16 Fresh sushi with plum sauce
A little jealous◎
The girl in the middle looked at Yan Yunzhao in disbelief, then turned back to look at the group of people behind her, and seeing their different expressions, she understood what Yan Yunzhao meant. Tears welled up in her eyes instantly.
“Miss Yan… what you said… is it true? Young Master Lou really…” The girl choked up, her face showing embarrassment as she spoke.
"Tsk, how come they're so young..."
"What a waste of such a handsome face. He'll have a hard time finding a wife in the future. I've even heard of some rich young ladies crying and begging to marry him, but he just can't have children..."
Seeing the situation developing in an unpredictable direction, Yan Yunzhao shook his head vigorously, waving his hands repeatedly: "No, it's not what you think, he just..."
"Oh, Mr. Yan, we all understand. It's too embarrassing to say this in broad daylight."
Seeing that the die was cast and no amount of explanation would convince them, Yan Yunzhao could only silently apologize to Lou Su in his heart: I'm so sorry, Young Master Lou... When I become successful in the future, I will definitely clear your name.
The girl in the lead, tears welling in her eyes, covered her face with her handkerchief and sobbed softly. After placing the jade pendant in Yan Yunzhao's hand, she ran away heartbroken.
The jade pendant felt smooth and warm to the touch, and the carving was exquisite. Even though Yan Yunzhao didn't know much about jade, he could tell that it was not made of ordinary jade.
Yan Yunzhao clutched the jade pendant, a sense of frustration rising within him for no apparent reason.
The crowd dispersed in a flurry. It was rare to see so many people gathered in front of the shop. Seeing that everyone wanted to head down the mountain after finishing their melon, the shopkeeper seized the opportunity to call out, "You must all have had a long climb up the mountain. Come in and have some chilled plum juice, it's free!"
As they were wondering what this chilled plum juice was, upon hearing that it was free, the girls, who had initially hesitated, all crowded into the shop.
Jingming, Qingxi, and Shuyu served cups of plum juice soaked in ice, which were sweet and sour, and refreshingly cool, perfect for relieving the summer heat.
This sour plum juice is made by drying dried plums with sugar, then marinating them with dried tangerine peel, orange segments, black tea, and other ingredients. Although it is not like modern sour plum soup, it is still very delicious and thirst-quenching.
A young woman took a sip and asked in surprise, "It's the height of summer now, and ice is the hardest thing to preserve. Only wealthy families can afford sugar water with ice in it. Boss Yan, how did you manage to do that?"
"Plum juice... This is the first time I've ever heard of this. It tastes really good."
Yan Yunzhao smiled and said, "This plum juice is made from candied plums and wild berries from the mountains. It's a unique creation of our shop. However, how to store the ice... I can't reveal that. Please forgive me."
She couldn't very well say that it was because she used her magic to continuously cool down the box containing ice that she could have ice to drink on such a hot day, could she?
"Such a rare delicacy, and you're just giving it to us for free?" The girl put down her teacup, gently wiping her lips with her handkerchief, as if the taste was still lingering.
"Of course not." Yan Yunzhao smiled slyly, a glint of light flashing in her bright eyes: "It's so hot in the summer, and seeing how hard everyone is working, I'll let you all try my newly made plum juice first. If you like it, come back next time. It'll be a loss for me to get you a repeat customer."
Despite saying this, she ordered Jingming and the others to settle the girls before going into the kitchen.
Iced plum juice is refreshing, but it can become astringent if you drink too much. At this point, you need a soft, chewy but not too sweet snack to balance it out – sushi.
The shop had been open for over a month. Although some customers praised her for her outstanding skills and variety of dishes, many of her elaborate dishes went untouched due to the small size of the shop.
She couldn't earn much money from a bowl of noodles, and her efforts to promote it had little effect, so she had to take advantage of this opportunity to promote new dishes.
A few days ago, she began preparing pork floss. Pork floss is a popular condiment in modern times and an essential part of making sushi. She asked Jingming to go to the street to buy the finest pork tenderloin, cut it into strips, boil it, and dry it... After several complicated procedures, the appearance of the pork floss was almost identical. Without the artificial flavoring, the taste was still somewhat different, but Yan Yunzhao was already very satisfied.
Making meat floss is time-consuming and laborious, but with the help of the Three Grass Demons, a whole wooden box was made in just one afternoon.
She carefully took out the seaweed pressed into nori from the food cabinet, prepared glutinous rice, bamboo tongs, and pickled carrot and cucumber strips, placed the moist and sticky nori on the outside, rolled and pressed it with the bamboo tongs, cut it into sections and served it.
A dozen or so girls in the shop stared at the greenish-blue stuff for a moment before tentatively putting it in their mouths: the seaweed-wrapped rice was soft and delicious, and with the orange powder and the strangely flavorful cucumber inside, it had a unique taste.
"This is sushi. In the future, our shop will also offer smoked fish sushi, wasabi fried shrimp sushi, and crispy black rice sushi. If you like them, please feel free to visit our shop more often."
Yan Yunzhao enthusiastically promoted the sushi rolls, and Jingming, Qingxi, and Shuyu divided the remaining rolls equally among the girls.
Everyone enjoyed the chilled plum juice with sushi, and before leaving, they all reluctantly bought a box of sushi to take home.
Yan Yunzhao sold the sushi by the roll, five pieces per roll, two rolls for one hundred coins. The price was slightly expensive, but he could still make a net profit of half.
The money he had earned that day was buried under Rongrong's chubby body. Yan Yunzhao had to coax and pry for a long time before finally pulling out a stack of warm banknotes.
She sat behind the table, opened an account book, and counted her earnings. She had earned exactly three strings of cash today. She added up all the money she had earned recently, totaling six strings of cash. She dipped her brush in ink and wrote down her expenses, including ingredients, seasonings, and shop maintenance costs. Finally, she closed the account book with satisfaction.
