Chapter 658 - New Fashions (1/2)
Zhu Junyang’s phoenix eyes flickered as he looked towards Yu Xiaocao. That la.s.s was currently grinning simple mindedly. The thing that made him the most angry was that the little la.s.s was personally helping that fellow Su Ran ladle up a bowl of ‘Buddha Jumps Over the Wall’ and she even blew on the soup a bit as if she was afraid he would get scalded…
“Ahem ahem!” Zhu Junyang coughed fakely a couple of times. When everyone turned their heads to look at him, including the puzzled Xiaocao, he slightly frowned and pretended to look out of sorts as he sighed lamentfully, “Argh, I don’t know if I wasn’t used to the crude environment of the northwest, but I wasn’t able to eat very well there. Lately I’ve been feeling under the weather quite often. Not sure if I’ll ever get back to full health…”
Old General Zhao and his son were speechless at this.
Everyone who had served in the northwest knew that, from time to time, they would sneak into the enemy side in the middle of the night and steal some cattle and sheep from them. These stolen goods were then used to reward the soldiers with some added meat to their rations. As the commander of the northwest army, Zhu Junyang ate quite a lot of beef and mutton while he was there. In addition, this fellow frequently took his trusted aides along to infiltrate deeply within the prairie and hunt game. They ate and ate until all of them were plump and brawny. Who within the army didn’t know that Royal Prince Yang had a set of barbecue condiments on hand that caused any meat that he roasted to taste incredibly delicious and unique?
If he claimed that his body was weak and sad, Old General Zhao would be the first to jump out and state that he was lying! However, when he saw Imperial Prince Xu look over in his direction, he understood a simple point——a certain person was feeling jealous and was now playing pathetic to get attention!
How could Yu Xiaocao not know what tricks this fellow was playing? Obviously he saw her ladling up some Buddha Jumps Over the Wall for Sir Su and became incredibly jealous! In front of all of these people, she also couldn’t say much and silently ladled up a bowl for him as well. She glared at him surrept.i.tiously and said, “The reason why ‘Buddha Jumps Over the Wall’ has become the signature dish at the Medicinal Cuisine House is because it has the ability to replenish a person’s yang energy, ease constipation, clear the lungs, and prevent cold energy from settling into a person’s body. Thus, you should eat more.”
Following that, she served up a bowl of the soup to everyone present. Although Old General Zhao didn’t spend much time in the capital, he had also heard of the fame of the Yu’s Medicinal Cuisine House, especially the dish, ‘Buddha Jumps Over the Wall’. All of the rich and powerful individuals in the capital praised this dish to the skies. Old General Zhao was also considered an old glutton and sent his servants over to reserve a spot at the Medicinal Cuisine House. However, who would have thought that all of the private rooms had been reserved for the next ten days? As for ‘Buddha Jumps Over the Wall’, there was a three month wait in order to eat this dish...so was it easy to eat something scrumptious anymore?
Luckily, the owner of the Yu’s Medicinal Cuisine House was an old friend of the Zhao Family. Today, she had welcomed them back with a feast that included ‘Buddha Jumps Over the Wall’. Furthermore, the creator of this dish had cooked it for them today. He needed to savor this food as much as possible!
Old General Zhao first used a spoon to bring up some soup to his mouth. He lightly blew on it before taking a sip. The rich and savory taste of food exploded onto his taste buds. He ate a few more bites in quick succession before he finally remarked in pure satisfaction, “This dish has simply been simmered in a ceramic pot but it has a very complicated and delicate flavor while preserving the unique taste of each ingredient. The food is soft, tender and moist with a dense savory taste. It’s rich without being greasy and every ingredient adds its own flavor to the whole. It is incredibly delicious. Very good, very good! It’s worth waiting three months to eat this!”
“Grandfather Zhao, if you like it, I’ll give you the ‘most honorable’ members.h.i.+p card to the Medicinal Cuisine House. Members who have this card have supreme authority to eat at the restaurant and don’t need to reserve a spot in advance or wait in line. They can eat as much as they wish…” There were only five special members.h.i.+p cards available and they were made out of carved pieces of nephrite and inlaid with pink diamonds. These cards looked very cla.s.sy and elegant. She had only given out two ‘most honorable’ members.h.i.+p cards so far. One had been given to the emperor and the other had been given to Imperial Prince Jing’s Estate.
When Old General Zhao heard this, he shook his head repeatedly. What a joke, only the emperor could be considered ‘the most honorable above all’. As for Imperial Prince Jing, he was Imperial Prince Xu’s father and Xiaocao’s future father-in-law, so it was fine for him to take it. He, on the other hand, didn't have the virtues or connections. How could he dare to get the same treatment as the emperor?
When Yu Xiaocao saw that he was persistent in declining her offer, she didn’t force it and said, “In actuality, it doesn’t matter whether or not you have this card. I’ll inform the manager of the store that when you go and give him your ident.i.ty, there will naturally be someone who will bring you to your own private room to eat there.”
Only then did Old General Zhao nod his head in agreement. Zhao Bufan chuckled, “Can this special private room of yours only be used by your Grandfather Zhao? Can your Uncle Zhao also enjoy the glories of this benefit?”
“Of course you can! However, you need to make sure you discuss things with Grandfather Zhao to avoid going there on the same day.” Yu Xiaocao smiled. In actuality, she rarely went to the Medicinal Cuisine House to eat there herself. Thus, the private room that was set aside for her was hers in name only.
The two Zhao Generals looked at each other and expressed their satisfaction. That la.s.s Xiaocao hadn’t distanced herself from them just because they moved away from Dongshan Village and hadn’t seen each other for a long time. Instead, she remembered them accordingly.
Following that, the rest of the meal went by smoothly and happily for both the guests and hosts. ‘Pan-baked pork filet’ had a golden color and delicate texture. It was salty and savory. ‘Sweet and sour crispy pork’ was flaky on the outside and tender on the inside with a tasty sweet and sour flavor. It truly stimulated people’s appet.i.tes. ‘West Lake fish in vinegar gravy’ had a tasty sweet and sour flavor while also containing the savory flavor of crab. ‘Steamed pork with rice flour’ had the sweet scent of glutinous rice permeating into the fatty cuts of meat, making the dish incredibly rich.