Chapter 78

After a period of reorganization and rest, the day finally arrived for the opening of Zui Xian Ju (Drunken Immortal Inn).

Tonight, everyone except Li Qi was sleepless.

Li Qi was already used to such scenes, and besides, he had made all the necessary preparations, so there was nothing to worry about. The only thing he needed to do now was to rest well and face the day in the best condition possible.

It was just past the fourth watch of the night.

Zui Xian Ju was already brightly lit.

Apart from Lady Qin and the twenty waiters, everyone else had gathered. A dozen or so women were bustling up and down the stairs, busy as bees.

Their current task was to clean Zui Xian Ju until it was spotless.

Li Qi, along with his three apprentices and the cook Zheng, was in the kitchen preparing the ingredients for the day.

The ingredients Li Qi had prepared were mainly fish, pork, dog meat, and vegetables, with donkey meat, mutton, and rabbit meat as secondary options, and beef the least. Beef was simply too expensive this year and, from a price perspective, was not suitable for hot pot. However, it would be ridiculous for a large restaurant to have no beef at all.

Since the hot pot base and the ingredients for today were already prepared, what they needed to do now was wash, cut, and boil water.

After a period of training, Wu Xiaoliu and the other three had greatly improved their knife skills. Although they were not yet skilled enough to carve a lifelike dragon from a red carrot, they could certainly cut the meat into uniformly thick and thin slices without any problem.

In the east, a blood-red sun slowly rose.

The twenty waiters had all arrived at the shop, now all dressed in the work uniforms Li Qi had specially made for them. They all wore tight-fitting short jackets and long pants, looking spirited. The only difference between men and women was that the men wore blue and the women wore red.

Not long after, Lady Qin also arrived; she had been awake all night as well.

"Brother Li, Lady Qin has arrived."

Chen Anan rushed into the kitchen, sweating profusely, and shouted.

At that moment, Li Qi was busy processing the fish. He stopped his work, frowned, and glanced at Chen Anan, saying sternly, "Anan, how many times have I told you not to barge into the kitchen like this?"

"Oh."

Chen Anan lowered his head and stuck out his tongue.

Li Qi shook his head, glared at Wu Xiaoliu, who was grinning, and said, "You guys, hurry up and finish. I'll be right back."

With that, he took off his apron and walked out with Chen Anan.

In the main hall, Lady Qin, who was chatting with Wu Furong, nodded and smiled when she saw Li Qi come out. "You'll have a busy day today."

"It's my own business; a little hard work is nothing."

Li Qi chuckled, then turned serious. "Lady, I'll probably have to stay in the kitchen all day. I'll have to rely on you and Uncle Wu for everything outside."

In fact, Li Qi had already discussed everything with them, even going over every detail three times. If anything still went wrong, there was nothing he could do.

Lady Qin nodded slightly. "But are you really not going to participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony?"

A few days ago, Li Qi had told Lady Qin that he would not attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony. However, Lady Qin still felt that although Li Qi did not want to reveal his identity, he was now one of the owners of Zui Xian Ju. It would not look good for him to stay in the kitchen on the opening day.

Li Qi smiled slightly. "The ribbon-cutting ceremony is just a gimmick. Not many people in Bianjing know me. Whether I attend or not doesn't matter. You and Uncle Wu can handle it."

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Lady Qin did not insist and nodded. "Alright then."

Li Qi gave a few more instructions to Wu Furong and then returned to the kitchen.

Just as it was the hour of Si, Bai Qianruo arrived. She was a guest at today's ribbon-cutting ceremony and naturally had to come early.

"Congratulations, Sister Wang."

Lady Qin smiled and nodded, then called Xiaotao to serve Bai Qianruo a cup of tea.

Bai Qianruo had just sat down when she suddenly remembered something and asked, "Sister Wang, do you know that everyone outside is talking about Zui Xian Ju's opening? They're saying things like the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the yin-yang pot, and 'the best in the world.' Who spread these rumors?"

Lady Qin smiled bitterly. "Who else?"

Bai Qianruo glanced at the kitchen and huffed. "I knew it was him. That's fine, but why did he say that Lady Bai and Master Song would also attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony as VIPs? My father even knows about it. By the way, did you really invite Master Song?"

Before she could finish, a voice filled with joy and deep affection called out, "Qianruo."

Bai Qianruo's heart sank.

A handsome young man walked in, his eyes fixed on Bai Qianruo.

It was none other than the talented scholar Song Yuchen.

Lady Qin gave Bai Qianruo an innocent look, indicating that this had nothing to do with her.

Of course, all of this was arranged by Li Qi. Although Song Yuchen had no connection with Zui Xian Ju, when Li Qi had Wu Xiaoliu deliver the invitation, he specifically mentioned that Bai Qianruo would also attend. Li Qi knew that if he revealed this to Song Yuchen, even if it rained hailstones, he would definitely come.

