Chapter 64
Manager Song returned to his hometown in the countryside, found old Mister Song, and told him about the matter. Old Mister Song shook his head like a rattle. He helped Cook Gao in the early years. This kind of favor was one less when used. If it wasn't necessary, don't go to him.
"Father, our restaurant is now at a time of life and death. You don't know how arrogant the owner of Qishanju is. She directly came to throw down the challenge. Said that if we lose the competition, this restaurant should not be opened.
They're already riding on our necks to poo on..." Manager Song added emphatic words and even blamed Jiang Yun Zhu for all the nasty things he did. Anyway, the old man stayed in the countryside and didn't know the situation.
Sure enough, old Mister Song was furious after hearing this. A girl! Even if you have some skills, how could you look down on others like this?
The two set off immediately and went to Lu Prefecture.
In Marquis Anping Manor. The gatekeeper told Gao Shun that someone wanted to see him. When he saw old Mister Song and Manager Song, it took him a long time to remember who they were.
After hearing their intentions, he only found it troublesome.
At this time, Manager Song took out four hundred liang silver with perfect timing. Only then, he showed a smile. If that was the case, he would make the trip.
But the to and fro would take at least four days. He had to ask the Manor for leave.
Marquis Anping liked to eat his dishes. He got to ask for leave. The housekeeper didn't dare to make decisions without authorization. So he went to ask the master of the house for instructions.
Now there were three masters in charge of the Marquis Anping's Manor, Marquis Anping, Marchioness Anping, and the eldest son, Lin Ting An.
Marquis Anping and Madam went to Jinguang Temple to worship Buddha. It wasn't a big deal. So the housekeeper found Lin Ting An.
At this moment, Lin Ting An was reading a book in the study room. The housekeeper came in. As soon as he explained the matter, he casually replied ‘Got it’ and the housekeeper withdrew.
After he left, Lin Ting An felt that his eyes were sour. Looking at the sky outside, he realized that he had been reading for two hours without knowing it.
He stood up, walked to the window, and looked into the distance, thinking of many things.
Suddenly, he remembered an ancient book and immediately went to the bookshelf to search for it.
The bookshelf in front didn't have it. The second one. The third one. When he got to the fourth bookshelf, he saw a painting hanging there.
Amidst the bright fireworks, a beautiful woman stood there with her eyes raised. Her eyebrows were full and her figure was graceful. She seemed to be admiring the gorgeous fireworks and seemed to be alone in the world. Everything doesn’t enter her eyes. It felt like an illusion, as if it wasn't in the human world.
Lin Ting An reached out and took down the painting. He remembered this painting. It was painted after he returned home on the Lantern Festival. He didn't expect it to hang here.
After taking another look, he rolled up the painting, put it on the bookshelf beside him, and continued to search for the ancient book.
On Jiang Yun Zhu's side. She and Manager Meng had just agreed on the prize of the contest and the rumors were already raging outside.
Everyone was talking about this matter. If Jiang Yun Zhu lost, she would work for Manager Meng for a year? Could Qishanju be opened? Would they not be able to eat Qishanju's food?
If Jiang Yun Zhu wins, she could win a renovated store. It was worth five hundred liang silver. What did five hundred liang silver mean? Many people would never earn it in their entire lives.
This competition was a big gamble. Everyone was guessing who would win. The entire Wuling County seemed to have become lively.
When it was time for dinner, Qishanju was overcrowded again. Everyone wanted to see how Jiang Yun Zhu was doing.
Unfortunately, they didn't see her person.
Jiang Yun Zhu was in the backyard at this time. For this competition, she was going to go all out. So many things needed to be prepared in advance.
Their competition was a best-of-three competition. So she must first consider which three dishes to cook on the day of the competition.
Ordinary dishes were definitely not suitable. It must be spectacular. She could take this opportunity to make a name for Qishanju.
After much deliberation, she finally settled on three dishes. However, it was troublesome to make these three dishes. One of them was currently a long-lost-recipe. Only in later generations, it was restored. To make it now, she needed a reason.
This reminded her of the ‘Bright Moon and Clear Spring’ she made last time. That time, she borrowed the line of poetry from Gu Yan Zhou’s mouth. This time...
She thought of Shen Feng Ming. Last time when she mentioned the pinhole image, he knew all about it. Maybe he knew about the book "Xiyuan Miscellaneous Talk". After all, his father was Academician Shen, talented in ancient and modern. The Shen Family should have this book in their possession.
