[Character: Li Xiuhe (Not Hireable)

Details: An ordinary chef employed by the Si family. The only extraordinary time in his life was the three years he spent learning from his master. Due to his limited talent, he did not learn the essence of cooking.

Specialties: You cannot guess whether an ordinary chef will have any new ideas other than home-cooked dishes, and it is even more difficult to ask her to master a certain cuisine, but at least she will not produce dark dishes.

Cooking skills: Lv.2 (cooking temperature: Lv.1, knife skills: Lv.3, seasoning: Lv.2)

Favorability: 20 (Master and Servant)]

The character information panel did not disappear until Si Li clicked to close it, but before that, the magnifying glass on Li's hair had disappeared. If I guessed correctly, this was the character viewing function that was unlocked before, but the premise of using it still needed to be explored carefully.

Madam Li quickly calmed down, wiped away the tears from her eyes, and said with a smile, "Look at me, I haven't seen anyone as talented as you in many years. You have mastered the basic skills very well by yourself. I was so happy that I lost my composure."

She must have concealed something else, and she didn't want to say it. Si Li didn't ask any more questions, but just smiled and distributed the cold cucumber to a circle. The standing maids all tasted it with their chopsticks and praised it without saying anything else.

The main kitchen prepared three meals a day for the guests, stewards and servants who stayed at the farm. After a brief chat, it was time for lunch. Madam Li looked at the sky and apologized. The servants who came in one after another were busy, but they were busy and orderly, without any chaos, which made Si Li, who was standing by and watching, seem a little redundant.

Until Madam Li packed up the food box and handed it to the maid to accompany Si Li back, Si Li did not see the magnifying glass icon appear again. He could only say goodbye with regret and wait for the next time the system was refreshed so that he could study the usage rules.

The lunch prepared by Madam Li was winter bamboo shoots, rice and a bowl of winter melon soup. The quantity was not large, but the standard of one dish and one soup was already an upgrade compared to the leftover rice that Qingyu Qinglian brought before. Si Liduo asked for two bowls of rice and brought them back, and just in time asked Xiao Que, who was cleaning the house, to stop and eat together.

Xiao Que's eyes lit up after she took a piece of winter bamboo shoots with her chopsticks. She gave half of the dish to Si Li and said, "Miss, this smells good. Have this!"

The character information evaluation displayed by the system was quite pertinent. Si Li took a bite and quickly realized the obvious improvement that Mrs. Li's second-level seasoning and third-level knife skills brought to the dish.

The winter bamboo shoots absorbed enough fat from the small amount of shredded pork, adding a richer taste to the crispness. The dish obviously did not use much soy sauce or other seasonings, which further highlighted the freshness of the ingredients. The dried celery, which was cut almost as thick as the winter bamboo shoots, was mixed in. The aroma of dried beans, the unique crispy aroma of celery, and the delicious bamboo shoots were connected by a little fat, and every bite was a different experience.

Most of the winter bamboo shoots that Si Li had eaten needed to be flavored with spices such as chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns, and pork fat was used to stimulate the freshness of the winter bamboo shoots, and then dark soy sauce and sugar were used to color and season the dish, in order to make it not too bland. However, Li Niangzi's winter bamboo shoots were cooked in the opposite way. Not only was there no heavy oil or sauce, but the dish was fried to bring out the fresh and tender taste of spring.

The only drawback is that, perhaps due to the poor control of the heat, some of the bamboo shoots and dried tofu were a bit burnt, which was a bit disappointing.

Si Li smiled self-deprecatingly. She was a level-0 chef, but she was finding fault with the dishes cooked by a level-2 chef.

Xiao Que ate happily. After finishing the two bowls of rice that Si Li had estimated, he still felt it was not enough. He waited pitifully for Si Li to make another bowl of mashed potatoes to fill his stomach.

"I want the same one that Steward Wang ate before."

Si Li listened to the request, drank the last bit of winter melon soup sprinkled with dried shrimps, and pressed her brows, "Go and bring the lunch box back, and we can eat."

