Translator:NovelMultiverseEditor:NovelMultiverse
At noon, everyone did have a chance to enjoy the stir-fried hazel hen and braised rabbit. As there were nine people in total, the animals were initially insufficient to feed everyone, but Manager Lin managed to solve the problem with her superb culinary skill. She made the two dishes extremely flavorful so that one spoonful of the dish was completely enough to go with just one bowl of rice. After the meal, as there was still a layer of bright red broth remaining in the earthenware, Luo Tietou and Zhao Liu quickly took out their buns and dipped it in the broth before finishing them up bit by bit.
"It feels great! It really feels great!" Luo Tietou lay on the grass while rubbing his stomach. If Manager Lin could be there with them each time they were sent out for missions, he would go out to do missions willingly all year round. That would not be work anymore, it would be happiness, he thought.
"Looks like the hazel hen was too small to fill us up. Shall we go out and hunt a few more soon and ask Manager Lin to make that dish again at night?" Zhao Liu whispered.
"Sounds good, if we brought the animals, I'm sure she will have to make those flavorful dishes again even if she doesn't like it! The game has to be killed and cooked immediately to make delicious dishes." Luo Tietou kept smacking his mouth, as he reminded of the aftertaste of the lunch they had just now.
The handsome man glanced at them without saying a word, seemingly agreeing to their idea.
After resting for an hour, the fleet set off and entered a dense forest. Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou heard the sound of small animals running across the grass field, and immediately chase after them after taking out their bows and arrows. They were determined to hunt more animals and have a good meal at night.
The handsome man only looked at them but did not follow along. After moving forward for a while, he gradually felt that something was wrong and was about to ask the driver to slow down. But an arrow hit one of the horses that were pulling the carriage, which alarmed the rest of the horses. Several horses raised their hooves and neighed, and everything turned into a mess out of a sudden. Fortunately, the driver grabbed the reins in time to soothe the frightened horses, or Manager Lin would suffer a greater loss.
However, no damage to the goods does not mean that the situation would turn for the better. He saw a dozen sturdy men emerging from the dense jungle with machetes and bows in their hands. It was obvious that these people were seasoned bandits.
The handsome man approached Manager Lin's carriage for the first time and said softly, "Let's not resist and follow them first. Zhao Liu and Tietou are still behind, and they will find a way to save us." Although he was an expert in martial arts and would not have any problems finishing up the dozens of bandits, he was not confident that he could protect everyone in the fleet at the same time.
Lin Dan knocked on the window lightly with her knuckles to signal that she understood his instructions.
Everyone and their carriages were all pulled up to the mountain by the bandits. There was a small village in the mountain, where five or six basic mud houses were surrounded by wooden fences. These were obviously built hastily by the bandits who fled everywhere and had not yet built into an organizational scale, but they would definitely pose as a major issue to the locals in three to five years' time if no one had stopped them.
Lin Dan's hands were tied with a rope, and she staggered forward while counting the number of bandits as she walked. Since not many people could live in five or six mud houses, together with the number of bandits she saw along the way, she assumed there were about twenty or thirty bandits here in their hideout. There were some abducted women who were working, and they looked numb and expressionless. After being locked into the largest mud house, a fierce-looking man immediately walked up and asked, "Did we get any good stuff this time around?"
"Darn it, they only have pickles and dried vegetables. It's not worth a penny!" A bandit tsked before continuing, "Fortunately, we have three girls, our brothers will be blessed tonight."
The bandit leader was a little disappointed, but when he saw Lin Dan and the two other girls, he started smiling lecherously. "Good! Although they don't have pretty faces, at least they have a good figure!"
Lin Dan traveled often all year round and had a healthy and lean figure. Her slender waist was being wrapped tightly in a sash, which made her bosom look more voluptuous and her rear end rounder. She looked completely different from the popular type of morbid beauty but was particularly charming. She was used to facing difficulties and was still calm at that point in time, but her servants shouted angrily, and soon they were being stepped on the ground after having their mouths stuffed.
The handsome man lifted his head to look at the bandit leader, and a dark aura flashed across his eyes quickly.
Lin Dan gave everyone a comforting look and said slowly, "Leader, my ancestor was an imperial chef and my father also imparted some culinary skills to me. If you let go of my servants, I'm willing to cook for your brothers."
Naturally, she would not expect these vicious thugs to let people go. The reason she said so was just to divert the attention of these people. For ordinary people, the imperial chef was someone they would never meet in a lifetime. But if they were to meet by chance, she bet they would be curious. As long as they are curious about meeting the descendant of an imperial chef, Lin Dan would be able to buy more time for everyone. She thought that they would have a chance to escape if she was able to stall some time.
"Are you an imperial cook?" The bandit leader stopped smiling lewdly and looked at her in surprise.
"My grandmaster is an imperial chef, and my father used to be a head chef in the Duke of Yongding's residence." Lin Dan explained.
"Her family served both the emperor and the Duke of Yongding, they are figures who we can only meet in our dreams!" He thought. The bandit leader gradually changed the way he looked at Lin Dan and said after thinking for a while, "How do I know whether you're telling the truth? Since we just got two cows, you will kill them and make us dinner. As long as you can satisfy everyone, I will consider letting your people go."
"Thank you." Lin Dan cupped her hands and said, "As it takes a lot of effort to kill the cow, may I ask that you release my two girls so that they can give me some help?" Lin Dan was worried that some bandits might not be able to control themselves and would take advantage of Shaoyao and Dujuan if she left them here.
Killing the cattle was a dirty and tiring job, and the bandits were naturally unwilling to do it. Besides, Shaoyao and Dujuan were only twelve or thirteen years old and were merely young girls who were petite and vulnerable, they did not hesitate and were quick to release them. The others were tied up and thrown into the woodshed.
When the bandits left, Xiao-zhu wiggled over to the handsome man and whispered, "Brother, do you think Zhao Liu and Tietou can find us? When will they arrive?"
The man lay quietly on the ground with his eyes slightly shut. He said in a low voice, "They will find us. Let's till nightfall."
Xiao-zhu was still a little anxious and lifted his head to look outside the window. He muttered to himself, "I wonder how Manager Lin is doing now."
Lin Dan was doing fine, she was squatting on the ground carefully sharpening a knife while using her fingertips to test the sharpness of the blade from time to time with a serious expression. The two bandits initially stared at her sternly but started to relax and walk away to chatter among themselves when they saw that she was only focused on starting a fire, boiling water, and sharpening their knives. She did not even say a word to the two little girls and did not even survey the surroundings sneakily.
The two cows were huge and their furs were also well-treated. They are obviously farming cattle that were robbed from the bottom of the mountain.
Lin Dan sharpened her knife and walked around the two cows a few times, observing it as if she was choosing a target. Seeing that she was finally ready to kill the cow, the two bandits quickly gathered around to watch with excitement. "It takes skill to kill a cow. Three or five strong-bodied men might not be able to deal with a cow confidently, would a lady like her be able to do it?" They wondered.
However, the two bandits did not offer any help. They stood aside and sneered, their eyes full of malice.
But soon, they felt chill down their spines after seeing what Lin Dan did. She picked one of the cows and asked the two little girls to take the other one away before blindfolding it with a strip of cloth to prevent it from getting agitated. She then stabbed the knife into the cow's neck and cut off its carotid artery before walking away. She took a scoop of water and slowly washed the blood-stained blade.
The strong cattle, which was five meters away from her, had slowly collapsed. It did not even have time to scream before blood started spurting out from its neck and quickly stained the ground red.
The two bandits were dumbfounded, but Lin Dan did not stop there. After the blood was drained, she cooked the cowhide with boiling water and shaved its hair. As there were some patches of hair that were not removed, the two little girls burned those parts using red iron rods. The smell of burnt flesh and sizzling noise could easily give someone goosebumps.
After cleaning the cow's hide thoroughly, Lin Dan cut through the cow's belly with the knife in a neat manner. Its internal organs instantly flowed all over the ground, and she placed them into the earthenware according to categories before cutting up the cow at its joints. It took less than two hours for her to deal with a farming cow weighing more than 300 catties, and she did it quickly and precisely.
The two bandits did not dare to question her skill anymore and stood outside the pool of blood timidly. They thought in unison, "We should just let her be a cook and don't take her to bed. Otherwise, we wouldn't even know when she cuts our neck."
"Sirs, may I know how many people are there in your camp?" Lin Dan threw the last piece of beef into the pot and asked casually.
"Why are you asking this?" The two bandits got anxious at her question and naturally became warier of her.
"I need to know so that I can estimate how much I need to cook, in case it is not enough to feed everyone here." Lin Dan wiped the bloodstains on her face with a handkerchief calmly.
The bandits found her answer reasonable and did a headcount in their mind. "There are about twenty or thirty of us, you need to cook quite a big portion of food."
Lin Dan nodded and stopped asking further. The three ladies carried the beef into the kitchen and cut them into two-inch cubes before marinating them with soy sauce, cooking wine, salt, and other seasonings. They then deal with the hooves, rump, ribs, and bones and set them aside.
"Master, how can we escape?" The two little girls could not hold back anymore and whispered in her ears.
"We will make this meal first." Lin Dan peeled garlic with a serious and calm expression.
The two girls reckoned that there was no use to get flustered and got themselves up to wash the food ingredients.
After two hours, when the beef was well-marinated, Lin Dan poured half a jar of vegetable oil into a large pot and heated it close to the boiling point before pouring the beef in. She stir-fried it with a spatula until the meat was half-cooked and set aside for later use. Next, she disposed of the oil, washed the wok, added fresh oil, sliced ginger, green onion, and stir-fried it before adding the half-cooked beef, soy sauce, star anise, and other ingredients. She continued to stir fry all the ingredients for a quarter of an hour before adding water to boil. Then, she removed the excess firewood and cooked the beef on a low simmer.
When the beef stew was almost done, she washed the beef tendons, cut them into strips, and stir-fried them to make another braised beef tendon dish. The two little girls have been completely taken aback, as they had never expected that their master would keep cooking even after entering the bandit's hideout. They could not help but wondered if she saw cooking as more important than her own life.
Translator:NovelMultiverseEditor:NovelMultiverse
The smell of the food was already exuding as the beef simmered in the pot. The two bandits were itching to have a taste of it and loitered around the stove from time to time, asking anxiously, "This has been boiling for a quarter of an hour, shouldn't it be ready?"
"It's still early, this will take at least an hour before the meat turns soft." Lin Dan picked up a piece of cloth and wiped her hands. "Sirs, can you follow me to my carriage? I need to get some spices."
The two bandits immediately became vigilant and pointed to the bottles on the stovetop before saying angrily, "You don't get to be fussy here! We have so many different seasonings, aren't they enough for you?"
Lin Dan did not panic and explained calmly, "I need one more type of seasoning to make the flavor of this beef stew stronger. I'm just a weak lady, if both of you escort me back and forth, there's no way I can escape. With that seasoning, this pot of beef stew will taste several times better than it is now."
The two bandits took a whiff of the strong aroma in the air and wondered how much better it would taste after that that seasoning was added. The culinary skill of this imperial chef is extraordinary indeed, they thought. But then, they were reminded of how Lin Dan slaughtered the cattle and got a little worried.
Lin Dan took out a piece of rope and wrapped it around her wrist. The two bandits finally nodded reluctantly and locked the kitchen door before leaving to prevent Shaoyao and Dujuan from escaping. The three of them walked to the deepest part of the village and went around to find a cave. The cave was covered with vines and one would never have noticed it if they had passed by here.
The two bandits pushed the vines open and yelled at her, "Go and get what you need, do it quickly!"
Lin Dan looked inside the cave through the fire torches held by the bandits and saw all her five carriages parked in the cave. There were also dozens of large boxes that were locked, and she believed that those were all the stolen goods. She took a quick glance and climbed into one of the carriages. She opened the mud seal of a big urn and scooped a few spoonfuls of wine with a long ladle before putting it into a small empty jar. She then quickly covered the urn with brown paper and tied it tightly with a rope.
Although she moved extremely fast and only took a short moment to seal the wine urn, the two bandits could still smell the exceptional smell of wine and felt a little tipsy.
"What kind of wine is this? Why does it smell so good?" The two bandits could feel their mouths watering.
"It's just an ordinary wine that I brewed for fun. It's nothing much." Lin Dan stiffened and avoided eye contact with them.
The two bandits took a long look at her before taking her away. After returning to the kitchen, Lin Dan poured the wine into the beef stew and stirred slowly with a ladle. The flavorful soup became thicker as she stirred, and each piece of beef was covered in a layer of bright and slimy broth with a unique aroma filling up the air. This scent was nothing short of a sharp weapon, as it pierced through the windows of the kitchen and roamed around the village, fascinating those who caught it.
"Hurry up and give us some beef to try." The bandit who was in charge of guarding Lin Dan knocked on the empty bowl in his hand and urged.
"The meat has not softened enough yet, please wait a while more." Lin Dan explained kindly.
