Chapter 53 Chapter 53 I didn’t expect it to be true…
Unexpectedly, you can't judge a book by its cover. Butler Lin couldn't help but change his impression of Su Li and others. He just didn't know how the dish would taste.
In the side hall,
Looking at the dish called Squirrel Mandarin Fish in front of him, Lin Shou nodded secretly.
Not to mention, the color is rosy and shiny, and it looks very beautiful and festive. This dish is also suitable for birthday parties.
However, even though he thought so, Lin Shou didn't have any hope for the taste of this dish. After all, he had eaten delicious food from all over the country, and it was rare for him to praise it. Moreover, how delicious could the dishes made by a few country girls be?
Lin Shou picked up the chopsticks placed beside the plate and reached out to pick up a piece of fish.
The room suddenly became silent at this moment. Almost everyone, including Butler Lin and Zeng Lao Er, looked at Lin Shou.
This fish? Why is it so sweet and sour? And it's so crispy and crunchy! The first bite is so crispy, you can even hear the sound of a crackle. The fish, coated in a sweet and sour coating, explodes in your mouth like a firecracker. The juicy, sweet fish and the subtle aroma of wine are irresistible. A flicker of surprise flashed in Lin Shou's eyes.
One bite and I was sure this was the dish.
Lin Shou finished the meal in one bite, but still felt it was not enough, so he took another piece with chopsticks. It was good, crunchy, fresh and delicious. Even Lin Shou, who was used to eating strong and spicy food, couldn't help but sigh.
Although he had already decided on this dish, Lin Shou's expression did not change much except for the surprise that flashed in his eyes when he took the first bite.
"It's okay." Lin Shou said lightly.
Then he added, "In that case, let's order this dish. The price is still ten taels. I'll send a carriage to pick you up tomorrow."
"It seems that Mr. Lin is not sincere in talking, so forget it. Uncle Zeng, elder sister and fourth sister, let's go." This time, Su Li was not like before. She turned around and left without any hesitation.
Seeing this, Su Hong and Su Tao didn't know why the fourth sister Su Li wanted to leave, but they had never had a backbone, so they hurried to catch up when they saw their youngest sister leaving. Zeng Lao Er didn't react to what was happening, and was stunned for a moment, then turned around and followed the three of them.
"Master?" Butler Lin looked at Lin Shou, wanting to seek his opinion.
"Stop it now."
Steward Lin finally reacted and quickly said, "Wait a minute, young lady."
Su Li stopped and looked at Lin Shou. Lin Shou cursed inwardly and compromised:
"15 taels."
Su Li still didn't stop.
"20 taels, 20 taels, that should be enough."
"make a deal."
After instructing Steward Lin to fetch the silver and hand it to Su Li, Lin Shou felt a little aggrieved for some reason. He had always been the one to trick others into buying his silk, or to find the right opportunity to buy silk from mulberry farmers at a low price. He never expected that after hunting geese all day, one day he would be pecked in the eye by a goose and meet such a little cunning person.
20 taels, I could have booked a table of good food at a famous restaurant in the county. But he only bought her fish, and the fish were provided by her, so it was really not worth it.
But Lin Shou thought again, if this dish can please the county magistrate, that little money will not be a big deal.
Thinking of this, Lin Shou felt much better.
After Su Li left the Lin Mansion with the silver, she did not go home immediately.
"Uncle Zeng, please take us to the blacksmith shop."
"Okay." Zeng Lao Er replied, hitched the mule, and carried Su Li and the other two to the blacksmith shop. He did not ask why they had to go to the blacksmith shop because he was still immersed in the scene just now and had not fully woken up.
Oh my God, that’s 20 taels of silver. Ordinary people would have to save for several years to earn that much. How could they earn it so easily?
To this day, Zeng Lao Er still doesn't understand why Mr. Lin so easily agreed to give the Su sisters 10 taels of silver to prepare the food, nor does he understand why the price was later increased to 20 taels, as if 20 taels of silver was only 2 cents in his eyes. Sure enough, rich people have so much silver that they can't spend it all.
Su Hong and Su Tao on the other side had the same idea. They sat on the mule cart for a long time without reacting, but soon their attention was distracted by the noisy sounds around them. Today was a market day, and it was more lively than usual. Although it was late, there were still many people buying and selling things, and the sound of bargaining was endless.
After walking through this area and reaching South Street, they arrived at the blacksmith shop. Su Li got off the car, followed by Su Hong and Su Tao. "Fifth sister, what do you want to buy?"
"Sister, I want to buy a knife." To be exact, she should customize a knife. She had thought about it a long time ago, but she didn't have that much money. For a professional chef, a knife that fits the size of her hand is very important. It can not only save labor but also improve efficiency. Especially recently, the amount of cooking has increased, and the knives at home are really cumbersome for her to use.
You know, in the past, Su Li had more than ten knives of various sizes, especially for cutting vegetables and butchering meat and deboning. Now she can't afford so many, so she might as well just buy one.
A knife? Don't we have one at home? Su Hong was puzzled but still followed him to the blacksmith shop.
After Su Li explained her purpose to the blacksmith inside, the strong man wiped his sweat and said, "Okay, no problem. Just pay the deposit and come back in three days to pick it up."
"Can it be less?" Su Li asked. Three taels of silver for a knife is too expensive. How much meat can you buy with three taels of silver?
"How about this, I'll give you a discount of 10 cents at most, no more." He was only giving a discount because he saw that the girl in front of him was dressed in rags. If it were someone else, he would not agree to it.
"Okay, thank you, uncle."
