Chapter Ninety-Three: Mandarin Ducks Pot

  She ran downstairs with a "thud, thud, thud" and said to the shopkeeper who was busy calculating accounts: "Uncle Qin, would you mind preparing a small kitchen for me that's not being used by anyone?"

  All she saw was Qin Bubo in her mouth, putting down the account book and smiling warmly, then continuing to ask, "I don't know what Fourth Miss wants a small kitchen for? If you want to eat something, you can let our chef make it for you."

  Xī jiě bō làng gǔ sì de yáo zhe tóu, dào: "méi shì, zhǐ shì xián zhe méi shì, xiǎng yào zuò diǎn dōng xī."

  Translation:

  Sister Xi shook her head like a rattle drum and said, "Nothing's wrong, just bored with nothing to do, want to do something."

  Qin Zhuangju saw that she was unwilling to say more, and the clever one stopped talking, instructing Xiao Er to help Xi Mei clean up the house.

  Finally, he reminded Xi Mei, "If Fourth Miss needs any help, just let me know."

  Have to say, the person Wang's family found is really different, knows when to ask and what not to ask.

  Hmmm, although this restaurant is jointly operated by two families, it seems that the Wang family has more say in the matter.

  Well, but the egg and lean meat porridge he came up with was quite a sensation in both restaurants, and I'm sure they made a pretty penny from it.

  Unfortunately, the financial power at home is all controlled by her mother, and she doesn't even know how much money her family has. Ah, this feeling is really uncomfortable.

  The shopkeeper saw Xi Mei suddenly shaking her head and sighing, and didn't know what was going on. In his panic, he even thought it might be something he had done wrong.

  "Four, Miss Four?"

  Xiao Er's shout awakened Xi Mei from her trance. Looking at Xiao Er, who was standing in front of her with a worried expression, Xi Mei said with a good temper, "Little brother, you go down first, and I'll call you when I need something."

  After he walked out of the house, Xi Mei rolled up her sleeves and prepared for a big effort.

  Hmm, standing by the stove, Xi Mei is deep in thought. Should she take advantage of the current era not having hot pot yet and make a profit from it?

  But thinking about it, after New Year's Day she will only be nine years old, won't this arouse her parents' suspicion?

  After all, his own little horse jacket was hidden deep enough, and if he was stripped like this, then...

  But if she gives up such a good opportunity to make money, she will be ashamed of herself.

  Tsk tsk. Look at this girl, she hasn't even succeeded yet and is already worried about what comes after success. Cough cough, girl, you're thinking too much.

  She was stunned for half a day and found that everything in front of her was still the same, so she knocked on her own head and thought, let's just take it one step at a time, thinking too much now is also useless.

  Looked at the materials. It's okay, just a bit less butter, this is the same for any dynasty, the rulers have strict requirements for this important production tool.

  Even at times, a grown-up cow is even more important than a labor force. Therefore, generally one family has several cows, when to sell them, when they die, the cause of death are all required to be filed with the government.

  As for this cow that needs to be registered and recorded, Xi Mei still didn't have the guts to commit a crime just for some beef tallow.

  Although the taste is not as good as before, it's still passable.

  After all, her craftsmanship is obvious. Hey, this girl. You said she's fat and she got angry.

  Bring out a large piece of pork ribs, wash them clean. Pound them into pieces. The force was a bit too great, and for a moment the sound of the knife hitting the bones could be heard throughout the entire restaurant.

  The young shop assistant looked worriedly in the direction of the house where Xi Mei was, and said: "Boss, you think Fourth Miss is okay inside, right?"

  Qin Zhanggui's hand paused on the abacus, then he flipped open another page of the ledger. "Don't ask about Master's affairs, have you forgotten what our master told us?"

  The Dongjia in his mouth is of course referring to Wang Ziheng.

  Thus, Xiao Er Ge finally closed his mouth quietly, and it wasn't until half a day later that the wine house no longer transmitted the terrifying voice from earlier.

