The county magistrate's daughter only wants to farm

Provincial examination?

Gu Yin suddenly felt dazed and asked casually, "What month and day is today?"

"August 7th." Gu Chenshuo replied, "What have you been doing these days? You even forgot the date."

So, I will be taking the exam the day after tomorrow.

"nothing."

Her brother is about to take an exam, and if he knew that she had started tinkering with new things, he would definitely worry about her again.

Gu Chenshuo did not continue asking questions as Gu Yin wished. This was because he had been studying intensively for nearly a month and would be taking the exam in two days, so he didn't have the time to worry about anything else.

"Brother, are you going to take the exam on the ninth day of the first lunar month?" Gu Yin asked.

Gu Chenshuo nodded, "Yes. From August 9th to August 17th, three consecutive exams, a total of nine days."

Although Gu Yin had heard of the imperial examination system in ancient times, he was still shocked when he encountered it in reality.

Gu Yin asked several more questions before she understood everything about the exam.

When Gu Yin learned that the dormitory where the candidates stayed for nine days was only a little over square, he felt that he had a new understanding of how difficult the imperial examination was.

"So what do the candidates eat during the nine days?"

Since there is no way to decide the environment of the examination room, let's start with the food.

"Dry food, steamed buns, cakes, sesame cakes, etc. are all fine, but they must be cut into small pieces to prevent them from being mistakenly taken in." Gu Chenheng was used to this. Seeing his sister frown, he comforted her, "Sister, don't worry about these. Grandma said she would prepare them for me."

"Eating this for nine consecutive days, even a god can't stand it!" Gu Yin complained, then lowered his brows and thought, and suddenly an idea flashed in his mind, and he asked, "Can I bring noodles to the exam room?"

"Why bring noodles?" Gu Chenshuo said with a smile, "You are not allowed to cook noodles in the examination room."

"Is that okay?"

Gu Yin asked again, "Where's the boiled water? Is boiled water provided in the examination room?"

After receiving Gu Chenshuo's affirmative answer, Gu Yin smiled mysteriously, "That's easy!"

Gu Chenshuo looked at her suspiciously.

Gu Yin smiled and said, "You'll know when it's done tomorrow! I'm sure you'll like it!"

the next morning,

The housekeeper came forward to reply, "Miss Fourth, the ingredients you asked us to prepare yesterday have all been bought and are already in the kitchen."

"Okay, I'm done."

Her brother will be taking an exam tomorrow, so she has to make the thing today.

Gu Yin hurried to the kitchen, but when she crossed the yard, she heard a puzzled voice, "Are you... the fourth sister?"

Gu Yin turned around and saw a scholar in a long gown who was about the same age as her brother and looked similar to her second aunt. "Second brother?"

"it's me!"

Gu Chenrui, the second son of the Gu family, was pleasantly surprised. "I heard from grandfather that you were already well. I didn't expect it to be true!"

"You are indeed not as silly as before!"

He actually called her stupid in front of her. If Gu Yin hadn't only seen clear stupidity in his eyes, she would have really suspected that he had bad intentions!

"My second brother seems to be as straightforward as ever?"

Gu Yin smiled and started to make up stories. How could she know what Gu Chenrui was like before?

"Thank you for the compliment, Fourth Sister." Gu Chenrui accepted it happily, "Fourth Sister, Second Brother is going to look for Mother first. I'll talk to you later when I have time."

"Brother, please do as you please."

Gu Chenrui bowed and left. Gu Yin also continued to go to the kitchen. She couldn't help but ask Zhenzhu, "My second brother used to be like this?"

"Yes, the Second Young Master is always lively and treats us servants with a smile."

"By the way, the Second Young Master will also participate in this provincial examination."

This was beyond Gu Yin's expectation. "Second brother is also a scholar?"

"Yeah." Pearl nodded.

As they were talking, they had already reached the kitchen.

"Fourth Miss, what do you want to do? Just tell me." The cook's surname was Zhang. When she saw Gu Yin looking through the vegetables in the basket as soon as she entered the kitchen, she immediately stepped forward and asked attentively.

