Old Lady Zhu drank a bowl of brown sugar rice porridge mouthful after mouthful. Not only that, she also ate two radish egg pancakes.
The radish omelet was fried to a crispy crust, and the inside was filled with fragrant and soft shredded radish. The more you eat it, the more delicious it becomes. It is better than radish omelets made by others. She ate two in a row. The sweet porridge and omelet were paired with fermented tofu and pickled vegetables. She ate it very comfortably. Even the fermented tofu was delicate, soft and very fragrant, and the two pickled vegetables were sour, crispy and refreshing.
After finishing the meal, Old Lady Zhu couldn't help but say, "Wenyi, I want to drink some more porridge."
She wanted a second bowl, the sweet porridge tasted so good.
Zhu Taishou immediately said, "Wait a moment, mother. I'll go to the kitchen and serve you another bowl."
When Prefect Zhu arrived at the kitchen, Xu Qinyu had already finished frying the radish and egg pancakes. The plump cook was sending breakfast to the various courtyards. Prefect Zhu couldn't help but ask, "Miss Xu, is there any sweet porridge left? My mother would like another bowl. Miss Xu's cooking is truly amazing. My mother hasn't eaten in several days, and I hope she can eat more now."
It's good as long as she can eat. Even the doctor said that his mother's health is at the end of her rope, so if she wants to eat or drink something, just eat and drink it quickly.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "There's still plenty left. There will be more for the adults and the old lady later. The old lady can have as many bowls as she wants."
She served another bowl of brown sugar porridge to Zhu Taishou. Zhu Taishou said something and carried the food box to his mother's yard.
Old Madam Zhu drank up the second bowl of brown sugar rice porridge. When she was in good health in the past, she would have had at most a bowl of porridge and two cakes for breakfast. Today she ate an extra bowl and felt a little bloated. In fact, she still wanted to eat more because the porridge tasted so good.
She knew that she only had a few days left to live, and nothing she ate tasted good. Her son had hired many famous chefs in Raozhou City, but either the chefs didn't cook well or the food tasted bland. She didn't even want to swallow it after putting it in her mouth. She thought that she was already dying and would be in a coffin, so if she didn't eat, there would be nothing left.
Now that she had this kind of breakfast, her appetite actually improved a bit.
As soon as the old lady finished her meal, the maid brought the breakfast from the main courtyard.
Prefect Zhu usually did not eat with the children, so now it was just her and Zhu who were eating.
The two of them took a sip of the porridge and were amazed. Governor Zhu then realized that Captain Liang was not exaggerating. The cooking skills of this Miss Xu were truly at the pinnacle. They had never tasted sweet porridge better than this one. It was soft, glutinous, sweet but not overly sweet. Even the sweetness was just right, tempting people to drink it mouthful after mouthful.
And the ordinary radish omelet is also extraordinary, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, fragrant and soft, and it tastes great when paired with a few side dishes.
Both of them couldn't help but eat two bowls of porridge and two radish egg pancakes.
Zhu Taishou had a bigger appetite and ate four or five egg pancakes in one go. He felt a little bloated after finishing them. He rarely felt so full after eating.
Needless to say, the other rooms in the backyard praised him when they had breakfast.
Everyone is curious about where their father or grandfather hired the new chef. His cooking skills are really amazing.
…
In the kitchen, Xu Qinyu, Wen Shi, and Chef Zhou were also eating. The fat chef also took advantage of the situation. In the end, everyone was full and there was some brown sugar porridge left in the pot. The fat chef ate it all. He felt embarrassed and scratched his head and said, "The breakfast made by the young lady is really delicious."
This time, he was completely impressed by Xu Qinyu's cooking skills.
Next, we have to prepare evening meal for Old Lady Zhu.
It was just past noon, and there were still three hours until dinner. Some ingredients needed to be prepared in advance. Chef Zhou and the fat cook washed the kitchen utensils used for breakfast, while Xu Qinyu prepared dishes for dinner in the evening.
Her main dish in the evening is five dishes, highlighting the five flavors of life: sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty.
The representative of salty and fresh food is pickled pork with preserved vegetables, so she brought ham, which is an indispensable ingredient for pickled pork with preserved vegetables.