  Xi Mei in the kitchen was unaware of the shock she had brought to people outside, now the little girl is happily doing her chores.

  Wash the big pot clean, then throw the big bones into the boiling water for a brief blanching. After that, pour away the blanched water and replace it with new water. Add ginger, garlic, and a little white wine. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until it turns milky white.

  Ren Xian Tang was simmering, Xi Mei took out the chili peppers and boiled them in boiling water for a while. After they softened on the surface, she fished them out and crushed them for later use.

  Humming a little tune, heat up a small pot with vegetable oil. At this time, you must pay attention to use low heat, so as to avoid scorching the ingredients and fully infuse their fragrance into the soup.

  After the oil is hot, add scallions, ginger and garlic to explode fragrance, then add bean paste, pickled chili peppers (commonly known as "糍粑辣椒") and other seasonings. After the water vapor of the bean paste has been stir-fried away, remove the scallions and discard them.

  Then add star anise, tsaoko fruit, cinnamon, fennel, cloves, Sichuan pepper and angelica. Continue to stir-fry over low heat for about a minute until the color in the pot deepens, then add Shaoxing wine, sugar, unfortunately no rock sugar is available at this time, otherwise it would be even better.

  As time passed slowly, the fragrance emitted from the small kitchen was smelled by diners eating in the restaurant.

  Everyone asked the shopkeeper in a flurry, when did this restaurant have new dishes, why didn't they bring them out for everyone to try and so on.

  Mr. Qin, the shopkeeper, was unable to cope with the questioning and hastily called over a nearby waiter, instructing him, "You quickly go to the kitchen and ask if our chef has come up with something new again. If so, bring it out quickly for everyone to taste."

  Although Qin's face was tinged with anxiety, it was mostly an irrepressible joy. This thing smells so good, eating it must be even better.

  Hehe, business at the wine house is good, and by the end of the year, one's own red envelopes will definitely not be few. In this day and age, who can't get along without money?

  The shopkeeper, who was in a pleasant fantasy, was suddenly shaken awake by the second child and asked, "What's going on? Have you found out what it is?"

  The little second brother looked at the several old customers with a 'tiger's gaze', then looked at the confident shopkeeper, and said with difficulty: "Shopkeeper, the cooks said that they also don't know where this fragrance came from, but one thing is certain, it wasn't something they concocted."

  Qin Zhanggui heard this and gave a stern glance, scolding, "Nonsense! This flavor obviously originated from our place, could it be that someone else made it?"

  As they were talking, it seemed like they had forgotten something. Qin Zhuang and Xiao Er suddenly thought of the same thing: could it be that Fourth Miss had concocted something in the small kitchen?

  Mr. Qin, the owner of the restaurant, understood the situation and apologized to the regular customers with a smile, saying that it was the cooks who had made a mistake and hadn't even finalized the menu yet, and that they would invite everyone to come and taste it when it was ready.

  After seeing off the last of the quarrelsome customers, Qin said, "It's getting late. I'll go take a look at how Miss Fourth is doing and see if she needs my help."

  This guy is cunning, just go and ask if you want to know. Still hanging the sign of helping to take a look, isn't it childish?

  There was a gentle knock at the door, "tap tap". It wasn't until half a day later that the door creaked open from inside with a "creak".

  Qin Zhanggu looked at the fourth young lady who poked her head out from inside and was shocked speechless for a moment.

  "Fourth Miss, your face... how is it on your face..."

  Know what he means, Xi Mei embarrassedly wiped the black off her face, no way, having been here for so long, Xi Mei still can't grasp the technique of starting a fire.

  Those who knew thought she had accidentally stained it, while those who didn't know thought she had just put out a fire and come back.

  She wiped her face casually and excitedly said, "Aunt Qin, can you find me a copper pot this big?"

  She used her small hands to gesture the size of the pot and asked with eager eyes.

