I Have a Countryside Gourmet Restaurant

Chapter 311: Chapter 294: Something Good is About to Happen (2)

All the customers, including Chu Yiwei, crowded around Li You as soon as they saw him.

Everyone wanted to see Li You’s catch.

Fishermen love showing off their catch. And other people are always curious to see just how many fish they’ve actually caught.

Li You proudly showed the customers the fish in his bucket.

After getting a clear look, some of the customers were delighted, while others were puzzled.

They were puzzled because they didn’t recognize the fish in the bucket.

Chu Yiwei, for instance, was one of them.

”Boss, what kind of fish is this? I’ve never seen it before,” Chu Yiwei asked.

Before Li You could reply, another customer answered for him, ”This is mandarin fish. We call it ’sow’s shell’ around here. This fish isn’t easy to catch, and the boss actually caught so many.”

”Mandarin fish? So this is mandarin fish.” Chu Yiwei was thrilled.

’I’ve heard so much about mandarin fish, but I never knew what it looked like. I’ve finally seen one today.’

’So this is what it looks like.’

’This appearance... to be honest, it doesn’t look particularly delicious.’

A customer laughed and said, ”This mandarin fish certainly has a... unique look. But its meat is incredibly tender and rich, with very few bones. It’s a top-tier fish. I’ve had it before, and it’s truly delicious.”

”I’ve had it too. The texture is indeed delicate and savory. But if it’s a mandarin fish dish made by the boss, it would absolutely be countless times more delicious,” another customer chimed in.

Every customer present, including Chu Yiwei, wholeheartedly agreed with that statement.

Of course it would be. With the boss’s masterful culinary skills, the flavor of his mandarin fish would surely be delicious beyond imagination.

So, just what kind of flavor would it be?

Suddenly, all the customers felt an urgent desire to find out.

The meat of the mandarin fish is delicious on its own; even an ordinary chef can make it taste good.

So, if a top-tier chef like Li You were to cook it, what would it taste like?

The thought was undoubtedly incredibly exciting.

And so, the customers all grew excited. Someone said eagerly, ”Boss, you have so many mandarin fish here. Why don’t you just add a new dish with mandarin fish as the main ingredient? Any cooking style will do.”

”Yes, yes, Boss! As soon as you put it on the menu, we’ll order it.”

”Boss, you’re not going to raise these mandarin fish, are you? So just sell them to us to eat.”

”Boss, we all want to eat mandarin fish now!”

...

The customers clamored for Li You to add a mandarin fish dish to the menu so they could order it.

’This was unexpected.’ Li You did have plans to introduce Steamed Mandarin Fish, ’but not right now!’

He didn’t have a sufficient supply of mandarin fish yet. If he had to rely on fishing for them himself every day, he wouldn’t have time for anything else.

Therefore, relying on his own fishing to sell mandarin fish was unrealistic.

But now, with the customers so excited and expectant, Li You didn’t want to see them disappointed.

’What should I do?’

’Maybe I can do what I did before: steam some and offer everyone a sample, just a little taste for each person.’

’That way, I wouldn’t have to launch the Steamed Mandarin Fish dish right away, but the customers would still get to taste it and wouldn’t leave disappointed.’

’Let’s do that.’

So, Li You said, ”I will definitely introduce a mandarin fish dish in the future, but not today. As you can see, there are only eight mandarin fish here in total, and two or three of them are quite small. With such limited ingredients, even if I launched the dish now, I wouldn’t be able to serve everyone here. So, I definitely can’t add it today. It’s better to wait until I find a stable and high-quality supply of mandarin fish.”

Hearing this, the customers were very disappointed and crestfallen.

At that moment, they truly and urgently wanted to know just how incredibly delicious a mandarin fish cooked by Li You would be.

This included people like Chu Yiwei, who had never eaten mandarin fish before.

Even though they had never eaten mandarin fish and had no idea what it tasted like, it didn’t matter. All they needed to know was that its meat was exceptionally tender and savory.

