Chapter 57 Chapter 57 Su Li and Niang Chen...
Su Li and her mother, Chen, came to the table carrying the sliced brown sugar pancakes. Chen smiled and nodded, "Excuse me for bothering you."
Chef Qu said, "Madam, you are welcome. We are all here today to prepare a feast for the master. It is fate that we meet. Please take a seat."
Su Li and Chen then sat down.
The young man sitting next to him looked at what Chen brought with curiosity, "What is this?"
Chef Qu: "Don't be rude."
Chen quickly said, "It's okay. This is a brown sugar pancake made by my youngest daughter. It's called Guokui."
Chef Qu raised an eyebrow. "Brown sugar pancakes? They look baked, don't they?"
Chen replied, "That's right."
Chef Qu nodded in approval, "That's a novel approach."
The name is also quite novel.
Nowadays, most sesame cakes are fried and not baked. Especially when he saw that this sesame cake was layered and not made in the same way as ordinary sesame cakes, and there were sesame seeds on it, Chef Qu became interested.
Chef Qu looked at Chen and said, "May I have a taste?"
Chen: "Of course."
He handed over the plate.
Chef Qu then reached out his chopsticks, picked up half of the pot cake and took a bite.
With a "crack", it's crispy and delicious. The crust is crispy, soft and chewy with a hint of wheat and sesame aroma. The layers are stacked and wrapped in boiling brown sugar magma, which almost burns your tongue.
"hiss…"
Chef Qu quickly pulled the pot cake out of his mouth, blew on it twice before taking another bite. This time, the brown sugar didn't burn him anymore. The sweetness of the brown sugar spread in his mouth again. The soft crust wrapped around the sweet brown sugar immediately captured the old man's sweet tooth.
The waiter who had asked the question earlier looked at Chef Qu and asked, "Master, is it delicious?"
Chef Qu nodded: "Not bad."
Seeing this, the waiter looked at Chen, who immediately understood what he meant. "Hey guys, you guys eat too."
The boy then picked up a piece with his chopsticks and started eating happily.
The three people next to him, except for the unhappy man who still had a sneer on his face, each took half a pot cake and ate it.
“Hot, hot, hot…”
"Hmm, hot..."
“Smells so good…”
"The cake made by the young lady tastes really delicious."
"yes."
This pancake called Guokui was surprisingly delicious. The brown sugar inside was just right, and it was a taste I had never tasted before. The only drawback was that it was too sweet.
Just as several people were sighing, Chen suddenly spoke,
"Originally, there are salty ones, but unfortunately I only brought the ones with brown sugar filling today, otherwise I could give them to the boys to try."
Chef Qu became interested and asked, "Can this pancake be made salty?"
"Yes, you can add pork and make it into pork filling." Chen said.
Chef Qu wanted to ask for more details, but then he thought about the craft that the other person relied on for their livelihood, and he was afraid it would be inappropriate to ask any more, so he gave up.
At this time, the young man beside him finished eating a piece, and seeing that the senior brother next to him had not eaten, he said, "Senior brother, why don't you eat?"
"No." He would not eat anything made by this peasant woman of unknown origin. It looked disgusting, and who knew if they washed their hands clean.
"If you don't want to eat it, I'll eat it for you."
…
At this time, in the front yard of Cao's house, Lin Shouzheng was sitting outside, anxiously waiting for Cao Yun to introduce him to the county magistrate. Merchants had a low status, and without a recommendation, he could not eat at the same table with those nobles.
Fortunately, Cao Yun still remembered that he was the one who paid for the banquet today, so he came out and asked him to come in.
Lin Shou stood up, straightened his clothes and hair, and then followed him in.
Cao Yun brought Lin Shou to the thin man sitting at the head of the inner room, bent over and smiled, "Uncle, this is the man I was talking about."
The man put down his chopsticks upon hearing this and looked up at Lin Shou. Lin Shou quickly stepped forward and saluted, "Greetings, County Magistrate. I'm from the Lin Family Silk Shop."
County Magistrate Wang nodded, "No need to bow."
"I heard that you organized today's banquet. The fish is cooked very well. Which restaurant did you choose to cook it?"
Lin Shou still maintained the gesture of greeting, "Your Excellency, this dish was made by a cook I found specially. It's called Squirrel Mandarin Fish, because it looks like squirrel fur."
"Not bad." County Magistrate Wang nodded, quite satisfied. You know, he has been in Qinghe County for more than ten years since he came from Jiangnan, and he has never eaten such a delicious fish. It is sweet, sour, crispy and has a unique taste. The name is also novel.
Unexpectedly, the fish was praised so highly, and Lin Shou couldn't help but feel happy.
"Thank you for your kindness, sir."
"Okay, go down."
"Yes, sir."
Only then did Lin Shou retreat.
Although he did not get any guarantee from the county magistrate this time, and it seemed to be just an ordinary meeting, in officialdom, sometimes it is a good thing to be familiar to the elders, and things can be done much faster than ordinary people. For example, last time he invited Cao Yun and other clerks to dinner and gave them gifts, Cao Yun turned around and made a few marks on the yellow book, which saved him a lot of taxes. This is something that a household clerk can do, let alone a county magistrate?
Lin Shou was in a good mood and even ordered the housekeeper Lin to give Su Li 5 taels more silver.
Su Li took the silver and said, "Thank you, Master Lin, and thank you, Steward Lin."
