There were two men knocking on the door of Pei's courtyard. One was in his twenties and looked ordinary, and the other was in his thirties. He was tall and burly with a beard. Wen Shi, the burly man asked: "Is this the home of Mrs. Xu?"

Seeing the two of them exiting, Wen looked for Yuniang, her complexion changed slightly, she was afraid that they were looking for trouble, and she was still thinking about how to change her words, and vaguely felt that the man in his twenties looked familiar, she opened her mouth , saw the man said, "Auntie doesn't recognize me? Don't worry, Auntie. I'm Cook Zhou from the Bafang Inn in Raozhou City. My aunt lived in the Bafang Inn when I first came to Raozhou City more than a year ago. In early autumn, Xu The little master also went to Raozhou City to sell wine."

Xu Qinyu taught him a few dishes and some cooking tips, so he has already changed his name to Xu Xiaoshifu.

This person is indeed Zhou Daqing, and the person beside him is Liang Yiliang Qianhu.

Liang Qianhu also said, "Auntie, don't be afraid, we are not bad people, we came to find Miss Xu for some things."

No matter how much he misses and craves the food made by Xu Xiaoniang, it is impossible for him to come to beg for food. It is still midnight, obviously something really urgent.

Wen carefully recalled that the younger man was indeed the chef in the inn where she lived in Raozhou City before, so she hurriedly said, "Yu Niang is still resting, why did you two come here in the middle of the night? Is there something urgent? ?” She couldn’t figure out that Yuniang is a little lady who can cook, what could make the two come to look for Yuniang in the middle of the night, could it be cooking? Even if Xun Yuniang is doing the food, there is no need to be so anxious in the middle of the night.

Xu Qinyu was also awakened by the knock on the door outside, she put on her clothes before pulling on her cloth boots and came out, seeing the two people at the door, she immediately recognized them, and said with a smile: "Chef Zhou, Liang Qianhu, what are you doing?" Is it you?"

Chef Zhou said: "There are some things to find a little lady."

It was still snowing outside, and it was a bit cold, so Wen invited the two of them into the kitchen, and boiled hot water for them to make tea.

Xu Qinyu had already listened to the intentions of the two of them.

The two came to wish the old lady of the prefect of Raozhou City.

The prefect Zhu is fifty years old, and he was also born in a poor family. There is an old lady in the family. The old lady is in her seventies. Madam can't get out of bed, her body is getting weaker day by day, these days she is more comatose and less awake, she invited the Lang Zhong to come and see, and said Mrs Zhu is at the end of her life. The situation of the day, let the prefect Zhu prepare for the funeral.

I wish the old lady had a long life at her age, and she was free from illness and disaster, which is considered a joy and mourning.

However, Mrs. Zhu did not eat or drink a few days ago. The prefect Zhu invited several well-known cooks from Raozhou City to cook for Mrs. Zhu, but Mrs. Zhu could not eat after one bite. Going down, not eating or drinking for several days, the eunuch felt uncomfortable, and hoped that the old lady would have a full meal when she finally left, so that she could walk safely, instead of being so hungry.

I wish the prefect knew Liang Yi and had dinner with Liang Yi. Liang Yi talked to him, saying that he once had a meal made by a ten-year-old lady. Thinking about it.

The prefect Zhu has invited all the chefs from the restaurants in Raozhou City. The old lady Zhu couldn’t eat at all. He was in a hurry and went to the doctor. He asked someone to invite Liang Yi to the prefect’s mansion, and carefully asked the person who cooked for him back then. In the case of the little lady, is she really good at cooking?

Liang Yi said to him, "Don't worry, my lord, this little lady's cook is better than the chef of Zuixianlou. I don't know why Mrs. Tai doesn't want to eat it, but maybe I can invite that little lady to try it." .”

I wish the eunuch to know that Liang Yi is also considered a gourmet foodie. He has never forgotten his culinary skills after eating all over Raozhou city.

So Zhu Taishou asked him where the cook's wife lived, and if he could invite her to cook a meal for his old lady, and he was willing to offer a reward.

Liang Yi scratched his head and told Xu Qinyu, "I wish the prefect is a good official, and I don't want to disappoint his filial piety. Although I don't know where Mrs. Xu lives, but Mrs. Xu borrowed the Bafang Inn before, maybe shopkeeper Zhou might know , and went to the Bafang Inn."