After taking out the change from her purse to pay, Su Li and her elder sister Su Hong went to buy two packages of brown sugar, a bag of winter melon candy, and about ten pounds of flour, glutinous rice flour and sesame seeds. They also bought five pounds of mutton and lamb leg bones, and two pounds of shiitake mushrooms, which people here call mushrooms. They spent a total of eight taels of silver, and only had two taels left after spending the ten taels of deposit given by the Lin family today.
Zeng Lao Er was shocked when he saw this. If they keep eating like this, no matter how much they earn, it won’t be enough to eat…
"Fifth sister, that's enough, that's enough." Su Li's shopping spree made her usually gentle and silent elder sister Su Hong anxious.
Su Tao, on the other hand, was eager to help carry the meat and other items, like Su Li's lackey. She knew there would be something delicious tonight! Especially since Fifth Sister had actually bought lamb! It was lamb! She'd only heard from her cousins that lamb was delicious; she'd never tried it herself, and she had no idea what it tasted like. Surely it must be much better than pork, right?
Su Tao drooled just thinking about it.
"Okay, sister, let's go back."
Huh, Su Hong finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Su Li's words.
At this time, at the Su family's home, Chen and Wu finally finished sewing the shoes, socks and clothes. Chen stood up and put down the things in her hands to take out the pot cakes baking in the oven. This was the dough that her youngest daughter had kneaded before she left. She only needed to knead it according to the instructions and put it in the oven to bake. Today and yesterday, she baked about 80 pot cakes in total. She only added salt to them and nothing else. It's strange to say, how did the youngest daughter make this pancake? The middle is hollow, just right for putting vegetables in it. This is what the Su family ate last night, with all kinds of stir-fried vegetables in it. It tasted pretty good.
The youngest daughter also said that she would buy some shiitake mushrooms today to make the sauce, and then let her husband and son take it with them to eat on the road. It would be better than eating the bean paste directly.
Thinking that her husband and son would be leaving tomorrow, Chen couldn't help but feel sad. In the kitchen, when no one was around, she quietly wiped away her tears.
For the past two days, everyone in the family acted as if this incident had never happened. No one mentioned it, and everyone seemed happy on the surface. However, everyone knew in their hearts that they didn't have much time left to be together.
"Mom, are the pot cakes ready?" At this time, Su Qingshan came in from outside. Chen quickly wiped away her tears, and Su Qingshan seemed not to see the tears on his mother Chen's face. He picked up a pot cake and started eating.
While eating, he praised
"Mom, it's delicious. You can eat it too. I'll bring some to Dad and the others."
In the past two days, Su's father and his two sons turned over the land at home and planted a crop of vegetables. Time was urgent, and the three of them worked hard and finally finished planting.
"Okay, take a basket and put it in." Chen wiped her tears and said.
"Okay." Su Qingshan picked up three, hesitated for a moment, but finally turned around and said, "Mom, I'll go then."
"Go ahead."
Not only Chen, but also Mrs. Wu felt bad. She touched her son and grandson's clothes again and again before folding them and putting them away. Aunt Lian had just gotten up and sat on the bed rubbing her eyes. She looked at her grandmother who was walking through the room and said in a baby voice, "Grandma, are you crying?"
Mrs. Wu wiped her eyes and said, "Grandma didn't cry. Has Aunt Lian woken up?"
"I'm awake." Lian Gu nodded, feeling a little strange. Grandma clearly cried, so why did she say she didn't cry?
But she was too young. When she heard her grandma say there was cake to eat, she quickly forgot about it and happily jumped out of bed to find Chen.
At 3 p.m., Su Hong and the other two finally returned home after more than an hour's journey.
Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Wu were still a little confused when they saw Zeng Laoer carrying Su Li's purchases into the yard. After sending Zeng Laoer away, Mrs. Chen looked at the almost whole leg of lamb and asked, "What is this?"
Seeing this, Su Hong hurried out and told her what happened today. At the end, she said, "Mom, I asked you to buy these. It has nothing to do with my fourth and fifth sisters."
When Chen heard that her youngest daughter had taken a job and that the reward was 20 taels, her first reaction was, "Daya, what did you say? 20 taels?"
Mrs. Wu was also shocked. Could it be that her granddaughter was deceived, or maybe she said it wrongly and it was actually 2 taels of silver?
"It's true, grandma. Uncle Zeng went with us. If you don't believe me, go ask him."
As soon as these words came out, Mrs. Wu's face changed again, "Are you saying that Zeng Lao Er also knows about this?"
"Yes, the three of us didn't dare to go, so we asked Uncle Zeng to accompany us."
This is bad, Mrs. Wu thought to herself, if Zeng Lao Er knows about this, won’t everyone in the village know about it? But...
"Did he follow you to buy things later?" Mrs. Wu asked again.
Su Hong nodded, not knowing why her grandma asked this.
That's good.
Mrs. Wu breathed a sigh of relief again. It seemed that she had bought the right things. There was a certain truth in not showing off one's wealth. The world was not peaceful nowadays, and it would not be a good thing for them to let others know that there was money in the house.
"Since you've bought it, let's cook it. It just so happens that our family hasn't tasted what mutton tastes like yet." said Mrs. Wu.
Although Chen's heart was bleeding, she thought that her husband and son would be leaving tomorrow. No matter how reluctant she was to part with the silver, it was not as painful as the thought of her son leaving her.
"Okay, then Wu Ya, you can cook them all." Chen said gritting her teeth. Anyway, meat cannot be added, so she might as well cook them all to nourish her husband and son.
"good."
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