Chapter 11 Chestnut Roasted Chicken Dancing on the Brink of Death

Jiang Yanyi went straight back to Huotouying. Chef Li was feeling better and was directing everyone to prepare the dishes.

"Master Li, you are not feeling well. Why don't you take a rest?" Jiang Yanyi tied on an apron and prepared to go to the chopping board to cut vegetables.

Chef Li, who usually looked energetic, looked a bit old because of his illness. He was always serious in the camp, but when he heard Jiang Yanyi greet him, he softened his expression and said, "It's a hard life, and I can't rest." When

Jiang Yanyi heard him say this, she thought of her father again, and her heart was slightly astringent. Her father's motto was also "hard life".

She concealed her emotions, picked up a killed chicken from the basket and asked Chef Li, "What are you cooking tonight?"

Chef Li said, "Chestnut roast chicken. Just cut the chicken into pieces."

Jiang Yanyi quickly cut the chicken and put it on the plate.

Chef Li liked her efficiency and talent in cooking. He said, "You cooked the braised lion's head well today. I will let you cook the chestnut braised chicken tonight. If you cook well and the other chefs have no objections, you can list all the dishes you can cook and I will ask someone to add them to the menu of Huotouying."

This meant that Jiang Yanyi would officially become the chef of Huotouying. She would no longer have to do odd jobs and would just cook like other chefs.

Jiang Yanyi was flattered and surprised: "I am not good at cooking the lion's head today. I am just showing off my skills in front of you."

Even though he knew that her words were meant to be a compliment, Chef Li still laughed happily.

The main reason was that Jiang Yanyi knew how to measure her words.

If she just said that she didn't do well, being overly modest would make her look artificial. The phrase "I'm new to cooking" not only pointed out her own shortcomings, but also praised him. After all, it's true that experienced experience can't be learned in a short time.

This girl is diligent and intelligent, and she is also considerate in dealing with people. Chef Li believes that she can go far.

He said, "Okay, you have received a reward from the general, but you are still talking nonsense to me. You will make the chestnut roasted chicken. That's it."

Jiang Yanyi thought that the reward Chef Li was talking about was for making tofu pudding that day. It would be rude to refuse the good intention, so he smiled and accepted it.

"You woman, you come to work half a day later than others and you just give up, and you waste a lot of vegetables! Don't you think it costs money to buy these vegetables?"

Zhao Tou'er's scolding came from outside the tent. Jiang Yanyi turned his head and saw that the person he scolded was Chunxiang.

Chunxiang had never done these things in the brothel before. She just came to Huotouying as a cook a few days ago, and Liu Cheng assigned her easy work. Today, Liu Cheng took a leave, and she deliberately hid out in the morning to be lazy.

In the afternoon, she came back with a reward of fifty taels of silver. She felt unsteady when she walked, but she was afraid that people would find out that she had embezzled the silver, so she found a secluded place to hide the silver before coming to Huotouying.

As soon as she arrived, she was assigned by Zhao Tou'er to pick vegetables. She was absent-minded. Until now, all she could think about was the fifty taels of silver.

Being scolded by Zhao Tou'er and being watched by so many people, Chunxiang couldn't save face. When she thought about the fact that she had fifty taels of silver now, and heard Zhao Tou'er talking about the money, she

immediately threw the vegetables on the ground, took out a handful of copper coins from her inner collar and scattered them on the ground: "How about this, is this money enough to compensate for these rotten vegetables of yours?"

"You..." Zhao Tou'er didn't expect her to be so arrogant, and he was very angry.

The women around were mostly surprised, and a little jealous - Chunxiang dared to challenge Zhao Tou'er directly, which showed that she had found a big backer.

Chunxiang enjoyed the looks from the women very much and stood up with great fanfare.

The door of the barracks had been open all the time, and she accidentally made eye contact with Jiang Yanyi. Suddenly, as if she had seen a ghost, she put away all her arrogance and left.

Jiang Yanyi thought that Chunxiang's attitude towards him was a little strange.

