Chef Wang knew some of the relationships between the Wen family and Xu's Restaurant, and was also worried that Wen Yunling would mind him going to Xu's Restaurant. After all, he was invited by Wen Yunling to come to Yuanbao Town. If it weren't for Wen Yunling, he wouldn't have known that there was a young cook in Yuanbao Town who was so good at cooking. He also knew that Xu's was recruiting kitchen helpers, and the young cook would teach him cooking skills. Anyway, he was a lonely man. His wife and children died in the disaster years ago, leaving him alone. He had been alone all these years, and cooking was the only thing on his mind, and he had never thought about anything else.
So now that Wen Yunling has closed the Xiangrui Restaurant, he wants to go to Xu's to learn cooking. He would be happy to spend the rest of his life in Miss Xu's restaurant.
In fact, he didn't like Wen Yunling at first, but since they were employer and employee, it didn't matter to him. Half a year later, he saw that the girl had calmed down a bit. She was domineering at the beginning, but now she has become much more restrained. She has suffered a lot after all. It's inevitable to suffer when making a living outside. She is not a rich lady. Her family only has some money and no power. It is normal for her to suffer. It has also made her grow up.
Chef Wang thought it was a good thing.
Now that he saw that the girl was willing to let him go to Xu's, he thanked her and left.
This summer is a bit hot. It’s only the beginning of summer, but it’s already very hot at noon.
The weather was a bit unusual, and Xu Qinyu was a little worried.
In this era, the weather is too hot and drought is likely to occur. Drought will affect the harvest of crops. If the harvest is poor this year, many people will starve to death.
She has been busy making new food these days, all of which are relatively homely dishes. For example, for a dish of shredded chicken with pepper and cucumber, she uses a whole chicken, a free-range chicken that must be no more than one year old, so that the meat is tender and not tough. She slaughters the whole chicken and lightly soaks it in water with ginger slices, shallots and a little salt to remove the fishy smell. She then takes it out and pours boiling water on the skin to scald it. This way, the chicken skin will be firm and chewy, with a hint of crispness.
This way you can steam it.
After steaming, the chicken skin is crispy and tender, and the chicken meat is fresh and tender. Then the whole steamed chicken is shredded, the cucumber is cut into shreds, and an appropriate amount of coriander and fried peanuts are added. Then add the sauce she prepared, and a dish of spicy and refreshing peppery cucumber and chicken shreds that goes well with rice is ready. The green peppercorns are the key. In order to save seasoning, she grinds the green peppercorns into powder.
Courgette is cucumber.
Many people prefer to eat chicken skin, but using only chicken skin is too expensive.
There are no modern suppliers that specialize in supplying various ingredients here, so Xu Qinyu cannot make many dishes, such as duck tongues and ginger and spicy chicken feet, because the ingredients here are not allowed and are sold whole. If she only takes apart the chicken feet to cook, the remaining ingredients will be difficult to handle, so she will use the whole ingredients whenever possible.
In addition to peppery cucumber and chicken shreds, there is also a dish of winter melon stuffed with meat.
This is also easy to make. Cut the winter melon into long thin slices, roll it up, stuff it with the seasoned pork belly filling, steam it in a pot, and finally use starch water and the blanched sauce she made to simmer in a pot over high heat until it becomes a fragrant and smooth sauce. Pour it on the steamed winter melon stuffed with pork and sprinkle with chopped green onions.
Winter melon stuffed with meat has a light taste. With the winter melon, the meat filling is not greasy at all and has a hint of sweetness. It is suitable for both the elderly and children.
Finally, there is a dish of eggplant and preserved egg. In fact, the taste would be better if green peppers were added, but if there are no green peppers, you can just skip it.
This dish is also simple. Steam the eggplant and tear it into strips. Put it in a stone mortar, add garlic cloves and preserved eggs and pound them. Finally, add some salt, soy sauce and rice vinegar to season it, and sprinkle some chopped dogwood on it. This dish is more delicious than the pepper and cucumber shredded chicken. It doesn’t look very good, but the taste is amazing. The price is not expensive, only twenty cents per serving. It quickly became one of the must-order dishes on every table at Xu’s.
You can make a lot of shredded chicken with pepper and cucumber at one time. Steam the chicken and chill it. Add shredded cucumber to season it and serve. If you can't finish it, you can give it to the restaurant staff as a snack in the evening.
