Daddy's Gourmet Shop-Chapter 235 - 227: They Won’t Sell It

The popularity of the dishes at Delicious Restaurant was as high as ever.

Many customers who didn’t manage to buy anything couldn’t help but express their desire for larger portions to Huang Tao before leaving.

Only thirty portions of West Lake Vinegar Fish, it’s really a pity!

It completely fails to meet the demand of the vast number of customers!

Although other dishes were slightly more plentiful compared to West Lake Vinegar Fish, if not every customer can get a taste, then it’s still too little!

But when everyone heard Huang Tao explain that the shop is small and understaffed, making it difficult to manage...

What else could they do?

They could only forgive Huang Tao on the spot!

Of course.

They all expressed that they would continue to support him and come back in the evening to queue up to buy.

Hoping that Lady Luck would smile upon them and they could buy something from Delicious Restaurant in the evening.

As for the hot item Honeyed Ham, office workers couldn’t even dare to hope for it!

Around 1 PM, the customers dining in the store also left one by one.

A few guests who ate Stir-fried Crab Cakes cleaned up their table of crab shells and placed the plates in the special dish basket next to the dishwasher.

They did a bit more work.

Maybe Huang Tao could cook an extra dish of Stir-fried Crab Cakes!

They couldn’t let Huang Tao and the others waste time on such small matters!

Ding Suqin put the dishes and utensils from the basket into the dishwasher and also mopped the floor.

Lin Zifeng, as usual, tidied up the kitchen.

Huang Tao was preparing to steam the Honeyed Ham for the evening’s sale to avoid missing the regular business hours.

Of course.

He didn’t plan to do these preparations himself, but rather instructed his capable assistant Xu Hao to start working on it.

Xu Hao, following Huang Tao’s instructions, washed the ham clean, placed it on the cutting board with the meat skin facing down, and used a kitchen knife to make crosshatch cuts 1.5 centimeters apart on the ham.

He didn’t cut through the fatty meat part.

Left a portion of the fatty meat.

After finishing the cuts on all the hams, Xu Hao, following Huang Tao’s instructions, placed them piece by piece into a large prepared basin with the meat skin facing down.

Then added hot water to the basin, submerging the meat.

Poured in the rice wine that Huang Tao had prepared in advance and set aside.

"Hmm, that’s enough, now put it in the steamer and steam on high heat!"

Huang Tao nodded in satisfaction after seeing Xu Hao finish and guided him to proceed with the next step.

"Hmm, understood."

Xu Hao nodded in agreement and placed the hams into the steamer, steaming them on high heat.

"Haozi, I’ll leave this to you to watch over. After an hour, take these hams out, pour the broth out, and then..."

Huang Tao thought for a moment and continued, "We’ll talk about the next steps later. I need to go next door to see Jiang for a bit and ask something. I’ll leave this to you."

Xu Hao replied with a smile, "Alright, boss, you can go ahead without worry!"

Huang Tao washed his hands, took off his chef’s coat, hung it on the rack, and then walked out of his shop to the entrance of the convenience store next door owned by Jiang Guowei.

He smiled and called out to Jiang Guowei, who was busy calculating bills for customers, "Jiang..." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Jiang Guowei looked up, saw it was Huang Tao, and said with some surprise, "Oh, Boss Huang! Are you out for a walk?"

"No."

Shaking his head with a smile, he immediately stated his real purpose for coming over, "I have something I want to ask you about."

"Is that so! Come in quickly, take a seat first, I’ll be done soon."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Guowei quickly and warmly welcomed him in and then called out to his wife in the back room, "Wenli, bring a chair over for Boss Huang to sit on."

Chen Wenli, who had just finished washing dishes, quickly brought a folding chair over, opened it up, and said, "Boss Huang, please sit here."

"Thank you, sister-in-law." He thanked her as he sat down.

Chen Wenli waved her hand to indicate it was no trouble, then smiled and said, "My husband and I were just talking about how delicious your West Lake Vinegar Fish and Honeyed Ham are, but the portions are too small. So many people line up but can’t buy any. If it weren’t for you helping us reserve some, we probably wouldn’t have gotten to try them today. In the end, we have to thank you!"

"Oh, don’t mention it, sister-in-law, we’re all neighbors here. Just let me know, and I’ll certainly reserve some for you."

Huang Tao was amused and playfully said back.

Jiang Guowei heard this, raised his eyebrows at his wife as if to say: See, I, Old Jiang, have influence.

Chen Wenli glanced at him, didn’t bother responding, and turned to grab a drink for Huang Tao from the shelf.

At this time, after Jiang Guowei finished settling the bill for a customer, he pulled his chair next to Huang Tao and curiously asked with a smile, "Boss Huang, what do you want to ask me about?"

He replied with a smile, "Well, Jiang, the thing is, I’m thinking about expanding my shop, but I haven’t found a suitable place yet. I was thinking, the house to the right of my shop has been empty for a long time since the owners moved out. Do you have their contact info?"