"Aunt Zhang, please help me wash these." Without even looking up, Gu Yin took out the lettuce, cowpea, carrots and chives from the basket.

Aunt Zhang did as she was told, took the vegetables and washed them.

"Miss, what are you going to do?" Pearl asked curiously.

"Instant noodles!"

Gu Yin had seen a short video of homemade instant noodles before, and out of curiosity she had tried it herself. The result was of course not comparable to those sold on the market, but the taste was far better than those dry snacks.

"Instant noodles?"

"That's right. Make some instant noodles for my brother to take to the exam room. He can eat it directly by just mixing it with boiling water. This way, at least he can eat something warm instead of having to eat dry food for nine days."

Although freshly made instant noodles do not have any additives to keep them fresh, the fried noodles should be fine to keep for ten days.

"That's great! Then miss, what should I do now?" Pearl said excitedly.

"Just go and knead the dough. We'll use it to make noodles."

"How much? Do you want to take the second young master's share?"

Pearl asked, holding up a large basin.

"Well, since we're doing it, let's make more at once so that everyone can have a taste."

"Okay!" Pearl poured the flour and kneaded the dough quickly and efficiently.

Gu Yin looked around the kitchen and found a piece of beef that looked to be two or three pounds. She immediately decided to use it to make beef sauce.

Aunt Zhang quickly washed the vegetables and brought them in. Gu Yin asked her to cut the cowpeas into sections, the carrots into thin slices, and the green onions into chopped green onions, while she began to prepare the beef.

The three of them were busy in the kitchen.

After processing the ingredients, blanch the vegetables and cook them.

"Miss Fourth, take a look, is this how it is dried?" asked Aunt Zhang.

The cooked radish slices had already been drained of moisture and were now being spread out in a large, dried-out iron pot, with only red-hot charcoal left in the furnace below.

"Yes, that's right. Dry other vegetables in the same way." After saying that, Gu Yin emphasized again, "Remember to dry out all the moisture in the vegetables so that they can be stored for a long time."

Without an oven, this is the only way to make dried vegetable buns.

Making noodle cakes is relatively simple. Use a few chopsticks to press the thinly cut noodles into the shape of a noodle cake, and then put them in a steamer and steam them.

This busy schedule lasted until the afternoon. Gu Yin was exhausted and joked, "If my brother doesn't pass the imperial examination and come back, it will be a shame to me."

"Young Master will definitely be able to pass the high school entrance exam!"

"Miss, what should we do with the steamed buns next?" asked Zhenzhu.

Gu Yin sat on a chair and gave instructions, "Get the pan ready, heat the oil, and fry until cooked! Be careful not to break them up."

"Aunt Zhang, go get the beef out of the well. After frying the dough, we can fry the beef directly."

It is still autumn now and the temperature is not low during the day, so the meat will not go bad if it is kept in the well.

After another hour of hard work, the three of them finally made the instant noodles and beef sauce.

Gu Yin tasted the beef sauce and nodded with satisfaction, "Delicious!"

The bread took up a lot of space, and since they made so many, they ended up filling two full baskets.

"Give some out to the front hall so everyone can have a taste."

At around five o'clock in the afternoon, all the Gu family members returned home and gathered in the main hall.

"What is this?" Old Madam Gu asked puzzledly as she looked at the noodles in the bowl on the table.

Gu Yin lifted the lid of the bowl in the middle of the table, scooped up a spoonful of dried vegetables and put it into the bowl, and explained, "Grandma, this is instant noodles. Put the noodles, dried vegetables, and seasonings into the bowl, then pour in boiling water and let it soak for half a cup of tea, and then you can eat it."

As Gu Yin finished speaking, she completed the movements in her hands.

The servants also learned how to make tea for others.

Half a cup of tea passed quickly, and as the lid of the bowl was opened, a strong fragrance immediately filled the whole room.

"I want to eat, I want to eat..." Before anyone could say anything, the fifth brother anxiously pulled at his mother's clothes, his eyes lit up when he looked at the table, and he was drooling with greed.