Chapter 70 Everyone's Thoughts Although Qi Shi had never seen that braised fish head dish before, ...
Although Madam Qi had never seen the braised fish head dish, she had heard of it. Upon hearing this, she readily agreed and said with a smile, "As expected of Madam Zhang, you guessed it right away!"
"It's actually a modified version of braised fish head?"
"I've heard of that dish, but this is the first time I've ever tried it."
"It's funny," the official's wife said to the person beside her, blushing. "I thought that nourishing fish soup was just braised fish head."
"Me too, that dish tasted really good."
"The cloud-like filling inside must be mandarin fish meat, right? It tastes so fresh and tender."
"And the tofu inside is so delicate, it's like raindrops!" The ladies at the table chimed in, their eyes filled with curiosity.
Qi felt relieved and laughed loudly, "I heard that you and Madam Zhang love braised fish head, so my husband specially taught the cook to make a modified version!"
Upon hearing this, Madam Zhang, being very polite, took another sip and found the fish soup delicious and silky smooth. She lowered her eyes to look at the tofu strands inside and sighed, "I've never seen tofu this fine as cow hair before."
Not only were the women in the flower hall surprised, but even the servants in the front hall, led by Master Peng, carefully picked up the tofu strips, comparing them to the silk threads.
"Wow!" Xu Lang exclaimed in amazement, clapping his hands and saying to Master Peng, "The cooks in your household are truly skilled; this is the first time I've ever seen tofu like this."
"If Master Xu likes it, that's good." Master Peng was overjoyed, and Steward Zheng beside him also looked pleased.
For a time, the host and guests chatted happily.
However, this matter had little to do with Su Zhihan. After finishing the dishes, she packed her things, paid for the banquet, and then left the Peng family mansion with Yao Lang and Uncle Chai to go home.
Jiang Zhenniang had been waiting at the door. When she saw the group return, she quickly put down her work and went up to ask, "How did you do today? Did the manor give you any reward money?"
"It's a banquet outside, not inside the mansion."
"We've already paid for the meal, why would we need any tips?" Su Zhihan quickly said a few words to avoid being overheard by the people around them, since they were outside.
Once inside the house, she took out the bill for the banquet that Master Peng's household had settled for her. After deducting the cost of the ingredients that had been reported in advance, he also gave her an additional 500 coins.
Jiang Zhenniang couldn't even keep up her smile. You see, when the mother and daughter learned that Yao Lang had helped find the catering job, they gave him a string of cash as a helper fee, and another string of cash to tell him to buy some gifts to thank the manager. In the end, the Peng family only gave him five hundred cash? It seems that doing the catering job has resulted in a loss of money?
"You're so stingy, only giving me five hundred coins?"
"It's still the wealthy man's mansion... They say his ancestors for three generations were all officials." Jiang Zhenniang couldn't help but complain to her daughter.
After the Peng family paid for the banquet, Yao Lang remained silent. He had accepted the money from the Jiang family mother and daughter, thinking they would surely earn more, but little did he know that the Peng family, despite their grand appearance, were actually so stingy.
Yao Lang was quite embarrassed, and upon hearing this, he was even more inclined to return the money to the mother and daughter. Su Zhihan saw through his thoughts and quickly stopped him: "How can you take back the money I gave you? Brother Yao, please don't listen to my mother's complaints. Next time there's a banquet to be prepared, I'll have to trouble you to tell me so I can practice my skills."
"Yao Lang, I was just venting my anger for a moment, I didn't mean to ask for your money." Jiang Zhenniang realized the problem with her words and apologized repeatedly. She also picked up a bag of braised food and stuffed it into Yao Lang's hands, asking him to inquire later if there was any place that needed someone to prepare a feast, and to come and tell them.
"It's also my fault for not asking carefully." Yao Lang had just felt a little resentful, but after hearing what Su Zhihan and Jiang Zhenniang said, he smiled again and took all the blame upon himself: "I just happened to run into this matter at the last minute. I thought you might want to take on some banquet work, so I asked for help."
"I don't know the rules."
"I only thought that someone as important as Master Peng would make three or five strings of cash at a banquet, but who knew..." Yao Lang hesitated, feeling very aggrieved.
Ultimately, this whole thing is the fault of the Peng family.
After seeing Yao Lang off, Su Zhihan finally had the chance to talk to Jiang Zhenniang: "Mother, we're not in the Marquis's mansion now. No other mansion is as wealthy as the Marquis's. They don't mind having several cooks in the house, and they don't think it's too much to make silk clothes for the whole mansion."
