Chapter 175 Tool
Lying down is out of the question. Sheng An accepted the house given to him by Ning Sihan, but couldn't think of anything to do with it for the time being, so he could only leave the house empty for now.
Knowing that their granddaughter had acquired another large house, Grandpa Sheng and Grandma Sheng seemed used to it. They simply gave a casual compliment and then went about their own business.
Sheng An complained to Xu Jinnian in a very Versailles-like manner: "With more houses, my grandparents have lost interest and don't praise me like they used to. This makes me feel very unaccomplished."
Xu Jinnian was amused by her seemingly complaining but actually boastful manner, and sighed with feigned disappointment: "An'an is getting more and more amazing. Now I have to rely on An'an to support me. Will An'an think I'm useless?"
Sheng An glanced at the man twice, not missing the smile in his eyes, and couldn't help but want to tease him.
She winked at Xu Jinnian, deliberately putting on a lewd expression, and caressed his chest with one hand: "What do you think?"
Sheng An's affected and pretentious behavior is just like that of a greasy man harassing a young wife on the street.
Xu Jinnian silently covered her eyes, her silent response deafening.
Sheng An: "..."
It seems like they overdid it.
Sheng An had no idea about her acting skills. Seeing Xu Jinnian's lack of respect, she defiantly pried his hand away and shoved her face in front of his eyes: "What do you mean? Am I that offensive?"
"Cough, no, An'an, don't overthink it."
Xu Jinnian suppressed his lips and vehemently denied it. In order to convince his angry wife, he gazed into her eyes and spoke with exceptional gentleness: "I love An'an no matter what she looks like."
Sheng An didn't believe men's nonsense and lost the will to tease him. She patted the books spread out on the desk:
"Study hard and try to participate in the next spring imperial examination. I promised Ning Sihan that I would go to the capital to find him, so don't make me break my promise."
Xu Jinnian: "..."
Suddenly I feel like I'm just a tool.
After a refreshing autumn rain, the weather suddenly became cool, and there was no need to use a fan to sleep at night.
Sheng An felt he was doing well again, and he spent more time in the kitchen every day, starting to research medicinal cuisine using the most common medicinal herbs in the medicine collection.
She added a few warming herbs to cook a pot of tea eggs and warmly invited the four treasures and Shuqi to try them.
Looking at the unevenly distributed egg white in her hand—black with hints of blue, blue with tinges of pink, and pink with hints of yellow—Baoxiu swallowed hard and asked cautiously, "Master, have you tasted it?"
Sheng An blinked and shook her head honestly: "I dare not."
Everyone: "..."
So, the master was using them as rats to test the poison?
Everyone swallowed hard as they looked at the strangely colored tea eggs, and after exchanging glances, they saw a look of grim determination in each other's eyes.
Eat up, eat up. These herbs aren't poisonous. They might look a little strange, and taste a little strange, but they won't kill you.
After mentally preparing themselves, everyone gritted their teeth, closed their eyes, and gently took a small bite of the tea egg.
Hmm, it's salty and savory with a faint medicinal aroma, doesn't seem too bad?
Unsure? I'll try it again.
Everyone opened their eyes in surprise and took a big bite to savor it slowly.
Hey, it's really not bad!
Baoxiu's eyes sparkled. She ate the herbal tea egg in a few bites, and before she could even swallow it, she said to Sheng'an, "Master, the tea egg is very fragrant. You should try it yourself."
After saying that, she picked up a tea egg, peeled off the shell, and offered it to Sheng An to taste.
Sheng An glanced at the others with some unease, and seeing that they were all eating with gusto, she was certain that this pot of herbal tea eggs wasn't some kind of culinary disaster. She then took an egg and took a bite.
Sheng An was somewhat disappointed after trying it.
The taste is passable, but only passable; it doesn't make the original flavor of the tea egg any more delicious.
This is pretty useless.
Baoxiu saw through her mistress's thoughts and tried to comfort her, saying, "Master, your purpose in researching medicinal cuisine is to give food health benefits, not to make it taste better."
Moreover, anything related to medicine is unlikely to taste good. This pot of herbal tea eggs doesn't have any other strange flavors, which is already quite remarkable.
If the master is a little more ruthless, he might sell each herbal tea egg for a high price of one or two taels of silver under the guise of prolonging life.
As I always say, as long as it doesn't kill you, it's a good thing!
"You're right, it's lucrative!"
Sheng An patted Bao Xiu on the shoulder with satisfaction. This child is teachable; her ability to deceive people is almost catching up with hers.
She managed to make herbal tea eggs with a bit of success, but then she took some time to try other herbal combinations. After half a month, she finally found the secret recipe that maximized both the deliciousness and health benefits of tea eggs.
As for its actual effectiveness, this is a long-term process of practice and cannot be guaranteed in a short period of time.
Anyway, in Baoxiu's words, herbal tea eggs won't kill anyone, so just brag about them as much as you want. People who have money will definitely buy them and eat them.
However, Shengyuan's business is doing very well, with daily turnover never falling below a hundred taels. Sheng'an has no intention of selling herbal tea eggs; he has only written down the recipe.
She then continued her research on medicinal cuisine, this time starting with herbal porridge.
Perhaps due to her superb culinary skills, Sheng An's experiments rarely went wrong, and the dishes she made were never too bad.
The biggest mishap was that the herbs used were too cold in nature, causing all four babies to have diarrhea after taking them, and one baby, who was menstruating, even ran away from home after taking them.
Fortunately, after seeing a doctor, it wasn't serious, and I'll be fine after some rest.
This minor mishap made Sheng An even more cautious about medicinal cuisine. She was very careful in her experiments, and even if she thought the experiment was successful, she would not serve the finished product to her guests.
Ding Tianci, having heard from someone that she was making medicinal cuisine, eagerly came to Shengyuan to ask to try it.
Compared to his skeletal appearance last year, Ding Tianci has now fully recovered and is about 1.7 meters tall with a weight of 150 pounds. He is practically a different person.
Ding Tianci was a regular at Shengyuan Restaurant. He would either come to eat there by himself or freeload off his friends. He would come at least seven or eight times a month.
Seeing that he seemed to have gained weight since the last time they met, Sheng An gently reminded him, "Eating smaller meals more frequently and exercising regularly is good for your health."
Ding Tianci knew she meant well, and patted the fat on his stomach helplessly, saying, "My family has been full of fat people for generations. To exaggerate, you can gain weight just by drinking water."
He didn't want to get as fat as a pig, but after his bulimia disappeared, his weight started to get out of control. It's already the result of his efforts that he didn't grow up to be like his grandfather.
Hearing Ding Tianci say this, Sheng An also thought of the Ding family's tendency to gain weight easily, which was a genetic issue that was indeed difficult to change.
Medicinal cuisine cannot be eaten indiscriminately, so Ding Tianci was destined not to be able to eat it. He could only sigh and groan while eating the light, weight-loss meals prepared by Sheng An.
After finishing his meal, he wiped his mouth and washed his hands, then blushed and handed Sheng An a bright red wedding invitation: "Madam Sheng, the 20th of next month is my engagement day. You and the scholar must come and have a drink at our wedding."
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