They are all relatively simple dishes. Although they are simple home-cooked dishes, the taste is extraordinary. They are fresh food. In addition, the weather is hot, and these fresh foods are more appetizing. There are quite a few people coming to eat. Some of them are also thinking about the previous juicy prawns and juicy snails, as well as the fried red fruits, hawthorn drink, and brown sugar milk mochi made last year.
In short, whether it is the old dishes or the new dishes, Xu Ji is very popular with customers.
With Dong Qian, Xu Qinyu was indeed a lot more relaxed. She could even go to the front to see how the diners were eating.
There were ice cubes in the four corners of the dining room in front, which relieved some of the heat, but it was still a bit hot. What made Xu Qinyu feel proud was that even on such a hot day, Xu Ji's restaurant was full of diners. Some people were queuing up and walking around the market outside with number plates. When their turn came, they could come over to eat.
What made Xu Qinyu feel even more comfortable was that no matter whether it was breakfast or dinner, as long as the diner was at Xu Ji, there would basically be no leftovers.
Unless you accidentally order too many dishes and are so full that you can’t eat anything, you will end up packing up and taking it away.
This is also the greatest affirmation that diners can give to a restaurant.
Xu Qinyu took a breath at the door of the restaurant, and then saw an old man with slightly gray hair coming to the door of Xu's. Although the old man's hair was slightly gray, his complexion was still rosy and rosy, and there were not many wrinkles on his face. He should be about fifty years old.
The old man bowed when he saw Xu Qinyu. "Excuse me, are you the owner of Xu's? My last name is Wang. I used to be a chef at Xiangrui Restaurant. I heard that Xu's restaurant was looking for a kitchen assistant. Xiangrui Restaurant is now closed, so I thought I'd give it a try."
Chef Wang.
Of course Xu Qinyu recognized him. He was the famous chef that Wen Yunling had specially invited from Raozhou City. He was good at cooking poultry and had several signature dishes.
He has some really good specialties, but Yuanbao Town already had Donglaiju and Xuji, so most diners were unwilling to move. They might have tried Xiangrui Restaurant, but apart from those few signature dishes, Chef Wang's other dishes were just average.
A restaurant cannot be supported by just a few signature dishes.
Xu Qinyu knew that Xiangrui Restaurant would eventually collapse.
But she didn't expect that Chef Wang was willing to come to Xu Ji to work as a kitchen helper.
Xu Qinyu was a little surprised. "Chef Wang is really willing to come to Xu's to help out in the kitchen? If you don't mind, I would be happy to do that."
With Chef Wang, Xu Qinyu felt that she could try her luck in Raozhou City.
In fact, it is just right for Xu Ji to have her and Dong Qian now. In addition, Cheng Ge'er, Feng Ge'er and Da Niu are all growing up slowly. Even if she leaves Xu Ji, they can still support Xu Ji.
But with Chef Wang, Xu Qinyu taught him how to cook for a month or two. Chef Wang had a good foundation and was very talented in cooking. He was born in a poor family and learned the skills from his master. The master did not teach him much and only taught him some relatively simple cooking skills. However, he relied on his own understanding to make his own signature dishes, which shows that he is very talented in cooking and all he lacked was a master to give him guidance.
Chef Wang’s shortcomings are also obvious. He is good at making poultry dishes, but not so good at other aspects. So as long as I am willing to teach, Chef Wang will be able to get the hang of it quickly.
When she goes to Raozhou City, whether she brings Chef Wang or Cheng Ge'er, Feng Ge'er and the others, they will all have a helper, so she is naturally willing to let Chef Wang stay.
She had wanted to leave the Pei family before, not for any other reason, but because her fourth brother was old, and if they wanted to get married, it would not be right for her to stay in the Pei family all the time. In addition, she also wanted to go to Raozhou City to try her luck and open a bigger restaurant, or a farm-style restaurant that would offer food, drink, and entertainment.
In her previous life, she planned to win the title of God of Cooking and then open a restaurant like Xu's to live in during her retirement, but she was in a car accident before she could do so.
Xu Qinyu had not discussed these ideas with the Pei family. Now that Chef Wang was here, she thought she could discuss them with the Pei family.
