Chapter 12 Sugar-roasted chestnuts A wonderful encounter

Chef Li was not feeling well, and it was his limit to force himself to finish the dinner at Huotouying. He told the other chefs what dishes to make for today's private kitchen and went back to rest.

Jiang Yanyi saw that it was almost time and started to prepare the hot and sour noodles.

In order to make it easier to cook later, she planned to make the noodles first, and crisp the peanuts and soybeans in a plate. Then she only needed to prepare the soup and seasoning.

Chef Li let out a word during dinner that she was now the official cook at the stove, no longer a helper.

The people in Huotouying treated Jiang Yanyi more attentively. When they saw that she was going to cook, a bunch of people rushed to help her light the fire. She didn't have to run to get any ingredients she wanted. She just had to say it and someone would immediately hand it to her.

Jiang Yanyi remembered that she had taken care of all these things before. Seeing that everyone in Huotouying had friendly faces and called her "Master Jiang", she couldn't help but laugh.

It turns out that when you stand higher, there are more good people around you.

She was more familiar with Qiu Kui in Huotouying, so she asked Qiu Kui to stay and help her light the fire.

A woman with a shrewd face grumbled: "Master Jiang, let me help you light the fire. This girl is a fool. If she can't light the fire well, your dishes will be ruined!"

Jiang Yanyi just smiled: "I think she cooks well. You are all tired all day. Go back and rest early."

She said it in a friendly manner, but blocked the woman's words.

Seeing that they couldn't get close to her, the group of women had to give up in disappointment.

When Jiang Yanyi turned around, he saw Qiu Kui looking at him.

"What's wrong?" Jiang Yanyi asked her with a smile.

Qiu Kui seemed to want to say something, but when she saw someone coming over here, she shook her head again and lowered her head to look at the fire in the stove.

A tall fireman, as thin as a bamboo pole, came over and handed a small basket of unshelled chestnuts to Jiang Yanyi: "Master Jiang, these are the chestnuts you asked for."

"Thank you." Jiang Yanyi took the basket and grabbed a few more and handed them to the fireman: "Take a few and try them."

The fireman refused again and again: "How can I be so embarrassed?"

Jiang Yanyi insisted: "Take it, it's not a good thing, I'll have to trouble you more in the future." The

fireman accepted it with gratitude.

Jiang Yanyi bought the chestnuts from Zhao Tou'er herself. Although Xinghua's sarcastic remarks today were inexplicable, they just happened to wake her up.

To win people's hearts, you often only need some small favors.

Sometimes it's easy to make friends, so why not?

She planned to make these chestnuts into sugar-roasted chestnuts, share some with the women in the barracks, and keep the rest for herself. When she made chestnut roasted chicken in the evening, she was so greedy.

The fireman had already left. Jiang Yanyi picked out a few chestnuts, cut a small hole in the shell with a knife, took them to the fire pit and taught Qiu Kui to bury them in the hot ashes: "Watch the fire, don't let it burn here, we'll be able to eat it soon."

Qiu Kui nodded heavily, looking at the place where the chestnuts were buried, her eyes sparkling: "I've eaten charcoal-roasted chestnuts before."

Jiang Yanyi asked her with a smile: "Did you have something to say to me just now?"

She only discovered the clue in the past two days. Qiu Kui was obviously just a little silent, but the women in the barracks said she was stupid, and Qiu Kui seemed to deliberately act silly in front of those women.

When Qiu Kui heard her ask this, she looked around to make sure that no one was around and said, "Chun Xiang took the red braised pork that the general gave you as a reward."

Jiang Yanyi was confused: "What?"

Qiu Kui said, "I heard from the people in Huotouying that you made a good lion head and the general rewarded you with a bowl of red braised pork. But it was Chun Xiang who came back with the red braised pork. She shared the red braised pork with Xinghua and the others. I saw her leave with the flag officer."

Qiu Kui said so much, Jiang Yanyi still had nothing to understand.

She said that Chun Xiang felt so guilty when she saw her, and it turned out that she used her reward to do herself a favor, which was really shameless.

Although Jiang Yanyi was unhappy with Chunxiang's behavior, she also felt that it was not like Chunxiang to feel so guilty because of a bowl of braised pork.

