Chapter Fifteen: Sprouting (Part One)

  The skin of this sweet potato is purple-red, it should be a white-heart sweet potato. If it were a red-heart sweet potato, the skin would be reddish with a hint of yellow. White-heart sweet potatoes have high starch content and are most suitable for making mountain powder. Now in May, it's already past the best time to plant sweet potatoes, this one looks a bit dry and not big either, should be from last year's harvest. Thinking about it, it's likely that it was transmitted from Southeast Asia through land routes during the Tang Dynasty, when there were almost no large sea ships, and even with poor transportation, it would still take several months. If we don't plant this sweet potato this year, it will rot after a while. If it can't be planted this year, then we'll have to wait until next year.

  It doesn't matter now, anyway he's still a kid, being rude won't bother anyone, just like holding a precious treasure, Wang Kuang held the sweet potato and went to find Manager Sun.

  These days, Sun Zhanggui was busy and happy, the expansion of the inn had him busy to the point of being carefree. After the expansion is completed, he will be busy recruiting new apprentices. Now that Wang Kuang is here, the inn has a secret, and although the old master didn't say it, he can infer that the boss wants to protect and win over Wang Kuang, absolutely cannot put him in a difficult position. The old people in the inn are all familiar with each other, they won't speak recklessly, but still, Sun Zhanggui is not at ease, so he specially instructs them several times. This new recruitment must be done with even more care, to choose honest and reliable people. In the past, it was enough to just take a glance at someone before taking them in, but now he is being very cautious, questioning a child slightly older than Wang Kuang from his ancestors down to what he had for breakfast this morning, scaring the half-grown kid into being extremely nervous: What kind of people does the Rich Come Inn recruit? Asking such detailed questions.

  When Wang Kuang came in with a bundle of cloth and a look of excitement on his face, the old shopkeeper knew that he must have something new. The apprentice had also asked enough questions, and was satisfied in his heart, so he said to the child: "Alright, from now on you can stay at the inn as an apprentice. First, follow me in front of the hall and learn, and when you're done, we'll see." He pointed at Wang Kuang and said: "This is the distant nephew of the East House owner, Wang Dalang. There's a rule in our shop that whatever Wang Dalang says is what I say. Do you understand?" In fact, this apprentice was someone Wang Kuang had met when he went to the Taoist temple that day, and saw him fainting on the ground. He knew it was another person who had suffered like himself, so he brought him back to the inn. Only Wang Kuang himself had already forgotten about this matter.

  The child was a bit silly and asked: "If what the young master said is different from what you said, who should I listen to?" The old shopkeeper was speechless.

  "Hmm, listen to Wang Dalang." After finishing, the old face turned a bit red. This kid is so reckless, isn't it embarrassing for me? But he gave an answer nonetheless. Firstly, since Wang Kuang is present, we should try to win him over and take good care of this young master, then the prosperity of our inn will be just around the corner. Secondly, in these days, Wang Kuang has made many suggestions for the expansion of the inn, all of which are excellent, his vision is unparalleled, and even the old shopkeeper suspects that Wang Kuang's family might have run a large inn before.

  Wang Kuang didn't care about these things, and over the past few days, some people in the store had already started calling Wang Kuang "Little Dongjia", which was a recognition of Wang Kuang's superior status and an affirmation of his demonstrated abilities. Wang Kuang wasn't concerned with these things; after all, the Rich Guest House wasn't his own, and it was too small, located in Jian'an, far from the center of the Tang Dynasty. His goal was Chang'an, those historical figures, he really wanted to see them.

  Sun the shopkeeper took in this apprentice, and Wang directly asked the old shopkeeper for him: "Old Sun, I just so happen to need someone to help me, let him do some things for me first." He also asked the apprentice: "What's your name?"

  "My surname is Gao, and everyone in my family calls me Gao San." When I visited Xiao Dong's home and asked him, this guy called Gao San quickly kowtowed.

  Third year of high school? Don't you still have first and second year at home? If there are younger ones below, wouldn't they be called fourth and fifth year? This grade is really high. In the past, those who failed the college entrance exam in their first year were usually called "fourth year" and those who failed in their second year were called "fifth year". Wang was stunned by this name. It's a pretty powerful name.

  "You'd better call Sun Er, Sun Er is clever and handles things quickly." Sun Zhanggui didn't know what Wang Kuang wanted to do with the person, if he was going to come up with another good idea, it would be more reassuring to have Sun Er help. Moreover, Sun Er was related to himself, letting him follow Wang Kuang to do things was also giving his own people an opportunity.

