I was a queen in ancient times, no, a maid!

Cheng Yu told the food delivery man Zhang Yuanjie about his ideas and the things he needed to prepare.

Zhang Yuanjie didn't say anything.

Zhu'er seemed very anxious.

"Just tell me if you're willing or not. I can tell you that Yu'er's cooking skills are very good. If you help me, I'll give you plenty of food in the future."

Zhang Yuanjie said: "I know for sure that Miss Yu'er's cooking skills are good, and they are better than those made by the imperial chef in the palace."

Zhu Er asked with a smile: "Have you ever eaten the food prepared by the imperial chef? You are describing it with such details that it seems as if you have eaten it before."

However, Zhang Yuanjie told a story. He said that the emperor could not finish the meals prepared in the palace imperial kitchen every day, so the eunuchs working there would directly take the leftovers out and resell them. Those who snatched the leftovers from the emperor could make a lot of money.

"That's the imperial meal that the emperor ate. It was taken out of the swill bucket and became a signature dish in the restaurant."

"I've only tasted some roast chicken made by the Imperial Kitchen. I went to the restaurant to deliver food to their kitchen, and a chef I knew gave me a piece of roast chicken. I tasted it and it was indeed something that other restaurants couldn't make."

"But I still like the food made by Miss Yu'er."

Many times, after he had delivered the food and hadn't left yet, he smelled the food prepared by Miss Yu'er. That smell was soothing.

He is uneducated and only knows this meaning.

Cheng Yu smiled and said, "The imperial kitchen must be even more particular. I heard that to make a dish, they have to carefully select and calculate the amount of one kilogram of vegetables from ten kilograms. This is not something that an ordinary family can afford."

"Young man from the Zhang family, let me tell you, I'm asking you to help me with something, whether you are willing or not, don't worry, I will definitely give you some benefits when I make money."

Why wouldn't Zhang Yuanjie do this job that's sure to make money for free?

Besides, this was a job that Miss Yu'er asked him to do.

"Miss Yu'er, don't talk about money. As long as you ask, I will definitely be willing to do it. It's just some duck intestines, duck necks, and duck heads. These things are easy to get. Just don't despise them. I deliver food to other families every day. If I see those sundries, they will give them to me if I ask for them."

"Young man from the Zhang family, I can't let you take that thing for free, so that you don't owe anyone a favor. Just use your money to buy it. These sundries are cheap and won't cost you much."

"You buy it first, and next time you bring something over, I'll give you the money."

"When I'm done, you can sell it. We can discuss the price later."

Zhang Yuanjie listened to Cheng Yu's words, nodded and said, "Miss Yu'er has a good brain, so I'll listen to you and do as you say."

Seeing that they had agreed, Zhu'er was happy too.

She also told Zhang Yuanjie with certainty that she guaranteed that if he followed Yu'er in doing business, he would earn more than he did delivering vegetables to other people.

Yu'er called her back to the snack room as it was time to eat.

The vegetable delivery man also had to go back.

Zhu'er was extremely happy. She was a person with low demands and just wanted to have food to eat.

She felt that as long as Yu'er made these foods to sell, she would always be able to get some food with her, and she would be very happy about that.

Cheng Yu still has to pay some attention to business matters, but for now she has to concentrate on taking care of her mistress' daily life.

I’m afraid I won’t have time to go out and buy the spices.

She then told Zhu'er to go outside and buy it.

Zhu'er naturally agreed.

Taking advantage of the lunch break in the sewing room, Zhuer went outside to buy some spices. Basically, all these condiments were bought in the spice room.

Cheng Yu learned a little literacy from the lady a few days ago, and it finally came in handy this time.

She wrote down a list of things to buy and asked Zhu'er to buy them.

Zhu'er was illiterate, so she gave the list to the shopkeeper and asked him to buy whatever was in the shop.

Zhu'er went back carrying bags of spices. After Cheng Yu got the spices, she checked them and found that they were what she wanted.

There are star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, fennel, ginger, licorice, tangerine peel, white cardamom, angelica, cloves, thyme, angelica, gardenia, etc.

Some of them are not comprehensive, but it is enough to find them.

However, the quality of some spices cannot be considered top-notch and can only be considered average.

It certainly can't be compared with the spice room in the imperial kitchen, but it is enough to prepare food for ordinary people.