Feeling a bit embarrassed, he explained, "Originally, I planned to ask my landlord, but I remember him saying that he’s never even met the people next door. And around West City Old Street, I’m most familiar with you, Jiang, so I thought I’d ask you."

Realizing, Jiang Guowei suddenly understood.

They’re thinking about renting the ground floor of that building to expand their storefront.

He has a slight impression of that family.

However, he turned to his wife, who was quietly listening on the side, and said, "Wenli, aren’t you quite familiar with Mrs. Lin? You should still have her contact details, right?"

In these old neighborhoods, the relationship between neighbors is the closest.

In the past, the three families often saw each other, occasionally gathered to chat and enjoy the cool breeze. Later, after the middle family sold the house, Jiang Guowei’s parents also bought a house and moved out. After that, Jiang Guowei came back and opened a convenience store here.

The two families got closer again.

Especially Chen Wenli and Mrs. Lin became very close.

Despite being a generation apart, the two had a lot to talk about and often arranged to go shopping and buy clothes together.

Chen Wenli had been listening to Huang Tao as well. Hearing her husband call her, she somewhat reluctantly said, "I do exchange messages with Mrs. Chen during the holidays, and I have her phone number saved. But I think it’s unlikely. If her family wanted to sell their house, they would probably have sold it years ago when they first moved out."

The two-story houses here were all left from the past.

Mrs. Lin’s family had lived here for decades.

Later, when her son got married, they bought a house elsewhere, but the elderly couple didn’t move with them.

It was only later, when their daughter-in-law gave birth and needed help with postpartum care and childcare, that Mr. and Mrs. Lin went over to help.

They spent the next few years helping to pick up and drop off the children at school and so on.

Later, their son had a second child.

So, gradually, the elderly couple rarely returned here.

Six years ago, they moved away and never lived here again.

Huang Tao had actually thought about this issue.

The houses here are generally passed down from the grandfather’s generation, and after the descendants made their fortune, they moved away. During tough times, they became their temporary refuge.

For the neighboring Lin Family, there is naturally deep emotional attachment to this two-story house, and they wouldn’t sell it unless absolutely necessary.

However, he never intended to buy this two-story house!

Despite being an old house, it wasn’t cheap either. After all, this is an ancient street!

He currently had no plans to buy it, only wanted to rent it for now.

He knew very well that this wouldn’t be easy.

But right now, the next-door house is indeed the best option for him.

He thought he should at least give it a try.

He said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, I know this isn’t easy, and I never thought of buying this two-story building, just wanted to rent it. If I go to rent another location, I’d have to move my store there, but honestly, I’m a bit reluctant. Could you give me Mrs. Lin’s contact details? I’ll reach out to her, just to give myself a chance."

Chen Wenli heaved a sigh of relief when she heard that he wanted to rent and not buy.

But when she heard Huang Tao say that if he chose another location, he’d have to move the store, she panicked.

She loves the food at So Delicious, it not only tastes good but suits her palate.

It wasn’t just to her and Old Jiang’s taste, but also to her son’s.

Because her son also liked it, they found a shared topic, and their relationship grew closer.

God forbid!

If So Delicious moved away, getting that delicious food again would be difficult.

She’d become the villain of the entire West City Old Street!

Originally, she intended to help and planned to call Mrs. Lin to test the waters.

If Mrs. Lin was unwilling, she could try to reason with her and appeal emotionally.

Just when she was about to say she could give Huang Tao the contact details, Jiang Guowei, thinking his wife was unwilling to help, threw a questioning glance that said "We agreed to help," then urgently said, "Wenli, giving a contact number isn’t difficult. Just give Boss Huang the phone number so he can ask."

"I didn’t say I wouldn’t give it, I just said I would, didn’t I? You interrupted me!"

Chen Wenli shot a glance at Jiang Guowei, then turned to Huang Tao with a smile, explaining her hesitation: "Boss Huang, don’t take it the wrong way, I’ll give you Mrs. Lin’s number right away."

With that, she went to the drawer at the counter, took out her phone, opened her contacts, and began looking through the list.

Huang Tao, seeing this, smiled slightly and said, "No problem, no problem, sister-in-law, you’re too polite. Asking those things was only right. I’m already very happy you’re willing to help, thank you so much."

"It’s just a small matter, don’t be so polite."

Chen Wenli quickly found Mrs. Lin’s number and gave it to Huang Tao.

Huang Tao swiftly noted it down and saved it on his phone.

He initially wanted to call right away.

But knowing that Mrs. Lin had a habit of napping, it wasn’t a good time to disturb her.

Though eager about this matter, Huang Tao decided to wait until the evening to call.

Besides.

Chen Wenli would probably call Mrs. Lin about this in advance.

He planned to call after they’ve contacted each other, then he could explain his intentions.

After expressing his thanks once more to Jiang Guowei and his wife, he returned to the store.