Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 91 My Sister-in-Law's Private Restaurant

Li Pan was eventually transferred away.

Three days after the banquet, the official document from the imperial court arrived, officially changing Li Pan's post from magistrate of Hejiang County to judge of Luzhou.

The local gentry and common people of Hejiang County didn't have much affection for this newly appointed magistrate, but they still went to the dock to see him off as usual, and the scene was quite spectacular.

After seeing off this official who had been of great help to him, Lu Beigu felt a moment of melancholy, somewhat sentimental about his time in Hejiang County. Although brief, it was indeed the time when he truly settled down and made his living since coming into this world.

No matter how far he goes in the future, he will never forget Hejiang County.

In about ten days, Lu Beigu will also be heading to Luchuan County, the capital of Luzhou Prefecture. On the one hand, he will be enrolling in the prefectural school, and on the other hand, Han Ziyu and Han Sanniang have extended an invitation to him, hoping to show him around.

Before that, he still had some things to do in Hejiang County. Besides studying to prepare for the preliminary test for the state school, he also needed to settle his family so that there would be no worries.

He left the city from the dock and walked to the Fawang Temple, which was not far outside the city.

As Lu Beigu climbed the bluestone steps, he could hear the clear chanting of children coming from the Prajna Sutra Hall.

“Lu Tanyue”.

The monks in the temple recognized him; after all, he was the talented man who turned the tide in this year's Zen Gathering, and he was quite famous among the monks of Fawang Temple.

After exchanging greetings with the monks, Lu Beigu wasn't in a hurry. It seemed the sermon would last a while longer, so he peeked out from the door of the Prajna Sutra Hall.

I saw my little niece, Lu Yuchi, sitting upright on a prayer mat, her hands clasped together, reciting the Diamond Sutra word by word with the old monk.

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the country of Shravasti.

The little girl looked extremely serious as she shook her head, the red string tied to her hair swaying gently with her movements.

Lu Yanxi, who was sitting next to her, was getting restless and was secretly moving her fingertips along with the ants crawling along the edge of the cushion.

Afterwards, the old monk of the Prajna Sutra House told the children some interesting stories based on the Diamond Sutra, and taught them to hold wooden pens like they would hold a calligraphy brush and write on the sand tray in front of each of them. This marked the end of the day's secular lecture.

The children stood up, bowed, and then left the monastery laughing and joking, preparing to go home.

"Speaking slowly, speaking in a peculiar way."

Lu Beigu called out softly, and the two children immediately noticed him.

Lu Yuchi's eyes lit up, and she ran over, lifting her skirt, the little bells hanging from her wrist jingling.

"Uncle!" she exclaimed, holding up a bamboo plaque as if it were a treasure. "The abbot gave me a Dharma name, 'Miaoyin'!"

Sure enough, the bamboo plaque had the words "Wonderful Sound" written on it, and Sanskrit was engraved on the back.

Lu Yanxi also came over, holding up her bamboo sign and muttering, "My name is 'Huiming'. But I want to be called 'Mighty Vajra'."

Lu Beigu couldn't help but chuckle, squatting down to look the two children in the eye: "What did you learn in the Buddhist lecture today?"

"I've learned about cause and effect, and karma!"

Lu Yuchi interjected, "The old monk said that those who make offerings will be able to wear beautiful clothes in their next life, just like the Shu brocade that my uncle bought for my mother!"

"What else did you learn?"

"I also learned," Lu Yanxi scratched his head, "that I can't kill ants, because ants might be transformed humans."

The two children chattered away, the sunlight casting long shadows of the three of them onto the stone steps, and the pine trees on both sides of the mountain path rustled.

Lu Beigu simply nodded as he listened to them, offering no comment.

The Prajnaparamita Sutra's discussion of renunciation of worldly life is definitely related to Buddhism. However, the old monk did not make these children become monks; he only taught them to have good intentions. Listening to the teachings was much better than not going to school and wandering around in the city.

Besides, while the idea of ​​karma and retribution may not hold true from a realistic perspective, isn't the purpose of life to seek peace of mind? There's nothing wrong with avoiding doing things that would make you feel guilty in order to have peace of mind.

Soon, they walked into the city and returned home.

