Chapter 120: Even This Can Be Taken?
Jian Xingxia stared at the scene in utter dumbfounded astonishment.
The plump auntie frowned. “Hurry up and eat! It’ll get cold if you don’t!”
What a chef hated most was seeing diners delay eating. The effort and timing that went into certain dishes weren’t just about the work over the stove; it also extended to the dining table.
She had timed everything perfectly to serve them right at the peak. To ensure the texture and temperature remained optimal, she hadn’t dared to make quick stir-fries, opting mostly for braised and steamed dishes instead. She had feared that preparing too many items would delay the process, causing the food to grow cold and lose its flavor.
Otherwise, if there had been enough time, she could have whipped up another eight stir-fried dishes.
It took Jian Xingxia a long moment before she finally swallowed the bite of lard-residue bun in her mouth.
Heavens! It was absolutely delicious! It tasted so good that her head was practically spinning.
It was worth noting that in the past, she had always refused to eat soft lard residues, finding the soggy texture akin to eating nothing but fat and skin.
But could someone please tell her why a lard-residue bun could be this incredibly fragrant?! The lard residues were simultaneously crispy and tender, richly oily, and bursting with a savory aroma. It didn’t possess the texture of fatty meat at all; it was a top-tier delicacy!
Jian Xingxia was completely lost, and the way she looked at the auntie grew somewhat dazed.
“Auntie, were you truly pushed to a corner before you ended up at my place?”
Why did she feel that the number of delicacies this auntie knew how to make far exceeded the grand feasts she herself had eaten in her entire life?
Impoverished as she was, if she hadn’t ridden on Liang Chengcheng’s coattails, she wouldn’t have even tasted many major banquets. Yet this auntie had managed to create so many incredibly flavorful dishes using only the limited ingredients she had provided… Jian Xingxia truly felt she had found a treasure.
This time, it wasn’t a temporary laborer who couldn’t believe a windfall had dropped from the heavens; it was she herself who couldn’t believe her luck.
“Auntie, with a craft like yours, how could you possibly be pushed to a corner?”
Seeing the dazed, reverent looks on the faces of the trio as they ate, the auntie felt absolutely magnificent inside! This kind of pure bliss derived from eating was the ultimate praise for a chef!
However, Jian Xingxia’s words brought the auntie back to reality. She let out a sigh. “Without rice or flour, and without oil or meat, even the finest chef cannot cook a good meal.”
The auntie was unwilling to bring up the wretched mess of chores back home during such a wonderful moment, caring only about Jian Xingxia’s judgment of the food.
“How is it? Does it taste good?”
“It’s good, it’s good, it’s practically too delicious for words!”
Jian Xingxia didn’t dare claim this was the absolute best food she had ever eaten, but it was definitely the most cost-effective feast imaginable.
Da Hei and A-Feng cradled their bowls, sitting nearby as they waited expectantly for Jian Xingxia to serve the dishes. Originally, A-Feng hadn’t been quite this well-behaved; after all, Jian Xingxia had already invited him to sit down and eat. But the moment he saw Da Hei holding his bowl and waiting happily—waiting strictly for Jian Xingxia to ladle the food without ever grabbing for it himself—A-Feng hurriedly pulled his chopsticks back and followed suit.
Jian Xingxia snapped photos of each dish one by one, jotted down the flavors and textures, and then used serving chopsticks and spoons to distribute the food. With more people in the manor now, eating this way was necessary to guarantee health and hygiene. Furthermore, with so many dishes today, there would definitely be leftovers, and a distributed dining system made it easier to preserve the food so it could be eaten for the next meal.
The auntie had never seen such a grand display before, but as a chef, she gave it a brief thought and realized it was an excellent method. Thus, she also waited for Jian Xingxia to hand over her bowl and portion out the dishes.
Jian Xingxia scooped a mountain of food for the auntie, giving her the largest portions of meat. “Eat up, Auntie. It’s all you can eat!”
The auntie didn’t stand on ceremony. Although she had sampled quite a bit while cooking, one could never have too much rich oil.
Jian Xingxia was also highly curious. “Auntie, do you have things like sesame sauce, light soy sauce, and dried shrimp on your end too?”
“Light soy sauce? Dried shrimp?” The auntie didn’t quite catch the terms, but she could still answer Jian Xingxia’s question. “I’ve seen most of them, though a few are unfamiliar. Sesame sauce is available; it’s just simmered out of sesame seeds after all, so we have that on our end.”
Once Jian Xingxia explained what light and dark soy sauce were, the auntie understood. “Ah, we don’t call it light or dark soy sauce over there; it’s just called sauce starter or simply soy sauce.”
“I haven’t heard of dried shrimp either, but looking at it, it seems pretty much identical to dried small river shrimp. I’ve sun-dried those myself before.”
“There are a few other items that differ slightly, but once I give it a taste, I can figure out the general equivalent.”