  Wang Kuang heard that he was called Sun Er, bid farewell to Sun Zhanggui, and went to find Sun Er with great enthusiasm. This time, Sun Zhanggui was even more certain that Wang Kuang had something good to concoct: "Old fellow, if only I could be ten years younger, I would have seen the day when Fulu Inn prospered."

  Wang Kuang ran to the newly established Food Department, and under Wang Kuang's suggestion, the inn is now divided into two departments. According to Wang Kuang's words, they are called Guest Department and Food Department. The two departments operate independently and are financially independent from each other. To outsiders, it is still Fula Inn, except that its scale has expanded and there are a few more delicious dishes.

  "Hey, Liu Xiucai is here! Quick, come on in, you're still at your usual spot? Alright, take a seat, I'll get the drinks ready. Half a catty of rice wine, a plate of braised pork ears and large intestines, plus a bowl of carp with taro paste, coming right up!" Meanwhile, he caught sight of Wang Kuang approaching him and asked, "Young Master, do you have any instructions?"

  There were not many guests in the store, and it was not yet time to eat, so naturally there were fewer people coming. Wang Kuang called Sun Er aside: "When you have time, help me get half a basket of red mud and bran, the kind that is half dry, mix them together and send them to my courtyard, also find an old cloth with sparse eyes, and a shallow flower basin, all sent to my courtyard together. By the way, the basin should be just enough to hold those muddy bran, and the cloth should be larger than the basin."

  The current temperature is not high enough, I remember that when I was a child, my aunt's big brother would add heat to the sweet potato sprouts in early spring, probably around 30 degrees. He would mix bran and red mud together, and the bran would ferment to reach the required temperature. After instructing Sun Er, Wang Kuang went to the kitchen to take a look. Zhu Si was busy cooking braised dishes, while Wang Shifu was busy boiling loach and taro. Seeing Zhu Si, Wang Kuang thought for a moment and said to her: "Auntie, you can try adjusting the seasoning of this dish yourself, such as adding some cinnamon, which is also possible. The other day I added bay leaves to the soup so I didn't add cinnamon, although they come from the same source, the fragrance of the leaves and skin are slightly different." He then turned to Wang Shifu and said: "This loach and taro dish can also be adjusted in flavor to suit different people's tastes. For example, adding some tofu to cook is also very delicious. The key is the step of stewing the loach and the final step of adding bay leaves. In between, you can add or subtract ingredients according to the customer's preferences, as long as they don't conflict with each other. If a customer likes onions, sprinkle some onion flowers on top at the end, if not, don't sprinkle them. This should be asked clearly by the small second in the hall and then done accordingly, so that the flavor can be adjusted according to the customer's taste, which would be better."

  The two of them were overjoyed and thanked Wang Kuang. Nowadays, their status is no longer the same as before. Wang Shifu has indeed become a head chef, and currently, in the kitchen of the Ministry of Food, only he and Zhu Si Niangzi are in charge of cooking. Niu Wa Zi (I made a mistake earlier, Niu Wa Zi is another helper in the kitchen, not Xiao Er, I've corrected it) went to Yanping to recruit people and hasn't returned yet. He didn't know that Niu Wa Zi had already brought someone back and was having an interview with Sun Zhanggui. Because the kitchen hadn't been fully expanded, he wasn't brought over, and would only be allowed into the kitchen after two days when it's done. After the kitchen expansion is complete, he and Zhu Si Niangzi will each have their own independent small kitchen, which is also convenient for keeping secrets. All of this can be said to be thanks to Wang Kuang, so how could they not be grateful to him?

  The current kitchen is an extension of the original kitchen, located between the guest department and the food department. There are two doors leading to each department, but guests going from the food department to the guest department do not pass through the kitchen, instead taking a newly isolated alleyway. Even the cowshed and latrine were separated out, so that guests could not see the kitchen under any circumstances. This was all Wang Kuang's idea.

  During the Tang Dynasty, sanitation conditions were not very good, and people did not have this awareness, but Wang Kuang felt it was awkward. The door of the kitchen faced the latrine and cowshed, which made him feel uncomfortable no matter how he looked at it. He suggested changes, and Sun Mingqian and Sun Zhanggu naturally carried them out.

  Unexpectedly, the effect of these changes was significant, and it was clear that the kitchen had become much more comfortable. Confidentiality is not worth mentioning, and even the flies that usually swarmed around the kitchen door were greatly reduced in number.