The house was a bit different from before. There were carpenters and other craftsmen doing some simple interior renovations in the front shop. With so many people working, it was bound to be crowded and noisy. However, considering health factors, Lu Beigu didn't let them paint too much, and the tables and chairs they bought were all relatively new second-hand items.

He designed the plans himself, and the craftsmen could probably understand them. After all, it's a private restaurant, so the interior decoration still pursues a certain style, trying to make it more upscale than ordinary small restaurants.

There's no need to do any exterior decoration; just hang up a new signboard.

Pei Yan, wearing a veiled hat, stood by supervising the work to prevent the craftsmen from fooling her.

However, she wasn't actually needed here, because next to her was a short, thin woman negotiating with the craftsmen. It was none other than Feng Jinhua, the daughter of fisherman Lao Feng.

She was a notoriously feisty woman in the area, and the craftsmen were completely stumped by her questions.

The reason Feng Jinhua appeared here was because she heard that Pei Yan wanted to renovate the old butcher shop and open a restaurant, so she volunteered to help.

Pei Yan's kind nature and ability to get along with her were reasons, but the more important reason was that Feng Jinhua was very dissatisfied with her family's statements. She felt that her failure to open a shop was not her fault, so she wanted to observe how others opened shops and see if they would also fail like her.

"Sister-in-law."

Lu Beigu led the two children and called out amidst the flying sawdust.

Pei Yan turned around at the sound of her voice, and her brows and eyes, hidden beneath the light veil of her hat, immediately relaxed: "You're back just in time. The kitchen said they need to make changes too."

Just as Lu Beigu was about to reply, he suddenly felt a tightness in his sleeve. Looking down, he saw Lu Yuchi clutching his sleeve, her face pale as she stared at the ground.

A centipede is crawling out of the newly planed wood shavings.

Feng Jinhua reacted quickly, crushing it in two with a single kick.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid." She squatted down and pinched Lu Yuchi's cheek. "Auntie will fry you some crispy centipedes."

These words startled the two children, who immediately hid behind Lu Beigu, which amused everyone.

"However, young master of the Lu family."

At this point, Feng Jinhua said, "I've eaten at so many restaurants and eateries in Hejiang County, but I've never seen any of the dishes on your menu before, and they're not cheap either. How can you really make a profit?"

Since it involved business secrets, Lu Beigu naturally wouldn't explain too much to her. He simply said, "As the saying goes, 'Jiang Taigong fishes, and those who are willing will take the bait.' If you cook good food, there will always be people willing to eat it."

Feng Jinhua looked at him with some skepticism, stayed a while longer, and then returned to her own butcher shop after all the craftsmen had finished their work.

"Uncle, are you cooking today too?"

With no one else around, Lu Yanxi was practically drooling.

"Of course." Lu Beigu patted his head. "You two go and wait!"

As a seasoned gourmet, food was one of the few hobbies Lu Beigu had before he transmigrated, and besides eating, he could also cook.

The main purpose of opening a private restaurant this time is to give my sister-in-law a job so that she won't feel uncomfortable about "living off her savings". After all, it would be torture for Pei Yan to stay at home with nothing to do. Rather than doing embroidery for others, it would be better to open a small restaurant herself.

So, a couple of days ago, Lu Beigu carefully fabricated a reason that he had "been inspired by books from the Tang Dynasty" and told his sister-in-law that he would teach her how to make some new dishes and open a private restaurant.

At first, nobody believed it.

Lu Beigu's family members all thought his idea was absurd. Making money by opening a restaurant with these new dishes created by Lu Beigu himself seemed like a fantasy.

But after they tasted the dishes Lu Beigu made, they immediately changed their minds.

Because chili peppers and fermented soybean paste did not exist in the Song Dynasty, Lu Beigu could only use red chili oil and fermented black beans as substitutes. The taste of the dish was definitely inferior, but it was still amazing enough for people of that era.

In the past few days, Lu Beigu has also cooked classic Sichuan dishes such as Mapo Tofu, Twice-Cooked Pork, Kung Pao Chicken, Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce, Boiled Lamb, and Spicy Chicken, and has told Pei Yan how to make them.

Of course, for dishes with names like "Mapo" and "Kung Pao" that have origins, the specific names must be slightly changed, otherwise it will look very strange.

(End of this chapter)