Chapter 157 The "Old Man Wang" who cut in line ordered a Southern Song Dynasty martial art
The crumpled red 100-yuan bill lay quietly on the thick solid wood table.
The edges of the banknote were slightly curled up, and there were a few unidentified dark stains on it.
In the courtyard of Lin's Restaurant, a place brimming with cultural heritage and filled with the warm aroma of food, this piece of money seemed out of place.
The late autumn wind swept across the gray-tiled eaves of the courtyard house, swirling and blowing down a few withered leaves from the old locust tree.
Lin Mo stood two steps away from the table.
He held a clean towel in his hand and was slowly wiping the water droplets off his slender knuckles.
His movements were unhurried, exuding a sense of relaxation that emanated from his very being.
He lowered his eyes slightly, his gaze lingering on the banknote for less than half a second before casually looking away.
They did not feel insulted, nor did they show any impatience.
"Old sir."
Lin Mo's voice rang out in the cool autumn breeze, as calm as a glass of lukewarm water without any ripples.
"Didn't you see the blackboard hanging at the gate when you stepped through it?"
He casually draped the white towel he had used to dry his hands over the back of the empty chair next to him.
"The restaurant's 20 tables for tonight were already full when the numbers were released at noon."
"The fire in the kitchen has been reduced, and we've used up most of the ingredients."
Lin Mo looked at the poorly dressed old man in front of him and spoke in a very calm tone.
"No matter how much money you offer now, this pot won't be heated again today."
Sitting on the long bench, Jiang Jianguo's eyes twitched suddenly when he heard this emotionless rejection.
Is the fire suppressed? Are all the spots filled?
He, the richest man in China who has spent most of his life in the business world, is already tired of this kind of scarcity marketing tactic!
If he were to be forced to walk down the street in Nanluoguxiang without even getting a bite of food today, where would he put the face of the dignified head of the Jiang family?
How can he find fault with this brat?
Jiang Jianguo originally wanted to slam his fist on the table and unleash his fury, using his imposing manner to overwhelm the other party.
But his seasoned business acumen told him that, given Lin Mo's stubborn and unyielding nature, a hard approach would likely backfire.
If this kid were to get that old cleaning lady surnamed Wang to drag him out, the whole thing would be a complete disaster.
Jiang Jianguo's eyes darted around, and he quickly adjusted his tactics.
He abandoned his arrogant demeanor, and his broad back hunched over deeply.
He gripped the edge of the table tightly with both hands, his knuckles turning white from the force, and his shoulders began to tremble slightly uncontrollably.
"Boss..."
Jiang Jianguo deliberately made his voice hoarse and dry, conveying a strong sense of desolation.
"I've come all this way and haven't even had a sip of water. Now I'm seeing stars."
He sniffed hard, his nose stinging, and tilted his head back, forcing out a pleading look in his eyes behind his reading glasses.
"I just heard from people that your signboard is impressive, and that your owner is kind-hearted and highly skilled."
"How can you, as business owners, bear to watch an old man who's about to faint from hunger be driven out into the autumn wind to freeze?"
While feigning helplessness, Jiang Jianguo subtly planted a trap of moral blackmail in his words.
With his withered fingers, he tremblingly pushed the hundred-yuan bill forward.
"I'm not a picky eater, I just want to eat one dish."
"If you won't even cook a single dish for this old man, then isn't your prestigious reputation just a decoration to swindle people out of their money?"
Lin Mo looked at the old man in front of him who had suddenly started playing the victim card, and his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
He still didn't get angry, he just stood there quietly.
"What would you like to eat?" Lin Mo asked casually.
Jiang Jianguo took a deep breath and recited the tricky test question he had carefully selected after spending a long time rummaging through ancient books in his luxury car before coming.
"Crab-stuffed orange, is that alright?"
Upon hearing these words, Jiang Jianguo couldn't help but secretly curl up the corners of his mouth in the shadows.
He simply couldn't believe that this young man, who wasn't even thirty years old, could withstand such a move.
The words "Crab-Stuffed Orange" echoed clearly in the quiet courtyard.
The diners, who had been chatting quietly and sipping tea to aid their digestion, suddenly fell silent.
The air seemed to freeze completely at that moment.