Before she could think too much, the people who wanted to eat hot and sour noodles came, and Jiang Yanyi hurried back to the stove to get busy.

The vermicelli was prepared in advance, and she only needed to make a soup and mix the base. The efficiency was much higher than last night, and soon eight bowls of hot and sour noodles were on the table.

"Enjoy your meal, soldiers!" Jiang Yanyi placed the hot and sour noodles on the tray in front of the tables of several soldiers one by one.

Except for the two sentinels who came to eat hot and sour noodles last night and looked normal, the other six soldiers looked like they were frozen in place, staring at Jiang Yanyi blankly, without even moving their eyes.

One tray can only hold four bowls of hot and sour noodles. Qiu Kui took another tray and followed suit by carrying out the bowls. However, because the edge of the bowl was too hot, she accidentally tilted her hand and spilled some soup.

Jiang Yanyi hurriedly helped Qiu Kui to carry the bowl to the table. Qiu Kui was a little nervous, but fortunately, the soldiers were all rough people and did not mind these little things.

But the soldiers' gazes made Jiang Yanyi quite embarrassed. After bringing the last bowl of noodles to the table, she picked up the copper plate they had placed on the table in advance and hurried back to the barracks with Qiu Kui.

Until Jiang Yanyi's shadow disappeared, the soldiers stretched their necks to look into the barracks, looking like fools.

The sentry knocked on the table and said with a bit of pride: "How is it, I didn't lie to you?"

The soldiers withdrew their gaze but were still absent-minded, and looked into the tent from time to time: "When did such a beauty come to the barracks?"

The two sentries felt a sense of accomplishment when they heard their words of approval.

But smelling the familiar fragrance, they didn't have time to talk to their companions anymore, and started to feast on the vermicelli.

One of them remembered that Chi Qing had said in the morning that he would also come over to eat noodles. He was afraid that if the private affair got to the ears of the general, he would be blamed, so he said while eating: "When we see Tou'er Li later, we must say hello to him and tell him that Military Advisor Chi might come over. We must prepare some good things to entertain him..."

After Jiang Yanyi brought Qiu Kui back to the barracks, Qiu Kui looked at her guiltily and said: "I'm clumsy and got into trouble again."

"It's not a problem. Those generals didn't say anything, did they?" Jiang Yanyi comforted, "Did your hands get burned?"

Qiu Kui shook her head, raised her hand and licked her thumb that was stained with soup, and praised sincerely: "The noodles you make are really delicious. I'd even lick the bottom of the bowl."

Jiang Yanyi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he felt even more pity for this girl.

At the age of sixteen or seventeen, she was still a high school student in her original world, but she had already suffered so much here.

She said, "If you want to eat, I'll make you a bowl."

She had already made more noodles when she made them, so it wouldn't be a big deal to make another bowl for Qiu Kui.

Qiu Kui's eyes lit up when she heard it, and she quickly took out four copper coins from her sleeves and handed them to Jiang Yanyi.

She saw those soldiers giving money before, four coins for a bowl.

"Keep the money yourself." Jiang Yanyi was really surprised by Qiu Kui's giving money, and she certainly couldn't take her money.

But Qiu Kui shook her head and was very stubborn: "If you don't accept it, I won't eat it."

Seeing her like this, Jiang Yanyi had no choice but to say: "You helped me light the fire today. If you count the wages, it's enough to buy a bowl of hot and sour noodles."

Qiu Kui smiled again and ran to help Jiang Yanyi light the fire.

She didn't tell Jiang Yanyi that she heard Xinghua teasing her in the evening, and she ran to tell Xinghua and the others at dinner time that the braised pork was originally Jiang Yanyi's, but Xinghua and the others broke the bowl of porridge, and she is still hungry now. The

hot and sour noodles came out of the pot quickly. Qiu Kui had never eaten such delicious noodles before. It was sour and spicy, and it was so hot that the tip of her tongue was numb, but it was particularly enjoyable. She didn't care to say anything, and she slurped it while gasping.

Seeing that she enjoyed the meal, Jiang Yanyi's mood also improved.

