Seeing that Li Ying had the same thought as him, Lu Xunguang felt relieved.
After he left, Li Ying took stock of the ingredients in the kitchen and calmly tied on her apron.
A Man asked in confusion, "Sister, aren't we going to deal with those shops?"
Li Ying smiled and said, "Don't be in a hurry. Eating is the most important thing."
A Man was always carefree. Seeing her so calm, he immediately threw all thoughts of Tao Zhi, Drunken Fairy Residence, and Delicacy Workshop to the back of his mind and eagerly watched her.
Li Ying covered a kneaded dough with a damp cloth and let it rise aside.
Sea shrimps, scallops, and small octopuses were nothing special in the fishing village.
It was only yesterday that Granny Sun took A Man to the beach at low tide. Mao Mao found a sea intestine hole. A Man had never seen sea intestines before. He grabbed a shovel and dug vigorously, sweating profusely. He was so excited that he dug out almost half a bucket.
His lively appearance even stunned Shi Hu who passed by.
The sea intestines had already spat out all the fine sand. Li Ying cut off their heads and tails, removed their internal organs, cut them into small sections, blanched them in boiling water, and washed off the mucus.
These were the most delicious seafood from the sea. Their holes were buried very deep. If it weren't for Mao Mao, the "living radar for beach - combing", they would have been really hard to find.
All it took was to stir - fry some garlic slices in a hot pan, add the sea intestines and stir - fry briefly, then pour in the Chinese chives. To season, she only used pepper to remove the fishy smell, oyster sauce to enhance the freshness, and a little sea salt. Then the dish was ready, steaming hot.
The sea intestines were crunchy, elastic, sweet, and fresh. Paired with the faint spiciness of the Chinese chives, at first glance, it seemed just an ordinary fisherman's stir - fry. But only when one really took a bite would they be overwhelmed by the indescribable, ultimate deliciousness.
Granny Sun and the others naturally praised this stir - fried sea intestines with Chinese chives.
Li Ying didn't rush to pick up her chopsticks. Seeing that the dough had risen smoothly and softly, she pinched off some dough balls, rolled them into even circles, and then prepared the filling.
She beat the egg liquid and stirred it into the chicken mince to make the meat tender and juicy. Then she boldly mixed whole sea shrimps, scallops, and octopus legs into the filling. She added two small pieces of sea intestines, a little chopped Chinese chives, and the meat jelly left over from making chicken soup into each bun.
Each bun was shaped like a willow leaf, with a thin skin and a large filling. It was as white and delicate as a beauty's skin, seemingly ready to break at a touch. When one took a bite, the scalding soup would gush out in the mouth. Dipping it in some ginger vinegar and chewing slowly, it was like experiencing the poetic scene of "the bright moon on the sea rises with the tide".
Li Ying filled a steamer with the seafood steamed buns, told Granny Sun and A Man to eat slowly, changed her clothes, and calmly went out.
It was mealtime. Yufengxiang Bun Shop was full of customers.
Li Ying covered her face with a light veil and found an empty seat to sit down. The waiter immediately came over enthusiastically and said, "What would you like, sir? Our signature marinated fresh meat buns just came out of the steamer. They're still hot!"
Li Ying looked around. Seeing that every table in Yufengxiang had ordered the fresh meat buns, she readily nodded and said, "Okay, then bring me a steamer."
The buns were steamed round and cute. The meat filling was quite large, and it could be said to be made of real ingredients.
However, the part of the meat selected for the filling was not very refined. It tasted a bit dry, and there was no pepper to remove the fishy smell. When one took a bite, there were a lot of tendons and minced scallions and ginger in the meatball, which was really disappointing.
Li Ying took only one bite and couldn't eat any more.
A diner sitting at the same table with her saw her put down her chopsticks and asked curiously, "Miss, what's wrong? Don't the buns suit your taste?"
Li Ying said indifferently, "The buns in Yufengxiang are indeed genuine, but they're really not that delicious."
The diner, who considered himself a gourmet, heard Li Ying's words. Seeing that she was just a young girl, he felt a bit contemptuous. He snorted and said, "What an arrogant miss! Since you find them hard to swallow, you must have eaten more delicious buns. Why don't you show them?"
Their argument immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding diners. Everyone started to make a ruckus and insisted that Li Ying show her "real skills".
Li Ying was just waiting for this. Calmly, she lifted the food box. A steamer of willow - leaf - shaped seafood buns was still steaming. Through the paper - thin skin, one could vaguely see the lovely green Chinese chives and the crimson prawns.
They looked more like jewels than buns.
"If you don't mind, please have a try."
She distributed the willow - leaf - shaped steamed buns to everyone. The diners who had been leading the commotion originally wanted to watch a show, but as soon as they took a bite of the buns, the chicken juice first broke through the defense of their lips and tongues.
The shrimps and scallops charged forward with the delicious flavor. The sea intestines were like a powerful siege weapon, mercilessly flattening the last bit of resistance in their minds.
The battle between the seafood buns and the marinated meat buns was almost a one - sided victory. After just one round, Yufengxiang was defeated and in disarray.
Li Ying smiled without saying a word. Some sharp - eyed diners recognized her and exclaimed in disbelief, "Miss Li, it's you!"
"Is this the new product that Li's Restaurant is about to launch? What's the price? When will it be on the market?"
Bao Guiyou, the owner of Yufengxiang, never expected that, originally planning to come to Li Ying to demand an explanation, he now saw all his diners surrounding her, vying to try the new product.
This Li Ying was really too arrogant!
She had actually come to Yufengxiang's territory to steal business, treating him as if he were dead!
He cleared his throat. The diners wisely made way for him. Seeing him glaring angrily at Li Ying, they all held their breaths.
"Sir, could I have a private word with you?"
Li Ying seemed not to notice Bao Guiyou's cold face and smiled faintly.
Since she was so polite, he couldn't make a scene in public, which would make him seem ungentlemanly. He just snorted and said, "After you, Miss Li!"
After they sat down in a private room, Bao Guiyou frowned and said angrily, "Miss Li, in business, attracting customers depends on one's own ability. It's not very fair of you to come here to cause trouble."
Li Ying widened her eyes in confusion and said, "What do you mean by that?"
"When did I ever say I wanted to steal Yufengxiang's business?"
She paused for a moment and then said, "Moreover, if I remember correctly, it was Yufengxiang that first used unfair means to try to cut off my way. It's you, sir, who's not being fair, isn't it?"
With just a few words, she left Bao Guiyou speechless. He could only stare at her with his big bull - like eyes.
Li Ying pushed the food box in front of him and then changed to a persuasive tone. She said patiently, "Actually, sir, Yufengxiang is just a bun shop. It has no conflict with my Li's Restaurant. You could just focus on your own business. Why listen to Tao Zhi's instigation and get involved in this mess?"
Seeing that the other person still frowned tightly, she sighed.
"The work of making buns is really delicate. I'm too busy to handle it alone. Li's Restaurant never planned to get involved in this. These seafood willow - leaf buns were made for my own family. If you're interested, I can teach you the recipe. Since we've met like this, how about we bury the hatchet from now on?"
Bao Guiyou looked at her suspiciously. He tentatively picked up the last bun in the food box and took a small bite. He was greatly shocked!
No wonder the diners had switched sides so quickly!
If Li's Restaurant really started selling these buns, Yufengxiang would have no chance of winning!
Li Ying saw the hesitation in his expression and added another incentive. "Sir, your marinated meat buns use a lot of ingredients, so the profit must not be high. I have a way to halve your cost while improving the taste. What do you think?"