If he could gather two hundred strings of cash, he could open a branch in a larger area of Lixi Town, Yan Yunzhao thought to himself with satisfaction as he looked at the money box growing thicker and thicker.
...
Today is the fifth day since Lou Su left the shop. He did not go to Panlong Town to see a doctor, but went straight to a deep abyss in Cangshan Mountain.
Inside a dark, damp, and enormous cave, the sound of dripping water echoed through the empty space.
Hundreds of venomous snakes coiled on the cliff face, hissing and flicking their tongues at the white-clad figure seated in the center. They lay prostrate in the shadows, poised to strike, as if waiting for their chance.
"Cough..." The person sitting in the cave, deep in thought, suddenly turned pale and spat out a mouthful of blood, staining his chest red.
"Hiss..."
Countless black venomous snakes, lurking in the shadows, were drawn by the scent of blood and several had already climbed onto him.
Lou Su suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes. The powerful pressure caused more than a dozen snakes to silently retreat several meters. However, his eyes were no longer the clear, bright black eyes that looked like spring water. Instead, they were green eyes with vertical pupils.
His dark green pupils were adorned with vertical, deep gray lines, giving them a sinister, snake-like quality, yet also an aura of majesty that made people afraid to look directly at him.
Lou Su raised his hand and slowly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His figure also gradually changed. Compared to his previous frail body, he was more robust. His dark hair hung down to his shoulders, making his skin look pale.
The snakes reluctantly retreated a few meters, but they did not consider him a threat and continued to watch him menacingly from a distance.
Suddenly, a snake darted out of the swarm and transformed into human form just before it touched Lou Su, but Lou Su easily grabbed it by the neck.
"Uh..." His face gradually turned purplish-red. Lou Su tilted his head slightly, watching him struggle in his death throes with an indifferent expression, but his grip on his hand did not loosen at all.
The snake demon slammed the medicine bottle in its hand to the ground, from which a foul-smelling, viscous black liquid flowed. The liquid trickled down, soaking the moss on the stone steps, which hissed and emitted black smoke, leaving only a charred patch in no time.
"You! Our snake clan has lived in fear and trembling beneath the abyss for so many years, never vying with you for a single inch of territory. How dare you harm my people!"
A dark green python coiled on the ground, and seeing that the snake demon being held by Lou Su was about to die, it roared angrily.
"Territory, people?" Lou Su asked slowly, enunciating each word, and chuckled softly as if he had heard a joke.
"If it weren't for you lackeys, things would probably be much more peaceful."
With a forceful pull, a cracking sound of bones filled the air. The snake demon struggled helplessly in his grasp, its eyes bulging, veins standing on end, until it gradually lost its life.
Lou Su tossed him aside as lightly as if he were a toy, and he deflated like a punctured balloon, leaving only a human skin hanging on the ground.
Upon seeing this, the snakes retreated several meters in fear.
"This...this is a demon! How could a demon have infiltrated our race?"
"I should ask you that, Elder Hui. Your good clansmen colluded with the demons to infiltrate this demon into the demon realm. If I hadn't fallen ill and returned to suppress it, how long did you intend to keep this from me?"
Lou Su looked down at the snakes below, a hint of ferocity flashing in his eyes.
The elder of the Hui clan panicked and prostrated himself on the ground, trembling as he pleaded, "Lord Wuxiang, spare my life! It is my fault for mismanaging the clan, which gave this coward an opportunity. But I have no ill intentions, I beg Lord Wuxiang to see the truth!"
Lou Su seemed not to hear him and walked down the stone steps on his own, saying leisurely, "I haven't returned for a hundred years. I didn't even know when this demon realm had become the domain of the Elder Hui."
"He has connections everywhere, and his clever schemes have even reached Lixi Town."
These words sent a chill down the spine of the elder, Hui, straight to the top of his head. He trembled and lowered his head, trying hard to keep his jaw from clenching and betraying his guilty conscience.
Ever since hearing that Wuxiang had found the woman who could cure his poison according to the prophecy, he had harbored selfish thoughts, wanting to snatch her away before the two could consummate their relationship, so as to cure his clan's poison. Now it seems that Lou Chengjing... has been exposed.
Lou Su stopped in front of him, but did not look at him. He said coldly, "If you dare to hurt anyone in my shop, I will slaughter your entire clan to pay with your lives."
"Yes, yes... I was careless and didn't mean to harm you—"
The old man's voice abruptly stopped.
The snakes looked up and were immediately terrified.
Several iron chains, imbued with spiritual energy, hung from the ceiling of the cave, and suspended above them was the elder of the Hui tribe.
This iron chain can seal away all magical power. The restriction can only be broken by the one who sealed it, and it is difficult to break through. The old man of the Hui clan was hanging there and was on the verge of death.
"Don't get any more ideas. Otherwise, I won't be so lenient next time." Lou Su coldly said this and disappeared from the spot.
Once outside the cave, he was too exhausted to stand and could barely manage to sit up.
Lou Su returned to his original frail state, with a few fine beads of sweat on his forehead.
"It can't even last for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn anymore..."
He supported himself on the ground, meditating intently and continuously absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Only after absorbing all the spiritual energy around him did he feel even slightly better.
Now that the illness is recurring frequently, I have to return to the demon realm, which is full of spiritual energy, once a month for recuperation; otherwise, I'm afraid it will be difficult to maintain the barrier around the small shop.
Lou Su lowered his eyes and couldn't help but recall the days that had passed.
Cui Liang Mountain was teeming with monsters. He had set up a protective array in the mountain since he settled in the small shop, but instead discovered many menacing snake demons. Fortunately, he had already cleared them out before the four people from the shop returned.
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