Mrs. Wen went back to her room to wash up, while Xu Qinyu stayed in the kitchen to continue decocting the medicine. After decocting the medicine, she poured out the juice and saved the residue. The doctor said that the residue could be boiled three times and should be kept for boiling tomorrow.

After returning to the room, Xu Qinyu found that Wen had just eaten a bun reluctantly and then stayed by Pei Weixuan's side, looking worried and with red eyes.

Xu Qinyu didn't know what to say, so she took the medicine bowl over and asked Wen to feed Pei Weixuan the medicine.

She went to buy some liquor from the innkeeper. If her cheap husband's high fever didn't go down at night, she would have to dilute the liquor and rub it on his body, which would help to cool him down physically.

After buying the liquor, Xu Qinyu told Wen how to use it, and Wen nodded.

Xu Qinyu followed Mrs. Wen and watched for a while. She found Pei Weixuan lying there motionless, as if he was not even breathing. She couldn't help but feel a little worried and wanted to reach out to feel his breath. But Mrs. Wen was there, so Xu Qinyu didn't dare to reach out to feel it. She sat with Mrs. Wen for a while, thinking that she had to go out tomorrow, so she said goodbye to Mrs. Wen and went to sleep.

It was a rare good night's sleep. When she woke up the next day, it was already noon. There was a rustling sound outside. Xu Qinyu got up and put on her winter jacket. She walked to the window, opened a slit and took a look. It was snowing. The snowflakes were rustling against the window. The cold wind blew in all at once. She quickly closed the window and looked back. Pei Jianing was guarding her cheap husband's bedside with Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er. Wen had been guarding all night and should have fallen asleep by now.

Xu Qinyu went over and whispered to Pei Jianing, "Sister Ning, you stay with Fourth Brother. I'll go out and buy some polished rice and fish to make fish porridge."

She planned to cook some raw fish fillet porridge to nourish everyone. Pei Weixuan was still sick, and fish fillet porridge was easier to digest and warming, suitable for him to eat.

When Pei Jianing heard that her fourth sister-in-law was going to buy fish to make fish porridge, she opened her mouth, wanting her to buy some meat to make meat porridge instead, because fishy smell and fish bones were difficult to deal with. However, thinking that fish was cheap and meat was expensive, and the family needed to save money, she couldn't say anything.

Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er looked at her eagerly.

Xu Qinyu smiled at the two children and touched their heads. "Be good, Brother Feng and Sister Yan. I'll bring you some candy later."

From her original memory, these two children used to be pretty and beautiful, but now they are as thin as bean sprouts, and even their eyes are lifeless. The slightest movement will fill their eyes with fear, and even she feels distressed when she sees them.

Xu Qinyu went out to buy some glutinous rice and a big black carp. Fish were cheap as dirt in ancient times, not to mention there was a big canal nearby, so they were even cheaper. Such a big black carp, weighing six or seven pounds, only cost ten cents, which is less than two cents per pound.

She also bought two kilograms of japonica rice. In ancient times, both japonica rice and meat were quite expensive. Japonica rice is almost the same as rice, but it is chewier and more nutritious than rice.

Japonica rice costs 11 wen per pound, and meat costs thirty or forty wen per pound. This is for ordinary pork. Other meats such as mutton and beef are more expensive, but beef is generally not available for sale.

This is also the reason why people in ancient times could not afford to eat meat once a month, and rarely ate glutinous rice. Only wealthy people or members of large families and royal families could afford glutinous rice because it was too expensive.

In addition to polished rice and herring, Xu Qinyu also bought some tofu, which cost one cent a piece, and she bought a few pieces.

She had other plans for buying such a big fish.

It was already past midnight, almost eight o'clock, when we got back to the inn.

Most people here eat two meals a day, one at around nine in the morning and one at around four in the afternoon.

Xu Qinyu went to find the shopkeeper and told him that she wanted to continue borrowing the small kitchen to boil medicine and cook food, so she gave him thirty cents a day, but she needed to borrow some seasonings from the shopkeeper's kitchen, such as salt, ginger, garlic, green onions, soy sauce and vinegar. In ancient times, there were only these common seasonings. Other spices such as pepper, star anise, cinnamon and bay leaves were expensive because they were medicinal materials and basically no one used them as seasonings.

The shopkeeper's surname was Zhou. He was about 40 years old, of medium build and ordinary appearance. When he heard what Xu Qinyu said, he smiled and said, "Young lady, you don't have to give so much. A few coins will be enough." There were often guests who wanted to borrow the kitchen. The guests who could borrow the kitchen were all from large shops and were relatively poor. They just needed to give a few coins.

Is this young lady crazy? Or does she have too much money and don't know where to spend it? She pays thirty cents a day to borrow the kitchen. Most people spend less than thirty cents a day on food and drink.

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "It is indeed thirty cents, but no matter what I do in there, the shopkeeper has no right to interfere. Of course, even if I use the shopkeeper's seasoning, I will not waste it."

Shopkeeper Zhou naturally would not refuse such a money-making opportunity and agreed to it.

Xu Qinyu took the purchased ingredients to the kitchen, and brought the purchased maltose back to the house for the two children to eat. She asked Ning Jie'er to look after the children and the fourth brother, and then she went to the kitchen to boil medicine and prepare food.

It is simple to decoct the medicine. Just add water to yesterday's medicine residue and continue to cook it on a small stove.