"Thank you for your hard work today. I cooked some rice noodles with meat sauce for the lady at noon, and I saved some for you."

Zhu'er was immediately happy.

But I still said, "No wonder your braised pork is so delicious, it turns out you need to add so many seasonings."

Before, she made some snacks for herself and never thought of selling them outside.

Now that we are doing business, we can no longer be perfunctory.

If you run a food business and the food tastes bad, the business will definitely not be successful.

In addition to these spices, Cheng Yu also bought some sauce.

Some dishes are not cooked with salt but with sauce, which makes them taste even more salty and delicious.

Sweet noodle sauce is indispensable for making braised pork.

And soybean paste is indispensable.

After cooking rice noodles with meat sauce for Zhu'er, Cheng Yu put away the spices.

Her residence is small, but if she cleans the duck and then cooks it there, that would be fine. Her and Zhu'er's rooms would probably be filled with the aroma of the stew.

I’m afraid it won’t be long before the lady will know about it.

However, it is not uncommon for some people below to do some small business to make a living.

Forget it. Instead of thinking about it here, she might as well just do it. If the lady says so in the future, she will close the stall. If the lady doesn't care, she will just do a little every day to earn some extra money.

It is not a serious thing to rely on rewards to make a living.

It is more reassuring to earn money by yourself.

Cheng Yu bought some spices from outside and stored them, and then went to the system store to buy some more. The ones she kept were from outside, and the ones she used were from the system store.

As for the types of spices, they cannot be too different, otherwise diners who know about food may notice something, which will cause trouble for you.

Lu Zhaowen wanted to come the night he quarreled with the eldest lady, but was rejected.

Three days passed in a flash and I haven't been to the Orchid Garden again.

With the careful care of Cheng Yu and Ding Xiang, Zhao Rulan gradually recovered.

Cheng Yu made some cakes, including osmanthus cake, glutinous rice cakes with red dates and honey, taro dumplings, and fried spring rolls.

She simply prepared four items. The osmanthus cake was made with glutinous rice flour, osmanthus and honey, and the red date honey glutinous rice crisps were the same.

Taro dumplings are made with taro.

This is not the small taro from the north, but the large taro shipped from Lingnan. It tastes more delicate and has a strong fragrance, but it is not very sweet. When making it, Cheng Yu added some honey and brown sugar, and wrapped it with a layer of glutinous rice skin with taro powder on the outside, and then wrapped with taro dumplings.

She made four, with four different fillings.

The fried spring rolls are salty, with meat filling and chopped apples. They taste refreshing and fruity, and are not greasy at all.

Zhao Rulan ate a fried spring roll and praised it highly.

"I've always had bean paste flavored fried skewers before, but today I tried the meat flavored one. I didn't expect it to be so good."

"This taro dumpling is also innovative. Yu'er, you really put a lot of effort into it."

Cheng Yu chuckled, "I saw that you haven't eaten much these days, so I thought of a way to make something for you."

"You've been busy in the small kitchen. As for Madam Li, the maid came to tell me this morning that she had caught a cold and her wrist was hurting again. I was thinking that since you are in the small kitchen, why not let her go to the farm..."

Cheng Yu immediately said, "Madam, you may not know that I have already taken Madam Li as my teacher. Madam Li still has a lot of cooking skills that she hasn't taught Yu'er yet. After Yu'er has learned them, can we let her go to the manor?"

The eldest lady just loves the food cooked by Lady Li.

That was before.

Now she likes the food cooked by Cheng Yu, so as for Madam Li, she will send it to the farm.

Once this old nanny is sent to the farm, she will no longer receive monthly allowance, and her future food and drink expenses will depend on the mood of the people who do the job.

A woman like Madam Li who is cold, old-fashioned and doesn't like to say nice things will have no way to survive if she arrives at the farm.

After hearing what Cheng Yu said, Zhao Rulan agreed and let Cheng Yu learn cooking from Madam Li first.

After serving Zhao Rulan, Cheng Yu went to the small kitchen, took two portions of the pastries he had made, and went to see Madam Li.

Madam Li lives with Madam Wang and several other mothers in Lanyuan.

When she went there, the little maid bought by Madam Li was boiling medicine under the eaves.

"I'm here to see Lady Li."

"Madam Li is lying in the house. Please go inside."

The little maid continued to fan the fire. Cheng Yu stepped forward, lifted the door curtain, and walked in.