Chapter 39: You Gotta Pay Her Wages
Once they learned that Wen Yao was going to cook two dishes for Xiao Luo-shi to try, Li-shi and Cai-shi, having been instructed by their mother-in-law, obediently followed orders and acted as Wen Yao’s assistants—even if they were a bit puzzled by it all.
Xiao Luo-shi had married into a village about ten li away. Back then, both sisters had married into fairly decent families. But later, in order to support Wen Xiuyi’s studies, the Wen family’s financial situation kept worsening, especially after patching up the messes Wen Xiuyi had left behind—they basically emptied the family coffers.
Xiao Luo-shi had married into the Jiao family. Initially, the two families had been fairly even, but after Jiao family’s second son enlisted in the army, their fortunes changed. After all, a soldier received a military salary, and it amounted to quite a sum each year.
When Jiao Ming finished his five-year service and returned, the court even issued him a thirty-tael subsidy, which made the Jiao family’s situation even better.
The bride-to-be came from a well-off household—not wealthy, but certainly comfortable. She’d agreed to the match partly because the Jiao family’s conditions were good and straightforward, and Jiao Ming himself was promising. Otherwise, considering the five- to six-year age gap between the two, this marriage likely wouldn’t have happened.
Given the bride’s background, the Jiao family couldn’t afford to treat the wedding lightly, hence hiring a professional chef in the first place.
In the countryside, banquet dishes focused on value, but they couldn’t just be filling—they had to taste good too.
The typical setup involved six dishes: two cold, two vegetarian, and two meat. Sometimes there’d be eight dishes—four meat and four vegetarian. Those with better means went for a full “perfect ten”: two cold, four meat, and four vegetarian.
The Jiao family had opted for the middle ground: eight dishes, or “eight-surface” banquet.
Wen Yao decided to prepare one meat and one vegetarian dish. She used the tofu they already had to make a homestyle tofu, and she cut up some of her own marinated pig intestine to stir-fry as the meat dish.
Before long, a delicious aroma wafted out of the kitchen. Xiao Luo-shi’s eyes lit up. Could this girl really pull it off?
Finally, her wait paid off—Li-shi and Cai-shi each came out holding a dish.
“Great-aunt, please give it a taste,” Wen Yao said, standing beside the dishes and introducing them. “This one is called Homestyle Tofu. First, you slice the tofu and pan-fry it until both sides are golden. Then sauté scallions, ginger, and garlic in hot oil until fragrant, stir in some vegetables, then toss in the tofu and season it. Finally, thicken it with starch slurry.”
Just listening to the description was enough to make Xiao Luo-shi’s mouth water. She immediately picked up the chopsticks from Li-shi and tasted a piece.
The crispy, golden outside gave way to the tender tofu inside. One bite, and she wanted another.
She had two more pieces before setting the chopsticks down and praising it: “Delicious! Wen Yao, your cooking is way better than that chef we hired before.”
Wen Yao smiled modestly and continued, “Great-aunt, this next dish is unique to our family—you won’t find it anywhere else.”
“Oh? Is that so? Then I’ve got to try it,” Xiao Luo-shi said cheerfully, reaching out with her chopsticks. But the moment she saw what was on the plate, her expression changed.
“Wen Yao, is this… pig intestine?” Her brows furrowed. Pig intestine had a reputation for being smelly and unappetizing. Very few families ever ate it. Even when trying to save money, she had never considered putting something like that on a banquet table.
After a moment of hesitation, she said, “Wen Yao, maybe let’s skip this one.”
But Wen Yao wasn’t discouraged. It was common for people who hadn’t tasted pig intestine before to hesitate, but she was prepared.
“Great-aunt, this dish is the real star of today’s tasting. These pig intestines were cleaned and prepared through eighty-one steps. There’s absolutely no odor. Plus, to ensure the best texture and taste, I treated them specially before stir-frying. No gaminess, no off-putting smell. And I seasoned them with chuanxiong to replace chili. It’s a perfect side dish with rice—you really should try it.”
Since chili wasn’t available in this era, Wen Yao used chuanxiong (Sichuan lovage) as a substitute. The Wen family rarely cooked bold dishes like this, but thankfully, they did have some chuanxiong tucked away in the pantry—otherwise, Wen Yao wouldn’t have attempted this dish at all.
Xiao Luo-shi still looked unsure. Seeing her dawdle, Luo-shi snatched the chopsticks, picked up a piece, and tossed it into her mouth.
Immediately, the spicy kick of the chuanxiong hit, followed by the rich aroma of the marinade and the chewy texture of the intestine. Luo-shi nodded and asked, “Why haven’t you made this before?”
Wen Yao shrugged. “I didn’t know we had chuanxiong! Second Aunt just found it in a cupboard today.”
Luo-shi didn’t press further. Their household rarely used it, so it wasn’t surprising it had been forgotten.
“Try it—really. It’s great with rice,” she told her younger sister.
Now that Luo-shi had already taken a bite, Xiao Luo-shi hesitated no more. She cautiously picked up a piece and tasted it. The spiciness made her frown at first, but the flavor soon bloomed on her palate, and her eyes lit up.
It was spicy, sure, but it whetted the appetite. Truly a dish that made you want to eat more.
“Well, Great-aunt? Tastes good, doesn’t it?” Wen Yao grinned at her expression and asked.
Xiao Luo-shi nodded repeatedly. “Wen Yao, you’re amazing! I can’t believe you made pig intestine taste this good!”
Wen Yao gave a shy little smile. “Aww, Great-aunt, you’re flattering me.”
Luo-shi, on the side, could barely hold back a giant eye-roll.
Now that the tasting was done, Luo-shi said, “There’s no question about Wen Yao’s cooking. We’ve been to quite a few banquets in our day, and I’ve never had anything like her food.
It’s your call. If you’re comfortable with it, let her handle the wedding. If you’re not, then you’d better hurry and try to find another chef while there’s still time.”
But at this point, Xiao Luo-shi had no interest in looking for someone else. Wen Yao was perfect.
She was family, reliable, and her food was both tasty and beautiful. Most importantly, she knew how to be frugal. Look at these two dishes—simple ingredients like tofu and pig intestine. A slab of tofu cost ten or so wen, and pig intestines were even cheaper. Butchers couldn’t sell them and usually tossed them out.
“No need to look. I think Wen Yao’s just right. Wen Yao, would you be willing to come help your second cousin with the wedding?” she asked kindly, smiling so wide her eyes almost disappeared.
Wen Yao was about to say yes, but Luo-shi beat her to it. She cut in, “She can go, but you have to say clearly how much you’re paying her. You can’t let the girl work for free.”
Xiao Luo-shi gave her sister a mock-glare. “Sis, really? You think I’d short my own family? I’d never do that. How about this: the chef we hired before was going to get a hundred eighty wen a day. I’ll give Wen Yao two hundred wen a day. How’s that?”
