Chapter 13 Li Yang also has a knack for dealing with people.
So, it was Chen Junbo who brought the accounts to his mother-in-law early this morning?
Is he trying to clear his name?
Thinking this, Li Yang was deeply moved.
Yesterday, after she finished writing down the accounts, she put them under the tea tray and ran away. He must have gone back into the room, seen the accounts, and realized where the money came from…
Thinking of this, Li Yang's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly checked the account pages in his hand.
Thank goodness, those two turtles were taken away!
She dared not imagine what her mother-in-law's expression would be if she saw those two turtles.
Then she remembered Chen Junbo waiting for her at the stairwell last night. Although they didn't exactly argue, they still parted on bad terms. Yet he did this again today...
With her mind in a jumble, Li Yang returned to Lanxin Pavilion and sat down on a stool in the main room, feeling completely disoriented. Suddenly, the righteous words spoken the night before echoed in her ears, and Li Yang felt her face burning, her hands unconsciously touching her cheeks.
Drinking leads to trouble! Listen to what nonsense you were spouting yesterday!
She has never liked owing others anything, but now that Chen Junbo has helped her one after another, and she has been rude to him, she immediately felt a little guilty and uneasy.
In the blink of an eye, she had an idea. She hurried along and finally arrived at the central kitchen in the evening.
"Young Madam, I'm so sorry you're late today." Chef Wang looked at the stove with slight regret.
He had just sealed the stove, using only the residual heat to heat water for the host's use in the evening.
Unfortunately, the young mistress came to use the stove, which meant starting a fire again, and all that hot water in the large pot had to be transferred to a bucket and then poured back into the pot. Since the kitchen helpers had all left, he didn't have time for that.
"It's alright, Chef Wang, you go ahead with your work, I can start the fire myself." Li Yang smiled and, with his armbands strapped on, went to start the fire.
"Young Madam, aren't you putting me in a difficult position? It's the rule in this household that once the fire is extinguished, it can't be turned on again. If we break the rules and the Madam finds out, we servants won't be able to argue with her." Chef Wang stepped forward to stop him, his face displeased.
The Chen family did indeed have this rule, mainly to prevent fires in the kitchen. However, this rule was set for the servants. If the master wanted to have a late-night snack, the stove had to be lit no matter what time it was.
This Chef Wang clearly looks down on the young mistress, and that's why he's making up this excuse.
He was in charge of the kitchen in the Chen residence. Not to mention the master of the house, even respected old servants like Granny Sun would often make demands regarding the meals. If the young mistress were someone respected, how could she not have ordered any dishes even once in the past few months?
Normally, he'll eat whatever I give him, so why is he suddenly in the kitchen messing around with me today?
Seeing him blocking the stove, Li Yang wasn't angry. He took out a tael of silver from his waist and stuffed it into the other man's hand. "Chef Wang, please pretend you haven't seen me today. You see, I brought my own ingredients. I'm just borrowing your stove for a bit. I'll put everything back in its place when I leave. I won't cause you any trouble. Thank you for your help."
Whether it was because Li Yang was sweet-talking and soft-hearted, or because he felt obligated to accept her gifts, Chef Wang's expression changed, and he muttered to himself, "Oh dear, young madam, you're really putting me in a difficult position. Oh well, never mind, just use it as you see fit, but be careful with the fire." Only then did he withdraw his foot from the stove.
Tonight, Mrs. Chen ordered a dish of steamed lion's head meatballs, which were made by mixing mashed yam with minced meat and shaping them into small, egg-sized pieces.
This is a real gem! It's fresh, fragrant, tender, and juicy; every bite is bursting with flavorful broth.
As usual, he kept two large ones for himself. They had just cooled down, so he ate one and took one home for his son to try.
Seeing that Li Yang's movements were skillful and that he really knew how to start a fire, he felt relieved, picked up his bowl, and left the kitchen.
She was all alone in the empty surroundings.
Li Yang boiled water while kneading and slapping the dough.
That's a tael of silver!
Upon entering the Chen family's residence, they didn't take a single coin; in fact, they even had to pay an extra tael of silver!
The dough was slammed and thumped on the work surface.
When Chen Junbo returned home, a head peeked out from the study doorway. He didn't say anything, but continued looking at the salt accounts, a slight smile playing at the corners of his eyes.
A moment later, the person at the door lost patience, carried the tray inside, and walked towards the table. Standing before the person, Chen Junbo couldn't ignore him. He put down his writing brush and looked at the newcomer, feigning ignorance, "What is it?"