Shopkeeper Zhou did know that Xu Qinyu lived in Yuanbao Town, but he didn't know the exact location. He also thought that Mrs. Lu should know, so he went to find Mrs. Lu overnight. Tell shopkeeper Zhou, after shopkeeper Zhou came back, he asked his son to take Liang Qianhu for such a trip.

After Liang Yi finished speaking, he told Xu Qinyu, "Miss Xu doesn't know something. Taishou Zhu is really an upright official who only cares for the people. The new emperor's secret letter from the diarrhea disease in early summer is for Taishou Zhu to take care of the source. Baozhen and the three villages below were sealed off, and the people in the villages and towns were slaughtered. It was the prefect Zhu who dragged it along. When the diarrhea in Yuanbao Town recovered, the prefect Zhu wrote a secret letter and went to the capital to turn the tide. , stopped the massacre."

Speaking of the actions of the new emperor, Liang Yi's face was a little ugly.

These people guarded the border town, not only guarding the nobles and royal family of the Dasheng Dynasty, but also the people of the Dasheng Dynasty, but the new emperor did not treat the people as human beings at all.

Only then did Xu Qinyu realize that she was really about to be slaughtered when she was suffering from diarrhea, her face changed slightly, and she said, "Please wait a moment, both of you, I will go back to the house and change my clothes before I go with you." , she definitely can't wear this clothes to go out.

Even without these things, she would actually be willing to take a trip.

Liang Yi immediately said, "Then let's go outside and wait for the little lady."

After speaking, he went out with Zhou Daqing, got into the carriage and waited.

Xu Qinyu went back to the house and changed into a thick blue-gray long jacket. It didn't look very good, but it was thick enough to keep you warm. Even though it was only snowing in the southwest, it wasn't too cold, but the carriage was a bit drafty, and the journey from Yuanbao Town to Raozhou City was fast. It will take an hour and a half, and it will take at least two hours to walk slowly, and you need to dress warmly.

Wen Shi was worried that Yu Niang would follow alone, and went back to the house to change into a thick long coat, and explained to her Niang Gui Shi, "Mother, Yu Niang and I will definitely not be able to go back for morning and evening food in the morning, the restaurant is over there. It's not a day to rest. Mother went to Bai Yiniang's side in the morning. Brother Tongcheng said, and asked him to post a notice outside the restaurant, saying that there was something to rest for a day today, and I was sorry to the diners. "

Gui already knew what was going on, and patted Wen's hand, "Don't worry, go to Raozhou City with Yuniang, I have me at home."

Wen Shi nodded and went out with Yu Niang.

Before Yu Niang went out, she took off the cured ham hanging in the kitchen and cut a large piece.

She marinated this ham at the end of winter last year, barely a year, and she hasn't eaten a single bite yet.

It takes a month to marinate the ham, and the rest of the time is fermentation. The fermentation time is half a year, which is the shortest. It can barely be eaten after half a year of fermentation, and it has the aroma of ham.

Generally, the taste of ham is the best when it has been fermented for two or three years, but if you want to eat raw ham, it must be fermented for at least three years. In this way, the taste of ham that has been fermented for three years is salty and delicate, and the taste of the lips and teeth will remain fragrant. In the belly, the fragrance can still linger in the mouth for a long time.

Xu Qinyu originally wanted to ferment it for three years before eating it up.

However, she opened a restaurant this year and sold wine. She currently has about 5,000 taels of silver on hand. She can pickle a lot of ham, but there is no place to store ham, and the family just has enough people. Ask Guihua Lane if there is any house for sale. She wants to buy a yard the size of where she lives now, and use it as a warehouse. Not only can she store the ham she wants to pickle next, but also other vegetable jars and the like. of.

Now that she is going to make food for Mrs. Zhu, when the old man is dying, she also has to think of fortification to make the old man willing to eat, so she moved this ham that has been around for almost a year.

Wen Shi was surprised when she saw that Yu Niang had taken the ham down, thinking that Yu Niang's cooking skills were already so good, do you still need to move this ham?

She remembered how precious Yu Niang is, this ham, and said that after three years of fermentation, she would invite them to taste the taste of raw ham slices, and she would take a look at it from time to time.

She wrapped the ham and put it in a basket. In the basket, she also made fresh mushroom powder, bean paste, wooden barrel fermented bean curd and some small pickles, as well as a bag of yin rice.