"No need to thank me, young lady, you did a great job today, it's all deserved." The reason why Butler Lin has been able to be a butler for so many years is not only because of his ability, but also because he is very good at judging the situation and understanding the thoughts of his master. At first, he looked down on Su Li because she was wearing shabby clothes, but now, because Su Li can cook delicious food and is liked by the noble, he greets her with a smile.
Su Li looked at the two faces of this person, but had no other thoughts in her mind, just because most people in this world are like this, and she gets used to it after seeing it so many times.
Steward Lin added, "By the way, young lady, the master said that he would send a carriage to take you back later."
This is a good thing. Su Li smiled and said, "Thank you very much."
Chen pricked up her ears. After the people left, she quickly stepped forward and asked, "Wu Ya, what did that man say? Why did I hear him say he wanted a carriage to take us back?"
Su Li turned around and said, "Yes, mother."
"That's great." Chen smiled. This way she could save a few cents.
However, when she thought of the feeling of riding in the carriage in the morning, Chen's face stiffened again.
Su Li didn't notice anything wrong and handed the purse in her hand to her mother Chen, "By the way, this is the silver for the settlement."
When Chen took the purse, her first reaction was that it was so beautiful. The fabric was unusual, and there were green bamboos embroidered on it. She estimated that it would sell for dozens of coins in a cloth shop.
Thinking of this, she did not open it, but returned it to Su Li, "Keep this silver for yourself and use it as a dowry in the future."
This was something Chen had been thinking about for a long time. Now that the family had a food stall that brought in hundreds of coins every day, there was no need to put the money her youngest daughter earned from the banquets into the public account. She should keep it for herself as a dowry.
As for whether her youngest daughter would spend the money recklessly, Chen had never considered it. In her heart, her youngest daughter was still the obedient and sensible daughter, and she guessed that she would save the money if she was given it.
So after Su Li stopped the carriage, Chen still didn't know what was going on.
"Mom, let's buy a mule too."
Buying a mule? Before Chen could come to her senses, she saw Su Li standing in the cattle and horse market and asked the driver to help look after the mule.
The driver whispered, "This mule is good. It has strong legs and fat feet, and its teeth are good too."
Then he added, "I just checked its feces. It's dry and not diarrhea. It's healthy."
Su Li also looked over and found that what the young man said was true. The hooves of this mule were indeed bigger than the others. When it saw her looking at it, it came forward and nudged Su Li's hand to see if there was any food hidden in her hand.
It's quite tempting, I think it's edible.
Su Li had no experience in choosing mules, she only knew that as long as they were edible, they must be healthy.
"Okay, let's do it."
After getting Su Li's nod, Lin Er turned around and asked the old man selling the mule, "Old man, how much is this mule for?"
The old man was brushing the mule. He glanced at Lin Er and said, "Eight taels of silver."
"Eight taels?" Why don't you go and grab it? Lin Er's face changed and he turned around and said,
"My dear, let's go look somewhere else."
Su Li didn't know the price, but seeing that Brother Lin had a bad expression, she knew it must be too expensive, so she nodded.
The old man saw the two men were about to leave and said,
"If you really want it, it's 7 taels."
Brother Lin turned around and said, "5 taels."
"No, forget it."
"Little lady, let's go."
The old man originally thought of fooling the two men because they were young, but he didn't expect to meet someone who knew the business, so he immediately said, "Okay, five taels is five taels."
Lin Er then looked at Su Li and said, "My dear, this price is acceptable."
"Okay, let's take this one."
Su Li didn't understand, but when she saw the pain on the old man's face, she knew it was almost the same.
"You have a sharp eye, young man. This mule is the best one I have. Although it is a little young, it is very smart. It can easily pull things with its camel." The old man checked the silver, accepted it, and then untied the rope.
Of course, there is only one thing, that is, he is a little greedy and eats more than other mules. Sometimes if he eats less, he will kick his feet and refuse to eat. Today, someone finally bought some food, and the old man was very happy.
But these old men certainly wouldn't say anything. He kept praising the mule, almost praising it to the sky.
Su Li naturally didn't take it seriously. Sellers would definitely try to find ways to praise their own products. They just had different standpoints.
"Young man, thank you for your help today." Su Li said to Lin Er who was helping to lead the mule.
Lin Er smiled and said, "It's not a problem."
Considering that he had eaten the brown sugar cake that Miss Su sent him this morning, this little thing was nothing.
On this side, Chen saw that Su Lizhen had bought a mule and scolded her,
"How much silver did you spend? What did you buy the mule for?"
"Five taels."
“So expensive!”
Asking Zeng Laoer to carry the things would only cost 5 cents for a round trip each day, or 8 cents at most. This mule costs 5 taels, which is not cost-effective no matter how you think about it.
Chen felt a little regretful that she had not stopped her daughter just now. It was all her fault that she was bewildered and listened to her daughter's nonsense that having a mule at home would make everything convenient.
Chen Shi didn't give up and looked at Lin Er, "Can you retreat?"
Lin Er looked at Su Li and shook his head: "No."
Chen had no choice but to give up this idea and quickly accepted the fact that her daughter had bought a mule.
However, this also means that I have a mule at home!
You have to know that only the village chief's family has a mule in the village, and no one else's family has one. Every time they do something, they have to borrow it from the village chief's family. Now their family also has a mule.
Chen felt happy just thinking about it.
When she thought about catching two piglets to take home and raise, Chen felt even happier. Her family's life was finally getting better.
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