Border Cook

Chapter 687 Happy Event
"Anything else?" Xia Mingyue asked.

But Song hesitated for a long time, lowered her head, and seemed to be very embarrassed to say it.

Just when Xia Mingyue was wondering what could have caused the usually decisive Song to be so embarrassed, Lu laughed out loud, "This is a happy event, there's nothing to be embarrassed about saying it, my sister-in-law is happy for you too!"

happy event?

Xia Mingyue was surprised, but she laughed, "Since it's a happy event, then tell me about it, so that I can be happy with you and share in the joy."

"Yes." Lu chimed in.

Seeing this, Song finally raised her head, but her face was still red and full of embarrassment. "It is indeed a happy event. It is... I am getting married."

marry?

Xia Mingyue became more and more interested.

Previously, Xia Mingyue also knew that Song moved out because of Li Shuisheng and because she didn't want to remarry.

At that time, I thought Song would live alone for the rest of her life, but I didn't expect that she would get married at this time.

"Who is my husband? What kind of person is he?"

Xia Mingyue was very curious about what kind of person could make Song open her heart and fall in love with her.

"Mrs. Xia also knows him. He is Liu Caisheng who lives in the North City District." Mrs. Song said shyly, "Before, Caisheng led people to renovate the kitchen for Mrs. Xia. I was responsible for delivering some tea, meals and other things. After a few visits, we became familiar with each other. After such long-term contact, I feel that Caisheng is a good person..."

Love grows over time and the two are attracted to each other, which is great.

Xia Mingyue couldn't help but nodded repeatedly, "Indeed, Brother Liu is a good person, and you two are a good match."

"When are you going to get married?"

"I have asked someone to pick a date."

After talking about the matter, Song's shyness was much less, and she smiled and said, "It's scheduled for April 22nd, there are still 20 days to go."

"That's great. I just happened to be back, so I can drink a glass of wedding wine and share in the joyous atmosphere."

Xia Mingyue smiled and said, "Preparing for a wedding is not an easy task. During this period of time, you can divide the work at hand among the people. If there is no work to be divided, Sister Lu and I will take care of it. Then I will give you ten days off."

As Xia Mingyue spoke, she rummaged through the things she brought back from the capital, took out two rolls of scarlet cloth she had bought from a shop in the capital, and a pair of gilded bracelets, and handed them to Song. "I'm happy that you're getting married. These are my gifts for your dowry."

"Thank you, Madam Xia, thank you, Madam Xia." Song was flattered and thanked her profusely. Then, according to what Xia Mingyue had said, she went to arrange some matters in the central kitchen.

Mrs. Lu continued talking to Xia Mingyue.

Not long after, Shopkeeper Ge came home in a hurry, bringing a lot of things with him.

A few fresh chilled sea fish, a basket of shrimps, and some of Buyunlou’s signature dishes that are currently very popular.

Honey-grilled quail, fermented bean curd pig's trotters, garlic-flavored fish casserole, spicy fried chicken offal...

These dishes were all created by Lou Shanzi, Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu, and are also the dishes with the highest order rate in Buyunlou nowadays.

Xia Mingyue tasted them one by one.

The roasted quail has crispy skin and tender meat, and is not greasy to eat, with a refreshing taste in your mouth. When selling, it can be chopped into small pieces, or the whole quail can be split in half according to the needs of diners. But no matter how you eat it, it tastes wonderful.

Pig's trotters with fermented bean curd are first stewed and then roasted. The former has already stewed the trotters until they are soft and boneless, and then with the help of the color and flavor of fermented bean curd, the trotters taste even richer. When eating, just put the chopped trotters and bones into your mouth. The bones can be spit out very easily, leaving only the tendons and skin in your mouth, which is soft and glutinous and very satisfying.

The garlic-flavored fish pot is somewhat similar to the whole roasted fish that Xia Mingyue had made before, but it is fried first and then stewed in a casserole as a whole. The soup continues to boil, and the stewed fish becomes more tender and tasty. The addition of a large amount of minced garlic makes the whole fish pot rich in garlic flavor, with a rich and wonderful taste.

Spicy fried chicken gizzards are used, chicken hearts, chicken intestines and other ingredients. After being completely washed and cleaned, they are fried with chili peppers, peppercorns and other spices. The fried chicken gizzards are chewy and tasty, and the spicy taste fully stimulates the taste buds. The more you eat, the more appetizing you become. It is simply a great dish to go with rice...

