In such a setting, Geng Lishan wouldn’t give anything inappropriate.
Today, he brought an oversized scroll:
[Harmony in the Ho Brings Prosperity]
Geng Lele had visited the new house before, and she was quite impressed with the spacious dining and living room. Based on her description, Geng Lishan wrote these five large characters, which perfectly fit the wall.
Ren Chongmo marveled as he unfurled it:
"It must be Mr. Lishan’s handwriting, majestic yet steady, elegantly natural, the more you appreciate it, the more profound it seems."
Tian Qinglan sighed with relief:
"Good thing I didn’t bring any calligraphy, otherwise it would have been like showing off my skills in front of an expert."
Just then, Shen Baobao’s grandfather Han Jitong arrived, and Ren Chongmo imdiately went over to greet him:
"Professor Han, are you and Lin good friends despite the age difference?"
Han Jitong chuckled:
"Lin is my grandson-in-law. What, is my grandson-in-law now your friend too?"
Having just befriended Geng Lishan, Lin was now acquainted with Ren Chongmo as well. Was her grandson-in-law planning to venture into the cultural circle?
Ren Chongmo had once been Han Jitong’s patient, thus acquainted with this esteed expert of Beijing. He hadn’t expected Lin to be Han Jitong’s grandson-in-law as well; Beijing felt so small.
Before long, Professor Xu and Grandpa Zhou had all arrived one after another, and Shu Yun led everyone directly to the banquet hall for tea and conversation.
Also coming along were Chen Yan’s father, Chen Yuejin, and mother, Shen Guofang.
After sending all the relatives upstairs, Lin Xu was just about to head back to the kitchen when a few classmates from Beijing arrived:
"Xu, you’re amazing; we’re still worried about rent, and yet you’ve already bought a house, and a penthouse duplex in a luxury complex at that, progressing steadily since being with the beautiful Shen."
Sun Minghao ca upstairs with a big bear hug.
He and his boss were both regulars at Lin Ji’s, always eager to try the new dishes, so they’d grown closer to Lin Xu over ti.
He still rembered when the restaurant first opened, Lin Xu was so exhausted his clothes were soaked through.
In the blink of an eye, he’d expanded the business so successfully, even bought a house; truly admirable.
Other classmates also extended their best wishes.
Compared to Sun Minghao, they lived farther away, and didn’t keep in close contact regularly.
After all, they’d just entered society, with busy work and high pressure, their only interaction was just chatting and venting about their bosses in their group chat.
Each took out the red envelopes they brought, after receiving them with both hands, Lin Xu didn’t pocket them but tore off a corner of each envelope and returned it:
"Your blessings are what matter, keep your money; it’s not easy to make your way in Beijing, let’s all keep up the hard work, Yueyue and I look forward to attending your housewarming parties too."
"Xu, you..."
Lin Xu patted their shoulders:
"Once the dishes are all served, I’ll join you for a drink or two, giving you a chance to try and out-drink ."
"Haha, no problem!"
"This drinking session has to be recorded, let the online audience see Lin the boss’s drinking capacity."
"This ti the wine can’t be poured by your beautiful manager, I heard you drank around the room on opening day without getting drunk, everyone suspected there was sothing wrong with the wine."
Seeing the classmates arrive, Shen Baobao quickly ca down from the third floor to greet them:
"Xu’s success is all thanks to marrying a wife who brings prosperity. You all should also work hard, strive to find your own happiness."
Sun Minghao laughed heartily:
"No wonder netizens say you love to flaunt your romance, stuffing it into our mouths the mont old classmates et... Is there anything on the nu today that’s not for sale to outsiders?"
Not for sale?
Lin Xu smiled and said:
"Almost everything today is not for sale to the public. Yueyue, why don’t you take everyone upstairs to sit, while I head to the kitchen to prepare the dishes."
By the ti he reached the kitchen, it was about ti.
Lin Xu began preparing the dishes.
He set up the wok, after heating it, added cooking oil, and placed in so thick slices of scallion and ginger with whole smashed garlic cloves, sautéing till fragrant before adding the fried grass carp tail.
Let it stew for a bit, then pour so rice wine along the edge of the wok, half a teaspoon of fragrant vinegar, and a tablespoon of Light Soy Sauce.
Cover with a lid, let it simr for another half a minute.
Using a low fla, there was no need to worry about burning the bottom, once the soy sauce’s aroma was released, pour in pork bone broth along the edge of the wok.
No need for too much broth, just enough to match the fish.
Besides pork bone broth at this step, you could also pre-boil grass carp head and bones into a stock to add for a richer flavor.
However, simring fish bone broth takes too long, and given the high cost of Braised Fish, there weren’t enough custors ordering it for Lin Xu to include it on the restaurant’s new nu.
Though not a regular feature, the dish was available for pre-order.
For patrons unconcerned with cost wanting to try sothing fresh, the store could certainly et their requests.
Once the stock boiled, Lin Xu began seasoning.
Light Soy Sauce contains salt, so not much more was needed, half a teaspoon would suffice, added purely to enhance the umami.
After adding the salt, Lin Xu also included about a tablespoon of White Sugar.
A bit less salt was okay, but don’t skimp on the sugar, lest it lose the essence of traditional cooking.
Then he added half a tablespoon of Dark Soy Sauce.
It wasn’t until he added the Dark Soy Sauce that it had the thick, rich appearance.
To improve presentation, Lin Xu also added more than half a spoon of pre-prepared caral colorant.
Unlike ho cooking where caral is made on the spot, restaurants prefer to have it made once in advance, scooping it with a spoon as needed.
This saved ti and was more efficient.
He put the lid on the wok, letting it simr gently for about ten minutes.
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