N-M Chapter 38 Setting up a Tent
Chapter 38 Setting up a Tent
August 2nd was the height of summer heat.
After finishing his lunch break, Lu Yuan sat under the eaves by the door and didn't feel so hot.
Summers with temperatures often exceeding 21 degrees Celsius only seemed to begin to appear frequently in the 10s.
The sweltering heat that even iced cola couldn't quench can now be easily relieved with just half a watermelon.
Xiaoxue was slowly scooping watermelon with a small spoon next to Lu Yuan. Her little face had become chubby from eating so much lately.
Her second aunt has been strictly controlling the number of fried dough cakes she eats each day, saying that if she continues to eat like this, she will never be able to get married.
The new Lu brothers include Lu Fa, Lu Qiang, Lu Peng, and Lu Hang.
The four young men were all eighteen or nineteen years old, just coming of age.
Along with Lu Jie, five bald men were frantically chopping potato shreds in the back kitchen.
No matter how much you rush the training of chefs, it can't be done quickly.
In a large restaurant, an apprentice who hasn't worked as a kitchen helper for several years isn't even qualified to cook large pot dishes.
Although the business is closed every afternoon, these apprentices still need to practice diligently.
After all, Xiao Lu's farmhouse cuisine doesn't have the same high requirements for chefs as Chinese restaurants.
This place mainly serves specialty dishes. If you can master one or two dishes, you can get a job at the stove after a few months of hard work.
If they can share some of the tasks, Lu Yuan can free up his time to prepare new dishes.
After resting for a while, Lu Yuan went to the back kitchen to check on the results of the people cutting potato shreds.
Lu Jie has been here since the business opened, and now he cuts potato shreds quite well, but his consistency is a little lacking.
But the other four younger brothers were far inferior; the potato shreds they cut were so thick they were almost as long as their fingers.
Lu Yuan stretched his hips, then leaped into the air and delivered a four-kick combo to the buttocks of the four scoundrels.
Immediately, cries of "ouch!" echoed throughout the room.
These young men are at the stage where they're tough and resilient; they won't learn their lesson unless they're put to a really tough time.
"Alright, put away your knives and come with me."
Lu Hang, the youngest among them, had his eyes light up when he heard he didn't have to chop vegetables anymore.
"Brother, where shall we go for fun?"
Seeing Lu Hang's lack of ambition, Lu Yuan was furious. He turned around and unleashed a powerful upward dragon strike, giving Lu Hang a good talking-to.
"First of all, you need to be addressed by your job title in the kitchen. Secondly, from now on, you have nothing to do with playing around."
The six people arrived at Old Master Lu's courtyard in no time. Lu Yuan pointed to the borrowed light truck and said:
"Let's unload the cargo first!"
Lu Yuan got back a little late yesterday, so he parked the car outside the courtyard.
The area outside the old man's courtyard, although not paved with cement, was filled in very smoothly.
Lu Yuan directed his younger brothers to first spread the blanket in place, and then place the round table on top of the blanket.
As for the tent, Lu Yuan had to come up with it himself. It really required some skill to make, and those guys couldn't be relied on.
Fortunately, Lu Yuan was a camping enthusiast in his previous life and knew how to set up this kind of tent.
Before long, a military green tent was set up.
This is the only color scheme available these days. Although the colors are a bit strange, we can only make do with it.
After the tent covered the round table, there was still some space around it, making it look quite spacious.
Lu Yuan laid a tablecloth under the turntable, on which stood a folding fan with four large characters written on it: "Flowers Bloom and the Moon is Full".
He then directed Lu Jie and the others to evenly arrange 11 sets of tableware on the round table.
The tableware consisted of a large round plate with smaller round plates stacked on top, and a folded light blue napkin on each of the smaller plates (which could be used as a footrest or to wipe one's mouth).
On the napkin was a piece of stiff cardboard folded into a triangle, on which Lu Yuan had personally written his blessings for each guest.
Many people like to use bone plates to serve food in order to avoid differences in perception among diners at the dinner table.
Lu Yuan used small round plates as main dishes and large round plates as bone dishes.
