Chapter 63 (Catching Bugs) Why are your lips swollen...

The snow was getting heavier, and the fire in the fire pit drove away the chill of the snowy night.

Jiang Yanyi looked at Feng Shuo who was sitting at the table eating noodles, and his eyes couldn't help but glance at his legs.

The wall was one and a half feet high, and he didn't fall and lose any limbs. He was really lucky to be able to sit here and eat in good health.

When she was defenseless against people, what she was thinking was all written on her face, and it was difficult for Feng Shuo to pretend not to know.

He said with a gloomy face: "What are you thinking about all day long?"

Jiang Yanyi said casually: "Missing you."

As soon as these words came out, the room fell into silence, with only the "crackling" sound of the burning firewood in the fire pit.

Jiang Yanyi realized belatedly that her answer was too ambiguous. She coughed twice and said, "I mean, I'm thinking about your injuries."

To avoid embarrassment, she used a fire tong to turn over the potatoes buried under the hot ashes, pinched them with her hands, and muttered, "Why aren't they cooked yet?"

Feng Shuo thought she was hungry after roasting potatoes, so he handed her the bowl of noodles: "Would you like to eat some?"

Jiang Yanyi's first reaction was that she didn't think his behavior was wrong, and she said seriously, "This is longevity noodles, specially for birthday stars."

Feng Shuo looked serious, which was rare for him: "I'll give you half of the noodles, and half of my life, there's nothing wrong with that."

Jiang Yanyi held the hand holding the fire tongs and paused, her heartbeat speeding up again.

This guy is really flirting without knowing it!

She buried the potatoes back into the hot ashes and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? I've had dinner and I'm not hungry now. The longevity noodles are for good luck. If you can't eat anymore, just leave it."

How could he not eat? Feng Shuo drank all the noodle soup.

The soup made from dried scallops was not only fresh, but also had a hint of sweetness. The bamboo fungus and spareribs were stewed until soft and had a mellow and delicate taste.

He could handle another bowl.

Jiang Yanyi obviously didn't know what he was thinking. After seeing him put down the bowl, she handed him the embroidered kneepad and said, "Time is tight and there is no time to prepare any gifts. I only made a kneepad." There was

still a quarter of an hour before midnight. Although it was a bit dull, it was still a birthday for him.

Feng Shuo took it, rubbed the embroidery on it lightly with his fingertips, and whispered, "Thank you."

The embroidery was not very delicate, but the stitches were dense, and it was obvious that every stitch was carefully made.

Maybe the fire in the fire pit was too strong, or maybe the noodle soup he had just eaten warmed his stomach, Feng Shuo felt warm in his heart.

This rotten life didn't seem to be as bad as he once thought.

Outside the house, the snow was like salt and cotton, and the fire was burning brightly in the house. Feng Shuo looked at Jiang Yanyi's soft profile, and his usually cold eyes suddenly became a little tipsy.

Jiang Yanyi raised her head and her eyes met his. She wanted to look away, but her eyes seemed to be strangled by something and couldn't move at all.

When Feng Shuo's lips pressed down, she closed her eyes subconsciously.

His lips were much softer than she thought, perhaps because he had drunk wine before, there was a faint aroma of wine between his lips.

They separated at the touch of a dragonfly touching the water, as softly as a feather brushing against her lips. Jiang Yanyi thought it was over, but unexpectedly his lips pressed down again...

This time it was a bit rough, the kiss was raw and wild, and it was at this time that Jiang Yanyi truly realized that he was actually very strong in this aspect.

So much so that she had no power to resist.

When Qiu Kui's door creaked open, Jiang Yanyi didn't even react, and Feng Shuo had already blew a palm wind over and covered the kitchen door.

Qiu Kui got up at night. Seeing that the kitchen light was still on and the door was closed, she couldn't help but call out in confusion: "Huahua, are you still awake?"

Jiang Yanyi quickly pulled Feng Shuo to hide outside the back door of the kitchen, then opened the kitchen door and said, "The soup isn't ready yet. I felt it would be too cold to leave the door open, so I closed the door."

Qiu Kui shrank her neck, rubbed her arms with her hands and shivered: "Huahua, go to bed quickly after you're done. It's already midnight. Hey... Huahua, why are your lips swollen?"

Jiang Yanyi touched her lips which were slightly stinging, "Really? I guess I accidentally scalded yourself when I tasted the soup just now."

"Ah? Is it serious? Do you want to find some medicine to apply?" Qiu Kui looked worried.

Jiang Yanyi felt a little guilty, but he could only continue to lie: "It's okay, it doesn't hurt anymore. Don't stand outside, what if you catch a cold?"

