Chapter 37 The incident occurred because the maids and servants in the main kitchen all had their own...

Because the maids and servants in the main kitchen all had their own tasks to do during the day, Su Zhihan set the banquet for the evening.

The next day, after finishing their shifts, Yinghong and her sister Zhenzhu were the first to enter the Jiang family home with gifts. Then came the butcher, Cao Mama, and Cao Daya, followed by several other kitchen maids and servants who also arrived with gifts.

Finally, Qiuyue pulled Sulan into the house as well.

When Su Lan entered the room, she saw Pearl sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) talking to Su Zhihan. Pearl was beautiful and dressed differently from the other kitchen servants. Moreover, Su Lan recognized her and knew that she was the person Xiu He was most jealous of.

She was startled, surprised that Pearl had come to the banquet with her sister out of respect for Su Zhihan.

Actually, Su Zhihan was also quite surprised.

You should know that she invited Yinghong but not Zhenzhu. Little did she know that Yinghong would tell her that her sister also wanted to come.

Su Zhihan had even received copper coins from Pearl, so she was too embarrassed to refuse, which led to the scene that Su Lan witnessed.

"These must be Sister Qiuyue and Sister Sulan, right?" Pearl stood up and greeted them warmly as they entered. "Sister Han just told me that you two took good care of Yinghong in the main kitchen. I'll be toasting you later."

Qiuyue and Sulan were filled with trepidation and repeatedly agreed.

They had never taken care of Yinghong before, and had often made her do rough and tiring work. Now they couldn't help but look at Su Zhihan and Yinghong with gratitude.

Su Zhihan noticed everyone's gazes and was speechless. She had never said those words. Pearl's words were meant to help her and also to help Yinghong build a relationship.

After all, with Zhang's mother gone and Wu's mother losing power, Su Zhihan has taken center stage and has more opportunities in the kitchen.

"And Han-jie, I have to have a drink with you too."

"That's wonderful." Su Zhihan understood what Pearl meant and brought over the wine with a smile: "This is bayberry wine made by Madam Xu. I begged and pleaded before I was finally able to get a jar."

"That's because Madam Xu was worried you'd get drunk and mess things up, that's why she was reluctant to give it to you earlier." Madam Cao covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking with laughter. She reached out and took the wine pot, volunteering to heat it up: "It's already evening, you can have a little bit without any problem."

"...I hadn't drunk in a long time, that's why I was a little tipsy." Su Zhihan complained, puffing out her cheeks, which startled everyone around her into laughter.

In her previous life, she had an excellent alcohol tolerance. However, since she had never drunk alcohol before, she indulged in a drink and didn't expect that the seemingly insignificant wine actually had a high alcohol content, which is why she got drunk.

Now, the story of her being unable to hold her liquor after just one drink has become a well-known embarrassing tale. Whenever there is a gathering or when drinks are needed in the kitchen, someone will bring up this incident.

Su Zhihan was filled with sorrow, and sighed while holding her face in her hands.

Just as everyone had stopped laughing, they couldn't help but laugh again when they saw her aggrieved expression.

"As for alcohol tolerance, you can build it up little by little."

"When Yinghong was little, our dad dipped some wine in his chopsticks and let her taste it, and she got drunk like a little pig." Pearl brought up this funny story from Yinghong's childhood, which immediately resonated with everyone.

“My mother said that my father used to tease me like that too.”

“My dad does the same thing, he still brings it up against me all the time.”

Once the topic was brought up, the awkwardness from before dissipated, and everyone laughed and talked about their embarrassing and funny stories. Among them, Yinghong, who was not convinced, recounted a series of embarrassing stories about Pearl, but was quickly suppressed by her sister, who even brought up the time when she was a child catching insects and stuffing them into her mouth.

Just as the group was chatting and laughing, Jiang Zhenniang had finished heating up all the food and brought it to the table one by one. With a smile on her face, she warmly invited everyone to sit down and eat: "Please don't be shy, make yourselves at home, and have a taste."

"good."

"Thank you, Aunt Jiang."

The table was laden with dishes, including braised pork belly, crispy tendon, steamed goose and duck ribs, ginger and shrimp, all bought from the market. There were also homemade dishes by Su Zhihan, such as braised pork liver, braised pork, tofu stewed with fish, braised radish, and stir-fried cabbage with vinegar.

The table was overflowing with food, and the aroma was irresistible.

Pearl looked around, a hint of surprise in her eyes. Yinghong, who had been secretly watching her sister, raised the corners of her mouth smugly: "Sister, how about it? Isn't Han-jie amazing?"

