Perhaps the resentment in Su Qingluan's heart was too great, and her stomach also protested. The gurgling sound seemed particularly deafening in the kitchen where only the chewing sounds were left.
Su Qingluan: "..." Where is the Martian spacecraft? Can she go to Mars overnight?
The silence was deafening.
Shopkeeper Liang, perhaps feeling that it was rather awkward for everyone to sit there and play statues, quickly asked, "How's Master Xu's hamstring?"
Su Qingluan didn't pay attention to what Xu Yuanwei was preparing at first, but when she heard the word "wogujin", her eyes lit up: wogujin! Fragrant, sticky and chewy wogujin! Even if it was just boiled with scallion and ginger water to remove the fishy smell and a little salt, it would still be delicious when dipped in mashed garlic!
So her eyes also looked over, very expectant.
Xu Yuanwei felt very oppressed by those hamster-like eyes and couldn't help but explain, "I just experienced Madam Su's cooking skills again. I have to admit that I am inferior to her."
"Master Xu, you're too kind." So where is my pars intermedius?
"So I think there's no need to embarrass that bone tendon in front of Madam Su..."
"Gurgle--!!" Before Xu Yuanwei finished speaking, Su Qingluan's stomach made another sound, even louder than before, and sounded very indignant!
Although Su Qingluan looked extremely embarrassed, she still couldn't resist the feeling of hunger - after all, she just ate a mouthful of rice in the morning and came out.
It took a lot of effort to make the squirrel fish just now. It’s almost noon now, and the few bites of food I had in the morning must have been completely digested.
If it weren't for the fact that Shopkeeper Liang was indeed a veteran, Xu Yuanwei and the young chef would either look up at the ground and not even glance at Su Qingluan, or just stare blankly without moving or saying a word.
Liang Youdao seemed oblivious to the awkward atmosphere. He simply smiled at Xu Yuanwei as if nothing had happened and patted his shoulder. "But we agreed to a duel, so you should at least accept. No matter what, just bring out all your skills. Victory and defeat are common in the military. Even though you admit you're inferior in skill, you still have to see it through."
Then he took another step forward and patted him.
At an angle where Su Qingluan couldn't see, Liang Youdao had the space to wink at the somewhat dull Xu Yuanwei, who then showed an expression of sudden realization.
Fortunately, Shopkeeper Liang and Xu Yuanwei were not much different in height, and Shopkeeper Liang had a round and plump figure, which was just enough to block Xu Yuanwei's facial expression. Otherwise, if Su Qingluan saw the drastic changes on Xu Yuanwei's face, she might be even more embarrassed.
Xu Yuanwei turned around to prepare the ribs and tendons. Shopkeeper Liang turned back to look at the squirrel fish, which had been almost finished, and asked Su Qingluan with a smile, "Qingluan, this is a big dish. It needs a catchy name. Maybe it can become one of our signature dishes."
Su Qingluan smiled and said, "I've made this at home before. My mother called it 'Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate', but the raw material here isn't carp but 'Mandarin Fish'. Besides, you can use snakehead carp or grass carp instead, so how about just calling it 'Fish Leaping Over the Dragon Gate'?"
When Su Qingluan was chatting with Mu Xingzhi before, she learned that the emperor of this era usually just called himself "Son of Heaven" and there was no such thing as "True Dragon Son of Heaven". Therefore, the image of "dragon" did not specifically refer to the royal family, so the so-called "Dragon Gate" did not have any special taboos.
"Fish Leaping Over the Dragon Gate...Fish Leaping Over the Dragon Gate..." Shopkeeper Liang muttered a few words under his breath, then burst into laughter. "Great! This dish looks stunning, and the name has a nice meaning! Especially for those scholars who traveled all over the country to take the imperial examinations. They studied so hard for decades, wasn't it just to 'leap over the dragon gate'?"
Su Qingluan nodded: "That's what I mean. This dish name has a good meaning."
"But this dish isn't as simple as the previous ones. I'd like Qingluan to write down every step in detail so that these useless guys can study diligently."
Su Qingluan was now so absorbed in the dishes that she had forgotten the awkward moment. She turned back to look at the kitchen helpers and said, "This dish doesn't look too complex, but it's not easy to make delicious. Don't be discouraged if you fail a few times; you'll slowly become proficient."
"It's hard for you to give them such special instructions." Shopkeeper Liang said, leading Su Qingluan to the second-floor wing. "The kitchen will be officially cooking soon. Let's go upstairs to write recipes and have some peace and quiet."
Su Qingluan thought about it and agreed, so she followed Manager Liang to the second-floor room.
Shopkeeper Liang had the waiter bring a pot of light tea and a plate of four snacks. He also had someone prepare writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. He said, "Take your time writing. When Master Xu finishes cooking the bone and tendon dish, you should at least do me the honor of having a simple meal here. I'll have the kitchen prepare a vegetarian dish for you, both meat and vegetables, so you don't get sick of it."
Su Qingluan wanted to decline, but then she thought about her rumbling stomach and looked at the four exquisite but insufficient snacks in front of her. She nodded and said, "Then I won't be polite to Uncle Liang."
"Hey, look at what you said. In this Hongfu Building, Uncle Liang, can I really let you starve?"
Su Qingluan also knew that it would be meaningless if she kept hesitating and refusing, so she ordered a plate of cold shredded vegetables and the "Five-color Gold Thread Roll" that she had taught Hongfulou before.
Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Liang teased, "Are you going to check their homework?"
Su Qingluan smiled and said, "It's just a sudden inspiration." At the same time, she also wanted to know whether the taste of this dish would change after being cooked by different people.
Shopkeeper Liang went downstairs to instruct the kitchen staff to prepare the dishes, while Su Qingluan concentrated on writing down the recipe for the squirrel fish with her head down and writing down the ink.
In order to increase the success rate of these people, Su Qingluan even listed every detail that needed attention.
"Oh, I am such a kind-hearted person!" Su Qingluan praised herself.
In fact, the reason she sent this dish to Hongfulou this time was naturally because she saw the share of the profits had decreased, so she wanted to introduce something new. More importantly, at least before the arrival of winter, she had no major surprises and would probably focus almost all her attention on the jam, leaving her with little energy to spare for Hongfulou.
Although the contract between Su Qingluan and Manager Liang did not stipulate how often Su Qingluan had to provide a menu, it did state that if there were no new menus for more than half a year, it would be equivalent to Su Qingluan automatically giving up the contract with "Hongfulou".
Su Qingluan was worried that the interval was too long and the contract would automatically become invalid, so she took the time to cook a hard dish to get by.
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