To ensure there were no mistakes, Zhou Chenyu spent another half day testing all the ingredients. Only after confirming that everything was correct did she dare to relax her tense nerves.
The night before her housewarming party, she slept in the same room as her maid, Lü'er, who helped her in the kitchen.
Greenie had spent more than a day with her and had become somewhat familiar with her. Looking at Zhou Chenyu, who had no expression, she tilted her head and looked her over. "Miss Zhou, has someone upset you?"
Is there?
"No," Zhou Chenyu said, taking off her clothes and sitting on the bed. "Why do you ask that?"
“When you came here a few days ago, you were smiling, and you looked so beautiful when you smiled. But today you look much more serious, and sometimes I don’t even dare to talk to you.”
Who has the energy to manage their facial expressions when they're so focused on work?
Zhou Chenyu shook her head, smiled faintly, and said, "Nothing like that. Don't overthink it. I just want to do my job well and earn my wages."
Greenie chatted with Zhou Chenyu for a few minutes, and perhaps because she was tired, she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Zhou Chenyu lay on the hard bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. Although she slept on a hard bed at home, it was covered with a soft straw mat. In addition, the servants' quarters were close to the street, and she could occasionally hear the night watchman's drum and the barking of dogs, so she didn't sleep well all night. When she woke up, her waist and back ached.
"Money is hard to earn..." Zhou Chenyu rubbed his back and complained before heading straight to the kitchen.
The kitchen in the new Tang family mansion was much larger than the old one, but all the people preparing food were crammed in there. Some were carrying vegetables, some were washing vegetables, and some were chopping vegetables. Before the fire in the stove was even lit, the house was already noisy.
The banquet was scheduled for noon, and one can imagine the scene when the dishes were served close to lunchtime.
Fortunately, although Zhou Chenyu is usually a bit impatient, she never makes mistakes when it comes to crucial moments. The more tense and chaotic the external environment is, the more she can calm down and do her own thing.
Making sweet soup isn't about speed; it requires simmering over low heat until the ingredients are tender. The main dishes are prepared half an hour before the meal begins, so the sweet soup is ready to cook now.
The white fungus, red and green beans, lotus seeds and lily bulbs had been soaked in advance last night. Zhou Chenyu and Lü'er lit the fires on several stoves, set up large pots, and placed the ingredients, totaling fifty or sixty catties, into their respective pots.
Baoyu delivered the freshly picked mugwort to the mansion on time. Zhou Chenyu and Lü'er washed the mugwort and put it into a pot of hot water to boil. "Alright, I'll watch over it here. You go and knead the dough."
Making noodles?
Greenie wiped her forehead and froze: "Oh no, the steward told me last night that the flour needed to be collected this morning, but I forgot about it."
Zhou Chenyu was so focused on the things she had bought that she forgot about the flour. "Don't worry, there's still time. You can bring it back and knead the dough right away."
"Okay, I'll go right away."
Greenie forgot to take off her apron, pushed through the crowd, and hurriedly ran out.
The tenderest part of the mugwort used this time was selected from the core. It only needed to be blanched briefly in water. Zhou Chenyu stood in front of the large pot that was constantly emitting steam, and used a large strainer made of bamboo strips to scoop out the mugwort one by one, squeeze out the green juice, and then put it into boiling water to blanch it again.
After scalding the mugwort, her cheeks and back were covered in hot sweat, and even her hands were red from the boiling water.
Zhou Chenyu cooled down with cold water and saw Lü'er hurriedly running back with flour. Just as she was about to reach her, Lü'er tripped over the winnowing basket on the ground because she was walking too fast and fell face-first to the ground.
Are you alright?
Zhou Chenyu quickly helped her up. When Lü'er saw the flour on the ground, she turned pale with fright and her voice trembled violently: "Miss Zhou, what should we do? I didn't mean to do this."
Flour was a precious commodity in this era, comparable to white fungus, but fortunately only a little was sprinkled on it.
"What's the panic?" Zhou Chenyu smiled and wiped away her tears. "Don't worry, a little flour won't cause any problems. If the higher-ups really blame us, I'll take the blame."
For some reason, when Greenie saw Miss Zhou's gentle smile and firm eyes, she suddenly felt no fear, as if she could hold up the sky even if it collapsed. "Greenie thanks Miss Zhou."
"Come on, help me knead the dough!"
"Why!"
Zhou Chenyu smeared a layer of oil on the winnowing basket, poured in flour, and under her guidance, Lü'er added the boiled sugar water little by little. The powdery flour was slowly kneaded into a dough, and then the mugwort with the green juice squeezed out was kneaded in. After repeated kneading, the white dough became a green dough, which was covered with a damp cloth and placed aside.
Kneading dough is a strenuous task. After finally finishing one, Zhou Chenyu took a breather since it was still early. However, a single sentence from the kitchen manager instantly caused an uproar in the kitchen: "The guests will be arriving soon. Everyone preparing the dishes should hurry up and not miss the auspicious time!"
No sooner had the steward finished speaking than deafening firecrackers rang out outside the gate, and thick smoke billowed out that could be seen even from the kitchen. Hearing the increasingly loud congratulatory shouts, Zhou Chenyu quickened his pace.
To cater to individual tastes, half of the sweet soup should be made at room temperature and the other half cold.
Zhou Chenyu inspected each pot of food, which was already cooked until tender. "Lü'er, put down what you're doing for now and scoop out half of the sugar water from each pot and put it under the window to cool. Hurry!"
"Okay!" Greenie immediately put down what she was doing and came over to support the container. Zhou Chenyu picked up an iron ladle and scooped the contents into the pot one spoonful at a time. When the container was half full, the two of them carried it to the ice block under the window. The fire on the stove was also turned off, and the container was left to cool to room temperature naturally.
Then, without stopping, they peeled the papaya, cut it into pieces, and cut the fermented green dough into coconut pieces, and put them into the pot to cook.
After all the ingredients were finally prepared, the servants from the front yard arrived one after another, waiting outside the door to serve the sweet soup.
Zhou Chenyu had originally planned to take some time to go to the front yard to see what it was like for ancient people to hold a banquet, but after a busy day, she found that even eating a meal or drinking a sip of water felt like going to war, and she had to count down the seconds.
After the first day's banquet ended, she returned to her room to rest. She didn't even bother to eat; she took off her shoes and collapsed onto the bed, saying, "This money wasn't easy to earn."
Knowing that she was tired, Lü'er brought the two of their meals into the room. "Miss Zhou, you've only eaten two buns today. Don't go hungry. Get up and eat something."
Zhou Chenyu regretted taking the job, but if she didn't, she would lose a year's worth of wages. She sat up miserably and said, "Thank you."
"It was just a small favor."
Greenie smiled and handed over the chopsticks. Zhou Chenyu saw that she seemed fine and asked, "Aren't you tired?"
"Not tired at all." Greenie shook her head and smiled with her eyes narrowed. "What I did today was much easier than harvesting and threshing rice at home. Besides, you arranged the work so well and took care of all the heavy work. I'm not tired at all."
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