The next day, Li Yi got up at the crack of dawn!
Then, together with his third older sister, Li Na, he set about making liangpi and pan-fried white-skin pancakes!
In fact, as traditional folk snacks, neither liangpi nor white pancakes require much technical skill; as long as someone is willing to teach, most people can master them within three days.
Over the past few days, under Li Yi’s hands-on guidance, Li Na had already mastered making both of these delicacies on her own!
However, Li Na knew that the liangpi she made still fell short of her younger brother Li Yi’s by quite a bit.
To put it simply, the yield alone is significantly lower.
While liangpi isn’t hard to learn, it’s not easy to master.
Put it this way: a skilled master not only produces dough sheets that are chewy and springy, but also ensures they’re high in dough and low in gluten.
Take Li Yi, for example: with one jin of Fuqiang flour, he can make five sheets of noodles and just a small amount of gluten.
Li Na, on the other hand, could only manage a little over four sheets from a pound of flour, and she ended up with more gluten chunks than her brother.
This difference is significant. You see, in the liangpi business, the gluten chunks are essentially a freebie; it’s the number of sheets of liangpi that determines the profit.
Consequently, the key lies in how many sheets of noodle skin can be produced from a pound of flour.
Since it’s currently the height of summer, this is the peak season for the liangpi business.
On top of that, they have to supply the state-run restaurant, so during this period, the Li family has to make 100 pounds of wheat flour liangpi every day.
That’s a massive workload!
Even with Li Yi’s help, the two of them worked from 4:30 to 7:30—a full three hours.
And that’s after they’d already kneaded and let the dough rest in advance; if they’d had to make it from scratch, three hours wouldn’t have been nearly enough.
At 8:00 a.m., the siblings each took a car and left Nianzishan Village, heading straight for the county seat.
As they left the village, they encountered quite a few villagers and cooperative members along the way. Everyone greeted Li Yi, and he returned each greeting.
By the time they reached the county seat, it was already 9:30 a.m.
Li Yi went to deliver the goods to the state-run restaurant, while Li Na headed straight for the entrance of the sugar factory.
The reason for switching locations back and forth was mainly that the purchasing power of the county’s residents was limited; staying in one place too long might affect sales.
Also, if people ate the same food every day, they might get tired of it after a few days; coming back a few days later would make it feel fresh again.
In short, everything was done to boost sales.
When Li Yi arrived at the state-run restaurant, he happened to see Liu Jingshan standing at the entrance. A small jeep was parked there, and several employees were loading something into it.
Upon seeing Li Yi’s black horse-drawn cart, Liu Jingshan immediately came over with a smile: “When I saw you come back yesterday, I knew you’d be here today—and I was right!”
Li Yi smiled and pointed at the employees loading the vehicle. “Brother Liu, what are you guys up to?”
Liu Jingshan smiled and replied, “Since I’ve been put in charge of hosting the VIPs, I figured I’d try something new. I’m planning to let them sample our cold-boiled lamb and our new-style grilled meat.”
“But the city doesn’t have our special pots or grills, so I figured I’d bring all this stuff from the restaurant over to the city to make do for now!”
Li Yi glanced at the grimy pots and grills piled in the truck, shook his head, and said, “If these really are VIPs, you’d better not use this kitchen equipment!”
“Why?”
“First, they’re too dirty, and second, they’re not fancy or high-end enough!” Li Yi said.
“Well…”
Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll sketch out a few sets of new kitchenware and tableware for you in a moment. As for you, hurry up and find the best coppersmith and blacksmith in the county—we should still have time!”
“Really? I’m so grateful to you, Brother Li Yi!” Liu Jingshan said joyfully.
To be honest, when Liu Jingshan saw the greasy, filthy kitchenware in his own shop, he was deeply dissatisfied.
After all, they were about to host wealthy businessmen from Hong Kong—distinguished guests the city’s Investment Promotion Bureau had worked hard to invite. It simply wouldn’t do to have them use kitchenware like this.
But he had no choice. He’d only recently started working with this new style of cuisine. Whether it was the pot used for ice-boiled lamb or the special grill for roasting meat, his place was the only one that had them—you couldn’t buy them anywhere else, no matter how much money you had.
Fortunately, Li Yi was a man of his word; he actually agreed to design new kitchenware and tableware for him. This was truly a stroke of luck, like manna from heaven!
He knew exactly what Li Yi was capable of; as long as Li Yi was willing to help, the matter was as good as settled.
Right away, he had the other staff help Li Yi unload and weigh the goods, while he personally escorted Li Yi to the office and fetched him some paper and a pen.
Knowing how anxious Liu Jingshan was, Li Yi didn’t hesitate.
He took the paper and pen, leaned over Liu Jingshan’s desk, and started sketching!
Although Li Yi had no formal training in drawing, his vast knowledge more than made up for it.
Whether it was the Mongolian-style copper pots from North Province, the yin-yang pots from the Sichuan-Chongqing region, or the pots from the border areas, he had seen them all.
Although he certainly couldn’t craft them himself, sketching them out wouldn’t be a problem.
As for the grill, Li Yi simply sketched the type used at the Koten family’s barbecue restaurant from his previous life. He figured that with the municipal government’s resources, they should be able to produce these kitchen tools.
In addition to the cooking equipment, Li Yi also upgraded the tableware. Instead of the usual bowls and chopsticks, he added scissors, tweezers, and knives and forks.
In short, he went all out to make it as luxurious and high-end as possible—after all, it wasn’t his money!
Before long, Li Yi had sketched out all the kitchen and dining utensils, filling over a dozen pages of drafts.
While drawing, Li Yi worried that his sketches might not be clear enough for the master craftsman to understand, so he included plenty of written explanations.
When he handed his “masterpiece” to Liu Jingshan, the latter was completely stunned.
Although the sketches were indeed mediocre, with a touch of whimsy to them.
But when accompanied by a written description, it really comes across as sophisticated, elegant, and high-end.
“Brother Li Yi, I really can’t thank you enough. Once I’m done with this busy period, I’ll treat you to a proper meal!” Liu Jingshan said excitedly.
“Hahaha, dinner is no big deal. I just hope you can finish the task soon, Brother Liu!”
“Before, I was only 60% confident, but with these design drawings of yours, I’ve gained another 20%!” Liu Jingshan said.
“By the way, Brother Liu, who are you hosting? Why is this such a big deal?” Li Yi asked curiously.
“I heard from the boss that they’re from Hong Kong—a big-time tycoon worth over a hundred million!” Liu Jingshan said.
From Hong Kong, with assets worth over a hundred million?
Upon hearing Liu Jingshan’s words, an image of a short, stocky middle-aged man—along with two mangled corpses—immediately flashed through Li Yi’s mind!
If Li Yi’s memory served him correctly, this VIP from Hong Kong was named Huang Lixing, a big boss in the foreign trade business.
And this trip to the North was the final stop of his life.
On the seventh day after his arrival in the North, he and his wife were murdered in their hotel room, causing a huge sensation!
Thinking of this case, and of Wang Anguo who was about to take up his post at the Municipal Bureau, Li Yi couldn’t help but furrow his brow!