"Let me tell you about the servants in Master Peng's mansion..." Su Zhihan recounted to Jiang Zhenniang the scenes she had witnessed at Master Peng's mansion that day.
Although Jiang Zhenniang had experienced hardship, her life was different from that of ordinary people. When she left the Marquis's mansion with her parents, she had a lot of money and lived a comfortable life in the county, town, and village. It was only after her marriage and even after her parents passed away that her life became increasingly difficult.
After returning to the capital, Jiang Zhenniang entered a life of luxury again. Having become accustomed to the gold, silver, and silk in the Marquis's mansion, she quickly forgot about her hard days.
Once you leave the Marquis's residence, you can't look at other places with the same eyes you have there. Su Zhihan advised, "Let's say we were invited to be part of the banquet."
"Actually, the main dish was made by the people from Lüzao, and we only made cold dishes and soups."
Comparing the workload of the two, Su Zhihan felt that the money her family received was not small and was a normal price: "Besides, I've also heard that when the apprentices of those kitchen staff first started cooking for people, they would cook for them for free a few times without charging a penny."
Jiang Zhenniang thought about it and realized that her daughter was right. She couldn't help but feel a little annoyed: "Even after I leave the manor, I can't settle down. I'm always worried."
From the moment she started doing business, Jiang Zhenniang saw a group of minor officials every day. These people bowed and scraped before the high-ranking officials, but were arrogant and haughty in front of the various shops. It was quite unpleasant. And what about that Mr. Song who dared to set his sights on his daughter? Could he be the last one?
The capital is full of officials, but my family can only hold up the banner of an invisible figure.
Jiang Zhenniang felt uneasy and uncomfortable, which inevitably made her impatient. She patted her face with both hands to calm herself down: "That's right, we need to take it one step at a time, there's no rush."
"I'll have to apologize to Yao Lang again later. If what I just said gets out, it might upset Master Peng's family. They originally wanted to invite you again, but now they don't want to."
"That's right, that's right."
“Look how confused we are! Yao Lang even went to Master Peng’s mansion with you today to help out. We should give him some of the money we received.” Jiang Zhenniang calmed down and sorted things out. She then hurriedly went to talk to Yao Lang.
Before Yao Lang even stepped into the house, he ran into Jiang Zhenniang, who had come to speak to him. He had been hiding a little displeasure, but it all vanished after hearing Jiang Zhenniang's words. He argued with her for a while, but finally accepted fifty coins as a delivery fee.
Yao Lang carried the braised food into the house, then placed it and some money on the table. He then muttered to his wife, "Look at Madam Jiang and Madam Su, they know how to handle things. And look at that Master Song..."
"You're so stupid, you'd actually take his money."
"Look, you didn't get anything good, and you even offended others."
Because of this, Yao's wife was scolded by her husband several times. She was annoyed whenever she heard about it, and the smile on her face disappeared. She wanted to argue, but seeing that Yao had brought back a string of cash from the Jiang family earlier, and now he had brought back fifty coins plus a bag of braised food, she couldn't bring herself to say anything.
Ultimately, she was in the wrong.
In addition, Yao's wife had a change of heart and remembered that when she used the excuse to repay the money, that Mr. Song complained that she hadn't put in enough effort, and accepted the money without the slightest refusal, not to mention that other officials wanted to cancel their rent.
It's absolutely hilarious! How can someone be so stingy and shameless?
The more Yao's wife thought about it, the angrier she became. She first praised Yao Lang, and then complained about the matter: "...I'll have to spread this around and make Master Song lose face!"
Upon hearing this, Yao Lang's eyes widened: "Nonsense!"
He nearly broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly pulled his wife aside to talk to her. Originally, it was just a little trick of Mr. Song's, and he could at most get away with it by saying it was a mistake. But if she spread the word, the Jiang family mother and daughter and Mr. Song would be in a real awkward situation.
He went to great lengths to win over the Jiang family mother and daughter, persuading the officials to abandon their idea of checking out. However, he didn't want to offend the official Song again, since even the lowest-ranking official was still more powerful than ordinary people like them!
"Then let's just leave it at that..."
“It’s not possible now.” Yao Lang also looked down on Master Song, but he was unwilling to offend him now: “Especially in this matter, it’s not possible.”
