"Dad, why was the Ruan family's ancestral recipe taken away by my aunt?" Ruan Jiasheng, the eldest son of the Ruan family's eldest branch, was a little confused.
Even if the Jingyang Marquis' Mansion is not worth anything, it is a noble family after all. There is no restaurant in the shop that Ruan brought as a dowry, so what is the use of the dowry recipes?
Ruan Qin, the second master of the Ruan family, sighed. "I know why. Our family has a strong male population and a weak female population. Back then, your great-grandfather held your aunt in the palm of his hand, loving her dearly. He was probably afraid that marrying into the Earl's mansion as a merchant's wife would be looked down upon. He wanted to give your aunt the recipe so that she could please her husband and gain a firm foothold."
"If it's as my second uncle said, my great-grandfather wouldn't have given it to my aunt and not to us." Ruan Jiasheng still didn't understand.
It is understandable that she feels sorry for her granddaughter, but could it be that all her children and grandchildren were adopted?
Ruan Jialin, the second eldest son, wasn't as picky as his eldest cousin. "Anyway, it's a good thing my little cousin sent the recipe back. Let's try it out first. If it's as popular with students as the letter says, our restaurant will be saved."
The Ruan family girl married an ungrateful man.
The Jingyang Marquis's mansion owes its present respectability to the Ruan family's wealth, but Jingyang Marquis not only angered his original wife to death, but also created a cousin to disgust others.
Everyone knows that the daughter of the Wang family, who is thousands of miles away from home, is just a fisherman's girl. She was met by Lord Jingyang when he accompanied his wife to Suzhou to visit relatives.
First, they said that Wang looked like my late mother, and then they made up a story that we both had the surname Wang and were some kind of relative, so they brought me into the mansion. I don't know when they became together.
Everyone in the Ruan family doesn't want to vomit blood. They are either angry or feel nauseous.
Are you two rolling together, Xiaosi, my late mother?
What kind of beasts are these?
Old Uncle Jingyang also passed away a few years later. The Ruan family guessed that he died of anger.
What’s even more disgusting is that Wang used the silver that Ruan gave to suppress Ruan.
Wang's plan to arrange a marriage for Miao Wan failed, and because the Ruan family had spent most of their wealth to find the Qiao family and find this good marriage for Miao Wan, she held a grudge against them.
Although the Qiao family is now in exile, Miao Wan is a guaranteed fourth-rank lady when she gets married.
Wang was the second wife and could not receive the title granted by the saint, nor could she climb up the social ladder through Miao Wan. So she ordered her natal family to open a shop in Jiangnan, and used money to destroy the Ruan family's foothold.
The Ruan family's old house is in Suzhou. Even though it is not as good as before, they still have two restaurants in Suzhou and Yangzhou, so they are doing well.
The Wang family came from a fishing family background, and the Jingyang Marquis's Mansion was also a luxury. Where did they get so much money to suppress them?
It was because the dowry that the Ruan family gave to Ruan was embezzled by Wang.
Ruan's dowry back then could support half of a family even today, and it would be easy to use it to suppress the Ruan family, which had been largely emptied of money.
Money makes the world go round. Now the Ruan family has sold three restaurants and was forced to be removed from the Suzhou Trading Company, leaving only a small two-story restaurant on the Suzhou River.
The chef of the restaurant was also poached by the Wang's Restaurant next door, and now the restaurant is barely able to survive with the help of Ruan Qi, the eldest master of the Ruan family, who is in charge of the cooking.
Fortunately, Ruan Qi is an excellent cook and has come across many spices in the past. Just by looking at the recipe, he knows that the food he makes will taste good.
Ruan Qi was a little hesitant. "Although it was Awan who sent the recipe back, it is after all a Ruan family recipe. If it spreads in the northwest... I'm afraid this is inappropriate."
Ruan Qin rolled his eyes. His brother was good in every way except that he was too pedantic.