Jiang Yun Zhu got up, came to Shen Feng Ming's door, and knocked on the door.
Soon, there were footsteps from inside. The door opened and Shen Feng Ming stood there, "Miss Jiang."
"I have something to ask you." Jiang Yun Zhu explained.
"Come in and sit down." Shen Feng Ming said.
Jiang Yun Zhu entered.
Shen Feng Ming's room was very simple. The same bed, the square table, and two chairs when he moved in. At this time, there were a few books, a pile of paper, and an inkstone on the table. It seemed that he was reading and writing now.
Jiang Yun Zhu looked around and felt that he wasn't a person who wanted to relax. That's right, Qilin Guards's work was often like the wind and rain. If he was afraid of suffering and tiredness, he couldn't do it.
However, the furnishings in this room were too crude. Jiang Yun Zhu felt ashamed. Before when she took care of him, she only cooked medicine for him a few times, cooked meals for a few days, took him to buy clothes once, and didn't care about anything else at all.
Just like that, he wanted to repay her?
She felt that she couldn't live up to it.
After the competition is over, let's tidy up his room. Putting aside gorgeous, it got to at least not be so shabby.
Jiang Yun Zhu thought to herself as she sat on the chair at one side and talked about her reason for coming. Five days later, there was a cooking competition. She wanted to research some new dishes. She wanted to ask Shen Feng Ming if there were any books about dishes. She wanted to use them as reference.
"There are ‘Food Clinic Records’, ‘Conscience Fasting Recipes’, "Mountain Family Pure Supply"... "Xiyuan Miscellaneous Talks"... "Yunlintang Diet"..." Shen Feng Ming listed one by one. Jiang Yun Zhu's eyes became brighter and brighter. Wait, he knew "Conscience Fasting Recipe"?
This was a long-lost book. In her dream, she searched for it for two-three years but came up empty-handed.
"Gentleman Shen, these books?" Jiang Yun Zhu felt that her breath was burning.
"If Miss Jiang wants to read it, I could write from memory for you." Shen Feng Ming said.
"You remember it all?"
"En."
Jiang Yun Zhu didn't even know what to say.
Her eyes were burning, Shen Feng Ming slightly looked away, picked up a pen, "Which book do Miss Jiang want to read first?"
"Conscience Fasting Recipe." Actually, Jiang Yun Zhu wanted to read ‘Mountain Family Pure Supply’, but thinking of the importance of the competition, she said, "Xiyuan Miscellaneous talk.”
"Okay." Shen Feng Ming began to write.
Jiang Yun Zhu sat next to him and watched. Because she was anxious to read the later content, she got closer and closer to him. So close that shallow breath brushed against his skin. Shen Feng Ming's handwriting, which was always very dignified, suddenly crooked.
In the evening, Jiang Yun Zhu got 'Conscience Fasting Recipe' and ‘Xiyuan Miscellaneous Talk’. The latter was fine. The former was a treasure she had found and read for a long time before going to bed.
The next day, she said that she was going to Lu Prefecture to buy some competition materials. Wuling County was too small to find some things at all.
Xue Jing and others wanted to go with her or wanted to go for her.
Of course Jiang Yun Zhu wanted to go in person. She was afraid that the things bought by others wouldn't meet her requirements.
The store was already very busy. Once she left, everyone was even busier. In the end, Shen Feng Ming went with her.
At noon that day, Lin Yu Bai and Qin Yao came to Qishanju for dinner.
With this kind of matter happening in the store, Xie Chen would come to the store to help if he had time in these few days. So today he was standing at the counter.
Qin Yao came in and chatted with Xie Chen seemingly unintentionally. They were all very polite words. Still, she felt very satisfied. She sat down on her seat and prepared to have a big meal.
When the food came, Lin Yu Bai took a bite and frowned slightly. Today's dish wasn't made by Jiang Yun Zhu. Although it was delicious, it was lacking a bit. Ordinary people might not be able to taste it, but he knew.
Qin Yao didn't seem to taste the difference. She happily enjoyed it. But she was a little worried, "I don't know if Qishanju could win the competition in four days."
She no longer cared about the fact that Jiang Yun Zhu didn't sell the paintings before. She was present when Jiang Yun Zhu challenged Boss Meng yesterday. She admired her a lot and didn't want Qishanju to disappear.