The bacon and winter bamboo shoots stewed with salted pork that she used before was a simplified version of pickled pork with preserved vegetables. Pickled pork with preserved vegetables is one of the eight major cuisines of Anhui cuisine. The most prominent taste of this dish is salty and fresh. The ingredients needed are ham, bacon, fresh pork belly, winter bamboo shoots, bean curd sheets and lettuce. Both ham and winter bamboo shoots are available, but there are no tofu knots. Xu Qinyu asked Chef Zhou to go out and buy some tofu skin, and she would tie the tofu skin into knots herself later. In fact, spring bamboo shoots are the best, but there are only winter bamboo shoots at the moment, and there is no lettuce.
Lettuce was already available in the Dasheng Dynasty, just like grapes. It was shipped back through trade routes with other countries a few years ago. Since it has only been cultivated for a few years, the price is relatively high. Lettuce itself is relatively easy to grow. Depending on the sowing time, there will be mature lettuce in spring, summer and autumn. Now it is almost the twelfth lunar month, so naturally there is no lettuce. This thing is still very expensive. Now that winter has come and there is no lettuce, it can be left out because there are winter bamboo shoots.
Bamboo shoots are a must for pickled pork with preserved vegetables.
In addition to pickled pork with preserved vegetables, she plans to make pickled fish as a sour dish.
There were more sweet dishes, so she chose candied taro.
The most representative of bitter taste is bitter melon, but it seems that bitter melon has not appeared here yet.
So for a bitter dish, she planned to stir-fry dried tofu with winter celery, which also has a slightly bitter taste.
For spicy dishes, Xu Qinyu planned to make Mapo Tofu.
In addition to these five dishes, there are some other home-cooked dishes, and a lighter soup dish, cabbage soup, is made for the old lady.
The broth needed for the cabbage soup was chicken broth, and she had already killed the chicken in advance and started hanging the broth on the stove.
There are also a few home-cooked dishes.
Except for the absence of bean curd sheets, all other dishes are available, and the ingredients prepared by the kitchen are quite complete.
Chef Zhou went out to buy tofu skin.
Xu Qinyu was busy preparing the ingredients, while Wen and the fat chef were cleaning the kitchen utensils.
The fat cook was busy with his work and never stopped talking, chatting with Wen. He secretly told Wen, "Sister, do you know my old lady? She is also a poor person. She has only one son, the prefect. Although the prefect is very promising and has earned her an imperial title, the old lady has lived a hard life. This is because the old lady has a daughter. The prefect has an older sister. When the prefect was one year old, she was kidnapped at the doorstep. The old lady searched for her for many years but never found her. She cried until she was blind. I heard that our prefect was so ambitious just to find his elder sister."
After Zhu Taishou passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, he asked many people to help him find his elder sister.
But the eldest sister was only five years old when she was lost, and he was only one year old. He had no impression of her at all. He only knew from his mother that she was very cute, fair and delicate, with a small mole behind her right ear and a round red birthmark on her lower back. Nothing else was known.
He searched for almost thirty years, and was finally able to find a few women of similar age with moles behind their ears and birthmarks on their lower backs, but they were not the eldest sister.
He was the prefect, not a fool. If he asked a few more questions, those people would hesitate and then he would send someone to investigate, and it would be easy to find out the truth.
So now, Old Lady Zhu is almost dying, and Governor Zhu has kind of given up, thinking that he has been searching for over thirty years, and now there are only a few days left, so how could he possibly find her?
Hearing that the old lady had lost a daughter, Wen's heart skipped a beat. She didn't think too much about it, but she felt a little empathy because her mother, Gui, was kidnapped by a kidnapper and sold to a pawnbroker, and then bought by the old lady Wen's family to be a maid.
But Gui only remembered that she was abducted and could not remember anything else. Wen had thought about helping her mother find her relatives, but there was really no clue at all, so she had to give up.
After hearing what the fat chef said, Wen didn't think of Gui. After all, how could such a coincidence happen?
The fat cook continued, "Our prefect's sister has a mole behind her right ear and a round red birthmark on her lower back. There are many women in the world with similar small moles and birthmarks. Our prefect has encountered several scammers who thought that since he was young and promising and would pass the imperial examination before he was twenty, if he became a Jinshi, his sister would have a good life in the future. However, they were all exposed by the prefect in the end."
Hearing this, Wen was shocked. She asked in a trembling voice, "What did you say?"
The fat cook repeated his words.