"She's probably living a very hard life in the northwest. Even if Awan sells the prescription without saying anything, can we still disown her? The child is willing to send the prescription back and ask for permission from us, his uncle. That's already a blessing from our ancestors."
After saying this, he stopped his eldest brother from wanting to say more, "Didn't our family have no house before? We sold the money to give to Awan. Big brother, just make the recipe and see what the braised food and crystal agate meat taste like. I will take care of the rest."
Back then, the Ruan family was framed and imprisoned, and they had to sell their shop to bribe people to get them out. The one who spent a few days in jail was Ruan Qi.
His brain is only good for cooking, it's useless for other purposes.
Ruan Jiasheng also agreed. Although he had rarely seen his little cousin, she was the only cousin in the family who had the Ruan family blood. She was pregnant and suffered a lot. Everyone in the family felt heartbroken when they heard about it.
Ruan Qi had no choice. Apart from the two houses and the restaurant, there was really nothing left to sell at home.
He also felt sorry for his niece, and was just thinking about replying the letter himself, and then going to burn incense in front of the ancestors and take all the sins on himself. Awan might have just given birth to a child, and he couldn't let her be involved in the sin.
Ruan Qin thought so too, but he just didn't like to say it.
The Ruan Jiasheng brothers looked at each other, and they knew in their hearts what their father/uncle was thinking. He was trying to secretly replace the letter by making a fuss.
All I can say is that the Ruan family are soft-hearted and well-behaved, which is why they were bullied so badly, but this bad habit is difficult to change.
But when the pleasant aroma of the broth with a slightly bitter taste came out, neither pair of fathers nor sons cared about whether to apologize or not.
They were not so easy to accept the offal, but there was no shortage of pork at home. When the pork was put into the soup, it was cooked over a high fire.
"Gudong!" Ruan Jialin swallowed his saliva. "Dad, Second Uncle, you guys ate a lot when you were little! How could you forget there's a recipe?"
Were these two elders fools when they were young?
Ruan Qi was also depressed. "Your great-grandfather's hands are shaking because of his old age. He had stopped cooking as far as we can remember. This is the first time I've eaten it. Why didn't he leave such a good recipe for us?"
"Stop drooling in the soup, both of you! Go out and buy a pig's head and some pig's trotters!" Ruan Qin understood his son's unspoken intentions and kicked him with a scolding and a laugh. "Our restaurant is saved!"
Ruan Qi was also happy, "Buy a few more pounds of pork belly and some sugar, and we'll make the crystal agate meat as soon as possible."
He had a feeling that crystal agate meat might be even more popular.
The two ladies who had already smelled the food came over and quickly said, "We can just go buy it. What do they know?"
After saying this, the two sisters-in-law hurried out, fearing that they would miss the delicious food if they came back too late.
It’s no wonder that the Ruan family, who run the restaurant, seem to have never had a good meal. Firstly, life has been hard at home and they have been frugal for a long time. Secondly, the unique aroma of the braised food goes straight to people’s internal organs, making people want to eat a few bites quickly to satisfy their cravings.
Miao Wan wanted to test the extent to which the Ruan family would accept her "nonsense", so she sent back two prescriptions first. If they performed well, she would send more back.
She was worried that the Ruan family would not take it seriously, or would be too soft-hearted, and the prescription would be snatched away by someone else. Then no matter how many prescriptions she sent back, it would be useless.
While the Ruan family was busy studying the recipe, Miao Wan was also sitting on the kang, racking her brains to draw a picture.
"Are you planning to draw... a hammer?" Geng, who was making a neck brace for Taotao, leaned over to look for a long time before asking.
Taotao still can't control his saliva, and his chin is always wet with drool. The weather is cold, and that part is always cold. Miao Wan uses a cotton towel as a scarf for Taotao.
Geng thought it was ugly and that a girl could not be treated so roughly, so she immediately picked up the embroidery and used the good material left over from making the cushions.
