Chapter 59

Zhou Du's thoughts were interrupted. He shook his head and forgot about all the nonsense. A fragrance came, he sniffed gently a few times, and smelled a very pungent fragrance, very irritating but very fragrant.

He exclaimed: "Brother Huai Ting, what did you make? Why does it smell so good?"

Lin Shuge was just about to say, "Now you know how fragrant it is."

Suddenly, a voice came, "I also think it smells good, County Magistrate Lin, what have you done?"

Lin Shuge looked up and saw Xu Yu doing the same thing as before, standing on the wall and looking at this side like a peeping Tom.

"Boss Xu, if you keep doing this, be careful or I'll place hidden weapons on the wall." Lin Shuge said with his arms crossed.

Xu Yu didn't care about that. "Lin County Magistrate, I wanted to give you a bonus today, but I didn't know you were off duty so late today. If I hadn't smelled the delicious food at your house, I wouldn't have known you were back."

He jumped down from the ladder in a few steps. After a series of footsteps, there was a knock on the door.

Lin Shuge had no choice but to open the door for him. Xu Yu followed him in and said with a playful smile, "I come at the right time. Every time I come up with something new."

He had a sensitive nose and had already smelled that what Lin Shuge made today was not ordinary, but he didn't know what it tasted like.

Lin Shuge went to the kitchen and got a set of bowls and chopsticks and handed them to him. Xu Yu took them as if afraid that he would regret it, and said, "Then I will be disrespectful to refuse."

Lin Shuge originally thought that there would be only him and Zhou Du, so he only made two bowls of beef noodles, a plate of chili scrambled eggs, and a plate of spicy chicken. Unexpectedly, with Xu Yu joining, the noodles were gone, and he could only give him two buns.

Xu Yu didn't mind at all, and he and Zhou Du almost had a fight at the dinner table. Finally, under Zhou Du's fierce gaze, he put down the spicy chicken with chopsticks reluctantly, and instead picked up a chopstick of chili sauce, took a bite with the bun, and opened his eyes wide in amazement.

He had food in his mouth and couldn't talk. He could only hum to show that it was delicious. Zhou Du laughed and said, "Look at you, such a loser." But he quickly picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and put it in his mouth. It tasted spicy at first, and the more he chewed, the more delicious it became. He took another mouthful of noodles and didn't say anything else. He picked up several more pieces with chopsticks.

When he made eye contact with Xu Yu, his eyes were filled with anger and they started to use their chopsticks to fight.

Lin Shuge finished the last mouthful of noodles. This time he added chili peppers to make the beef noodles more soulful. His cooking skills were not as good as those of the Lanzhou chefs in later generations, but it was good enough for making home-cooked meals.

"Stop, stop, stop. I'll give each of you a small can when you leave." He didn't collect many peppers. After drying them, he fried them into chili sauce, which can be kept for eating. It tastes good whether mixed with noodles or steamed buns.

But seeing that the two of them like it so much, I can give them some. When this batch of seedlings grow up, I can make more chili sauce, and mash the rest into chili powder and make some chili oil.

When the two heard his words, they put down their chopsticks.

"Brother Huaiting, you really didn't lie to me. It's really a good stuff. What's its name?" Zhou Du wiped his mouth and asked.

"chili."

"Chili? This thing is so delicious. It can be used as a seasoning and also for cooking. If I had chili in my restaurant..." Xu Yu squinted his eyes and thought about the scene of money rolling in, and laughed out loud.

Lin Shuge glanced at him calmly and said, "Not that much right now."

"If you don't have it now, you will have it in the future. County Magistrate Lin, I am giving you dividends today. Last time I asked for your recipe, my restaurant business is booming, and my family's business has reached a new level."

People at that time mostly cooked by stewing, and stir-frying only appeared in later generations. The recipes Lin Shuge gave him were mostly stir-fry dishes, which naturally had different flavors.

He took something out of his pocket and said, "This is the title deed of the yard you live in. The money I made this month has long exceeded the price of this house. I'm giving it to you as a gift. I'll have my clerk bring you the dividends someday. They're too heavy for me to carry."

"So the newly opened restaurant is yours. I was wondering why the dishes are so novel." Zhou Du said, some of them he had never eaten before.

Just as Lin Shuge was about to speak, he was interrupted by Xu Yu, "This is what you deserve. I know you treat me as a friend, and brothers should settle accounts clearly. I'll give you 20% of the profit, but you have to count me in for the chili pepper."

"I want the chili too, I want it too." He can't just get it for free, Zhou Du thought angrily in his heart.

"It's too early. Once the seeds are grown, I will first have to find a group of people to try growing them to increase the yield. We'll see then." Lin Shuge said.

Chili peppers are not grain seeds, so they can be planted first to test the waters. Xu Yu's restaurant can indeed try it out first to see the public's reaction, and then promote it. The seeds can be sold to the public, and those who want to plant can do so voluntarily.

"No rush, just remember it." Xu Yu said, and Zhou Du nodded.

Xu Yu felt somewhat guilty today and helped him clear the dishes and even washed them. Lin Shuge looked at him and smiled, "Did the sun rise from the west today?"

Zhou Du mocked, "I think someone wants to please you now so that he can get more peppers in the future?"

"Master Zhou, you're joking. I just saw that County Magistrate Lin had to clean up the kitchen after working so hard for a long time, so I just helped him out. Unlike some people..."

Lin Shuge was in a dilemma. "If you keep arguing, you'll all be kicked out."

The two glared at each other, snorted, and stopped talking.