"Don't worry, Qishanju would definitely win." Lin Yu Bai stated.
"How do you know? I heard that Boss Meng is going to invite a top cook over." Qin Yao asked.
Lin Yu Bai knew it.
Qin Yao didn't bother with him.
On February 26th, Jiang Yun Zhu came back with a bunch of things. Her face looked a little tired, but she was full of energy.
Tomorrow was the day of the competition.
"How is it?" Mrs. Chen asked anxiously.
"Don't worry, Mother." Jiang Yun Zhu said. Then she began to process the materials until very late.
After a sweet sleep, the streets became lively very early the next day. Everyone wanted to see who would win and lose in today's competition.
As early as two days ago, a high platform was set up between Qishanju and Xishanju with stoves, chopping boards, and other things placed on both sides of the platform. Boss Meng knew that if he wins today, it would be Xishanju’s moment of fame. So he was much more active than Jiang Yun Zhu in doing things. He was the one who made this high platform.
Seeing that 9am arrived, the competition was about to start. The edge of the high platform was crowded with people. Suddenly there was a gong sound to clear the way.
Everyone looked back and saw many government servants and a sedan chair behind them.
"It's the magistrate."
"It actually got the magistrate out?"
Everyone was discussing in low voices, looking forward to today's competition even more.
Jiang Yun Zhu was making the final preparations at the Qishanju and found it a little strange.
The county magistrate was here. Don't know if it would affect today's events.
After a while, the sedan chair touched the ground. Magistrate Meng came out of the sedan chair.
Everyone hurriedly bowed to him and he told them to rise and there was no need to bow too much.
He heard that Qishanju and Xishanju would have a cooking competition. He had contemplated it. This was a good thing. It meant that the people in their county were rich and full of talents. Maybe it would be a good story to spread in the future. So he decided to take a look.
There were already ten young people standing on the high platform. These ten young people were all students of Wenyuan Academy and were ten well-known gentlemen in the county. They were invited by Jiang Yun Zhu to be the referee after discussing with Manager Meng.
Now that Magistrate Meng was here, naturally he must be added.
Manager Song returned to his hometown in the countryside, found old Mister Song, and told him about the matter. Old Mister Song shook his head like a rattle. He helped Cook Gao in the early years. This kind of favor was one less when used. If it wasn't necessary, don't go to him.
"Father, our restaurant is now at a time of life and death. You don't know how arrogant the owner of Qishanju is. She directly came to throw down the challenge. Said that if we lose the competition, this restaurant should not be opened.
They're already riding on our necks to poo on..." Manager Song added emphatic words and even blamed Jiang Yun Zhu for all the nasty things he did. Anyway, the old man stayed in the countryside and didn't know the situation.
Sure enough, old Mister Song was furious after hearing this. A girl! Even if you have some skills, how could you look down on others like this?
The two set off immediately and went to Lu Prefecture.
In Marquis Anping Manor. The gatekeeper told Gao Shun that someone wanted to see him. When he saw old Mister Song and Manager Song, it took him a long time to remember who they were.
After hearing their intentions, he only found it troublesome.
At this time, Manager Song took out four hundred liang silver with perfect timing. Only then, he showed a smile. If that was the case, he would make the trip.
But the to and fro would take at least four days. He had to ask the Manor for leave.
Marquis Anping liked to eat his dishes. He got to ask for leave. The housekeeper didn't dare to make decisions without authorization. So he went to ask the master of the house for instructions.
Now there were three masters in charge of the Marquis Anping's Manor, Marquis Anping, Marchioness Anping, and the eldest son, Lin Ting An.
Marquis Anping and Madam went to Jinguang Temple to worship Buddha. It wasn't a big deal. So the housekeeper found Lin Ting An.
At this moment, Lin Ting An was reading a book in the study room. The housekeeper came in. As soon as he explained the matter, he casually replied ‘Got it’ and the housekeeper withdrew.
After he left, Lin Ting An felt that his eyes were sour. Looking at the sky outside, he realized that he had been reading for two hours without knowing it.
He stood up, walked to the window, and looked into the distance, thinking of many things.
Suddenly, he remembered an ancient book and immediately went to the bookshelf to search for it.