Miao Wan looked up in disbelief. "Mom, do you think this looks like a hammer? There's even a groove in the middle."
Geng looked at the place where she pointed to the hammer. How could you tell there was a groove on that black chassis?
"Is that... a garlic mortar?" Geng asked politely.
Miao Wan: "...even if you say it's a medicine twister."
She drew the pulley that transports the food signs on the roof.
She only remembered that it was the same as the twister under the medicine twister, with a concave middle and an iron rod inserted to fix it. The sliding part in the middle was easy to make, but how to fix the pulley on the rope... she forgot.
As for the places where the two ends are fixed, there must be a slot to fix the ropes on both sides and prevent the pulley being pushed over from being knocked out. This... ahem, she didn't watch the live broadcast carefully and didn't remember it.
"How about you come up with the idea and I'll draw it?" Geng felt that her painting and drawing skills were definitely better than her daughter-in-law's.
She also comforted Miao Wan, "Awan, don't be discouraged. Some people are smart in their brains, but their hands are inevitably not as good as usual. It's okay as long as you can speak."
Anyway, after seeing Miao Wan doing handicrafts and comparing her daughter-in-law's cooking skills with Sun Laohuo, Geng had already known this situation.
To be honest, Geng felt that Qiaoya, who was only five years old, could embroider more beautiful things with needle and thread than Miao Wan.
Zhang Sanzhuang and the Lin family were completely confused by the feng shui map of the decoration shop. They asked repeatedly but still couldn't understand some parts.
Later, Qiao Shengwen asked clearly and drew a new one, and then the Lin family knew how to work.
Miao Wan: “…”
After getting familiar with her, her family seemed to be the same as the village chief and his father, and they began to dislike her clumsy hands again. Eh...
"Then you come, mother. You come." Miao Wan moved aside attentively, and whoever is capable can do it.
It was time for Taotao to wake up. As soon as he opened his eyes, his little brows frowned and he wanted to cry.
Miao Wan held the baby in her arms, changed her diaper skillfully, and described to Geng what she wanted to draw.
"We need to make two palm-sized iron wheels with a groove in the middle so they can roll back and forth when hung on a rope.
To prevent it from falling, a small iron pillar should be inserted in the middle, and iron sheets should be used on both sides to fix the iron wheel and rope together. There should be hooks under the iron sheets, and the whole thing should not be too heavy..."
Geng listened and slowly drew it. No matter how he looked at it, it looked like a diabolo played by children.
She asked, "Then why not make it out of wood? If you want to fix the rope, you can carve it out of wood, like a scallop, with a wooden block in the middle and something hanging at the bottom. That way it won't fall, right?"
At that time, the outer skin can be carved with some patterns, and no one can see what is inside.
Miao Wan: “…Yes.”
Why did she only think of an iron pulley? Because she had never seen anyone make one with wood in later generations!
She looked up pitifully and said, "Mom, you are also very smart. Why are you so good at painting and embroidery?"
God is unfair!
Geng was amused. "Maybe Mom was served too much in her past life, so she learned some skills in this life to serve you children to repay her debt. You've worked hard enough in your past life, so you're here to enjoy life in this life?"
Miao Wan nodded happily, her mother-in-law was also very good at speaking.
She liked the saying that those who are capable should work harder, and she, Miao Shiren, did not need to work harder.
"Then mother, can you help me draw the rest of the diagrams? This thing needs to be installed in the backyard of the restaurant, and also in the lobby, along the path from the counter to the kitchen. I just need to draw the general layout, and then have Third Brother ask the Yu and Yang families to take a look. They should know how to install it."
We are all craftsmen, so let's all work harder. She is happy just to talk, hehe...
Facts have proved that Geng was right. Any craftsman could beat Miao Wan.
With the drawings drawn by Geng, Yu Daqiang and Yang Ada almost didn't want to let go of the drawings. The work was not difficult, but this idea opened the door to a new world for them.
