border cook

It wasn't until Chen Guogong came to find him that Jiang Yanyi knew that the ox cart chicken he received was raised by him. To express his apology, Jiang Yanyi hurriedly explained that he would buy a big rooster at the market tomorrow to compensate him, but Chen Guogong even said no. Dao will cook him a delicious chicken meal tomorrow.

Chi Qing didn't have time to teach Chu Yangui, and now he came to teach in person.

There were many wing rooms in the Xikua courtyard, so Jiang Yanyi packed up one of them that night and gave it to Chen Guogong to live in.

It was already late when Chu Shubao went back, Jiang Yan felt worried and asked Yang Xiu to send her back to Chu's house.

Up to now, she still does everything by herself.

In addition to Chef Yao, the store’s kitchen also employs a master Dunzi and a helper who specializes in washing and side dishes.

Qiukui used to help entertain guests outside, but she was a little dazed, and she was not very good at dealing with people, and preferred to drill into the kitchen, so Jiang Yanyi asked her to go to the kitchen to help Yao Chef.

Now there are only Yang Xiu and a newly recruited waiter in the shop outside. The newly recruited Master Dunzi, the cook and the waiter are all locals, and even Jiang Yanyi can trust Chef Yao as a guarantee.

Aunt Guo also went to the front shop to help. If Jiang Yanyi was going somewhere, she would go out with Jiang Yanyi to protect her safety.

Jiang Yanyi never regarded Qiukui and Aunt Guo as human beings from the beginning, and it is impossible to order them now. Aunt Guo occasionally rushed to do things, Jiang Yanyi felt sorry and would say a few polite words.

Therefore, after setting up Chen Guogong's room, when Jiang Yanyi was making soup in the kitchen, when Aunt Guo went to accompany her on the grounds that she was old and felt young, she couldn't help saying: "Master, your business is getting better and better now, and your money is more abundant. , I still need to add a few more waiters around me."

Ever since she was summoned by Feng Shuo, she had regarded herself as a servant. It was only because she wanted to hide it from Jiang Yanyi that she made up her identity, but Jiang Yanyi always treated her like the aunt next door.

During this period of getting along, Aunt Guo also saw that Jiang Yanyi is a kind-hearted person. Although she bought the okra, she never regarded it as a servant, and Aunt Guo did not expect the okra to be stupid. Stupid can serve people.

She hoped that Jiang Yanyi could buy a few maidservants to take care of her daily life. Among other things, someone had to do the work of serving tea, tidying the room, washing and cooking.

Aunt Guo is willing to serve Jiang Yanyi like an ordinary woman, but it is a pity that Jiang Yanyi refuses to let her eat and drink, and secondly, she has practiced martial arts for half her life. .

Jiang Yanyi sat on the low stool behind the stove, and frowned when she heard the words, the maid who bought into the house also had to pay monthly money, if it was just to serve herself, she would not be willing to spend it Money, Pan Noodle Shop has spent all her savings, and she was forced to postpone the expansion of the antique soup shop.

Jiang Yanyi picked up a wooden stick to write and draw on the ground, and calculated the additional expenses for buying a maid for a year, just like a miser who lives on a budget:

"It costs at least two yuan to buy a maid. The monthly salary of a maid in Xizhou is [-] Wen, and the monthly payment for a year is [-] Guan and [-] Wen. Not counting living here, the maid eats from the master's house. According to the food in the store, even if it is ten yuan a day, I have to pay three hundred yuan a month, which is six hundred yuan a year. In this way, if I buy a maid, I will spend on the maid within a year There must be twelve strings and eight hundred characters!"

Close to 13 taels of silver!

Aunt Guo was obviously also shocked by the account she calculated.

She originally wanted to say that it would not cost much to buy a maid, and she would be able to use it all the time in the future, but after Jiang Yanyi calculated all the expenses like this, she also felt that she was at a loss.

Jiang Yan said in pain: "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.

***

Although Chu Shubao anxiously wanted to start selling rouge, her custom-made carved wooden cabinet hadn't been finished yet, so she could only wait anxiously.

Jiang Yanyi is now only responsible for looking at the accounts of the antique soup shop and the noodle shop. If he has time, he can go to the noodle shop to inspect it. Although it has been expected, the business of the noodle shop is getting better every day. The trend of visiting antique soup shops still surprised Jiang Yanyi.

