Pastoral Splendor

Walking on the lush green grass, our shoes rustled softly underfoot. The group walked along the ridges of the fields, and as they drew closer, they could already see the low earthen brick walls surrounding the courtyard.

"Master, what do you think? Should we take Miss Xiao as our disciple?" Xu Yixuan kept bringing up this question with Jian Yifei, his eyes constantly glancing at Yan Ying's face. It would be so great if Miss Xiao became his junior sister; then he would have someone to call him senior brother.

"Who's your junior sister? You look younger than me." Yan Ying was somewhat unconvinced. Looking at Xu Yixuan, she thought he was just a little kid who hadn't grown up yet. How could he call himself older in front of her?

"How could I be younger than you?" Xu Yixuan jumped up, chattering incoherently, "What year, month, and day were you born?"

Yan Ying was taken aback. She only knew she was fourteen, but she couldn't figure out which month. Xu Yixuan said smugly, "I'm definitely older than you, hurry up and call me senior brother!"

“I never said I would take Miss Xiao as my disciple.” Jian Yifei smiled. “Men and women should not touch each other. How could I instruct Miss Xiao in martial arts?” He glanced at Yan Ying, feeling a strange sensation in his heart. If he took her as his disciple, his status would rise, and he would no longer be able to speak so freely as he did now. With a master-disciple relationship between them, it would seem as if he couldn’t say anything at all—he didn’t want that!

The group returned home chatting and laughing. When Aunt Xiao saw Xu Yixuan arrive, she became somewhat nervous, unsure whether to stand or sit. Yan Ying went over and winked at Da Hua: "Big sister, help Mom inside. Don't let her get tired. She's still in her postpartum period, why is she standing in the wind?"

Da Hua responded and helped Aunt Xiao walk inside. Xu Yixuan looked at their backs and sighed, "Miss Xiao, your family is too poor. Here's what we'll do: I'll give you a few hundred taels of silver. You can tear down your house and rebuild a new big brick house, then buy some furniture and some nice clothes."

Liuhua squatted down next to Yan Ying, and a sweet smile appeared on her little face as she listened to Xu Yixuan's words: "Young Master Xu is so kind."

Yan Ying smiled and waved her hand: "Young Master Xu, I appreciate your kindness, but Sanhua has always wanted to earn money with her own hands and doesn't want handouts from others."

Xu Yixuan blushed: "Miss Xiao, this is not charity, I..."

Jian Yifei, sitting to the side, spoke up: "Yixuan, you shouldn't force yourself. Miss Xiao has such ambition, so naturally we should support her." He glanced at Yan Ying and a smile appeared on his lips: "Miss Xiao, if you ever need any help in the future, just come to me, and I will definitely lend a hand!"

"Brother Jian is so kind!" Liu Hua jumped up happily, then suddenly remembered what Aunt Xiao had told her last night, and her little face showed a look of no hesitation: "Brother Jian, my mother said that I should be more respectful to you and call you Young Master Jian, but I feel puzzled and it doesn't seem quite right to call you that! Brother Jian, can I call you Brother Jian?"

"Of course." Jian Yifei smiled slightly when he saw Liu Hua's lively and clever appearance. He glanced at Yan Ying and said, "Miss Xiao, you can call me Brother Jian too. I'm not some rich young master. I feel awkward when you call me Young Master Jian."

Yan Ying nodded: "Alright, from now on I'll call you Brother Jian."

Xu Yixuan quickly chimed in, "Then you should call me Brother Xu too!"

“Young Master Xu, you are of noble status, I cannot address you so casually.” Yan Ying smiled apologetically at Xu Yixuan: “If the maids and servants in your mansion heard this, they would surely say that I do not know the rules.”

"Ignore them!" Xu Yixuan said angrily, "They all have as many mouths as sparrows, like gossipy old women! You call me Master Jian, so you can naturally call me Brother Xu too!"

Yan Ying felt somewhat helpless. She glanced at Xu Yixuan and saw his unwillingness to be outdone. She sighed inwardly. After all, he was spoiled and always wanted to compete with others, even his name had to be compared with Jian Yifei's. She nodded: "Alright, then I'll call you Brother Xu when we're alone. But when there are more people, I'll still call you Prince Xu, so that others won't say I'm arrogant."

Seeing that Yan Ying had conceded, Xu Yixuan was very happy and said with a smile, "Miss Xiao, it's settled then!"

As they were talking, they heard someone outside shout, "Excuse me, does Xiao Sanhua live here?" Judging from the voice, it must have been a middle-aged man in his forties.

"Oh, is it the people from Ruyi Restaurant?" Yan Ying looked at Xu Yixuan and Jian Yifei and the others: "If you're going to act, you should act more convincingly. Please go inside and take shelter."

