Baoyu had almost been beaten up by them, and he wanted to kick their butts hard to vent his anger, but since Chief Yang had spoken, he naturally couldn't say anything more.
Baoyu looked at the stern-faced man in front of him. He had been quite dissatisfied with him before because of his neglect of his sister, but Yang Bantou did not stand idly by in the face of today's events.
Ultimately, it was Baoyu's narrow-mindedness that led to this.
Baoyu walked up to Yang Xi and bowed solemnly, "Chief Yang, Baoyu thanks you for saving my life."
Yang Xi looked at the boy and thought that although he was a bit mischievous, he wasn't a bad person at heart.
He was very patient with them, teaching them like an older brother, saying, "You are young and no match for those people. If you encounter similar situations in the future, just bear with it for now and wait until you find help before stepping forward. Otherwise, you won't be lucky enough to run into me every time."
Baoyu blinked his bright black eyes, "Yes! I'll remember."
As soon as Yang Xiren walked away, Hu Zi immediately came up to him and asked sneakily, "Squad Leader Yang, is this the man that Sister Chenyu likes?"
Baoyu greatly admired his sister's eye for people, raised his chin, and said with a smug smile, "Yes, what do you think? She's a good person, isn't she?"
"Not only good, but also great!" Hu Zi nudged Bao Yu's shoulder. "If Yang Ban Tou becomes your brother-in-law in the future, you'll be really powerful. With him as your backer, who would dare to bully you?"
prestige?
Baoyu stopped smiling and rebuked him, "Using power to bully others is something only Qian Rushan would do. I'm not that kind of villain, why would I act tough?"
Tiger laughed and said, "Just kidding, it's not true."
Baoyu angrily put away the silver, then turned his head and glared at Huzi, warning him: "Hey, when we get back to the village, don't tell anyone about my sister and Yang Bantou, especially your big-mouthed mother and sister-in-law."
Tiger was bewildered by his glare. "What's wrong with saying this?"
Baoyu looked up at the sky and said sullenly, "My sister and Yang Bantou's affair is still far from settled, and nobody knows if it will work out. Whether it does or not, my sister is still an unmarried virgin, and we can't let those gossipy people spread rumors about her and tarnish her reputation. If this gets out, I'll hold you accountable first!"
Having said that, even if Tiger had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare to talk nonsense.
Thinking that they had earned 150 copper coins that day, the two went to the meat stall in the market and bought a pound of meat before going home.
——
The white fungus, mung beans, lotus seeds, and lily bulbs had been soaking for over an hour and were almost ready. Zhou Chenyu instructed the kitchen maid to prepare three pots, and then put the white fungus in half and the mung beans into the three pots to simmer slowly.
Then, Zhou Chenyu prepared the pitted red dates, diced papaya, and goji berries for garnish.
The key to the qingtuan (green glutinous rice dumpling) is the coconut milk sweet soup. Just like the steps for making qingtuan during the Qingming Festival, Zhou Chenyu first cleans the mugwort, takes the tender leaves, and puts them into a pot of boiling water to soften them.
Squeeze out excess water from the blanched mugwort, chop it into small pieces, mix it into flour and stir well. Knead the mixture into a light blue dough containing the mugwort pieces, cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest for half an hour. Then cut it into strips the size of coconut jelly pieces, cook them in boiling water, and divide them into several bowls.
Zhou Chenyu then removed the hard shell from the coconut she had bought, poured the coconut juice into the bowl containing the qingtuan (a type of glutinous rice dumpling), shaved off the tender white coconut meat, added a few ice cubes, and a bowl of sweet but not greasy qingtuan coconut juice dessert was ready.
The qingtuan (green glutinous rice balls) in the coconut milk sweet soup are the most troublesome to make. Once this problem is solved, the remaining three types of sweet soup will be easier to make.
The white fungus, mung beans, lily bulbs, and lotus seeds were simmered for a long time. The pale yellow white fungus had released its gelatinous substance, and the mung beans, lily bulbs, and lotus seeds had become soft and sticky.
Zhou Chenyu added pitted red dates and goji berries to one of the two pots containing white fungus soup, and papaya pieces and goji berries to the other. The various sweet soups were finally ready.
Several maids from the kitchen came in to serve the sweet soup. The food made in the old mansion was already quite exquisite, but the sweet soup they saw today broadened their horizons even further.
"Miss Zhou, you have such skillful hands. Just by looking at these bowls of sweet soup, you can tell they taste delicious."
Zhou Chenyu had been in the kitchen for several hours and had long since become friends with the young girls. Anyone would be happy to be praised like this.
She laughed and said, "When I open a shop in Qingshui Town in the future, you can come and drink whenever you want."
The girls immediately chimed in, "We'll remember that! You'd better keep your word!"
Afterwards, everything that Zhou Chenyu and the other two men had made was served on the table. Through a curtain, Feng Chuli faced the two kitchen managers and said, "The sweet soups are all ready. Let's all have a taste."
"Yes, Steward Feng."
The man with the mole and the man with the pent-up frustration couldn't contain their impatience. They focused all their energy on listening, wanting to hear who in the room preferred what they had made.
Zhou Chenyu remained calm, not because she was certain that Feng Chuli would stand by her side, but because it was a habit she had developed since childhood: whatever she did, she would do her best, and she would accept the outcome with equanimity.
The kitchen maid standing next to her saw that she was not speaking and assumed that she was nervous, so she secretly comforted her, "Miss Zhou, every sweet soup you make is better than theirs. You will definitely win in the end."
"Thank you for your comforting words. I hope so too." Zhou Chenyu smiled and then saw the servants who were serving inside the house come out. She announced to everyone, "Since there is still a lot of sweet soup left from the three of you, Steward Feng has ordered that everyone staying in the courtyard may go and eat it."
Upon receiving this order, the servants and maids ran to the kitchen in an orderly fashion, all heading towards the spot where Zhou Chenyu was making sweet soup. Only those who couldn't get a spot went to the dishes made by the two men, but after tasting a bite or two, they turned and ran off to another place.
A moment later, exclamations of surprise came from the kitchen.
"This sweet soup tastes amazing!"
"It's sweet but not cloying, and it soothes your throat after drinking it."
"I prefer this qingtuan with coconut milk syrup. Although the qingtuan doesn't have any sugar, it has a strong mugwort aroma. Paired with the sweet and refreshing coconut milk, it's the first time I've ever seen it made this way!"
Hearing these unanimous responses, Zhou Chenyu's bright black eyes lit up with a smile, "It's a sure thing."
The man with the mole and the man who felt aggrieved remained standing in the same spot, refusing to give up until the very last moment.
The servants returned with the sweet soup, and Feng Chuli's subordinates announced the results in public. As expected, Zhou Chenyu was the winner.
Everyone present who had tasted Zhou Chenyu's sweet soup had no doubts and praised it unanimously, except for Zhou Chenyu's competitors.
The two men had been making sweet soup for decades and refused to believe they could lose to a young girl. After the results were announced, they secretly went into the kitchen and tasted every kind of sweet soup Zhou Chenyu made. Their previous arrogance and contempt turned into shame, and they had no face to raise any objections.
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