Traveling to an ancient peasant family: I got rich by doing business

Li Yu's attitude was firm, so Wu Dagou and Qian had to agree. After all, apologizing was just a loss of face, which was nothing compared to going to the county to see the county magistrate.

But this was not a good thing. When Li Yu and the villagers arrived at the designated location in the evening, there were two slap marks on Qian's face and she was limping.

Some villagers don't remember things, or they don't feel the pain because it didn't happen to them. Seeing Qian like this, they softened their hearts again and secretly complained that Li Yuxin was too cruel. They were from the same village and would see each other every day, but she insisted on making people like this.

When Li Yu heard this, he just remembered the names of these people in his mind and did not argue with them.

In fact, she didn't necessarily want to embarrass Qian, but Qian was not the kind of person who would correct her mistakes after admitting them. She had no morals, and leaving room for her would only bring trouble to herself.

It would be better to subdue Qian in one go!

After all the villagers gathered, under the chairmanship of the village chief, Qian told Li Yu what she had done with a pale face, and said sorry to Li Yu, saying that it was her fault.

Li Yu didn't say "it's okay", but just said: "I hope Sister Qian really knows she's wrong. If it happens again, I will definitely let you have a taste of prison food."

Qian's body froze.

Li Yu didn't look at her again and took Han Xiaomei and Han Zheng home.

*

The next day was the day when the Qin Mansion held a banquet. The banquet started in the evening. After Li Yu sold the meat in the morning, he did not go home and went straight to the Qin Mansion.

After noon, I started to prepare the ingredients, washing and cutting what needed to be washed. At 4:30 pm, I started cooking. The stewed chicken with pork belly and the corn and pork ribs soup took a long time to cook, so I prepared these two first.

Garlic pork and honey-glazed lotus root require cooking the meat and lotus root, which are also cooked on the stove first.

Fortunately, the Qin family has many stoves and soup pots. Ordinary families have fewer pots for cooking, and it would take half a day to cook just these few dishes.

Next came the spicy diced chicken, spicy shrimp and sweet and sour fish, all three needed to be fried, so Li Yu fried them first, and then re-fried them when the guests were about to arrive, and then quickly mixed them with the required seasonings by either stir-frying or pouring them over them.

At 6:30 p.m., when all the guests arrived at the Qin family's banquet hall, the three dishes were served one after another, along with the pork tripe and chicken soup and the corn and pork ribs soup, and were brought over by the Qin family's servants for people to taste.

In the kitchen, Li Yu was busy. The dishes that were sent over just now were all hot dishes. Now it was time for the other dishes. The boiled lotus root was cut into slices and poured with special honey sauce. A sweet honey lotus root was ready. The pork belly was cut into slices and poured with garlic paste, sauce, chili, vinegar and other sauces. A garlic pork dish was ready. As for the green vegetables, they were quickly boiled in hot water, taken out and poured with sauce, and then served.

Then came boiled fish, shrimps with Longjing tea, candied sweet potato, and No. 1 Scholar and No. 2 porridge. After two quarters of an hour, except for the No. 1 Scholar and No. 2 porridge, the other eleven dishes that Li Yu had prepared for the banquet were all ready.

After pouring the candied sweet potatoes into the plate, Li Yu opened the kitchen door and signaled the Qin family's servants to serve the dishes.

"Thank you for your hard work, Boss Li." Butler Zhao smiled so hard that his teeth were showing.

The guests praised the dishes that had been served, and the master was in a good mood, so he rewarded him with one or two taels of silver.

Li Yu simply responded, pointing to the last pot on the stove and said, "Wait another quarter of an hour, and you can serve the top scholar porridge."

Butler Zhao signaled the people in the kitchen to do as Li Yu said, and then invited Li Yu to rest in the Qin family's guest room.

"No need, I'll be fine here. My sister and I haven't eaten anything this afternoon. Can I make something with the remaining ingredients?"

Butler Zhao could still do this, so he immediately said yes.

Li Yu nodded and went back to the kitchen.

Because she was just making a simple meal, she didn't close the kitchen door this time.

The Qin family's chef was curious about why Li Yu could cook so many novel dishes, so he stood at the kitchen door and secretly looked into the house.

Li Yu didn't take it seriously and made a big hodgepodge for himself and Han Xiaomei.

It just so happened that the Qin family had bought some steamed buns, so the two of them ate one each.

The chef saw how deliciously the two of them were eating and his stomach couldn't help but growl.

Li Yu turned her head and looked at him, "There are still some vegetables in the pot."

