Chapter 66 Ham Su Zhihan returned to the front kitchen and picked up another piece...
Su Zhihan returned to the front kitchen and picked up a piece of good meat, handing it to Cui Jie'er: "Quickly wipe away your tears. Today is your old lady's birthday banquet. It's not good luck to be crying."
Upon hearing this, Cui Jie'er seemed to be frozen in place, wiping away her tears with her sleeve. She timidly glanced at the piece of good meat, but dared not take it, only gently shaking her head: "Thank you, Madam Su. I am so grateful for your help earlier, otherwise I would not know what to do."
"It's no big deal, and it's not your fault." Su Zhihan didn't take it to heart. With a slight smile, she gently persuaded Cui Jie'er to take the meat.
Her speaking up for Cui'er today was merely a reminder of her own early days in the Marquis's mansion. Back then, she and her mother endured no shortage of scorn and mistreatment, so she knew all too well the hardships and suffering these young maids endured in the household.
Cui Jie secretly raised her eyes and cautiously glanced at Su Zhihan before reaching out to take the meat.
She held the meat in both hands as if it were a rare treasure, and took a small, gentle bite.
In an instant, the savory and delicious flavors burst on her tongue. The meat was rich and flavorful, more delicious than anything she had ever eaten before. The wonderful taste was like a gentle breeze, instantly dispelling all the grievances she had just felt: "So delicious!"
"Right?" Seeing that she had relaxed, Su Zhihan gestured for her to sit on the bench beside her and started chatting casually. Before long, she learned about Cui Jie'er's background and that the banquet at Master Peng's mansion was not for the sake of the banquet itself. It was said to be a birthday celebration for the old lady, but in reality, it was a banquet to entertain distant relatives of the Peng family.
After about the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, footsteps were heard outside. It turned out that the person delivering the mandarin fish had arrived.
Uncle Chai stepped out of the room and saw two people hurrying up to greet him. One of them was a servant sent by Lu Zao Ren, and the other was a servant from Master Peng's mansion.
"Uncle, the fish has been delivered to you. We have to go back and get busy, so we'll take our leave now." The servant of Lu Zao's family said as he lifted his foot to walk towards the kitchen in the inner room.
"Wait a minute." Uncle Chai, seeing their urgency, became suspicious. He called out to the two of them, then strode forward to the earthenware jar containing the fish. He opened the lid and looked inside, immediately becoming furious. His voice rose several decibels: "Why are these mandarin fish so small?!"
"Uncle, I'm so sorry, it's getting late... We searched the whole market and went to great lengths to find these. Most of the fishmongers have already packed up and left, and there are no big fresh fish to be found in the market." The servant avoided eye contact with Uncle Chai, secretly lamenting his predicament.
As a servant in Lu Zao's household, he naturally knew that these small mandarin fish were thin and their scales were dull, far inferior to the large, plump mandarin fish that were originally kept in Peng Yuanwai's mansion.
But it was indeed getting late, and most of the vendors at the fish market had already packed up and gone home. The few remaining stalls didn't have any large mandarin fish of good quality, and even the small ones were almost gone. The jar of mandarin fish in front of them was something the two of them had managed to find after running around and searching for a long time.
“Uncle, that’s exactly right.” A servant from Master Peng’s mansion chimed in.
Uncle Chai looked disgusted, his brows furrowed into a deep frown: "You make it sound so easy. What can such a small mandarin fish do?"
Uncle Chai often helped Su Zhihan with her cooking, so he knew that his wife was preparing to make fish soup this time.
The mandarin fish must have its head and tail removed, steamed until cooked, and then carefully skinned and deboned. Only the tenderest part of the fish meat is used, cut into thin strips for soup, while the rest is used to make the base broth.
Since mandarin fish needs to be steamed before boiling, it's best to choose a fish that weighs around two pounds. If it's too big, the flesh will easily become tough and the texture will be coarse; if it's too small, the flesh will be too tender and lack chewiness.
"Go and get two more larger mandarin fish," Uncle Chai ordered bluntly.
"Uncle, I really can't buy any more..." The servant looked distressed and helpless, his feet seemingly nailed to the ground, unable to move. "Why don't you go in and ask Madam Su if we can make do with this fish?"
"You..." Uncle Chai was about to explode when Su Zhihan interrupted him, "Uncle Chai, what are you saying?"
Hearing the commotion outside, Su Zhihan stopped chatting with Cui Jie'er, got up, walked to the door, and beckoned Uncle Chai to come in and talk.
"You wait here, I'll go ask my wife." Uncle Chai glared at the servant, his face dark, and walked in carrying the few small fish, presenting them to Su Zhihan: "Young lady, look at these, what can you do with such small fish? After removing the heads and tails, how much meat is left? How can we make fish soup with this?"
Uncle Chai glanced outside, feeling indignant. Before coming to the Jiang family, he had worked in a shop in the city and was very skilled at all kinds of things.
“I just checked, and most of the people inside are servants from Master Peng’s mansion.” He had observed the room from outside during the earlier argument.
Despite the bustling activity and impressive appearance of the inner kitchen, most of the people inside were servants from Master Peng's mansion. Lu Zaoren himself only brought two apprentices and two lowly servants.
In the capital, the most famous cooks were always accompanied by five or six apprentices, plus more than ten servants. They moved about with great fanfare and prestige.