"As long as it's cooked, I don't care whether it's soft or not. Cut the crap and do it now!" The two bandits were so anxious that their eyes were red, and their sense of smell was stimulated by the aroma so much that they wanted to shove their heads into the pot and have a great meal. The other bandits who also smelled the food came along and wanted to have a taste of the meat in the pot. Fortunately, the bandit leader stopped them in time, or the kitchen would have been ransacked by them.
"What kind of wine did the woman put in the pot that produces such an aroma?" After the bandit leader left the kitchen, he immediately grabbed his subordinates for interrogation. His nose twitched from time to time, as he sniffed the smell in the air.
"Boss, I'll take you there to have a look." The two bandits said as if they had discovered a treasure. "Since it will take a while before food is served, how about we have a drink with our brothers first?"
"Okay, go get the wine." Several people carried the big urn to the main hall and tore away the brown paper. They looked inside and suddenly felt a little light-headed. The reason was simple – the wine smelled exceptionally good. If one were to smell it directly from the urn, it could smell as though it is sharper than a burning knife but more aged than fine wine. Before they were even able to give it a sip, their drool was already dripping all over the floor.
"Quick, fill it up!" The bandit leader yelled with a big bowl in his hand. He finished the wine in a gulp and froze before laughing and praising the wine. The others could not hold back anymore and scooped themselves a bowl of wine each. The strong aroma of wine filled the air and drew more and more people over…
Xiao-zhu and the others were discussing how to escape and rescue the manager. Suddenly, they caught the smell of delicious meat. They calmed down and said with confidence, "The manager is making beef stew with rice wine!"
"I'm hungry!" A servant murmured while smacking his lips.
The rest of them exchanged looks with each other and their stomachs were starting to growl. Whenever the manager cooked, her food would make those who were not hungry feel the hunger immediately. Even the man who was resting with his eyes closed had opened his eyes and looked towards the kitchen. The bulge in his neck was moving up and down.
Everyone remained silent for a while before starting the discussion again, but they did not expect a strong smell of wine to enter from all directions, making their eyes red in anger. Xiao-zhu, who did not lose control of himself even when he was captured, beaten, and locked up, suddenly burst in anger, "Damn those bastards! How dare they drink our wine?!"
The handsome man who had been silent suddenly asked, "What kind of wine is this?"
Xiao-zhu said while gritting his teeth, "There is a legend in Zhongshan County, I wonder if you have heard of it – Liu Xuanshi of the past bought wine from the Zhongshan Restaurant…"
The knowledgeable man immediately said, "Is that the Xuanshi Drunken Wine, also known as the Thousand-Day Wine?"
Xiao-zhu looked at him in surprise and nodded, "Yes, that is the legendary Thousand-Day Wine. Manager Lin traveled in Zhongshan County for three years and went to many places. She has finally restored the recipe of the wine and recreated the wine successfully. This wine was only recently dugout after being buried in the ground for seven years and was ready to be sold in the capital for a good price. When the wine urn was opened, a 'wine spirit' had grown in the urn. It is a mellow yet strong wine that won't make one drunk for a thousand days, but can knock someone out for three days and three nights."
The "Xuanshi Drunken Wine" was a legend that has been passed down for centuries. It was said that a man named Di Xi who came from Zhongshan County had the best winemaking skills, and a wine drinker named Liu Xuanshi came to buy wine. Di Xi sold him a jar of wine but forgot to tell him that the wine was very strong and could make one drunk for thousands of days. Liu Xuanshi returned home extremely drunk after drinking the wine and his family buried him because they thought he was dead. After a thousand days, Di Xi suddenly remembered this incident and quickly went to find Liu. When the Liu family dug out the buried Liu Xuanshi, he happened to wake up just in time. There was a strong smell of wine in his body which made everyone who smelled it get drunk for three months.
The legend was passed down to later generations and this wine was named the "Thousand-Day Wine", which was known as the "god" of wine.
As his nose was filled with the aroma of wine and his ears were full of clamor made by the bandits, the handsome man licked his dry lips and said while gritting his teeth, "They are indeed a bunch of bastards!" He broke the rope as soon as he finished the sentence and stood up with a stern expression. He wanted to wait until late at night to finish them up, but he could wait no more.
"You… how did you untie the rope?" Xiao-zhu and the others stared at him with gaping mouths.
"You guys stay here first while I go and save Manager Lin. Come out and join us when you hear the whistle." He was afraid that having a few more people moving around would startle the bandits, the handsome man specifically reminded them to stay put after untying them before breaking the metal chains at the door. He put the metal chains back on the door and rushed towards the direction where the food smelled the strongest.
Lin Dan was stir-frying some beef tendons, while Shaoyao and Dujuan were kneading the softened beef into balls and putting them in the soup made with beef bones. All three of them were taken aback when they saw the man pushing the door and entering the kitchen. Lin Dan reacted fast, she pulled him in immediately and closed the door behind her back.
"Why are you here? Where are Xiao-zhu and the others?" She whispered.
"I'm here to save you." As the man's weapon had been confiscated by the bandits, he came to the kitchen to pick a knife. He said calmly, "I will bring you out of the village first. Don't run around in the forest, you need to follow the river and wait for me in the open area at the foot of the mountain. I will bring Xiaozhu and the rest over afterward." He imagined the scene later to be bloody and inappropriate for women to witness it. He thought Xiao-zhu and the rest could be saved later since they can also help him with cleaning up the scene.
After coming up with a plan, the man grabbed and pulled Lin Dan's wrist, but was gently pushed away by her. "There are more than 30 thugs here and there's only one of you. How can you handle all of them? Here, sit down and eat something. We will be able to leave the mountain soon." She served him a plate of stir-fried beef with scallions and shoved a pair of chopsticks into his hands.
The man took the chopsticks without thinking and gobbled down the food in a few mouthfuls. His eyes were filled with contentment and enjoyment before pausing for a moment, looking slightly embarrassed. "This is not time to eat. Come, follow me!"
"We don't have to go. Now, just sit and eat!" Lin Dan gently patted the man's hand and said with a smile.
The man looked at the back of his hand which was feeling numb from her touch and looked at Lin Dan's smile. He fell silent and his eyelids drooped.
Shaoyao and Dujuan looked at the beef stew that had been half-emptied in the pot and complained, "We told them that the meat was not ready yet and it had to be stewed for a while more, but they insisted on eating it first! What a waste of good food!"
"We should count our blessings that they are ruining good food and not people." Lin Dan listened to the surroundings and put on a wider smile. "There is no more noise, let's go out and take a look."
The man immediately put down the bowl and chopsticks in his hands and stood up, but Lin Dan pressed his shoulders back. "Sit down, it's fine." The two little girls and Lin Dan each carried a plate of hot dishes and walked out unhurriedly. They were unafraid at all because even if they had encountered any bandit, they could explain that they were trying to serve food as a cover-up.
The man touched his shoulder with a weird expression and followed after them. They arrived in the hall without any problems and saw that the bandits were lying everywhere on the ground. There were a few were lying on the table, and their snores were as loud as thunder. There was a strong scent of alcohol that lingered in the air, which could make anyone who opened the door feel tipsy immediately. As snoring was also heard from several other houses, it was apparent that these bandits could not resist the temptation of the Thousand-Days Wine and were all dead drunk.
Shaoyao and Dujuan tiptoed and looked at the wine urn placed in the middle of the hall. They said while gritting their teeth, "What a waste of a jar of fine wine!"
Lin Dan ruffled the heads of the two little girls and said, "It's fine as long as no one is harmed. Let's pack our things up and go."
The man looked at the drunk men that were lying everywhere on the ground looking all surprised. He did not expect Manager Lin to save themselves without hurting anyone, and she did not even need anyone's help.
Lin Dan walked past the man and said, "With me around, there is nothing that can't be solved by whipping up a good meal." As soon as she said her piece, there were sounds of horses galloping towards the village. It felt as though there were a group of people approaching with fire torches in their hands and one could not help but wonder what would happen next.
Translator: NovelMultiverse Editor: NovelMultiverse
Hearing the noise, the man immediately calmed down and said, "Find a place to hide, and I will go out and have a look. As the sound of the horses is constant and uniform, I suppose they should be well-trained soldiers. This place is only one hour away from the Cangshan Camp and I think Zhao Liu and Tietou should have called for reinforcements as they couldn't find us."
Lin Dan nodded and watched him as he went out. To prepare for any surprises, she found a place and hid with her two maids. After a while, the door of the village slowly opened, and the man walked in with a tall leading man with a knotted beard, followed by Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou.
"Fuck! You got me here on this barren mountain in the middle of the night for a rescue mission, but looks like I came in vain! I've even brought some of my best soldiers here who are close to my heart and they were ready to sacrifice themselves. Although we won't be fighting, you better remember our kindness!" The bearded leader complained in frustration.
"General, we rescued these people from the woodshed, and they are not injured." Some soldiers ran over to report the situation, who were followed by a thankful group of people including Xiao-zhu and the others.
"Where's the manager? Didn't you say that there is a Manager Lin whom we must rescue?" The bearded man looked around impatiently.
"I am here. Please accept my gratitude for coming to the rescue!" Lin Dan immediately walked out of the dark and presented a low bow, while Shaoyao and Dujuan cupped their hands in fear.
The bearded man looked at Lin Dan carefully. He was a little disappointed to see that she only had a nice figure but was not a charming beauty. He had thought that the Manager Lin who Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou asked to rescue no matter what was an exceptional beauty, but she turned out to be someone who was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Never mind, rise." The beard became even more impatient. "My brothers have worked hard during the day and rushed here in the middle of the night. I wonder how many of them will collapse tomorrow. I won't be here if I have known it's just such a small bandit hideout!"
Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou were embarrassed. If they had known that this group of bandits was easy to deal with, they would not rush to the mountain to rescue everyone too. They knew that their leader was strong in martial arts and could certainly protect himself, but they were unsure whether Manager Lin and the two maids would go unscathed. Bandits were well-known to be inhumane, they would rape women and cut men's tongues for sale at the Xishan coal mine. This was why they could wait no more and immediately got reinforcements here as soon as possible.
"Where are the bandits? Have you finished them up?" The bearded man looked at the handsome man and had no doubt that he was able to do so.
"It was Manager Lin who dealt with them." The man pointed to the hall. A group of people hurriedly rushed in to have a look and was shocked by the scene.
"What the fuck?" The beard walked back and forth around the drunken bandits before giving a hard sniff at the empty wine urn. His face turned somber, "What kind of wine is this? It smells damn good!"
Xiao-zhu proudly replied, "This is the Thousand-Days Wine that is brewed by the manager herself."
"Thousand-Days Wine? The one that Liu Xuanshi drank?" The bearded man raised his voice with a shocked expression. He did not mind the mess and grabbed a wine cup that was used by one of the bandits before pouring the last bit of wine into his mouth. He could not help but smacked his lip in an exaggerated manner.
"This is a fine wine and an extremely rare one. It has a nice aroma, it's mellow and strong but smooth as it enters the throat. It burns as it enters the stomach and has a bittersweet aftertaste that lingers for a long time… This is the best wine I have ever drunk. The legendary Thousand-Day Wine, indeed!" As the bearded man commended the wine, he picked up all the wine cups on the table one by one and finished them without wasting a single drop.
Most of the soldiers that came with him loved wine as much as him, and they started checking all the wine pots, hoping to find some wine. But they would probably find nothing since these bandits were so greedy that they had finished all the good things.
"Darn, there's none left. Would it kill you to drink less?!" As the bearded man could not find any wine, he could only vent his anger on the bandits who were already dead drunk. Suddenly, he turned his head quickly at Manager Lin as he remembered that this wine was made by her. He looked at her with a pair of eyes that looked brighter than a torch.
Lin Dan cupped her hands and said regretfully, "I'm sorry, general. This wine is extremely difficult to brew. It took me three years to make only one urn and I don't have any more left."
The bearded man's bright eyes went out instantly. He then lifted the urn with his hands and shook it vigorously before yelling in surprise, "There is still a thin layer of wine left! Hurry, bring me an empty jar!"
The handsome man shrugged but quickly brought him an empty jar. The bearded man slapped the bottom of the urn and could only gather just a little bit of wine. It was a really pitiful scene as the amount of wine left could not even fill up the palm-sized jar.
The bearded man looked at the small jar in his palm and at the big urn that was initially filled with wine. He then looked at the bandits who were unconscious and lost his cool. He grabbed one of them and kicked him violently while cursing him, "You motherfucker! How dare you rob on my territory?! I'm gonna screw you up when you're awake!"
The bandit was so badly beaten up that he was puking blood, yet he was still unconscious. This showed how strong the wine was.
Lin Dan cupped her hands and tried to appease him, "I'm thankful for everyone who is here to save us in the middle of the night. Since there is some food left in the kitchen, shall I whip up some food to fill everyone up? I'm sure all of you must be tired from traveling here, it will be a good time to take a break and replenish your energy. "
Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou were already drooling at the table full of leftovers. When they heard this, their eyes lit up, and even the handsome man had swallowed his saliva quietly. As the bearded man had never tasted the Manager Lin's cooking, he was indifferent to her suggestion. The other soldiers who came nodded half-heartedly and took out a rope to tie the bandits up.
