He scooped another spoonful into his mouth with some disbelief. The taste on the tip of his tongue was very light, but it was indeed spicy and salty.
Feng Shuo frowned, which scared the guards beside him, who thought that the food was not to his liking.
But then he picked up the ebony inlaid with silver chopsticks and tasted other dishes, braised fish, eight-treasure duck, braised pig's trotters... each with its own flavor.
The sour, sweet, salty and spicy flavors bloom on the taste buds, and the feeling is very unfamiliar.
Feng Shuo held the ebony chopsticks inlaid with silver, his expression unclear: "This dish..."
The guard hurriedly said, "I will ask the Fire Head Battalion to make a new one and send it over."
Feng Shuo shook his head and scooped a piece of tofu pudding with a silver spoon: "This dish... tastes OK, the tofu pudding is well made, reward."
His sense of taste seemed to have recovered a little.
He tried to appear calm so as not to alert anyone.
But the personal guard was very surprised. He had been with Feng Shuo for some years and had never seen Feng Shuo reward any cook. This was the first time and he immediately took it to heart.
Feng Shuo secretly noted down everything he ate.
In the end, the guards found that the bowl of tofu pudding had been eaten up. They couldn't believe their eyes. The master would have a bowl of tofu pudding for every meal, but in the past, the master would just take a bite and wouldn't touch it anymore. This situation had never happened before.
The guards thought that it was necessary to reward the cooks of the Huotou Camp, especially the one who made tofu.
At night, a bonfire was lit outside the barracks.
All the major camps had sent people to collect the meals, and the people in the Fire Head Camp finally had some free time, sitting on the ground in groups of three or four outside the barracks.
Jiang Yanyi only drank half a bowl of coarse rice porridge today. He was so busy that he was starving.
The dinner given to them was vegetable and coarse rice soup with boiled taro. Compared with the clear porridge at noon, the rice soup was indeed much thicker.
In the military camp, only the generals had refined rice and a few side dishes for their three meals. Ordinary soldiers only had two buckwheat steamed buns with a bowl of coarse rice porridge in the morning, coarse rice steamed rice at noon, and vegetable and coarse rice soup in the evening.
The amount of rice and vegetables used to cook meals in the kitchen is weighed and recorded, so the people in the fire camp dare not steal any fish.
Jiang Yanyi took the bowl of porridge and found a secluded place to sit down.
The coarse rice was really hard to swallow. She couldn't help but think of the time at noon when several women in the barracks gave benefits to the two firemen who delivered the food.
Could it be that they spent all that money just for a bowl of coarse rice and vegetable soup
Jiang Yanyi glanced at the women sitting in the distance. Chunxiang was also sitting there. They seemed to have a good relationship, but none of them had bowls of porridge in their hands.
When they saw Jiang Yanyi looking over there, they whispered something to each other. After a while, Chunxiang also looked over there.
She and Liu Cheng had reconciled at some point, and she deliberately raised her voice when flirting with him, as if she was afraid that Jiang Yanyi couldn't hear her. She also gave Jiang Yanyi a provocative look.
Jiang Yanyi didn't even bother to roll his eyes this time. He drank his coarse rice and vegetable soup with an expressionless face.
Suddenly, a shadow fell in front of her. A soldier with pockmarks on his face sat down in front of her. He grinned, revealing his yellow teeth. "I heard you are the new camp prostitute?"
He looked at Jiang Yanyi with lustful eyes: "You are still a novice, aren't you, you want to commit suicide?"
Jiang Yanyi felt so disgusted that the hairs on her body stood up. She picked up the bowl of porridge and left.
But the pockmarked face blocked her way and said with a sly smile: "Why are you hiding, little lady? I don't eat people."
The people around were all looking forward to the show.
Jiang Yanyi said coldly: "The general has ordered that anyone who visits prostitutes for pleasure will be punished by military law!"
The pockmarked man laughed: "I just want to have a heart-to-heart talk with you, young lady. How can it be considered as visiting a prostitute for fun?"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Jiang Yanyi knew that this person was fearless because he had calculated that as a camp prostitute, she would not be able to file a complaint with the general.
How can she, a barefoot woman, be afraid of those who wear shoes? Why not just make a big deal out of it
She raised her hand and dumped a bowl of vegetable soup on the pockmarked face: "Talk about your mother!"
