Chapter 52 Chapter 52

Chen Hui excitedly went to Jiang's house to report the good news. In fact, no matter how well Changfenglou developed in Kyoto, Chen Hui did not earn much, but he was still proud of it. In the past, only they learned the dishes from Kyoto, and now it was finally their Anyuan Mansion's turn to lead the trend.

Jiang Huai was prepared for this, but seeing Chen Hui so happy, he didn't spoil the fun and asked a few questions.

After Chen Hui calmed down from the news and realized that Jiang Huai was the one who made the greatest contribution in this matter, he became complacent and happy before the other party said anything. This was really wrong.

He was just really happy in his heart. After Chen Hui left Jiang Huai, he quickly discussed it with other restaurants and then spread the news.

Chen Hui and the others didn't have any other thoughts. They simply felt that knowing it by themselves was not enough to make them happy. After all, this was an alternative way of returning home in glory. If they didn't publicize it, it would be like traveling in glory at night.

The people of Anyuan Prefecture have an impression of stir-fried dishes. After all, so many merchants coming and going choose to eat stir-fried dishes. In their opinion, compared with other dishes, this new stir-fried dish must be delicious. But apart from this impression, the people don’t think this stir-fried dish is so high-end, because it is just a dish.

It was not until Chen Hui and his men publicized the grand occasion of Changfeng Tower in Kyoto that the common people realized that this stir-fried dish was a rare item comparable to sweaters and snowflake salt, and that it could bring honor to Anyuan Prefecture.

All of a sudden, the restaurant in Anyuan Prefecture welcomed a wave of new customers. These new customers all had some money in their pockets. They couldn't come to the restaurant often, but they had no problem spending money on a luxurious meal occasionally. It was just that they were reluctant to spend money on stir-fried dishes before. But now, the reputation of the stir-fried dishes has grown so much that even if they are reluctant, they can't resist their curiosity.

What's more, the less money people have, the more they care about face. Everyone starts talking about cooking, and when someone asks them about it, they can't answer how the cooking tastes, which is a bit embarrassing. Even for the sake of face, they have to come to the restaurant for a meal.

In addition to these guests, Anyuan Prefecture also welcomed a wave of guests from other places. In the past, guests from other places were all traveling merchants who could come or not, but these guests came purely for the cooking.

The news about the cooking also spread there. Originally, when the news only came from Anyuan Prefecture, some people were interested, but more people thought that Anyuan Prefecture was located in a remote area, so they would make a fuss about a little innovation and it was not worth mentioning. But this time the news spread from Kyoto, and people in Kyoto liked it, so naturally they wanted to try it too.

It was a long way from their place to Kyoto, and they didn't know how long the journey would take. However, it was much easier to go to Anyuan Prefecture. Although Anyuan Prefecture was a border town, the results of the battle that Wei Xuan had brought back made these people feel that Anyuan Prefecture was relatively safe, so they all rushed over.

When these people come, they have to spend money on food, drink and entertainment. Some people are so satisfied with the food that they even want to take a chef with them.

However, other restaurants do not have enough chefs, so how could they allow diners to take a chef away? Even if some diners are powerful in their hometowns, they dare not force too much when they come to Anyuan Prefecture. They are still afraid of Wei Xuan's existence.

…

Time flies, just like a blink of an eye.

After waking up from his sleep, Jiang Huai yawned lazily and stayed in bed, unwilling to get up.

The winter in Anyuan Prefecture is getting colder and colder. It has only been about three years, but the temperature has been dropping lower and lower. Last year, it was not too cold before the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the temperature was slowly dropping. But this year, it was a bit cold even after the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Feeling the warm kang beneath him, Jiang Huai felt like he was trapped in the quilt. He struggled and tentatively stretched out a finger from the quilt. Feeling the cold air outside the quilt, Jiang Huai's fingers trembled and slowly retracted into the quilt, grabbing the quilt and pressing the corners to prevent the cold wind from entering the warm quilt.

There was a creaking sound and the door was pushed open from the outside. The cold wind wrapped in ice and snow blew into the house. Fortunately, the visitor quickly closed the door.

The tall figure approached step by step. Jiang Huai was not panicked at all, because just by listening to the familiar footsteps, he knew that it was Xiao Jingzhao coming.

"Didn't you say you wanted to eat barbecued pork buns and custard buns? They're ready in the kitchen." A slightly low male voice sounded.

Jiang Huai poked his head out from under the quilt and saw Xiao Jingzhao's face. Even though he was used to seeing it, he was still stunned for a moment.

Perhaps it was because he had been in the army for too long, especially in recent years, Xiao Jingzhao had been fighting in the battlefield and had made outstanding military achievements. Compared with three years ago, the gentleness on Xiao Jingzhao's face had almost disappeared. The subordinates who were trembling with fear under Xiao Jingzhao would never have imagined what he looked like three years ago.

Now, Xiao Jingzhao has high arched eyebrows, cold eyes, and an imposing aura when he has a cold face. Even Fang, the chef who entered the mansion early, did not dare to relax in front of Xiao Jingzhao in recent years.

Only in front of Jiang Huai would Xiao Jingzhao's expression soften a little, and this familiar gentleness, coupled with the fact that Jiang Huai met Xiao Jingzhao almost every day except on the battlefield, meant that he was not scared away by his cold face.