On the side of the Chu family, she would go to visit Mrs. Chu every now and then with new dishes. The whole Chu family was trying their best to conceal the capture of Chu Chengmao and Chu Chengbai, but Mrs. Chu was still sensitive. Sensing that something was wrong, he often asked his children and grandchildren why Chu Changping didn't come back. The Chu family all agreed that something was wrong in the army, so they reluctantly appeased the old man.

Jiang Yanyi was also worried about Chu Changping and the others, but she had limited abilities, so she could only pray for safety.

In order to divert her anxiety, she tried her best to put her mind on the business of the antique soup shop and noodle shop, and when she had free time, she would go to Fengfu Greenhouse to see how the peppers were growing.

After what happened last time, there are now people in the greenhouse every day to clear the snow on the glazed tiles, and the growth of peppers has improved again. However, some peppers may be due to insufficient light before, and some sickly.

Jiang Yanyi picked the peppers that were not growing well on the plants, and let the plants supply the limited nutrients to the peppers that were growing well.

The picked peppers are still green and red, so they cannot be dried and stored, they can only be eaten when they are fresh.

Although Chen Guogong has repeatedly stated that the chickens he raises, Jiang Yanyi, can be slaughtered and eaten at will, but Jiang Yanyi still has the nerve to kill them. After all, once the chicken is cooked, Chen Guogong is also embarrassed to eat it alone, and will definitely share it with everyone.It was a chicken he had worked so hard to raise, and Jiang Yanyi was too embarrassed to take advantage of an old man.

So every time Chen Guogong said he wanted to eat chicken, Jiang Yanyi asked Yang Xiu to go to the horse butcher and bring one back.

Compared with modern chickens, the advantage of ancient chickens is that the whole world is full of authentic native chickens, which are all natural and feed-free. No matter how the chicken is cooked, it will taste delicious when it comes out of the pan.

Holding the freshly picked chili peppers in his hand, Jiang Yanyi felt that the braised chicken could be arranged.

The authentic braised chicken pays attention to three specialties, one is the soup, the soup is mellow, salty and spicy, oily but not greasy.In her previous life, every time Jiang Yanyi ate braised chicken and rice with soup, she could cook half a bowl more.

The second is the meat, the chicken is smooth, tender and delicate, and it is glutinous and delicious.

The third must be on the rice, which is said to be steamed using the "two-pass oil" method. The steamed rice grains are distinct, the taste is strong, and the aftertaste is strong.

Jiang Yanyi left Fengfu, went straight to the butcher's shop of the horse butcher, bought two chickens and brought them back to the shop.

Chen Guogong already knew that the chicken he ate these days was not raised by himself, but bought by Jiang Yanyi with money, and he was losing his temper.

Seeing Jiang Yanyi going back with two chickens, he said with a tiger face: "I've never seen a girl who is as out of touch as you!"

Jiang Yanyi smiled and smoothed things over: "Mr. Chen, today I will cook you delicious braised chicken."

Chen Guogong didn't answer, he shook his sleeves and said: "You see Wai Cheng like this, I won't eat at your house anymore!"

In the afternoon, Chen Guogong really pretended not to eat in the store, and went to the next door.

Jiang Yanyi knew that he had good intentions, but when the old naughty boy lost his temper, she was really upset.

She was not in a hurry to coax people, she went into the kitchen and took a kitchen knife to cut and chop, chopped two chickens into small pieces, washed off 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.

When the iron pan is heated up, add the chicken pieces and stir-fry until they are raw, because the chicken skin itself contains fat, so there is no need to put oil in advance.When the chicken skin is fried slightly yellow, take it out, put the sesame oil in the pot and heat it up, sauté the onion and ginger, then pour in the yellow braised chicken and stir fry again, add the chopped chili and star anise, pour over Add a spoonful of soy sauce, stir-fry until the braised chicken is "colored", then turn off the heat.

Pour the chicken into the casserole, spread the shiitake mushroom slices, add broth and boiling water and simmer until the chicken is cooked until the bones and flesh are separated and seasoned with salt before taking out of the pan.

"Okra, you can turn off the fire." After Jiang Yanyi said this, she put away the kitchen utensils, and turned her head to find Okra sitting behind the stove in a daze, as if she didn't hear what she just said.

Jiang Yanyi had no choice but to call her again: "Okra, yellow braised chicken is ready, you can turn off the fire."

"Oh." Then Okra pushed the firewood out of the stove as if waking up from a dream.

Jiang Yanyi felt a little weird, so she couldn't help asking her, "What's wrong with you?"

Qiukui looked at Jiang Yanyi in a daze for a while, then shook her head like a rattle: "No."