The bookshelf in front didn't have it. The second one. The third one. When he got to the fourth bookshelf, he saw a painting hanging there.
Amidst the bright fireworks, a beautiful woman stood there with her eyes raised. Her eyebrows were full and her figure was graceful. She seemed to be admiring the gorgeous fireworks and seemed to be alone in the world. Everything doesn’t enter her eyes. It felt like an illusion, as if it wasn't in the human world.
Lin Ting An reached out and took down the painting. He remembered this painting. It was painted after he returned home on the Lantern Festival. He didn't expect it to hang here.
After taking another look, he rolled up the painting, put it on the bookshelf beside him, and continued to search for the ancient book.
On Jiang Yun Zhu's side. She and Manager Meng had just agreed on the prize of the contest and the rumors were already raging outside.
Everyone was talking about this matter. If Jiang Yun Zhu lost, she would work for Manager Meng for a year? Could Qishanju be opened? Would they not be able to eat Qishanju's food?
If Jiang Yun Zhu wins, she could win a renovated store. It was worth five hundred liang silver. What did five hundred liang silver mean? Many people would never earn it in their entire lives.
This competition was a big gamble. Everyone was guessing who would win. The entire Wuling County seemed to have become lively.
When it was time for dinner, Qishanju was overcrowded again. Everyone wanted to see how Jiang Yun Zhu was doing.
Unfortunately, they didn't see her person.
Jiang Yun Zhu was in the backyard at this time. For this competition, she was going to go all out. So many things needed to be prepared in advance.
Their competition was a best-of-three competition. So she must first consider which three dishes to cook on the day of the competition.
Ordinary dishes were definitely not suitable. It must be spectacular. She could take this opportunity to make a name for Qishanju.
After much deliberation, she finally settled on three dishes. However, it was troublesome to make these three dishes. One of them was currently a long-lost-recipe. Only in later generations, it was restored. To make it now, she needed a reason.
This reminded her of the ‘Bright Moon and Clear Spring’ she made last time. That time, she borrowed the line of poetry from Gu Yan Zhou’s mouth. This time...
She thought of Shen Feng Ming. Last time when she mentioned the pinhole image, he knew all about it. Maybe he knew about the book "Xiyuan Miscellaneous Talk". After all, his father was Academician Shen, talented in ancient and modern. The Shen Family should have this book in their possession.
Jiang Yun Zhu got up, came to Shen Feng Ming's door, and knocked on the door.
Soon, there were footsteps from inside. The door opened and Shen Feng Ming stood there, "Miss Jiang."
"I have something to ask you." Jiang Yun Zhu explained.
"Come in and sit down." Shen Feng Ming said.
Jiang Yun Zhu entered.
Shen Feng Ming's room was very simple. The same bed, the square table, and two chairs when he moved in. At this time, there were a few books, a pile of paper, and an inkstone on the table. It seemed that he was reading and writing now.
Jiang Yun Zhu looked around and felt that he wasn't a person who wanted to relax. That's right, Qilin Guards's work was often like the wind and rain. If he was afraid of suffering and tiredness, he couldn't do it.
However, the furnishings in this room were too crude. Jiang Yun Zhu felt ashamed. Before when she took care of him, she only cooked medicine for him a few times, cooked meals for a few days, took him to buy clothes once, and didn't care about anything else at all.
Just like that, he wanted to repay her?
She felt that she couldn't live up to it.
After the competition is over, let's tidy up his room. Putting aside gorgeous, it got to at least not be so shabby.
Jiang Yun Zhu thought to herself as she sat on the chair at one side and talked about her reason for coming. Five days later, there was a cooking competition. She wanted to research some new dishes. She wanted to ask Shen Feng Ming if there were any books about dishes. She wanted to use them as reference.
"There are ‘Food Clinic Records’, ‘Conscience Fasting Recipes’, "Mountain Family Pure Supply"... "Xiyuan Miscellaneous Talks"... "Yunlintang Diet"..." Shen Feng Ming listed one by one. Jiang Yun Zhu's eyes became brighter and brighter. Wait, he knew "Conscience Fasting Recipe"?
This was a long-lost book. In her dream, she searched for it for two-three years but came up empty-handed.
"Gentleman Shen, these books?" Jiang Yun Zhu felt that her breath was burning.
"If Miss Jiang wants to read it, I could write from memory for you." Shen Feng Ming said.
"You remember it all?"