Jian Xingxia felt a deep wave of admiration—she truly lived up to the title of a master chef. While a novice was still following a recipe to add ingredients down to the exact gram, a master chef only needed a couple of tastes to know what could be used and how to substitute it.
Jian Xingxia was delighted. As expected, having matching professional skills was wonderful; she didn’t even need to explain things one by one.
Amidst the conversation, the three of them ate their fill.
The auntie had exerted a tremendous amount of effort to prepare this meal, but unfortunately, her time was drawing to a close. She could vaguely hear a sound that seemed simultaneously like her mother’s voice and the wind blowing through the willow tree. She quickly stuffed a large bun into her mouth in one go.
Then she looked up at Jian Xingxia. “Miss, are you satisfied with today’s dishes?”
Jian Xingxia repeated her previous words, “Satisfied, highly satisfied!”
Seeing the restless, hesitant looks on the faces of A-Feng and the auntie after they finished eating, Jian Xingxia didn’t dawdle either. She quickly headed into the woodshed—which served as the guesthouse’s storeroom—and brought out the supplies.
The items for A-Feng were easy to handle since they were all medicine. The remaining large portion of the bottle of Yunnan Baiyao from yesterday was carefully poured into a bamboo tube, and she also provided some medicated plasters meant to relieve swelling and pain. There were no adhesive backings, because adhesive patches weren’t allowed across; when Jian Xingxia bought the medicine online, she had specifically chosen the kind that was applied directly as a paste and then wrapped with gauze, lacking any self-adhesive elements.
The Yunnan Baiyao powder wasn’t cheap, costing over seventy yuan a bottle, which exceeded A-Feng’s wage quota. Fortunately, Jian Xingxia remembered that the bottle of Yunnan Baiyao powder contained a single, highly potent insurance pill. By extracting the insurance pill, the remaining medicinal powder could be carried across.
Jian Xingxia placed the cotton-wrapped insurance pill back into the small glass vial. This item was essentially a miraculous life-saving drug for the temporary laborers. Although a single pill was worth dozens of yuan, it could save a life at a critical moment! Fortunately, A-Feng’s grandfather wasn’t suffering from an acute condition involving massive hemorrhaging, so it wasn’t needed for the time being. She would keep it stored away for now; if any temporary laborer required it in the future, she would have it ready on hand.
A-Feng took the medicine and departed with light, brisk steps. However heavy his steps had been when he arrived, he looked just as dashing now.
After finishing his meal, Da Hei gathered his and A-Feng’s bowls and chopsticks, took them to wash, and headed out to the fields without needing Jian Xingxia’s instructions.
That left only the auntie, who was growing anxious—the willow branches in her mind were swaying faster and faster.
With time running short, the auntie was unwilling and lacked the time to recount the chores back home, so Jian Xingxia simply brought her directly into the storeroom. “Auntie, pick whatever you like. Listen to the voice in your heart; whatever can be taken away, take it.”
Even with time pressing heavily, the auntie couldn’t help but blank for a beat. “What do you mean? Whatever I want in my heart, I can take away?”
One shouldn’t throw around words like that lightly, lest she actually believe it.
Jian Xingxia had no way to explain it to her either, so she could only urge the auntie to take the items. “Just take them! Prioritize what you need; when you’ve taken enough, you will know it yourself.”
Hearing the increasingly urgent voice of the willow tree, the auntie stopped speaking and hurriedly began grabbing items.
“What is this? Shoes? Can I take two pairs?”
—Naturally, she could. The voices in both Jian Xingxia and the auntie’s hearts remained perfectly silent.
“What is this? Needles and thread? Can I take this too?”
—She could.
“Huh, this is something I just saw in the kitchen earlier, those white sugar granules. We don’t have this on our end; can it be taken?”
Jian Xingxia was just about to say it couldn’t, but the auntie answered her own question, “Oh, this works too.”
“This works too?” Jian Xingxia was a bit surprised. “Your end has white sugar already?”
The auntie shook her head. “I don’t know, I’ve never seen it. Why, it can’t be taken?” As she spoke, she set the white sugar down and chose the brown sugar instead.
Jian Xingxia pondered for a moment on the side and found the answer—white sugar was essentially a refined product of brown sugar, obtained through a purely physical refinement process involving dissolution, filtration, clarification, decolorization, evaporation, and crystallization. The required materials and steps were very simple. It seemed that although the auntie hadn’t seen white sugar, someone in the timeline she occupied must have already tried it or extracted it by accident.
However, seeing the auntie choose the brown sugar, Jian Xingxia didn’t say anything more. Compared to white sugar, brown sugar was still a safer bet.
Meanwhile, listening to the urging in her mind, the auntie’s hands were frantically grabbing items.
She felt a bit dazed: This can be taken too? Even this can be taken? This can still be taken?
Mother! You didn’t lie to me. This place truly won’t let a diligent person suffer a loss!