Yin rice is glutinous rice soaked, steamed and then dried in the shade. It can be used to cook porridge on weekdays. It tastes very good, it is easier to cook, and it is soft and sweet.

Now that the weather is cold, there is a lot of yin rice and brown sugar porridge in the restaurant, which is very popular.

Carrying the basket, Xu Qinyu and Wen went out the door.

The carriage is not enough, and the two are from women and Taoist families, and it is not easy to ride a carriage with a foreign man, so they went to the horse shop in the town and rented one. Zhou Daqing and Liang Yi both drove the carriage, and Liang Yi drove them to rent a carriage. The carriage goes to Raozhou City.

It's just ugly right now, it's midnight.

It was snowing on the road, and the carriage did not dare to go too fast. By the time Raozhou City was already bright, it was almost three quarters of an hour, and it took more than two hours.

Liang Yi did not delay, and sent the person directly to the prefect's mansion.

After getting off the carriage, Xu Qinyu glanced at the prefect's mansion.

The prefect's mansion is much larger and more imposing than the county magistrate's mansion in the town.

Liang Yi took the two to the back door. The back door was connected to the backyard. The backyard was where the family of Prefect Zhu lived. Prefect Zhu's father had passed away a few years ago, leaving only an old mother. He had already married a wife and had children. There are grandchildren.

The backyard of the prefect's mansion is quite big, but wish the prefect's family, including servants, there are about a dozen or so people, which is just enough to live in. The backyard is clean and tidy, and there are some flowers and plants, but there are not many flowers and plants. Rather quiet.

Liang Yi led Xu Qinyu to meet the prefect Zhu Wenyi.

Zhu Wenyi was a little disappointed when he saw Xu Qinyu. It was because the little lady in front of him was too young, her face was white and tender and pretty, and she looked two or three years older than his granddaughter. The chef of the big restaurant in the city?

Liang Yi actually couldn't believe that the young lady in front of him had such cooking skills just by looking at the age and appearance of the lady.

It can only be said that people can't be seen.

Xu Qinyu and Wen Shi saw Prefect Zhu, and the two of them saluted.

When seeing Mrs. Wen, Prefect Zhu was stunned for a moment, his eyes couldn't help lingering on Mrs. Wen's face for a moment, and he was worried that looking at other women like this would make people dissatisfied, so he endured the doubts in his heart and turned his eyes away.

When Xu Qinyu saw Taishou Zhu, he felt that he looked kindly, with gentle eyes.

Xu Qinyu said: "I've seen the prefect, how about the daughter-in-law go make a meal for the old lady first?"

I wish the prefect a good day.

Although he felt that Xu Qinyu looked too young, he would not really judge a person by his age.

Xu Qinyu and Wen Shi went to the kitchen, Liang Yi was about to leave, Zhou Daqing thought for a while, and asked in a low voice: "Master Xu, do you want me to stay and be a cooking assistant?"

It is still easy for Xu Qinyu to cook alone, but she still left Zhou Daqing as a helper.

Even if Liang Yi was greedy for Xu Qinyu's food, he would not lose his eyesight. He still had something to eat at this moment. He didn't know how to cook, and he couldn't stay as a cook, so he left first.

Prefect Zhu sent him out the door. When he went out the back door, seeing Prefect Zhu was worried, he couldn't help but said to Prefect Zhu, "Don't worry, my lord, the old lady will definitely eat."

He just firmly believes in Miss Xu's cooking skills. You must know that he disliked the sashimi porridge made by Miss Xu at the beginning. Still hungry now.

It can be seen that Mrs. Xu has a lot of cooking skills, and she makes him miss everything he doesn't like.

Zhu Taishou nodded, didn't say much, he was even a little absent-minded, he had other things on his mind.

After Liang Yi left, Eunuch Zhu went to the kitchen for another look, and couldn't help but look at Wen Shi again. Finally, he was worried about his old lady, so he went to Mrs. Zhu's room.

The prefect Zhu's wife, Mrs. Zhu, was standing in front of her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law was born in a poor family and her family was not rich, so she confessed to her master. The newly married wife was regarded as the prefect Zhu by the Zhu family at that time, so they invited someone to ask a matchmaker.

The Zhu family is also a family of officials, but in the capital where there are so many honors and honors, the Zhu family is nothing, and their family background is only average.