In this way, everyone's habits will be unified, and the whole dining process will be more harmonious.
Folding paper napkins is more in line with the aesthetics of this era, but Lu Yuan always felt that it had a kind of outdated and rustic feel. He preferred the beauty of simplicity.
To the left of the round plate is a small, rounded rectangular dish, which will be used to hold a damp towel tomorrow.
After all, it's inconvenient to get water in an outdoor private room, so a wet towel would save a lot of trouble.
Tomorrow, a small stack of napkins will be placed next to the small long plate to avoid people having to stand up frequently to get tissues.
Lu Yuan would prefer to use those small packs of tissues, but he searched for a long time yesterday and couldn't find them; he guessed they weren't on the market yet.
On the right are a chopstick rest and a water cup, with chopsticks and a soup spoon on the chopstick rest.
The whole set was barely acceptable; there should have been a placemat, but Lu Yuan couldn't find one to buy.
However, this display method seemed particularly novel to Lu Jie and his team.
"My goodness, do we need so many utensils for a meal?" Lu Jie clicked his tongue.
Lu Fa said, "Haven't you seen Hong Kong movies? That's how it's set up in there."
Lu Peng sighed, "I feel that the way the master arranged the pieces in the movie is as beautiful as the one in the movie."
"Indeed! It looks messy in the movie, but the way the master arranged it has an indescribable beauty."
Lu Yuan opened his arms and put his arms around Lu Fa and Lu Qiang's shoulders, saying:
"You've remembered how to arrange it, right? Wash it clean and put it back in its original position in a bit, or you'll regret it!"
Just then, Lu Wen's voice called from outside the tent: "Xiao Yuan, are you in there?"
"You set up the small tents on the side, just like I did."
After giving his instructions, Lu Yuan patted the two brothers on the shoulder and left the tent.
Lu Wen and the two girls were curiously looking at the tent outside. When they saw Lu Yuan come out, Lu Wen immediately introduced it:
"These are Zhenzhen and Pingping, from Fifth Grandfather's family."
Lu Yuan nodded. He knew all of these brothers and sisters, but they were closer because they were from the same clan.
"Hello, Brother Xiaoyuan."
Zhenzhen and Pingping are twins, and they are just coming of age.
They were wearing floral blouses made of polyester and dark blue work pants, with two thick braids hanging over their shoulders, looking rather rustic.
However, the two sisters have good natural features, and even with plain features, it's clear they are very beautiful.
"Brother Lu Wen told you, right? You'll get 1000 yuan a month working at the restaurant from now on."
Upon hearing about the salary, Zhenzhen and Pingping were a little stunned, and Lu Wen was also somewhat incredulous:
"Xiao Yuan, you didn't tell me the salary was this high. How about you tell me what I can do?"
Lu Yuan laughed and said, "Brother Lu Wen, you're our chief steward, what's this little salary? I'll talk to you later."
Then Lu Yuan looked at Zhenzhen and Pingping with a serious expression and said:
"I pay you guys a high salary, but your work is also the hardest. If you don't do it well, I'll yell at you."
She was indeed the twin sister, and immediately nodded in agreement.
"Brother, you don't need to scold us, just hit us directly, otherwise we won't feel at ease taking this money."
Lu Yuan almost broke his back from this silly little sister, and his eye twitched as he said:
"It's not necessary to hit someone. You two come with me. I'll get you a set of employee uniforms. Go home and change before you come back."
Lu Yuan opened the passenger side of the light truck and handed a handbag to Zhenzhen.
The two silly girls took it and ran home happily.
A moment later, they came from a distance, wearing light blue cheongsams.
This cheongsam isn't a tight-fitting short style, but rather a slightly loose long style.
Although the slit only extends from slightly above the knee to the ankle, the tailoring is still outstanding, making the two girls' waists look very slender.
Lu Wen and the few thugs who had just come out of the tent were stunned, but Lu Yuan sighed and shook his head, saying:
"Does this cheongsam and braided pigtails look appropriate? Brother Lu Wen, do you know anyone in the village who knows how to do hair?"