"Grandfather said whichever dish is the best wins!"
"The bet... the loser kneels and bows to the winner!"
"Of course it's not just you; there's someone else who called you here!"
Tian Sangui wondered to himself, "Does this person have a particular fondness for kneeling?"
Otherwise, why would they always make people kneel?
"Tch, what's the point of kneeling? It's boring!"
From what he said, Tian Sangui didn't want to get involved.
That won't do. She's waiting for Shen Li to embarrass herself and kneel down in front of her in public.
"I'll add another five hundred taels!"
Five hundred taels! That's tempting. With these five hundred taels, I can pay off the remaining balance at the restaurant on my way home tomorrow.
However, she wasn't very confident in Old Master Shen and didn't dare to take the risk with Shen Li.
"If you're scared, then admit defeat in advance. Only then can you kneel before me in front of the servants, and I will be magnanimous and not hold it against you."
Tian Sangui never expected that this young woman would be so narrow-minded, blocking her way out in advance, leaving her with no way to retreat even if she didn't want to participate.
Tian Sangui was already furious, but for Shen Li's sake, she gritted her teeth and tried her best to suppress the urge to argue with her.
"Let's gamble, go along with her!"
Just as Tian Sangui was at his wit's end, a soft voice came from the round flower gate.
As everyone looked up, a woman in a light pink gauze dress and silver brocade shoes gracefully approached.
The white pearl hairpin swayed gently over her shoulders, exuding an air of elegance and nobility.
Compared to Shen Xing'er, one is a noble lady from a wealthy family, while the other is a show-off from a small family trying to compete for attention.
Shen Xing'er's heavily made-up face instantly turned gloomy and long when she saw Shen Li appear.
Shen Li didn't even glance at her, and went straight to Tian Sangui.
"You, you never know how to fight back when others bully you. With me here, what are you afraid of? Even if the sky falls, I can hold it up for you!"
She knew perfectly well that Tian Sangui was afraid of implicating her; these words were merely a pretext used to speak to others.
Shen Xing'er immediately jumped up: "Great! As expected of the eldest daughter of the Shen family, you speak so frankly."
"In that case, let's stick to the old rules: whoever loses kneels down!"
"There are still five hundred taels left. Don't even think about denying it!"
Shen Li reminded Shen Xing'er.
It seems that their relationship has become so strained that they no longer want to call each other by name.
Tian Sangui was certainly not foolish enough to think that she could salvage their relationship on her own.
She's always too lazy to speak or even lift a finger when it doesn't concern her.
"Since Sister Li has agreed, let's do as she says!"
Seeing that they had all agreed, Shen Xing'er couldn't hide her joy of victory and hurriedly pushed the chef she had bought at a high price from the capital into the kitchen.
"Grandfather will need to eat after he finishes his medicine. He doesn't have much time, so please hurry and prepare!"
After saying that, she turned and left the kitchen, then skipped happily out of the round flower gate.
It was as if victory was in sight.
Shen Li glanced at Shen Xing'er as she left: "She's been like that since birth, always trying to outdo everyone and win every battle."
Turning back to Tian Sangui, she said, "Ignore her, just focus on cooking. I'll take responsibility for whatever happens!"
"Okay, I'll try my best not to embarrass Sister Li!"
"Um!"
Shen Li took out a handkerchief to wipe the fine sweat from Tian Sangui's forehead, and then waved to the maid behind her.
He handed the basket to Tian Sangui: "Grandma gave me these big white peaches, I'll try one, they're so sweet."
I saved one for you; it also contains plum blossom cake and osmanthus sugar. I was worried you might be hungry, so I gave it to you to tide you over!
As he spoke, he glanced at the jujube tree in the yard, but quickly looked away as soon as he touched the gray hem of the garment.
"I don't know if your brother likes to drink, so I brought some peach blossom wine to cheer him up!"
"You...give it to him!"
Shen Li shoved the basket into Tian Sangui's hands, then turned and ran off with her maid.
As she left, her face was noticeably flushed, leaving Tian Sangui bewildered.
What's wrong with everyone? They've all started acting strangely...
Cooking was the priority, so Tian Sangui took out two pieces of pastry and a piece of candy from the basket and stuffed them into his mouth.
Then he came to the courtyard and called out to the tree, "Second Brother, Miss Shen has brought you some food, and there's also wine inside. Would you like to try some?"
Before he could finish speaking, upon hearing the words "Miss Shen," Tian Er immediately jumped down from the tree and hurriedly took the basket.
"Wow, it smells so good, Miss Shen is so thoughtful."
"I only remember Miss Shen, humph!"
She realized that her second brother had taken Miss Shen into his heart, and even she, his younger sister, had been moved out.
"Hehe, little sister, don't say that. I'll save this big white peach for you, you can eat it when you're done with your work."
"That's more like it. Leave some candy for the fourth and fifth kids. I'm going to get busy!"
The soup in the pot is ready to be served. Next, steam the river shrimp. Once the water boils, steam for eight minutes and then remove them!
She felt that people recovering from illness crave sweetness, so she quietly took out the ingredients she had put in Fei Wangwang's warehouse the night before.
Fei Wangwang is very thoughtful; it prepared small bamboo tubes so that you can put some powdered ingredients inside without attracting attention.
The other slightly larger items were bamboo baskets placed at the foot of the stove, which went unnoticed by the busy servants coming and going.
Take out the frozen milk sticks. Here, soy milk powder is used. Considering that the elderly may be reluctant to drink yogurt, I searched for frozen soy milk sticks to be on the safe side.
That's right, this led to another unpleasant argument with Fei Wangwang.
It saves time and effort but costs money. Coat the ingredients with cornstarch and breadcrumbs, then deep-fry them in hot oil until golden brown.
To make it taste better, change the oil and fry it again until crispy. This way, you can make fried yogurt without it being sour.
The rich aroma of milk attracted busy people to gather around and see what she was doing, including her competitors.
Until three layers of small gold bars are piled up on the white porcelain plate, the crisp sound of them makes you know they taste delicious.
Although they didn't know what it was, the servants dared not ask Tian Sangui because of Shen Li's authority. They all licked their lips and kept looking back as they worked.
After a while, the old woman who had called for the food came to the kitchen courtyard again with the maids who were serving the dishes.
"Is the food for the master ready?"
The head maidservant hurriedly bowed and smiled, "Alright, all done. As instructed by the Third Miss, we have prepared two recipes for the Old Master."
"Yes, the eldest young lady has given me instructions. Alright, you two go get the dishes she ordered, and you two go get the third young lady's dishes. Be careful not to break them!"
"yes!"
Afterwards, two maids, with graceful steps, entered the kitchen, each carrying a plate, and left without stopping.
The table, which was originally covered with plates of food, was emptied by them in no time.
Watching their departing figures, Tian Sangui felt a pang of doubt about his own skills.
If we're talking about healthy elderly people, her cooking is guaranteed to be excellent.
Forget it, I won't think about it anymore. Shen Li will take responsibility for the outcome. I think that for the sake of the Imperial Concubine, I will definitely not let Shen Li look bad.
"Miss Tian!"
Someone called her name, and when she turned around, she saw it was the chef that Shen Xing'er had hired.
"Is something the matter?"
"Hehe, your cooking smells amazing! Can I become your apprentice?"
What?
She couldn't possibly accept such a senior apprentice.
He shook his head vigorously: "No, no, you are the elder, how can an elder take a junior as his teacher? Wouldn't that be chaos?"
"Hey, who cares about those things? Let me be frank with you, even if Master Shen didn't give the dishes I made a second glance, you're guaranteed to win!"
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