After the three of them cleaned up the kitchen, it was actually Lin Shuge who cleaned up. Zhou Du was quite considerate and just raised his hand to pass a plate or something, but Xu Yu was just making trouble.

During the chaos and turmoil, Lin Shuge regretted his decision so much that he should have kicked the two men out as they had only made things more troublesome. He closed the kitchen door, turned around, and saw the two men standing behind him without moving.

Zhou Du said confidently, "I will watch Xiaobai for a while before I leave. This neighbor can go home now."

"I will leave by myself, but who is Xiaobai?" Xu Yu asked.

Lin Shuge sighed in his heart and took the two of them into the main room to see Xiaobai.

Xiaobai is now practicing hunting by biting the blanket after having had his fill. His movements are very ferocious and so cute to humans that they will bleed.

"Oh, County Magistrate Lin, you actually have a cat." Xu Yu stretched out his paw to touch it, but Zhou Du slapped it down, "We Xiaobai only let people we know touch it."

Xu Yu refused to believe it. He reached out and touched it with lightning speed, looking at Zhou Du proudly.

Zhou Du was so angry that he gritted his teeth and said, "Have you washed your hands..."

Lin Shuge smiled and said, "What exactly are you two going to do tonight? Do you want to stay in my humble abode and sleep with me? If that's the case, go ahead and wait for me to turn over the cards after you're done washing."

Although the two didn't know what flipping a card was, they could roughly guess what it meant.

Xu Yu smiled carefreely, "It is my blessing to sleep with a beautiful woman, but if someone knows about it, I am afraid that someone will sneak in and silence me one day."

"Whoever wants to silence you, isn't that disgusting?" Zhou Du said as he shook off his goosebumps.

Lin Shuge had a blank expression on his face. "What do you want to do?"

Zhou Du and Xu Yu looked at each other, turned away, and then turned back again, saying in unison: "You are not allowed to promise him chili after I leave..."

Lin Shuge: “…”

Lin Shuge had nothing to say, so he turned around and went out to get two cans of chili sauce. "I have to rest, and you two should go back early as well."

He escorted the two of them out and said, "It's getting late, be careful on the road."

Zhou Du nodded, saw Xu Yu's eyes, snorted coldly, turned and walked out of the alley.

Xu Yu took the chili sauce and prepared to go back to have a midnight snack with someone and let him try it too. He looked at the Lin family's yard, laughed inexplicably, pushed open the door of his house and walked in.

Lin Shuge saw the two off. When he was interrupted by the two, he forgot that he had walked all day and had to boil water to wash himself. When he came out after washing and drying his hair, it was already dark. A crescent moon hung on the treetops, emitting a bright light.

He put down the towel in his hand and wondered how Zhongxuan was doing recently. A few days ago, he sent a letter to report that he was safe, but Zhongxuan always reported good news but not bad news. Lin Shuge thought of his injuries, went into the house, picked up a candle, sat at the table, and picked up a pen to write a letter.

On a quiet night, the candlelight flickered, and Lin Shuge's figure became increasingly hazy in the dim candlelight. He had half-wet long hair, a hint of sadness between his brows, and his profile was dreamy and almost like a painting.

He quickly finished writing the letter, blew the ink dry, and placed the letter under the vase, waiting to have the pigeon take it to the vase tomorrow.

There was a gentle breeze, bringing a hint of coolness, and the moon was dim, making the Gobi Desert seem even more vast and boundless.

Xie Chen took a sip of wine. It was his turn to keep watch tonight. The Eternal Tunnel was particularly magnificent at night. The sand under the moonlight seemed covered with a layer of silver gauze. It was a different scenery from Yandu, beautiful but dangerous.

The wine was brought by Lin Shuge through two of his personal guards. It was a small pot of wine, and he had always been reluctant to drink it. But tonight he missed his brother a little, so he took out the wine and drank half of it under the pretext of keeping watch.

The wine was brewed with pear blossoms. It was clear and sweet, and the alcohol content was not high. I guess my brother knew his alcohol tolerance and brewed it especially for him.

Xie Chen thought of the things his personal guards brought. In addition to clothes and medicine, there was also a bag of food. His brother was always afraid that he would suffer outside, so he wanted to bring everything he had with him.

However, there are many things to do in Zhonggu Tunnel. Although we won the last battle with the Huns, we don’t know when the Huns will come back. It will probably be another fierce battle by then.

There will be no peace on the border unless this vicious enemy is eradicated.

He looked at the stars in the distance, leaned against the city wall, put down the wine jug, and took out something from his clothes. It was a jade pendant. If Lin Shuge was here, he would definitely recognize that it was almost exactly the same as his. The carving technique was also the same, but the carved pattern was different.

His was a rabbit, while Xie Chen's was a crescent moon.

Xie Chen reached out and touched the moon on the jade pendant, wishing he could turn into Chang'e and follow the moon.

Who cares about Hou Yi? He just wants to take the moon for himself.

There was a sound of footsteps behind him. He quickly put the jade pendant away and asked coldly, "What's the matter?"

"Reporting to the commander, news has come from the commander's office that the Huns seem to be making unusual movements, and the commander has ordered everyone to be careful and alert." The soldier replied.

"Got it. Notify the tunnel gates to guard carefully tonight and do not neglect your duties. If anything goes wrong, beware of military punishment."

The soldier replied in a low voice, "Yes," and retreated.

Xie Chen looked at several beacon towers, which seemed very quiet in the night. Wind blew in the distance, blowing up a gust of sand and breaking the tranquility at the moment.