The pockmarked man screamed in pain from the burns. After wiping the vegetable soup off his face, he pretended to hit Jiang Yanyi: "You bastard, you have no shame!"
"What are you doing!" A stern shout stopped the pockmarked face.
The person who came was a junior steward from the kitchen, who was about the same age as Chef Li, with a moustache and a shrewd look.
The pockmarked face immediately complained, "Boss Zhao, this woman threw hot soup on me, look how burned I was!"
Zhao Tou'er glanced at him and said, "Okay, Wang Mazi, put away your cunning thoughts."
He turned to look at Jiang Yanyi, his eyelids drooping, "Someone is coming from the general's place, come with me."
Jiang Yanyi's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that tofu pudding was not to the general's taste
All the way back to the barracks, people were looking at her, with expressions of sympathy, pity, or even gloating, which made her even more uneasy.
When I entered the barracks, I saw a flag officer in full armor standing in the middle. He was burly and had a long scar on his face, making him look ferocious. He had a big knife on his waist, which made people in the room dare not even breathe.
Chef Li and several other cooks stood aside very stiffly.
When Jiang Yanyi saw this scene, he felt even more uneasy.
She managed to stay calm and greeted him, "Sir, you called me?"
The flag officer glanced at her and said in a voice as loud as a bell: "Did you make the tofu pudding?"
Jiang Yanyi's heart was beating fast and his palms were sweating. Was he really going to be beheaded because the tofu pudding was not to the general's liking
She was afraid that she would become the fastest book-traveling person to die in history.
Jiang Yanyi licked his dry lips and spoke slowly: "Yes... I did it."
The flag officer reached for his waist with a pair of large hands like a palm leaf fan.
There was only a big knife hanging there.
Do you want to chop off your head directly in the Huotou Camp
How uncouth!
Jiang Yanyi's legs were so weak that he could hardly stand, but his mind was still full of wild thoughts.
"Your dishes are well cooked, the general will reward you!"
The flag officer took out a few coins from his waistband.
Chef Li got two guan, and the other chefs each got one guan.
The flag officer handed the last string to Jiang Yanyi: "The general said that your tofu pudding is very good."
The onlookers thought that Jiang Yanyi would be punished, but unexpectedly he was rewarded, and they all showed envious expressions. Now that there is no war, the monthly salary of these miscellaneous soldiers is only 600 coins, and one string is 1,000 coins.
Jiang Yanyi held the string of copper coins in his hand, looking confused.
Was she rewarded
Why do you make it look like you're going to chop off my head
She was stunned for a while before she slowly came to her senses.
Chef Li thought she was so happy that she was silly, so he warned her: "Don't be arrogant or impatient. Cooking every dish well is the real skill."
Jiang Yanyi nodded and thanked Chef Li again.
The general didn't know that she was the one who made the tofu pudding, and if Chef Li took the credit, she would not know.
But Chef Li didn't. The reward money was secondary. The key point was that this gave her the opportunity to succeed. Jiang Yanyi was truly grateful to Chef Li.
Liu Cheng watched this scene from the side, with a hint of unwillingness in his eyes.
If he hadn't given up this opportunity, how could it be Jiang Yanyi's turn to make tofu
Chunxiang was not in a good mood either. She had embarrassed herself in the kitchen today, but this newcomer was constantly stealing the show. How could she survive among the women when she returned? She looked at Jiang Yanyi with an increasingly hostile look.
Jiang Yanyi put the reward money into his sleeves, feeling the heavy weight on his cuffs, and felt inexplicably at ease.
Because of this wave of rewards, the firemen became polite to her, and the women in the barracks even took the initiative to talk to her in a friendly manner.
Jiang Yanyi was in a delicate mood. She remembered a sentence she had heard before: When you become strong, there will be good people around you, and everyone will be kind to you.
Now that I am in this strange world, I have truly experienced what it means to be worldly-wise.
She had poured out the porridge she had previously poured out and was about to scoop out a new bowl of porridge when the barracks suddenly became busy again.
Chef Li looked around but didn't see Liu Cheng. Seeing Jiang Yanyi standing next to the porridge bucket, he called her, "Hey, come over here and help me."
Jiang Yanyi thought that the army wanted to have a snack, so he didn't dare to delay and went to the kitchen quickly.