She went back to the chopping board, washed all the chestnuts, cut a small hole with a knife and put them on a plate.

To make sugar-roasted chestnuts, you need to use medium heat, and pay attention to quick cooking, but it also tests your craftsmanship, after all, adding sugar will easily burn them.

She went to the fire pit and dug out the chestnuts that she had buried before. The chestnuts were already roasted, and the shells cracked, revealing the orange chestnut meat inside.

Jiang Yanyi peeled one and ate it without adding any seasoning. The chestnut meat itself was very sweet and had a soft and glutinous texture. It was the taste in her memory.

As soon as Qiukulai put down the bowl, she was attracted by the sweet smell of the chestnuts again.

"They are all cooked, try it." Jiang Yanyi only ate one and gave the rest to Qiukulai.

After eating one, Qiu Kui was so excited that her eyes widened. "Delicious!"

She carefully put away the remaining chestnuts and sat behind the fire to help Jiang Yanyi light the fire.

Jiang Yanyi thought she didn't eat them because she was afraid of delaying the fire, and said with a smile: "The fire is burning, you can eat it, it's okay."

Qiu Kui touched the chestnuts in her sleeve and shook her head: "Eat one today, and eat another one tomorrow, so you can eat it for many days."

Jiang Yanyi's heart softened inexplicably when she heard this, and she said: "There will be more in a while, roasted chestnuts will go bad if they are left for a long time."

Qiu Kui then took out the charcoal roasted chestnuts, peeled them and ate them. She ate one and left one for Jiang Yanyi.

Even if Jiang Yanyi said no, she still counted them out and kept them.

Jiang Yanyi realized the girl's stubbornness, so he just let her do what she wanted.

Sugar-roasted chestnuts were considered a more refined delicacy in this dynasty. The cost of buying coarse salt and sugar alone was equivalent to the cost of half a basket of chestnuts. Jiang Yanyi felt a pain in her heart for a while.

Seeing that the iron pot was heated, she poured the coarse salt and chestnuts into the pot and stir-fried them together. This was a very physically demanding process, as she had to stir-fry until the chestnuts burst.

This body was too fragile, and Jiang Yanyi's arms felt sore after shoveling with the shovel for a while, so she had to ask Qiu Kui to come over and take over.

When Qiu Kui heard that this was to make sugar-roasted chestnuts, she worked extra hard until all the chestnuts burst and there was not a single burnt one in the pot. Jiang Yanyi praised her, and she smiled almost to her ears.

Jiang Yanyi poured sugar into the pot. This step was the easiest to burn the pot. Although Qiukui worked hard, he was still a novice, and saw several of them burn. Jiang Yanyi hurried over to take over Qiukui.

The two worked hard for a long time and finally succeeded in making a pot of shiny and oily sugar-fried chestnuts.

Jiang Yanyi tasted one and found it very successful. It was more fragrant, sweet and sticky than charcoal-roasted chestnuts.

At this moment, the tall and thin fireman who helped Jiang Yanyi get the chestnuts suddenly ran in and said, "Master Jiang, please prepare some delicious dishes!"

At this time, almost no one came to the private kitchen. After the other chefs finished their dishes, they had already left work. Only a few firemen on duty were left here to clean up.

Jiang Yanyi saw that he was so hurried and asked, "Aren't all the dishes in the private kitchen reserved one day in advance?"

The fireman said, "Just now, a few soldiers who were eating noodles said before they left that the general's military advisor Chi might come to the private kitchen tonight!"

Jiang Yanyi knew that Chef Li's private kitchen was opened secretly.

How could a newcomer like him deal with the arrival of a high-ranking official?

The first thought in her mind was to turn off the lights and leave.

But before she could take action, someone seemed to be outside. The fireman on duty outside the barracks was greeting her warmly: "General Chi, what would you like to eat for supper?"

The man did not reply. Jiang Yanyi only heard his steady and unhurried footsteps, which carried a sense of majesty.

Is this the aura of a big boss?

Jiang Yanyi's heart beat faster for some reason. As the only remaining cook in the fireman camp, she had to bite the bullet and go out to greet him: "I didn't know that General Chi was coming. I'm sorry for not welcoming you."