Chapter 71 Sister, you are different from before...

The two doctors who came to the house to treat Jiang Yangui today were one a doctor from Feng Mansion and the other a military doctor. This matter still reached Liu's ears.

She murmured to the housekeeper in her courtyard: "It seems that the Third Master is very valued by the King of Liaoning in Xizhou. Otherwise, how could the King's mansion give face to a cousin of the Chu family?"

The housekeeper naturally said what Liu liked: "Yes, they all rely on the Third Master."

Liu felt bad when she thought that she would have to take care of this pair of encumbrances in the future. "It's also because the Third Sister-in-law passed away early. If she were still alive, she would never let the Third Master take care of these trivial matters. The brother and sister now think that they have the old lady as their backer and don't consider themselves outsiders at all. They don't think about it. They went to the King's mansion in the name of the Third Master and used up all the favors so early. What will they do if they encounter problems in the future?"

"This favor, face, Use it sparingly each time, and you have to use it on the sharpest point. I don't know how to say to her! She is really the same character as her mother, who only cares about her own comfort and doesn't care about other people's life or death."

"What sin have I committed? I have been married into the Chu family for so many years. It's OK for me to serve my parents-in-law and husband. In the early years, I had to please my sister-in-law everywhere. Now my sister-in-law has thrown a pair of children to me. I haven't taken good care of them at all. I'm afraid that my parents-in-law will think that I treat them harshly. If I were a little cruel, I would also learn from my second brother and his wife to write a letter of divorce and go back to my parents' home!"

The housekeeper hurriedly advised her: "Madam, don't think so. The second lady will leave without a son, and she will have no hope. You have more than two young ladies, The eldest son is still training in Yongzhou with the young master Chengmao. The third son is a capable man, and his future will not be bad no matter what. The eldest son is good friends with the young master Chengmao. You are different from the second lady, and you have hope. If you leave, with the old lady's partiality, I don't know how much the two young ladies will suffer!"

Liu said nothing more, but cried secretly.

Faced with this disaster, the first and second houses of the Chu family have always blamed Madam Jiang and her mother, but they dared not say a word in front of Chu Changping, and did not dare to offend Chu Changping at all. After all, Chu Changping is the only official in the Chu family. Let alone other things, just in the marriage of their children, they still have to rely on Chu Changping to get to know a better family.

No matter how much Liu complained in private, she still had the support of the two elders of the Chu family. She was an aunt after all, so she had to put on a show.

She asked the housekeeper in the yard to pick some nourishing herbs and send them to Jiang Yangui's yard.

Jiang Yanyi had already figured out Liu's temper after spending the past two days with her. This aunt was superficial and cunning. She was used to saying one thing in front of people and another behind their backs, but it was hard to say how vicious she was. Every

family has its own problems. People with children naturally have to make plans for their own children. Jiang Yanyi had never thought from the beginning that everyone in the Chu family would treat them like Chu Changping, and she didn't take Liu's cunning thoughts to heart.

Now she only hopes that Jiang Yangui's leg injury can heal quickly. His leg injury is the kneecap. The medical level in ancient times was limited and surgery could not be performed. The doctors said that even if his leg healed, he would still have difficulty walking in the future.

Maybe because he had been lying in bed for a long time, Jiang Yanyi found that her brother had a small appetite and was too thin compared to his peers.

She had been making medicinal food for Feng Shuo for so long, and she probably knew what ingredients nourished what.

Jiang Yangui injured his leg, so he had to drink more bone soup.

While decocting medicine for Jiang Yangui, Jiang Yanyi ordered the servants to buy fresh pig bones.

The Chu family is still managed by Liu, but the servants in the mansion are only those brought from the capital. Each courtyard is short of staff, and the kitchen is also a mess. When she boiled the medicine, she turned around and asked, only to find out that no one went to buy it. Everyone in the kitchen had their own excuses and excuses.