Lin Dan smiled and took the two maids to the kitchen. Since the bandits only drank but did not get to eat much, the food was still warm on the stove.
The dishes were soon served. There was a large pot of beef stew with rice wine, a large pot of beef meatballs boiled in beef soup, a plate of braised beef tendon, a plate of stir-fried beef with green onion, and a bucket of white rice. The portions were more than enough to feed more than twenty to thirty people. The dishes were all piping hot and white steam was coming out from the dishes. A delicious aroma of meat that was mixed with the mellow wine aroma slowly filled up the hall.
"Gulp," The bearded man swallowed hard.
"Gulp, gulp…" The soldiers stood up one after another, swallowing saliva and rubbing their bellies. They felt as though there was a gluttonous worm wiggling in their bellies and eager to feast on a meal.
"Thank you all of you for coming here to save us. I have no other talent besides having decent culinary skills, and this meal is my way of expressing my gratitude. I hope you will like it." Lin Dan thanked everyone again sincerely. Her servants had already cleaned up the messy dining table and were serving the soldiers one by one.
The bearded man stretched his neck and swallowed his saliva. He waved his hands and said, "Don't mention it at all, I'm sure we will enjoy this." He smiled and there was no hint of impatience anymore. His soldiers also gathered around, ready to begin.
"Let's eat." As soon as the handsome man spoke, everyone hurriedly picked up their utensils.
"This beef was actually stewed with the Thousand-Days Wine?" The bearded man ate a piece of beef stew and his eyes widened. He started eating faster and quickly grabbed as much food as he could into his bowl. Everyone picked up their speed as well and enjoyed the food with their mouths full of grease, and their faces full of amazement.
The stew was made of cow brisket where it had a mixture of lean meat and fat. It was cooked so soft that it could melt in the mouth. The beef meatballs were made of beef clods, which were beaten repeatedly and kneaded with a wooden stick. It would produce a chewy and smooth texture when cooked and a gap will naturally be created within the beef ball filled with fat and bone broth. The fragrant and thick broth would ooze into the mouth with only a bite, creating an amazing experience. The beef tendon was deep-fried, steamed for another quarter of an hour, before finally stir-fried in the wok, where each and every tendon would be covered in the bright and reddish gravy. Each bite would give a soft and chewy texture at first but would turn sticky and springy at the end, creating an interesting meat texture.
Manager Lin had displayed her exceptional culinary skills through these dishes. They were incredibly delicious, some of them were aromatic, some chewy, while others were flavorful and fresh. Everyone was only half full when the food was finished, but all of their unhappiness for doing a rescue mission in the middle of the night was all gone, and they seemed to want more of it. "This trip was totally worth it!" They thought.
Knowing that they were unsatisfied, Lin Dan broke the beef bone that had been boiled for two hours and made another pot of bone marrow soup. The stewed beef marrow that was hidden in the bone would be delicious when it was slid into the mouth with a gentle suck. One would feel refreshed drinking the soup, and would even feel as though their pores were cleansed.
The bearded man sucked a cow bone with both his hands happily and commended, "Manager Lin, how did you possess such good culinary skills? We heard from Zhao Liu saying that you intend to open a restaurant in the capital? You've got to inform me when your restaurant is open, my brothers and I will show you some support!"
Lin Dan scooped a spoonful of soup for the handsome man and put a piece of beef bone in it. She said humbly, "My skills are not as good as you said, General. But as long as you're in the capital and are visiting my restaurant, I'll… "
Before Lin Dan could finish speaking, the man said solemnly, "Showing support doesn't mean you're having a free meal, since it's not easy to open a restaurant in the capital." The man gave the bearded man a cold stare that sent shivers down his spine. The bearded man said that he would definitely pay for his meals and not a single cent less.
Lin Dan saw the two men's interaction and knew that the handsome man's identity was not simple, but she kept the question in mind. She knew that travelers should know when to speak, look, or act, lest they get into trouble. She thought they would not see each other anymore after entering the capital and there was no need for her to know too much.
After everyone had finished eating, they followed Lin Dan to where her carriages were parked and seized the bandits' loot. The handsome man did not know how she got to know about the hiding place of the stolen goods, but he had a better understanding of how shrewd she was.
The bearded man helped Lin Dan organize the goods and carefully checked that she really did not have any extra wine left, before returning to the camp reluctantly. That night, he brought that jar of Thousand-Days wine into the capital to find his boss, Duke of Weiyuan. If the bearded man was a wine lover, the Duke of Weiyuan was an even bigger wine lover than he was. The Duke of Weiyuan governed the south-eastern region, while the Duke of Yongding governed the northwest. They were both two of the most powerful figures in the kingdom of Great Chu, where one could expect himself to easily rise up in ranks with only a word from them.
Translator:NovelMultiverseEditor:NovelMultiverse
Speaking of the Duke of Weiyuan's love for alcohol, it was a well-known fact in the entire Great Chu. He could not eat without having wine on the table, and even almost died in the wild as he was drunk on a snowy night. Yet, wine was the first thing he asked for when he woke up. He would probably not realize his folly until the worst has happened. He had won great battles and saved the life of the first emperor three times. Although he was recuperating in the capital and had not been able to return to his post in the southeast station, he was a respectable figure that nobody dared to provoke. He had a golden whip that was given by the last emperor on his deathbed, which had an immense power to punish incapable rulers or bring down treacherous officials.
In order to gain his favor, people had always brought a jar of fine wine whenever they visited. He would speak candidly when he had some good wine but would chase them out immediately if the wine was not to his liking. It seemed easy to curry favor with him, but that was not true. He went on expeditions with his father at the age of eight; murdered for the first time at the age of nine; drank the strongest wine and became dead drunk at night, but had become addicted to alcohol since then. He had been drinking wine for thirty years and had tried a good variety of wines.
He could no longer tolerate wines that were less than average. Since he had tried all sorts of wine, it was difficult to satisfy his appetite for good wines.
In order to please the Duke of Weiyuan, the bearded man had spent lots of money to get some good wine, but his efforts were futile. But he was exhilarated when he met Manager Lin who possessed exceptional culinary skills and got the legendary Thousand-Days Wine by accident. He hurriedly traveled to the capital and arrived in three days. He did not even bother to find an inn to clean himself up and headed straight to the Duke of Weiyuan's residence.
There were at least dozens or hundreds of people who delivered drinks to the Duke's residence daily, but the steward would never let them in. He received the wine from the bearded man and sent him away, but the bearded man emphasized that he had brought the Thousand-Days Wine which was an extremely rare wine that must be delivered to the Duke. Although the steward agreed to do so, he merely shoved the wine into the storehouse that was especially used to store wines.
The jar was only as big as one's palm and was not even fully filled. The steward held the light jar of wine and thought the bearded man to be rude to present something like this. After leaving the storehouse, the steward criticized the bearded man in his mind and forgot about the incident. That jar of wine was quietly placed on the shelf and had remained unknown to people.
On the other hand, Lin Dan's fleet continued to move along the main road, and the three brawny men guarded on the left and right of the fleet to prevent any surprises from happening. After having breakfast, they only thought about lunch, and after having lunch, they waited eagerly for dinner. After dinner, they would ask Manager Lin if there was any supper. They had enjoyed a life of comfort during this period of time. As they had lost more than seven or eight catties of weight in the past few months while completing a dangerous mission, with Manager Lin's great cooking skills, a healthy pink had gradually regained on their faces.
Four days later, the fleet had arrived at the outskirts of the capital, and it would take half a day to arrive at the West Gate. Lin Dan stopped in a small town and said goodbye to three men. However, they did not bear to part with her and insisted to ensure her safety until she arrived at her destination. The truth was, they were reluctant to part with her good craftsmanship and were finding excuses to stay.
Lin Dan did not know whether to laugh or cry. She let them stay since she was unable to refuse their request.
"Mother, I'm back!" She took the group of people to a small farmhouse. The farmhouse had some vegetable plantations, as well as some chickens and ducks. It was also full of red and white roses, which made the place look warm and welcoming.
"Dan'er, you're finally back!" The older Lady Qi dashed out of the house with tears in her eyes. She was still able to follow her daughter while she traveled around to learn the art of cooking, but she fell ill afterward and was being sent back to the capital to recuperate. Although the capital was a huge place, it was not difficult to meet people whom she wanted to avoid the most. There was a time where she met the family of her husband's second brother on the streets. The second brother informed Lady Zhou and Yan Shouye that she was still in the capital, and they hired ruffians to create trouble for her every day. She had almost wanted to take her life by jumping into the well.
She could not understand why these people wanted to push her and her daughter into a dead end when they had already taken away their husband's belongings. However, she knew that the evilness within the hearts of people was unfathomable and that she could only give in and settle here to lead a peaceful life.
"Mother, pack your things up. We will stay here for a few days before returning to the capital." Lin Dan picked up the scoop and served water for everyone.
"Return to the capital again?" Lady Qi was fearful of the idea. She was scared witless by Lady Zhou and Yan Shouye, and she no longer had the courage she did when she was asking them to return the property.
"Of course, we must." Lin Dan said casually, but she was firm. She once swore that she would help the owner of this body to restore the reputation of the Lin family and Lin Baotian, and she would honor her promise. After traveling for ten years, this place had become her home country; the life of the owner of this body was also hers, and her responsibility had also naturally become hers.
"Alright, I'll pack up now. The chickens and ducks outside have been raised for more than two months. Go catch them if you want to eat it." Lady Qi retreated to her room. Lin Dan rolled up her sleeves and said, "Let's have Dong'an chicken and Yongzhou pressed duck for lunch today."
Everyone responded enthusiastically before getting busy with the chores.
Lin Dan put the slaughtered chickens and ducks in a bucket and cooked them with boiling water so that it would be easier to remove their feathers. The handsome man stood beside her, lowered his eyes, and asked, "Have you and your mother been traveling around for many years?"
"Yes." Lin Dan put the chicken and duck feathers into a bamboo basket for storage. Chicken feathers can be made into feather dusters, while the fine velvety duck feathers can be made into clothes to keep themselves warm. These were good materials to have.
The man stared at her lady's bun for a long time, and finally could not help but ask, "What about your husband? Why haven't we seen him with you?"
Lin Dan raised her head in surprise, seemingly unexpected that the man would be curious about her. He seemed to be the kind of person who was extremely reserved and indifferent and did not seem that he would be interested in the private affairs of others. But since she had nothing to hide, she said frankly, "I am not married and have no husband. I wear the hairstyle of a married woman just for convenience since I am out and about most of the time. I only have my mother as my kin, who can she depend on if I get married? Besides, I have been mastering my craft all these years, and have not stayed at the same place for long. No man would have any intention of marrying me even if I want to."
She chuckled and seemed to see the issue with an open mind. "Life is pretty good now. We've already gone through the toughest time, what else will I be afraid of in the future? I only need to get a few good apprentices, have them support me when I retire, and I won't have to be afraid of having nobody to hold a funeral for me." After saying that, Lin Dan seemed to have been reminded of a bad memory, the light in her eyes gradually faded, and she sighed.
The man frowned hard, he seemed to have a lot to say but did not know where to begin. He took over the chickens and ducks and carefully plucked their feathers. He saw that Lin Dan had nothing to do and wanted to start a fire, he said immediately in a deep voice, "Go inside and take a rest, have a good conversation with your mother and leave the rest to us."
Lin Dan looked into the house and noticed that Lady Qi was looking at her eagerly. She smiled and agreed with the man. She realized that despite having a cool appearance, the man was actually a kind and soft-hearted man.
After lunch, Lin Dan sent Lady Qi back to the house to take a rest before carrying a small gift box for the visitation. The handsome man was afraid that she would encounter danger and followed immediately.
Lin Dan turned around when she heard the footsteps and could not help but smile.
The man stared at her bright smile, his eyes flickering.
The two did not speak along the way, but they felt relaxed and at ease without feeling bored or awkward. After taking a few turns, they took the main road and saw that there was a post station beside the road. Outside the station was a straw shed where a busy middle-aged woman was busy walking about. The chattering and clamoring were audible from afar.
Lin Dan approached and said while cupping her hands, "Sister Wang, it's been a long time. How have you been? Why isn't Aunt Wang here in the store?"
"Who are you?" The middle-aged woman thought for a while and said, "Oh, you're that little girl who offered us free work! It's been ten years, you've grown up!" She remembered Lin Dan to be a petite and short girl who was very capable of enduring hardships. She could carry beans that were more than a hundred catties on one shoulder, which had left a deep impression on the middle-aged woman.
Lin Dan acknowledged that she was the girl and patiently asked about the old woman. The middle-aged woman rolled her eyes, seemingly very disdainful of her mother-in-law. But she refused to answer no matter what Lin Dan had asked. Lin Dan had no choice but to buy two bowls of tofu balls from her and gave five more coins. She finally found out that the old woman was selling food somewhere about thirty minutes away by foot.
The tofu meatballs tasted the same. She assumed the middle-aged woman had spent ten years to finally master her mother-in-law's cooking skills, but for some reason, she ran a different shop from her mother-in-law.
