Traveling through ancient times: daily life on the run

All these things cost several taels of silver. Even though Luo Qie was spending his own money, his aunt still felt bad.

She couldn't understand why Miss Qin, who had clearly said she would only make smoked braised dried tofu, ended up braising a bunch of meat, pig's trotters, and pig's ears. The big basket of them this morning was so frightening to her.

The girl had been wearing a coarse linen dress ever since she'd taken off her fine clothing. She must have sold that fine dress to finance this small business. The old lady also felt that this business wasn't really a small one. Who among the ordinary people could afford to invest a few taels of silver just to research ingredients? It was not only a waste of money, but also a lot of effort.

The noise in the woods was getting louder and louder.

When Aunt Cai came out with the basin, she faced the direction of the woods where the noise was coming from, and said in a trembling voice, "Miss, is there a white tiger?"

Luo Yu immediately stood up and raised a wooden stick as thick as his wrist from the corner of the courtyard wall. He said to Aunt Cai, "The food we cooked must have been so delicious that it attracted the white tiger. Aunt Cai, let's go straight into the house and take out the food so that the white tiger can eat its fill. It will definitely not be able to escape."

When Aunt Cai heard this, she was shocked. She spent so much money on the food, and they just threw it away. That would be worse than taking her life.

Xia Liang lay on his back in the firewood pile, grumbling inwardly: "I've never tasted a piece of braised meat before, and it smells so good it's almost making me cry! Why am I being accused of something for no reason now?"

Suddenly, a deep, powerful voice emerged from the woods: "Don't be afraid, you two! We are guards from the Imperial City Bureau, and we've been ordered to go into the mountains to capture the white tiger!"

Xia Liang's heart tightened and he immediately retracted his head.

She was not sure she could defeat so many guards with swords. Although she did not want to be an animal, she also did not want to die in vain. The white tiger's body was too domineering. She also wanted to go to the world outside the city with her sister Luo Hong and brother Bing Rui to show off her power.

The person who spoke came out of the woods. It was Ye Yucheng, the deputy envoy of the Imperial City Administration, whom Luo Yu had met on the first day he entered the city. He had a righteous look on his face, with a serious and sharp expression. When he glanced at someone, it was like a sharp sword pointing directly at people's hearts, full of deterrence and oppression.

After the man finished speaking, he walked towards the backyard.

Several guards emerged from the woods behind. It seemed that they were acting in batches. Luo Yu secretly estimated that with just these people, Xia Liang's chances of escaping should be greater.

Thinking of this, he relaxed his expression and forced a smile at the guards who looked like they had suffered a lot.

One of the youngest guards, likely a lackey of the Imperial City's deputy envoy, turned his head left and right and sniffed deeply, displaying the youthful expression he should: "What a nice smell! What's that smell?"

Judging from their tired and exhausted appearance, they must have suffered a lot in the mountains.

Luo Yu sighed inwardly. This white tiger had truly caused so much trouble. Then, on second thought, it was also half her fault. If the time-travelling chassis hadn't been set up correctly, there wouldn't have been such a glitch.

"Your Excellency, this is the braised food that my aunt and I are preparing. We are going to make some food and do some small business in the city."

She didn't intend to give them food for free, but she couldn't just refuse.

"I've eaten braised food before, but why do I feel yours tastes better?" The young guard had been hungry for most of the day, and now he was greedy for everything he smelled.

Luo Yu thought he was a greedy child and said with a smile: "I just added some special seasonings to make it more spicy. If you don't mind, you can try it. If you like it, I can make enough. We have braised pig's trotters, braised pork ears, braised dried tofu, and everything else."

The young guard's eyes were already shining. Not to mention meat, he could even finish three bowls of white rice at this moment.

The man glanced at Lord Ye with a pitiful look.

The stomachs of the guards behind also started to play the empty city trick, which was both embarrassing and funny.

Ye Yucheng no longer had the energy to stop these men who were completely exhausted from running around in the mountains and forests. If they didn't have enough food, they might not have the energy to defeat the white tiger if they really encountered it. So he said, "Try not to cause trouble for others."

After saying this, he bowed to Luo Yu and the old lady and said, "Excuse me, I will pay you the market price, so don't worry."

This is quite good, indeed, a man of great refinement. Luo Yu was worried about making too much. What if it didn't sell? She didn't dare feed it all to Xia Liang, as it would be too easy to be discovered. Waste is always bad. It would be better to sell it to these reincarnated guards who died of starvation than to give it to outsiders. She wanted to make a fortune from them.

Xia Liang's heart felt cold at this moment. All her braised meat was gone, and her dream of eating delicious food in the woodshed was shattered by these outsiders. It made her sadder than if her physical body had been killed.

If you don’t have enough to eat every day, and even worse, the food isn’t good enough, what’s the point of having this huge body?

When Aunt Cai heard there was money to be made, she worked incredibly hard, adding firewood, cooking rice, and even making a large pot of braised tea eggs. Miss Qin secretly told her that she could definitely sell all the braised tea eggs. Although there were only six guards, they were all big and strong and would eat a lot.

Aunt Cai couldn't help but look at Miss Qin with admiration.

Luo Yu was cutting the braised meat and arranging it on a plate while he stir-fried some light side dishes. The dishes should be eaten together to experience the taste explosion of the combination of strong and light flavors.

Fortunately, in order to make braised food yesterday, a simple stove was built in the kitchen with stones. Together with the original two stoves, it was enough for Luo Yu and Aunt Cai to work hard.

Uncle Liu was fine, but he insisted on going to the fields to catch insects for the vegetables after lunch. Luo Yu understood that the big caterpillars might also come out to eat at noon. Anyway, Uncle Liu could not help in any way, so the money he earned could only be given to Aunt Cai.

The young waiter was very active. He went back and forth in the kitchen and outside several times, and several times he couldn't help asking Luo Yu: "Young lady, when can the food be served?"

"Come on, come on."

Luo Yu had never served tea or water to anyone before, but fortunately Aunt Cai knew some etiquette and served a pot of tea in no time. Since there were not many teacups at home, they had to use bowls instead of cups.

Luo Yu suddenly had an idea and took out a few plates of pickled radish as appetizers for them. If they liked it, they could definitely sell it.

As she served the dish, she explained, "This refreshing and sour radish appetizer is a gift. If you like it, please come to my humble abode and ask Aunt Cai to place an order."

"Reservation?" Ye Yucheng didn't take it to heart. He just thought what the girl said was interesting. A few radishes required reservation.

"It's spring radish season now, but there aren't many of them planted. If we sell well, they'll be gone quickly if we don't reserve them in advance."

Ye Yucheng didn't say much, picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. The taste was indeed different from the radish he had eaten before. It was sour, sweet and crispy, and a little bit of spiciness instantly stimulated his taste buds. If he added a sip of warm wine, it would be absolutely perfect.

The weather is getting a bit hot and humid as May is approaching. Luo Yu sealed the jar of pickled radish yesterday and hung it in the well water with a basket to cool it down. The pickled radish tastes best when it is ice cold.