Jiang Yanyi knew that with Liu's temper, if she scolded the kitchen staff now, Liu would think that she was overstepping her authority. If it got to the ears of Mrs. Chu, the old lady would think that Liu was not good at discipline and the servants neglected them, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law would have a rift again.

Jiang Yanyi didn't care about what happened to Mrs. Liu, but Mrs. Chu was old, and she couldn't bear to see her worrying about these trivial matters. If this matter got out of hand, Mr. Chu would have to quarrel with Mrs. Chu again, and she would be the one who would be sad.

After weighing it, Jiang Yanyi told Jiang Yangui that she would go back to the store to take a look, and on the way she bought some pork bones to make soup.

Now the business in the store is basically stable, and when she went back, the store was full. The old scholar was telling a story, and the two of them didn't have time to say hello. But when Qiu Kui saw Jiang Yanyi go back, she cried for a while, fearing that she would go back to the Chu family and would not come to the store in the future. Jiang Yanyi comforted her a few words and only said that she was staying in the Chu family temporarily.

Aunt Guo and Chef Yao were both busy at the stove and couldn't leave. Jiang Yanyi said hello to them and asked them to continue while he went to make bone soup.

There is a lot of blood in the bones. After washing them, they have to be put into the pot with cold water, and ginger and cooking wine are added to remove the fishy smell. Then they are heated over a slow fire and blanched again. This is the only way to cook out the blood and remove excess fat. When making the soup, the bone soup will not be too greasy.

Jiang Yanyi put the processed pork bones in a sand pot, added a large pot full of water, and threw in a few slices of ginger and scallions to stew together.

When making pork bone soup, you must add enough water from the beginning. If you add water in the middle, the soup will not taste so fragrant. In order to allow the calcium in the pork bones to fully dissolve in the soup, she also added a little vinegar.

Jiang Yangui's injury was suitable for eating light food, and Jiang Yanyi did not even add fennel and star anise as condiments, just to make the bone soup have the original flavor.

Seeing that she was worried, Chef Yao thought of the shady things that always happened in the houses of wealthy families. He deliberately told some funny stories and led the topic to the store, hoping to cheer her up. "Boss, if you come back a few days later, I'm afraid this store will be bankrupt. The soup recipe you gave me clearly uses those ingredients, but the diners in the store refuse to buy it and insist that it doesn't taste the same as before!"

Jiang Yanyi was peeling lotus roots and said with a smile, "Master Yao, don't say these things to tease me. I've been indebted to you and Aunt Guo these days."

Chef Yao saw that she was in a good mood . After a while, he continued, "To be honest with you, I really don't know how to make snacks. Many customers have complained about why we don't sell snacks in our store."

Jiang Yanyi said, "Now I can't leave the Chu family. I have to take care of that before I can go to the store."

Chef Yao nodded, "Filial piety is the first of all virtues. The shopkeeper is a filial person."

Jiang Yanyi just smiled and didn't answer. He changed the subject and asked, "By the way, where does the old man live now?"

Since the old scholar was in danger last time, he didn't dare to live in the south of the city. He rented a house somewhere else.

Jiang Yanyi had planned to bring Jiang Yangui to live with her, but there were many diners in her store during the day and it was very noisy. It would be better for Jiang Yangui to rest. She wanted to find a more comfortable place for him to live.

He was living in the Chu family, and his heart was heavy after all. However, if the two siblings moved out of the Chu family, the old lady would have to spend some effort. After all, if they moved out, old lady Chu would probably think that she did not take good care of them and made them suffer in the Chu family.

Jiang Yanyi felt a headache just thinking about the entanglement. When

Chef Yao heard her question, he shook the big pot and said, "The old scholar rented a house near my home. Our location is not good, and it won't cost much. If you want to see a house, you might as well ask the landlord."

The old scholar had worked with Chef Yao before, so they were old acquaintances. Now the old scholar went home with him every day, which saved Yang Xiu and Bing Shao a lot of trouble.

Jiang Yanyi nodded: "I'll ask someone later."

