It was not until Duke Chen came to find him that Jiang Yanyi realized that the oxcart of chickens he received were raised by him. To apologize, Jiang Yanyi hurriedly said that he would go to the market tomorrow to buy a big rooster as compensation to him. Duke Chen said it was not necessary and just said that he would cook him a delicious chicken meal tomorrow.
Chi Qing was too busy to teach Chu Yangui, so now he came to teach him in person.
There were many side rooms in the west wing, so Jiang Yanyi cleaned out one room for Duke Chen to stay in that night.
It was already late when Chu Shubao returned. Jiang Yanyi was worried and asked Yang Xiu to send her back to the Chu family.
She still does everything by herself.
In addition to Chef Yao, the restaurant's kitchen also hired a chef named Dunzi and a kitchen assistant who specializes in washing vegetables and preparing side dishes.
Qiu Kui previously helped entertain guests outside, but she was a little dull and not very good at dealing with people. She preferred to stay in the kitchen, so Jiang Yanyi asked her to go to the kitchen to help Chef Yao.
Now the only waiter in the shop outside is Yang Xiu, a newly recruited waiter. The newly recruited chefs and kitchen assistants are all locals. With Chef Yao's guarantee, Jiang Yanyi can trust them.
Aunt Guo also went to the shop in front to help. If Jiang Yanyi wanted to go somewhere, she would follow Jiang Yanyi out to protect her safety.
Jiang Yanyi never treated Qiu Kui and Aunt Guo as his servants from the beginning, and it was impossible for him to order them around now. Aunt Guo would occasionally rush to do things, and Jiang Yanyi would feel bad about it but would still say a few polite words.
Therefore, after arranging the room for Duke Chen, when Jiang Yanyi was cooking soup in the kitchen, Aunt Guo came over to accompany her, saying that she was old and had little sleep. She couldn't help but mutter, "Boss, your business is getting better and better now, and you have more money on hand. You should have a few more people to serve you."
Ever since she was transferred here by Feng Shuo, she has regarded herself as a servant. She only made up her identity because she wanted to hide it from Jiang Yanyi. However, Jiang Yanyi always treated her like the aunt next door.
During this period of time, Aunt Guo also realized that Jiang Yanyi was a kind-hearted person. Although Qiu Kui was bought by her, she never treated Qiu Kui as a servant, and Aunt Guo did not expect Qiu Kui to be so stupid as to serve others.
She hoped that Jiang Yanyi could buy a few maids to take care of her daily life. Not to mention other things, someone had to do the work of serving tea and water, tidying the room, washing clothes and cooking.
Aunt Guo was willing to serve Jiang Yanyi's daily life like an ordinary old woman, but Jiang Yanyi refused, and she had practiced martial arts for half her life, so her hands were good for killing chickens and sheep, but she was not good at such delicate work as serving people.
Jiang Yanyi was sitting on a low stool behind the stove. She frowned when she heard the words. The maids she bought into the mansion had to be paid monthly. If they were just for serving her, she would be reluctant to spend the money. The Pan Noodle Shop had already used up all her savings, and she was forced to postpone her plan to expand the antique soup shop.
Jiang Yanyi picked up a stick and wrote on the ground, calculating the annual cost of buying a maid, just like a miser who lived a frugal life:
"It costs at least two strings of silver to buy a maid. The monthly salary of a maid in Xizhou is six hundred coins, so the monthly salary for a year is seven strings of silver and two hundred coins. Let's not count the accommodation for the moment. The maid eats at the master's house. According to the food in the store, even if it costs ten coins a day, I have to pay three hundred coins a month, which is three strings of silver and six hundred coins a year. With this calculation, I have to spend twelve strings of silver and eight hundred coins on a maid in a year!"
Nearly thirteen taels of silver!
Aunt Guo was obviously shocked by the bill she calculated.
She originally thought that it wouldn't cost much to buy a maid, and she could always use her in the future. But when Jiang Yanyi calculated all the expenses, she actually felt that it was a huge loss.
Jiang Yanyi said with a pained face: "I have no plans to buy a maid for the time being. I will save money to expand the store first."
Aunt Guo nodded in agreement, which was rare.
***
Although Chu Shubao was eager to start selling rouge, the carved wooden cabinet she had customized had not yet been completed, so she could only wait.
Jiang Yanyi is now only responsible for looking after the accounts at the antique soup shop. He will go to the noodle shop for an inspection when he has free time. Although it was expected, the noodle shop's business is getting better and better every day, and there is a trend of catching up with the antique soup shop, which still makes Jiang Yanyi very surprised.