It was undeniable that Li Qi did not have a good impression of Master Song, but his influence was undeniable. It would be a waste not to use it.

Bai Qianruo, after some thought, realized she had been used by Li Qi again and inwardly cursed him as a cunning little fox.

Bai Qianruo first bowed to Song Yuchen and then gestured to Lady Qin, introducing her. "Brother Song, this is the owner of Zui Xian Ju, Lady Qin."

Since Lady Qin rarely appeared in public, few people had seen her. Song Yuchen, who rarely visited Zui Xian Ju, naturally had not seen her either.

"Yuchen greets Lady Qin."

Song Yuchen, noticing the beautiful woman beside Bai Qianruo, hurriedly bowed.

Lady Qin smiled. "I have heard that you are the first scholar of the capital. It is indeed a pleasure to meet you."

"Thank you, thank you."

Lady Qin, seeing Song Yuchen's refined and handsome appearance, thought he was a good match for Bai Qianruo and nodded. "Alright, I'll go upstairs to check. Please sit down."

Song Yuchen, upon hearing this, was overjoyed. Being alone with Bai Qianruo was a great blessing for him.

Bai Qianruo gave Lady Qin a reproachful look, but Lady Qin pretended not to see it and walked upstairs with a smile.

A while later, another elegant young man with a servant entered.

Wu Furong felt this person was familiar but could not remember where he had seen him. He hurriedly greeted him. "Sir, you are early. Our shop officially opens at noon."

The young man smiled. "I know. I'm here to find your head chef."

Li Qi?

Wu Furong suddenly remembered this was the purple-robed young man from last time. He also sensed that this person was not ordinary and said, "Li Qi is in the kitchen. I'll have someone call him."

This person was Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun nodded slightly and looked around. Zui Xian Ju had changed a lot since his first visit. He nodded in approval and then noticed a handsome young man and a beautiful woman sitting by the window, smiled politely, and found a table to sit down.

The handsome young man and beautiful woman were, of course, Bai Qianruo and Song Yuchen.

Bai Qianruo, seeing that this young man was looking for Li Qi, was very curious. From his attire, she knew he was not an ordinary person. How could a chef like Li Qi know him?

A moment later, Li Qi came out of the kitchen. Seeing Zhao Yun, he was somewhat surprised. He did not expect Zhao Yun to arrive so early.

After a brief exchange, Li Qi invited Zhao Yun to participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Zhao Yun, upon hearing this, found the ceremony interesting and agreed readily.

Li Qi then introduced Zhao Yun to Bai Qianruo and Song Yuchen. Since he had no time to entertain this young man, it was good that they shared similar interests in literature and poetry. They quickly hit it off, and Li Qi chatted with them for a while before returning to the kitchen.

Before noon, Zui Xian Ju was already surrounded by a crowd.

A large stage was set up in front of Zui Xian Ju, decorated with red cloth. The crowd, though large, did not know what it was for.

At noon, Chen Anan, as the host of the ribbon-cutting ceremony, stood on the stage and gave a long opening speech (omitted for brevity).

Chen Anan, who was fearless, was not at all nervous in front of the crowd. He spoke fluently and confidently, which was why Li Qi chose him as the host. Li Qi had originally wanted Xiaotao to be the female host, but she was too shy and refused, so Li Qi had to give up on the idea.

Next, the etiquette girls appeared.

Five young women walked out of the shop, each carrying a tray with a large red flower and a pair of scissors. The red flowers were connected by red silk.

The five young women stood on the stage in a row.

Then, the ribbon-cutting guests were introduced.

With Chen Anan's excited announcement, Bai Qianruo, Song Yuchen, Zhao Yun, Wu Furong, and Lady Qin walked out of the shop one by one.

The crowd immediately stirred.

"Wow, isn't that the first scholar of Tokyo, Master Song Yuchen?"

"Ugh, he's so handsome—"

"Lady Bai, it's really Lady Bai—"

"Wow, is that Lady Qin? She's so beautiful—"

"Hey, who's that young man? He's so handsome—"

"Damn old man, who let him on the stage? He's ruining the scene, so old and shameless—"

...

The crowd buzzed with discussion, and the five ribbon-cutting guests had different feelings.

Lady Qin, who had never faced such a large crowd before, felt a bit shy, her cheeks blushing, making her even more beautiful.

Song Yuchen, standing on the stage, felt elated by the crowd's praise. Thinking of Bai Qianruo standing beside him, he was overjoyed and wished Zui Xian Ju would have a ribbon-cutting ceremony every day.

Bai Qianruo, seeing the crowd, was thoroughly impressed by Li Qi's ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Zhao Yun found it interesting but did not seem to care much about the praise.

As for Wu Furong, well, he was just a green leaf, a mere foil, and could be considered the most pitiful person.

"The ribbon-cutting ceremony now begins."

With Chen Anan's announcement, the five guests each picked up the scissors from their trays and cut the red silk in front of them.

At the same time, the sound of firecrackers echoed loudly on both sides.