Chef Wang nodded. "Actually, I was worried that Mr. Xu wouldn't want me to stay. After all, I used to be a chef at Xiangrui Restaurant. If Mr. Xu doesn't mind, I'll stay at Xu's."
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Of course not. Mr. Wang, please come in."
Since they wanted to be kitchen helpers and learn how to cook, the two of them didn't bother to be polite. Xu Qinyu led Chef Wang to the kitchen.
Everyone was very happy to see Chef Wang.
Chef Wang stayed at Xu's as a kitchen helper and learned how to cook from Xu Qinyu.
After staying for a day, Chef Wang realized that the young lady really wanted to teach him her cooking skills. She learned very seriously and cooked several of her specialties for everyone to taste. Even Xu Qinyu thought that Chef Wang's specialties were indeed very good and tasted excellent. It was just that the seasoning could be slightly adjusted to make the taste even better. She also discussed cooking skills with Chef Wang. Chef Wang tried the seasoning she mentioned, and the taste was smoother and more fragrant, almost bringing the taste of the whole dish to the extreme.
Chef Wang was truly impressed by Xu Qinyu's cooking skills.
He used to think that the young cook at Xu's cooked delicious dishes with a wide variety of dishes, and that she must have a very impressive recipe book. But after coming here, he realized how perfect Xu's control over ingredients, seasonings, and cooking temperature was. Even he, an old chef who had been cooking for almost forty years, felt ashamed of himself.
He rented a yard in Yuanbao Town.
Chef Wang stayed at Xu's.
After hearing this, Wen Yunling just curled her lips. She had already planned to convert the restaurant into a rice shop. In addition to selling grain, she could also collect and sell eggs and poultry from the villagers, and game hunted by hunters in the mountains.
But she was not in a hurry. Converting the restaurant into a rice shop would definitely require some renovations, and it would take at least a month before the rice shop could open.
It was only early summer, and the southwest was getting hotter day by day. Fortunately, it rained a few times in a few days, and it was finally not so hot anymore.
Xu Qinyu's worries were relieved a little.
It started to rain in other places as well, and most people breathed a sigh of relief.
It was already early summer, and Mrs. Lu's winery had opened. This year, in addition to helping pick hawthorns in the mountains, Tao Qi and his friends also helped pick wild grapes.
The grape seedlings that Xu Qinyu had people plant last year have all climbed up the trellises. All the grape seedlings in the yard of the house in Laixi Lane have climbed up the trellises, and one has even climbed onto the wooden pavilion.
The grape seedlings in the acres of grape fields she planted have already been climbed up the trellises. It is estimated that they will start to bear fruit next year, but she does not know what the yield will be in the first year.
The winery has started to make wine, and Xu Qinyu is planning to wait until this year's batch of wine is sold before going to Raozhou City. This way, she will have about 50,000 taels of silver on her, which is enough even if she wants to open a restaurant in Raozhou City.
In addition, my fourth brother has been busy recently, so he only came back a few days ago. He looked thinner and stayed at home for only one day before leaving again.
Ning Jie'er's Linglong Pavilion business is getting better and better, and she has hired a few more embroiderers.
At the beginning of spring, Xu Qinyu helped Feng'er and Yan'er find a school for them, and they began to learn to read and write with the old scholar in the private school. Since the death of old lady Zhu, she had nothing else to do, so she took care of Feng'er and Yan'er at home, taking good care of the two children, and Wen and Xu Qinyu didn't have to worry about them at all.
Chef Wang learned very quickly and was able to cook in just one month.
Xu Qinyu also had more free time and could go to the winery during the day to help make wine.
After what happened in the winery last year, no one dared to secretly make wine at home this year. They now understood why they had to ask the owner of Xu's to adjust the proportions when making wine. It turned out that even though it looked simple, as long as the grapes and rock sugar were not right, it would be impossible to make wine with such a pure taste.
This year, when Xu Qinyu came to make wine, she also brought Xu Diao with her.
He has the most sensitive sense of smell among the four children. Xu Qinyu plans to train him and hand over the winery to him in the future.
Xu Qinyu taught him how to smell the ingredients, when the wine was suitable for turning the jar after fermentation, and how to match grapes with rock sugar. She taught him everything slowly.