"En."
Jiang Yun Zhu didn't even know what to say.
Her eyes were burning, Shen Feng Ming slightly looked away, picked up a pen, "Which book do Miss Jiang want to read first?"
"Conscience Fasting Recipe." Actually, Jiang Yun Zhu wanted to read ‘Mountain Family Pure Supply’, but thinking of the importance of the competition, she said, "Xiyuan Miscellaneous talk.”
"Okay." Shen Feng Ming began to write.
Jiang Yun Zhu sat next to him and watched. Because she was anxious to read the later content, she got closer and closer to him. So close that shallow breath brushed against his skin. Shen Feng Ming's handwriting, which was always very dignified, suddenly crooked.
In the evening, Jiang Yun Zhu got 'Conscience Fasting Recipe' and ‘Xiyuan Miscellaneous Talk’. The latter was fine. The former was a treasure she had found and read for a long time before going to bed.
The next day, she said that she was going to Lu Prefecture to buy some competition materials. Wuling County was too small to find some things at all.
Xue Jing and others wanted to go with her or wanted to go for her.
Of course Jiang Yun Zhu wanted to go in person. She was afraid that the things bought by others wouldn't meet her requirements.
The store was already very busy. Once she left, everyone was even busier. In the end, Shen Feng Ming went with her.
At noon that day, Lin Yu Bai and Qin Yao came to Qishanju for dinner.
With this kind of matter happening in the store, Xie Chen would come to the store to help if he had time in these few days. So today he was standing at the counter.
Qin Yao came in and chatted with Xie Chen seemingly unintentionally. They were all very polite words. Still, she felt very satisfied. She sat down on her seat and prepared to have a big meal.
When the food came, Lin Yu Bai took a bite and frowned slightly. Today's dish wasn't made by Jiang Yun Zhu. Although it was delicious, it was lacking a bit. Ordinary people might not be able to taste it, but he knew.
Qin Yao didn't seem to taste the difference. She happily enjoyed it. But she was a little worried, "I don't know if Qishanju could win the competition in four days."
She no longer cared about the fact that Jiang Yun Zhu didn't sell the paintings before. She was present when Jiang Yun Zhu challenged Boss Meng yesterday. She admired her a lot and didn't want Qishanju to disappear.
"Don't worry, Qishanju would definitely win." Lin Yu Bai stated.
"How do you know? I heard that Boss Meng is going to invite a top cook over." Qin Yao asked.
Lin Yu Bai knew it.
Qin Yao didn't bother with him.
On February 26th, Jiang Yun Zhu came back with a bunch of things. Her face looked a little tired, but she was full of energy.
Tomorrow was the day of the competition.
"How is it?" Mrs. Chen asked anxiously.
"Don't worry, Mother." Jiang Yun Zhu said. Then she began to process the materials until very late.
After a sweet sleep, the streets became lively very early the next day. Everyone wanted to see who would win and lose in today's competition.
As early as two days ago, a high platform was set up between Qishanju and Xishanju with stoves, chopping boards, and other things placed on both sides of the platform. Boss Meng knew that if he wins today, it would be Xishanju’s moment of fame. So he was much more active than Jiang Yun Zhu in doing things. He was the one who made this high platform.
Seeing that 9am arrived, the competition was about to start. The edge of the high platform was crowded with people. Suddenly there was a gong sound to clear the way.
Everyone looked back and saw many government servants and a sedan chair behind them.
"It's the magistrate."
"It actually got the magistrate out?"
Everyone was discussing in low voices, looking forward to today's competition even more.
Jiang Yun Zhu was making the final preparations at the Qishanju and found it a little strange.
The county magistrate was here. Don't know if it would affect today's events.
After a while, the sedan chair touched the ground. Magistrate Meng came out of the sedan chair.
Everyone hurriedly bowed to him and he told them to rise and there was no need to bow too much.
He heard that Qishanju and Xishanju would have a cooking competition. He had contemplated it. This was a good thing. It meant that the people in their county were rich and full of talents. Maybe it would be a good story to spread in the future. So he decided to take a look.
There were already ten young people standing on the high platform. These ten young people were all students of Wenyuan Academy and were ten well-known gentlemen in the county. They were invited by Jiang Yun Zhu to be the referee after discussing with Manager Meng.
Now that Magistrate Meng was here, naturally he must be added.
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