The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

Ji Lingfeng has a strong palate; he has eaten spicy food before, which suited his taste perfectly.

This simple meat sauce sandwich tasted even better to him than the wontons.

The soft pancakes were slightly browned on the surface, but this did not affect their softness at all. The pancakes had been out of the pan for a while and were at the perfect temperature.

He could already feel the softness of the dough when he broke it apart.

The bright red, glistening meat sauce, still containing chunks of meat, is added to the flatbread. The soft flatbread absorbs the oil and juices of the meat sauce, and some parts of the flatbread are soaked with the sauce.

One bite and it's soft and fragrant, with a hint of spiciness.

It tastes like the aroma of wheat, meat, chili, and oil.

With a texture that combines the feel of a flatbread with the texture of meat, this simple meat sauce sandwich is not only rich in texture but also in flavor.

He finished the meat sauce sandwich in no time.

Finally satisfied, he put down his chopsticks, picked up the pear soup the owner had just given him, and took a sip.

The meat sauce sandwich he just ate was a bit dry, and the chili peppers were a bit spicy, making him feel hot all over.

The cool pear soup not only relieved the spiciness but also extinguished the heat in my body.

He thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

He nodded in response to He Yu's question.

"Why don't you ask the owner when you pay the bill later?"

He Yu nodded. "Okay."

Since there was no meat sauce sandwich, he had no choice but to finish all the remaining wontons.

I must say, this young owner's skills are truly excellent; each flavor of wonton has its own unique style and tastes wonderful.

His favorite is the mushroom and meat dish; the umami flavor of the mushrooms combined with the umami flavor of the chicken broth is simply delicious.

Especially towards the end, adding a spoonful of the supposedly homemade chopped chili sauce from the table makes the flavor even richer.

After eating three bowls of wontons, he was sweating.

He took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead before picking up the pear soup to drink.

The refreshing pear soup calmed his fever, and its subtle sweetness made him feel very comfortable after drinking it.

After the two had eaten and drunk their fill, He Yu called Shen Cao over.

"Hey boss, check please!"

"A total of seventy-two coins. A bowl of fresh pork wontons costs ten coins, a bowl of shepherd's purse and mushroom wontons costs twelve coins, and a bowl of fresh shrimp wontons costs fourteen coins."

"One bowl of fresh meat, two bowls of shepherd's purse, two bowls of mushrooms, and one bowl of fresh shrimp. Please check."

"So cheap!" He Yu was shocked by the price of the wontons. A bowl of wontons like this would cost at least twenty coins in the capital.

He handed the money to Shen Cao, saying, "Young boss, I'd like to ask you something."

"I see your shop is called Shen Family Restaurant, so I presume your surname is Shen."

Shen Cao nodded.

He Yu continued, "Have you ever heard of someone named Shen Chen?"

When Shen Cao heard He Yu mention this name, sure enough, they had come looking for her.

I should have known better than to say I lived in the county town.

Ji Lingfeng is now 80% certain that the small business owner in front of him is the one who saved him. As for why he is a girl now, it is probably because he was disguised as a man before.

The name Shen Chen was probably just something she randomly chose to conceal her identity.

However, when Shen's mother, who was tidying up nearby, heard the guests mention her son's name, she assumed that these people were her son's guests.

She put down what she was holding. "Does this gentleman know my son?"

"You're saying Shen Chen is your son?"

"Yes, that's my son."

"Cao'er, tell them, is your older brother's name Shen Chen?"

Shen Cao tried to stop her, but it was too late, so she could only nod.

"Shen Chen is indeed my older brother. Are you my older brother's friends?"

Ji Lingfeng kept staring at Shen Cao. Her expression didn't change when He Yu mentioned Shen Chen; at most, she seemed a little puzzled.

For some reason, Ji Lingfeng felt somewhat disappointed when she learned that Shen Chen was her older brother.

That explains everything; the chicken broth in these chicken wontons tasted about 70-80% similar to the one he had that day.

That day it was mushroom and chicken soup, but today the chicken soup wontons are made with pure chicken broth, the only difference being the mushroom flavor.

Ji Lingfeng stood up. "Shen Chen helped me before. I don't know where he is now. I want to thank him in person."

"I see. Since Chen'er saved you, you can be considered his friend."

Shen's mother never expected that Chen'er had helped others before. He spent his days either reading at home or buying books at the bookstore.

It seems that he saved this young master on his way to the bookstore.

"Unfortunately, my older brother has gone out, and we don't know when he will be back."

"Besides, my elder brother is not the kind of person who takes advantage of kindness, so you don't need to take it to heart."

"Besides, judging from your appearance, you seem to have important matters to attend to, and there's no need to delay your business because of my older brother."

After listening to Shen Cao's words, Ji Lingfeng felt that she was trying to deliberately draw a line between herself and him.

He was very unhappy.

"It's alright, we still have some time anyway, so we won't bother you today. We'll come to visit again tomorrow."

“This…” Shen Cao looked troubled. “My older brother might not be home tomorrow either.”

"It's okay, we can wait a few more days."

Seeing that he was determined to see his elder brother, Shen Cao was afraid that if she said too much, she would give herself away, so she had no choice but to give up.

Not long after the two left, Shen Chen returned from Grand Tutor Zhou's place.

When Shen's mother saw Shen Chen return, she quickly went out the door, looked around, but didn't see any familiar faces, so she had to give up.

Shen Chen looked at his mother with a puzzled expression. Why did his mother run out after seeing him return?

Before he could ask, Shen's mother said regretfully, "Oh, what bad luck! Two of your friends said they wanted to see you, and they had just left when you came back."

"Friends? What friends?" Shen Chen wasn't someone who liked making friends; he had almost no friends in Xin'an County.

"One of them said you once saved him."

"You saved him?" Shen Chen had no idea who he had saved in the past.

Just as he was wondering what was going on, he saw what his sister was thinking.

Could this person be related to Shen Cao?

To avoid worrying his mother, he could only explain, "Maybe it's because I've saved people occasionally, it was just a small thing, I've forgotten about it."

"Hey! I knew it. But that person seems very grateful to you and insists on meeting you."

"Are you free tomorrow? That person said they'll come to see you again tomorrow."

Hearing what her mother said to her elder brother, Shen Cao was a little worried that her brother would deliberately wait at home tomorrow.

She knew her older brother might have guessed something, so she could only plead with her eyes not to agree to their mother's request.

As expected, it was related to his younger sister. He said regretfully, "I'm afraid it will be too late tomorrow. Grand Tutor Zhou told me today that we have to set off for the capital early tomorrow morning."

"Ah! So soon!" When Shen's mother heard that her son was leaving tomorrow, she stopped talking about the guest. She still had a lot of things to prepare for her son.