Liu Ya jumped up from the ground and grabbed Jian Yifei's hand: "Brother Jian, Brother Xu, I'll take you to the backyard to hide."

Seeing that the group had gone to the back courtyard, Yan Ying walked to the courtyard gate. There were several people standing outside. The one in front was a chubby middle-aged man wearing a silk robe. His forehead was covered in sweat, which dripped down his face. He kept raising his sleeve to wipe it. There was a faint gray mark on his face.

"Uncle, I am Xiao Sanhua. What do you need me for?" Yan Ying looked at the middle-aged man openly, guessing that he was probably the manager of the restaurant.

"Do you have anything here called pickled bamboo shoots?" The shopkeeper peeked into the courtyard and looked at the mud-brick house with some doubt. Could this family really have the pickled bamboo shoots that the richly dressed young man wanted? He really couldn't believe it.

"We have pickled bamboo shoots." Yan Ying opened the door a little: "Uncle, please come in and talk."

Once inside the house, Yan Ying brought out a few stools: "Please have a seat, everyone. I'll go get some pickled bamboo shoots."

"Alright, alright." The shopkeeper calmed himself down. He had finally found the pickled bamboo shoots. He wondered what they were that the young master was so interested in. Judging from the family's appearance, they didn't seem to have anything of value. This was truly strange.

Yan Ying walked into an inner room where a row of porcelain jars stood against the wall, each with a rim of water around its mouth and a porcelain bowl inverted on top. She walked to the first jar, reached out and lifted the bowl, a few drops of water splashing into the air. She pressed her nose to the rim of the jar and smelled it; a slightly sour fragrance wafted out.

"Well done." Yan Ying was secretly pleased; it seemed the sealing was done perfectly. She took out a pair of chopsticks, picked out a few pickled bamboo shoots from the jar, filled it to the brim, and carried it out.

Just as she carried the bowl to the door, the people inside smelled the aroma and turned around, looking at the bowl in Yan Ying's hand with surprise: "Miss Xiao, is this pickled bamboo shoots?"

"Yes." Yan Ying smiled and placed the pickled bamboo shoots on the stove. "These are pickled bamboo shoots made using our family's unique method. Gentlemen, smell them, don't they smell delicious?"

"It smells so good, so delicious!" the waiter named Qian Xiaosi exclaimed. "Miss Xiao, the pickled bamboo shoots you made are really fragrant!"

The shopkeeper glanced at Qian Xiaosi with dissatisfaction. He hadn't even spoken yet, and Qian Xiaosi was already exclaiming how delicious it was. How was he going to negotiate a lower price later? He looked at the few pickled bamboo shoots in the bowl and chuckled, "That's all."

Yan Ying didn't say much, picked up her rice bowl and went into the house. The shopkeeper was a little anxious: "Miss Xiao, why did you take it away?"

Yan Ying smiled slightly: "Uncle is very knowledgeable. Since you don't like my pickled bamboo shoots, I will naturally take them and keep them safe."

Sweat dripped down the shopkeeper's forehead. He hadn't expected this girl to be so sharp; she had left him speechless with just one sentence. He stammered, "Although it's only so-so, it's not too bad either; it's not bad at all."

"Uncle, you've come here to buy pickled bamboo shoots?" Yan Ying stopped in her tracks upon hearing the shopkeeper's words, turned around and smiled: "I also have a specialty dish, stir-fried pickled bamboo shoots with minced meat. Would you like to try it, uncle? If you like it, I can sell you the recipe at a discount."

"Sell recipes?" The shopkeeper laughed heartily. Ruyi Restaurant was the largest restaurant in Yuzhou City, and its chefs were all skilled cooks. Why would he need to buy recipes from this country girl? "Miss Xiao, you are far too confident in your skills."

Qian Xiaosi tugged at the shopkeeper's sleeve: "Shopkeeper, didn't that young master insist on eating stir-fried minced pork with pickled bamboo shoots? If our chefs can't make Miss Xiao's dish taste like this..."

Upon receiving this reminder, the shopkeeper suddenly remembered the words Xu Yixuan had left behind before departing, and couldn't help but shudder. He pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Miss Xiao, then I'll trouble you to make this dish for me. I'll taste it and then decide whether or not to buy your recipe."

Yan Ying nodded: "Of course, we definitely need to taste it before we can decide."

Rolling up her sleeves and washing her hands, Yan Ying instructed the waiter, Qian Xiaosi, to start the fire, and then began chopping vegetables. As the saying goes, a skilled hand reveals its true ability. The shopkeeper, watching Yan Ying's chopping technique, was startled. This Miss Xiao was no ordinary person; judging by her knife skills, she had clearly practiced.

Before long, Yan Ying had prepared the ingredients. After the pot was heated, she started to add oil. With a "sizzle," puffs of white smoke rose from the pot, along with a unique aroma that wafted up.

...