The storefront of this old shop seems a little small now. Jiang Yanyi plans to buy a bigger shop. It would be nice to keep this place as a residence.

She washed the peeled lotus root, cut it into pieces and put it into the clay pot to cook together. When she opened the lid, the aroma of the bone soup inside was very tempting.

While the soup was boiling, the old scholar finished his second storytelling today. During the break, Jiang Yanyi told him a few stories after the Dream of the Red Chamber and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The old scholar just needed to tidy up and polish it.

The casserole had been simmering for nearly two hours. The pork bones that Jiang Yanyi bought had stick bones, and the bone marrow inside was probably melted. The bone soup was thick and white, and the fresh fragrance was tempting. The lean meat on the bones fell off with a light touch of chopsticks. The meat was delicate and tender, not at all dry.

The lotus root was also cooked until it was soft and could be split into two halves with a light poke of wooden chopsticks. Because the lotus root has a high starch content, it tastes thick and soft.

She added a spoonful of salt and then poured the lotus root bone soup into the soup bowl. When boiling bone soup, salt should be added at the end of the pot, so as to ensure the freshness of the meat. If salt is added too early, the moisture in the meat will be lost too quickly, and the meat will taste tough and a little dry after stewing.

A full sand pot of bone soup, only two soup bowls were filled after boiling. Jiang Yanyi thought that it would be just right to send one bowl to Jiang Yangui and the old lady.

Jiang Yangui has always had a poor appetite, but he drank the bone soup tonight.

He was able to eat, and Jiang Yanyi was happy. She asked him, "What do you want to eat tomorrow? I'll make it for you." The

thick bone soup warmed his throat all the way to his stomach. Jiang Yangui had a thin layer of sweat on his forehead because of eating. His beautiful eyes looked at Jiang Yanyi's hands holding the spoon. Those hands used to be white and tender, but now because they are often busy in the kitchen, they don't look as tender as before.

When she held the spoon, her five fingers were clasped.

But Jiang Yangui remembered his elder sister's habit of holding the spoon, her little finger would always be slightly curled up.

An indescribable cold swept over his body, and he asked hoarsely, "Sister, when did you learn to make soup?"

His way of addressing her subtly changed from "elder sister" to "sister".

Jiang Yanyi didn't realize that Chu Changping had asked her about her cooking skills before. She said, "After arriving at the military camp, I worked as a cook in Huotouying for a while. I took a chef from the previous camp as my master. My antique soup shop was able to open up, thanks to his help."

Jiang Yangui didn't know what he was thinking. He looked at Jiang Yanyi's calm and clear eyes, "Sister, you are a little different from before."

His sister has the same temperament as his mother, arrogant, impatient and stubborn, and sometimes does a lot of stupid things.

The person standing in front of him now is still his sister, but he feels strange from the bottom of his heart.

His sister is not so calm when doing things. She is obviously the elder sister, but in fact he takes care of her more.

After his mother passed away, it was his elder sister who supported him all the way to Xizhou. But after spending these two days together, he couldn't find any trace of his elder sister in the person in front of him.

It was as if... there was a different person in this body.

Whenever Jiang Yangui thought of such a possibility, he felt like he was in an ice cellar.

When he asked that question, Jiang Yanyi also became alert, but there was no sign on her face. She just said sadly: "Yangui, if I live like before, I'm afraid you won't be able to see me now."

These words broke the doubts in Jiang Yangui's heart, and his eyes turned red almost instantly.

Jiang Yanyi said, "People have to grow up. Sometimes we have to smooth out some edges and corners to live better."

Jiang Yangui slowly raised his head. His face was somewhat similar to Jiang Yanyi's. The corners of his eyes were red because of tears. This look on a man was exquisite and a little evil: "Sister, one day, I will let you live freely like before, without fearing anyone."

Jiang Yanyi touched his head: "Okay, sister is waiting for that day."

Finally comforted this sensitive and fragile boy, Jiang Yanyi left Jiang Yangui's yard and breathed a sigh of relief.