Wen's head was buzzing. She knew that Gui had a small mole behind her right ear, and she also knew that Gui had a round red birthmark on her lower back.
Gui had no idea because she couldn't see her lower back. It was Wen who discovered it when she was bathing her and told her about it.
Wen's heart was beating fast. She asked the fat cook, "How old is the prefect's eldest sister?"
The fat cook asked, "Isn't it almost fifty-five this year?"
Wen's hands were shaking. Although she couldn't remember her exact age, she was probably around 54 or 55.
Could it really be such a coincidence? The age, the mole behind the ear, the birthmark on the lower back all matched.
Also, when she came to the prefect's mansion, could it be that the prefect looked at her because of her appearance?
In fact, she doesn’t look much like Gui when she was young, but she doesn’t look like Mr. Wen either. Could it be that she looks like Mrs. Zhu?
Wen had something on her mind. She was not greedy for fame and fortune, but her mother's life experience was a regret in her heart. If possible, she hoped to help her mother find her relatives.
Forget it, I’ll get back to work first and ask when I leave.
Even though Wen was anxious, she did not dare to talk nonsense to the prefect.
Although they all matched, the fat cook also said that there were women who matched the names before who came to claim her as their relative, but they were not the prefect's eldest sister.
Today, Yu Niang is here to cook for the old lady. We cannot delay her. Her actions all concern Yu Niang, and we cannot let the prefect think that Yu Niang is greedy and vain and is rushing to recognize her as a relative.
After cleaning the kitchen and kitchen utensils, Xu Qinyu had almost prepared all the ingredients. The chicken soup in the stove was still cooking on low heat, so there was no need to worry about it.
A little maid came over and invited the two of them to rest in the guest room.
Xu Qinyu didn't refuse. She woke up too early in the morning and was still a little sleepy.
It’s not time for dinner yet, so we can rest for more than an hour.
Xu Qinyu went to the guest room and slept for more than an hour. Wen couldn't sleep and kept thinking about how to tell the prefect about this.
When it was time to prepare dinner, the maid came to call for help and Xu Qinyu woke up.
In fact, both Prefect Zhu and Mrs. Zhu had come to the kitchen, but when they learned that the cook was resting in the guest room, they did not disturb her.
The evening meal is also enough for more than 20 people. Xu Qinyu finds it very easy to make. Just like the brown sugar rice porridge, she only needs to make a big pot.
The first thing to make is the dish that takes a longer time to cook but will not affect the taste if left for a while.
Of course it’s pickled pork with preserved vegetables and pickled fish.
There are a lot of kitchen utensils in the kitchen, and Xu Qinyu can take care of two or three pots at the same time.
The ingredients for pickled pork with preserved vegetables are ready.
The bacon has also been soaked. First, add ginger, scallion segments and Huadiao wine to a pot of cold water, and blanch the fresh pork belly.
Cut the blanched pork belly into thick slices. Similarly, cut the bacon and ham into thick slices. Place them in a casserole and simmer over low heat for half an hour.
Cut the winter bamboo shoots into pieces and blanch them in hot water. Add them to the casserole with the pork slices, along with the tripe knots. No salt is needed; the saltiness of the bacon and ham is sufficient, and no other seasonings are necessary. This dish of preserved pork with preserved vegetables highlights the saltiness of the ham and bacon, combined with the freshness of the other ingredients, allowing you to savor the natural flavors of the ingredients. After adding the winter bamboo shoots and tripe knots, continue marinating over low heat for about half an hour. Finally, sprinkle with chopped green onions and serve.
The entire prefectural government office was filled with the aroma of salty and fresh food.
Various aromas spread, and everyone in each courtyard and room looked eagerly towards the kitchen, looking forward to the evening meal.
Although they did not eat as many delicacies as other wealthy gentry and wealthy people on weekdays, they had enough food and drink, and occasionally went to restaurants in the city to have breakfast and dinner, but there was no dish that they looked forward to so much.
After a lot of effort, the evening meal was finally ready and was delivered to each room by the maids and servants.
Xu Qinyu also instructed the maid to serve the dishes to Old Lady Zhu starting with pickled fish, then candied taro, stir-fried winter celery with dried tofu, mapo tofu, and finally this pickled pork with preserved vegetables. After tasting these five dishes, the old lady could eat the rest at will.
