"Be careful with your hands and feet, don't make any clanging noises, and don't disturb my son-in-law's rest!" Qin'er stood at the door, watching the maids bring the copper pot, copper stove, soup spoon, long chopsticks and other cooking utensils for hot pot into the bedroom one by one.
"It's okay, I'm not sleeping, it won't be a problem." Zhu Ping'an lay on the bed and waved his hands indifferently, watching them busy with interest.
The lunch was a venison hotpot, which Zhu Ping'an had already known from Baozi's maid Hua'er, and now it was confirmed.
After setting up the copper stove, the maids brought in bowls of sesame sauce, refreshing side dishes, and of course, the main dish of today's lunch, venison.
The maids brought in plates of bright red, almost lean venison. The venison was sliced to the right thickness, with a picture-like texture. If the venison was sliced too thin, it would not lock in the juice, and it would break loose when put into the pot. If it was sliced too thick, it would lose its taste. The texture of each piece of venison was a unique masterpiece. The venison with a red background and red patterns was like a drop of bright red plum blossom juice slowly spreading in the water, and finally solidified into an abstract ink painting.
Fresh and juicy, without any smell.
Such plates of fresh venison awakened Zhu Ping'an's taste buds before they were even put into the pot and blanched. They are truly the "best meat".
Deer meat has been known as the "best of meat" since ancient times. It tastes the best among all meats, is tender, fragrant and not greasy, and of course, is the most expensive among all meats. Whether in ancient times or modern times, deer meat is a precious ingredient. Deer cannot be domesticated by humans like pigs, cattle and sheep due to their agility, timidity and easy fright, low fertility rate, high breeding costs, and genetic degeneration and disease caused by inbreeding. Therefore, deer meat has always been a precious ingredient.
Of course, the preciousness of venison is only relative. It is precious to ordinary people, but it is nothing to the rich and powerful.
After hearing from Doctor Zhang that venison would help Zhu Ping'an recover, Li Shu asked someone to go to the north overnight to collect a yellow-rumped red deer and handed it over to the Linhuai Marquis' kitchen to be slaughtered. Because there were few people in Jingxiang Garden and Li Shu was particular about the freshness of the ingredients, she only kept the most tender and fresh pieces of venison, as well as some venison belly, venison tendons, venison liver, and venison stomach. The rest of the venison was thrown away anyway, so she simply made use of it and had people distribute it to the kitchens of the Linhuai Marquis's mansion, under the pretext of giving the old lady and others extra meals, which was also a favor.
After the girls arranged the hot pot ingredients one by one, Li Shu came in from outside.
Li Shu must have just taken a shower. Her pretty face was faintly visible due to the heat, as tender and lovely as a petal. Her long black hair was still wet, lightly tied up with butterfly tassels and a butterfly hairpin was inserted. The hairpin head was a butterfly carved from a night-shining pearl, shining brightly in the sun. A strand of black hair hung in front of her chest, brushing against her beautiful, clearly visible clavicle. Her shoulders were as sharp as a knife, her skin was as white as cream, her hands were as soft as white snow, and she was covered with a white, gold-threaded red plum-shaped cicada-wing gauze that was winding and dragging on the ground. Her lotus steps were slow, as if she was brushing against flowers and willows.
Even without any makeup, her beauty is still as charming as ever. The astonished Zhu Ping'an stared at Li Shu who was slowly walking towards her with his head raised, without blinking.
"Are you stupid?"
Li Shu walked to the bedside, stretched out her slender little hand and waved it in front of Zhu Ping'an, smiling sweetly and looking at him with beautiful eyes.
"Hahahaha... It's all the young lady's fault. My soul has been seduced away by the young lady."
Qin'er covered her mouth and giggled.
Hearing this, the other girls in the room couldn't help but giggle, covering their mouths.
"Hum! I think you little rascals are itching for trouble. How dare you tease your master?" Li Shu laughed and scolded Qin'er and the others.
“Miss, please calm down. We won’t dare to do it again…” Qin’er and the others pretended to be scared, then covered their mouths and giggled.
For a moment, the room was filled with the sounds of young girls' giggling, so charming and graceful, as if one had entered a country of girls.
"There is a beauty in the north, peerless and independent. One look from her can captivate the whole city, and another look can captivate the whole country. I would rather not know that she can captivate the whole city and the whole country, as such a beauty is hard to find again... As the saying goes, women dress up to please themselves. Since your lady has carefully dressed up for me and made me look so beautiful, I certainly cannot let her down and naturally have to admire her."