Someone as stingy as Lü Zaoren, I wonder where Master Peng found him from.
Uncle Chai grew angrier the more he thought about it, and couldn't help but share his guess with Su Zhihan: "Could it be that the Lu family thinks it's too expensive and is unwilling to buy the big mandarin fish?"
Su Zhihan glanced outside and shook her head: "Today is the birthday banquet of the old lady of the Peng family, and the servants of his family are also watching. I guess they can't fake it. They probably really can't buy big mandarin fish."
"This... my wife, are we just going to let this go like this?" Uncle Chai asked again, unwilling to give up.
"That won't do either." Su Zhihan frowned. She had already let Lu Zaoren go once. If she let him go so easily again, wouldn't people look down on her and think she was a pushover?
After a moment's thought, she leaned closer to Uncle Chai and whispered a few words in his ear. Then she instructed Uncle Chai to take the small mandarin fish and lead two servants to find Lu Zao Ren.
"Your daughter wants a whole fish head?" Upon hearing this, Lü Zaoren's eyes widened in surprise, and his brows furrowed instantly. "No, no, the fish heads here are all ordered according to the banquet price. How can I just give them away like that?"
Uncle Chai didn't say anything, but turned to let Lu Zaoren see the few pitifully small mandarin fish.
Seeing his sudden change in expression, Uncle Chai finally spoke up: "Mr. Lü, you just saw my wife. She is kind-hearted and, thinking that today is the old lady's birthday banquet, she doesn't want to argue with you. She just wants everyone to work together to get this job done smoothly."
Upon hearing this, Lu Zaoren tightened his grip slightly on his side. He was originally from another town, but his family moved to the capital last year due to a snow disaster.
Although he was somewhat well-known in his hometown, once he entered the capital, that past fame became a handle used against him by people who saw him as a country bumpkin.
Having lost all his connections, Lü Zaoren could only cook for ordinary neighbors. This opportunity to cook at Master Peng's house was a rare one.
Therefore, Lu Zaoren did not want to make a big fuss, especially since he was indeed in the wrong. After a moment's thought, he softened his tone and discussed with Uncle Chai, "It's not that I'm unwilling to give it, but this fish head dish was specially ordered by Master Peng. Every table must have a whole fish head, and I really can't explain myself if there's one missing."
"Then what about my wife's cooking?" Uncle Chai persisted, asking.
“This…” Lu Zaoren racked his brains, thinking it over and over. He originally wanted to give Uncle Chai some money to settle the matter, but then felt it was inappropriate. In the end, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and try to find out: “Why don’t you ask your wife if you can use other ingredients instead? I have dried scallops, abalone, sea cucumbers and dried mushrooms all here.”
These were all precious ingredients that Lü Zaoren had carefully hoarded, hoping to show off his skills and make a name for himself at this banquet. That's why he specially selected them, and some of them weren't even included in the cost.
Upon hearing this, Uncle Chai pretended to go back and ask Su Zhihan, but soon returned to report: "My wife said that those things are too valuable, so just take a whole ham."
Upon hearing this, Lu Zaoren hurriedly said, "...The ham is cheap, why not give the girl the abalone instead?"
Uncle Chai just shook his head repeatedly, insisting on following Su Zhihan's request for ham only.
Lu Zaoren remained silent for a moment, but finally ordered someone to bring the ham to Uncle Chai.
As soon as Uncle Chai left, the apprentice next to him couldn't help but complain: "Master, didn't you say that ham was a precious ingredient bestowed by a noble person? How could you give it to that little girl so easily?"
"Isn't this all your doing?" Lu Zaoren glared at his apprentice, annoyed. "Never mind."
"No matter how expensive something is, if it falls into the hands of someone who doesn't know any better, it's no different from an ordinary piece of salted meat." Lu Zaoren said this with a pained expression, and could only tell his two apprentices to do their best when cooking later.
He heard from the steward of Master Peng's mansion that Master Peng had also invited several officials. If he could catch the eye of these officials at this banquet, then losing these few hams would be worthwhile.
Despite what Lü Zaoren thought, he couldn't help but feel heartbroken.
On the other side, Uncle Chai carried the ham back into the house and handed it to Su Zhihan: "Wife, they only got one piece of ham, it's too cheap for them."
Even Yao Lang nodded in agreement, thinking that they should ask Lu Zaoren for three or five strings of silver as compensation.
Even if it's free, we should still take a few of those abalone, scallops, and other ingredients to make him bleed a lot, so he'll learn his lesson.
“Hmm…” Su Zhihan did not respond to Uncle Chai’s words, but instead reached out and carefully picked up the ham.
She first leaned closer to smell the rich aroma of the ham, then picked up a knife, cut off a thin slice, put it in her mouth, slowly closed her eyes, and savored the taste of the ham.
In less than three breaths, Su Zhihan suddenly opened her eyes, her eyes filled with surprise and excitement: "Just as I thought!"
Uncle Chai was startled: "Wife?"
Su Zhihan's brows relaxed, and she carefully cut off a small piece of ham, intending to use it in the soup later. Then she said to Uncle Chai, "None of those things can compare to this piece of ham."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Regular updates will resume tomorrow. I'm really exhausted from being out and about these past two days TT
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