Behind the counter, Zhou Yang, who was idly calculating today's turnover with an abacus, suddenly stopped.
"Clatter".
A mahogany abacus bead slipped from the fingertip, striking the frame with a crisp sound.
This is a leading figure in the Chinese painting world who usually shows no interest in anything and can casually give away paintings worth tens of millions of yuan.
At that moment, he suddenly raised his head.
Behind the reading glasses, the eyes gleamed with undisguised shock and astonishment.
Crab-stuffed orange?
This poor old man, who looks like he can't even afford to eat, actually specifically asked for crab-stuffed oranges?!
Zhou Yang gasped, straightened up, and stared intently at the shabby figure sitting at the main table.
Ordinary diners in the courtyard might just think the name sounds elegant and poetic.
But this old scholar, who had spent his entire life immersed in cultural circles, knew the ins and outs of this dish all too well.
That wasn't some ordinary stir-fry you'd find on the street, nor was it a signature dish in a regular restaurant.
That was a top-secret dish of the imperial court, recorded in the ancient book of the Southern Song Dynasty, "Shan Jia Qing Gong," which was exclusively for the enjoyment of the imperial family and relatives!
The process of making this dish is so complicated it's outrageous.
First, you need to select the plumpest, golden-yellow fresh oranges with double stems.
The chef must use exceptional knife skills to cut off the top of the orange to serve as a lid, and then carefully remove all the pulp and pith from inside.
During this process, the orange peel must not be damaged in the slightest, otherwise the natural citrus aroma will leak out prematurely during cooking.
Next, we will disassemble the finest, plump hairy crabs.
The extracted crab roe and crab meat are mixed together and served with a special aged Shaoxing wine and high-grade balsamic vinegar.
After carefully stir-frying and seasoning, it is then slowly filled into the empty orange cups.
The final step is to place it in a bamboo steamer and steam it slowly over a low flame with spring water.
The natural essential oils in the orange peel blend perfectly with the delicious fat of the crab meat in the steam.
If the cooking time is even slightly off, the fishy smell of the crab meat will be impossible to suppress.
If the cooking time is too long, the bitterness of the orange will seep into the meat, completely ruining the taste of the entire dish.
Looking at the current high-end catering industry, even those masters of state banquets who hold various honorary titles.
Almost no one dares to easily attempt this ancient and divine dish.
What's more, the old man had only a mere hundred yuan on the table!
One hundred yuan isn't even enough to buy two decent Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs in this era of soaring prices!
Not to mention the cost of the pure handmade items that require countless hours of effort.
The diners in the courtyard looked at each other in bewilderment.
A young man wearing gold-rimmed glasses lowered his voice and whispered to his female companion at the table.
"This old man is definitely here to cause trouble, isn't he?"
"I was thinking of giving him my unfinished plate of dumplings because he looked so pitiful."
"And then he started talking about Southern Song Dynasty imperial cuisine, spending 100 yuan on crab-stuffed oranges? Did he think this was some kind of supermarket snack with crab roe flavor?"
"That's right, this is clearly a case of looking for trouble and trying to extort money. Boss Lin is really unlucky today, running into a shrew who knows what he's doing."
The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves, and the sympathy in their eyes as they looked at Jiang Jianguo vanished instantly, replaced by disdain and incomprehension.
Jiang Jianguo ignored the pointing fingers and whispers.
He maintained that pitiful posture, but secretly he was extremely pleased with himself.
He wanted to use the most humble tone to order an ancient dish that even the world's most renowned chefs wouldn't dare to accept casually.
And they only offer the lowest prices.
This is a perfect dead end.
If he can't do it, he can stand on the moral high ground with a clear conscience and ridicule Lin's restaurant for being a mere shell of its former self and a fraud.
Even if you manage to make it, with a cost of only 100 yuan, what kind of delicious taste can you possibly make? He can still find a whole bunch of faults!
The atmosphere in the courtyard became quite strange because of this unexpected dish from an ancient book.
Everyone was waiting to see how Lin Mo would deal with this scheming old man.
Is it a fit of rage that leads to kicking someone out, or is it a matter of saving face and being unable to back down?
However, Lin Mo's reaction once again surprised everyone.
He wasn't angry, nor did he show any embarrassment or awkwardness from being bullied.
He simply lowered his eyes slightly and glanced at the crumpled red banknote on the table.
