Chapter 79 Cooking Challenge
"Hmph! She still has some conscience!" Old Mrs. Chen said greedily as she touched the "ginseng". "We can't let those little bastards see this! We'll keep it for ourselves!"
"Stupid!" Old Man Chen slapped his thigh. "If we don't let them see such a wonderful thing, how can we convince them that we really have a treasure? How can we let them continue to work like slaves for us?"
Old Mrs. Chen was stunned for a moment, then she understood.
The two looked at each other and saw a calculating glint in each other's eyes.
That night, Old Man Chen cut a thin piece of the "ginseng", boiled the medicine himself, and brought it to Old Lady Chen's bedside.
He deliberately left the door a crack, allowing the rich aroma of medicine to fill the entire yard.
"Old woman, drink it quickly! This is a hundred-year-old ginseng. Drink it and I guarantee you'll be able to walk tomorrow!"
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for his sons and daughters-in-law who were eavesdropping in the yard to hear it clearly.
"Ginseng?!"
"A hundred years?!"
In the yard, the eyes of several sons and daughters-in-law instantly turned red!
They were just skeptical before, but now they completely believe it! The old couple must have hidden something incredibly valuable! They can even take out a hundred-year-old ginseng and drink it as medicine, so the silver ingot buried underground must be real!
With this, Xiyuan’s “filial piety” has been elevated to a whole new level.
The sons no longer simply served tea and water, but began to rush to massage Old Lady Chen's legs and back. The daughters-in-law no longer brought chicken soup and apples, but found ways to get white rice and flour from their parents' homes, made them into exquisite snacks, and brought them to the old lady.
Old man and old lady Chen lived a fairy-tale life that they had never enjoyed in their entire lives.
After a few days, the two of them had rosy and greasy faces from eating so much.
After eating and drinking enough, people feel energetic, and when they feel energetic, they want to go out and show off.
Old Mrs. Chen, leaning on the new crutch that Old Man Chen had made for her and supported by Old Man Chen, walked out of the west courtyard gate for the first time.
She wanted to go around the village and let everyone see how blessed she, Old Lady Chen, was to have raised some of the most filial sons in the world!
"Oh, isn't this the old lady from the Chen family? Are you well again?" a villager greeted politely.
"It's all right! It's all right!" Old Mrs. Chen patted her chest with full energy. "My sons have consulted doctors and given me good medicine, especially the hundred-year-old ginseng soup. Now I'm stronger than when I was young!"
Old Man Chen also chimed in: "That's right! When our children and grandchildren are filial, we old people feel at ease!"
The villagers listened, agreed with smiles on their faces, but were already laughing in their hearts.
A hundred-year-old ginseng? That was clearly the old ginger that the Comber family bought from town. It just looked a little weird! This story has been spread all over the place!
These two old guys were made a fool of themselves, and yet they came out to embarrass themselves!
"Yes, yes, your Kang Zhong and his family are really filial!"
"Exactly, we are so envious!"
The villagers all said nice things to the old couple, but as soon as they walked away, they gathered together, pointed at their backs, and laughed so hard that they fell over.
The farce in the west yard became the greatest entertainment for the villagers of Pingjiang Village during the famine years.
But at this time, the East Courtyard was in a completely different situation.
With the joint efforts of Feng Lan and the county magistrate, Pingjiang Embroidery Workshop was officially established.
The county magistrate specially approved a piece of official land on the outskirts of the city and allocated a sum of start-up funds from the county government's account.
Feng Lan turned the embroidery workshop into a place integrating production, teaching, food and accommodation.
She took in all the girls who had been driven out of the village, including Li Zhaodi, and also recruited women from all over the county who came from poor families and had nowhere else to go.
In the embroidery workshop, people come and go, and busy figures are everywhere.
Daya is now the head of the embroidery workshop. She is no longer the shy and reserved girl, but has become bold and capable. She is responsible for managing the daily production of the embroidery workshop, arranging everyone's work, and checking the quality of the embroidery products, just like the head of the family.
Erya, on the other hand, used her meticulous nature to learn how to manage accounts from Mr. Wang. Every day, she would hold the account book, calculate the income and expenditure of the embroidery workshop, and remember every account clearly, becoming Feng Lan's most capable right-hand woman.
Here, the two sisters found their own value and direction in life.
Only San Ya seemed a little out of place.
She had absolutely no interest in needlework, and asking her to sit down and embroider a handkerchief was more painful than killing her.
At this moment, she was sitting on the threshold of the embroidery workshop with her chin in her hand, looking at the busy streets outside and sighing with boredom.
"Why……"
This was the eighteenth time she sighed this morning.
When Feng Lan came out of the accounting office, she saw San Ya sitting on the doorstep, looking like a wilted cabbage hit by frost.
"What's wrong, my little Sanya? Who made you unhappy?"
Feng Lan walked over and touched her head with a smile.
"Mom..." Sanya turned around, her face wrinkled, "I'm so bored."
She pointed at the sisters and aunts working hard in the embroidery workshop and said, "They all like to sew, but I get a headache when I pick up a needle. I can help with the kitchen to light the fire and wash vegetables, but I'm about to grow hair just sitting here."
Feng Lan looked at her daughter's distressed expression and felt amused but also a little distressed.
She knew that each of her daughters had a different personality. The eldest was steady, the second was careful, and the third was the most lively and active, like a little firecracker. Asking her to sit still was really difficult for her.
"Okay, since you can't stay idle, I'll give you a job." Feng Lan took out a few dozen coins from her pocket and stuffed them into San Ya's hand. "Go, walk around the street and see if there are any fresh vegetables. Buy some and we'll have a snack at noon. By the way, I'll also buy you a bunch of candied haws."
"Really?" Sanya's eyes lit up instantly. She took the money and jumped three feet high. "Thank you, mother! I promise to complete the task!"
After saying that, she ran away like a bird out of a cage.
San Ya was carrying a small bamboo basket and walking through the bustling market.
She had no interest in the shops selling rouge, powder, fabrics and jewelry, and her eyes only glanced at the stalls selling food.
The freshly baked sesame cakes, the golden fried dough sticks, and the fragrant wonton baskets all made her drool.
She bought a string of red candied haws and ate them while strolling.
Before I knew it, I had arrived at South Street, the most prosperous street in the county.
At the corner of the street, a three-story restaurant rises from the ground. On the plaque, the three big characters "Yingkelou" are written in a flamboyant style, which looks very imposing.
At this moment, the entrance of the reception building was surrounded by three layers of people, and there was a lot of noise. No one knew what they were doing.
San Ya loved the hustle and bustle and immediately became interested. She relied on her small size to squeeze through the gaps in the crowd.
After finally squeezing to the front, I could see clearly that there was a large table on the steps at the entrance of the restaurant. Behind the table stood a fat middle-aged man wearing a white chef's uniform and a tall hat.
Behind him hung a huge piece of red paper with a few large characters written on it: "The Kitchen God of Yingke Tower is holding a competition to make friends over food. The winner will be rewarded with 100 taels of silver!"
It turned out to be a cooking challenge!
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