Xiao Que quickly washed the dishes and was about to leave when she turned back and blew out the fire starter. She said with a serious expression, "I'll light the fire for you, Miss, and then I'll leave."

Apparently, the kitchen incident that morning still had some impact on her. Si Li obediently accepted the arrangement and temporarily became a cook who only focused on cutting vegetables and seasoning.

Mrs. Li's character panel indirectly confirmed Si Li's previous guess that practicing knife skills could improve her cooking skills. After smoothly steaming a pot of mashed potatoes, Si Li took small bowls to season them separately. When Xiao Que came back from the kitchen, ten small bowls were already placed in a row next to the chopping board.

"Are all of them for me?" Xiao Que asked in surprise.

Si Li stopped adding soy sauce to the bowl in her hand, and after hearing the system announcement, she said with a smile, "This bowl is yours. After you finish eating, give the other bowls to Steward Wang, Madam Li, and Doctor Chen."

Besides Doctor Chen, there were only him and Yao Tong. The other two always had some close maids around them, so they would send gifts together to avoid being hated. Now it seemed that her situation had improved, but in fact it was only because she had no vested interests with these people and they were willing to maintain superficial peace with her. With no one to back her up and no strength to make others bow down, she had to maintain some of the unfounded close relationships to survive.

Xiao Que hurried forward to take the big bowl, scooped a spoonful, licked the spoon, and smiled, "I knew that the lady was good to me!"

Xiao Que was busy eating and running errands, and Si Li opened the doors one by one to check the small courtyard, which had been basically cleaned up. There were plum branches in the vase in the main room, and there were newly harvested osmanthus flowers in the corner for fumigation. The new bedding was no longer satin embroidery, but ordinary fine cotton quilt covers drying in the yard. You could feel the softness and warmth of cotton by touching it.

The bedding alone was much more satisfactory than before. At this time, Si Li felt a little bit of the decadent happiness of being a lady from a rich family. She didn't need to say anything more, as someone would arrange everything properly. After a few days of busy cooking practice, her nerves were slowly softened by the warm quilt, and she couldn't help but want to rest for a while.

The sun slowly moved away from the center. Xiao Que came back with a clay pot and saw Si Li leaning on a rattan chair with a quilt as her pillow. "Miss, do you want to sleep? Here is the soup that Madam Li asked me to bring!"

Doctor Chen walked in from another road, opened the lid of the earthenware jar and took a look. He was delighted. "Winter melon and duck, surprisingly good for the stomach. The roast duck I ordered today was not as exquisite as this. Food is good for nourishing people. Madam Li really cares about the young lady."

Si Li pretended not to hear the sourness in Doctor Chen's words, sat up and said with a smile, "Why is Doctor Chen here?"

Doctor Chen took Si Li's pulse and looked at her complexion. "I heard that something happened to the young lady this morning and she was frightened and upset, so I came to see if I should add a tranquilizer to the medicine today. Everything is fine now, but I was too worried."

Si Li brushed the matter off lightly, "But I made a joke out of nothing and made Mr. worried."

Doctor Chen smiled and stroked his beard, then stood up and said goodbye. Before leaving, he said, "Young lady is weak now, so you must not abstain from food and drink like you did in the past in the hope of losing weight. Madam Li is sincere, so you should drink more."

Qingyu came back from outside and heard Doctor Chen's instructions. Her face changed slightly and she couldn't help but look at Si Li. When she met Si Li's half-smiley eyes, her heart was beating like a drum. "Miss, do you have any instructions?"

Si Li knew she was guilty. It was Qingyu who first tricked the original owner into eating and drinking to become a fat boy, and then persuaded the original owner to lose weight by showing Si Tang's thin waist after the original owner entered the growth period. In less than two years, the original owner's healthy figure became puffy due to unscientific fasting and abstaining from oil. She entered a vicious cycle of wanting to lose weight but getting fatter and fatter, which made the original owner even more inferior and unwilling to go out.

