Nangong Li picked up his chopsticks, took a slice of fish, and put it in his mouth. Just as An Yi had said, the fish was tender and smooth, without a trace of fishy smell. He then took a sip of the soup, which was sour, spicy, and refreshing—truly to his liking. So he reached for more fish slices, one after another. Then he heard An Yi swallow.

Nangong Li then invited Manager Wang and An Yi to eat together.

"Thank you, Master." An Yi quickly picked up a piece of fish and put it in his mouth.

The shopkeeper ran off quickly, saying, "Let me go check if the other dishes are ready yet."

An Yi thought to himself: Silly old Wang, it's such a waste not to eat such good fish. But it's good that he doesn't eat it, he can eat more! Hehe!

Shopkeeper Wang: Pshaw! I have a whole pot downstairs. Wouldn't it be better to enjoy it all by myself?

Manager Wang ran downstairs quickly, went to the kitchen in the backyard, greeted Mo Liuyun that the food was ready, and asked Twenty to call him. He then brought the pickled fish to the second floor. Just as he sat down, he saw the open window move and another person appear at the table. The person who came was none other than Wushuang!

Shopkeeper Wang: The plan to eat alone is ruined. Oh well, since we can't beat them, let's not waste time talking. We might as well eat a few more pieces of fish instead.

Wushuang didn't stand on ceremony and picked up her chopsticks to eat. Manager Wang also picked up his chopsticks without saying a word. The two of them took turns eating, and the fish slices in their bowls visibly decreased. They also drank almost all the soup, and soon only vegetables remained. Manager Wang said, "Why are you here?"

Wushuang: "My master asked me to protect Miss Mo, so I came along. I really didn't expect to finally get to eat Miss Mo's cooking. You don't know, the last time she made something called braised pork with preserved mustard greens, the aroma was so good that I ate two extra steamed buns just from the smell!"

Shopkeeper Wang: It can even make you eat more just by smelling it?! I've never heard of that before!

Mo Liuyun was preparing the second dish. Twenty obsequiously washed the pot, and then Mo Liuyun took out a jar of fermented bean paste. Since she had already taken everything else, she didn't mind having one more.

After frying a spoonful of fermented soybean paste in oil until the oil turns red, I added boiling water and boiled it. Then I used a strainer to scoop out the solids and discard them. After adding salt to taste, I grabbed some greens and planned to blanch the remaining greens until they were just cooked through.

Seeing that some fish head had been reserved, the other vegetables were blanched and placed in a large bowl. Then, the fire was simmered for twenty minutes, and the slices of meat were added to the pot one by one.

I gently pushed the meat slices with a spatula to prevent them from sticking together. Once all the meat slices floated to the surface, I scooped them up with a strainer and placed them into two separate bowls.

Then add broth, minced garlic, and chili powder. Heat the oil to medium-high heat, add Sichuan peppercorns, and heat until smoking. Pour the oil directly over the chili and garlic. The hot oil will instantly turn the chili oil in the bowl, making it look very appealing.

Twenty swallowed hard again, just about to ask Twenty to call the manager, when Manager Wang had already appeared at the door.

Mo Liuyun said, "The shopkeeper has arrived just in time. This is boiled sliced ​​pork!"

Shopkeeper Wang nodded, served the boiled pork slices, and left quickly! As soon as Shopkeeper Twenty left, he smiled obsequiously at Mo Liuyun, who had no choice but to give him some more meat, but this time he didn't scoop out any soup, telling him that the soup was too spicy and he should just eat the vegetables!

Twenty, holding the bowl, quickly put a piece of meat into her mouth, blowing on it even though it was so hot, but she didn't spit it out. As always, she said, "Delicious, delicious, the meat is so tender!"

Mo Liuyun washed the pot, put some oil in the bottom, added boiling water, put the fish head in the pot to stew, and added two slices of scallion and ginger. When the soup turned milky white, he added the winter bamboo shoots to stew together.

Manager Wang carried the boiled pork up to the third floor, placed it on the table, briefly introduced the dish, and then quickly went downstairs! He thought to himself, "I didn't realize the third brother was truly unaffected by delicious food!"

