This year's wine, in addition to red wine made from wild grapes on the mountain, naturally also has blue wine made from green grapes.

The cost of wine made from this kind of green grapes is relatively high, and the purchase price of grapes per catty is about 30 yuan, because it is the first year, and the purchase price of green grapes is also relatively high. It can climb a wooden frame, and the yield is very good. Two vines can have a yield of more than 100 catties. In the future, the vines will grow bigger and bear more and more fruits.

Basically, a vine can earn one or two half of silver.

In the past, everyone was asked to use the open space in front of and behind the house. Each household planted two or three seeds, and if there were more, they would grow a few. Basically, they could have a harvest of four or five taels of silver. If there are a few more, you can have a harvest of more than ten taels of silver.

In this way, buying grape seedlings at the beginning cost more than 100 yuan per plant, which is nothing compared to the silver money earned today.

There are also some people who are familiar with Xu Qinyu, who even divide their fields into one or two acres or half an acre of land to grow grapes. Last year, there was no harvest, and they made neighbors and relatives laugh at them. , the vines are beginning to bear fruit, and you can earn ten taels of silver for a fraction of the land, and more than one hundred taels for an acre of land. The relatives and friends who made those laughing shut up, wishing that it was my family who planted two acres of green grapes.

However, there are not many families who are willing to take one or two mu of land to grow grapes, just a few families.

Most people in Yuanbao Town and nearby villages have planted one or two green grapes. Knowing that these green grapes can really sell for 30 yuan a catty, they believe it and plan to buy more varieties of grape seedlings this year.

But the people in the winery have told them when they went to collect grapes that the price of grapes will be higher in the past two years. After two years, the production of green grapes will increase, and the price will still drop. In addition, it also makes everyone think that planting crops is the priority. If you really want to grow, you can use the front and back yards or the vegetable garden at home without using too much arable land.

So after making green wine this year, many people bought some grape seedlings and cut them.

The green grapes harvested this year are similar to the wild grapes picked on the mountain, so the total amount of this year should be 60,000 to 70,000 bottles. The cost of green wine is higher, but the price of wine is not going to rise. Wine, no matter how high it is, there will be a premium.

This kind of green grape is a bit like crystal grape, very sweet, the proportion of sugar needs to be adjusted when making wine, Xu Qinyu also taught Xu Tiao how to mix sugar.

The wine made from green grapes is also sweeter, so Xu Qinyu plans to keep some of them and sell them in restaurants with Xu Ji, and keep around 10,000 bottles. It was also because last year, when she went to sell wine in the capital, she was bought by the King of Handong. She was a little worried this year. Even the King of Handong dared to embezzle the military salary. It's time to cry.

So this year, Xu Qinyu didn't let Zhen Wu deliver the wine to the capital, but to other states, at worst, sell it slowly.

And Xu Qinyu also won a few acres of green grapes in front of him, and the growth rate was very good, so he specially invited nearby tenants to come over to take care of them.

Xu Qinyu still has a hundred acres of land in Yuanbao Town. After collecting 40% of the rent, after paying taxes, there is still a lot of grain left. Some of the grain collected before was sent to the restaurant, and the rest was kept. In the house on Laixi Lane. moved a few days ago and brought all the food from there.

The annual food is basically eaten up, and new food will be stored in the coming year.

In order to store food in granaries, when Xu Qinyu built the house, he specially built several granaries in the house.

By the time the wine was almost brewed, it was already two months later. At the end of summer, the first batch of wine had been fermented and ready to drink. The Xu Ji Restaurant in Yuanbao Town and the Xu Ji outside Raozhou City had released some. The price is also set at two taels of silver, which removes the transportation cost on the road.

In Xuji Restaurant in Yuanbao Town, wine sales were slow. After all, Xuji Restaurant received guests from the city, and they were all wealthy and powerful aristocrats, so they sold better.

And the culinary competition in the southwest will be held in three days.

In fact, Xu Qinyu didn't even want to participate in the beginning. In her previous life, she participated in a lot of big and small cooking competitions, and even won the world-class one. It can be said that she has no regrets. She has no interest, and if Zuixianlou didn't use this method, she wouldn't want to participate either.

Now she is just trying to win a sigh of relief, show Zuixianlou a look, and also attract more traffic for Xu Ji.

In the past two months, Xu Qinyu also asked Huo Jiang to inquire about the Kong family and Zuixianlou.

I also know that ten years ago, Kong Kun, the owner of Zuixianju, participated in the once-in-a-decade culinary competition. He was only thirty at the time, and there were many famous chefs who were older than him and whose cooking skills were better than his. So he didn't win the title.

As for Kong Kun's father, the former owner of Zuixianlou, he also stayed in Zuixianlou for 30 years, and he has never participated in this kind of culinary competition once every ten years.

Huo Jiang even asked how Zuixianlou got its start.

Know what happened to Kong Kun's father back then.