Si Li was not interested in how many instructions Qing Yu received from Si Tang and her daughter. Seeing her pale face due to fear, she said casually, "You must be tired after working all morning. Have you eaten? If not, and the kitchen is not on, you will have to go to the kitchen to get some food."

"Thank you for your concern, Miss. I'll be on my way right away." Qingyu was driven out just after entering the courtyard. Behind her, Si Li and Xiao Que opened the earthenware jar and divided the duck soup. The aroma went straight into Qingyu's nose, but she didn't dare to take advantage of them as she did in the past, using the excuse that the young lady should eat less greasy food. Si Li, who always cared about the two maids, didn't stop her.

Only then did Qingyu realize that Si Li was slightly different after she woke up from the water. This change made her a little uneasy, as if the path she had been walking for many years had suddenly changed direction. However, Si Li would only stay in the manor, and she would also pursue her future. Qingyu suppressed her uneasiness. Whether Si Li really cared about her or was just pretending to be kind, it had nothing to do with her.

Drinking the warm soup, Si Li took a rare break from laziness. She heated up the clay pot of duck soup again and again and drank it until it got dark. Xiao Que came out after cleaning the inner room and called her to rest.

"Don't worry, I'll close the gate." Si Li put the bowl in the kitchen. Xiao Que lit the lantern and hung it on the eaves, and asked in surprise, "Aren't you waiting for Qing Yu?"

"She hasn't come back yet, obviously she has somewhere else to go." Si Li closed the door and took Xiao Que to wash up and get ready for bed.

Xiao Que had been sharing a bed with Si Li before, but after moving to the new courtyard, she had her own soft couch outside the main room. She tossed and turned several times in the quilt, but couldn't fall asleep for a long time.

Si Li heard the sound and squinted, "Can't sleep?"

Xiao Que said, "Yeah, I've never slept on such a big and soft bed! It's the right thing for me to follow the young lady. When I was at home, I didn't eat candied haws and fried tofu during the Chinese New Year. They were so delicious! But, I just miss my mother a little bit..."

Facing Xiao Que's unreserved flattery, Si Li always felt a little ashamed, "If you miss her, I'll give you a day off tomorrow so you can go home and take some money back so your family can rest assured."

Si Li was just wondering whether to ask this silly girl to leave some money for herself, when she heard Xiao Que say righteously, "Who will take care of Miss when I go back? Besides, my mother said that Miss is a noble lady, and I am lucky to be with her. Miss gave me money before, and when I save up a little silver, I will go back to buy Tanghulu for my mother with more luck."

What a foodie, he always wants to buy food when he goes home. Si Li smiled and said casually, "How about I open a stall like the fried tofu stall? You don't have to wait for you to save enough money, and you can take food home."

With the help of the system menu, her initial situation of being ignored in the farm has been greatly improved. With money, whether to go to the Guangji Temple Buddhist Conference that she had heard about before is a big question. To go to the Buddhist Conference, the goods in the stall must be prepared. Before leaving during the day, Si Li asked Li Niangzi for glutinous rice flour to prepare to learn pastry. She only hoped that the original owner's muscle memory would be stronger and save her trouble.

Xiao Que didn't show her support as before. She thought for a moment and said, "But, without a chef, what can we sell?"

Si Li was choked by this straightforward question. Isn't she a cook? Well, not really now.

Xiao Que thought about it and said, "If we can have Miss Meng's fried tofu, the candied haws we ate that day, and Miss's cold dishes and cakes, Miss's stall will definitely be very popular."

Not to mention the two one-star cakes that she hadn't learned yet, the two secret recipes of other people's food alone were not something Si Li could buy with money now. Si Li sighed, "One dream after another flew out of the skylight, go to bed early."

Xiao Que asked in confusion, "There's no skylight in this room?"

Si Li: "...Go to sleep."

However, facts have proved that it is important to have dreams. Si Li never imagined that Xiao Que's dream would not only come true one day, but also just two days after she spoke it out loud.