Xu Qinyu brought him here when the winery was making wine last year. When the first batch of wine was made this year, he could already smell the aroma of fermenting wine. He could also smell it when the wine from the first fermentation was opened and bottled for the second fermentation.
There are more wines this year than last year.
After Zhen Wu sent the first batch to the capital, just like last year, Xu Qinyu asked Zhen Wu to send another hundred bottles of wine to the second house of the Marquis Dechang's Mansion in the capital.
Xue also knew that Zhen Wu would continue to send her wine this year, so she wrote a letter early and asked Zhen Wu to give it to her daughter.
In her letter, Mrs. Xue simply nagged her daughter to take care of herself and not overwork herself. She also told Xu Qinyu not to worry about home and that her uncle had rented a new shop and expanded his barbecue stall considerably, so all the previous barbecue and drink recipes could be used.
He also said that his uncle's business was very good, making a lot of money every month, and gave her a lot of dividends. He told Yu Niang not to worry about home and not to send money home anymore, and asked her to keep it all for herself. He also told Yu Niang that the hams that the caravan helped to deliver during the New Year were also very delicious, and he gave two pieces to his uncle and two pieces to the eldest wife.
Xue talked a lot to Yu Niang, but she did not tell her daughter about the situation in the capital. She was afraid that the letter would be intercepted by someone with ulterior motives and she would say something wrong. If that happened, Prince Shu would continue to be exiled as a commoner, which would be a capital crime.
Taking the letter from Xue to Miss Xu, Zhen Wu left the Dechang Marquis Mansion.
He planned to continue sending the wine to his friends as he did in previous years to see which noble families wanted to buy the wine this year.
He felt that based on last year's success, this year's batch of wine would definitely sell better. This year, about 10,000 bottles of wine were delivered to the capital, which was more than last year.
Unexpectedly, this year, that friend pulled Zhen Wu aside, his face filled with excitement and a hint of fear. He said, "Brother Zhen, could you please ship all the wine from your winery to the capital this year?"
Zhen Wu frowned. "I'm afraid that won't work. This is the only batch of wine we'll be sending to the capital this year. We already made arrangements with the families in other provinces last year."
The man suddenly whispered, "Brother Zhen, you don't know. At the beginning of this year, someone came to me and said he wanted all the wine this year. He also asked you to send all the wine from the winery to the capital."
Zhen Wu frowned, "Even if they are royal nobles, you can't force them to do anything."
The man tugged at Zhen Wu's clothes and whispered, "Brother Zhen, you don't know. That man has a pale face and no beard, and speaks in a shrill voice. Who in the capital speaks like that?"
When Zhen Wu heard this, he was also shocked.
Naturally, only eunuchs would have such characteristics and speak in this way.
But eunuchs either serve in the palace or serve princes and princesses.
However, of the princes and princesses in the capital, only a few were young and still in the palace, unable to leave the palace to build their own residences. So it was definitely not the eunuchs around these princes and princesses. It was not that there were no princes who had left the palace to build their own residences, but since the new emperor ascended the throne, the princes who had left the palace to build their own residences had their fiefs marked out and were driven to their fiefdoms. Without the new emperor's decree, the princes could not return to the capital privately, otherwise it would be a serious crime.
The rest are the eunuchs in the palace.
No matter who this eunuch serves in the palace, Zhen Wu cannot afford to offend him.
He hesitated for a moment, worried that if he didn't sell it, it would bring trouble to Madam Lu, Miss Xu, and the Pei family. He already knew the identity of the Pei family, so after thinking about it, he finally decided to sell it.
He said, "Okay, as long as you pay the money, I can sell it to anyone."
The man said, "Brother Zhen, don't worry about this. I will definitely give you the money."
Zhen Wu waited for a day and indeed saw a middle-aged man with a pale face and no beard. He was thin and paid the money very readily.
Zhen Wu returned to Yuanbao Town with the banknotes and talked about the matter with Madam Lu.
Madam Lu frowned and said, "I have to go tell Miss Xu."
Although the Pei family has become commoners now, they are still worried that if the wine is really bought by the palace, it will bring trouble to Miss Xu and the Pei family.
Zhen Wu couldn't help but say, "It's my fault too. I shouldn't have sent the wine to the capital to sell it."
Madam Lu shook her head and said, "It has already happened. It would be better to ask Miss Xu first."