The next day, when she went to pay her respects to Madam Chu, the old lady held Jiang Yanyi's hand and kept praising her for the good bone soup she made last night.

Liu and her two daughters were listening on the side, feeling very upset. When Jiang Yanyi had the bone soup delivered yesterday, she was serving the old lady, and naturally saw the delicious lotus root and bone soup.

She was indignant. Jiang Yanyi had always been a coquettish person, and had rarely been to the kitchen. It had only been a short time since she came to Xizhou, and she could cook such a delicious soup. Liu didn't believe anything she said.

When she was a girl, she rarely went to the kitchen. After she got married, she had to learn cooking in order to please her parents-in-law and win over her husband. Liu asked herself if she could make soup that tasted so good.

Liu also felt that Chu Changping had helped Jiang Yanyi open her shop, after all, the shop assistants were originally Chu Changping's people.

Jiang Yanyi went back to the shop yesterday and brought back two bowls of bone soup, which was obviously made by the chef in the shop. In order to win the favor of the old lady, she had the nerve to say that she made it herself!

Liu glanced at her two daughters. The eldest daughter was daydreaming, and the youngest daughter swallowed her saliva several times when she heard the old lady talk about the taste of the bone soup.

Liu felt even more upset. Her two silly daughters really didn't know how to ask for favor at all!

She thought that the old lady Chu usually cared for Jiang Yanyi and her brother, but rarely asked about her own two children, and she felt more and more aggrieved.

Her words were faster than her heart, and she still had a smile on her face. "I heard that Ayi opened an antique soup shop. Did you go to the shop yesterday to make bone soup? When I was in Beijing, I wanted Shubao to learn how to make pastries. The master on the stove taught her for a long time, but it was a pity that Shubao was not talented. If she could be one tenth of Ayi, I would be satisfied."

Liu's words sounded like she was praising Jiang Yanyi, but there was a dagger hidden in her.

She said that Chu Shubao had learned how to make pastries for a long time, and that Jiang Yanyi's soup was brought back from the antique soup shop. Wasn't she saying that the soup was most likely not made by Jiang Yanyi.

Although Old Madam Chu loved Jiang Yanyi, she would be disappointed if she knew that Jiang Yanyi claimed that he made the soup made by others in order to win her favor. She didn't want her child to go astray in such matters.

Sure enough, Old Madam Chu's smile was not as obvious as before, but she still didn't say a word against Jiang Yanyi. She only said to Liu, "Shubao brought me the embroidery yesterday. You have taught the child well."

Liu was overjoyed when she heard Old Madam Chu's compliment to Chu Shubao.

But she didn't want to give way to Jiang Yanyi so easily, and said with a smile: "I think the soup yesterday was really delicious. Since Ah Yi has such a good skill, he should teach my aunt, so that my aunt can make soup for my mother to drink and fulfill her filial piety."

Liu thought she was smart, but her thoughts were all written on her face. Jiang Yanyi did

n't expect that she would think of her just because she made soup. Her original intention was to show filial piety to Mrs. Chu, but Liu's words made Mrs. Chu misunderstand her, and Jiang Yanyi felt uncomfortable.

She said straightforwardly: "My skills are not good, but if my aunt wants to learn, let's make bone soup at noon."

Mrs. Chu was an experienced person and knew what Liu meant by these words, but when she heard Jiang Yanyi agreed so readily, she thought that the soup should be made by her granddaughter.

In fact, even if Jiang Yanyi didn't make the soup last night, she wouldn't blame her granddaughter. After all, Jiang Yanyi and his sister were all alone. They felt uneasy and helpless trying to please her. Old Madam Chu felt distressed.

She glanced at Liu and said to Jiang Yanyi with a smile, "It seems that I, an old woman, will have a good meal at noon again!"

Old Madam Chu's look made Liu look a little embarrassed.

She suddenly felt unsure. Jiang Yanyi agreed so readily. Could it be that she really made the soup herself?