As for the Chu family, she would visit Old Madam Chu every now and then, bringing with her new dishes. The Chu family was trying their best to conceal the fact that Chu Chengmao and Chu Chengbai had been captured, but Old Madam Chu was still keenly aware that something was wrong, and often asked her children and grandchildren why Chu Changping didn't come back. The Chu family members all said that something happened in the army, and only then did they barely appease the old lady.
Jiang Yanyi was also worried about Chu Changping and the others, but her ability was limited and she could only pray for their safety.
In order to divert her anxiety, she tried her best to focus on the business of the Gudong Soup Shop, and when she had free time, she would go to the Feng Mansion Flower House to see how the peppers were growing.
After what happened last time, servants now go to the greenhouse to clear the snow on the glazed tiles every day. The growth of peppers has improved again, but some of the peppers look a little sickly, probably because they did not get enough light before.
Jiang Yanyi picked the peppers that were not growing well on the plants, so that the plants could supply limited nutrients to the peppers that were growing well.
The picked peppers are still green and red, so they cannot be dried and preserved, and can only be eaten when they are fresh.
Although Duke Chen repeatedly said that Jiang Yanyi could kill and eat the chickens he raised at will, Jiang Yanyi still didn't feel comfortable killing them. After all, once the chicken was cooked, Duke Chen wouldn't feel comfortable eating it all alone, and would definitely share it with everyone. Those were the chickens he had worked so hard to raise, and Jiang Yanyi didn't feel comfortable taking advantage of an old man.
So every time Duke Chen said he wanted to eat chicken, Jiang Yanyi would ask Yang Xiu to go to Ma the butcher and bring one back.
The advantage of ancient chickens over modern ones is probably that all the chickens in the world are authentic local chickens, fed all-naturally without any feed, so no matter how the chicken is cooked, it will always be delicious when it comes out of the pot.
Holding the freshly picked peppers in his hand, Jiang Yanyi felt that it was time to prepare the braised chicken.
The authentic braised chicken has three unique features. The first is the soup, which is rich, salty and spicy, and not greasy. In her previous life, every time Jiang Yanyi ate braised chicken and soaked rice in the soup, she could finish half a bowl of rice.
Second, the meat is excellent. The chicken is smooth, tender, and tasty.
The third best thing is the rice, which is said to be steamed using the "twice-fried" method. The steamed rice grains are distinct, have a chewy texture, and a rich aftertaste.
Jiang Yanyi left Feng Mansion and went straight to Ma the Butcher's butcher shop, bought two chickens and brought them back to the shop.
Duke Chen already knew that the chickens he had been eating these days were not raised by him, but bought by Jiang Yanyi, and he was getting angry.
Seeing Jiang Yanyi carrying two chickens back, he said with a fierce face: "I have never seen a girl as polite as you!"
Jiang Yanyi smiled and tried to smooth things over: "Mr. Chen, I'll make you a delicious braised chicken today."
Duke Chen didn't respond, and waved his sleeves, saying, "Since you are so polite, I will not eat at your house anymore!"
In the afternoon, Duke Chen really made a gesture of not eating in the restaurant and went next door.
Jiang Yanyi knew that he meant well, but she was really troubled when this old naughty boy got angry.
She didn't rush to appease anyone. She went into the kitchen and took a kitchen knife to cut and chop the two chickens into small pieces, washed away the blood, and marinated them with soy sauce and cooking wine.
Chicken and mushrooms have always been a perfect match, but there were no enoki mushrooms in ancient times, so Jiang Yanyi used shiitake mushrooms instead.
Heat the iron pan, add the chicken pieces and stir-fry until cooked, because the chicken skin itself contains fat, so there is no need to add oil in advance. When the chicken skin is slightly yellow, take it out, heat sesame oil in the pan, sauté the scallions and ginger, then pour in the braised chicken and stir-fry, add the chopped chili and star anise, drizzle with a spoonful of soy sauce, and fry until the braised chicken is colored and turn off the heat.
Pour the chicken into a casserole, top with mushroom slices, add broth and boiling water and simmer until the meat and bones of the chicken are separated, then sprinkle with salt to taste before serving.
"Qiukui, you can turn off the fire now." Jiang Yanyi said this and started to clean up the kitchen utensils. She turned around and found Qiukui sitting behind the stove in a daze, as if he didn't hear what she had just said.
Jiang Yanyi had no choice but to call her again: "Qiukura, the braised chicken is ready, you can turn off the fire."
"Oh." Qiu Kui suddenly woke up from his dream and took the firewood out of the stove.
Jiang Yanyi felt something was strange and couldn't help asking her, "What's wrong with you?"
Qiu Kui stared at Jiang Yanyi for a while, then shook his head like a rattle: "No."
Jiang Yanyi has been busy with the antique soup and the noodle shop recently. Whenever he has some free time, he has to go to the Chu family. He really doesn't care enough about okra.
