After walking for about four or five miles, I saw a village with hundreds of households, which was considered a big village.
"This is Lijiazhuang. Most of the people in the village are surnamed Li. Our boss is a rich man in the village who is in the medicinal business. Oh, by the way, we also have business dealings with Jinling. Brother Li, if this wedding banquet goes well, You can go back to Jinling with our caravan," Butler Li said.
"Really?" Ye Jiayao was overjoyed. If she could follow the Li family's caravan, then she wouldn't have to work so hard along the way.
He Lianjing's eyes also lit up, and then he looked at Ye Jiayao expectantly, as if to say: Brother Jin, this time it all depends on your ability.
The Li family was decorated with lanterns and many guests had already arrived. Butler Li took Ye Jiayao and He Lianjing to change into clean clothes. Poor little Jingjing finally no longer had to wear cropped pants.
There are more than a dozen women working in the kitchen. The ingredients have been prepared and are waiting for the cook to cook them.
Ye Jiayao came to take a look at the menu drawn up by the original cook Lao Mingtou. There was no big problem. She could cook chicken, duck and fish, but the names of the dishes were a bit ordinary and tacky.
I asked Butler Li for a pen and paper, and drafted a new menu.
Change the whole chicken to Fengming Xianghe, change the roast duck to double-flavor duck rolls and get a good match, change the delicacies of the mountains and seas from the family portrait to a crowd of guests, add a dish of stir-fried shrimps with celery and lily and name it Baihunhaohe, and so on.
He Lianjing looked on and was dumbfounded. This guy was always opportunistic and did what he wanted, so he didn't know if what he made was worthy of such a nice name.
"Steward Li, please take this menu to your boss for review. If possible, I will follow it." Ye Jiayao handed the prepared menu to Steward Li.
Butler Li left happily and came back shortly, smiling and saying: "Our boss said that this menu is very good. He is very satisfied and asks Brother Li to follow it."
After saying that, Butler Li also took out two red envelopes: "This is from our boss to reward you."
Ye Jiayao declined: "The banquet has not been prepared yet, how can I ask for a reward from your boss?"
Butler Li said: "Our boss said that just by looking at this menu, you can tell that this guy is an expert. You can't go wrong. Take it for good luck."
Ye Jiayao accepted it sheepishly and handed it to He Lianjing.
He Lianjing took the red envelope and admired Ye Jiayao. He kept asking for help and earned the reward without saying a word.
After the menu was passed and the rewards were collected, Ye Jiayao put on her apron and started to work.
First, take a killed hen weighing half a pound. A hen of this size will taste delicious no matter how you prepare it. The meat is neither too tender nor too old.
Ye Jiayao skillfully deboned the whole chicken, which shocked Helianjing again. Such skillful knife skills cannot be achieved by bragging.
The chicken with the skeleton removed was soft and soft. Ye Jiayao used a brush to brush the chicken inside and out, then took the peeled chestnuts and cooked quail eggs and put in the rest. Stir evenly into the seasoning, leaving ten chestnut kernels for serving on the plate, and stuff the rest into the chicken belly until it is bulging, which means having more children and grandchildren.
Tie the chicken neck into a knot and steam it in a steamer for forty to fifty minutes.
"Xiao Jing, please help me keep track of the time." Ye Jiayao gave him a task to save him from having nothing to do. The key is that she is still a little unfamiliar with ancient time conversion, so she leaves it to the ancients.
He Lianjing moved a chair and sat upright, staring intently at the steamer. He also received the silver reward, so he had to do something.
Ye Jiayao wanted to laugh when she saw how serious he was. He was such a simple child.
When a dish was ready, Ye Jiayao started to make love.
Chop the shrimp meat, mix with chopped green onions, and adjust the flavor. The duck is ready to be roasted. Cut off the duck skin and shape it into a rectangular shape. Beat the eggs into liquid and spread out the egg skin with an even thickness, and also shape it into a rectangular shape. Then roll the minced shrimp into it and dip it in some egg liquid. We don't have bread crumbs at the moment, so we have to roll it in crunchy almond pieces, and then fry it in the pan.
The characteristics of this dish are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, double rolls and double flavors, crispy and refreshing.
But for viewers, the highlight is Ye Jiayao’s parquet skills.
Remove the naan inside from the tomatoes and cut them into thin strips about two centimeters wide. Place a blooming flower on the plate. Then use green and cucumber peels to cut into thin strips and arrange them into the shape of leaves, with red flowers and green leaves. Top the double rolls with fried golden brown and neatly arranged, and a delicate double-flavor duck roll is completed.
The women who helped in the kitchen stared straight at it and exclaimed, after all, they were chefs from Jinan Mansion Restaurant. This craftsmanship is really amazing. Not only does it taste good, but it also looks good, making people drool just looking at it.
Ye Jiayao is a master of frying, frying, cooking, deep-frying, steaming, boiling, simmering, simmering, and carving platters. She started the ten dishes at the same time, making overall arrangements, busy but not chaotic, orderly, using the shortest words. Time passes in one breath.
He Lianjing could hardly turn his eyes. Brother Jin's posture and aura when he was cooking seemed to be glowing. He was the king here, controlling everything, and his masterful hands turned decay into magic. Even if he said that he was the chef of Wangxian Tower, no one would dare to question his cooking skills. He Lianjing couldn't help but come up with the idea that when he returned to Jinling, he would let Brother Jin work as a chef in the palace and cook exclusively for him. That would be the best of both worlds.