The two went to look for Xu Qinyu, and Zhen Wu first gave her the letter that Xue had brought to Xu Qinyu.
After seeing Xue's letter, Xu Qinyu was still a little anxious. She wanted to see what Xue had written to her. In fact, even if she didn't see the content of the letter, she probably knew what Xue would say to her, but she was still looking forward to the letter from home.
She found that she had become her original self and had inherited some of her original self's emotions. She no longer just regarded the people of the second branch of the Marquis Dechang's Mansion and her relatives as her original self's family members. She also cared about them very much in her heart.
Seeing that Zhen Wu came with Madam Lu this time, Xu Qinyu probably anticipated something and asked hesitantly, "But what happened to the batch of wine sent to the capital?"
Zhen Wu did not hide it and told Xu Qinyu about it.
After hearing this, Xu Qinyu was indeed a little worried. She was also worried that the Pei family or the family of Dechang Marquis Mansion would be implicated.
The Pei family members have been demoted to commoners. If the people in the palace use her wine to deal with the Pei family.
Xu Qinyu thought for a moment and said, "It's okay. If an enemy comes, we will fight him. If a flood comes, we will block it with earth."
Although she said this, she couldn't let it go in her heart.
I thought that if something really happened, after I separated from the Pei family, even if the palace really used wine to set up a trap, it would not implicate the Pei family. But how can I sever my ties with the second branch of the Marquis Dechang's Mansion?
She certainly didn't want to get involved in trouble. She had already ended up in such a place and with such an identity, and was so unlucky. Now that her life was finally getting better, she certainly didn't want this anymore. She just wanted to open her own restaurant, buy some land, become a landlady, and live a leisurely life.
Wait for Zhen Wu and Madam Lu to leave.
When they returned to the house in Laixi Lane in the evening, Xu Qinyu first told Wen about this matter.
Finally, he said, "Mother, I'm planning to divorce Fourth Brother and separate. After the separation, even if the palace really uses the wine to make a fuss, it won't affect you. Besides, Fourth Brother will be twenty-three next year and should be getting married and having children. My marriage with Fourth Brother is no longer valid. It was the idea of the Dechang Marquis's Mansion in the first place. You are not to blame for this, and I have never blamed you. Fourth Brother and I have been like brother and sister for the past few years, so I should make it clear to Fourth Brother. After the divorce, if the wine is fine, I plan to open a restaurant or a restaurant in Raozhou City. What do you think, mother?"
In fact, even the original body never blamed the Pei family.
The people the original body hated the most were Xu Qinhui and the old lady of Dechang Hou, because the original body knew very well in her heart that it was the two of them who pushed her out to marry off and exile her. How could a weak woman endure the suffering of exile? To put it bluntly, Xu Qinhui and the old lady of Dechang Hou didn't care about the original body's life or death, and it didn't matter if she died.
So when Xu Qinhui sent her a letter for unknown reasons, hoping to reconcile, it was impossible for Xu Qinyu to write back and forgive her.
When Wen heard this, she was shocked. She was also a little worried that the palace would use wine to make a fuss.
But what worries her more is that Yu Niang wants to divorce. She knows her son's feelings, but her son is unwilling to tell her his feelings, and she has no way to deal with it. Compared with her son's feelings, Yu Niang's heart is the most important.
This was a matter between her son and Yu Niang, and she couldn't interfere. She couldn't see that Yu Niang had any romantic feelings for her son. If that was the case, she wouldn't force Yu Niang to stay.
Wen looked at Xu Qinyu and said gently, "If it's because of the wine, I definitely don't agree with your divorce. We should face any problems together. But you, Yu Niang, you said that in the past two years, almost three, since you came to our house, you and Xuan Ge'er haven't really been married, nor have you consummated your marriage. You still treat each other like brother and sister. If Yu Niang really feels that you should treat Xuan Ge'er as your brother and want to divorce, I will listen to you. However, this matter must wait for Xuan Ge'er to come back, and you can discuss it with him again."
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Thank you, mother. I'll talk to Fourth Brother again when he comes back."
Wen was truly a very gentle person, and she somewhat understood why the late emperor was willing to pamper her.
Even if Wen is indeed not suitable to be the queen.
After that, the fourth brother never came back until the end of summer, two months later.
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