The moment the boiled pork was served, three words popped into Nangong Li's mind again: boiled pork. But this time he didn't say them aloud. He picked up a piece of pork with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. It was fresh, fragrant, and smooth. Unlike the pickled fish, the pork slices were tender and smooth with a slight chewiness. Hearing An Yi's words, he couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"You think An San doesn't like to eat and runs fast?!" As he spoke, he picked up another piece of meat. An Yi's chopsticks didn't stop moving as he replied, "Otherwise what?"

Nangong Li: It was a very wise decision to choose An San as the manager. If we had replaced him with An Yi, the restaurant would probably have been sold off and he would still be counting the money for the other party!

In the kitchen, Mo Liuyun waited for half a cup of tea to boil the winter bamboo shoots, added salt to taste, chopped the greens into small pieces and sprinkled them into the soup, turned around and took two soup bowls. Just as she ladled out a spoonful of soup, a small bowl appeared between the two soup bowls, looking so fresh and clean!

Mo Liuyun: ...I had no choice but to put the soup in a small bowl!

Twenty-something took the soup bowl and said, "Hehe, thank you, young master!"

After serving the soup, Mo Liuyun took out the winter bamboo shoots from before, put the chopped cured meat into the pot and stir-fried it until the oil was rendered. Then he added the sliced ​​scallions, ginger and garlic to the pot and stir-fried them for a few seconds before adding the sliced ​​winter bamboo shoots back into the pot.

He added a little water and continued stir-frying. He tasted the bamboo shoots; they were just right. The cured pork was quite salty, so there was no need to add more salt. After stir-frying, he divided the bamboo shoots into plates and set them aside. Twenty was sipping his soup when suddenly a small dish of cured pork stir-fried with bamboo shoots appeared before him. Nineteen was suddenly so moved he almost cried! Miss Mo was so kind to him!! He didn't even say a word.

So Twenty asked, "Young master, do you need any servants? No money needed, just meals!"

Mo Liuyun: Where did the owner of Wangjiang Pavilion find this person? A few dishes and she's going to leave with them?!

However, he still refused, saying, "I don't need it! You and I will take this soup and vegetables up to the manager." Mo Liuyun and Twenty-one people carried a tray upstairs, with Twenty-one walking in front, until they reached the private room on the second floor.

Twenty knocked on the door. Wushuang heard the footsteps and turned to leap out of the window. Seeing the waiter push the door open, the innkeeper asked in surprise, "Didn't you say there were only two dishes? Why is there more?"

Mo Liuyun said, "The previous two dishes were prepared for the restaurant. Today you have distinguished guests, and I was worried that they might not be able to handle spicy food, so I specially made this fish head and bamboo shoot soup and stir-fried bamboo shoots with cured pork!"

"Alright, thank you for your kindness, young master. I'll take them over right away." The shopkeeper took the twenty trays and carried them upstairs.

Upstairs, Nangong Li saw Manager Wang bring up more dishes. Without asking, Manager Wang simply repeated what Mo Liuyun had said. An Yi reached out and ladled a bowl of soup for Nangong Li, then ladled one for himself.

He also picked at some cured pork stir-fried with bamboo shoots, then lowered his head to eat while showing off: "Third brother, you have no idea how delicious that sauerkraut fish and boiled pork were..." Before he could finish speaking...

Manager Wang continued, "It's really delicious. The fish is fresh and tender, melting in your mouth, and the meat slices are smooth and tender..." Before he could finish, An Yi looked up and asked, "How did you know?!"

Nangong Li and Manager Wang were staring at him as if he were a fool!

Nangong Li said, "Have you forgotten that Miss Mo came here to discuss a collaborative food tasting?"

Manager Wang said, "Master said to send up one serving of each kind!"

An Yi muttered to himself: "Send up one of each, send up one of each!"

He gritted his teeth and said, "You old bastard Wang Laosan, no wonder you ran so fast, you were eating all by yourself!"

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