My sister became the empress, but I'm still growing vegetables and raising chickens

With this arrangement, Song Erqiang's ox cart only needs to go in the morning and come back in the afternoon, without having to wait until the evening, which is also convenient.

He Song had worked with the Si family once before, and he knew that Si Muyan was a man of his word and didn't like to be polite, so he agreed without hesitation.

The whole family was very happy. Even in such a cold day, they could still earn sixty cents a day.

Only He Lai Di pursed her lips and looked at Si Muyan cautiously: "Sister Yan, I... I have grown up, and I can work too."

Seeing this, Lai Qianniang said to Si Muyan, "Yan girl, why don't you let Lai Di go with you? Lai Di doesn't want any wages."

Si Muyan thought for a moment and said, "Laidi is too young. I need to think carefully. For the time being, Laidi will come to my place and do something else with me. But I haven't thought about the details yet. The salary..."

Lai Qian's mother hurriedly said, "What money does a little girl need? Just arrange some work for her."

Si Muyan smiled and said, "I won't pay you for now, but I'll give you some pocket money later."

Actually, He Lai Di is already eleven years old, the same age as my younger brother. She also looks smart. Children at that age don't study, so if she can learn something, it would be good for her to go out and work in the future.

Girls usually learned a little needlework, but if they didn't know how to do it at all, they could only do laundry and washing. These two things alone could help supplement the family income.

After all, there are very few food shops like Si’s food shop, with so many women and girls in the front and back kitchens.

Ever since the Si family was targeted by Fu Man Lou, Si Muyan went to the county town every two days and never missed a trip. Si Muyan was lost in thought as he watched from the shop.

Aunt Wang and Xiang Cuicui, for example, can cook according to the instructions without any problems, but if they are asked to make some improvements, they are not so good. Simply put, cooking is good, but making it delicious is difficult.

Aunt Jin and Shuiqin's mother are good cooks.

Especially Si Muyan was busy with milk, flour, eggs and other things at home, trying to make a good snack, but she couldn't make it herself. However, Aunt Jin followed her instructions and made a cake base in no time.

Although it is not as soft and delicious as the modern one, it is very similar.

Mrs. Zhu joined in the fun, took a bite, and praised, "Yan girl, is this made by you? It's much better than last time!"

Si Muyan blushed. It turned out that something like cooking required talent.

"Mrs. Zhu, my eldest sister did it last time, and Aunt Jin did it this time." The younger brother shouted hurriedly.

"Ah?" Mrs. Zhu scratched her head and said embarrassedly, "It was delicious last time too, delicious... Really delicious. My little brother gave me a lot of it, and I said at the time that I had never eaten such delicious pancakes."

Aunt Jin laughed and said, "I am also doing it according to the young lady's method. If I were to think of it myself, I would not be able to think of it."

Si Muyan looked at the cake base that was almost done, thinking that if she tried a few more times, she would definitely succeed. Making the cream wasn't difficult, but beating the eggs was too hard.

An electric egg beater is not practical at this time, but a manual egg beater is still acceptable. It is better than using chopsticks, which is inconvenient and laborious.

Thinking of this, Si Muyan decided to draw a blueprint and go to the blacksmith shop to make a few egg beaters.

The younger brother came in holding a book and said to Si Muyan, "Look, there are a lot of snack recipes in this book. Do you want some?"

Si Muyan took it and looked at it, her eyes lit up. Although most of them were Chinese dim sum, they were not available at that time. Not as good as cheese, which was unheard of in Fenghuang County. She was hesitant because she had made it herself, how would she tell others?

With this book, I don't have to worry. It turns out that these things already exist now, they are just popular in different places.

At this time, the voice of the village head came from outside: "Yan girl, Yan girl, have you heard about the cooking competition that the county is going to hold?"

Cooking competition?

The past two years have been bumper years in Fenghuang County, and nothing major has happened in the county, so I like to do something that everyone is interested in participating in.

Cooking competition is one of them.

The village head said happily, "I mentioned it back in October, but I hadn't thought about it then. But when I was talking to your aunt about your shop today, I thought about it. You can participate in this cooking competition. Your hot pot is so popular, it will definitely be popular if you take it out."

Hearing this, the younger brother clapped his hands and laughed: "Yes, sister, our hot pot is so popular now, most people in the county like it."

"Yes, Xiao An is right," the village head said with a smile. "And the county has invested heavily in hosting this cooking competition. First place will receive 100 taels of silver, second place 50 taels, third place 20 taels, and fourth and fifth place will each receive 10 taels of silver. The top three winners will each receive a medal stating that they are the winners of our county's cooking competition."

The prize money is generous. If the winner is a restaurant, its reputation will be further enhanced. If it is an individual, it will be very easy to go to any restaurant in the future.

Si Muyan asked, "Are there any regulations on the identity of the contestants?"

The village head said, "I just checked it out. It's individual participation. For example, if your restaurant wants to participate, you have to arrange for someone to represent the restaurant. There can only be one representative, but every cook can participate."

Everyone in the Si family was very happy to hear such good news, but there was still some controversy about who would be the representative.

"Aunt Jin's cooking is delicious, let Aunt Jin go." The younger brother said, then thought for a moment and said, "No, Second Sister's cooking is delicious too."

Aunt Jin shook her head: "No, the eldest daughter is the pillar of the family, and she should be the representative."

The younger brother said, "Eldest sister said that the honor of our Si family is one, whoever is the most powerful will go."

……

In the evening, the horse-drawn carriage from Songji Village brought everyone back. Everyone was in high spirits, and the laughter was even louder than in the previous few days.

He Song stopped the carriage, helped his second and youngest sisters get off, and then took He Lai Di, who stayed at the Si family, back home.

Lai Qianniang looked at Si Muyan mysteriously and whispered, "Good things are coming!"

Si Muyan was baffled by what he said: "What good news is coming?"

"Hey, we're not allowed to talk about this. You should ask Wan girl. If Wan girl is embarrassed, you can ask Tong girl."

After the He family left, the second sister came over and said, "Big sister, today Mr. Xu came to our shop to find me alone and told me that he liked her..."

Si Muyan was startled and asked hurriedly, "Looking for her alone? How do you all know about this?"

The second sister burst out laughing. "Master Xu dragged her out, and Aunt Zhang hid in the corner and called us to listen. We knew everything."

Si Muyan went to see her younger sister and saw that she looked shy but not unhappy at all, which made her heart sink slightly.