Lin Dan felt sad for the old woman while she inquired more about her current situation on her way there. She knew that Aunt Wang treated her son and daughter-in-law sincerely, but her daughter-in-law refused to accept her and asked to run a different shop after mastering the dish. Not only did she chase the old woman and her young son away to live alone, but she also took away the store that the family was depending on for a living.
Aunt Wang's old stall was popular as it was already well-known. Since it was set up next to the post station it was also able to attract a good number of patrons. Even if she opened a new store that serves the same food at the same price, the location was so remote that patrons would naturally choose the stall that they were familiar with. Over time, her daughter-in-law had completely overtaken her stall.
She was already earning a meager income when life took a turn for worse. Her youngest son was disabled after breaking his leg a few years ago without having the money for treatment. When Lin Dan arrived, she saw that Aunt Wang was carrying water, while her son limped forward and wanted to share the heavy load on his shoulder but was stopped by his mother. The two of them quarreled and their eyes were getting red, but it was all an expression of love and cherishing for each other.
Lin Dan could not help but feel sad for them. She walked towards them without saying a word, took the carrying pole, picked up the bucket, and strode into the stall. The handsome man was surprised for a while before stepping forward quickly and helped to lift the heavy bucket. He poured the water into the tank and took the carrying pole again. He said with a low voice, "Where is the water source? You take a rest and leave the rest to me."
"It's right at the foot of that mountain, just go straight along this path." Lin Dan stayed here for three months where she had to carry a hundred catties of water every day. She naturally knew where the water source was.
The man nodded and left without saying a word. Aunt Wang who was in shock finally came to her senses. She said in surprise, "Are you, Xiao Dan? My good girl, where have you been all these years? I couldn't find you anywhere!"
Translator:NovelMultiverseEditor:NovelMultiverse
Meeting an old friend was a happy occasion. Aunt Wang took Lin Dan's hand and chatted with her for a while. Lin Dan came back and acted as though she had come home. She tied a headscarf on her head and rolled up her sleeves before starting to do some chores. When the handsome man came back with two buckets of water, he saw that she was already sitting in the kitchen and was grinding soybeans. Aunt Wang was adding firewood to the stove while talking about what she had been through all these years. "It's true that the master starves when his apprentice has mastered his skill. if I had known that the couple were such unscrupulous people, I would never have imparted my skills to them."
"Not everyone is like this. Isn't there another saying that goes, 'when the master teaches well, the apprentice returns to repay the kindness'. My skills in making tofu were taught by you. Look, I'm here to repay your kindness." Lin Dan said with a chuckle.
Aunt Wang hurriedly waved her hand and said, "That's not true. I've only taught you for three months, and you did so much work for me. It was me who benefited from your kindness, how could you say that you're here to repay mine? You don't have to worry too much about my son and I, we can still manage to get by." Her eyes turned red as she spoke. Her biological son did not care about her while the girl who had only learned a dish from her treated her like family. She felt so embarrassed at the thought of it.
Aunt Wang's young son walked in with teary eyes and said, "Lin Dan, thank you for your kindness. I recently found a permanent job at Landlord Zhou's house where I'm hired to feed the animals every day. I'll be able to support my mother and it's also not a very tough job, you can rest assured."
Lin Dan waved his hand and said, "I believe you have misunderstood what I meant. Aunt Wang, since you taught me one dish in the past, I can now teach you three dishes. I'm sure your business will improve once you learn how to make them. Let's bring back those prosperous days, shall we?" As she was speaking, she repeatedly filtered the ground soymilk with a cloth and poured it into a large pot to boil.
The handsome man did not say a word, but he had already taken over the job of grinding the soybean. As he worked, his eyes did not leave Lin Dan who was having a conversation casually.
Lin Dan diced the coriander, shallots, mustard greens, and other side dishes before stir-frying the sesame seeds and peanuts with oil and putting them in a bowl for use later. She asked, "Since you only sell a single dish throughout the year, I believe customers would get bored of it after a while and will naturally affect your business. Your tofu is very delicious, why don't you come up with more tofu dishes? What I am teaching you now is a dish I learned in Fushun County. It is called bean curd, which is a semi-finished product of tofu, but the taste is as good as tofu. It can be made into two flavors, sweet or savory. Since your shop is set up next to the main road, I'm sure there will be customers from all over the world. If you have customers that come from the north, you can serve the savory bean curd; if the customer came from the south, you can serve them the sweet one instead. The bean curd is best served warm in spring, autumn and winter, and while the chilled bean curd is best served in summer. Since bean curd is tasteless in itself, it all depends on the sauce to achieve the taste. There are also different types of sauces. For savory sauces, it includes hot and spicy sauce, sour and hot sauce, and so on, while sweet sauces include cane sugar, brown sugar, malt syrup, and so on. You can create a wide variety of flavors with just two spoonfuls of sauce and a bowl of bean curd, which can easily satisfy the needs of any customer. Isn't this better than simply selling tofu balls? Besides, the bean curd is simple and easy to make. If it's sold out, you can make another bucket of bean curd in less than forty-five minutes. In this way, you'll be able to serve the customers with the freshest food. Wouldn't they come back for more?"
When it comes to cooking, Lin Dan could talk endlessly. As she spoke, she had already made two bowls of bean curd – one bowl with the spicy flavor and the other bowl with the wolfberry brown sugar flavor. The colors were all bright and attractive, and it looked very delicious.
The handsome man quietly took the savory bean curd and took a bite. The fresh and tender bean curd immediately satisfied his taste buds. The strong aroma of the beans tumbled in his mouth with the spicy gravy and slipped into his throat. It was an amazing ride. His eyes lit up slightly, and he immediately took another bite of the sweet flavored bean curd. The sweet and tender bean curd slowly melted on the tip of his tongue, but after biting through the wolfberry a tinge of astringency emerged. He thought that was ingenious. The bean curds were so flavorful that he could not stop after taking the first bite.
Aunt Wang and her son took a bite skeptically but were taken aback by the taste.
Lin Dan made another plate of Zhenxiang tofu which was also served with a sweet and savory sauce. It was a dish where the customer could adjust the taste to their liking. Finally, she modified Aunt Wang's specialty dish tofu balls into deep-fried tofu balls, which were solid when they entered the wok, but hollow when they were taken out. If one were to gently break the crispy shell of the balls, they would see a layer of sweet and tender soymilk on the inside which created an amazing crispy yet tender texture, with a dry yet juicy taste. With a dipping sauce made of pepper, garlic, and minced wild onions, it could be added into the hollow inner layer of the tofu ball to enjoy the crispy yet tender texture on the inside, fresh and spicy taste on the inside. If it was eaten by one who could not take spicy food, the dipping sauce could be replaced with bean paste, sesame, or peanuts and the taste would also be superb.
These dishes were extremely flexible and were able to provide a good variety of tastes, and they could be made into any flavor that would suit the customers' liking. Aunt Wang and her son were not dull-witted. After trying the dishes and listening to her, they were both happy yet embarrassed and hesitated whether they should accept the "gift".
Lin Dan had always kept her promises. After giving them the instructions to make the dishes, she also gave some business advice. "You can provide free hot tea for your customers in spring, autumn, and winter. In summer, make some chilled jelly but hang a sign that says 'free tea provided'. There will naturally be tired customers stopping by for a drink. You can then ask if they want to have some food and your business will pick up naturally. Since there are not many people who are literate, your son can sit along the roadside and bring people in whenever there are carriages passing by. You're a good cook, Aunt Wang. I'm sure the customers will be satisfied with the food you make. If the customers are satisfied, it will build the reputation of this stall and your stall will soon by popular, don't you think so?"
"Yes, yes!" Wang Auntie and her son nodded, their eyes were teary. They could tell that Lin Dan really wanted to help them, or she would not have shared so much of her knowledge. They did not expect to receive kindness from someone whom they had shown kindness to. They believed there were still many good people in this world.
She was busy the whole day and it was soon nightfall. Lin Dan walked carefreely on the main road with the starlight above her head, feeling a sense of happiness in her heart. She would definitely get back what belonged to her and would return what she owed to others. She believed that one should live in fairness.
The handsome man silently followed behind and looked at her with mixed emotions.
As the three dishes could not be mastered overnight, Lin Dan had no choice but to stay in the town for a few more days and went to Aunt Wang's stall daily. The boy made hot tea and sat on the roadside, attracting customers and inviting them in. Sure enough, many carriage fleets and passers-by stopped by. They had planned to leave after drinking the free tea, but they were attracted by the aroma that came from the kitchen and decided to order a few bowls of bean curd to try. Little did they expect that they were unable to stop after trying the first bowl. Some of them who had had a huge appetite could even finish four or five bowls of bean curd. Customers who came from both the north and south also enjoyed their food.
It took only three days for Aunt Wang's stall to be popular and filled with patrons. Three days later, when Lin Dan left, Aunt Wang continued to come up with new flavors which had also received a good response. Over time, the dilapidated straw shed turned into a sturdy earthen house, which was then upgraded into a wooden house in a few years' time before finally developing into a restaurant that specializes in bean curd dishes. Her daughter-in-law's business was badly affected and eventually ran out of business. She came before Aunt Wang and kowtowed to apologize for what she did, but she was chased out of the house and became the joke of the town.
Of course, Lin Dan was not aware of what happened after she left. She took her mother back to the capital and settled it in a small courtyard that she had bought earlier. Before she could take a rest, she immediately went to the West District to check out her shop. She had already planned to return to the capital and open a store for the past two years, but everything was now ready except for one thing.
The capital was known for having "the rich in the east, and the powerful in the west; the poor in the north, and the shabby in the south". The West District was mostly filled with the rich and powerful; the East District was mostly wealthy; the North District was inhabited by the poor; while the South District was filled with migrants who worked as coolies and were considered to be low in status.
Lin Baotian was good at Shandong cuisine. Lin Dan had studied Shandong cuisine a lot in the past few years and naturally wanted to continue making Shandong cuisine when she returned to open a shop. In the culinary world, it was well-known that the Shandong cuisine was made for the officials, the Cantonese cuisine was made for businessmen, the Sichuan cuisine was for civilians, while the Huaiyang cuisine was for the literates. Since she wanted to serve the officials, her restaurant would have to be set up in the West District to attract more customers.
Lin Dan had previously sent a few servants back to the capital to search for a suitable shop. After waiting for two to three months, they finally found a grocery store in Qingyun Alley of the West District that was winding up and was ready to sell the shop. The Yan's restaurant was set up right opposite that grocery store.
The handsome man should have left since Lin Dan had arrived in the capital safely, but he refused to go and did not explain why. Instead, he followed Lin Dan silently like a guardian. Knowing that he harbored no ill intentions, Lin Dan let him be and went on to negotiate the price of the store with the owner of the grocery store.
The handsome man stood at the door waiting while looking at Yan's restaurant with an unexplainable expression.
"Did you say that you want to set up a restaurant here and serve the Shandong cuisine as well?" The grocery store owner looked around and changed his tone. He said, "Manager Lin, I don't mean to put you in a spot, but something happened in my family and I need the money. Although the price you offered is reasonable, it's not good enough. Several groups of people have come here these days and have offered a higher price than you did. The one who offered the highest price will win the bid. I'm sure you'd understand this business rule?"
Lin Dan frowned and said, "Perhaps you could tell me your preferred price and I'll see if it's reasonable. I'll take it if it is reasonable, or we can forget about this deal."
The grocery store owner quoted a price, which was way beyond Lin Dan's current capability. She calculated in her mind and said decisively, "Give me one day and I will bring the silver taels here tomorrow. Meanwhile, you will get all the documents ready for the transfer."
After the negotiation, she asked the servants to go back to pick up the goods, while she wandered around Qingyun Alley to observe the situation.
"Three hundred and sixty taels of silver. This is enough to buy two of the same shop. Looks like you've made a loss." The handsome man followed behind her and said in a deep voice.
"You don't understand. I only want this shop." Lin Dan waved her hand firmly.
The handsome man turned his head around and looked at Yan's restaurant where the business was booming, and looked at the grocery store opposite. He could not help but exclaim in his mind, "Looks like Lin Dan is planning to fight against Yan's restaurant head-on?"
Translator:NovelMultiverseEditor:NovelMultiverse
Lin Dan was indeed planning to fight against Yan's restaurant head on this time around when she returned to the capital. She was not bothered at all to lose to Yan Langqing, but the predecessor of this Yan's restaurant was Lin's restaurant that was founded by Lin Baotian. Each of the signature dishes in this restaurant was painstakingly created by her own father. Lin Dan did not want to see the Yan family as well as her father's two brothers taking away all his years of effort.
The Yan family did not even feel bad about taking over the restaurant, but Lin Dan, who had inherited the will of the owner of this body could not accept what had happened. Just as she said, she believed that she must take back what she deserves, and return what she owes.
As the saying goes, "Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories." To challenge Yan's restaurant, Lin Dan had to try their dishes first. But her facial features had not changed much over the years and she was certain that her second and third uncles would put her in a spot if they had recognized her. She had no choice but to ask the handsome man to pick a few of their signature dishes and take them out for her to try.