Zhu Ping'an, who came from the modern times, had already developed a thick skin. He was not embarrassed at all when being teased by the maids. He first stared at Li Shu and recited a poem in praise of her. Then he turned around and smiled at Qin'er and the others, and explained frankly, which fully demonstrated what shamelessness is.
"You shameless person, who dressed up for you? I think the emperor hit you with the wrong stick. He shouldn't have hit your butt, but your shamelessness..." Li Shu couldn't help rolling her eyes at Zhu Ping'an, pouting her cherry lips and said angrily.
Qin'er and Hua'er covered their mouths and tried not to laugh out loud. Their shoulders were shaking and it was very difficult to hold back.
After some fun, the venison pot began to bubble.
The soup base of the pot is made of deer shank bones, and is served with various medicinal foods such as red dates, wolfberries, angelica, and spear roots. As the milky white soup base rolls, the meaty aroma of the deer shank bones and the nutrients of the medicinal foods slowly blend into the soup base, and the fragrance becomes stronger and stronger.
"It's time to start eating."
The naughty kid next to him had already started drooling, wiped his saliva, and looked at Li Shu expectantly with his little fat face. Little Loli Niuniu was not much better, holding her little finger and blinking at Li Shu.
"Two little greedy cats." Li Shu couldn't help laughing. She glanced at Zhu Ping'an and changed her words to "Three greedy cats."
"It's in the pot."
Amid the cheers of the naughty kids, the girls put the fresh venison into the boiling soup.
The venison is fresh. When put into the pot, it dances up and down with the soup base. There is no foam at all, only the enticing aroma wafts around.
"One, two, three, four, five. You can eat now. You can eat now."
After the naughty boy counted to five, he couldn't wait any longer and kept urging the girl to get some meat from the soup. When the girl took out a piece of venison, the naughty boy, like an agile fat dog, grabbed it and stuffed it into his mouth regardless of how hot it was. He grimaced because of the heat, but he ate happily, his face full of satisfaction and happiness.
"Brother-in-law, eat." After the little Loli Niuniu got the boiled venison in her small bowl, she brought it to Zhu Ping'an like offering a treasure.
"Niuniu, you eat. Brother-in-law has some."
The patient Zhu Ping'an was taken good care of by Li Shu. He chewed venison in his mouth and spoke incoherently.
Seeing Zhu Ping'an eating, little Loli Niuniu no longer insisted and started eating intently like a kitten, with her little cheeks bulging with food.
“It’s indeed the best meat.”
After taking a bite of venison, Zhu Ping'an said with emotion that venison looks similar to pork after being cooked, but when you put it in your mouth, it is completely different. The venison has a firm and chewy texture, is not fat, greasy or smelly, has a tender skin and meat, and has a sweet taste. It is truly a supreme enjoyment.
"If it tastes good, eat more."
As Zhu Ping'an's breeder, Li Shu felt a sense of accomplishment when she saw Zhu Ping'an eating so sweetly.
As for eating venison, Li Shu was not very interested in it. She preferred vegetarian dishes. She would only occasionally pick up a piece of venison with chopsticks in between "feeding" Zhu Ping'an. Most of the time, she was focused on "feeding" Zhu Ping'an.
The naughty kid's mouth was greasy and his belly was round as a result of the food he ate. He didn't eat any more until he could chew a piece of deer tendon reluctantly. After eating, he lay on the bed and hummed with satisfaction like a little pig.
The little girl was also very full and her face turned red with embarrassment.
Zhu Ping'an naturally also exerted all his strength and fought to the last moment. When everyone was full, Zhu Ping'an still fought alone and cleared another plate before ending the battle.
Venison is really delicious.
Zhu Ping'an lay lazily on the bed, took a sip of hot tea, and burped contentedly.
but.
The only drawback is that venison is too nutritious.
After eating, Zhu Ping'an felt hot all over. The sweat on his forehead started flowing again as soon as he wiped it off. A feeling of heat was running back and forth in his body. He had an urge to run wildly in the snow. Especially when Li Shu was lying beside him and whispering in his ears, this urge was even stronger.
Unfortunately, he had the will but not the strength. When he moved his body slightly, his buttocks started to ache, reminding Zhu Pingan that he should save his energy.
But, ten days is just a short time.
Just keep holding on, and the dragon will eventually wag its tail.