In short, each one is delicious!
Xia Mingyue was full of praise for these dishes, and only complimented the three people on their improved cooking skills. She also felt more and more that she was right at the beginning, and that these three people would become excellent chefs in the future!
Xia Mingyue praised the chef of Buyunlou, which made Ge, the owner of Buyunlou, feel proud and very happy.

While tasting the food, Shopkeeper Ge gave a brief account of the current situation of Buyun Tower.

The Buyun Tower in Jinqiu County is in excellent condition and is still a well-known brand in the entire county, and no one can surpass it.

Moreover, Manager Ge felt that the restaurant business was profitable and had a good reputation, so he simply closed the Sifang Casino completely and even sold the house and land where the casino was originally opened.

With the money from the resale, Manager Ge opened a new restaurant in Changzhou City, still named Buyunlou. As for the arrangement of chefs, Manager Ge initially decided to send Lou Shanzi and his apprentice over there. In Jinqiu County, the brothers Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu would take the lead.

"Shanzi is a calm and steady person. There will be no problem if he is sent to expand the territory." Shopkeeper Ge said with a smile, "Although Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu are erratic, I am here to guard them. With Lu's presence, there will be no problem."

indeed.

Xia Mingyue nodded, "Manager Ge's arrangements are excellent."

Shopkeeper Ge chuckled and said, "I'll ask Wu Xiong to look after the stall in Changzhou City. Madam Jiang and Manager Fu are there, so I don't think anything serious will happen."

Xia Mingyue nodded again, and suddenly an idea came to her mind. It is understandable that Shopkeeper Ge wants to do other business instead of running a gambling house, but he went to Changzhou City to open Buyun Tower with such painstaking efforts...

It looks like they just made some dumplings just for the sake of a dish of vinegar!
Shopkeeper Ge treats Wu Xiong very well!
After talking with Manager Ge for a while, in the evening, Song Changhe, the manager of the vinegar workshop, came.

He brought two jars of freshly-made millet vinegar, saying they were going to be given to Xia Mingyue as a welcoming gift.

Xia Mingyue did not refuse and accepted them all. She also chatted with Song Changhe about the current situation of the vinegar workshop.

Millet vinegar has a good texture, rich flavor and a strong aroma. It is now famous, and merchants not only from Jinqiu County and nearby villages and towns, but also from more distant counties and prefectural cities come here to purchase goods.

Millet vinegar has apparently become a well-known signature product and specialty of Jinqiu County, and it is in short supply.

Except for a certain amount that must be sold to local residents in Jinqiu County every day to meet people's daily needs, the rest of the vendors who come to purchase goods almost don't have stock in hand. They have to make an order first and wait for a few days before the goods are available. If they wait until the festival, they may have to wait for half a month.

The supply of goods was in short supply, and many people even wanted to get more money, so they used backdoors to get the goods in advance. Some people with bad intentions even wanted to sneak into the vinegar workshop under the guise of doing work, learn the skills, and steal the goods in the workshop.

In this regard, Song Changhe had to discuss it with the current Jinqiu County Magistrate Fan Pingyang, and a supervision office was jointly established by the Jinqiu County Government and the vinegar workshop to prevent corruption, theft and other incidents from occurring within the vinegar workshop.

Fan Pingyang also took the matter seriously, and personally supervised several inspections with Song Changhe, clearing up some bad habits and behaviors. Nowadays, no one dares to act rashly in the vinegar workshop.

"It's just that everyone misses Madam Xia terribly, especially those vinegar-making masters. If Madam Xia is free, she must go to the vinegar workshop and talk to everyone." Song Changhe made an invitation.

"Sure." Xia Mingyue agreed readily, "I'll definitely go and sit down with you after I'm done with my work these few days."

"Then I'll be waiting for you, Madam Xia." Song Changhe grinned.

The things were delivered and the conversation was almost over. Song Changhe knew that Xia Mingyue had come a long way from the capital and must have been very tired on the way, so he did not disturb her too much and said goodbye and went back.

The next day, Guo Kang came to visit.

Guo Kanglai didn't know that Xia Mingyue had returned from the capital, but the weather was fine and there were many spring specialties in the orchards and farms, so Guo Kanglai picked some and sent them over.

Guo Kanglai was very happy to see Xia Mingyue coming back, and showed Xia Mingyue the things he brought one by one.