Pearl was indeed taken aback. Qiu Yue Niang was well-informed, and Pearl and Ying Hong's families were all in charge, so they had learned about Madam Xu's affairs from others long ago, and were also somewhat tempted to make a move.

However, after much deliberation, the family decided to abandon their idea of ​​sending gifts to Madam Xu and asking her to accept Yinghong as her apprentice.

It wasn't that Pearl and her family looked down on Yinghong; it was just that if Madam Xu truly valued Yinghong, she wouldn't have waited until now. Compared to Han'er, who was bought from outside, their family's situation was among the best in the household.

After discussing it with her family, Pearl decided that it would be better to place her bet on Han Jie'er. She didn't think about anything else, she just wanted to teach Su Zhihan to take care of Yinghong more and teach her more skills so that even if she couldn't work in the main kitchen in the future, she could at least work in the small kitchen in Chang Ge'er's courtyard.

Even though she had made up her mind, Pearl was still quite worried, wondering if Han Jie'er would be able to catch the eye of Chef Xu.

Pearl listened to Yinghong's words, glanced at the food in front of her, then raised her hand and gently poked Yinghong's forehead, scolding, "What are you so proud of? You act as if you made it yourself."

"When will you be able to cook such a meal?"

"Sister, your parents and I can finally relax and stop worrying about you."

“…Um.” Yinghong held her forehead, feeling guilty and not daring to speak. She had heard her family discuss giving a gift to Aunt Zhang so that they could teach her the craft later.

Although Zhang Mama and Wu Mama were similar, both of them kept their skills to themselves, Zhang Mama was still a little better than Wu Mama, who treated her apprentices like dirt. At least she taught both of her cooks a good foundation.

Who knew that Zhang Mama had gone to the Second Miss's courtyard and it seemed she wouldn't be coming back. If you wanted to learn a trade from Zhang Mama, you had to go to the Second Miss's courtyard and then get married with her; where you would go after that was uncertain.

Pearl was from Chang Ge'er's courtyard and would be staying in the Zhongyong Marquis's mansion from now on, so her parents were also ordinary.

Yinghong didn't want to leave her parents, and she also wanted to stay in the mansion.

However, the small kitchen in Changge's courtyard had long been occupied by several senior mothers. They had their own daughters and sons, as well as goddaughters, so they wouldn't teach Yinghong any cooking skills.

Yinghong felt that rather than working as a lowly servant in Changge'er's courtyard, where she might be tricked and implicate her sister, it would be better to work under Hanjie'er.

Pearl glanced at her younger sister's bright, darting eyes and tightly closed lips; she knew exactly what her sister was thinking. Leaving that aside for now, she raised her wine cup and toasted Su Zhihan.

After eating and drinking for a while, seeing that everyone was reserved, Jiang Zhenniang simply pulled Cao Mama and the butcher outside and moved the three of them to the mud stove to drink, leaving the room to the young girls.

Without the older maids around, Cao Daya and Qiuyue suddenly became much more talkative. Compared to the other maids who preferred meat, Pearl especially loved the stir-fried cabbage with vinegar.

The cabbage used was the tender inner leaves, which had a crisp and refreshing texture. It was coated with a thin layer of sauce, making it tangy, refreshing, and delicious.

She picked up a piece of food with her chopsticks, then another, prompting Yinghong to tease her: "Han-jie, look! My sister finished all of this stir-fried cabbage by herself!"

Pearl's cheeks flushed slightly as she nudged Yinghong's armpit with her elbow. Seeing Yinghong groan in pain, she angrily put down her chopsticks and reached out to tickle Yinghong.

Everyone was laughing and joking, casually talking about all sorts of interesting things. Su Lan listened attentively, only muttering in agreement, not knowing how to join the conversation. Just then, when Qiu Yue mentioned that a new cake shop had opened in the city and invited everyone to go eat, she suddenly remembered something.

It wasn't until the end of the day that everyone gradually said goodbye and went home.

Seeing that the butcher and several maids had left first, then Cao Mama led Cao Daya away, and then Pearl pulled Yinghong and Xunhan'er aside for a few more words before leaving as well.

Su Lan, who was left until the end, finally mustered her spirits and stepped forward to speak to Su Zhihan: "Sister Han, has your recipe for stinky tofu spread outside?"

Autumn Moon's eyes were wide open.

Su Zhihan's eyes flickered, but instead of answering directly, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Actually, when I went out that day..."