Li You saw the disappointed and regretful expressions on everyone’s faces, smiled, and continued, ”However, since we have a few mandarin fish here today, and everyone is so eager to find out what my version tastes like, I must satisfy your curiosity. How about this: I’ll cook these few fish and offer everyone a free sample. Everyone can try it, including the customers who will be arriving later. You might not get to eat much, but it’ll be enough for a taste. What do you all think?”

As soon as he said this, every customer present, including Chu Yiwei, was pleasantly surprised.

’This is great! This is absolutely perfect!’

Although they wouldn’t get to eat much and couldn’t eat their fill, just getting a taste was enough to leave them satisfied and thrilled.

Besides, it was free.

And so, the customers all exclaimed excitedly, ”Hahaha! Of course, that’s great! More than great! Thank you, Boss!”

”This is wonderful, Boss. I can’t wait!”

”Boss, thank you, thank you. You’re too kind!”

”Boss, how are you planning to cook them?”

...

To this question, Li You replied, ”Steamed. I’ll steam all eight of them. Mandarin fish, like perch and whitefish, is perfect for steaming.”

The customers all nodded in agreement.

It didn’t matter which method Li You chose, because it was guaranteed to be delicious.

Steaming them now was, of course, perfectly fine.

Steamed Mandarin Fish.

The anticipation was almost unbearable!

All the customers excitedly expressed their anticipation.

Li You handed all eight mandarin fish to Da Bai and Xiaohai, telling them to kill and clean the fish.

’I’m short on time, so I won’t clean the fish myself.’

Da Bai and Xiaohai were both perfectly capable of cleaning the fish exceptionally well.

’As for using up these eight fish, it’s fine. I’ll just go fishing for more this afternoon and steam some for Mom and Dad the next time I go home.’

After handing the fish to Da Bai and Xiaohai, Li You turned back to the customers and said, ”Alright, I’m going to steam these eight mandarin fish first. For the other dishes you’ve ordered, I’ll make them after the fish is done. How does that sound?”

Before Li You had returned, the customers had already placed their orders with Da Bai and Xiaohai.

The customers quickly assured him that their orders weren’t urgent. The most important thing now was the Steamed Mandarin Fish. They told Li You to focus solely on steaming the fish and not to worry about their other dishes.

Li You smiled, then walked into the kitchen to begin.

Da Bai and Xiaohai worked very quickly; the eight mandarin fish would be cleaned in no time.

Just then, more customers arrived outside the restaurant.

Among them were Deng Luping, Zhao Yu, Xie Hai, Wang Dongliang, Yang Zheng, and other business owners from the town market.

”What are you all gathered at the entrance for? It seems pretty lively,” the newly arrived customers asked.

”Hahaha! Your timing is perfect. If you’d come half an hour or an hour later, you would have definitely regretted it.”

”Yeah! You guys are really lucky.”

...

The customers who were already there all said something similar.

This made the newcomers’ eyes light up. ”What’s going on? Is something good about to happen?”

”Hahaha! You guessed it. Something good is indeed about to happen, and you’re all going to be very pleasantly surprised. Do you know the dish Steamed Mandarin Fish?”

”Steamed Mandarin Fish?” The new customers all nodded. ”Of course! Mandarin fish is famous and very delicious.”

”Mandarin fish is what we call ’sow’s shell’ around here, right? That fish is indeed good, and it’s also great for steaming.”

”Although I’ve never known what a mandarin fish looks like, I know it exists. The main thing is, why are you bringing up Steamed Mandarin Fish? Is it related to this good thing that’s about to happen?”

This question was exactly what all the new customers were wondering.

’That’s right, why mention Steamed Mandarin Fish? Is the good news related to it?’

’Could it be that the boss has launched a new dish today, Steamed Mandarin Fish?’

All the new customers felt a surge of delighted surprise.

’This would indeed be good news, great news even.’

’Even an ordinary chef can make delicious Steamed Mandarin Fish.’

’So, just how delicious would a Steamed Mandarin Fish made by the boss be?’

’The thought was incredibly exciting!’

’So, is that what it is?’

...