Lin Mo didn't even lift his eyelids, his face as calm as a piece of warm, ancient jade without any ripples.
He slowly extended his right hand.
Two slender fingers pressed on the edge of the banknote, and slowly and deliberately slid the hundred-yuan bill down the smooth wooden tabletop.
It was lightly pushed back in front of Jiang Jianguo.
The movements were very gentle, yet they conveyed an insurmountable sense of distance.
"Old sir."
Lin Mo shook his head, his tone still calm, without a trace of anger.
"Crab-stuffed orange is an ancient dish passed down from the Southern Song Dynasty. The process of removing the crab meat and peeling the orange is too complicated."
"It takes too much time and effort."
He pointed to the bill and spoke very frankly, without hiding anything.
"This isn't something that can be solved with just a hundred dollars."
"What's more, the store didn't have any live crabs on hand today, nor did it buy any fresh oranges."
"Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice; my little shop really can't handle this order."
Lin Mo withdrew his hands and put them back into the pockets of his light-colored sweater.
It's getting late, and the autumn wind is chilly.
"If you're really hungry, take this money and go to the noodle shop at the end of the alley for a bowl of hot soup noodles."
There was no mockery, no condescending contempt.
Lin Mo's words were impeccable, and he even politely pointed out a way for the other party to fill their stomach.
This calm and unwavering state of mind, unaffected by external circumstances, made the diners who were just discussing it nod in agreement.
Such is the demeanor of a great person; even when faced with such a guest who was deliberately making things difficult, they were still able to maintain such good manners.
Zhou Yang, who was behind the counter, also breathed a long sigh of relief and sat back down in his chair.
He said, how could such a lost art be casually ordered in a small restaurant?
Lin Mo's refusal was perfectly reasonable and there was nothing wrong with it.
However, this airtight rejection sounded like a victory horn to Jiang Jianguo.
He looked down at the hundred-yuan bill that had been pushed back to him.
The reflection from his reading glasses obscured most of his face, also concealing the sudden burst of ecstasy in his eyes.
He's definitely a half-baked amateur!
Jiang Jianguo laughed wildly to himself.
All that calmness and composure was just a facade, a mere pretense!
If they don't even dare to do it, wouldn't that completely expose their deception?
Those people used to praise him to the skies, saying he could make the most delicious food imaginable.
It turns out he was just an ordinary cook who relied on a few home-style dishes to fool those who had never seen the world!
Jiang Jianguo felt that he had completely exposed Lin Mo's true colors.
However, the shrewd businessman's mind works incredibly fast.
He quickly realized that a verbal victory was not enough.
If Lin Mo resolutely refuses to cook this dish, then his challenge tonight will only amount to a verbal battle.
At most, he could only mutter a few curses in the courtyard about how Lin Family Restaurant didn't live up to its name, and then he would be kicked out as an unreasonable, crazy old man.
If I don't force Lin Mo to fire, if I don't personally taste the food this kid made...
He couldn't legitimately and professionally criticize Lin Mo's poor skills.
He couldn't go back to his wife and daughter with the air of an absolute victor and prove that the cook was a fraud!
In order to completely defeat this brat who ran off with his family.
In order to defend his ultimate right to speak and his dignity in the Jiang family.
The richest man has decided to go all out.
Isn't it just shamelessness?
What does face matter when it comes to victory!
When the father-in-law realized that feigning helplessness had failed to force Lin Mo to cook, his eyes darted around behind his glasses, and he immediately activated his ultimate backup plan.
He gasped sharply.
Followed by.
Suddenly, Jiang Jianguo seemed to have all his strength drained away.
His shoulders, which had been trembling slightly, slumped down limply, and his breathing became rapid and weak.
Her legs went limp, like soft mud that had lost its bone support.
"Ouch……"
Accompanied by a weak groan, as if he might faint at any moment.
Jiang Jianguo slid directly off that heavy long bench.
He slid under the table and collapsed onto the cold bluestone slab.
To make his expression look more painful and realistic.
He extended his hand, hidden beneath his oversized military coat.
She pinched her inner thigh hard and mercilessly.
A sharp pain shot through him, and his eyes instantly turned red.
He was about to unleash what could only be described as a disastrous, Oscar-worthy performance.