Jiang Yanyi has been busy with antique soup and noodle shops recently, and has to go to Chu's house when he has some free time. He really doesn't care enough about okra.

She sensed that something was wrong with Okra, but she didn't directly ask her what happened. With Okra's temperament, since she didn't say anything, no one else would be able to pry her mouth open.

Jiang Yanyi took a small bowl for her with soup and meat, scooped up a bowl and handed it to her: "Come here and have a taste."

Okra ran over, happily took the bowl, and seemed to think of something when he was about to eat it, so he didn't rush to put it in his mouth, hesitantly asked: "What about them?"

Jiang Yanyi felt that the "they" in her mouth might be other people who often eat together, and said: "This is for you to taste first, eat it."

Okra picked up the bowl and started eating.

Jiang Yanyi asked her, "How is it?"

Okra nodded vigorously: "It's delicious."

When she cooks, okra never says it's not delicious.

Jiang Yanyi took the opportunity to ask: "Is there anything unhappy recently?"

Qiukui panicked for a moment, as if she was afraid that Jiang Yanyi would find out, she quickly shook her head.

Jiang Yanyi felt even more wrong.

But Qiukui asked her cautiously at this time: "Huahua, my household registration paperwork hasn't come down yet, so now I only have a contract of sale, right?"

Jiang Yanyi thought that she was in a hurry about the household registration documents, so she didn't know how to explain it to her for a while. If everything went well, her exoneration edict would be issued by the end of the year, but the emperor had no time for the previous war in the south. After dealing with these trivial matters, now that Feng Shuo has turned his back on her, Feng Shuo obtained her good citizenship for her, and I'm afraid the emperor won't approve it at all.

Jiang Yanyi could only comfort her: "I haven't come down yet, but no one in the store takes you seriously. Now that there is war in the south, it is not safe for you to go back. I will give it to your father when the situation stabilizes." Mother erected the grave again, okay?"

Qiu Kui didn't know why, but when she heard the news, she seemed both depressed and relieved. She said, "It's okay, I'm not in a hurry."

After finishing speaking, he suddenly added: "Huahua help me keep the deed of prostitution."

Jiang Yanyi said: "I'll give you the deed of selling your life, and you can keep it yourself."

After hearing this, Qiuku waved her hands again and again, asking Jiang Yanyi to put it away for her.

Jiang Yanyi had no choice but to pat her head: "If there is anything unhappy, remember to tell me. If others bully you, tell me too, you know?"

Okra had a sore nose, as if she was about to cry, but she held back, "I will learn how to cook and become a capable person."

The intuition of these words told Jiang Yanyi that Okra was definitely being bullied.

After comforting the okra, she didn't make a sound, put the braised yellow chicken into a crock pot and added two bowls of rice into the food box, and asked Yang Xiu to take it to seal the mansion.

In the evening, the people in the store still had dinner together. Jiang Yan watched the new Master Dunzi and the helper calmly, and she also paid attention to the waiter.

When Yang Xiubing was the only one in the store before, both of them could only be "bullied" by okra. If a newcomer looked at okra stupidly, he would secretly crowd out okra, Jiang Yanyi would never tolerate it. .

In fact, she was also worried that Chef Yao felt that Qiukui scolded her for being clumsy. After all, Chef Yao had a hot temper and everyone would scold her when he got angry, so Jiang Yanyi couldn't directly ask Chef Yao about the okra.

After dinner, Jiang Yanyi asked Aunt Guo in private.

Aunt Guo has been with Qiukui for a long time, and knows her relatively well, "Although that girl is a bit silly, she is hardworking and simple-minded. When her boss is away, she still practices sword skills alone. Master Yao Occasionally, I would point her out when I saw it, and it doesn’t seem like I would lose my temper with her.”

After being told by Aunt Guo, the newcomers in the store became Jiang Yanyi's main suspects. She asked Aunt Guo to help in the kitchen tomorrow to see if someone was running on okra.

***

A dish of stewed chicken really calmed down Chen Guogong, but when he came back, he brought a royal guard along with him, and asked the guard to slaughter all the chickens he raised, and let Jiang Yanyi watch and do it.

Jiang Yanyi was taken aback by the old man's "coquettish" operation. These chickens must be eaten for a while. Jiang Yanyi used an old hen to make soup, and the other chickens were chopped off. The claw chicken wings are made into lo mei.

For the remaining chicken, she plans to make Kung Pao Chicken tomorrow to see if she can sell all of it.

If it is unsalable, it can also be made into bacon for storage, so as not to waste it.