Several other women who were cutting vegetables in the barracks said that Chunxiang had hooked up with a general, and she was afraid that she would be proud for a while.

Jiang Yanyi remembered the wolf-like look of Chunxiang when he ran into her coming out of Hu Yanglin this morning, and guessed that what they said might be true.

But Chunxiang was suddenly so afraid of him, could it be because she was afraid that he would tell on her?

A woman with almond eyes and rosy cheeks came to put the vegetables away and heard the women who were cutting vegetables talking about Chunxiang. She had a good relationship with Chunxiang, and immediately concluded that Jiang Yanyi had asked those women to make up the story.

She said in a sarcastic tone, "Sister Chunxiang is so proud of herself now, what's the matter? You flatter someone, but when she gets a reward, she doesn't even give you some. Sister Chunxiang always thinks of us sisters for any good things she has. You can't have the braised pork that Sister Chunxiang brings back, so you gossip about others behind their backs? Aren't you wicked?"

Several women who were cutting vegetables watched her walk away with three steps and flirt with the fireman from time to time, and they spat several times in anger.

Qiu Kui was working on the other side. She looked at Jiang Yanyi and seemed to want to say something, but seeing that there were so many people talking in the barracks, she finally didn't say anything.

Jiang Yanyi was confused by Xinghua's words, and she threw the kitchen knife onto the chopping board, and the knife stuck on the chopping board.

The noise was not loud, but it made many people in the barracks look over.

The firemen thought she was angry, and immediately drew a line between themselves and Xinghua.

Xinghua's face turned pale, she still vividly remembered the time when she tried to snatch taro from Jiang Yanyi and she almost chopped off her hand with a knife.

But Jiang Yanyi was really not angry, she just threw the knife on the chopping board out of habit, but she was too lazy to explain. She

didn't know if the fake household registration she had applied for before could be processed. If not, if she wanted to get a household registration, she would have to spend money, so she had to save more money now.

Chef Li gave her the opportunity to be a chef in the Huotou Camp, she must seize it.

Jiang Yanyi thought about this, but her hands did not slow down at all.

The chestnuts were soaked in warm water and peeled. She waited for the oil in the pot to heat up, poured the chestnuts in and stir-fried until they faded, then put them in a small dish.

While the oil was still hot, she poured the drained chicken in and stir-fried it, sprinkled ginger and garlic on it to remove the fishy smell and enhance the flavor. After adding salt, she poured some soy sauce to adjust the color, and sprinkled Shaoxing wine along the edges of the pot to enhance the flavor.

For a while, the barracks was filled with fragrance.

Jiang Yanyi put the previously fried chestnuts into the pot, poured in the broth used to make lion's head at noon, and simmered it for a quarter of an hour before removing it from the pot.

The chestnuts and chicken both looked an attractive golden color. The chicken was fresh and tender after being simmered in the broth, and the chestnuts were sweet and soft. Just the smell made everyone in the kitchen growl for several times.

In the evening, the people from Huotouying sent the dishes to Feng Shuo's camp, but Feng Shuo was not there. Instead, they were seen by Chi Qing who came to look for Feng Shuo.

In the end, the whole plate of chestnut roasted chicken went into Chi Qing's stomach.

Feng Shuo had received the recipe in the afternoon, and heard Xing Yao say that the recipe looked wrong. As there was nothing to do in the military camp, he returned to the palace early. He

ordered someone to summon the doctor who had treated him before, and asked the doctor to see if there was any ingredient in the recipe that could help him restore his sense of taste.

The doctor held the recipe and looked at it for a long time. The more he looked, the deeper his frown became: "These are all common ingredients. You can hardly find any flavor that can be used as medicine."

Although he was prepared, Feng Shuo's eyes dimmed for a moment when he heard the doctor say this, but he soon returned to normal.

There was no emotion on his handsome face: "Thank you."

