Starting from a thatched cottage, the farmer embarked on the road to wealth through imperial examina

Chapter 420 New Year's Eve Dinner

Xiao Jingxing's support people arrived in place quickly. Ye Changyan handed these people over to Dai Xing who had just returned. Dai Xing was very happy to hear that the Chief Secretary of the Prince of Ying's Palace came in person and hoped to supply vegetables and strawberries to the Prince of Ying's Palace. He smiled and arranged all the people who came to support Xiao Jingxing.

On the New Year's Eve of the next day, Li Ping came here early in the morning, thinking that he could help Ye Changyan in the kitchen with Liang Jingcheng so that he could taste the food non-stop.

As Wang Xinkuan and Lu Ge'ang were both on duty outside the capital and did not return to Beijing for the New Year, and his three senior brothers Zhu Yuchun, Zhao Mubai and Ji Yunting were all busy celebrating the New Year at home, so the only people left at the Cai Mansion in Shigu Lane were Old Cai, Liang Jingcheng, Ye Changyan's family, and Xing Wang. Now with the addition of Li Ping and Sang Li, there were only ten people in total. Ye Changyan planned to have everyone squeeze in and sit at one table. It would be fun to celebrate the New Year.

Ye Changyan was busy in the kitchen. Liang Jingcheng was helping him. Erniu, Aunt Zhen and two maids were helping to pick and wash vegetables. Li Ping took Wulang and took him to the kitchen. Seeing Li Ping peeking at the kitchen door, Ye Changyan smiled and invited him in.

However, with so many people in the kitchen at once, it was a bit noisy, so Ye Changyan handed the stuffing he had just prepared to Erniu and started talking.

"Erniu, go to the next room with Aunt Zhen and the others to make dumplings. Aunt Zhen makes the best dumpling wrappers. You can learn from her."

When Aunt Zhen heard Ye Changyan's praise, she smiled and called the two maids, then followed Erniu to the next room.

After Erniu and the others left, Li Ping came forward with a smile and saw Ye Changyan mixing the things in the basin, while Liang Jingcheng was pouring white powder into the basin. He asked curiously.

"Chang Yan, what are you guys talking about?"

"I'm preparing to fry the crispy pork. After frying the crispy pork, I'll fry some meatballs. I'll fry some pork belly with the remaining oil. After lunch, I'll put the braised pork in the steamer."

“There are so many fried dishes?”

"I invited you here, so how can I not treat you well? Today I'll let you taste the crispy pork and braised pork belly that I made."

Li Ping had a look of anticipation on his face, and then he followed Liang Jingcheng to help Ye Changyan. Although Li Ping could not even tell the difference between oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and sugar, Ye Changyan patiently explained to him when he saw his curious look, and Liang Jingcheng would also supplement his knowledge from time to time.

"Pingzi, when I was in Yuzhou Prefecture, I often confused salt and sugar, soy sauce and vinegar. But I got used to it after helping out a lot. Come and learn from me today."

Li Ping nodded with some excitement and anticipation. Wu Lang heard that the crispy pork meatballs would be fried soon, so he also stayed in the kitchen and had no intention of going out.

Li Ping and Wu Lang watched Ye Changyan put strips of meat covered with batter into the oil pan. Soon the fragrance wafted out and they both couldn't help swallowing. When Ye Changyan used a strainer to scoop the first pot of crispy meat out of the oil pan, they saw Li Ping and Wu Lang looking greedy.

"You can't eat it yet. I'll fry it again later before you can eat it."

Li Ping and Wu Lang both swallowed their saliva and nodded, looking at Liang Jingcheng beside them and couldn't help laughing out loud.

After Ye Changyan had fried the crispy pork again, Wu Lang picked up one and stuffed it into his mouth, not caring that it was still hot. While stuffing his own mouth, he took one from the basket and handed it to Li Ping.

"Brother Pingzi, you should try it too."

If Zhu Yuchun was present, and saw the Fourth Prince taking the still hot piece of crispy meat directly from Fifth Prince's hands and putting it into his own mouth, he would definitely suspect that this person was the fake Fourth Prince.

The crispy meat was still a little hot. Li Ping opened his mouth and blew out air, and couldn't help nodding at Wu Lang who was looking at him expectantly.

“It’s fragrant and crispy, and really delicious.”

Sang Li came over near dusk. Ye Changyan, Liang Jingcheng and Li Ping were all in the kitchen making final preparations for the New Year's Eve dinner. Ye Changyan had prepared a sumptuous meal for tonight's New Year's Eve dinner.

Sang Li was shocked when he saw the table full of dishes and heard that they were all cooked by Ye Changyan himself. Tonight's New Year's Eve dinner was really too sumptuous. Many of the dishes were Yunfenglou's signature dishes.

Zhong Yunfeng returned to Shigu Lane before dark. The banquets at Yunfenglou in Shengjing during the New Year had been booked well in advance by the dignitaries of Shengjing City.

Zhong Yunfeng and Xiao Jingxing went to Changping Prefecture together yesterday. The Changping Prefecture branch of Yunfenglou, which just opened on the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, has been warmly welcomed locally. The Linzhou Prefecture branch of Yunfenglou, which opened ten days before that, has been doing booming business since its opening.

Seeing that Zhong Yunfeng had rushed back, Mr. Cai instructed Dai Xing to go to the yard to light the firecrackers that had been prepared long ago.

Hearing the crackling sound of firecrackers, Mr. Cai asked everyone to take a seat and prepare to eat.

After checking in, Mr. Cai asked Zhong Yunfeng about the trip. When he heard Zhong Yunfeng say that Changping Mansion was as popular as the opening of the Shengjing City branch last year, Mr. Cai burst into laughter and asked everyone to start eating.

When Li Ping saw Lian and Erniu also sitting at the same table, he was surprised for a moment, and then more happy. This showed that Ye Changyan's family and Mr. Cai did not treat him as an outsider, and the atmosphere on the scene was completely a warm scene of a family dinner.

Old Cai, Ye Xiaozheng and Lian were all busy asking Li Ping and Sang Li to pick up some food. Li Ping was a little uncomfortable at first. He had reached adulthood after the Chinese New Year. In the past twenty years, apart from his mother picking up food for him, this was the first time someone asked him to pick up food. Li Ping felt warm inside.

Although Li Ping and Sang Li had eaten many of the dishes on this table at Yunfeng Tower before, it is no exaggeration to say that these were prepared by Ye Changyan and were indeed more delicious than those made by the chef of Yunfeng Tower.

"I often eat this braised pork in Yunfenglou, but the braised pork on the table is not only softer and more glutinous, but also has a rich and mellow aroma."

Sang Li picked up a piece of braised pork which was half fat and half lean and put it into his mouth. The soft, glutinous and fragrant taste made his eyes light up and he couldn't help but praise it.

"The salted vegetables used for today's braised pork were brought over from Yuzhou Prefecture by Wulang and his friends. They were pickled by my grandmother at the beginning of the year. After nearly a year of pickling and fermentation, the flavor is at its most mellow at this time, and it naturally tastes more flavorful when eaten."

Hearing Sang Li's praise and Ye Changyan's explanation, Li Ping, who seldom ate fatty meat, couldn't help it. He stretched out his chopsticks, picked up a piece of braised pork, and put it into his mouth. It was indeed soft, glutinous, fresh and fragrant, with a mellow aftertaste.