Half an hour later, when the carriage returned to the mansion, it stopped directly outside the kitchen. Everyone in the kitchen, from the head chef to the servants, stood outside watching the various ingredients being carried down.
"Master Cai, the young master has bought so many ingredients. Is he really planning to cook a huge feast?" the kitchen helper in charge of chopping vegetables whispered to the head chef.
"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?" Master Cai, who was in his early fifties, said with a frown.
Looking at the Fourth Young Master, who looked remarkably like the Third Young Master, and Master Cai solemnly directing which ingredients to place where, I could already picture the chaotic scene that would soon unfold in the kitchen.
Although he was just a cook, the kitchen was his territory. Unfortunately, the person who was going to occupy his territory was the young master of the mansion. He was unhappy, but he didn't dare to stand up and say anything.
We can only endure it and let this young master act recklessly this once.
Regardless, this young master had suffered a lot outside, and he was happy for his master to have finally been found.
He was certain that, let alone the kitchen he managed, even the adults' study, a place of great importance, would not be opposed if the young master wanted to go in and cause trouble.
After calming himself down, Chef Cai followed him into the kitchen. Ye Liangcheng, who had been following his younger brother, suddenly remembered to tell Tianxuan that this was Chef Cai, the head chef of the household.
"Master Cai, my mother has set up a kitchen in my yard, but the pots and pans are still brand new and unused. They haven't been cleaned yet, so the dishes will have an off-putting smell. Please forgive me for taking up your space." Tianxuan said to Master Cai with her hands clasped in a fist.
Judging from Tianxuan's attitude and words, Master Cai immediately said, "Young master, please feel free to ask if you need anything or can't find it."
Master Cai has changed his mind. He will wait by the side and give the young master some pointers, but he will be careful with his tone so as not to hurt his pride.
Also, I'll bring him my spare set of knives and such. Besides, I'll be watching him closely, so he won't use a knife meant for cutting meat to chop hard bones or anything like that, and I won't break it.
In any case, he would never give the young master the knife he was currently using.
"Yonghua's family, go to the cupboard and get my spare set of knives for the young master," Master Cai called out.
A cook at the door immediately responded and went inside. Tianxuan looked around and noticed that on the knife rack on the cutting board, there were only a few knives stuck in the bottom layer. They all looked chipped or dull, clearly belonging to someone who worked as a kitchen helper.
Tianxuan already knew that cooks cherish the knives they use, just as scholars cherish the writing implements they use, and martial artists cherish their weapons.
Because that's how he is now. Whenever his older and younger brothers help him chop vegetables or something, they use his knife, and he feels bad about it. Later, when he had enough money, he bought a few more knives for them to use as they pleased, but he never let them use the ones he used.
Tianxuan smiled and said, "No need to get it, I brought it myself."
After saying that, he said to Xizi, who had just come looking for him, "Go to my room and fetch the leather bag and the thick cloth bag from under the bookcase."
"Yes, I'll go right away." Xizi responded and ran off. When the young master returned to the manor, he had specifically instructed not to touch the two bags he was carrying, and no one knew what was inside.
After hearing Tianxuan's words, Master Cai raised an eyebrow. He actually had special knives? That sounded plausible.
Then, Tianxuan asked someone to help clean some ingredients.
"Young master, let me go and slaughter this duck first," a kitchen helper said.
"No need, I'll butcher the duck myself later. Just please help me clean these vegetables," Tianxuan said.
Slaughtering it yourself? Those in the kitchen who heard this exchanged glances, thinking to themselves, "Putting aside the fact that no head chef would slaughter the ingredients himself?"
Besides, you are the fourth young master of this mansion, our young master.
If the master and mistress find out about this later, won't they blame us?
"Then, where is the fish?" The cook from Yonghua's house, who had been stopped and hadn't gone to get Master Cai's spare knife, also stepped forward and asked.
"Well, I'll prepare all these live animals myself," Tianxuan said, looking around at the ingredients before declining again.
He genuinely distrusted them, and besides, watching them instruct him on how to slaughter and process the animals was less reliable than doing it himself; he had no intention of taking the easy way out.
Even after all this time, the older brothers are only barely qualified to help with preparing the ingredients.
If it weren't for the fact that most of the time cooking is done on the go and to save time, he wouldn't want his older brothers to do those things.
Hearing Tianxuan's words, everyone was at a loss. Had they heard correctly? Did the young master not trust them, or was this the first time he was cooking for his family and trying his best to do it himself? Was this the only way to show his sincerity and filial piety?
Before long, Xizi returned carefully, carrying a heavy bag in one hand.
Tianxuan gestured for him to put the things on the cutting board, then checked the time and felt it was about time to start preparing the ingredients. She took off her outer robe and handed it to Xizi.
Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, he took out a cloth bag from the thick cloth bag, and took out two more items from it, one tied in front of him and the other on his head.
Everyone understood; what they were wearing were aprons. Master Cai in the kitchen had one, and so did the other kitchen helpers.
However, the apron worn by the young master, although also made of cotton, looked much more luxurious than theirs.
The apron has several bright red chilies, embroidered with red thread on the two bottom corners, along with emerald green leaf stalks and a few lifelike garlic cloves.
Embroidered on the lower middle part of the apron were several elegant characters: "The warmth of everyday life is what soothes the human heart!" Ye Liangcheng read them aloud without thinking.
Master Cai was stunned. He had never seen anyone embroider poems on an apron before. Moreover, the poems really suited the kitchen perfectly.
"Who wrote these two lines?" Master Cai couldn't help but ask.
There's a saying that goes, "A gentleman keeps away from the kitchen." The author's original intention was to advocate that a gentleman should have a compassionate heart and not be able to bear witnessing killing. However, in reality, most people misinterpret it as a literal rejection of cooking, and have a derogatory meaning towards men who enter the kitchen.
Seeing these two beautiful lines suddenly made Master Cai quite excited.
“Yes, my mother saw it in a miscellaneous book and had my sister Feiyan embroider it for me.” Tianxuan replied proudly as she untied the knot on the leather bag on the cutting board, unfolding it like a huge leather book. When Master Cai saw what was inside, his eyes nearly popped out of his head…
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