Not to mention the pulley for serving food, after the two of them understood the principle of the pulley, there were many things they could make.
"It's a bit like a windlass. If we modify the bearings in this way, it would be even more convenient to draw water. Then, using this pulley, we could build a rack between the well and the water tank. It would be much easier to hang clothes and carry buckets of water over, and washing and rinsing would be much easier."
"If this wheel is installed on the cart, it will be much more convenient to dry and transport the grain during the harvest."
“And mining…”
Zhang Sanzhuang had to interrupt them quickly, "Brother Yu, Yang Ada, how about we install the food delivery sign in the restaurant first? You can take the blueprint back and look at it slowly later, and just don't spread it around."
Yu Daqiang and Old Man Yang also knew the importance of this matter without Zhang Sanzhuang's instructions.
Just like the toothbrush and soap, it’s not difficult to make them. The key is the ingenuity.
If this gets out, everyone will learn it in a few days, and then how will they make money in the future?
The two of them, along with their family and apprentices, quickly finished making the serving sign.
The outer part of the pulley was carved with beautiful forsythia flowers, and Daqiang even made the menu sign embedded.
Then you only need to insert the dish tag you ordered, and you don’t have to take off the tag and replace it with another one every time.
This way, fewer hooks are needed, and customers will not understand the principle behind it and will only find it novel.
By the time the staffing problem at Jufu Restaurant was slightly alleviated, the Ruan family had already perfectly prepared the braised food and crystal agate meat.
Because it was difficult to deliver letters in winter, the letters were sent along with the merchants leaving the northwest.
By then, Sun Laohuo had improved the recipe, which was much more delicious than the one Miao Wan had originally proposed.
Especially the braised soup. In later generations, a pot of century-old braised soup can be sold at a sky-high price. As long as the floating foam is removed and boiled every day, the braised soup can be guaranteed not to deteriorate.
Add seasonings next time you use it, and the fat from various meats will make the broth thicker and more fragrant.
As the head chef, Ruan Qi accurately controlled the amount of seasonings used and also discovered the effect of gelatin on the soup. In just five days, he cooked more than a dozen pots of braised food, making the braised soup more fragrant than at the beginning.
Everyone in the Ruan family has rosy cheeks these days from eating so much. It seems like a lifetime ago compared to a few days ago when they were all frowning and calculating how to live frugally.
"Does anyone really eat offal? Although it smells good, I'm afraid those scholars would find it disgusting." The eldest lady of the Ruan family looked at the fragrant pig intestines with some doubt.
But her sister-in-law, Lady Ruan, and her son each had a bowl, both eating without even looking up. "That braised pig's trotter is called 'Step by Step to High Promotion', which scholar wouldn't like it? Let's ask Dalang to change the name, and I guarantee people will buy it."
Lady Ruan's father was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations, and she knew very well that if anyone were to be the most superstitious, it would definitely be the scholars who worshipped Wenquxingjun every year.
Aren’t there those who slept on straw and tasted gall?
As long as there is a possibility of rapid advancement, it is not impossible for them to eat raw pig intestines.
That being said, the Ruan family was still a little uneasy about serving new dishes in the restaurant, especially when there was a chef from the Ruan family next door who used similar skills but charged half the price to compete with them.
Ruan Qin was more sober. "Even our family members don't know this recipe, but how could those masters know it? Then not only did we pick it up from our great-grandfather, we probably picked it up from our enemies."
Everyone: “…” That makes sense.
Ruan Jiasheng is now a scholar. He studies at home and prepares for the imperial examination. If he can achieve good academic results in the future, the Ruan family will no longer have to fear the Jingyang Earl's Mansion.
Therefore, the family business was managed by Ruan Qin and his son Ruan Jialin.
Ruan Jialin wasn't as optimistic as his father. "If it doesn't sell well, it's fine. But if it does, I'm afraid... Wang's Restaurant will come looking for trouble again."