Mrs. Zhu has a gentle temperament, and she has been in harmony with the prefect all these years, and wished the prefect to treat her very well. Apart from her, she has never had any concubines in the house. She also admires her mother-in-law very much. Okay, so the mother-in-law is now at the end of her life, and she has been staying with her mother-in-law these days, fearing that the mother-in-law may go at any time when the master is busy outside.

Zhu asked, "Has the person arrived?"

The prefect Zhu was still thinking about other things, he nodded and said, "Here we are, we are already cooking the morning food in the back kitchen."

Zhu's heart also became uneasy, "I hope my mother-in-law can eat some this time."

The mother-in-law has not eaten for several days, she is really worried.

The prefect Zhu went over to the old lady's bed and saw that the old lady closed her eyes tightly and her brows were still furrowed. Even at this time, the old lady was still worried about her elder sister who was abducted decades ago.

He couldn't help but think back to his old lady's appearance when she was young...

...

Xu Qinyu and Wen's used to be the back kitchen of the prefect's mansion, and the back kitchen was quite big.

Zhu's family also has a cook, Zhu Taishou doesn't pay much attention to appetite, the cook's skill is average, even the helper of the restaurant is not as good, Zhu the old lady didn't like to eat the food he cooked a few days ago, so Zhu Taishou invited the most powerful people in the city The cook came to the mansion to cook, and the old lady barely ate some food. In the past few days, there was hardly a drop of rice.

The chef of Zhu's family is a fat middle-aged man with a naturally smiling face, but now he is frowning, obviously worried about Mrs. Zhu.

Xu Qinyu asked him, "What kind of morning food did the cooks who came to cook for the old lady cook for the old lady a few days ago?"

The fat cook thought for a while and said, "Most of the morning food is wonton, meat soup, egg soup, or meat porridge, big meat buns and vegetarian buns, as well as stem rice porridge and millet porridge."

"Where's Mushi?" Xu Qinyu asked again.

The fat cook replied again, the morning food is a little lighter, and the evening food is basically delicacies from mountains and seas, all of which are big meat, and it is too greasy. Even the elderly are already like this, so I am afraid they have no appetite to eat these.

Xu Qinyu had a plan in mind.

She saw that although there were a lot of ingredients in the kitchen, they were not ready. She originally wanted to cook some Laba porridge for the old lady. Although it was not yet the twelfth lunar month, it was just getting colder. It would be best to drink some Laba porridge. Laba porridge is needed. There are a lot of ingredients, and several kinds of beans are needed. The beans need to be soaked in advance, and it is definitely too late to soak now.

Unable to make Laba porridge, she planned to make brown sugar yin rice porridge, and she brought a lot of yin rice, just in time for use.

Brown sugar yin rice porridge is very simple and convenient to make.

She asked the fat chef for some red dates and goji berries, first washed the red dates and goji berries, and removed the pits from the red dates for later use.

Brown sugar is also boiled into brown sugar juice in advance.

Clean the cauldron and heat it up, add a little lard, add in the yin rice when the oil is warm enough, stir fry the yin rice until fluffy and pop.

Add appropriate amount of water to the fried yin rice in this way, boil it over medium heat, add red dates, wolfberries and brown sugar juice, and boil it over low heat for half an hour.

Brown sugar yin rice porridge tastes light, with a light brown sugar flavor, paired with red dates that are soft and sweet. The porridge made after frying the yin rice is not only thick and sweet, full of grains, but also has a bit of chewiness , the flavors are intertwined, one bite after another can't stop at all.

This is easy to make, and you don’t need to cook it in a small casserole one by one. It can be cooked directly in a large pot. It is not a problem to cook dozens of bowls at a time.

Such a bowl of brown sugar yin rice porridge is less than a casserole of sashimi porridge in Xuji Restaurant, and it costs eight yuan a bowl, but it is a must-order morning meal for everyone.

When Xu Qinyu was cooking brown sugar yin rice porridge, Zhou Daqing and the fat cook kept swallowing after smelling it.

Although the fat cook didn't show it on the surface, he was like most people in his heart. When he first saw Xu Qinyu, he thought she was too young and her cooking skills might not be superb, but the facts speak louder than words. As soon as he came out, he knew that he was wrong. Although he was young, he was probably very good at cooking.

After all, he only smelled the aroma and didn't taste it himself, so he could only use 'I'm afraid it's also very good' to speculate on the little cook's cooking skills.

Halfway through the cooking, even Zhu Taishou and Mrs. Zhu, who took care of Mrs. Zhu, were alarmed.