She noticed that something was wrong with Qiu Kui, but she didn't ask her directly what happened. Given Qiu Kui's personality, since she didn't want to say anything, no one could pry her mouth open.
Jiang Yanyi took a small bowl and scooped a bowl of soup and meat for her and handed it to her: "Come and try it."
Qiu Kui ran over and happily took the bowl. When he was about to eat, he seemed to remember something and stopped rushing to eat. He hesitated and said, "Where are they?"
Jiang Yanyi thought that the "they" she mentioned might be other people who often ate together, and said, "I'll give you a taste first, eat it."
Only then did Okra pick up the bowl and start eating.
Jiang Yanyi asked her: "How is it?"
Qiu Kugui nodded vigorously: "It's delicious."
Nothing she cooks, including okra, is bad.
Jiang Yanyi took the opportunity to ask: "Is there anything unhappy recently?"
Qiu Kui panicked for a moment, as if she was afraid that Jiang Yanyi would discover something, and quickly shook her head.
Jiang Yanyi felt something was even more wrong.
Qiu Kui asked her cautiously at this time: "Hua Hua, my household registration documents have not been issued yet. Now I only have the indenture, right?"
Jiang Yanyi thought she was anxious about the household registration documents and didn't know how to explain it to her for a moment. If everything went according to normal procedures, her pardon edict would be issued by the end of the year. However, due to the previous war in the south, the emperor had no time to deal with these trivial matters. Now Feng Shuo had rebelled, and it was Feng Shuo who had requested for her household registration, so she was afraid that the emperor would not approve it at all.
Jiang Yanyi could only comfort her: "You haven't come down yet, but no one in the store treats you as a servant. There is war in the south now, and it's not safe for you to go back. Wait until the situation stabilizes before re-building a grave for your parents, okay?"
Qiu Kui didn't know why, but she seemed both depressed and relieved when she heard the news. She said, "It's okay, I'm not in a hurry."
After saying that, he suddenly added: "Huahua, help me keep the indenture."
Jiang Yanyi said: "I'll give you the indenture contract and you can keep it yourself."
After hearing this, Qiu Ku waved her hands and asked Jiang Yanyi to help her put it away.
Jiang Yanyi could only touch her head: "If you have anything that makes you unhappy, remember to tell me. If someone bullies you, also tell me, understand?"
Qiu Kui's nose felt sore and she seemed to be about to cry, but she held it back. "I will learn to cook well and become a capable person."
Jiang Yanyi's intuition told him that Qiu Kui was definitely being bullied.
After comforting Qiu Kui, she did not say anything. She put the braised chicken in a clay pot and added two bowls of rice into the food box, and asked Yang Xiu to take it to Feng Mansion.
In the evening, everyone in the store still ate together. Jiang Yanyi quietly observed the new chef Dunzi and the kitchen helper. She also took a few glances at the waiter.
Before, when Yang Xiu and Bing Shao were the only ones in the store, the two of them had nothing to do but be "bullied" by Qiu Kui. If a newcomer thought Qiu Kui was stupid, he would secretly exclude Qiu Kui, which Jiang Yanyi would never tolerate.
She was actually worried that Chef Yao thought Qiu Kui was clumsy and scolded her. After all, Chef Yao had a hot temper and would scold anyone when he got angry, so Jiang Yanyi didn't dare to ask Chef Yao directly about Qiu Kui.
After dinner, Jiang Yanyi asked Aunt Guo privately.
Aunt Guo has been with Qiu Kui for a long time and knows her relatively well. "Although the girl is a little naive, she is diligent and honest, and has a pure mind. When the boss is not around, she practices knife skills alone. Master Yao occasionally sees her and gives her some pointers. It doesn't seem like he would lose his temper with her."
After hearing what Aunt Guo said, the newcomers in the store became Jiang Yanyi's main suspects. She asked Aunt Guo to help in the kitchen tomorrow to see if anyone was bullying Qiukui.
***
A dish of braised chicken did indeed calm Duke Chen down, but when he came back, he brought a palace guard with him and asked the guard to slaughter all the chickens he raised and let Jiang Yanyi watch over them.
Jiang Yanyi was amazed by the old man's move. It was definitely impossible to finish all the chicken in a short time. Jiang Yanyi used an old hen to make soup, and cut off the feet and wings of the other chickens to make braised dishes.
She plans to make Kung Pao Chicken with the remaining chicken tomorrow to see if she can sell it all.
If it is unsaleable, it can be made into smoked meat and stored to avoid waste.
Because of what happened during the day, Jiang Yanyi couldn't sleep that night. She simply got up, dragged out the money box under her bed, and counted the silver coins inside: "One tael of silver, two taels of silver, three taels of silver..."