That day, Su-lan went to buy things for her family. As soon as she arrived at the braised meat shop, she saw a group of soldiers in blue robes rushing into the tofu shop next door.

The owner of the braised meat shop was startled and rushed over to see what was going on. Su Lan followed behind, peeking inside. Before long, she saw two or three customers running out in terror. Meanwhile, the tofu shop owner and his waiter were dragged out by the soldiers, their hands tied in front of them, and they were tied together with ropes and headed towards the yamen.

Just as Su Lan was puzzled and confused as to how a tofu shop could get into legal trouble, the people who had followed the soldiers were indignant. Some threw rotten vegetable leaves at the soldiers, while others talked to those around them: "They are really shameless!"

"Those people are absolutely heartless!"

"They're shameless! I heard they even sell spoiled tofu!"

"Not only that! I heard from the officials that this has become a well-established business, with a whole string of transactions!"

"What does that have to do with stinky tofu?" Qiuyue couldn't help but ask. Sulan thought about what she had seen that day and was still shocked: "I was just curious, so I went up to listen to what people were saying."

"I heard it hadn't been discovered before."

"I heard that someone complained about the strong smell from their neighbor's house and went to the authorities to report it, suspecting that there was something shady going on in the neighbor's house."

"Who knew that when the officials arrived, they found a pile of rotten tofu," Su Lan continued, recounting the situation.

This incident caused quite a stir. The idler who was caught red-handed claimed that he had stolen someone's recipe and that the other person had also used rotten tofu, attempting to shift the blame onto others.

"I heard that the family is selling deep-fried stinky tofu." Su Lan said, glancing at Su Zhihan and Jiang Zhenniang.

Qiu Yue couldn't help but gasp in surprise, and even Jiang Zhenniang's eyes widened as she looked at the calm-looking Su Zhihan in astonishment.

Su Zhihan nodded: "That prescription is not suitable for use in the Marquis's mansion, so I sold it to someone else—Mother, you know, it's Granny Chen's house."

Su Zhihan spoke frankly, and Su Lan believed her.

After all, everyone present knew firsthand how unpleasant the smell of the food was; it was hardly something that could be served to the master. Even placing two people in the courtyard drew considerable objections.

Su Zhihan breathed a slight sigh of relief when she saw that Su Lan did not suspect anything. Although she did not expect that Su Lan would happen to run into the scene of the arrest and even watch the excitement, she was prepared and used the name 'Grandma Chen's Stinky Tofu'.

After calming down, Su Zhihan became curious about what would happen next. Because of Wu's mother's matter, and the heavy snow for several days, she hadn't visited Grandma Chen for quite some time.

The next day, Su Zhihan went to Grandma Chen's house and learned the rest from her.

The case also involved Grandma Chen's family. However, after confirming that there was nothing wrong with the tofu, that the purchase invoices were complete, and that there was a contract issued by the brokerage firm, Grandma Chen and Xiao Hong returned home and resumed their stall selling the tofu as usual.

But life was tough for the other shops and stalls.

The search of the old man's house revealed not only a large quantity of spoiled tofu, but also well-hidden ledgers. Perhaps they had some ulterior motives, as they meticulously recorded their purchase and sale orders. Furthermore, when other vendors learned of their arrest, they came forward to report them for buying spoiled tofu and reselling it to vendors making tofu puffs, fried tofu, and even braised tofu. Some, like Xiaohong, had even been threatened and extorted before, and went to the authorities to file a police report.

This matter suddenly turned into a major case.

Since it concerned the food supply of the people in the capital, the government conducted an in-depth investigation, which uncovered a huge problem. The deeper they dug, the bigger the discovery became.

It is said that several tofu shops in the city have closed down, and everyone from the shopkeeper to the employees has been imprisoned. According to the current criminal law, intentionally selling spoiled food is punishable by one hundred strokes of the cane. If the crime is committed repeatedly and the nature of the offense is serious, the punishment ranges from exile to hanging.

"I thought they were really daring."

"That day, the officials brought them here, and they were all terrified. Especially when they saw that we had all our things, they collapsed on the ground and were eventually dragged away by the yamen runners." After this incident, Xiao Hong became much bolder than before, and she chattered away beside Su Zhihan.

"Speak softly." Grandma Chen glared at Xiao Hong. She was much more cautious, afraid that the neighbors would hear and find out that they had set up the scheme.

“I know… I’ve never mentioned it outside, I always said I didn’t know anything about that.” Xiao Hong pouted and muttered, “I only explained it to Su Niangzi when she came.”