easy, do you want me to teach you?" Lin Zhiqiang said with a smile.
"No need to trouble Uncle Lin." Zhou Yan shook his head.
Uncle Lin's foreign language knowledge was simply no match.
How can "I love you" be paired with "One life, one love"?
He had received the master's complete instruction and obtained the martial arts manual; he would begin practicing tonight.
...
Back at the restaurant, Zhou Yan bathed and changed, then first tallied up the accounts.
Today, twenty extra servings of Twice-cooked Pork With Garlic Sprouts were sold out. Two fewer servings of crucian carp with perilla leaves were sold compared to yesterday. Of the remaining two servings of spare ribs, one was given to Zhao Hong's sister in law to take home, and the other to Zhou Momo for a late night snack.
The turnover reached 346 yuan, 20 yuan more than yesterday, with a profit of 176.3 yuan.
Yesterday, he spent 36.2 yuan on building the stove, buying the pot, and spices.
He counted it; his savings had reached 694.84 yuan.
Zhou Yan wrote and calculated on the paper, then his eyes lit up.
All the debts were paid off!
After paying off the debts, he would still have 6.32 yuan left!
His business has improved significantly these past two days, and his savings have increased accordingly.
If business holds up tomorrow, he'll still have over a hundred yuan left after paying off his debts.
With the money for wedding gifts secured, he can settle Aunt Zhao and Zhao Hong's salary tomorrow, on 1st.
Zhou Yan took out the stack of IOUs and counted out the amount on each one.
He owed his second uncle's family 100 yuan; Zhou Hao's wedding is the day after tomorrow, and he'll give them that money tomorrow.
According to Zhou Jie, they've already bought the "three turns and one sound" (a traditional Chinese house renovation program), and the four major furniture items have been ordered. They're also hiring a local village chef for the banquet. Although buying the ingredients themselves will save some money, both sides' relatives will easily fill over thirty tables, costing at least five hundred yuan for two meals.
Zhou Hao's allowance has been sent back to his mother for safe keeping. His second uncle earns a considerable amount a year slaughtering cattle, but this wedding will likely drain the old couple's savings.
His first uncle's family also owed 100, while Brother Hai Zi's family owed 80...
Zhou Yan counted out the money, tied it with a small rope according to the IOU, and put it back in the money box.
He'd keep the 160 yuan owed to Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai for now; he needed to buy meat and vegetables tomorrow morning, so there was no rush to give it to them when he got back in night tomorrow.
After settling the accounts, Zhou Yan's face lit up with a smile. The feeling of being debt free was truly wonderful.
Putting away the ledger, Zhou Yan took out some letter paper and a small notebook, sat up straight, and began to write a letter.
"Xia Yao:
Receiving your letter has brightened my mood, as if I were meeting you again.
If you and your friends like puffed rice candy, I'll send you some more next time.
Today I went back to my grandmother's house at the countryside and ate some ripe persimmons from the tree. They were so sweet, but unfortunately, persimmons are too delicate to share with you.
..."
Having mastered the opening lines, Zhou Yan's thoughts flowed freely. He wrote three pages on the letter, mainly sharing some small joys in life.
He also offered some insights and suggestions regarding Xia Yao's confusion about her design direction, as expressed in her letter.
Zhou Yan didn't understand design, but he had seen countless exquisite, sophisticated, and ingenious designs in his later life. As a million followers blogger responsible for shooting, appearing on camera, editing, and also handling advertising, he had considerable experience.
In this era of hand drawn advertisements, he couldn't offer her professional advice, but perhaps he could provide some inspiration.
Like a delayed conversation on paper, Zhou Yan found it quite interesting.
"Aunt Zhao and Momo often think of you and asked me to give you their greetings.
That's all for now, I won't go into details.
Zhou Yan."
Zhou Yan put down his pen and nodded in satisfaction.
It wasn't as difficult as he'd imagined.
After the ink dried, he carefully folded the letter, placed it in a stamped envelope, filled in the address, and dropped it into the mailbox tomorrow.
This was Zhou Yan's first time writing a letter to someone.
It was a little strange; even before it was mailed, he was already anticipating a reply.
…
The next day, at the crack of dawn, Master Zhou went out to buy groceries.
Today, his second uncle Zhou Ze's family didn't slaughter cows, and Zhou Jie wasn't setting up his stall either; they were both busy preparing for Zhou Hao's wedding banquet.