And Jiang Huai was still thinking about one thing.

"Have you grown taller during this period?" Looking at Xiao Jingzhao's tall figure, Jiang Huai's eyes were full of envy.

Xiao Jingzhao had said before that he was twenty-three years old, and Jiang Huai believed it at the time, because Xiao Jingzhao looked older. But later, Jiang Huai found that the age Xiao Jingzhao said might be wrong, because at the age of twenty-three, even if the body developed again, it would be impossible for it to continue to grow like a plant.

But Xiao Jingzhao just kept growing taller. Jiang Huai estimated that he was already 1.9 meters tall. This height was particularly outstanding even in modern times, not to mention in ancient times. Jiang Huai had met many people in the past few years, but almost no one was as tall as Xiao Jingzhao.

Later, he couldn't help it and went to ask Xiao Jingzhao, only to find out that Xiao Jingzhao was only eighteen years old at the time, so it was normal for him to grow taller in recent years.

"Did you lie about your age?" Jiang Huai stared at Xiao Jingzhao, trying to interrogate him.

A hint of smile flashed across Xiao Jingzhao's eyes. Jiang Huai had lived an extremely smooth life in the past three years. The only thing that was not going well was his height. Maybe it was because he had been weak since childhood, and he had suffered in prison before. Even with his care during the exile, he suffered a lot in that month. He had not grown much since he came to Anyuan Prefecture.

In the first year, Jiang Huai was fine. He only measured his height once every ten days or a month. After all, Jiang Huai felt that he was not too old, and Xiao Jingzhao had not grown taller, so he did not feel any pressure. But in the next two years, Xiao Jingzhao grew taller, and Jiang Huai began to get a little anxious. He started to measure his height every day, for fear that he really would not grow taller.

Jiang Huai was not very obsessed with height, nor did he pursue a tall figure like Xiao Jingzhao, but he couldn't be too short, otherwise he wouldn't be able to see the scenery from above. So he took all kinds of high-quality proteins and high-quality carbohydrates, and even found a doctor to regulate his body. He even trained Fang Chef to be a nutritionist.

After such intensive conditioning, Jiang Huai's physical condition is indeed much better than before. I don't know if his body has sensed these changes and has slowly grown back.

"I haven't grown any taller. It's just that when you're lying in bed, you naturally think I'm taller." Xiao Jingzhao picked up the fur coat beside him and said, "I know you don't want to get up, but you can't skip your meal. Put on this fur coat first, and I'll bring you food."

Xiao Jingzhao knew that Jiang Huai didn't want to get up because he was afraid of the cold. Even if there was a fire pit in the room, he would still feel cold when he got out of bed. It's not that the Jiang family couldn't afford to build a fire wall, but Jiang Huai disliked building a fire wall because the room was too dry, so he didn't want to build one.

It's just that the weather didn't change before, so even if it was cold, it wasn't so cold that he didn't dare to get off the kang, so Xiao Jingzhao let Jiang Huai do it. But now he can't do that. If he gets frozen, even if Jiang Huai's physical condition has improved, he will still get seriously ill and be weak for a while.

What's more, Jiang Huai particularly dislikes taking medicine. It would be even more troublesome to ask Jiang Huai to take medicine for this illness, so it is best to keep warm.

Jiang Huai understood what Xiao Jingzhao meant. The other party saw that he was reluctant to get up, but wanted him to eat breakfast, so he prepared to let him eat in bed.

Jiang Huai hesitated for a moment, but still struggled to get up. Even though he was lazy, it was still a bit too rude to eat in bed.

But before Jiang Huai could stand up, he was held down by Xiao Jingzhao.

"Just lie down and relax. It's too cold outside." Xiao Jingzhao said as he pushed a small table over and placed it next to the bed. "You can eat here. After you finish eating, lie down. I'll ask the servants to light the fire wall."

Looking at the small table, Jiang Huai hesitated for a moment, but still fell down under Xiao Jingzhao's force. However, when the fire wall was mentioned, Jiang Huai looked embarrassed.

He was also afraid of the cold, but compared to the cold, he was more afraid of dryness. Anyuan Mansion was already dry in winter, and once the fire wall was lit, the room would become even drier. Even if a few basins of water were put in, it would only be better than nothing for Jiang Huai.

Jiang Huai had never experienced dryness before, and he was severely punished when he burned the fire wall in his first year. His nose was so dry that it bled, and his face was so dry that it felt tight. Fortunately, he asked the doctor to buy some facial cream to prevent his face from becoming too dry.

The area most affected by dryness is the lips. Even if the face is oily, it can be cured by just enduring it. But only those who have applied lip balm on their lips know the greasy feeling. Because it is too greasy, Jiang Huai couldn't help but wipe or lick the grease on his lips while applying it. If he didn't wipe it off, his lips would become dry again, so he had to continue applying it.

If I don’t apply it, my lips will become dry and cracked. I dare not smile or talk at all. Even eating will make my lips crack and bleed.

In order to make the lip balm easier to apply, Jiang Huai specially allocated some money and found a few doctors to ask them to study how to make lip balm. Jiang Huai was not very clear about the production process of lip balm, but he had seen the production process of some handmade lipsticks, one of which contained beeswax as a raw material. As a result, although a good lip balm was not made, lipstick was made, which made the caravan a lot of money.