Because of these things that happened during the day, Jiang Yanyi couldn't sleep that night, so she simply got up, dragged out the money box under her bed, and counted the broken silver inside: "One tael of silver, two taels of silver Silver, three taels of silver..."

Every time 100 taels were collected, Jiang Yanyi would go to the bank to exchange it into bank notes.

She was counting in a low voice when suddenly there was the sound of something hitting the window.

Jiang Yanyi sat cross-legged on the futon, stopped counting the silver, and listened attentively to the movement outside.

Soon something else hit the window lattice, as if someone was throwing pebbles at her window.

Jiang Yanyi took the lamp and walked to the window, hesitantly pushed the shutters open.

The range that the oil lamp can illuminate is limited, and it is quite dark outside, but fortunately, there is moonlight tonight, and another stone fell by the window. personal.

The silver moon is like a hook, and the outline of Feng Shuo's face cannot be seen clearly in the night. Behind him is the dark blue night, and he seems 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 lattice, blew out the lights in the room, and then cautiously left the room.The moonlight was very bright outside, and after getting used to the light, I could see the road clearly without a lantern.

It's just that the okra is sleeping in the side room next to it, and Chu Yangui is in the room in the front corner, and there will be a "click" sound when stepping on the snow. Jiang Yanyi walks frightened all the way.

After finally reaching the base of the wall, she raised her head and whispered to Feng Shuo, "Why are you here?"

Feng Shuo jumped off the wall: "I miss you, come and see you."

In fact, every day in the middle of the night after finishing his official duties, no matter how late it was, he would climb up the wall, stare blankly at Jiang Yanyi's room, and then go back to rest.

It's just that when he came over tonight, he happened to find that the light in Jiang Yanyi's room was still on, so he thought of giving it a try and threw two stones at her window, but she really wasn't asleep yet.

Jiang Yanyi was afraid that someone would wake up at night and find them, so he looked around like a thief, and said, "It's so late, you still not sleeping?"

It was very cold outside, she tucked her neck under the furry collar as much as possible, looking pitiful and cute.

Feng Shuo resisted the urge to pinch her face, a smile appeared in his eyes: "Aren't you still asleep?"

He saw Jiang Yanyi's worry, stretched out his long arms to easily wrap around her slender waist, and jumped over the courtyard wall.

The body suddenly lost weight, and Jiang Yanyi was so frightened that he grabbed his thin waist with both hands. After landing, he slowed down for a while before recovering, and said, "Remind me next time you fly."

After hearing her words, Feng Shuo said, "Hold tight."

Jiang Yanyi looked up in confusion, "Huh?"

Feng Shuo said: "Take you to the roof."

Jiang Yanyi was so frightened that her hair stood on end, she quickly coiled herself tightly around Feng Shuo like an octopus.

Feng Shuo stood still, silent for a second, and said, "Put your feet down, I won't be able to exert myself if you're like this."

Jiang Yanyi was cowardly and embarrassing, "I'm afraid."

Feng Shuo: "..."

When the two of them finally got on the roof, Feng Shuo wanted to pull Jiang Yanyi to sit on the roof covered with thick snow, but Jiang Yanyi refused desperately: "You will catch the wind and cold!"

Feng Shuo pressed her to sit down, and wrapped her tightly with a cloak: "With my fox fur cloak under it, it won't freeze you."

Feng Shuo's fox fur cloak was really effective against the cold, Jiang Yanyi was not cold at all after being wrapped in it.It's just that the roof is on a higher terrain and the cold wind is more severe, so the face suffers more.

Jiang Yanyi wished he could bury his head in Feng Shuo's cloak together, and asked tremblingly, "Why did you take me to the roof?"

Feng Shuo raised his chin, his eyes reflected the brilliance of the silver moon: "Look at the moon."

Jiang Yanyi really couldn't understand his brain circuit: "This is a world of ice and snow, what kind of moon are you looking at, it's not a full moon tonight..."

"I want to watch it with you even if it's not full moon." Feng Shuo's words were very low, and there was an indescribable tenderness in it.

Jiang Yanyi admitted that she was worthless, but she was actually teased by his words, like a cat whose hair was fried, and its hair was suddenly smoothed out.

She stopped murmuring her dissatisfaction, shrank in his cloak, leaned her head on his broad shoulders, raised her head and looked at the crescent moon hanging in the night with him, everything in the world was in perfect harmony. It was quiet, and all I could see was a dark silvery white, as if time had stood still.

Feng Shuo suddenly turned his head and said to her: "Jiang Yanyi, I don't want to wait any longer, I want to marry you."