Chef Li gave her a list and said, "Go find Zhao Tou'er and weigh the ingredients needed to make these dishes. Tell him and I'll pay for them later."
Jiang Yanyi knew about weighing the ingredients and keeping accounts, but she was a little confused about the advance payment.
Adhering to the principle of doing more, watching more, talking less and asking less, she took the list and went straight to Zhao Touer.
After reading the list, Zhao Tou'er handed the ingredients to her without hesitation. While weighing them, he muttered, "Now the situation in Xizhou Camp has changed. I wonder if Lao Li's private kitchen can continue to operate..."
Jiang Yanyi was shocked. It turned out that the dishes that Chef Li was making were secretly sold to the soldiers in the army.
No wonder Chef Li has to pay for the ingredients.
She learned vaguely from Zhao Tou'er that when the previous general was in office, the food in the army was poor, and the soldiers were so hungry that they ran out of the barracks in the middle of the night to steal food from nearby camps, causing complaints from the surrounding people.
After Chef Li opened this private kitchen, soldiers who were hungry or thought the food was bad would come to buy food from the private kitchen. The former general turned a blind eye to this, but Chef Li would take out a large sum of the money he earned from the private kitchen every year to honor the former general.
Nowadays, the world is at peace, the treasury is full, and the imperial court is not short of money and food for the Xizhou camp. The soldiers in the Xizhou camp eat coarse rice every day. It is obvious that the people above are greedy.
It goes without saying who this greedy person is.
Jiang Yanyi took the dishes back to the kitchen and prepared them according to Chef Li's requirements. She was quick and hardworking. No matter what Chef Li wanted when cooking, she would give it to him in time. Even if Chef Li forgot to tell her about some seasonings or procedures, she would still prepare them.
Chef Li couldn't help but sigh when he thought about how Liu Cheng was often in a mess when helping him.
After finishing today's private order, the food was packed into the food boxes. Not long after, several soldiers came to pick up the food boxes. After paying the bill, a new order was given to Chef Li, which was the private order to be made tomorrow.
One of the food boxes was taken away by the woman who had given bribes to the firemen at noon. Jiang Yanyi then understood why they and Chunxiang had not eaten coarse rice porridge before.
Everyone else had finished work and returned to the camp, but it was still early. Chef Li and several other cooks had received rewards today, and were happy, so they set up a table outside the barracks, warmed up a pot of wine, made two simple side dishes, and drank and chatted.
Jiang Yanyi was still hungry. Although she was rich, she saw Chef Li and Tou'er Zhao having a good meal and chatting happily, so she tactfully did not disturb them and said that she wanted to buy some food.
—All private orders made by Chef Li and his team are booked one day in advance.
Although I can cook, I still need to ask Zhao Tou'er to weigh the ingredients. It seems unruly to cook for myself on the first day of entering Huo Tou Ying.
She looked at the porridge bucket and saw that there was still some coarse rice and vegetable porridge left in it, which was still warm. She found a bowl, scooped some out, and squatted in the corner to drink it in small sips.
At this moment, two sentries who had just changed their shift came outside.
It was a cold and dewy night. One of them rubbed his arms and asked Chef Li, "Boss Li, do you have anything to eat?"
Chef Li and his men had been busy all day, and they were a little lazy when they finally had a break. They didn't want to start cooking at this time, so they refused, saying, "It's past dinner time, how can we have anything to eat?"
"Boss Li, everyone knows your cooking skills, just make something for us brothers to eat. We only had two coarse flour buns in the morning and we have to go to change shifts soon, so we are really hungry." The sentry put seven or eight copper coins on the table and sat down with his companions. They were obviously regular customers who came to buy midnight snacks.
Having said that, Chef Li knew that those on guard often missed their meals in time, and the two men were familiar with him, so it was difficult for him to refuse.
But he had drunk a few glasses of wine and was a little tipsy, so he didn't want to move. He turned around and saw Jiang Yanyi sitting in the corner drinking cold porridge.
The girl had a good appearance, but she must have suffered a lot these days. She was so thin that her chin was pointed, and her skin looked very pale under the light. There was a blood-soaked gauze wrapped on her head, which made her look even more pitiful.
He was moved with sympathy and said, "Keep these copper coins and buy some food for the two generals, and make some for yourself as well."