After trying Yan's dishes, the two started discussing in a private room of a tea house. The handsome man asked, "How does it taste?"
"They are all very well done. As expected from the family of the imperial chef." Lin Dan gave a frank and honest judgment.
"When compared to your dishes?" The handsome man had not tried Lin Dan's Shandong cuisine and was having a strong desire to try it.
"You'll know when my store is opened." Lin Dan chuckled and pushed the door to leave. Although she did not answer his question directly, her composure was a sign of confidence.
The handsome man stared at her straight back, shook his head, and smiled.
The two continued to wander around the Qingyun Alley until they had reached a corner and saw another Shandong restaurant. Lin Dan waved at him and said, "Let's eat here." Since she was opening a store, it was natural for her to check out the restaurants nearby. It was not really to undermine their business but to learn their strengths and avoid their weaknesses.
It was called the Qiaoyuan Restaurant. The size was twice of Yan's restaurant and the interior was very luxuriously decorated. There were pavilions and small ponds and bridges built within the restaurant which created a very elegant environment. High-ranking officials tend to show off their status when they eat out, and the service of this restaurant was far more luxurious than Yan's restaurant. She thought their business would be fairly good, but the two of them sat in the dining hall for a long time and only observed that they had only served with five or six groups of patrons. The number of patrons they had was far lesser than Yan's restaurant.
But Lin Dan understood why after trying their dishes. It was simply because the chef of this restaurant was not skillful enough, and the Shandong dishes did not taste authentic.
"You can tell that the taste of this restaurant is worse than Yan's restaurant. No wonder they were unable to keep attracting customers." Lin Dan put down her chopsticks and concluded.
The handsome man did not express his opinions and only waved for the waiter to get the check. As soon as Lin Dan took out her purse, he pressed her hand down, and placed half a tael of silver in the waiter's hand, paying the bill as fast as he could. His action was so fast that the waiter did not even catch how the money appeared on his palm. The waiter scratched his head for a while, looking all puzzled.
Lin Dan was amused and smiled slightly before starting a conversation with the waiter. "Is this restaurant interested in getting dry goods? I have some top-quality goods that I imported from Nanyang, including abalone, bird's nest, sea cucumber, scallops, and so on. I also have a wide variety of food that was harvested from the mountains and can provide a stable supply of goods for a long time."
In order to support her family, Lin Dan had to do some small business while learning how to cook. Over time, she had managed to set up a business fleet that specialized in distributing dry goods, such as importing seafood to the inland, and inland mountain food to the coastal areas. She was able to earn some decent money from these transactions.
Since this restaurant was targeted at patrons of status, they would have to buy top-quality food ingredients. The waiter did not dare to call the shots and quickly called for the manager to handle her offer. The manager was naturally happy to accept the additional source of goods, and Lin Dan asked her servant to bring the goods to the restaurant for inspection.
As the manager was not very familiar with the quality of the ingredients, he had to ask the chef for opinions. The chef seemed to be a young lad who had just turned twenty and was fair-skinned and good-looking. Although his culinary skills still had room for improvement, he had a good eye for food ingredients. He said firmly, "The abalones are all double abalones, bird's nests are premium imperial bird's nest harvested during the rainy season, and the types of shark's fins include sea tiger shark's fins, whole-piece fins, and Tian Jiu fins, all of which are excellent products… The fungi are non-ordinary fungi, they are black fungi that are picked from the cliffs and are top-quality ingredients from the mountains. These are all authentic and high-quality food ingredients."
He let out a long sigh of relief after he finished speaking, seemingly being relieved of a big burden. With these top-quality dry goods, he would not have to worry about not being able to make delicious Shandong dishes. He originally had two more years to officially become a chef, but his father suddenly fell ill and passed away. This restaurant was the fruit of his father's efforts and he wanted to perform well, but as his skills were still lacking and the restaurant's business had been declining. The restaurant was even having issues sustaining ever since he took over as the head chef. If he had not been the chef and the owner of this restaurant, the manager would have fired him long ago.
"We want all these goods. Name me a price, Manager Lin." The chef said decisively.
Lin Dan gave him a reasonable price that was not too high nor too low. Seeing that he readily took out the money, she began speaking to him in a more casual manner. "Are there any other restaurants nearby? Please give me some directions to save me from making detours. Don't worry, I only have the second-tier ingredients left and will not affect your business by selling these ingredients to the other restaurants." After selling all the goods in her inventory, she was able to cover the costs she needed to buy her own shop.
The young chef shook his head and replied with hostility, "There are no other restaurants nearby except Qiaoyuan Restaurant and Yan's Restaurant. You outsiders may not know that the head of this Yan's Restaurant is an imperial chef, and they are so powerful that nobody else is allowed to open a Shandong restaurant nearby and compete with them."
"But aren't you doing well here?" Lin Dan frowned slightly, while the handsome man put on a stern look.
"My family is not completely without backing. My grandfather served the Emperor, and my father served the Empress Dowager. They were all imperial chefs from the palace. The calligraphy that is hung in the dining hall was authentically written by the Emperor himself. This is why even though the Yan family is powerful, they wouldn't be able to lay a finger on me." The young chef looked proud of his ancestor's achievements, but he also worried. Although his predecessors had done well, his skills were not good enough and business had been in decline. However, for Yan Langqing, she had become the head chef of the imperial kitchen at a young age. The Emperor was kind enough to spread her good reputation from within the palace to outside the palace.
This was why, even if those food connoisseurs in West Town did not like her food, they would not show it in order not to embarrass the Emperor. Eventually, Yan's restaurant became more and more popular.
Lin Dan often sent her people back to the capital to understand more about the current affairs, and also knew about Yan Langqing's success. After Yan Langqing left the Duke's residence, she worked as a head chef in Yan's restaurant. One day, the Emperor made a private visit to the capital and happened to have a meal in her restaurant. He took a liking to the dishes she made and had a good chat with her. He eventually decided to recruit her as a chef in the imperial kitchen where she gradually gained the Emperor's favor.
However, Lin Dan did not follow what happened to Yan Langqing afterward and naturally did not know that she had gained so much power.
The chef then continued, "The head of the Yan family is Yan Langqing. Her signature dish is Wanfu meat. When the Emperor tried it for the first time, he liked it so much that he immediately hired her as an imperial chef. I heard that he could not stand not eating her dishes even for one day. Don't you think she has truly gained the favor of the Emperor?"
Lin Dan was not interested in whether Yan Langqing was favored by the Emperor or not, but she was interested in that Wanfu meat. She asked, "How is this Wanfu meat made? Is it really that delicious?"
"I have no idea. I heard that Imperial Chef Yan would ask everyone to retreat whenever she makes the Wanfu meat so that only she would know the recipe." The young chef shook his head regretfully.
Lin Dan put on her usual facial expression, but her eyes were cold and stiff. She left her address and bid the chef goodbye. When she left Qiaoyuan Restaurant, she immediately went back to the owner of the grocery store and said that she had brought the money and would be able to buy the shop immediately. However, the grocery store owner refused in every possible way and said that someone had paid a high price for the shop after she left.
Lin Dan observed at him carefully and saw that his eyes were full of pain from refusing a good deal. She understood immediately and knew that having many other interested buyers was just a ruse. The Yan family probably had warned all the nearby owners not to sell the shop to anyone who wants to open a Shandong cuisine restaurant.
Lin Dan said goodbye to the boss and had no interest in wandering around. She walked back without saying a word.
The handsome man stared at her from behind and spoke in a voice deeper than usual, "I used to work in the West and the North a few years ago, and only recently returned to the capital. But I didn't know that the Yan family is already acting so arrogantly."
"Arrogance?" Lin Dan looked back at him and smiled, with no telling what was the meaning behind her smile.
Soon, the handsome man knew why she smiled in that manner. He learned that Yan Shouye had found out from the grocery store owner that someone was going to open a Shandong restaurant right opposite his restaurant to challenge him head-on. Since Lin Dan had no power, it was easy for Yan Shouye to find out about Lin Dan's intention. This was why there was no way Lin Dan could open a restaurant in the capital as the Yan family would find all ways to stop her. No one in the West Town dared to strike a deal with her, this was the same for owners in the East Town. And as soon as a shop owner in the North Town agreed to sell the shop, he would back out in the next moment and even took away the deposit that Lin Dan had paid. After looking around for a long time, Lin Dan finally found a shop in South Town that was located near a pier. However, the demographics were extremely complicated, and security was poor. Robbery and even murder often occurred there. It would not be easy to set up a business there, not to mention making money without incurring losses.
The Yan family was finally satisfied and felt that they had beaten Lin Dan down so hard that she would not stand a chance surviving there.
The handsome man had been traveling around with Lin Dan every day and watched her as she faced difficulties and was oppressed in every way. It was then he realized that the Yan family was not "arrogant" but "despicable". No matter how disciplined and calm he was, he could not help but feel anger boiling within. However, Lin Dan had always maintained a positive and optimistic attitude. Although she would frown whenever she encountered difficulties, she would quickly recover, as if no one and nothing could break her.
On this day, Lin Dan brought her servants to South Town to tidy up the shop, while the handsome man stood by the door, scrutinizing passers-by with his eagle eyes and giving out his powerful aura. He would leave in the evening every day, and show up early the next morning to have breakfast at Lin Dan's house before traveling with her to places. Fortunately, with his protection, Lin Dan could travel freely in the chaotic South Town. She thought that she would have to hire strong and reliable bodyguards in the future if he was no longer around.
Lin Dan sighed at the thought of that and said, "Now that I have gotten everything settled down, you don't have to follow me around anymore."
The man refused and made another proposal, "The location of this stop is bad. I'll change one for you. It's in West Town.
"We met by coincidence and are not related to each other in any way. How can I accept the shop? I will remember your kindness and charge you at half price whenever you come by and have a meal at my restaurant." Lin Dan refused his offer as expected. She was a reasonable person who would never take people for granted.
The man pressed his lips slightly, not knowing how to persuade her. Seeing that the sky was getting dark, he turned around and left. When he reached the entrance of the alley, he looked back and was filled with worry. He felt that this was really not a good place to open a restaurant. It was not only hidden in a winding alleyway, there were also vice activities such as gambling, cockfighting, and prostitution happening nearby. He wondered how she would be able to set up a business here.
But Lin Dan was so stubborn that he did not know how to help her even if he wanted to.
Translator:NovelMultiverseEditor:NovelMultiverse
The new shop was bought at a very low price. It was less than twenty taels of silver which was a vast difference from the grocery shop. But there were reasons behind the difference in prices. The shop was cheap due to its location.
It was simply impossible for people who were unfamiliar with the place to take seven or eight turns in the alley to find her shop. Lady Qi, who almost passed out while finding her way through the alley, was now too worried to eat, as she was afraid that her daughter would make losses by setting up her business here.
Lin Dan comforted her as she cleaned up the tables and chairs. "Don't worry, mother. There's a reason why I decided to set up my restaurant here. Look at the shops around here."
"What about it? I only saw places filled with vice activities – casinos, fighting arenas, the pier, and brothels. And the people who come in and out of these places are people who are involved in these things. I really don't understand why you want to set up a restaurant here. If the Yan family doesn't want us here, we can always leave the capital and lead a peaceful life elsewhere. I don't want you to try and get back anything, and I don't need you to prove yourself. I only wish for your safety." Lady Qi said while holding Lin Dan's hands.
Lin Dan gave her a pat and explained, "Although most of the residents of South Town are migrants and have complicated backgrounds, they are also better than those from the North Town. You shouldn't consider the people of the South Town as inferior to others, you will find many hidden talents here too. There are all sorts of people here and it would be much easier to do business here than in North Town. Look at the casinos, arenas, the pier, and brothels – aren't they popular? Whether a restaurant is able to succeed, it all depends on the food standard, followed by popularity. Since I can make good food, I can make my business even better by riding on the popularity of the shops around. I'll be able to make money, and you will see when my restaurant is opened."
"The popularity of the surrounding shops is indeed fairly good, but you have to see whether you're able to ride on their popularity. Do you think your customers would mind making seven or eight turns to arrive at your shop? It's better to set up a shop along the road. I've never seen anyone who opens a store at the end of an alley." Lady Qi was still worried.
"It's said that 'a fragrant wine is unafraid of the deep alley'. This won't be a problem." Lin Dan smiled lightly and waved her hand. She did not seem to be overly concerned with this problem.
The servants she brought had cleaned up the shop swiftly and hung a small flag at the entrance. The restaurant was ready to be opened.
The handsome man had something on in the morning and arrived at the shop at noon which was later than usual. He visited the local mafia boss and constables nearby and asked them to take care of Lin Dan before heading to the shop. Of course, these things were done behind Lin Dan's back, lest she felt uncomfortable with him doing so.
"Why are you here again? Don't you have work to do?" Lin Dan looked surprised when he saw the man.
"I think you've never asked for my name?" The man asked instead.
Lin Dan stunned for a moment and chuckled, "Sure, what is your first and last name? And how old are you, sir?"
"I'm twenty-six this year, my name is Tang Jiu. You may call me Tang Jiu, or just Jiu." The man gave Lady Qi a polite bow before taking an axe and began chopping wood.