Fearing that his wife was still thinking about Master Song, Yao Lang quickly changed the subject and talked about Su Zhihan's skills: "Let me tell you, Madam Su is probably from a noble family. Her skills are so good that even the madams in Master Peng's mansion are dumbfounded."
"……real?"
"Of course it's true, would I lie to you?" Yao Lang perked up immediately upon hearing this: "You didn't go with them, so you don't know what the Peng family mansion is like."
While picking up a chicken foot and gnawing on it, Yao's wife urged Yao Lang to tell her the story.
"That dish smells so good..."
"The last time we ate at the restaurant, it didn't smell as good."
"The wine-stewed pears were so beautifully colored, they looked like a real flower when they were placed together." Yao Lang even tasted a few scraps, and the wonderful flavor with its faint aroma of wine and fruit made his mouth water just thinking about it.
"And the osmanthus-flavored lotus root."
"The lotus root is slightly crisp when you bite into it, and then it becomes soft and glutinous. The glutinous rice absorbs the fragrance of the lotus root and the sweetness of the sugar. It is soft, sticky, sweet but not greasy. Every bite is full of fragrance."
"And the way the tofu was cut was so exquisite, it was impossible to look away." Seeing that his wife was about to object, Yao Lang then mentioned the reaction of the people in Master Peng's mansion: "That Granny Pang covered her mouth and dared not make a sound, for fear of disturbing Madam Su's cooking."
"And that Manager Zheng, he always looks at us with a sidelong glance, but look at the way he's all smiles today..."
Hearing her husband's words, Yao's wife considered the background of the Jiang mother and daughter, and how generous they were, not the stingy type, and couldn't help but be tempted: "You said..."
"Um?"
"The person has just started out and doesn't have any connections yet, so this is the perfect time for us to get close."
Yao Lang was puzzled: "Yes."
Yao's wife glanced at her husband, touched her belly, and slowly offered her suggestion: "I'm thinking that relying solely on rent income isn't a long-term solution for our family. The income fluctuates, it's really unstable. When we have children in the future, we'll need to save for their education and dowries..."
“Didn’t you say before… wait a minute?” Yao Lang replied casually. But halfway through his sentence, he caught a glimpse of his wife’s actions out of the corner of his eye.
In an instant, as if struck by lightning, he hurriedly reached out and gently placed his hand on his wife's hand, his voice trembling slightly: "You, you, you could not possibly be—"
Yao's wife nodded at him.
Yao Lang immediately beamed with joy, his smile almost reaching his ears. His hands instinctively wrapped around his wife, as if he wanted to lift her up in his arms.
But as soon as he used his hands, Yao Lang suddenly came to his senses, fearing that his rash actions might harm his wife's pregnancy. He quickly steadied himself and helped his wife sit up.
Immediately afterwards, he paced back and forth in the room, muttering to himself, "Yes, yes, yes, we really need to save money, we should save money! Don't worry, I'll go out and find a job tomorrow, and I'll definitely make sure you and the child..."
"What kind of job are you looking for?" Yao's wife, quick-witted and agile, grabbed Yao Lang, who was pacing around in circles, and gestured towards the food on the table: "Look, we have a ready-made job right in front of us."
"You mean you want to work as a shop assistant at Jiang's shop?"
"Who taught you to work as a shop assistant!" Yao's wife was both amused and annoyed, and she tugged at Yao Lang forcefully: "I mean, why don't you go and help Madam Su find a way to organize the banquet?"
"Huh?" Yao Lang was taken aback, a hint of embarrassment flashing across his face. This job was something he had painstakingly arranged to get in touch with Steward Zheng in order to apologize to his wife.
To thank them for their help, he even used the money given to him by the Jiang family to treat them to drinks.
"This job... is easier said than done."
“I heard from Madam Jiang that she had gone to the matchmaking industry to find a matchmaker. But all the matchmakers who specialize in introducing banquets thought that Han Jie was too young and had no reputation, so they were all unwilling to help introduce her.”
"Wasn't there a broker at the banquet last time?"
"The last time, that broker didn't do this kind of thing, so he had no connections. That's why the Jiang family opened a shop, hoping to find an opportunity." Yao's wife loved to inquire about local gossip. In the past, when she was on good terms with the Jiang family, she often chatted with them in the shop and knew quite a bit about these things.
"You said Han Jie'er has such good cooking skills."
"If you can get into the industry by using Sister Han's skills, and Sister Han becomes famous in the future, you can also become famous and have connections. Maybe you can even become a master dentist."
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