Every time Jiang Yanyi collected a hundred taels, he would go to the money shop to exchange them for silver notes.
She was counting quietly when she suddenly heard a sound of something hitting the window.
Jiang Yanyi sat cross-legged on the cushion, stopped counting the silver, and listened carefully to the movement outside.
Soon something hit the window frame again, as if someone was throwing pebbles at her window.
Jiang Yanyi walked to the window with the lamp in hand, and after hesitating for a long time, he finally pushed open the shutter.
The oil lamp could only illuminate a limited area, and it was pitch black outside, but fortunately there was moonlight tonight. Another stone fell on the window. Jiang Yanyi squinted his eyes to adapt to the light, and then he found a person sitting on the courtyard wall.
The silver moon was like a hook, and the outline of Feng Shuo's face could not be seen clearly in the night. Behind him was the deep blue night sky, and he seemed to be sitting on the tip of the moon.
He gestured to Jiang Yanyi to go out.
In the silence of the night, Jiang Yanyi silently closed the window frame, blew out the lights in the room, and then carefully left the room. The moonlight outside was very bright, and after getting used to the light, he could see the road clearly without a lantern.
However, the person sleeping in the side room next door was Qiu Kui, and the person sleeping in the room at the corner in front was Chu Yangui. The snow made a "crunching" sound when his feet stepped on it, so Jiang Yanyi was terrified all the way.
After finally reaching the base of the wall, she looked up and asked Feng Shuo in a low voice: "Why are you here?"
Feng Shuo jumped down from the wall: "I missed you, came to see you."
In fact, after he finished his official business in the middle of the night every day, no matter how late it was, he would climb up the wall, stare at Jiang Yanyi's room for a while, and then go back to rest.
However, when he came over tonight, he found that the light in Jiang Yanyi's room was still on, so he threw two stones at her window with the idea of giving it a try, and found that she was still not asleep.
Jiang Yanyi was afraid that someone would get up at night and find them, so she looked around like a thief and said, "It's so late, why aren't you asleep yet?"
It was very cold outside, so she tucked her neck as much as possible under her furry collar, looking both pitiful and cute.
Feng Shuo resisted the urge to pinch her face, with a hint of smile in his eyes: "Aren't you asleep yet?"
He saw Jiang Yanyi's worry, stretched out his long arms, easily wrapped them around her slender waist, and jumped over the courtyard wall.
Jiang Yanyi was so frightened by the sudden weightlessness of his body that he held onto his thin waist with both hands. After landing, he took a while to come back to his senses and said, "Remind me next time you fly."
Feng Shuo heard what she said, but said, "Hold tight."
Jiang Yanyi looked up in confusion: "Ah?"
Feng Shuo said: "Take you to the roof."
Jiang Yanyi was so frightened that her hair stood on end. She quickly wrapped herself around Feng Shuo like an octopus.
Feng Shuo stood still, silent for a second, and said, "Put your foot down. I can't use any strength like this."
Jiang Yanyi was timid and embarrassed, "I'm scared."
Feng Shuo: “…”
When the two finally got onto the roof, Feng Shuo wanted to pull Jiang Yanyi to sit on the snowy roof together, but Jiang Yanyi refused: "We'll catch a cold!"
Feng Shuo made her sit down and wrapped her tightly in his cloak: "You have my fox fur cloak underneath, so you won't be cold."
Feng Shuo's fox fur coat was indeed effective in keeping out the cold. After Jiang Yanyi was wrapped in it, she didn't feel cold at all. However, the roof was high and the wind was even more biting, so her face suffered more.
Jiang Yanyi wanted to bury his head in Feng Shuo's cloak, and asked tremblingly: "Why did you bring me to the roof?"
Feng Shuo raised his chin, the light of the silver moon reflected in his eyes: "Look at the moon."
Jiang Yanyi really couldn't understand his train of thought: "It's freezing and snowy here, why are you looking at the moon? It's not a full moon tonight..."
"Even if it's not a full moon, I still want to watch it with you." Feng Shuo's words were in a low voice, with an indescribable tenderness in them.
Jiang Yanyi admitted that he was a loser, and she was actually touched by his words, like a cat with its fur standing on end, which was suddenly smoothed out.
She stopped complaining about her dissatisfaction and huddled in his cloak, resting her head on his broad shoulders. She looked up at the crescent moon hanging in the night sky with him. Everything between heaven and earth was quiet. Everywhere she looked was a dark silver-white. Time seemed to have stood still.
Feng Shuo suddenly turned his head and said to her: "Jiang Yanyi, I don't want to wait anymore, I want to marry you."
The author has something to say: Ah, the author with terrible writing speed has finally favored Concubine Wan. This moment is so touching!