"Tang, as in soup? This is a good surname." Lin Dan laughed brightly. She was a chef and had a natural affection for soups and the like.
The man knew what she was laughing at, and his dark eyes softened. Indeed, Lin Dan never stopped thinking about her job, she could even associate names with food.
Lin Dan had arranged a carpenter to make a signboard for the restaurant and it could only be delivered in the afternoon. Lin Dan did not plan to open her restaurant on this day and only asked her servants to bring in three large pots for making broths – one for making clear broth, one for milky pork broth, and one for making braised broth. As the price of the shop was low, she still had a lot of silver taels left to spend and made the broths without considering the cost price. She stuffed whole chickens and ducks into the pot and added pork knuckles and pork bones before bringing it to boil.
"I learned how to make broths from a master in the north. Although he is not an imperial cook, his cooking skills are superb. After learning from him for three years, I only managed to learn just a little from him. We need to simmer the clear broth in low fire, but cook the pork broth on high, so we have to be careful when adding the firewood." Lin Dan spoke very modestly, but the method of cooking the broth was actually very complicated, but she was very familiar with all the steps and did it in a smooth manner.
Tang Jiu stared at the large pots and asked with a slightly worried tone, "You added so many ingredients, will you be able to earn your cost back?"
Lin Dan chuckled, "It may seem as though I have spent a lot while making these broths, but you must know that these pots of broth are enough for me to cook hundreds of dishes and hundreds of bowls of noodles. I won't be overspending on these broths if they are able to attract customers into my shop which is located deep in the alley. It's said that 'fragrant wine is unafraid of the deep alley', it also applies to my thick broths which are also "unafraid of the deep alley". When the broths are done, I'm sure there will be people looking for our shop by following the smell."
When the clear and pork broth were boiling, Lin Dan added a bag of spice into the pot making the braised broth and boiled it over a high fire. After boiling for a quarter of an hour, she added pork knuckles, pork bones, pork belly, pigskin, and other ingredients into the pot. She covered the pot with a lid and surrounded the rim of the pot with a wet cloth to prevent steam from escaping.
"This braised broth will be ready after heating over a low fire until tomorrow morning. Let's take a rest, only one person is needed to watch the fire." When everything was ready, Lin Dan clapped her hands and dismissed everyone. As the business fleet still had to deliver the dry goods, several servants packed up their things and left the capital immediately.
Lin Dan was about to make lunch for her mother and Tang Jiu when someone suddenly ran in. It was the waiter from Qiaoyuan Restaurant, he said with slight anger in his tone, "I finally found you, liar! Tell me, what kind of ingredients did you sell to our restaurant? How can you give us shoddy goods!"
"Relax, sir. I'll follow you back to the restaurant and talk about this further. " Lin Dan was not annoyed at all and generously poured a cup of hot tea for the waiter.
As the waiter came here to get her, he tried to pull her out, but Tang Jiu gave him a cold stare which made him speak to Lin Dan in a friendlier tone. The fair-skinned and handsome young chef had already been waiting in the shop. Although he felt like a victim, he acted humbly and spoke to her nicely. "The ingredients you sold to me maybe shoddy. I wasn't able to make dishes that taste exquisite. Here, try it. This was made with the shark's tripe you sold me, while this was bought from Yan's restaurant. Since they were all made with the same ingredient, why do ours taste so different from theirs?"
Lin Dan smiled after tasting the dishes. She had been worrying about how to fight against the Yan family, now this young chef had given her a chance to do so. She did not mind having someone else fight for her if she could not fight against the Yan family herself.
As she thought about this, she waved her hand and said, "Let's go to the kitchen and show me how you made this dish. My dried goods were selected and accumulated from hundreds and thousands of sources, and they are all premium-grade ingredients. I don't think the ingredients are the problem. Since the ingredients are fine, something must be wrong with your cooking technique. Let's try finding the root cause of the issue."
The little cook nodded in agreement without hesitation. He followed Lin Dan to the kitchen and was incredibly well-behaved. The old manager glared at Lin Dan and wanted to yell at her for being rude, but he dared not speak up because of Tang Jiu's powerful presence. The group arrived at the kitchen and started cooking.
Lin Dan stared at the young chef for a long time and said after shaking her head, "You have good cooking basics, but you lack experience. When you cook using dry goods, most of your success comes from the way you soak the ingredients. If you lack the right technique to soak the dried ingredients, you naturally won't be able to make delicious dishes."
"For example, you can't merely soak this black ginseng in water. It is fine if you cut them into sections and stir-fry it. But if you add the entire black ginseng into the dish, it will make the texture of the meat uneven, with some areas soft, and others being hard. The dish won't taste good. I'll teach you a secret method – it's best to bake the black ginseng on a hot iron plate before soaking it in water. Then, burn the outer skin black with a low fire and use a knife to scrape off the black skin before boiling in water. The reason for doing this is to completely remove the moisture that was still present in the dried black ginseng. The meat texture will be even once all the moisture is removed. You can boil it and let it cool, do this step three times and the moisture will be completely gone. It will become so tender that it will leave a mark when you press it lightly with your finger."
She handled the black ginseng while explaining the steps, and amazed everyone with her pair of skillful hands. The young chef realized that Manager Lin was not merely a dry goods seller, but also a very experienced chef. She would not have come up with such a unique way of soaking black ginseng without three to five years of study and research. Also, not only did she come up with her own method, but she was also selfless in sharing her knowledge with others. He thought of her as someone who was kind and morally upright.
In order to learn more, the young chef quickly took over the work of soaking the black ginseng.
Lin Dan wiped her hands with a handkerchief and continued to handle the fish maw. She began explaining while heating the oil, "You also did not soak the shark's tripe properly. You need to soak it in oil to create a smooth and chewy texture. First, you need to soak the fish in medium hot oil before cooling it. Fry it on low fire on the stove before soaking it in clean water, ensuring that water has been fully absorbed. Add some of the used water and pat it with your hands to completely rinse off the astringency of the water. It can then be used to make delicious dishes. The tripes that are soaked in oil will taste soft and chewy, its freshness will also be retained no matter how it is cooked. With this method, even the poorest quality shark's tripe can be made into a delicacy."
Lin Dan was eloquent whenever she talked about cooking, and she did not stop moving as she spoke. She quickly heated a pot of oil and added the fish tripe into it. One would be able to tell whether a chef was truly skillful based on how she worked on the stove. The young chef's eyes were beaming when he looked at Lin Dan as if he had discovered a treasure.
While waiting for the oil to cool down, Lin Dan said again, "Look, you did not soak this bowl of black fungi correctly too. It's not enough to just soak it with boiling water, you have to add some coarse salt to soften it, and remove away the hair at the back…"
"Yes, you are right! Manager Lin, I was wrong to misunderstand you. Please forgive me for my ignorance! Please teach me how to cook, I am really not skillful enough at cooking! Some time ago, Yan's restaurant introduced a new dish called the Squirrel Mandarin Fish. The presentation and taste of that dish are superb. It has already attracted the remaining customers that would usually come to my restaurant. If I don't improve, the reputation of my imperial chef family will be tarnished in my hands!" The young chef clasped his hands and bow to Lin Dan repeatedly. In fact, Lin Dan was as good as her father and grandfather when it came to the technique of soaking dry goods, and she was more than qualified to be his master.
Translator:NovelMultiverseEditor:NovelMultiverse
Lin Dan soaked another bowl of black fungi with coarse salt and asked the kitchen assistant to continue soaking the remaining dry goods according to her instructions. She then turned around to look at the young chef and said slowly, "Since you've apologized sincerely, I will teach you one signature dish."
"Huh, what did you just say?" The young chef looked at Lin Dan in astonishment and thought he must have heard it wrongly. He already felt very privileged when Manager Lin was willing to impart some secret techniques of handling food ingredients and wondered why she would teach him a signature dish. He thought a signature dish was the "secret weapon" of every chef which would not be easily revealed to others.
"You heard me right. I will teach you a signature dish. You'll have to look at what I'm doing carefully." Lin Dan fished out a big carp from the bucket as she spoke and placed it on the chopping board before stunning the fish.
Tang Jiu glanced at her and at the silly young chef with a flash of interest appearing in his eyes.
"Manager Lin, wait! I'll get a paper and pen!" Seeing that Lin Dan did not seem to be joking, the young chef hurried to the front hall to get a stack of paper and a wolf hairbrush and scribbled: "Use one Yellow River big carp weighing three to four catties…"
"Are you done writing?" Lin Dan held a kitchen knife in one hand and a big carp in the other while waiting for the young chef with a smile. She enjoyed seeing people who were hardworking and studious and did not mind even if they were a little dense.
"Yes, yes. Please continue, Manager Lin!" The young chef nodded and bowed respectfully. The old manager was already looking at Lin Dan with admiration and was standing right beside Tang Jiu while looking at the cutting board eagerly.
Lin Dan continued, "I have tried the new Squirrel Mandarin Fish from Yan's restaurant before. It is a delicious dish with a sweet and sour taste with a soft and tender texture. But what I'm going to teach you now is better than theirs. It's a dish that also tastes sweet and sour which is called the Golden Lion Fish."
The "squirrel" versus the "golden lion" – the young chef thought that the dish was obviously a challenge posed to Yan's restaurant. He was still deep in thoughts when Lin Dan's extraordinary cutting technique soon made him forget everything. She removed the fish scales swiftly before slicing the fish on both sides into thin slices, cutting from the tail to the head of the fish. She started making shallow cuts before ending with deep cuts on each side eighteen times. With her smooth and consistent cuts, the big carp soon looked like a lotus bud. As she lifted the fishtail and shook, the pink "petals" bloomed and were aesthetically beautiful.
The young chef originally thought that her cutting technique was impressive enough, but he did not expect Lin Dan to use the scissors and cut the petal-like fish meat into six to seven strips before stacking on top of each other. The fishbone was covered with stripes of fish meat from head to tail, and this had already created a unique look. However, the young chef wondered how the fish could be cooked since it was cut into fine stripes and was worried that the meat would disintegrate once it came into contact with a spoon.
The young chef kept the questions in his mind as he scribbled away, but Lin Dan began to make a batter using six eggs, half a catty of water-based starch with a quarter catty of flour, before adding an appropriate amount of water to create a thick and golden paste. It was thick enough to hold the paste in one's hands and stringy when pulled apart.
"When making the egg batter, only use egg yolk instead of egg white, so that it produces a nice color. As for the starch, you must use only water-based starch instead of dry starch, or there will be rough edges on the fish meat. Water-based starch will create a smoother texture." Lin Dan explained simply before holding the fish head with one hand and the tail with the other. She then put the flower-like fish into the egg batter and spread the batter on it evenly. When it was removed from the batter, all the strips were stuck together and dripping with egg liquid. The fish did not look aesthetically good for now, but it would look like a golden lion after being deep-fried in the wok, where all the strips would spread out nicely one by one.
As the young chef and the old manager marveled at Lin Dan's culinary skill, she explained slowly, "When the fish strips are all immersed in the oil, you need to shake it hard thrice so that the strips will spread out one by one. Push the fish head down after the shaking and slightly lift up the tail, so that the strips would gather near its head to create the shape of a golden lion. This is key to the aesthetics of the dish. Oil temperature will naturally be lower after the fish is added to the wok, this is why you must fry it quickly when the fish is more than half cooked so that it can set the fish in shape. At this time, you can release the fish to fry its tail before flipping it using a colander. Continue frying it for a while before removing it from the wok to add the sauce on it."
Although Lin Dan made everything sound easy, it was actually very difficult to make the dish. It was already a test of cutting skills by cutting the fish meat into strips, not to mention the making of batter and deep-frying, which made seasoning the easiest step. When frying the fish, the chef's hands had to hold the fish head and tail firmly while keeping the fish close to the surface of the boiling oil, so that all the tender fish meat was soaked in the hot oil. The high temperature of the oil may even burn a layer of skin if the chef was not careful, but the dish would be ruined if the whole fish was immersed in the boiling oil before the strips were well-fried.
The young chef took a close look at Manager Lin's hand and saw a thick layer of calluses on her fingertips. He knew this was the proof of hardship she had to endure while frying food on high-temperature countless times. She gently shook the fish strips with patience and full concentration, without showing any pain on her face.
After adding the entire fish into the wok, she took out a clean pot before pouring some vegetable oil. She instructed the young chef, "Remove the fish from the wok when it is fried to a golden brown. Put the fish on the plate with its belly down. I'll make the sauce next." As she spoke, the oil in the pot was already heated up. She crushed lime and persimmon with her hands and pressed it with a large spoon. Next, she added sugar, white vinegar, and water to create a thick sweet, and sour sauce. After thickening, she poured the sauce evenly on the fluffy and crispy fish strips. Finally, the Golden Lion Fish was ready.
The fragrant sweet and sour sauce filled everyone's nose instantly and caused their mouths to water. This dish did not only have a strong aroma but also had a strong appearance. It looked like a lion with a messy mane, as though it was baring its teeth and showing its claws.
"Wow, it smells good!" The young chef swallowed his saliva.