This is the five flavors of life. Xu Qinyu also wants Old Madam Xu to relax. Looking back on the last journey of her life, she has experienced everything, sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty. She hopes that Old Madam Xu will leave without any regrets.
The little maid brought the dishes one by one to the old lady's room, and Governor Zhu and Mrs. Zhu also had dinner together.
Normally, the prefect's family did not need maids to serve the dishes when eating. This time, the little maid repeated what Xu Qinyu had said.
Zhu Taishou smiled and said, "Then do as the young cook said. Pick up the dishes one by one and let the old lady taste them."
Old Lady Zhu thought every dish was delicious, especially the last one, pickled pork with preserved vegetables. Old Lady Zhu said tremblingly, "This, this dish is the best, it's salty and full of salty fragrance. Wenyi, you guys should try it too..." Not only that, there were big chunks of meat in it. She could taste the bacon and pork belly. The other kind of meat was very salty and fragrant. It was also pork, but the way it was cooked was very different from the first two kinds of meat. The meat was stewed very soft and she could chew it with her teeth. The winter bamboo shoots and tofu skin in it had absorbed the soup, and it was fresh and fragrant.
After tasting the last dish of pickled pork with preserved vegetables, Old Lady Zhu suddenly understood the young cook's intention.
Starting from the sour taste of the first dish, it goes through sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty.
The little cook is letting her experience all the ups and downs of life, and I hope she has no regrets.
Tears slowly fell from the old lady Zhu's eyes that had become blind. How could she leave without regrets if she hadn't found her daughter?
When Governor Zhu saw his mother crying, he felt sad too.
He also tasted these five dishes.
This little cook is very thoughtful.
Old Lady Zhu cried but didn't say anything else. It had been fifty years and she was already at the point where she had one foot in the coffin. She had long since given up hope.
The evening meal tasted very good. Even though Old Lady Zhu felt sad, she still ate very full.
The same was true for Prefect Zhu and Mrs. Zhu.
What impressed them the most was the pickled pork with preserved vegetables and the cabbage soup.
It was the first time she had eaten cabbage in soup. The soup was probably made with chicken broth, without any chicken oil, and it was skimmed cleanly. The soup was clear and had a rich and fresh taste, and the cabbage was tender and sweet. She ate a lot of it.
After dinner, Old Lady Zhu was so tired that she fell asleep again.
Governor Zhu went to the kitchen in person to thank the cook and gave her a reward of fifty taels of silver.
Xu Qinyu accepted it and thanked him, and also planned to set off back to Yuanbao Town.
Before leaving the kitchen, Governor Zhu couldn't help but glance at Wen again, but in the end he didn't ask.
He just felt that Wen looked a bit like his mother who was in her thirties, but over the years, he had seen a few people who looked like his mother, and in the end, they were not the eldest sister.
What's more, the Wen in front of him is only in her thirties, which doesn't match the age of the elder sister.
Prefect Zhu walked past Wen. Wen opened her mouth, wanting to ask something but no words came out.
If not, she was afraid that the prefect would think they were greedy and vain. Yu Niang wanted to open a big restaurant in Raozhou City in the future, and she didn't want to affect the prefect's opinion of Yu Niang.
Finally, Zhou Daqing drove a carriage to send the two back to Yuanbao Town.
Along the way, Wen Shi didn't say a word. Xu Qinyu could see that Wen Shi was distracted and couldn't help asking, "Mom, are you worried about something?"
There is nothing to hide about this matter. Wen usually won't hide anything from Yu Niang and will discuss it with her.
She told Yu Niang what she had heard from the fat cook in the prefect's kitchen about the prefect's eldest sister being kidnapped. She also said, "Actually, your grandmother was also kidnapped. You all know this, but your grandmother also has a small mole behind her right ear and a round red birthmark on her lower back. Her age is also about the same, so I'm hesitant."
She was also afraid that if her mother was not the prefect's sister, both her mother and Old Lady Zhu would be disappointed, especially Old Lady Zhu, who was already in this state. If her hope was dashed, she was really afraid that Old Lady Zhu would not be able to bear the shock and would die, and then they would become enemies.
Xu Qinyu was preparing food in the yard at the time and didn't hear what the fat cook said. Now, hearing what Wen Shi said, her heart was pounding. She thought for a moment and said, "Mother, let's ask grandma when we get back to see if she can remember anything. Mother, have you asked the chef at the prefect's mansion about the prefect's hometown? If grandma can remember anything, she'll be able to tell whether she and the prefect are related by blood."