Qiu Kui then remembered that she was going to the toilet, and hurried to the toilet with a painful look on her face, holding her stomach.

Seeing Qiu Kui enter the toilet, Jiang Yanyi asked Feng Shuo to come out of the kitchen and climb back over the wall.

Because of the impulsive kiss just now, the two of them were a little uncomfortable now, and they didn't even look at each other.

Jiang Yanyi wanted to find a ladder for Feng Shuo, but he stepped on the courtyard wall and easily climbed over the wall.

Jiang Yanyi was afraid that he would fall again, so she quickly reminded him in a low voice: "Be careful not to slip."

Feng Shuo: "..."

He really didn't want to know what she was worried about at all.

Seeing Feng Shuo's back disappear over the wall, Jiang Yanyi went back to the kitchen to clean up. The moment she stepped into the room, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind: Is this really the first time he climbed over her wall?

The next day, Jiang Yanyi slept until dawn before getting up.

When she pushed the door open, she saw the yard was covered in white. There was a thick layer of snow on the wall, and a finger-long icicle hung on the eaves, as clear as crystal, which looked very beautiful.

Jiang Yanyi hung the bird cage under the eaves of the kitchen, rubbed her hands and breathed out: "It's really cold today."

The parrot in the cage shook its wings and imitated: "It's so cold!"

Okra had already started a fire in the fire pit, and buried a few sweet potatoes in the hot ashes beside it to roast, and called Jiang Yanyi to come in and roast by the fire.

Jiang Yanyi added water to the parrot's trough and put some broken rice in it. Instead of going into the house to warm himself by the fire, he made a fluffy snowball from the ground.

"Okra!" Jiang Yanyi called out.

Okra looked over blankly, and the snowball in Jiang Yanyi's hand happened to fall on her shoulder, splashing her with broken snow.

Okra was stunned for a moment, then smiled foolishly.

They stopped gathering around the fire and went to the yard to make a snowball and throw it at Jiang Yanyi.

The snow froze their hands, but Jiang Yanyi and Qiu Kui were running around and sweating, so they didn't feel cold. It snowed heavily in Xizhou, and the snow in their yard was almost above their calves. When

they were tired from playing, they went into the house to warm themselves by the fire, took out a roasted sweet potato from the ashes, and each of them held one in his hand to eat as a snack.

After peeling the roasted sweet potato, the sweet potato flesh inside was orange and connected in strands, steaming hot, and sweet in the mouth, but not greasy.

Jiang Yanyi said, "Let's shovel the snow out of the yard and build a snowman at the door!"

Qiu Kui nodded repeatedly when he heard the word "snowman".

The two of them ate sweet potatoes faster, gasping for breath from the heat but couldn't help laughing.

Jiang Yanyi shoveled the clean snow in the yard into a basket with a shovel, and then carried it to the door.

The snow in front of the houses along the street had been cleaned up. Because there were many pedestrians on the street, the snow had been trampled and melted, and the ground had become muddy. Pedestrians coming and going put their hands in their sleeves, and their backs were hunched and their necks were hunched due to the cold.

Jiang Yanyi got a few more baskets to pile up the snow outside the door, and then made snowballs with Qiu Kui.

When acquaintances passing by saw him, they couldn't help but tease him: "Shopkeeper Jiang still has a childlike heart."

Every time Jiang Yanyi just smiled, as a greeting to the other party.

When Aunt Guo and Yang Xiu and Bing Shao came to the store, Jiang Yanyi asked Aunt Guo to go to the kitchen to cut mutton slices. It was snowing heavily today, so there would definitely be more people coming to the store to eat soup pot. Yang Xiu was asked to shovel the snow in the yard, and Bing Shao was arranged to pick up the old scholar. It was snowing

so heavily today, and it was difficult to get a bullock cart in the south of the city. Jiang Yanyi was afraid that the old scholar was old and had difficulty walking, and something might happen to him.

She made a snowman that was nearly a person tall, made eyes out of walnuts, and made a smiling mouth out of several pebbles. Then she had enough money to buy a whole handful of candied haws and insert them into it as hands.

The children passing by saw the whole handful of red candied haws next to the snowman, and more than one of them cried.

Because the snowman is so eye-catching next to the store entrance, everyone passing by will inevitably take a second look at Jiang Yanyi's store. It is similar to the later generations who wore cartoon suits to promote the store entrance.

As soon as noon arrived, Jiang Yanyi's store began to get busy. Although there were not many customers coming to the store to dine due to the heavy snow, there were still many people who asked for food to be delivered to their homes.

Most of the mutton pots are ordered, and dry pots are ordered less. Jiang Yanyi is also happy to relax.