The doctor had been practicing medicine for half his life and had seen all kinds of difficult and complicated diseases, but it was the first time he had seen someone like Feng Shuo who was born without a sense of taste but suddenly recovered his sense of taste.

He wanted to tell him vaguely that the taste he felt was most likely imagined by him, but he did not dare to tell him because of his noble status and reputation for cruelty.

Now seeing that the menu said 3 taels of rock sugar and all kinds of seasonings were used in a mess, his eyebrows were almost twisted into a knot, worried that the chef in the barracks took advantage of Feng Shuo's lack of taste and made some random dishes to perfunctory him.

Although he was a descendant of a noble family and had been living a life of luxury since childhood, he had never tasted the five flavors of the world. The doctor felt a little sorry for the notoriously fierce King of Liaoning.

He said, "My Lord, please be brave. The lion's head made according to the recipe in your hand will be too sweet to eat."

He said it obscurely, but Feng Shuo understood the doctor's implication.

Either someone took advantage of his lack of taste to fool him about food. Or the person who wrote this recipe did not know how to make lion's head at all.

Feng Shuo's sharp eyes almost instantly burst out with murderous intent.

Even his personal guard Xing Yao did not know that he had no sense of taste, so how could the people in the Huotouying know?

Then there is only one possibility left.

Feng Shuo's thin lips slowly raised a cold arc: "Oh, you don't know whether to live or die."

A pair of wild birds in Hu Yanglin just ended a love affair.

The man wrapped the woman in his thick short shirt.

The dark face seemed honest, but the eyes were always shining, it was Liu Cheng.

He was still breathing heavily, "You mean, the new girl made a lion's head, and that old man was not punished by the general?"

Chunxiang pouted and said, "It was not in vain. When I went back with you to get the laxative this morning, I was caught by that little bitch."

Liu Cheng's face changed instantly, "Did she see everything?"

Chunxiang hurriedly said, "No, she just came over when I came out of the woods."

Liu Cheng felt relieved.

Chunxiang drew circles on his chest with her fingers and suddenly said, "When you first got together with me, you said that you would help me clear my name and take me home. Do you still mean what you

said now?" The night concealed the contempt and impatience in Liu Cheng's eyes, but his words were full of tenderness, "Of course, I want to replace the old man surnamed Li, so that I can save more money and make plans for our future. After all, you know how much money can be made from running a private business."

Chunxiang smiled sweetly, "We are rich now, marry me."

Liu Cheng was about to say that she was stupid, but he saw Chunxiang taking out a cloth bag from under the poplar tree. When she opened it, the silver tablets inside almost dazzled Liu Cheng's eyes in the moonlight.

He was so shocked that he could hardly speak: "Where did you get so much money?"

Chunxiang then told her about her false claim of the reward, "Thanks to me for being smart. I remembered the method of making a lion head you told me this morning, so I got such a generous reward."

Liu Cheng was much more thoughtful than Chunxiang. He scolded this brainless idiot: "Are you crazy about money? You dare to falsely claim the reward silver given by the general? If you are found out, you will lose your head!"

Chunxiang thought of the guards with swords and felt a little scared, but she was reluctant to part with the silver. She said: "I did it for our future. With this money, we can buy a yard in the town to get married."

Xizhou is poor, and the prices of real estate and commodities are extremely low.

Liu Cheng sat up and was blown by the night wind for a while. He was completely calm. He looked at Chunxiang: "Have you ever thought about what the consequences will be if the matter is exposed?"

"This..." Chunxiang had never thought about these things. Since she got the fifty taels of silver, she has been thinking about how to get rid of the crime and leave the barracks.

Liu Cheng was finally tempted by the fifty taels of silver. A trace of viciousness flashed in his eyes: "If you want to prevent the matter from being exposed, the only way is to let the surname Jiang shut up."

Chunxiang has seen Jiang Yanyi's temper and said: "She is not a soft persimmon, how can she shut up?"

"Then let her never speak."

Chunxiang saw Liu Cheng's eyes, she suddenly understood something and shuddered.