This is all we can do now.
More than two hours later, Zhou Daqing sent the two back to Yuanbao Town. It was already dark, and when they rushed back to Raozhou City, the city gates were almost closed.
Xu Qinyu found an inn for Zhou Daqing to stay in first and return to Yuanbao Town tomorrow.
After returning home, Xu Qinyu first went to find Cheng Ge'er and asked about the restaurant.
Wen went to find Gui and told her that the old lady in the prefect's mansion also had a daughter who was kidnapped. She also asked Gui if she could remember anything about her childhood.
Gui felt uncomfortable after hearing this. For some reason, although she had never met Old Madam Zhu, she could imagine how an old lady in her twilight years missed her daughter. Just thinking about this made her feel very uncomfortable.
"Mom, please think about it carefully."
Gui thought carefully, "I was probably about four or five years old when I was abducted. I only vaguely remember a dilapidated wooden gate with holes and cracks in it."
She didn't know why, but she still vaguely remembered a broken wooden door like this.
Could it be that he often plays at the door?
I really can't think of anything else.
After hearing this, Wen didn't know what to do.
She only heard this from the fat cook, and she was afraid that the prefect would not tell everyone what the wooden door of his house looked like before.
Wen chatted with Gui for a while, and seeing that Gui really couldn't think of anything, she asked her to rest early.
Xu Qinyu quickly returned from the third branch of the Wen family. Nothing happened at the restaurant. Cheng Ge'er said that after the notice was posted, the diners were very understanding and just asked whether the restaurant would open tomorrow. Cheng Ge'er said yes, and the diners left satisfied.
After Xu Qinyu returned, Wen Shi talked to her about it. Xu Qinyu thought for a moment and told Wen Shi, "Mother, how about this? When Chef Zhou returns tomorrow, have him take you and grandma to the prefect's residence. When you get there, you and grandma shouldn't meet Old Lady Zhu first. Ask the prefect if he can remember what the original courtyard gate looked like. If it matches what grandma says, maybe grandma is really Prefect Zhu's sister. If the information doesn't match, there's no need to alarm Old Lady Zhu."
As for why Zhou Daqing was not allowed to ask this question.
If my grandmother had any relationship with the Zhu family, Zhu Taishou, as the governor of Raozhou City, the highest official, was afraid that the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu in the capital would not only dismiss him but also kill them after they knew about it.
Wen also knew this.
If my mother is really related to the prefect by blood, this matter must not be spread at all.
The two of them said they would go back to their room to wash up and go to bed.
At night, Gui had a dream.
The scene in the dream was that she vaguely remembered the somewhat broken wooden door. The upper left corner of the door was cracked and there was a hole. Even the traces of the crack were clear in the dream.
In front of the wooden door, there was a girl about four or five years old squatting at the door and playing with stones.
The little girl's appearance was blurry. After watching for a while, a gentle female voice came from behind the wooden door, "Shun Niang, go back to the house for dinner."
The little girl responded crisply, stood up happily, pushed open the wooden door and walked into the yard.
But in the dream, I could not see clearly the courtyard or the figure of the gentle woman. Everything was blurry. Only the shabby wooden door and the voice of Shu Niang were clearest.
When the dream reached this point, Gui suddenly opened her eyes and gasped for breath.
In the second half of the night, Gui could not fall asleep again. At dawn, she heard the noise outside and got up. She went out and saw Yu Niang and her daughter. She told them about the dream in which a woman gently called her Shu Niang.
Xu Qinyu and Wen looked at each other. Wen was originally going to Raozhou City with Gui again today, so Wen talked to Gui about it.
Gui nodded and said, "Okay, I should go there too."
In this way, no matter whether they are relatives or not, there will be no regrets.
Xu Qinyu went to find Zhou Daqing and told him that her mother-in-law and grandmother were going to Raozhou City for something, and hoped that Zhou Daqing would send them to Raozhou City when he returned today.
Zhou Daqing naturally agreed.
Although it was early, it was time for breakfast when they arrived in Raozhou City. Xu Qinyu asked Wen and Gui to set off immediately. The two children at home were being taken care of by Ning Jie'er, and Xiang Jie'er would be here soon, so they didn't need to worry about the family.
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