Su Qingluan couldn't hide the surprise and astonishment on her face, but Xie Zian obviously misunderstood the reason for her surprise.

He raised his chin cockily: "Well? Open your eyes! Have you never seen such a rare thing?"

Su Qingluan shook her head and complained in her heart: treating a flounder as a "rare thing", she had never seen such a scene before.

But it’s no wonder. In ancient times, unless you lived by the sea, how could you easily eat or even see seafood?

What's more, although flounder is a fish species that lives in shallow waters, the fishing and transportation level at that time is probably limited. It is estimated that most of the time, even wealthy families may not be able to eat it often.

"Are we going to cook this fish today?" Su Qingluan pointed to the flounder swimming slowly at the bottom of the water tank. Since the water tank was very large and the bottom inside was a dark brown color, Su Qingluan would have found it difficult to notice the fish if it had not been swimming in mid-air at the beginning.

Xie Zian nodded, thought for a moment and said, "This is probably your first time too. A fish is that big anyway, you can make half a fish first, and then make the other one if that doesn't work out." He showed an expression that said, "Am I being very considerate and generous?"

Upon hearing this, Su Qingluan complained in her heart, but at the same time she forced a smile that was so bright that it made her grit her teeth: "I really appreciate your understanding..." Thank you to all your ancestors!

Xie Zian nodded and waved to the servant beside him: "Go, catch the fish - don't forget to catch the small one, I want to leave the big one for grandma to enjoy!"

Following the principle that "flattery never wears out, and the biggest party is the most powerful in the world," Su Qingluan flattered Xie Zian when she heard his words: "Young Master, you saved the best for your grandmother. Your filial piety is truly commendable!"

Xie Zian said very straightforwardly: "Oh, I made her happy, so that I can quickly return to the imperial capital from the desolate Lefeng Town!"

Su Qingluan: ...

Old Butler: ...

Servants around: ...

Su Qingluan couldn't help but twitch her lips: What's wrong with this unlucky kid? What nonsense is he telling?! How should she respond to this?

The old housekeeper obviously knew that his young mistress was unreliable, so he just said, "If the old lady could eat the food that the young master gives her, her illness would be almost cured." Then he turned around and directed the servants to catch fish in the water tank with a scoop net.

The area of ​​this fish tank is quite large. It is not very deep but has an irregular and very freehand shape.

The color of the bottom of the fish tank was very similar to the pattern on the back of the flounder. In addition, flounders usually swam slowly close to the bottom of the water. As long as the servant took a scoop net, the two flounders were hidden.

So, two servants had to roll up their trousers and jump into the large fish tank to show the people outside where the flounder they were targeting was.

After the servants' efforts, the flounder was finally caught. Su Qingluan took this opportunity to ask Xie Zian if he could eat spicy food. After getting a positive answer, she turned around and asked if there were any garlic, onions, or black pepper.

Being wealthy also has its advantages. With just one order, someone would prepare the necessary ingredients. Since there were no wall-breaking machines in that era, Su Qingluan had to ask a servant to grind black pepper in advance.

By the time the servants finished their battle of wits and courage with the flounder, all the ingredients except the black pepper, which had not been ground yet, had been prepared.

This time when Su Qingluan came to the kitchen again, it was much more lively than before.

Although this house is gorgeous and prosperous, it actually does not cover a very large area, and there is only a young owner like Xie Zian, so the fact that Su Qingluan's cooking skills are excellent and have caught Xie Zian's eye has spread like wildfire in such a short time.

What's more, Xie Zian asked the chef in the mansion to come and learn how to cook flounder, which attracted many people in and around the kitchen to watch the fun.

Su Qingluan asked the kitchen to bring out the largest casserole. She measured the size and found it could barely fit the whole fish. She quickly patted the flounder unconscious, then quickly physically removed it and rinsed it clean.

The flounder has thick meat and loose bones rich in gelatinous bone marrow, which is very worth eating. It would be a pity to throw it away just because it has no taste.

Thinking of this, Su Qingluan still cut the flounder into small pieces two fingers wide when processing it.

"Ouch! Why did they cut up such a nice fish?" someone exclaimed. "What a wonderful meaning a whole fish has!"

Su Qingluan smiled and said, "One of the wonderful things about this fish is the bones in the middle. The inside is rich in gelatin, the bones are elastic, the texture is soft and tough, and it has a unique flavor. If you don't cut it like this, the fish bones will lose a lot of flavor and it would be a pity to throw them away."

After saying that, he cut the remaining fish meat into pieces two fingers wide, leaving only the intact disc fish head and did not cut any further.

"Do you have pork fat? I want pork belly with fat and lean parts." Su Qingluan asked.

One of the servants frowned, "The Xie family is a noble family, how can they eat such a cheap food as pork?"

Su Qingluan disagreed: "Pork is one of the five animals, offered to the gods of heaven and earth and ancestors. How can it be called 'lowly' if it is used by the gods and ancestors?"

The servant who had led Su Qingluan was also there. Su Qingluan already knew her surname was Huang. She stepped forward and whispered, "This... young master has some truth in what he said, but the pork does taste bad..."

This maidservant Huang obviously knew that Su Qingluan was disguised as a man - probably the old housekeeper told her - so she was quite confused about how to address Su Qingluan.

Su Qingluan smiled and peeled off the dry outer skin of the garlic, leaving only the tender purple inner layer of garlic skin: "I have my own way to make pork delicious."

The maidservant Huang was skeptical, and finally asked her servant to bring a piece of top-quality pork belly.

In fact, Su Qingluan also knew that pigs in this era were raised under toilets, forming a "natural cycle" with humans, so the meat had a strong fishy smell, and many people thought pork was very dirty because they could not accept the living environment of pigs.

Fortunately, there are many ways to remove the fishy smell of pork.

First, Su Qingluan placed an iron pan on the stove to heat it up, then pressed the skin side of the meat against the pan and rubbed it hard.

The iron pan was heated like a branding iron, making the pork skin make a "sizzling" sound as soon as it entered the pan. As the faint aroma of barbecue spread, the pork skin gradually turned from white to brown.

Su Qingluan carefully observed the color of the pork skin while grilling it. After a while, when she was sure it was almost cooked, she heard a servant beside her whisper, "Young Master, the black pepper you requested is ready!"

Su Qingluan nodded and raised her head towards the table next to her: "Just put it there, thank you." Then she took out the pork, cut off the thicker pure fat at the bottom, cut it into rougher pieces and threw it into the oil pan, then added a little star anise and bay leaves to remove the fishy smell.

In an instant, the air was filled with the aroma of lard.