RYEY -Chapter 477 Still the Same Few Dishes

“Go back quickly. Don’t let personal matters delay work.”

Li Bing knew the rules at the military post, so he urged Guoqing to leave. Guoqing clasped his fists repeatedly, thanking the brothers for their help.

“Lele, you’re really pregnant.”

After Guoqing left, Chen Xiaoniu ran over, staring at Li Le’s belly with envy. She wanted to be pregnant too.

“You’ll have one soon.”

“Yeah, I hope so too, but unfortunately not yet.”

“No rush. I was married three years before getting pregnant with Guoqing. How long have you been married?”

Hearing this, Chen Xiaoniu laughed. Right—she had just been married a short time. Pregnancy wasn’t urgent; earning money came first. Once enough was saved, she could have a child properly.

When Cheng Qiao finished her chores and arrived at the store, she saw how messy Xiaoniu had arranged the counter and shook her head. She had no experience at all:

“Lele, Xiaoniu, come here. I’ll show you how to arrange the items.”

“Put the best-selling pastries in the middle glass case, other food items below. On the left glass counter, place more expensive daily necessities, since you’ll access the store from the right counter.

On the right counter, put cheap and easy-to-sell daily items. Do the same on the back shelves—separate food and daily items. You two also need to divide responsibilities.”

“I understand, second sister-in-law. Should I arrange it like a general store?”

Cheng Qiao nodded, then went to inspect the warehouse. It was well-organized, full, and clearly categorized—probably Shouhou’s work.

“You’ll have two young girls coming for interviews. They’ve both been sales clerks before. Keep whoever you like—or both—and pay them fifteen yuan a month each.”

Li Le and Chen Xiaoniu were pleased. With help, Lele didn’t have to do heavy work while pregnant, and Xiaoniu didn’t have sales experience—now there was no worry.

“Thank you, second sister-in-law. Let’s keep the two for now. We’ll definitely be a bit clumsy at first.”

“Alright. Also, after the store opens tomorrow, Shouhou and elder brother will leave. So tonight we’ll go to Deng Ji for dinner to celebrate your store’s grand opening.”

“Yay, tonight we can feast! Xiaoniu, go tell your dad so he can come join us tonight.”

“Alright, Lele, I’m going now.”

“Don’t forget to invite Uncle Niu—he’s Yang Liu’s biological father.”

“I won’t forget, don’t worry.”

Chen Xiaoniu ran off, while Cheng Qiao and Lele started rearranging the counter items. Many items were placed at the entrance for easy access by customers.

Hantong heard Cheng Qiao say they were treating for dinner and immediately volunteered to go to Deng Ji. She also wanted to eat steamed bear paw and wondered if Boss Deng could get some.

Sitting in the restaurant with the menu, Hantong flipped through it repeatedly. After looking over the dozen or so dishes, she shook her head in disappointment.

“Boss Deng, with just these dishes, it won’t be enough. There are over thirty of us tonight. How about getting some bear paws?”

Boss Deng was startled. Bear paws? Where could he get them? His hands waved helplessly. “Impossible, impossible!”

Hantong was disappointed and glanced at her watch. She wondered if she had time to hunt something in the Qilian Mountains. With her super-speed ability, a round trip might suffice.

Then she remembered Cheng Qiao’s Haidong Qing bird still in the mountains. She didn’t want to bring bird droppings to the dinner—not to gross herself out, but others.

Boss Deng counted on his fingers: with over thirty people, his dishes definitely wouldn’t be enough. He’d need to buy some extra. He looked at Hantong to see what dishes she wanted.

He signaled his wife, who immediately understood, went to the door, and hung up a “Closed” sign.

“Miss Hantong, if you bring wild ingredients, I can cook them for you. My restaurant is small; the customers are mostly poor families. I only serve simple dishes—dumplings and noodles, not fancy ones like braised pork. More dishes would be wasteful.”

Hantong nodded in understanding. Life here wasn’t wealthy, and resources were scarce. People lived frugally.

“Anyway, every table needs the same dishes. You bring what you have; I’ll go see what I can bring back. Here’s 100 yuan for now, take it first.”

“Thank you, Miss Hantong. I understand. You go ahead, I’ll prepare too.”

Boss Deng was overjoyed and handed the money to his wife before heading to the kitchen. Hantong had barely left for ten minutes when Li Huan brought in a skinned bear and over a dozen wild rabbits and pheasants.

“You… you…”

Boss Deng stared at the pile of wild game, especially the bear. Even skinned and gutted, it weighed at least 200 jin (~100 kg). Li Huan looked delicate, like a young girl, yet carried all of it alone.

Something didn’t add up. There must have been help outside. Boss Deng ran to the door, looking around—but no one was there. He turned to Li Huan, speechless.

“Brother Li, where did all these come from?”

“A few days ago, I saw a hunter selling wild rabbits, so I bought some from him. He said he also had a bear paw at home, so I got that too. Last time, the bear paw you steamed was really delicious, so I steamed a few more today.”

“Ah, I’ll get right on it. By the way, what time will you be coming over?”

“Around six in the evening. Is that enough time? If not, we can come a bit later.”

“That’s plenty, plenty. There are only a few dishes here. Back in my father’s day… ah, never mind, work comes first.”

Boss Deng was delighted. With these dishes in the restaurant, he didn’t have to go out shopping, saving some expenses. That way, they could make a little extra money.

Li Huan left with a smile. By six o’clock that evening, Deng’s restaurant was packed. Mother Li, supported by Jiang Meili, also arrived at the restaurant.

“This must be Sister Li. No wonder Brother Li looks so good, strong genes, huh?”

Boss Deng was very good at flattering. He showered Mother Li with compliments.

“Thank you, Boss Deng, you really know how to speak.”

Mother Li smiled and nodded, taking a seat at the innermost table. Jiang Meili quickly guided Li Chen to sit beside her. Li Le wasn’t too happy—this was supposed to be her and Cheng Qiao’s spot.

But as the elder sister-in-law, Li Le couldn’t just pull Meili out and take the seat herself. Appearance reflects the heart; Li Le’s displeasure showed clearly on her face.

Guoqing tugged at Li Le’s clothes. Out of respect for her elder brother, she shouldn’t offend the elder sister-in-law; otherwise, her brother would feel bad.