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

Ye Shu was holding a fresh meat mooncake with both hands with a devout expression, eating it while humming softly, her eyes slightly red.

His hand kept pointing at Grand Tutor Zhou, as if urging Grand Tutor Zhou to try it quickly.

His movements were rather exaggerated, drawing the attention of those around them.

Grand Tutor Zhou pretended not to recognize him and lowered his head to seriously eat his fresh meat mooncake.

He didn't recognize the idiot.

He hadn't expected that the chef at this small eatery would be so exceptional.

He felt guilty about his thoughts, and to express his apology, he decided to order a few more fresh meat mooncakes.

He quickly finished the fresh meat mooncake in his hand, then looked up to call the shop assistant over and ask for a few more.

Then they saw Shen Cao carrying two bowls of wontons and walking up to them, carefully placing the wontons in front of them.

"Please enjoy your meal, sir."

"Um..." Before he could finish speaking, Ye Shu couldn't wait to interject, "Young lady, do you still have any of those fresh meat mooncakes?"

"Give us four more."

He held up four fingers, then waved his hand, "No, give everyone three more, six more."

Shen Cao looked up at the customer in front of her who was eagerly asking for fresh meat mooncakes, pointed to the corner of her mouth, and said, "Bring six more fresh meat mooncakes, right? Okay."

"Um, sir, you have something here."

Ye Shu fumbled around his mouth for a while before finally finding a crumb. Adhering to the principle of not wasting anything, he threw the crumb into his mouth.

Shen Cao went to get them some fresh meat mooncakes.

Grand Tutor Zhou looked down at the wontons in the bowl. Green cilantro floated on the clear broth, along with some black fried bits that he couldn't quite make out.

I stirred it a little with a spoon, and there were even dried shrimp in the soup.

The aroma seemed to include a hint of sesame oil. He hadn't expected that the scent of sesame oil would pair so well with cilantro. The combination of the two had a fresh cilantro fragrance and a hint of sweetness, making it very appetizing.

He scooped up a spoonful of soup; the clear broth seemed to have no flavor.

He put the spoon in his mouth, tasted the soup, and his eyes lit up again.

This seemingly plain soup base was so delicious that he almost bit his tongue.

Ye Shu, who was sitting to the side, did not eat as elegantly as Grand Tutor Zhou. Instead of slowly savoring the soup base, he first scooped up a plump wonton and put it in his mouth.

These are fresh pork wontons with thin, smooth wrappers and a firm, bouncy filling. They may not look very colorful, but they taste incredibly delicious.

He put the wonton in his mouth, chewed it twice, and then took a sip of soup before swallowing the chewed wonton with the soup.

It was so delicious that he couldn't quite describe it.

He pointed to the wontons and urged Grand Tutor Zhou to try them quickly.

Grand Tutor Zhou had already sensed the deliciousness of the wontons from Ye Shu's expression when he ate them.

After finishing the soup, he also started eating wontons.

Grand Tutor Zhou, who had been starving for several days, and Ye Shu, who had just eaten lunch, were so engrossed in eating wontons that they didn't even have time to talk.

They didn't even notice when Shen Cao brought out the fresh meat mooncakes for them.

After finishing their wontons, the two looked at the fresh meat wontons on the table and began another round of speechless silence.

Feeling not quite full, Grand Tutor Zhou ordered another serving of wontons.

Shen Cao was very surprised by the old man's appetite; it was more than what a young boy could eat.

Out of kindness, she reminded the old man, "Sir, eating too much at night can easily cause indigestion."

Grand Tutor Zhou waved his hand, "Young lady, don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Seeing that the guests had said so, Shen Cao had no choice but to cook wontons for them.

"Sir, besides our fresh pork wontons, our shepherd's purse and fresh pork wontons are also quite good. Compared to the pure meat wontons, they have a hint of vegetable fragrance, and they taste delicious too. Would you like to try some?"

Grand Tutor Zhou thought for a moment and nodded.

The imperial physician had previously advised him to eat more vegetables and less meat, and it seems he hasn't eaten any vegetables today. Perfect timing, shepherd's purse wontons—just hearing that means there are vegetables in them.

Unlike Grand Tutor Zhou, Ye Shu hadn't eaten for several days. He only ate his fill at noon, and when he touched his stomach, he realized he couldn't eat anymore.

He did not ask for any other food.

Soon, the shepherd's purse wontons were ready.

Sure enough, you could tell from the appearance that these shepherd's purse wontons were different from the previous pork wontons; the thin skin revealed a bright green color.

He took a bite and indeed found it had a hint of fresh vegetable flavor, but it was still delicious.

After finishing the shepherd's purse wontons, his belly returned to its previous round shape.

Finally satisfied, he happily patted his round belly with one hand and stroked his beard with the other.

Now I have a place to eat in Xin'an County.

Ye Shu looked at Grand Tutor Zhou, who had finished eating. This was the first time the two of them had just buried their heads in their food and hadn't said a word.

In the past, whenever he ate a meal, Grand Tutor Zhou would explain some ingredients or cooking methods to him, and popularize the origin of a dish.

This time, however, Grand Tutor Zhou did not utter a single word throughout the entire process.

"hey-hey."

Grand Tutor Zhou looked at Ye Shu, who was laughing out loud, and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

"I laugh at you, Grand Tutor. Outsiders say that you are a difficult person to serve, with a bad temper, and you don't like to get close to people."

"Who would have thought that just one meal could make you so happy that you would stroke your own beard?"

Grand Tutor Zhou listened to his words and did not refute them.

He's the most approachable person; outsiders are just spreading rumors.

Ye Shu: [Have you forgotten how you angrily rebuked the Crown Prince back then?]

【besides……】

After eating and drinking his fill, Grand Tutor Zhou finally remembered the important reason he had come to Shen's Restaurant, and he summoned Shen Cao.

"Young lady, I'd like to ask you, who wrote the poem on the door?"

"And the plaque at the entrance, and the couplets on the beams and pillars, they were all written by the same person, weren't they?"

Shen Cao looked the old man up and down. Although she was puzzled, she still replied, "Old man, to be honest, the poem on the door was written by my elder brother just two days ago. I thought it was very fitting for the occasion, so I asked him to hang it on the door."

"Every word you see in this restaurant was written by my eldest brother."

Grand Tutor Zhou nodded. "Your elder brother is a scholar?"

"Yes, my older brother loves reading."

"Oh? May I introduce you? I've also had a few years of schooling and am very curious about the person who wrote this poem. I'd like to discuss it with them."

Shen Cao was somewhat shocked. This old man was clearly not in the same league as his elder brother, so he didn't directly ask his elder brother to come and see him.

Instead, he was so humble, saying he wanted to have a friendly competition with his older brother.

She said somewhat embarrassedly, "I'm so sorry, sir, my older brother isn't home today."

When will he be back?

"Tomorrow, the results are going to be released tomorrow, right? My older brother will definitely come back."

Upon hearing Shen Cao's words, Grand Tutor Zhou's face lit up with joy. "Your elder brother participated in this year's autumn imperial examination?"

Shen Cao nodded.

After hearing Shen Cao's words, Grand Tutor Zhou became even more eager to get to know his elder brother, thinking that perhaps he was the person he was looking for.

However, Shen Cao's next words made him give up on the idea.