The food in Zhao Cheng'an and Xia Sheng's bowls was the sa, lard-fried greens, looking vibrant and fresh. On top of the greens lay a piece of tofu drizzled with sesa oil, white and tender. Next to the tofu was bacon-fried dandelion, the bacon sliced thinly, noticeably eight parts fat and two parts lean, very oily but not very appealing in appearance. In the corner was a scramble of egg and chives, more chives than egg strands.
Even the beans underneath the dishes were a mix of yellow beans, coix seed, and white rice—truly a luxurious bean-rice dish.
Very decent food.
From Zhao Cheng'an's satisfied expression, Qin Huai could tell he was very pleased with today's al, scooping each spoonful full and stuffing it into his mouth, cheeks puffing slightly as he ate heartily, not quite wolfing it down, but at a very fast speed, like a whirlwind.
"Xia Sheng, I really must say, I find the food here at Li Mansion the best. The tofu is soft, the greens are fried, not boiled; you can't find food like this anywhere else in Beiping! Back when we were at Taifeng Building, we never got to eat tofu in such large pieces, always crumbled."
"I just wonder if there might be any leftover braised pork skin tonight. Did you see those pork knuckles today? Enormous! The pig slaughtered today must have been exceptionally fat; I saw Master Chen even stewed it for an extra half hour. If only I could get a piece of that pork skin... slurp." Saying this, Zhao Cheng'an couldn't help himself and quickly took another big bite to satisfy his craving.
Xia Sheng glanced disdainfully at Zhao Cheng'an but ignored him.
Zhao Cheng'an continued, "Even if there's no leftover pork skin, a bit of at would be fine, or even just so broth. I could dip sweet potatoes in it. Ah, if only today were the fifteenth, we could have white rice for dinner every month."
"White rice pairs well with anything, whether in fish soup or with braised pork, even lard tastes good with it."
"But what's so special about today? We've been at Li Mansion for two months and never had such good food, with pork knuckles, fish soup, even bird's nest, sea cucumber, and venison. If I hadn't promised Master Chen not to steal anything from the hosts, I would've sneaked a sip of the fish soup just now."
Xia Sheng looked at Zhao Cheng'an with so exasperation: "I heard the eldest young miss of the Li family ca back today after announcing her divorce in the newspaper. Young Master Li said it wasn't exactly a joyous occasion, but not a bad thing either, and since she's back, they're hosting a welco banquet."
Zhao Cheng'an wasn't paying attention to what Xia Sheng was saying and rambled on, "When will I ever have als with white rice every day? Even Master Chen can't live like that. No, Master Chen could have lived like that, but Ping'an's dication is too expensive. Our monthly pay combined isn't enough to cover a month of Ping'an's dication."
"If Ping'an's dication wasn't so expensive, Master Chen wouldn't have left Taifeng Building to co to Li Mansion. But I think Li Mansion is pretty good too—the food is better, and the work is lighter. Actually, Taifeng Building wasn't bad either. Even though we weren't allowed leftovers, we could eat at for three days a month, the only problem was Boss Lu didn't want to give a na."
"But isn't Boss Lu educated? Why is giving a na so difficult? I feel like Boss Lu has been avoiding for the past two years."
Facing Zhao Cheng'an's endless chatter, Xia Sheng swallowed the last bit of his al and, unable to tolerate it anymore, retorted, "Is it that Boss Lu didn't want to give you a na? Boss Lu gave you five nas you weren't satisfied with—either too simple or too complex. My master gave you two, Master Jiang gave you three, Miss Hui Qin gave you seven, Young Master Wei Jin gave you one, and Young Master Wei Ming gave you three. Young Master Ping'an has given you countless nas over the years, and you didn't accept a single one of them."
"Now, at Taifeng Building, if anyone hears you ntion a na, they'd rather take a detour to avoid you. At first, my master told everyone you had a problem with your mind, and no one believed it. Now, even when my master says you don't actually have a problem, no one believes it either. There are tis I'm not even sure whether there's sothing wrong with you."
"You learn to read faster than I do when Ping'an teaches you to read. When the master teaches you cooking, your skills aren't inferior to mine. The master warned you not to steal at work—at Taifeng Building, you didn't steal, and you haven't stolen at Li Mansion either."
"Yet every autumn, you insist on stealing food from those human traffickers outside the city. You steal offal, sweet potatoes, even black beans. Sotis, when the tavern is busy and you get off work late, you still sneak out to steal in the dark of night. You've stolen so much that the human traffickers outside the city think it's haunted and have asked a priest to perform rituals, only for you to steal the priest's al as well."
"I'm just practicing my skills; if I don't practice for a long ti, I'll beco rusty. What if there's a day when I can't work as a chef? I can't lose my last skill for survival!" Zhao Cheng'an retorted confidently.
Xia Sheng: ...
This ti, it was Xia Sheng's turn to ignore Zhao Cheng'an's words and continue talking: "The master initially didn't want to bring you to Li Mansion, worried you didn't understand the rules of wealthy families and might offend soone important and get thrown out. But then the pastry master at Li Mansion, the old madam of the Li family, liked the stead buns you made with bean flour, and Miss Hui Qin was married into the Li family as the young mistress. The master figured that given Miss Hui Qin's connection with you, she wouldn't let you co in upright and leave lying down, and you were only thinking about the salary offered by Li Mansion, so he brought you along."
"Xia Sheng, why do I feel like you weren't complinting but rather criticizing just now?" Zhao Cheng'an said discontentedly, "Normally, after scolding for so long, shouldn't you complint ?"
Xia Sheng had already mastered the art of completely ignoring Zhao Cheng'an's words, continuing to speak to himself, his expression sowhat complicated: "You obviously care about the salary offered by Li Mansion but still act as before, giving the money to the master first thing every month to buy dicine for Young Master Ping'an."
Zhao Cheng'an grinned, "I do like money, but it's no use for to have the salary. Master Chen needs money more. For Ping'an, there's not only dicine fees but also tuition fees. Supporting him is much more costly than supporting the two of us. Master Chen doesn't have my skills. If I really want sothing, I can just go steal it, but Master Chen can't steal."
"The main reason I give money to Master Chen is that I don't recognize dicinal herbs. If I knew the herbs, I'd just go to the pharmacy and steal dicine for Ping'an. I'm telling you, you really can't just steal dicine; stealing the wrong one can really be deadly."
Xia Sheng: ...
Xia Sheng took a deep breath, and from his expression, Qin Huai could easily tell that Xia Sheng was questioning how he ever thought Zhao Cheng'an didn't have sothing wrong with his mind.
Zhao Cheng'an's mind was never normal!
To manage to provoke Xia Sheng, usually so expressionless, into such an animated reaction, Mayfly really had so tricks.
"By the way, Xia Sheng, yesterday I eavesdropped on a conversation between Master Chen and Young Master Li, they said..." Zhao Cheng'an's words were cut off by a loud shout from the kitchen.
"Hey, are you finished eating? Get in here and work; the old lady wants jujube paste buns and specifically requested you make them."
Zhao Cheng'an promptly got up, quickly shoving the remaining beans in his bowl into his mouth, responding, "Coming, coming!"
Leaving Xia Sheng no choice but to get up as well, he said in a voice neither too soft nor too loud, "No stealing, and eavesdropping isn't allowed either."
"Fine, you're not right in the head, even if you eavesdrop, people will just think you're passing by."
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