His sister in law was from the next village and was Zhou Hao's junior high school classmate. They had started dating before he joined the army. The banquet was being held jointly by both families, and the village chefs had a lot of ingredients to prepare in advance, so the host family had to get everything ready today.
For example, with cold dishes, there's no time to braise them fresh tomorrow; the meat has to be bought and braised today, soaked in the marinade until it's fully flavored, so it'll be just right for slicing and plating tomorrow.
"I heard from your second aunt that they're having thirty tables. The village chef doesn't serve dishes, just cooks, and he charging ninety yuan for two meals. That's a bit expensive." Aunt Zhao said, somewhat surprised, sitting on the back seat.
"Three yuan per table, two meals a day, that's not expensive." Zhou Yan said with a smile. "He definitely couldn't handle this kind of banquet by himself; he needs helpers, and if there's a cold dish chef, he has to share the profits with them. He also needs to prepare a day in advance, provide the cookware, knives, and probably stock up on seasonings himself—all costs."
"These banquets aren't something he can do everyday. An average village chef might get two or three a month, that's good. He'd usually charge thirty yuan for about ten tables, which adds up to about a hundred yuan a month."
"If they working as a village chef, as a self-employed individual, they definitely earn more than if they had a regular job."
Aunt Zhao nodded repeatedly, also saying with emotion, "Now that you mention it, I think it makes sense. Being a chef isn't easy; you look so tired after a long day."
Zhou Yan smiled but didn't reply.
Being a village chef is tiring, but if you can build a reputation, you can earn a lot.
He's quite stable running his restaurant now and doesn't want to earn this kind of money, but for many chefs, it's better than working in the kitchen of a regular restaurant.
Back at the restaurant, Zhou Yan first checked the stove he'd built the day before. Because it was next to another stove, the temperature was higher, and it was almost dry. Zhou Yan put a large aluminum pot on it to test it; it was quite sturdy and worked perfectly.
"So, after you finish your work this morning, are you going back to pick up your grandma?" Aunt Zhao asked, standing at the kitchen doorway.
"Yes, I talked to her about it yesterday." Zhou Yan nodded, glancing at the jar in the corner. With this pot of old braising liquid, his cold dish business should be easier to run.
As usual, he first cooked the broth and stir-fried the toppings. After that, Zhou Yan started pulling noodles, arranging everyone's work meal.
Everyone had gotten up early and worked hard this morning, so they were all hungry.
"Guo Guo, I want noodles too!" Zhou Momo appeared at the kitchen doorway.
"Oh, Momo, why are you up so early today?" Zhou Yan turned around, looking at Zhou Momo with two tufts of hair sticking up on her head, and laughed.
The little one was clearly still sleepy, rubbing her sleepy eyes, holding a piece of paper in her hand, waving it at him: "Drawing, for Sister Yaoyao."
"What?" Zhou Yan asked, puzzled.
"She also drew a picture for Xia Yao, and she wants you to send it to her along with it." Aunt Zhao, holding a hot towel, smiled warmly. "She spent all night drawing it last night."
"That's right..." Zhou Momo nodded, but the hot towel was slapped on her face, leaving only a string of soft, babyish "Aba aba aba..." sounds.
"Oh my, our little Zhou Momo is a little painter too?" Zhou Yan laughed, surprised that the little one had such a clever idea. "Okay, I'll put it in for you later."
After Aunt Zhao's face-rubbing service ended, Zhou Momo, who was still a little drowsy, suddenly woke up. She blinked her big eyes, pouted, put her hands on her hips, and looked up at Aunt Zhao with a slightly aggrieved expression: "Mommy, didn't you say you'd be gentle? There's nothing dirty on my face!"
Zhao Tieying smiled and said, "Your face won't get dirty because I wipe your face every day. If I don't rub it, you'll get pustules and worms. Look how fresh and clean you are after the rub! I'll braid two little braids for you, and everyone will say you're very well-behaved."
"Really?" Zhou Momo pouted, looking thoughtful.
"Definitely."
"Okay, then I forgive you today." Zhou Momo lowered her hands from her hips and moved closer to Aunt Zhao. "Make it look nice, braid both sides."
"Alright, come on, let's go braid by the door." Aunt Zhao took her hand.
"Wait!" Zhou Momo pulled her hand away, ran to Zhou Yan, stood on tiptoe, and stuffed the letter she was holding into his apron pocket. Then she ran back to Aunt Zhao's hand and said in a childish voice, "Come on, let's braid!"