She borrowed another stove and prepared to make raw fish fillet.

I picked up a large clay pot from the kitchen, added water to it and boiled it. Then I washed the rice and added a few drops of oil. When the water in the clay pot boiled, I poured the rice in to cook.

While the water was boiling, Xu Qinyu took the herring to the yard, scraped off the scales, opened the belly and cleaned out the internal organs. There was a well in the yard, which made it convenient to handle the matter.

She prepared the big herring so quickly and skillfully that the chef and the waiter in the kitchen came out to see.

We don’t want to throw away the fish offal, fish soaked fish roe, and after cleaning them thoroughly, we can stew them together with the fish bones and fish belly, which tastes very good.

Most of the guests of the inn stay there, so the food is not as good as those in the city that specialize in restaurants. Most of the guests like to eat out, so the kitchen is not very busy. At this time of meal, no one wants to eat, so the chef and the waiter are squatting and watching Xu Qinyu prepare the herring.

Xu Qinyu cleaned the fish offal and put it on the plate. The slightly plump chef couldn't help asking, "Young lady, why do you keep the fish offal? It smells even worse than fish meat and tastes worse."

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Of course I'm saving it for eating. Chef Zhou will know when it's ready."

Chef Zhou is the son of Manager Zhou.

Next, chop off the fish head, cut off two slices of fish meat from the spine, and then cut off the fish belly.

The fish belly is a bit too fat and is not suitable for making raw fish fillet porridge. It is better to stew it.

After the fish meat is removed, use a slanting knife to slice the two pieces of fish into thin slices.

The fish fillets she sliced ​​were crystal clear, as thin as a piece of paper, causing Chef Zhou and the waiter to gasp. After the big herring was fully prepared and the water in the casserole was boiled, the washed glutinous rice was poured in and cooked for a quarter of an hour.

While the rice was cooking, Xu Qinyu cleaned the sliced ​​fish and added shredded ginger, a little salt and liquor to marinate it to remove the fishy smell.

There was no cooking wine in that era, so we could only use a few drops of liquor to remove the fishy smell. In fact, Huadiao wine would be better, but the kitchen didn't have it.

After cooking the glutinous rice for a quarter of an hour, turn off the heat and simmer for another quarter of an hour. Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn off the heat, add a little salt, pour the marinated fish fillets into the boiling porridge and quickly spread them. The aroma of the fish fillets will be immediately stimulated, and the aroma of rice mixed with the aroma of fish is fresh and fragrant. It's a pity that there is no pepper, otherwise the taste will be even better.

The fish meat is plump and there is no need to add any extra vegetable oil. Finally, sprinkle some chopped green onions to garnish it.

Looking at the delicious fish porridge, Chef Zhou was stunned. He didn't know that fish porridge could be cooked like this.

They cook fish porridge by adding chopped fish pieces after the porridge is boiled, and then adding seasonings at the end. However, even so, the fishy smell cannot be covered up. In order to cover up the fishy smell, they add more seasonings, and the taste is heavier, so not many people like to eat it.

Xu Qinyu portioned the cooked fish porridge and sent it back to the house. Seeing that Pei Weixuan had not woken up yet, she let Pei Jianing, the two children and Wen eat first. She went back to the kitchen and left a portion for him and also served herself. There were still two bowls left, so she gave one bowl each to Chef Zhou and Manager Zhou.

When Manager Zhou was in the front living room, he smelled the fragrant, rich and fresh aroma. He couldn't help but run to the back kitchen to take a look. He saw the young lady served him a bowl. She thanked him with a smile and took it to the front living room. Looking at the bowl of porridge, Manager Zhou couldn't help but taste it. He was surprised as soon as he took a sip. There was no fishy smell at all. The taste was smooth, tender and sweet. The rice porridge was fragrant, and the fish meat was very tender and fresh.

Shopkeeper Zhou had never tasted such delicious fish porridge in his life.

Xu Qinyu also came to the living room with fish porridge to eat, watching the vendors coming and going outside, and the people busying about. Although it was snowing today, the snow was not heavy, just snow particles, which did not affect the various businesses in the city.

Some people smelled this smell and couldn't help but stop in front of the inn and sigh, "What a fresh smell."

Her dish of raw rolled fish congee does not contain many ingredients or seasonings, so it tastes original and is delicious.

She guarantees that anyone who smells this aroma will get horny.

Food is the most important thing for people. No one can resist delicious food.

A burly man happened to pass by the inn. This man was even taller and stronger than the deputy captain Chen who had sent them to the southwest. He had a full beard and looked to be in his thirties. He couldn't help but sniff when he smelled the fragrance, looked into the inn, and then strode into the inn.

The man was accompanied by two other men, both of whom looked to be in their twenties and were wearing cloth robes.

When the shopkeeper Zhou saw the burly man coming in, he hurriedly went to greet him, "Captain Liang, why are you here? You are such a rare guest, please come in quickly."

As soon as she heard the title, Xu Qinyu understood that this man was a captain stationed in the military camp in Zaraozhou City, and a captain seemed to be a fifth-rank official.

When Captain Liang came in, he asked, "Manager Zhou, what's delicious to eat? Why does it smell so good? Did you hire a new chef for your inn?"

The voice of Captain Liang was about the same size as his body, as loud as a bell.

Shopkeeper Zhou chuckled, "Captain Liang misunderstood. It was a guest of the inn who borrowed the kitchen to make some food."