The chef immediately understood what he meant and happily took the bowl.

*

Qin family banquet hall.

Mr. Qin and the Qin family's guests were toasting each other, and it was quite lively.

At the banquet, the owner of Huashihua from Nanzhou Prefecture took a bite of the sweet potato and said, "Old Qin, the chef you found this time is a master. I wonder if you can introduce him to me."

Master Qin looked at Mr. Zheng Qiu from Beizhou Prefecture and Mr. Dong from Jiangyang County, and seeing that they had nothing extra to say, he waved his hand and signaled a servant to go and call for someone.

"The chef I hired is a capable man. Boss Hua, you have to give me some respect and not be rude to him."

Boss Hua: "I don't think what Lao Qin said is right. Could it be that the chef is a woman?"

Master Qin shook his head: "It's a girl."

Boss Hua: "Wow! She is really amazing. I will have a good talk with her later."

*

When Li Yu entered the banquet hall, the first person he saw was not Mr. Qin, but Boss Hua.

Boss Hua was anxious to see Li Yu, so he looked at the door while eating. When he saw Li Yu approaching from afar, he put down his chopsticks, stood up and rushed to the door.

From a distance of several meters, Li Yu nodded to Boss Hua.

What a girl! After Mr. Hua sighed, he immediately introduced himself, "I am from Nanzhou Prefecture, my last name is Hua and my given name is Shi. I run a calligraphy and painting shop. Besides poetry and books, I love food the most. I wonder what your name is."

Calligraphy and painting? Maybe I can buy a few books for Han Zheng from him.

Li Yu thought about it, then cheered up and replied, "My name is Li Yu."

"I heard that all the dishes at today's banquet were made by Miss Li?"

Li Yu: "It's me."

Boss Hua: "Miss Li is so young, yet she can cook such a delicious meal. I admire her!"

Li Yu accepted his praise naturally, "I just learned it from others and practiced it more."

Boss Hua was more impressed by her calm look and said a few more words of praise.

The two of them stood at the door, talking and talking. Someone else in the hall couldn't help but say, "Boss Hua, we also want to meet this chef. You can't monopolize him all by yourself!"

There was something wrong with this statement, and Boss Hua frowned.

Li Yu's expression remained normal, and he just looked at the person who was speaking.

He was a young man, about twenty years old, wearing a royal blue robe that was bulging out because of his fat body, and the golden hairpin on his head sparkled in the light.

After looking at Li Yu for a while, the man said, "I am the young master of Longxing Jade House in Beizhou Prefecture. My name is Zheng Qiu. Your dishes are good. Why don't you come back to Beizhou with me and become my concubine, cooking for me every day? Judging from your appearance, you must be a country girl. You are lucky to come home with me."

This was indeed somewhat insulting, so Master Qin had to speak out to stop him: "Master Zheng, let's eat, let's continue eating."

Zheng Qiu didn't appreciate it and continued to ask Li Yu in a condescending manner: "What do you think?"

"I'm sorry, Master Zheng, I can't agree to your request." Li Yu smiled gently, "To be honest, I'm already married, and my husband passed away on the wedding day. I was born with a bad fate, and I'm unlucky in marriage. If I follow you, it will hurt you."

This was the speech Li Yu had prepared in advance. Butler Zhao was afraid that Li Yu would really get into trouble, so he told him about the guests' situation in the afternoon. Li Yu imagined several situations and came up with words to respond to each of them.

I didn't expect it to actually come into use.

It should be effective. Li Yu stared at Zheng Qiu without blinking. As expected, Zheng Qiu's expression changed from interest to disgust as he looked at her. "Forget it. Your dish is not particularly novel. If you can make it, others can do it too."

Li Yu said calmly, "Yes."

*

Because of Li Yu's "husband-killing" physique, other customers lost interest in her, only Boss Hua continued to talk to her as usual.

"Who did Madam Li learn how to cook from? I also want to find that person and learn from him."

"That man was a traveling doctor. I saved him by chance. In return, he taught me how to cook some dishes. But after teaching me, he traveled around the world. I don't know where he is now." Li Yu lied without changing her expression. These are traditional Chinese delicacies that she cooked. She learned them after being passed down from generation to generation. She would not take all the credit for herself.

"What a pity." Boss Hua showed regret between his brows.

Li Yu asked at the right moment: "Boss Hua wants to learn how to cook these dishes?"

Boss Hua spoke frankly: "There are a few dishes that suit my taste. I want to learn how to make them and eat them often."

Li Yu said: "I can teach Boss Hua."