"Can I try it?" Tang Jiu stared at Lin Dan eagerly. He had always been a reserved man but would show his desire and greed when it came to food.
"Sure." Lin Dan wiped away her sweat with a piece of cloth.
The young chef and Tang Jiu picked up the chopsticks immediately and were about to try the dish. At this moment, the old manager, who went out without anyone noticing, rushed into the kitchen and said and hurriedly, "No, you can't eat that! Prince Cheng is here, and he wants to eat the dish you just made! Hurry up, Xiaodouzi! Serve the dish now and don't keep the prince waiting!"
The waiter got under Tang Jiu's arm and ran away after taking the dish.
Lin Dan was so immersed in cooking that she did not know that the sauce she made had been sent out from the window to the street. Similar to the Duke of Yongding, this prince was a well-known food connoisseur in the capital. Food tasting was his greatest hobby and he was originally a frequent visitor to the Qiaoyuan Restaurant. However, he visited less when the young chef's father passed away.
On this day, he wanted to go to Yan's Restaurant for lunch. But when he passed by Qiaoyuan Restaurant, his long-term servant who accepted some rewards from the old manager casually said that Qiaoyuan Restaurant had imported a new batch of premium seafood and suggested the prince try it.
Prince Cheng had a close relationship with the young chef's father and thought he should give the restaurant a shot. However, there was another carriage that stopped right next to him. It was Prince Gong who appeared from the window and said while chuckling, "Brother, do not be fooled. I fell for it yesterday, but that young Qiu's skills are still bad and I'm sure he won't be able to make dishes with top-quality seafood. The food he made is far worse than Yan's restaurant!"
Prince Cheng glanced at his servant and wanted to leave, but suddenly he smelled a unique sweet and sour aroma before the smell of the freshness of fish and the mellowness of fat came. It smelled delicious, he thought.
"What's that smell? Smell it, can you smell it?!" Prince Cheng got up immediately and stretched his neck out of the car window, sniffing around like a puppy.
Prince Gong who was giggling suddenly became speechless, he quickly closed his mouth and swallowed the saliva that was watering in his mouth.
The long-term servant who was disheartened and fearful quickly said, "Master, the smell came from Qiaoyuan Restaurant. I believe Chef Qiu is cooking."
"Let's go in and take a look!" Prince Cheng could not hold himself back anymore. He immediately got out of the carriage and ran to the restaurant quickly. As he did not see the manager welcoming him, he shouted loudly, "Where are they? What kind of dishes are you making in the kitchen? Serve it to me right now!"
The waiter quickly seated the prince and ran to the kitchen to report the situation to the old manager. The old manager then saved the dish from the mouths of the young chef and Tang Jiu and hurriedly brought it to the front hall.
Prince Gong had already lost confidence in Qiu's dishes. Originally, he had only planned to sit in the carriage and watch how things would unfold, but he could not hold himself back anymore once the dish was served. He quickly retracted his head from the window and left the carriage before running to the restaurant. He even hit his head on the roof of the car because he was in such a rush and was feeling dizzy. He held his head and finally rushed to the table, where he took a deep breath when he looked at the dish. Prince Cheng also stared in amazement with a look of astonishment.
They thought that the Squirrel Mandarin Fish at Yan's restaurant was already a masterpiece in terms of the cutting techniques, aesthetics, color, and seasoning, but when this dish came out, it had immediately shattered the legend of Yan's cuisine.
The dish had a beautiful and unique appearance with firm strips of the fish meat gathering towards the head of the fish. When the crispy skin of the fish was pierced by chopsticks, the pink and white meat underneath was revealed. By combining with the viscous soup, the fresh, tender, and crisp texture as well as the sour and sweet taste had exploded on the tip of the tongue. What a marvelous experience, they thought.
Prince Cheng carefully picked up a piece of "lion hair" and quickly stuffed it into his mouth. His eyes narrowed immediately, and the layers of wrinkles on his face unfolded at a speed visible to the naked eye as if he was several years younger.
"Does it taste good?" Prince Gong eagerly pulled up his sleeve.
Prince Cheng ignored him again and took another "lion hair" to taste it carefully. He kept shaking his head and smacking his lips with an annoying look on his face.
"Hey, speak up! I'm getting annoyed!" Prince Gong rolled up his sleeves and yelled, "Hey waiter, you are blind? Don't you see me here? Go and get me another set of utensils! Hurry up!" Otherwise, he was going to eat with his hands and ignore any table manners a royalty should have.
The waiter clambered to get another pair of chopsticks but saw that the two noble princes were almost fighting on the table. They were trying to push each other's chopsticks back and none of them were willing to back down. Prince Cheng yelled, "Get the hell out of here! I was the one who ordered this, it's not for you!"
"We are brothers after all! What's wrong with sharing food?"
"Why don't you order one for yourself if you want to try it?!"
"I don't want to wait for it to be made, I can't hold myself back anymore just with this smell!"
Seeing this situation, the waiter had to rush back to the kitchen and ask Manager Lin to make another golden lionfish, otherwise, the two princes would really break into a fight.
Lin Dan did not feel flattered or uneasy. She rolled up her sleeves slowly and said, "In that case, I shall offer you more help by making another dish."
Translator:NovelMultiverseEditor:NovelMultiverse
As the two princes were already enjoying the golden lionfish together, it was obviously unnecessary to prepare the same dish. Lin Dan ignored the waiter who kept hurrying her and picked up some fresh pig's kidneys before slicing each piece of kidney beautifully in the shape of a wheat flower. She then quickly boiled the kidneys before adding the sesame sauce, peanut sauce, chili oil, vinegar, sugar, and other seasonings to make a thick sesame sauce before pouring it on the kidneys. She slowly explained, "You need to stir hard when making the sauce with water, oil, sesame, and peanut sauce so that the sauce will coat the kidneys well."
She picked up a piece of kidney and motioned everyone to observe carefully. The kidney was coated in a very thick sauce with high viscosity, and the observers could already imagine its deliciousness just by looking at the appearance of the sauce. Although it was a thick sauce, it was able to coat the kidneys well without having a single drop of sauce dripping down, which could greatly retain the taste and texture of the kidneys.
Chef Qiu looked at it carefully and quickly scribbled the technique of making this dish.
"You may serve this now." Lin Dan rinsed the pot and continued to make the next dish. As the two princes were distinguished guests and were already eating, she did not want them to wait for too long before serving the next dish. As such, she had decided to select a few simple and quick dishes to lay the whole dining table with food as soon as possible. In that way, it would look good at the restaurant and guests would also eat with satisfaction.
As many of the dry goods were not ready for use, Lin Dan decided to check the tank and found a few live sea cucumbers and abalone inside. She quickly took them out and cleaned it.
"Next, I'm going to make some sea cucumber salad. Does your restaurant have ice? Please get me some if you do." Lin Dan quickly handled the sea cucumber as she spoke.
"Yes, we do. Zhou Fu, go to the cellar and bring some ice cubes over!" Young Chef Qiu turned around and instructed the kitchen assistant. Since Lin Dan had started soaking black ginseng, these kitchen assistants had stopped working and stared at her eagerly. For them, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn some secrets from the top chef.
Zhou Fu ran to the cellar, fearing that Manager Lin had taught everyone else something while he was away, and he would miss a learning chance.
Lin Dan cut the live sea cucumbers open and removed the internal organs. She then cleaned themupbefore cutting them into strips and slowly explained, "Handling live sea cucumbers can also be troublesome because it's difficult to control the heat while cooking. The meat texture becomes hard if the sea cucumber and may have a fishy smell if it is undercooked. But I have a trick to this right – test the water temperature with your finger when the water is about to boil. If your finger can only stay in the water for a while, and the skin burns and hurts when you remove the finger from the water, this means that the water is hot enough. The cooked sea cucumber strips will soften when placed in cold water which will affect the taste. At this time, boil the sea cucumber again and pour it into ice water to freeze it. The meat will constrict quickly, forming a unique taste that is soft on the outside and chewy on the inside, which is very suitable for creating a cold dish."
She put the boiled sea cucumbers in ice water for use later and prepared a pot to make the salad sauce. She added finely chopped fresh chili, shallots, garlic, light soy sauce, and vinegar into the sesame oil to make a light brown sauce. The sea cucumber salad was ready once the sauce was drizzled onto the sea cucumber strips.
Chef Qiu quickly picked up the chopsticks and took a bite. Tang Jiu also gave the dish a try under the cold stare of the old manager and his long and narrow eyes suddenly lit up. It was all because he found the taste of the sea cucumber salad to be absolutely perfect. The fishy and astringent taste of the sea cucumber was gone, and the freshness of the sea cucumbers filled his mouth. The sea cucumbers were also crunchy yet soft and chewy at the same time and it had a unique taste when the hot and sour cold sauce was drizzled on it.
Chef Qiu had regretted picking up that pair of chopsticks. If he had not tried this dish, he wouldn't know how delicious this dish was and would not be heartbroken to see that dish being taken away by the waiter.
Tang Jiu's pair of eagle eyes stared at the waiter and made him so scared that he almost walked away while clinging onto the wall.
Lin Dan took the abalone and continued, "Live abalones do not taste good as dried abalones as they are less chewy. But there's a way to make live abalones taste like dried abalone, which is by soaking it with sugar water. First, soak the live abalones in ice cubes and keep it in shape before soaking it in sugar water. It's also easy to remove the black layer on the soaked abalones."
She took the abalone that was soaked in sugar water in her hand and brushed it lightly. The black layer that was usually difficult to remove had started to fall off. The white and tender abalone meat was exposed in the air and looked surprisingly good.
"Cook the clean abalones with their shells before removing it and it is ready to be served. Live abalones that are cooked with this method are soft and springy, and almost comparable to dried abalones. The dish I'm making now is called braised live abalone. It will be ready after adding an appropriate amount of salt, sugar, cooking wine, and broth before simmering for a while on low heat and thickening the sauce over high heat. Now, I will take up for you to try."
Lin Dan fished out an abalone and put it in a small dish by itself before letting the waiter serve the remaining abalones. Everyone swarmed up to have a taste, but they were all pushed away by Tang Jiu. He finished most of the abalone just with his brute strength and his face was full of contentment.
After making a few other meat dishes, Lin Dan boiled a clean lion's mane mushroom into the milky soymilk before removing it when it was half-cooked. She then poured it into the bone broth to continue cooking while adding different seasonings at times and the white soymilk gradually turned red. When the mushroom had softened, its surface would create irregular grooves that were similar to brain folding before it was carefully removed with a colander. The water that it produced was then thickened with cornstarch.
When the waiter came in to serve the next dish, he was surprised by what he saw and asked, "It's been a long time since we have gotten monkey's brains in the restaurant. Where did these monkey's brains come from?"
"This dish is called the Braised Monkey's Brain but is made with the lion's mane mushroom. It is made by removing the strong smell with soymilk before stewing it in bone broth to add in the bone marrow taste and finally adding the meat broth to add a meaty flavor to it. When it has been boiled in all three soups, it can not only retain the freshness of the mushroom but also add a unique bone marrow and meaty taste to the monkey brain, which can make people mistake it for the real thing."
What Lin Dan said may sound simple, but it was actually difficult to make the dish. It all depended on the chef's experience to know the kinds of ingredients to be added at the specific heat level, the time to change the soup, and the time to remove the mushroom from the soon. If one of the steps was done wrongly, the flavor may turn out differently; or if the chef had used too much force while cooking, the mushroom would be broken into pieces. This showed that every detail in making this dish was a test of the chef's knowledge and skills.
Even if everyone at the scene had watched Lin Dan create the dish with their own eyes, they would not be able to recreate it. This was a common problem when learning from a top chef, as long as the chef did not make things clear, nobody would be able to master anything just by observing the steps. This was why there was a saying that goes, "there's a universe within the kitchen spatula and real gold on the stove".
As always, Tang Jiu picked up the chopsticks and wanted to poke the mushroom, but Lin Dan stopped him immediately. She said helplessly, "Take it easy, sir. It wasn't easy for me to make this into the shape of a monkey brain. How can the guests enjoy this if you make a hole in it?"
Tang Jiu put down his chopsticks with a grim expression, but the scent of the lion's mane mushroom was still lingering on the tip of his nose. He could not help but sneak to the front hall and thought it would be better watching others enjoying the food if he could not have it. But soon, he realized that it was more excruciating to watch others eat.
However, he noticed that the empty front hall was already filled with diners, who were all attracted by the smell of delicacies that were served on the table of the two princes. When the waiter asked for their orders, they all pointed to the princes' tables and urged, "Just get me the same dishes as Prince Cheng. I want it exactly the same and have it served to me as soon as possible!"
Different kinds of aroma filled the air and were making people's mouth water.
That was not all, as Prince Cheng ate, he commented with an extremely loud voice, "Aw, this cold sea cucumber is extremely fresh! It is crunchy and smooth and tastes amazing! It's not easy to create this dish with such texture, it becomes too hard if it's overcooked, but would not be able to remove the unpleasant taste if it's undercooked. This is just right, it's perfectly done!" He raised his thumb as he spoke.