Li Yang placed the tray on the desk, his gaze fixed on the plate. Inside was a steaming bowl of wontons, served with seaweed, dried shrimp, egg crepe, and chopped scallions, drizzled with sesame oil and vinegar. The steam released the aroma of scallions, mingling with the fragrance of oil and vinegar, filling the entire room with the aroma of wontons.
Chen Junbo raised an eyebrow and looked at Li Yang.
Seeing his reaction, Li Yang had no choice but to bow and push the tray forward, then straighten up abruptly. "Thank you for this." She pursed her lips and continued softly, "This morning when I paid my respects, my mother-in-law returned the shop's accounts to me." She glanced at his expression, pointed a finger at the wontons, and said, "Thank you for helping me clarify things."
Hearing her say that, Chen Junbo lowered his eyes to look at the food on the table and nodded slightly.
Seeing that he meant to accept it, Li Yang was delighted. "Try it quickly and see if it's good. It won't taste good when it gets cold."
The other person just nodded without saying anything. Hesitantly, she tried to say goodbye, "Well... you can eat it while it's hot, I'll go out now?"
After turning around and taking two steps, I heard the person behind me say, "It tastes good."
The footsteps were stopped by the man's voice. In the blink of an eye, Li Yang turned around and sat down opposite him, smiling as he said, "I specially went to fetch some mountain delicacies to make these wontons. You can't find this filling anywhere else."
Chen Junbo finished eating a wonton, holding his sleeves up. He looked up and saw the young woman opposite him looking smug and boastful, and he chuckled inwardly.
Seeing her rubbing her arms alternately with both hands, I asked, "What's wrong with your arms?"
Li Yang switched to making a fist and tapping his arm back and forth, his tone nonchalant, "It's nothing, maybe it's been too long since I set up my stall. But, your place is so big, it's the first time I've ever known that it takes this long to carry vegetables from the kitchen. I'll get used to it next time."
"Doesn't Lanxin Pavilion have a small kitchen?" Chen Junbai asked her between bites of wontons.
Li Yang: "That small kitchen was covered in dust, even the pots were rusty. It was too much trouble to clean it up, so I went to the main kitchen."
She spoke casually, and Chen Junbo nodded and continued eating his wontons.
Today, after much deliberation, Li Yang decided to cook a nice meal for Chen Junbo to express her apology and gratitude. However, she was short of money and couldn't afford a proper meal. She immediately thought of her specialty: wontons.
Considering that Chen Junbo wouldn't be too hungry after returning from the banquet, they switched to small wontons, which were easier to eat, as a late-night snack, so that he could also calm down after drinking.
She was busy all afternoon. First, she went to the market to buy noodles, meat, and various ingredients. Then she went to Fang Yuan's house to pick up some of the first batch of mountain delicacies she had prepared.
The Chen family's kitchen had everything, but she couldn't use it. If the kitchen recorded the expenses in Lanxin Pavilion's account, it would mean Chen Junbai had paid for her a bowl of wontons. Besides, she didn't know how much the kitchen would record; it would have gone through several hands, so it was still more expensive than if she bought it outside herself.
Even so, she never expected that starting a fire in the kitchen would burn away an ounce of silver. A pang of heartache spread through her, but then she saw Chen Junbai eating with great satisfaction. Watching him, she suddenly felt that spending that ounce of silver wasn't such a painful waste after all.
Seeing how much everyone else was enjoying their food, she suddenly felt incredibly hungry. She exclaimed "Oh dear!", slapped her thigh, quickly got up to say goodbye, and rushed off to the main room.
The dining table in the main room had long been cleaned spotless by the servants. Li Yang rubbed her stomach, feeling resentful, 'They're really diligent today!' But who told her to forget to eat dinner? She had no one to complain to, so she stomped her foot, turned around, went back to her room, and drank her fill of tea, thus getting by on water.
When Chen Junbo returned to the room, he saw Li Yang gulping down tea from the spout.
He walked to the table and sat down. Only after the other person finished drinking and their eyes met did he speak, saying, "Your shop is very well run, and your accounts are clean."
Li Yang was stunned, his mind reeling: This... it's just a bowl of wontons, why is it like this?!
She let out a soft "ah," and then saw the other person take a small charcoal stove, light a match, add water to the teapot, and place it on it. The whole process was smooth and effortless.
The charcoal fire crackled as Chen Junbo took the kettle, filled a cup with hot water, and pushed it in front of Li Yang.
Is he... out of his mind?
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