Her initial marketing plan was to give a free side dish to customers who placed an order. Vegetarian dishes were hard to find in winter, and meat was too expensive, so Jiang Yanyi gave away bean sprouts and tofu the most, and occasionally a plate of flower cakes.

But she was not good at making cakes, and all the flower cakes in her store, except for egg puffs, were bought from a cake shop. But later, after Lai Fu Restaurant started selling more exquisite flower cakes, only egg puffs were favored by diners in her store. However, she did not give away egg puffs, which resulted in her store not having an advantage in flower cakes.

Jiang Yanyi was indeed not as good at making white pastries as those chefs who had been making cakes for decades, and she felt it was not worthwhile to spend a lot of money on exquisite cakes.

After much thought, Jiang Yanyi felt that Western-style cakes were cheaper to make and had a soft and sweet taste, so they might be favored by the rich and powerful because of their novelty.

She used her homemade oven to make three cakes before she finally succeeded. The first one was not baked well because the temperature was not high enough, the second one was too hot and the cake was all mushy, and the third one...it shrank directly after cooling.

Jiang Yanyi felt that the ingredients used in Western-style cakes were actually similar to traditional steamed cakes, except that one was baked and the other was steamed.

After mastering the temperature and ingredients for each layer of the cake, Jiang Yanyi sprinkled some raisins on the chiffon cakes she made next, which enriched the taste and gave a different sweetness.

Making chiffon cakes is much more time-saving and labor-saving than making egg tarts. When a new product is launched, it is natural to promote it for free first, and then charge for it after the market is opened up.

What makes Jiang Yanyi happy is that after the chiffon raisin cake was delivered to the diners' tables as a gift, it received unanimous praise. Some diners even wanted to buy one, saying that their mother had bad teeth, and eating such a fluffy and soft snack was perfect.

More and more people came to the store. It was freezing cold outside, but after entering the store, they felt warm and cozy, just because Jiang Yanyi set up a charcoal basin under each table, and the charcoal basin was burning with silver frost charcoal. It burned for a long time, but there was no smoke.

The diners who entered the store felt that the store was thoughtfully arranged everywhere, and they were in a happier mood for dining.

"When will the storytelling start today?" an old customer who had been to the store yesterday couldn't help but shout.

The diners who had not heard the show yesterday could not help but ask, "What book are they talking about?"

"I guarantee you haven't heard of it! 'Dream of the Red Chamber'!"

"What kind of book is this? Mr. Ding from Lai Fu Restaurant has never told us about it."

Speaking of Mr. Ding, someone couldn't help but chime in, "I heard that Lai Fu Gudong Soup also invited Mr. Ding over today. It seems like he's trying to compete with us here?"

"Let's not talk about the food, just talking about storytelling, is there anyone in Xizhou City who can tell stories better than Mr. Ding?"

"That's not necessarily true. The old gentleman who told stories in this restaurant yesterday was also very eloquent!"

While the diners were arguing, the old scholar took a sip of tea in the backyard, straightened his collar, and went outside the restaurant. He held his back straight, and just like yesterday, he struck the wake-up stick and opened his voice, and started telling today's story.

At first, there were still voices in the store, but soon they became quiet. Some people who liked to listen to storytelling but couldn't afford to eat hot pot squatted at the door of the store in the wind and snow to listen.

Jiang Yanyi was afraid that the old scholar would be cold, so she asked Yang Xiu to put a charcoal basin under the old scholar's table.

Today was a day off for the army, and Chef Li should have come to her store, but it was almost noon and Chef Li hadn't come yet. Thinking of Chef Li's old backache, Jiang Yanyi couldn't help but worry.

After the busy lunch, when Jiang Yanyi was greeting everyone to eat, Chef Li came over with a chill.

Jiang Yanyi went forward to greet him, "Master, if it snows so heavily again in the future, and it is inconvenient for you to come from Xizhou Camp, please don't come. What if something happens on the way?"

Severe winter is different from ordinary seasons. Few people walk on the road leading to Xizhou Camp.

Yang Xiu and Bing Shao both met Chef Li for the first time. Because Jiang Yanyi called him Master, they also respected Chef Li a little.

The old scholar was about the same age as Chef Li. Chef Li guessed his identity by looking at his clothes and the long table in the hall. Seeing that Jiang Yanyi had made this store prosperous, he was happy from the bottom of his heart, and a lot of the depression he had felt along the way was also relieved.

He said, "I was not delayed on the road, but I went to Lao Yao's house."

Jiang Yanyi brought a brazier over to warm Chef Li's hands: "What happened to Master Yao? I met him in the blacksmith shop a few days ago."

Chef Li sighed and said, "He had a quarrel with the owner of Lai Fu Restaurant and is no longer working in the restaurant."