Prince Gong hurriedly took more food as Prince Cheng was speaking.
"Hey, is this dried abalone or live abalone? It tastes so fresh that I believe it is live abalone, yet it has a sticky and springy texture that makes me think it's dried abalone! Darn, I really have no idea!" Prince Cheng smacks his lips as he ate.
The waiter bowed and replied, "Your highness, live abalone was used for this dish. We have created a slightly unique taste by cooking with a special technique."
Prince Cheng waved his hand time and again, "This is not just 'slightly unique', it's very unique! I have eaten so many kinds of abalone dishes and this one tastes the best! It has perfectly combined the strengths of cooking with dried abalone and live abalone!"
Prince Gong remained silent and continued eating.
"Braised monkey brain?" After eating the last dish, Prince Cheng said satisfyingly: "Since disaster has occurred in the south, I've not eaten braised monkey brains for more than half a year. This is truly delicious and flavorful! All the red and greasy soup has entered the brain and the juice is oozing out just with one bite. It has a faint fishiness combined with a tinge of freshness and is absolutely amazing!"
He slapped the spoon that Prince Gong had stretched out away and took the whole dish into his arms.
The waiter explained carefully, "Your highness, this is not monkey brain but lion's mane mushroom. Do you want to give it another try?"
"Huh? It was made with lion's mane mushroom?" Prince Cheng was dumbfounded and tried it again and again, but he was unable to tell the difference. "Darn it! I've tried at least dozens or even hundreds of monkey brains, how is it possible that I can't tell the difference between the two? This is definitely made with the freshest monkey brains that have just been removed from live monkeys! You better not lie to me!"
"I'm telling the truth, your highness. This was indeed made with the lion's mane mushroom." The waiter did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Prince Cheng stopped talking and slapped away his younger brother's hand who wanted to steal some food from him again. He rushed to pick up the mushrooms and finished them up in a couple of mouthfuls before wiping his mouth and exclaimed, "I don't care whether it was monkey brains or lion's mane mushrooms, this is the taste that I love! To be able to make a vegetarian dish taste like a meat dish that has an extremely meaty and unique taste, the chef's skills are really…"
Prince Cheng raised the thumb of his left hand, followed by the thumb of his right hand, and then brought the two thumbs together to express the meaning of "reaching the peak of perfection".
"This is even comparable with the chefs of the imperial kitchen!" Prince Gong praised sincerely.
As more diners were attracted by his table of food, the restaurant was starting to get lively with the increasing number of people, as if it had gone back to its most glorious time. The old manager was on the verge of tears as he saw the scene and thought that he must keep Manager Lin in this restaurant no matter what. He knew she would be the gem of the restaurant!
Translator:NovelMultiverseEditor:NovelMultiverse
The old manager would not be able to keep Lin Dan as she had her own restaurant to run. After serving dishes for ten tables of diners, seeing that the peak hour was almost over, she got ready to leave after washing her hands and face. The dried goods that were soaked with the techniques she imparted were ready for use. Although young chef Qiu had only learned less than half of her skills, he was able to create delicious dishes perfectly and had received praise from the diners.
When Lin Dan left, he gave her two recipes and said gratefully, "Manager Lin, these are the secret recipes of the Qiu family. I'm giving them to you." He wanted to pay for Manager Lin's signature dishes, but he thought she may not want to accept monetary payment and decided to do a "barter trade" as a sign of his sincerity.
Lin Dan thought he was handing her money notes and was about to refuse it, but she heard what he said and accepted his offer. She looked around hurriedly and spoke to him in a friendlier tone, "Thank you very much. I will come here every day to teach you how to make the golden lionfish late in the afternoon and leave early in the evening until you've mastered this dish. If Yan's restaurant introduces another new signature dish, I will teach you another dish until you've mastered it. I'll teach you any dish that can compete with theirs until you've mastered them all."
Chef Qiu was in disbelief and questioned, "Manager Lin, could there be some animosity between you and the Yan's restaurant?"
"I wanted to open my own Shandong cuisine opposite their restaurant, but they thwarted my plans. Do you think I can still be friendly with them?"
"Sigh, it counts as my blessing that they have thwarted your plans, or you will definitely be the most popular restaurant on the street!" The young chef was a straightforward man and immediately regretted what he said. He looked at her with a "please forgive me" written all over his face.
Lin Dan pointed at him and said with a chuckle, "I'll take that as a compliment! If anyone asks you, just tell them that you've gotten yourself a mentor. Do not reveal my name and identity." She left through the backdoor after she finished her speech.
Young chef Qiu quickly agreed to her request. He knew that the Yan family was unscrupulous enough to use dirty tricks on their competitors. But food quality was something nobody could lie about. As long as the diners were able to tell whether the dishes they served were delicious or not, he did not care whether he was being honest with who he learned the dishes from. He hid behind the screen while observing the dining hall and noticed the two princes leaving. They had even asked for takeaways for the food they did not manage to finish. As it was common for the royalties to waste food, it was rare to see that they did not even bear to waste any food today.
"This won't do. I must meet this new chef and ask him how the lion mane's mushroom was made. I'm sure that young Qiu is unable to create this flavor." The prince walked to the entrance and turned around, calling for the old manager to introduce their new head chef.
Young Qiu had no choice but to apologize and said that his mentor had left but would be back tomorrow afternoon. He also said that his mentor would make dishes occasionally in Qiaoyuan Restaurant and it all depended on their luck whether they were able to try her food.
"So, when will she come?" Prince Cheng asked.
"She'll come in the late afternoon and leave early in the evening."
"Wouldn't she miss the meal times, then?"
"She's only here to teach me how to cook. She's not the chef of this restaurant." Chef Qiu answered carefully.
"Never mind, I don't mind pushing back my lunchtime. Did you say late afternoon? I'll be here again tomorrow!" Prince Cheng walked away with his bulging belly while holding a food box in his hand. Other diners who were eavesdropping on their conversation had planned to visit the restaurant again the next day as well. They did not mind waiting for good food.
Chef Qiu respectfully saw the two princes off and noticed the manager of Yan's restaurant sneakily peeking into their restaurant at a corner. The Yan's restaurant was empty and there were few patrons.
Chef Qiu lifted his chin and gave him a "hmph". He finally felt assured ever since his father had passed away.
—-
It was already evening when Lin Dan and Tang Jiu returned to South District. As the red and orange sunset filled the skies, it also made their faces flushed with warmth and peacefulness. Both of them remained silent and walked behind each other. When they walked deep into the alley and arrived at the restaurant, they saw a middle-aged woman who was dressing scantily speaking to Xiao-zhu. She was making advances to Xiao-zhu and was acting promiscuously.
When Xiao-zhu saw Lin Dan, he heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly said, "Our manager is here, why don't you speak to her instead?" Xiao-zhu escaped immediately after finishing his sentence as if he saw a ghost.
The middle-aged woman chuckled as she watched him making his escape. She then turned around and said to Lin Dan, "Sell this shop to me for ten silver taels." Without waiting for Lin Dan's reply, she continued, "I heard that you have spent twenty silver taels for this place and I'm sure you're unwilling to sell it for ten taels. But think about it, since this shop is hidden deep in the alley, nobody would find it! If you sell it to me now, you'd be able to minimize your losses, isn't it?"
"Aren't you afraid of suffering losses, too?" Lin Dan walked over to her at a steady pace.
"Well, we're selling bodies here, do you think you can compare your business to mine? As long as my girls open their legs, my customers will know where to enter. But this is not the same for you, do you think your customers will find you here?" The middle-aged woman spoke crudely and even the mild-tempered Lin Dan was frowning at her speech.
Tang Jiu wanted to take a step forward and throw the woman out of the shop, but Lin Dan pulled his sleeve lightly to stop him. She said gently, "I'm sorry, we're not selling this shop. You may have to look for other shops." It was important to keep calm when doing business and this was why Lin Dan never got angry no matter how nasty the other party was. Her emotions were seldom affected by external factors as if she was born with lesser emotions or desires than others.
The middle-aged woman seemed to be intimidated by Tang Jiu's eagle eyes and left the shop hurriedly. But as she went out, she turned around and said, "I have a brothel at that corner of the street, it's called the Crimson House. If you have changed your mind, you may find me there, my name is Qin Er'niang. But I'll tell you this first, I may not offer to buy this shop at such a high price the next time!" She had just gotten two new beautiful girls from Jiangnan and intended to keep them deep in the alley. In this way, they could be put up for long-term rental and bring in more profits. Lin Dan's shop was located at one of the quietest places and Qin Er'niang took a liking to her shop at once. It was a pity that Lin Dan had refused to sell the shop.
"Forget it, I'm sure you'd suffer huge losses by opening a restaurant deep in the alley!" Qin Er'niang cursed in her mind. She felt better after cursing and eagerly waited for Lin Dan to approach her in the future.
Lin Dan did not take what she said to heart and carried on with what she was doing after a chuckle. But Tan Jiu said worriedly, "Why don't you open a restaurant in the West District instead? I own a few shops there and can sell or even rent them to you. I'm sure the Yan family would not dare to create trouble for you."
"Thank you for your kind gesture." Lin Dan turned around and looked at him. She asked in a tender voice, "Tang Jiu, what do you think is the best dish in the world?"
This was a difficult question for the food connoisseur. He had tried all sorts of food around the world and fell in love with various types of flavors, but he was unable to compare each of them and select the best one among them. Each type of cuisine had its own characteristics and strengths, as well as the people who appreciated it. Even dishes that were made in the palace may not appeal to everyone, as there were some who liked it and others who did not. This was why it was difficult to satisfy everyone's palate.
Lin Dan saw that he was unable to come up with an answer, she pointed to the signboard on the door and said, "If I'm able to make the most delicious cuisine in the world, why should I worry?"
Tang Jiu raised his head and had a sudden realization. He saw that the signboard was written with two words – Hometown Kitchen. There was no doubt that hometown cuisine was the most delicious food in the world. No matter where one went or whether they had tried any kinds of delicacies, in the middle of a cold and lonely night, they would be missing the most memorable taste of childhood or hometown. This is especially so in the South District where most of them were wanderers who came from elsewhere, the more they got used to the capital food, the more they would yearn for their hometown food.
Lin Dan spent ten years traveling all over the country of Great Chu and learned most local dishes. She doubted she would suffer from losses if she were to open a restaurant here.
Seeing that Tang Jiu had figured it out, Lin Dan chuckled, "If we're in West District, I will open a Shandong restaurant; if we're in East District, I will open a Huaiyang restaurant; and if we're in North District, I will open a noodle restaurant. No matter where my restaurant is located, I'm not worried that my business would fail." As she had faith in her culinary skills, she was more confident and cool-headed than others in everything she did.
As there were more officials and nobles in the South District, she would open a Shandong restaurant which was well-liked by the officials. Most of the people in the East District were rich and knowledgeable and enjoyed having extravagant food. This was why serving Huaiyang cuisine was a good choice because the cuisine paid more attention to aesthetics and elegance and almost every famous Huaiyang dish had a story behind it, which would appeal to the liking of the rich. As most poor people resided in the North District, it would make sense to simply open a shop that serves Yangchun noodles or Zhajiang noodles. As for the South District, it also made perfect sense to open a restaurant that served local hometown dishes… The dirty tricks of the Yan family would never be able to worry Lin Dan at all.
Tang Jiu had thought about these business strategies on his way home and realized he had got to know Lin Dan a little bit better.
"Looks like I have been worrying for nothing." He sighed with mixed emotion.
"But I must still thank you for your kindness." Lin Dan walked back into the kitchen and moved the three pots of soup into a large pot before continuing to cook them over a low fire. She took up a kitchen knife and started cutting the cabbage. She cut the cabbage using different knife techniques and carved it into different shapes, such as the centipede, peony, wheat flower, and so on. The cuts slowly spread out beautifully after being soaked in water.
Tang Jiu stared at her superb cutting skills for a long time before pointing to the wok filled with sand and asked, "Are you going to make sugar roasted chestnuts?"
Lin Dan shook her head and said, "After practicing my knife techniques, I need to practice stirring food in the wok with a spatula. How can I improve the strength of my wrist without having any weight in the wok? I would become less familiar with cutting if I don't practice daily, and this is the same for stirring food in the wok. If my wrist is not strong enough, I won't be able to create the original taste or the dish."
Tang Jiu could not help but sighed, "Practicing cooking doesn't seem to be much easier than practicing martial arts."
"It's not surprising at all, since each craft is mastered by practicing." Lin Dan put down the kitchen knife and walked into the kitchen. She lifted the lid of the large earthen pot that was boiling the braised sauce and slowly stirred the sauce with a long spatula. She then removed the softened whole chicken, duck, pig's trotters, pork belly, and other food ingredients, before adding fresh whole chicken, duck, pig's trotters, pork belly, pork skin, and other ingredients. She kept cooking the sauce before covering the lid and wrapping a wet towel around the rim of the pot. A slate was also placed on the lid to prevent the flavor from escaping.
But Tan Jiu almost fainted the moment when the lid was lifted. It was not because it smelled bad, but it was because it smelled too good that his soul was almost taken away by it!