Chapter 57: The Grand Opening

After bidding farewell to the Gu family members, they each went their separate ways.

Originally, the Gu family had set aside the matter of the restaurant, intending to wait until Gu Tingzhi completed the county examinations before opening for business. However, since he was now eligible to advance directly to the prefectural exam in April, the opening of the Top Scholar Pavilion was brought forward on the agenda.

On the tenth day, the front of the Top Scholar Pavilion was adorned with bouquets of flowers. Gu Qingsong hired a troupe of drummers and musicians who beat drums and gongs, shouting and calling out for a full hour in front of the restaurant.

Capitalizing on the recent county exams, the new Top Scholar Pavilion officially opened with an eight-day promotion: all examinees and their families who dined in and provided the examinee's name and household registration would receive a fifty percent discount. Other diners not related to the exam would enjoy a twenty percent discount.

The prices of the dishes at the Top Scholar Pavilion were carefully set after comparing those of Chunfeng Tower and several other restaurants. They were not expensive; with the discounts, the restaurant barely broke even but did not suffer losses. The Gu family’s primary aim during these eight days was to spread the restaurant's reputation.

Sure enough, within just two hours, the families of examinees waiting outside the exam hall, upon hearing about the half-price discount at the newly opened Top Scholar Pavilion, flocked inside.

On this first day of opening, fearing a shortage of staff, Zhou Shi and Lin Huiniang had also come to help.

Zhen Mi’er, Su Hehua, and Zhou Shi took charge of cooking, with Lin Huiniang assisting them. Gu Qinghe was responsible for pastries and tea service, Gu Lizong handled the counter, recording the names of the examinees and collecting payments, while Gu Qingsong and Gu Qingbai attended to guests and served as waiters. Gu Tingzhi was tasked with copying the menus, placing one at each table.

When the workload became overwhelming, Gu Qingbai had a sudden inspiration. He casually recruited three suona players, paid them extra silver, and had two serve as waiters for the day while the third helped in the kitchen.

He took a menu himself and asked Gu Tingzhi to sketch a likeness of a top scholar on it.

“A top scholar likeness?” Gu Tingzhi tilted his head and thought for a moment, then drew a portrait of himself, adding two small white dogs at his feet. Surprisingly, the whole composition looked quite harmonious.

He had wanted to include Manman and the whole family in the drawing, but Gu Qingbai stopped him.

Gu Qingbai examined the menu several times, then had Gu Tingzhi write the three large characters “Top Scholar Pavilion” at the top, adding the restaurant’s street address in the lower right corner. Only then was he satisfied and took the menu out.

The Provincial Bookstore was the largest bookshop in the county town, equipped with a workshop for engraving books, paintings, and documents. Gu Qingbai spent a sum of silver to have the workshop swiftly produce two thousand menus.

During this interval, he went to the dental shop and hired four long-term workers—two men and two women. After signing contracts, he brought them to the Provincial Bookstore.

The two thousand menus having been printed, Gu Qingbai instructed each of the four to take five hundred menus and distribute them across the east and west markets. He taught them to mention the ongoing discount promotion at the Top Scholar Pavilion with every menu they handed out and to return to help at the restaurant after an hour of distribution. Any menus not given away were to be kept and distributed over the following days.

The four agreed.

With arrangements in place, Gu Qingbai returned to the Top Scholar Pavilion.

By now, the restaurant was packed to capacity on both floors, with a long queue of diners waiting outside. Guests who finished their meals all praised the delicious flavors, appealing presentation, and affordable prices, promising to return.

Hearing such endorsements, some impatient diners waiting in line renewed their patience and continued to wait.

The Gu family had not anticipated such a turnout on opening day. Nearly all the prepared ingredients were running low. Fortunately, Gu Qingsong, dispatched earlier by Zhou Shi to procure supplies, returned in time, carrying bags of provisions through the restaurant’s rear door into the kitchen.

Lin Huiniang and the woman Gu Qingbai had pulled in to help in the kitchen worked swiftly and efficiently, washing and chopping vegetables with great speed and skill. Zhen Mi’er and the others focused solely on cooking, so the kitchen did not appear frantic.

Following Gu Qingbai’s instructions, Gu Qinghe gathered two large trays, stacking dozens of plates of pastries—two pieces per plate—and a large basket containing over a hundred empty cups, accompanied by a huge jar of sour plum drink. The three elder brothers carried these to the front of the restaurant, offering waiting diners a small plate of pastries each and free, unlimited refills of the plum drink.

News spread rapidly, and the queue became a long, winding line.

That day, Lin Mo and Zhang Ziheng were among the first to finish the exam. Upon learning from Quan Feng that the Gu family’s restaurant had opened, they decided to visit.

Finding no place to squeeze in, it was Gu Qingsong’s keen eyes that spotted them lingering at the edge of the line. He hurried over and led them in through the restaurant’s rear door.

Seeing them, Zhen Mi’er increased the portions of dishes she was preparing, plating the extras separately—several dishes were treated this way. She placed these on a table in the kitchen’s corner for the two to help themselves.

Quan Feng quickly served them generous bowls of rice. After hours of exams, the two were hungry and ate standing in a corner without ceremony.

After finishing, they wished to help with chores, but Zhou Shi would not hear of it. The two still had three more exams in the coming days, and Zhou Shi feared that work might affect their performance. She promptly sent them away to rest.

As night fell, the number of guests in the restaurant gradually dwindled. After seeing off the last diner, Gu Qingsong closed the main door, leaving only the Gu family, the four long-term workers, and the three musicians from the drum troupe inside.

They chose two tables and carried all the prepared dishes from the kitchen out. The Gu family sat at one table, and the seven others at another. Here, no one cared about titles like family head or servant; everyone ate the same food. Having worked hard all day, Zhou Shi kept urging everyone to eat more.

Once dinner was finished, Zhou Shi paid the three musicians their wages, who happily went home.

As for the four long-term workers, their terms had been agreed upon before signing the contracts: monthly wages, room and board included, four days off, and extra bonuses for festivals and holidays. Naturally, the four accepted.

The restaurant’s rear housed a row of back rooms. Two of these had been set aside as rest areas for the staff to relax after tiring workdays. They now served as sleeping quarters for the four workers.

The elder male worker was named Yang Fan, twenty-three years old, from Wuxi Village, Baisha Town, Yun’an County. He was married to a woman surnamed Lan from the same village, with one son and one daughter, both young. With little farmland at home and the family struggling to make ends meet, he had left his wife to care for the children and elderly parents while he sought work in the county town.