"That old guy is just a straight-talker and a stubborn person! I told him a few years ago that the restaurant owner is a businessman, and asked him not to think too highly of himself and not to be on friendly terms with him, but he didn't listen. Now the restaurant owner has hired a descendant of the chef, and his two broken shovels and spoons are no longer needed. He allowed others to break his ancestral kitchen knives. Tell me, isn't this shameful!"

Jiang Yanyi asked Chef Yao that day if he was willing to come out and work with her. Chef Yao said that this was not kind. She thought Chef Yao was still working at Lai Fu Restaurant, so why did he leave suddenly?

Jiang Yanyi said, "I know about this. At that time, I felt sorry for Master Yao and wanted him to come and open a shop with me. Master Yao said that it was not fair to do so. I didn't even hear a word about when he left."

Chef Li said, "Laifu Restaurant naturally didn't dare to let the news of his departure out. Over the years, Laifu Restaurant had so many old customers who were nurtured by Old Yao's cooking skills. It would be a miracle if those old customers could stay after he left." The people from Lai Fu Restaurant still had the nerve to persuade him to go back, so I went over and scolded them away."

He changed the subject and said to Jiang Yanyi, "You have always been a careless person. You should be careful about cooking recipes and the like. Lao Yao told me that the owner of Lai Fu Restaurant has been keeping an eye on you. You happened to run into him in the blacksmith shop that day, and as soon as he went back, the owner of Lai Fu Restaurant asked him what the tin box he made was used for."

"Lao Yao went to pick up the repaired kitchen knife today, and heard the blacksmith say that someone asked him to make a few more tin boxes like that, but the blacksmith refused to accept the order."

Although Jiang Yanyi didn't have much contact with Chef Yao, he probably knew his temper.

However, she was not too confident in everything. The words she said in the blacksmith shop were just a test. Chef Yao turned around and really quarreled with Lai Fu Restaurant. She didn't know if this was a trick played by the owner of Lai Fu Restaurant. What if the other party heard that he wanted to poach people and deliberately played along?

However, Chef Li and Jiang Yanyi were still trustworthy.

She said, "That tin box is just a small stove for hot pots. If you hide it, it will be copied by others. As you said, the only way is to focus on the recipe. I have just introduced a dry pot in my shop, but I can't handle it alone. I want to invite Master Yao to come and help me. What do you think, Master?"

Chef Li shook his head and said, "I'm afraid Old Yao won't come. The owner of Lai Fu Restaurant thinks he has something to do with your shop. If he leaves Lai Fu Restaurant and comes to you right away, wouldn't that give people something to talk about? "

The old scholar who was eating suddenly shook his head and said with emotion: "People, in this life, they are not forced to death by others, but by themselves. When they are alive, they don't live for themselves, but for the gossips of others."

Jiang Yanyi added a set of bowls and chopsticks for Chef Li. He and the old scholar are of similar age, and both have no children.

Chef Li has worked diligently in the fire business all his life. The old scholar suffered too much criticism when he was young, but now he is more open-minded.

The two old men drank a few glasses of wine and talked about everything. They felt that they had met too late.

Chef Li was moved by the old scholar's words during the meal, and turned back to persuade Chef Yao to go.

But Chef Yao couldn't get over the hurdle in his heart, and he refused to agree.

When Lai Fu Restaurant saw that Jiang Yanyi was trying hard to poach people, they panicked. The manager of Lai Fu Restaurant went to Chef Yao's house several times in person, but Chef Yao refused to see him. Before

Jiang Yanyi could continue to make trouble, he was stunned by another move by Lai Fu Restaurant.

Lai Fu Restaurant found that they had invited Mr. Ding, the best storyteller in Xizhou, to tell stories, but they still failed to snatch customers from Jiang Yanyi. After some inquiries, they learned that they had never heard of the books Jiang Yanyi was telling.

Because there are too many people coming to listen to the storytelling in Jiang Yanyi's store every day and the place is not big enough, the old scholar has changed from one show a day to three shows a day.

Every show is packed, and people who come into the store can't sit easily, so they often order some food, and the hot pots in the store are also selling well.

Lai Fu Restaurant directly sent people to listen to the storytelling, and after listening, they ran back to retell "Dream of the Red Chamber" in their own antique soup shop.

Basically, a chapter of the story that was just finished in Jiang Yanyi's store today can be heard in Lai Fu's antique soup shop tomorrow.

In terms of the level of excitement, it is naturally the old scholar on Jiang Yanyi's side who tells the story better, and you can always hear the latest story plot.

However, due to the fact that Jiang Yanyi's restaurant was packed with diners and the entrance was also crowded with people, some people who were worried that they could not hear the storytelling could only go to Lai Fu Gudong Soup to listen.