Zhao Ruyun's enthusiasm put A Xu at ease, and it seemed that the meal was a sure thing.
“Grandma, this is the owner of Fumanlou, Nangong Qing.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Ruyun realized that this was their sugar daddy. Su Luo had just been joking with him like that, not afraid of offending this man.
"So it's Young Master Nangong. Please have a seat. Luoluo is such a child; she didn't even tell you to sit down when she arrived." Zhao Ruyun brought out the two best stools in the house for Nangong Qing and Axu.
Nangong Qing: "Thank you!"
Su Luo poured the two of them some honeysuckle herbal tea that she had brewed. It was slightly yellow in color and had a faint fragrance.
Nangong Qing always smelled the aroma of tea first when tasting it; it was his habit. He knew he might not get any good tea at Su Luo's place, but he still did it out of habit.
However, this smell surprised him; it was a fragrance he had never smelled before.
Taking a sip, the tea is rich and has a sweet aftertaste; it can be considered a top-grade tea.
"Madam Su, what kind of tea is this?"
Seeing him drink the large bowl of honeysuckle tea, and savoring it again and again, Su Luo said, "That's honeysuckle tea, which we picked ourselves from the mountain. It's different from the high-end tea you drink."
Nangong Qing took two more sips, savoring the taste: "No, this tea is very special."
"If you like to drink, take some back with you later. There's plenty more on the mountain."
Su Luo didn't want to discuss the tea issue with him too much, so she asked Zhao Ruyun to bring the spice packet and give it to Nangong Qing.
"One hundred packs, would you like to order another one?"
Nangong Qing and Axu picked up the spice packet and looked at it. They saw that it was full of spices ground into powder, and you couldn't tell what spices were inside from the appearance.
He sighed inwardly, thinking how well this woman had protected the recipe, making it impossible for him to replicate the spice packet.
“I trust Madam Su to get things done, Ah Xu…”
Nangong Qing gave a nod, and A Xu immediately understood, taking out three one-hundred-tael silver notes from his pocket and handing them to Su Luo.
"Madam Su, please accept this."
When Zhao Ruyun saw that the spice packets she had spent half a day packing had actually sold for three hundred taels of silver, something she never dared to dream of, she couldn't believe that what she made would one day earn so much money. And now she had actually seen it with her own eyes, and she was incredibly excited.
The Chen family is getting better and better. Thinking of her short-lived husband and her unfortunate son, she wonders if they are protecting her and her orphan in the afterlife.
Su Luo put away the silver notes. With these three hundred taels, plus the more than one hundred taels of silver she still had, it should be enough to buy the land.
"Please wait a moment, I'll go and cook for you right away."
Su Luo turned to cook, while Zhao Ruyun wiped away the tears falling from her eyes, smiled, carried a pile of firewood to the stove, and said to Su Luo.
"Luo Luo, let me help you start the fire and wash the vegetables."
"Okay!" Su Luo didn't stand on ceremony with Zhao Ruyun. Zhao Ruyun had been going through a lot of changes in her these past two days, and her emotions were up and down. Su Luo was used to it.
Nangong Qing brought all the dishes himself; there were too many. Su Luo only cooked half of them, making the chicken into poached chicken and preparing a delicious seasoning.
The duck is made into Eight Treasure Duck, with diced bamboo shoots and shiitake mushrooms brought by Nangong Qing placed inside the duck's belly. A total of eight kinds are added, so that when you eat it, you will have a layer of flavor experience.
Then I made the other dishes too, a total of nine dishes, which was a bit too much for just six people.
Looking at the ingredients that were still half-cooked, I'll have Nangong Qing take them back to Fumanlou later.
"Luo Luo, I'm going to the village to find Chuan Chuan and Huan Huan. You two eat first, don't wait for me."
Zhao Ruyun washed her hands and, smiling, went to find the two children.
Outside the fence, Su Luo heard the barking of two dogs, which were getting closer and closer.
Smiling, she said to Zhao Ruyun, "Mother-in-law, there's no need to look for them anymore, they've returned."
In fact, both children are very sensible and never worry Su Luo. Even if they go out to play, they will always come back on their own when it's time to eat.
"Grandpa, what are you doing outside? Didn't my mother call you in?"
Yan Chuan's voice came from the doorway. Su Luo went over to see what was happening and found Chen Ping'an standing hesitantly outside the fence, with several scratches on his forehead.
Upon seeing Su Luo, his eyes darted away, his face turning pale and then red, and he kept scratching the back of his head with his right hand, only managing an awkward smile.
"Uncle, how long have you been here? Why don't you come in?"
Su Luo noticed that Chen Ping'an had pulled up a patch of grass around his feet, which was definitely not something that happened when he first arrived.
"Um... Su Luo... I... I..."
Chen Ping'an couldn't come up with a coherent explanation for a long time. Liu Fangfang had asked him to come and ask Su Luo for money, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Just then, Su Luo had another customer, and he was even more at a loss for words. He couldn't get the money back, and his wife was waiting for him with a belly full of anger. He was completely confused and didn't know what to do.
"Chuan Chuan and Huan Huan, you two go inside to wash your hands and eat first." Su Luo told the two younger ones to go back first, then turned to Chen Ping'an and asked, "Uncle, is there something wrong?"
"No, I..."
Su Luo felt like she had forgotten something, but when she tried to remember it, she couldn't.
"Uncle, since you're here, come in and eat. I've cooked a lot of dishes today; there's more than we can eat."
Seeing that there were still guests, Chen Ping'an shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, Su Luo, you still have guests, so I won't go."
Nangong Qing and the others are all willing to eat at her kiln; they don't look down on the villagers.
Su Luo said, "Uncle, it's precisely because we have guests that you should stay for dinner. Otherwise, if my mother-in-law and I, two women, were to host two male guests, the villagers would inevitably gossip. With you here, it's different. By staying for dinner, you're actually helping us."
After Su Luo said that, Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment before nodding and following her inside.
At the dinner table, Su Luo introduced Nangong Qing and A Xu: "Nangong Qing, this is my husband's younger brother, Chen Ping'an."
"Hello, Uncle Chen, please have a seat!" Nangong Qing offered a seat to Chen Ping'an.
"Okay, okay..." Chen Ping'an didn't recognize Nangong Qing either, so he could only force a smile.
"Uncle, they are from Fumanlou Restaurant in the county."
"The people from Fu Man Lou are truly important figures."
Eating with these people made Chen Ping'an even more reserved. These two were obviously rich kids, and he, a peasant, couldn't possibly have anything to say to them.
"Uncle is here, come and eat." Zhao Ruyun was even happier to see Chen Ping'an. With Chen Ping'an around, she was no longer afraid of what the villagers would say about them. Otherwise, in a couple of days, people would say that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were eating with two men late at night, even though they were innocent.
Su Luo used a cleaver to cut open the back of the Eight Treasure Duck, revealing the eight ingredients inside, each with a different flavor.
Su Luo placed the dish in the middle of the table and said, "This is the main dish for tonight, Eight Treasure Duck. As the name suggests, it has eight flavors. Please try it."
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