Zhu Shi murmured, "It smells so fragrant."

It is even more delicious than the cooks who came to the house to cook before. It smells like sweets, very sweet.

The prefect Zhu couldn't help standing up, said a few words to his wife, and asked her to look at his wife, and he went to the back kitchen.

Xu Qinyu cooked a big pot of brown sugar yin rice porridge, thinking that it was still early, and no one else in the prefect's mansion must have eaten it. She and Wen Shi didn't eat it, so naturally they had to cook their share, so they simply cooked it. Eat more together.

She cooked brown sugar yin rice porridge, and asked Zhou Daqing to wash some radishes and cut them into fine shreds.

In winter, radish and cabbage have become the most common vegetables, and these two things are indispensable in almost every household in winter.

The shredded radish is marinated with salt for a quarter of an hour to squeeze out the water, then add egg flour and some seasonings, and she also adds a little mushroom powder made by herself to enhance the freshness. After stirring well, spread it into noodle cakes of similar size , Slowly fry over low heat and less oil.

Brown sugar yin rice porridge and shredded radish egg pancakes are enough, and there is no need to prepare anything else.

However, Xu Qinyu still put two plates of the wooden barrel fermented bean curd she brought, and two plates of pickled side dishes, and the morning food was complete.

When she spread the omelette, she wished the eunuch to come over. Xu Qinyu also said, "My lord, the preparations for the morning meal are almost the same. I made brown sugar rice porridge and radish omelette. This radish omelet has been fried a lot. You can serve it first." Give it to the old lady in the past, and when I finish the rest, other people in the mansion can eat it too."

Zhu Taishou wanted to tell the little cook that his mother was still awake and still asleep.

In the past few days, Mrs. Zhu spent a lot of time in coma, and they didn't dare to wake people up casually. They only served food when they were more awake.

Just as he was about to speak, a servant girl hurried over from outside with a happy face, "My lord, the old lady is awake."

Eunuch Zhu could only nod at the little cook first, then leave the kitchen and go back to the yard.

When he left, he couldn't help but glance at Wen Shi again.

Wen's heart fluttered, she didn't understand why the prefect always looked at her.

Xu Qinyu could only continue to fry the shredded radish egg pancake first.

Prefect Zhu returned to the house and found that the old lady was indeed awake, leaning on a big soft pillow. Although she was still a little confused, she was talking to Zhu Shi, and then asked what the kitchen did to eat.

With joy on his face, Zhu Shi whispered, "Master, mother was awakened by the fragrance, and said she was hungry and wanted to eat."

Prefect Zhu didn't care about anything, and immediately asked the little maid to go to the back kitchen to serve the meal.

The little girl quickly came over with the food box, took out the food in it and put it on the table, except for a bowl of brown sugar yin rice porridge, a plate of raisin egg cake, a small plate of moldy tofu, and two plates of pickles. .

The little maid whispered, "Miss Xu said that this is brown sugar yin rice porridge, and yin rice is glutinous rice that has been cooked and dried naturally. She said that this brown sugar yin rice porridge can nourish yin and nourish the spleen and stomach. Madam Xu also said this. She also made the fermented bean curd and pickled vegetables by herself, which can be eaten with porridge."

It was the first time Zhu Shi heard about Yinmi.

The prefect Zhu had already brought the bowl of brown sugar yin rice porridge to the old lady's bed, and blew the porridge in the bowl. After it cooled down slightly, she poured it with a spoon and fed it to the old lady's mouth, "Mother, drink porridge, this is the Brown sugar yin rice porridge."

Although the old lady is a little confused, she is not completely confused, and now she knows that her son is going to feed her.

She smelled the fragrance early on, and it was rare that she had an appetite, but her eyes were completely invisible, so she could only open her mouth subconsciously and put a spoonful of warm sweet porridge into her mouth.

Just a bite, the sweetness of red dates, the sweetness of brown sugar, and the sweetness of rice porridge. The rice porridge is full, sticky but chewy. Although it needs to be chewed, it is very chewy. These tastes are intertwined in Together they made a good bowl of porridge.

After living for more than 70 years, wish the old lady knows that there is such a delicious food in the world. Even if she has no appetite, she is opened up by such a bowl of hot and sweet porridge.

Madam Zhu couldn't help but open her mouth and wait for the second bite.

I wish the prefect and Zhu Shi saw this, a hanging heart finally fell.