The Wang family members are illiterate. They came from the bottom of the society and are much more daring than the Ruan family. They spend money to hire thugs to come to their house and falsely accuse them of food being unfresh and having bugs in the dishes. Such things have happened more than once.
Old customers may not believe it after one or two times, but after a few times, some will eventually believe it.
The Ruan family has a scholar, so they can sue the officials, but the Wang family can bribe their subordinates, and they have the support of the Earl's Mansion in the capital, so the prefect of Suzhou Prefecture has to give them some face.
The Wang family is well versed in shameless ways. Sometimes when the Ruan family is furious, they can even bribe troublemakers to go to jail voluntarily. The only reason they dislike the Ruan family restaurant is because they don't like it.
They really don't have a good way to deal with such hooligans.
Ruan Qin gritted his teeth and sneered, "We've been waiting for them to come to us! In the past, those ungrateful people were poached. Others thought we couldn't keep them, and secondly, that our two companies were of similar level, so of course they would side with whoever had the cheaper deal. Now that we have this recipe, if they dare to do something shameless again, why not just tear our faces off!"
Ruan Qin had been close to his sister since childhood. He knew that his sister's death was unjust, and he had wanted to avenge her for many years, but unfortunately he did not have enough strength.
Now Miao Wan has personally sent back two knives. If the Ruan family still allows themselves to be bullied by the Wang family, they would rather hang themselves with a rope than be too ashamed to face their ancestors.
The third day of March is the Shangsi Festival, which is highly valued by the people in the Jiangnan area.
In the morning, the governor of the prefecture will invite a master to the Pingjiang River to hold a purification ceremony on the river.
For the people in the south of the Yangtze River, this is more important than the Dragon Raising Festival.
Because on this day people can wash away their dirt by the river and avoid disasters and difficulties, they will have good luck with clear skies and fresh air in the following year. In ancient times, Shangsi Festival was also known as the festival to eliminate evil.
Jiangnan is a land of mountains and rivers, which in turn support many scholars. The students of Jiangnan were very famous in previous dynasties. Today, Dayue can be considered a country of peace and prosperity, and there are even more scholars than in previous dynasties.
On this day, they would put down their books, bathe, burn incense, pick orchids and wear them on their hair, and make an appointment to come out to the riverside to wash away bad luck and set lotus lanterns flying.
Scholars are considered good sons-in-law in the eyes of everyone. Since when, the Shangsi Festival has gradually become the most popular festival among young people, almost as popular as the Qixi Festival.
From early morning, young people dressed in elegant and bright clothes were playing and having fun on the banks of the Pingjiang River. At this time, the restaurants on the riverside were doing particularly good business.
When calling over friends, drinking and having fun are inevitable, and only fine wine and delicious food can match the carefreeness of Fu Yibai.
The Ruan family chose this day, set up two large iron cauldrons at the door, and started a fire before dawn.
As soon as the young men reached the riverbank, they smelled an alluring fragrance, so alluring that they almost forgot whether their elegance could still attract the young ladies.
"Books are full of beauties. Since reading is accompanied by beauty... then of course the desire for food is more important." Someone advised himself in this way and turned around to go to Ruan's Restaurant.
Then he really made an appointment with Qingmei. Youmei walked forward a few steps. As the fragrance became stronger, he unconsciously changed his pace and said, "Forget it, I'd better go see if there is anything delicious, so that I can bring some to Yaoniang to try."
The sky gradually brightened, and the thin mist was blown away by the bright early sun. As soon as the man in charge of unloading the boards for the opening of Wang's Restaurant went out, he saw the fresh beauty of warm water and green grass... and the Ruan's Restaurant, which was almost surrounded by people.
His eyes rolled, and without even bothering to remove the window panels, he turned around and ran to the shopkeeper's house.
The author has something to say:
The relevant content of the purification ceremony was found on Baidu.
I typed a lot today because the chapter outline has been adjusted, so I will type a little slower.
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