There were wild vegetables like ashweed and noodles growing in the fields, fresh and tender Chinese toon buds growing on the branches, elm money trees with elm money so tender that they were almost dripping with water, and tender lotus leaves that had just grown in spring...

Xia Mingyue likes fresh food from the fields the most. Seeing so many delicious spring foods, she is delighted. "Thank you, Manager Guo, for remembering me."

"It just so happens that Manager Guo is here. The emperor has granted him a lot of good farmland during his visit to the capital. I checked and found that the place is not far from our farm. You can take the documents and take a look. After you take over, you can see how to manage it."

"In addition, when I went to the capital this time, I studied the method of planting cotton with the Minister of Revenue, Mr. Fan. If we grow cotton by cultivating cotton seedlings first and then planting them separately, the effect should be better. We can use this method to plant some cotton in our farm this year..."

Xia Mingyue took out the cotton plucking machine that Fan Hongyu gave her and discussed cotton planting with Guo Kanglai for a long time.

Guo Kanglai listened carefully and thought that the cotton planting method of raising seedlings first was very feasible, but he also said, "Winter wheat has already been planted, and it is not appropriate to change it now. We can only wait until after the autumn harvest this year, make preparations in advance, and clear the land specifically for planting cotton."

"I will also go to the new farm to see if there is any suitable vacant land. If there is, I will try to grow cotton seedlings as you said and see how it goes."

"You can arrange it according to the season." Xia Mingyue smiled, "If the fields are fertile enough, you can also use intercropping. This way, you can produce wheat without affecting your food and drink, and you can also plant cotton and sell it for money."

The so-called intercropping is to plant wheat in a row for every three or four rows in the field, then plant cotton, and then plant wheat again.

Taking advantage of the different growth cycles and growth times of wheat and cotton, the two can be planted together without delaying their growth, maturity and harvesting, thus maximizing land utilization.

However, this intercropping method requires high fertility of the field. If the fertility is insufficient, it will be counterproductive and neither effect will be achieved.

The orchard had previously used intercropping of fruit trees, sweet potatoes, and spring rapeseed, so Guo Kanglai had some experience with intercropping. He immediately understood the key point Xia Mingyue mentioned and nodded repeatedly, "Madam Xia, rest assured, I understand."

Guo Kanglai was steady in his work, so Xia Mingyue was naturally relieved. However, she also reminded him, "If we are short of manpower, we should train and purchase. If we find someone who is very suitable, we can hire him for either long-term or short-term work. Remember not to take on everything yourself to save me money. You have to know that if you are exhausted and there is no reliable person to take your place, not only will I not make any money, but I will have to pay more. We have to settle this account clearly."

Xia Mingyue joked, Guo Kanglai felt warm in his heart, and replied with a smile, "That's right, Madam Xia, don't worry, I have a good calculation, and I will definitely not do business that will make the master lose money."

"That's fine." Xia Mingyue smiled and selected some plain cloths from the gifts brought by people from the capital and those who had visited her in the past few days, as well as medicinal herbs and items used in the farm, and asked Guo Kang to take them along.

When Guo Kang was about to leave, he expressed his gratitude profusely.

After he left, Xia Mingyue began to study with great interest how to deal with these fresh delicacies produced from the fields.

As for wild vegetables, blanch them in water first, then mix them with cold dishes and eat them with porridge in the morning and evening. They are refreshing and delicious with rice, and leave your mouth full of fragrance.

The rest is mostly salted to remove the water, chopped up and seasoned with meat fillings, used to make wontons with thin skins and large fillings, small and delicate dumplings, and plump white buns...

Each one is delicious!
Needless to say, elm seeds are delicious. They can be steamed into elm seed rice, made into steamed corn bread, and topped with spicy but fragrant chili oil, which is extremely satisfying.

Tender lotus leaves have many uses, such as lotus leaf steamed pork, lotus leaf chicken, lotus leaf porridge, lotus leaf steamed spareribs...all different, but all delicious!
As for the seasonal Chinese toon sprouts, they can be chopped into small pieces and mixed with egg liquid to make egg pancakes, or marinated with meat and fried chili peppers to make Chinese toon meat sauce, or the whole Chinese toon sprouts can be coated with egg and flour liquid and cooked in a frying pan to make crispy Chinese toon fish...

Just when the whole yard was filled with rich fragrance, guests came to Xia Mingyue's house again.

It was obvious that this time's guests had bad intentions.

(End of this chapter)