  "Fourth Miss, is it something you want right now?" asked Qin Zhuang.

  "Okay, okay, I need it tonight, can you please hurry up and get it for me?" Jiemei said anxiously.

  Then, with a bang, he closed the door and went back to fight for his unfinished career.

  After several people were busy preparing things, it was already dark. However, due to the snowfall, the outside sky was brighter than usual.

  Outside, with a "huff" of the horse carriage, Chen Tianfa jumped down from the carriage and asked the approaching person, "Is Fourth Miss still inside?"

  The little servant led the horse and said with a smile: "Here it is, here it is. I'll go call him over for you?"

  Chen Tian waved his hand and said, "Whatever, I'll just go inside and find her myself. You go take care of your own business."

  After finishing, he strode in with big steps. The second son couldn't help but admire him, thinking that the Chen family was really different from others. In their household, every daughter was more important than their sons. The Chen daughters were truly born into a good family.

  But as soon as Chen Tianfa stepped into the wine building, he was greeted by a pungent aroma that rushed to his nose. He rubbed his nose and said to the shopkeeper who came in a hurry: "I haven't been here for a few days, and the cooking skills of our chef have improved a lot."

  Qin Zhuanggui heard this and awkwardly shook his head, saying: "You wouldn't know about it, but the fragrance isn't something a cook can create."

  "Chen Tianfa was surprised, 'What? It wasn't the cook who made it, then who did? It can't be that someone else's cooking smell wafted into our building, right?' Chen Tianfa joked."

  Qin Zhangguan saw this and didn't play dumb with him anymore, smiling: "This is the masterpiece of your family's fourth young lady. If not, I'll take you to see it?"

  After finishing speaking, he took Chen Tian and went to the room where Xi Mei was.

  After pushing open the door, all I saw was a copper pot placed in the center of the table, with burning charcoal underneath and several dishes of washed vegetables on the side.

  Chen Tianfa was puzzled, and Xiaoyao's singing was out of tune again?

  Seeing her father standing at the door in a daze, Xi Mei said, "Dad, don't come in yet, take this opportunity to go home and bring Mom and the others over. Tonight, I'll treat you all to something special."

  Chen Tianfa, who was still half asleep, didn't know what she wanted to do, but the habit of 'listening to his daughter' that he had developed over the years made him turn around and go out to pick her up.

  Just after her father had just left the door of the room was suddenly opened again, Xi Mei lowered her head and said busily, "Dad, why are you back so soon..."

  Before he could finish speaking, a faint laugh was heard beside his ear. He looked up and saw that it was Zheng Wenyu who had arrived.

  All he saw was the newcomer taking off his cloak, and a slightly embarrassed expression appeared on his elegant and handsome face. "Xi Mei, at my age, I'm old enough to be your father, it's not very suitable for me to say this."

  Sister is secretly resentful. Such a good day, not at home with your parents, but instead ran to his house to join in the fun, don't know what you're after.

  Xī Jiě lowered her head and busied herself, while Zheng Wényǔ sat down with a familiar air, looking at the unfamiliar things in front of him, curiously asking: "Xī Jiě, what are you doing? Could it be that this is the hot pot you mentioned?"

  Xi Mei nodded impatiently, thinking to herself: "Why is this person so long-winded?"

  "So, how did two pots end up on the table?" Ten million why-modes automatically activated.

  Xi Mei glared at him in a place where he couldn't see, and later said with a hint of reluctance: "Just put these dishes in the pot to simmer for a while, I deliberately made two bottoms for the sake of taking care of those who can't eat spicy food."

  Later, he muttered to himself: "It would be better if it were a mandarin duck pot, so as not to be so troublesome!"

  Just after finishing speaking, several people's footsteps came from the stairs...

  Thank you for Huawu girl's peace charm, thank you Xiāngmèng Liúlì, Zǐyàn .Zhào Yīlín's pink votes.

  Thank you for your support, muah muah.