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

Sunset West Mountain.

Gradually, candlelight began to illuminate the scene.

The stars twinkled like fireflies in flight.

The Hundred Herbs Garden was bustling with activity.

Smoke billows.

The crowd was full of people.

"Sir, I'm so sorry, all the dishes are sold out."

"If you want to eat, you can come earlier tomorrow."

"Tomorrow is the last day of the opening event."

Customers who didn't get to eat had to leave disappointed.

You must come early tomorrow afternoon.

Looking at the flower-shaped shumai in front of her, Li Xiaoyu felt both curious and worried.

If the shumai isn't sealed tightly, won't the filling fall apart when it's cooked?

"Master, is it okay to wrap these shumai like this?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Cao knew that she was worried that the filling might leak out.

She nodded. "It's okay, these shumai aren't boiled, they're steamed."

"It will absolutely not leak."

Wanyue was eager to try; it was much simpler than making dumplings.

Simply put in some filling, then wrap it up with your index finger and thumb; there's no need to seal it.

She washed her hands and took a shumai wrapper.

Hold it up and look at it against the candlelight; the shumai wrappers are so thin you can see through them.

I wonder what these thin-skinned, generously filled shumai taste like.

She tried to wrap one, just like Shen Cao had done.

It's not as simple as it looks, but it's a bit better than making dumplings.

After she made a few more, she had completely mastered the technique.

The steamed dumplings are getting prettier and prettier, looking like white carnations.

They were neatly arranged in the bamboo steamer baskets, like beautifully packaged flower boxes.

Shen Cao prepared a lot of filling, making a total of ten steamers.

After the water boils, steam for 15 minutes.

Even before it's fully steamed, the delicious aroma is already wafting out.

The fragrance drifted on the wind into the lobby and the private rooms.

In the private room on the second floor, Li Jiaxing was a gourmet who had tried all the delicacies within a 20-mile radius of Xin'an County.

I never expected a restaurant to open near my home recently.

The name is very pleasant to hear and has a fresh and refined feel.

Baicao Garden.

He originally thought it was a vegetarian restaurant, but to his surprise, the dishes served were ones he had never even heard of before.

How could he possibly miss such a great opportunity?

He has been eating at Baicaoyuan for two consecutive days.

They eat two meals a day at Baicaoyuan.

Even so, despite ordering different things every day, he still couldn't try all the ingredients for the hot pot.

He also saw the stir-fries on the menu, but he's the kind of person who likes to try them one by one.

He plans to try cooking other dishes after he has finished eating all the hot pot ingredients.

Unexpectedly, the herb garden gave him another big surprise.

Surprisingly, there are many different kinds of hot pot here.

He originally thought that there was only one type of hot pot, but the staff at Baicaoyuan told him that there was also a shabu-shabu style.

Wow, wow, wow, he felt like he wouldn't be able to leave the Hundred Herbs Garden for the next month.

This afternoon, he and his family came here for dinner.

We just finished eating and were about to pay the bill and go home.

Suddenly, a delicious fragrance wafted out from somewhere.

The aroma made him ask the waiter for a reply.

"Hey buddy, is that a delicious smell coming from your kitchen?"

The waiter sniffed it with a puzzled look, and it did smell really good.

"I don't know, sir. Would you like me to go ask in the kitchen for you?"

Li Jiaxing smiled and nodded, "Then I'll trouble you, young man."

His family members were used to it.

His master doesn't like anything else but his appetite.

They were already used to this kind of situation.

On one occasion, Li Jiaxing even followed the scent to the person's house, knocked on the door, and went in to ask.

The waiter quickly returned from the kitchen, slightly out of breath. "Yes, my boss is steaming mutton shumai in the kitchen."

"What is shumai?" Li Jiaxing had never heard of it.

The waiter shook his head. "I don't know either. My second manager told me that the head manager steamed mutton shumai today."

"Why don't I see this dish on the menu?"

"This dish is indeed not for sale; it's something my husband makes for his own consumption."

Li Jiaxing sniffed again, a little embarrassed to speak, "Could you help me ask if you can sell me some so I can try it?"

"I'll pay for it!"

The guy was a bit at a loss; it was the first time he'd encountered such a situation.

But he still kept in mind what the shopkeeper had told them.

Customer requests should be met as much as possible.

"I'll go ask in the kitchen, but what if..."

"It's alright if your shopkeeper doesn't want to sell it."

"I'd like to trouble you to make another trip for me, young man." Li Jiaxing took a small piece of silver from his pocket and handed it to the shop assistant.

The waiter went to the kitchen with a cheerful smile.

Wanyue was puzzled when she saw him come to the kitchen again.

He came to the kitchen just now to ask what delicious food the kitchen smelled of.

She had already told him, but she didn't expect him to come again.

The waiter was a little embarrassed. "Second Manager, the customer in my private room wants to ask if the head manager sells these steamed dumplings. He wants to buy some to try."

Shen Cao had just taken the steamed shumai off the pot when she heard what the waiter said.

I picked up six shumai, placed them on a clean plate, and handed them to him.

"Here, take this and let the guests try it."

Should she buy mutton shumai from the store as well?

The waiter happily carried the mutton shumai to the private room.

As he walked through the hall, many guests looked curiously at the shumai he was carrying.

Although I don't know what it is, the smell along the way is indeed delicious.

Several people also stopped the waiter to ask questions.

Li Jiaxing was surprised that the waiter actually brought him a plate of shumai.

He looked at the white, flower-like shumai in front of him.

If it weren't for the steaming heat, he would have thought the waiter had brought out a plate of flowers.

"My boss said to gently pick it up with chopsticks, put it in a small dish, bite a small hole, and gently pour out the juice."

"Drink the soup first, then add a little bit of aged vinegar, and stuff it into your mouth in one go."

Li Jiaxing listened with great curiosity to the waiter's description of how to eat it.

He carefully picked up a shumai and placed it on a small plate, as if he were handling a rare treasure.

Then, as the waiter instructed, I gently bit a small hole and carefully poured out the juice from the shumai.

He hadn't expected that such thin shumai could hold so much juice; no wonder he had to lift it so gently.

If you're even slightly clumsy, the shumai wrapper will get punctured.

It would be such a waste if the juice inside leaked out.

He picked up the small plate and sucked all the juice from it into his mouth.

Wow! It looks so delicious.

The subtle aroma of scallions and the savory flavor of meat juices made it more delicious than any lamb he had ever eaten.

He never expected that mutton could be made to taste so delicious.

He gently parted the petals with his chopsticks and saw the filling inside.

It has scallions and meat, and its color looks incredibly light, but the flavor is surprisingly rich.

Instead of adding vinegar as the waiter instructed, he stuffed it into his mouth and tried to taste the original flavor.

He was already full, but after eating this shumai, he still couldn't resist wanting more.

He added a little bit of aged vinegar to the second shumai.

Wow, the umami flavor is even more pronounced with the addition of vinegar, and the acidity of the vinegar perfectly cuts through the greasiness of the meat.

No wonder the shopkeeper recommended adding vinegar.

The remaining four shumai were snatched away by Li Jiaxing's family, who were afraid that if they didn't eat them soon, Li Jiaxing would eat them all by himself.

The family always supports each other when they go out.

I was already stuffed, and then I ate another shumai.

In the kitchen, Shen Cao looked at the person in front of her and fell into deep thought.