Chapter 657: Anger (2/2)
“Alright ah, is there any point in saying more? I think you have too much time on your hands, causing you to think too much!” Zhao Bufan interrupted her. In actuality, he had also known it had been hard on his wife to live alone in the capital by herself. All she could do was think about her father-in-law and husband, who were at the borders, defending the empire. However, as a manly man who had the duty to protect his country and home, how could he be solely preoccupied with his immediate family?
Xiaocao hurriedly changed the subject out of compassion and said, “Auntie Zhao, every year my family cleans and fixes up your family’s residence in Dongshan Village. All of the furniture and household items are also preserved as well! When Older Brother Han goes on break, he’ll even stay there a couple of days. The villagers in Dongshan Village constantly speak of you all. If you have time on your hands, you can go back there a few days to see Older Brother Han or find my mother to chat a bit.”
Auntie Zhao also thought that this idea was feasible and smiled, “Then that will have to wait until after you and Imperial Prince Xu are married. Didn’t you say that your parents will be here in the capital the day after tomorrow ah? At that time, your mother will have more than enough to preoccupy her.”
Xiaocao wasn’t the least bit bashful when the subject of her own marriage came up. She even shamelessly said, “At that time, Auntie Zhao should come over and help more often. Otherwise my mother won’t be able to handle everything.”
“Okay, okay, okay! At that time, I will come over every day and help you, you shameless little lass, prepare your dowry!” Auntie Zhao tapped Xiaocao’s head a few times. Why was this little lass such an odd ball sometimes?
All of the ingredients had long been prepared and ready to go in the kitchen. The servants had washed all of the raw foods and had followed Xiaocao’s instructions on what to cut into cubes vs slivers. Now, they were just waiting for the ‘head chef’ to appear. On the stove, there was a pot of ‘Buddha Jumps Over the Wall’ bubbling merrily and blowing off steam. The aroma of the pot wafted through the air, tantalizing everyone it encountered.
“This is the signature dish of Medicinal Cuisine House——Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, right? It truly lives up to its name. Just the smell of the dish alone could make a person fall into ecstasy!” Auntie Zhao saw that all of the ingredients had been prepared in the kitchen and there were even some that she couldn’t recognize. Thus, she realized that there was very little she could do to help now.
Yu Xiaocao had shamelessly used the fruits of future people’s efforts and grinned, “Isn’t the seafood in our Dongshan Village famous ah? In my free time, I wondered if I could come up with a dish that used a lot of top-notch seafood and other ingredients! ‘Buddha Jumps Over the Wall’ was the result of my slow experimentation. In terms of ingredients, it requires at least eighteen, such as sea cucumbers, abalone, shark fins, shark lips, peppercorn and other famous and expensive materials. Furthermore, this dish replenishes the body, eases and lubricates the lungs and intestines, and prevents inflammation. Not only does it taste divine but it also heals the body! Thus, although it is on the expensive side, there are plenty of people who want to try it!”
“You are truly being too modest now. Who doesn’t know that the Yu’s Medicinal Cuisine House’s ‘Buddha Jumps Over the Wall’ requires a three month wait ah?” Although Auntie Zhao very rarely left her residence, there was very little that happened in the capital that escaped her notice.
“This only means that there are plenty of people in the capital who don’t lack money! The emperor is a wise ruler as the common people’s lives are only improving as time goes on!” Yu Xiaocao gleefully chirped. During this entire time, her hands had never stopped moving.
“This looks like ground meat, right? Are we making dumplings for lunch?” Auntie Zhao saw that she was mixing up the already minced meat together with slivers of water chestnut and egg white, so she couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.
Xiaocao rolled the meat mixture into large meatballs as she explained, “I’m planning on making Four Treasures meatballs. This dish embodies the meaning of luck, good fortune, long life, and happiness all in one.”
Before long, she had finished making the four large meatballs. Following that, she had the servants pour oil into a large pot and heat it up until it was smoking. Then she placed the meatballs into the hot oil, frying them until they became a golden brown. Next, she took out another pot and added an appropriate amount of hot water, soy sauce, star anise, scallions and ginger before placing the four large meatballs in. On low heat, she let them stew before raising the heat to finish the cooking. The finished Four Treasures meatballs had a lustrous golden shell and a fragrant aroma. It was obvious that Xiaocao’s culinary skills had improved again.
Following that, she also made ‘pan-baked pork fillet’ ‘West Lake fish in vinegar gravy’, ‘hand-held mutton’, ‘steamed pork with rice flour’, ‘braised intestines in brown sauce’, which were all famous dishes...and everything had been prepared perfectly. First on the table were the cold appetizers. These included ‘capital roast duck’, ‘unique roasted chicken’, ‘pickled pepper chicken feet’, ‘century eggs with tofu’, ‘pig ears with chili oil’, and ‘tree fungus salad’. Since most of the guests present were men and most men preferred eating meat, she deliberately made sure to have more meat dishes present.
When all of the beautiful and delicious dishes appeared on the table, everyone looked at them appreciatively. Zhao Bufan couldn’t help but say a few compliments, “Lass Xiaocao’s culinary talents are too good. She could even become a chef at Zhenxiu Restaurant!”
Zhu Junyang unhappily retorted, “Many of the chefs at Zhenxiu Restaurant have personally taken lessons from my lass ah! If it weren’t for my lass, I’m pretty sure Zhenxiu Restaurant wouldn’t even be standing very steadily in Tanggu Town!” His meaning was clear. Comparing his lass with the head chef at Zhenxiu Restaurant was an insult to her culinary talents and skills.
Fang Zizhen became quite displeased after hearing the prince throw around the words ‘my lass’. He glared hatefully at the youth and coldly huffed, “My Cao’er isn’t a part of your family, Imperial Prince Xu. You need to be more careful with what you say in order to avoid harming my Cao’er’s good name and reputation!” Oh ho, there was a fight brewing between the father-in-law and son-in-law now.
In order to be able to marry his little lass smoothly, how could Zhu Junyang possibly dare to confront Fang Zizhen, his future godfather-in-law, right now? He was quite sullen in his heart though——in about half a year’s time, the little lass would be a part of his family! They were already engaged so what was wrong with him saying ‘my lass’ from time to time?