Butler Li came in to check and saw the plates of dishes that were so exquisite that they couldn't bear to eat. He couldn't help but click his tongue. When he looked at this young man again, his eyes were different. My dear, this cooking skill is the best in this area. I can't even count how many streets the famous old Mingtou has left.
I am secretly glad that I have found the right person today.
When the auspicious time came, the banquet was laid out, and there were many guests outside. The gongs and drums were loud, and Ye Jiayao, He Lianjing and the women who helped cook were dining in the kitchen.
Only then did He Lianjing enjoy the food carefully cooked by Ye Jiayao.
The phoenix cries peacefully. The chicken is wrapped in chestnuts and quail eggs and steamed for a long time, fully absorbing the aroma of chestnuts, and the chestnuts absorb the juice of the chicken. The chestnut aroma is rich and the meat is rotten and mellow.
A century-old combination, the refreshing taste of celery, the sweetness of lily, and the smoothness of shrimp combine to create a unique flavor.
The restaurant was packed with guests, and there were sea cucumbers, abalones, fish lips, fish maws, and fresh bamboo shoots and mushrooms.
"Jin..."
He Lianjing was glared at by Ye Jiayao as soon as he opened his mouth, and he quickly changed his words: "Brother, I haven't seen you for many years, your cooking skills are getting better and better."
Ye Jiayao grinned: "Of course, the master often praises me for my talent in cooking. No matter what dish, I can get it right after just one glance."
Ye Jiayao specially emphasized the word "brother" and boasted a lot.
Helian Jing imitated her and rolled his eyes, thinking: Look at you, can't you be more modest and reserved? I'm not afraid of people making fun of me either.
Turning to look at the women, they didn't mean to laugh at all, but looked at Brother Jin with admiration.
He Lianjing rolled his eyes again in frustration, a bunch of ignorant women.
Ye Jiayao gave him a quail egg: "Eat more, it's very nutritious. It's the time when you are growing taller."
The attitude of a big brother caring about his younger brother made the women admire him, and they even had the urge to trick this young man back home and become his son-in-law.
He Lianjing also sandwiched an egg for her and took the opportunity to tease her: "Brother, you should eat more. Look at you, you have been a cook for several years and you are not even taller. People who don't know think you are..." Where is my brother!"
Ye Jiayao disagreed: "Xiao Jing, as a human being, it is most important to learn some skills. If you have a skill, you can make money wherever you go. Otherwise, if you are just taller and don't have skills, we won't have the life of some rich dudes."
The ladies nodded in agreement with Ye Jiayao's statement.
He Lianjing was depressed again. Neither the left nor the right could talk to her, and he couldn't even get an advantage from her.
After a while, Butler Li came back again, smiled broadly, and said with cupped hands: "Brother Li is so good at his craftsmanship. The guests all praised him and said they had never had such a good banquet. The boss was very happy and said that he was waiting for the wedding to be over. I want to meet you two later."
Ye Jiayao returned the gift humbly: "As long as everyone is satisfied."
He secretly raised his eyebrows and winked at He Lianjing, as if to say: Look, brother is awesome!
Helian Jing turned his eyes away expressionlessly, humming in his heart: Make you beautiful...
After the dinner, Mr. Li specially invited Ye Jiayao and the two of them to come over and thank them verbally and generously, a total of ten taels of silver.
Ten taels of silver, in the past, He Lianjing would not even raise his eyelids. Now is not a special period. They are almost going crazy because of poverty. Ten taels of silver has become so precious that they are so happy that they can't open their mouths from ear to ear. .
Ye Jiayao rolled her eyes at him with disgust, "Xiao Jingjing, although your dimples are very beautiful, the corners of your mouth are almost reaching the base of your ears. Do you know this is very embarrassing?" After all, you came out of a gold and silver nest, wasn't it just ten taels of silver? As for this
A certain person had completely forgotten how he was so happy that he rolled off the couch to the ground when he won ten taels of silver from the stupid donkey.
"I heard from the housekeeper that you are going to Jinling. It just so happens that my caravan is going to Yangzhou in three days. You can stay with me for a few days and set off together!" Rich Man Li invited.
Ye Jiayao said: "That's good, I can cook for the caravan along the way."
As a human being, you must try your best to reflect your own value and not always think about taking advantage of others. Hard-working people will be popular wherever they go.
This night, the two of them could finally sleep on a comfortable big bed.
But Ye Jiayao started to worry.
why? Because she told others that she and Xiao Jingjing were brothers, they only arranged a room with only one bed.
Although she and Xiao Jingjing had slept together, it was different since it was a Datong bunk with more than a dozen people sleeping on one bunk.
Now she is asked to sleep with Xiao Jingjing, alone and alone. This... is not only a bit of a psychological barrier, but also risks exposing the secret.
He Lianjing saw the big bed and stretched out his arms and legs to lie down on it, and sighed: "I sleep in a pavilion in a ruined temple every day. I have almost forgotten what it's like to sleep on a big bed."
Ye Jiayao looked at him rolling over on the bed with a sad face. Damn it, I want to roll on the bed too!
(End of chapter)