After hearing this, Xu Qinyu couldn't help but frowned, and then asked, "Huo Shouwei, can you find out whether Yan Mingcheng was ordered by Kong Kun or his father?" Her father's past, she always felt a little strange in her heart, it was too coincidental, he was the only one left in the family who fled famine and died, and then met her master, who was a loner, and learned a few years of crafts from the master, but the master and him because of Burning charcoal at night to keep warm due to carbon monoxide poisoning, but Master was too old to be rescued. He was younger and was rescued. Then he was afraid of seeing things and thinking about others, so he sold all Master's property and went to other places with money to beg for a living.

Shouldn't it be to stay in Master's hometown, use the cooking skills Master taught him, and carry forward Master's recipes and reputation?

Xu Qinyu felt a little strange.

But when Father Confucius followed his master to learn art, he was only eleven or twelve years old, a half-year-old boy. When his master had an accident, he was only in his early twenties. Thinking about it, he should not be able to do anything to harm his master. Bar.

Xu Qinyu did not rely on one thing to figure out the ability of human nature, so he could only keep this doubt in his heart.

She heard Huo Jiang say, "Back to the master's words, Yan Mingcheng was instructed by Kong Kun's father to come to Xu Ji."

Because he couldn't question Yan Mingcheng openly, Huo Jiang secretly followed him for a while. After Yan Mingcheng left Xu Ji, he stayed in the casino for several days before passing the Confucius Mansion. Huo Jiang naturally followed him. With high martial arts skills, it is still very easy to enter a mansion with someone, and heard Yan Mingcheng's conversation with Father Confucius outside.

When Yan Mingcheng went to see Father Confucius, he asked him for money.

Father Confucius asked him how he was studying in Xu Ji, if he had learned the formula of Xu Ji.

Yan Mingcheng could only say that Xu Ji's boss was still guarding him, and the newly hired helper would not be able to learn things on the stove until three months later, and now he can only stay in the back kitchen to do some chores.

Then Yan Mingcheng asked Father Confucius for money, but Father Confucius said, "We discussed it before. Before going to Xuji, I will give you five thousand taels of silver. If you can learn the ten signature dishes of Xuji within half a year, you can use the recipes. Give me the recipe, and I will give you another 20,000 taels of silver, but now you ask me for silver, which of course is not possible. If something happens to you and you are kicked out by Xu Ji’s owner, am I empty of both the money and the recipe? ?"

Yan Mingcheng's eyes flickered slightly, but he said no, saying that he performed very well in Xu Ji and worked very neatly.

But Father Confucius lived for decades, and turned Zuixianlou into the largest restaurant in Raozhou City.

He asked, "Did you take the money I gave you before and lose it in the casino?"

He is also acquainted with Yan Mingcheng.

Yan Mingcheng was not from Raozhou City, nor from Zuixianlou, and Father Confucius didn't dare to let Zuixianlou's helper go to Xu Ji to steal his cooking skills.

Yan Mingcheng was a cook he met in other prefectures before. He was average in cooking. He opened a restaurant and loved gambling. He lost his restaurant. After that, Yan Mingcheng could only go to other restaurants to work as a helper or chef to make a living.

When Father Confucius asked this question, Yan Mingcheng began to hesitate.

Father Confucius knew that he had completely lost the five thousand taels of silver he gave him. Father Confucius was also very angry, and told him that Xu Ji was not allowed to go to the casino. If the little cook found out to Xu Ji, he would definitely After driving him away, Father Kong asked if he had been discovered by Xu Ji's cook and drove him out.

Yan Mingcheng also said no, and still asked Father Confucius for money.

Father Confucius didn't give it, and he already knew in his heart that it must be Yan Mingcheng who went to the casino and was discovered by Xu Ji's little cook and drove him away. Now Yan Mingcheng wants to come to him to cheat the last wave of money.

Yan Mingcheng was also annoyed and angry, and bluntly said that if he didn't give him money, he would bribe his father Confucius to go to Xu Ji to steal the teacher's art and publicize it.

Father Confucius sneered and said, "There is no evidence of the transaction between me and you, not to mention that I just went to Xu Ji to be a helper, and Xu Ji himself hired a helper, so what does it have to do with me? Yan Mingcheng, you too Don't think that these five thousand taels are easy to get. I told you that if things don't work out, you have to return the five thousand taels to me. Now things can't be helped, you put the five thousand taels back. Give it back to me, if you can't take it out, be careful that you won't be able to get out of this Raozhou City."

Yan Mingcheng saw the old man with gray hair in front of him, his eyes were cold and scary, and he was a little scared. He didn't dare to ask for any more money, so he turned around and left after muttering a few words.

In the end, the two parted ways.

After that, Yan Mingcheng was probably a little afraid of Father Confucius, so he left Raozhou City.

Huo Jiang followed Yan Mingcheng for a few more days. He returned to his state city. Father Kong did nothing but threaten Yan Mingcheng.

Xu Qinyu knew the ins and outs of the matter from Huo Jiang's mouth. After listening to it, he didn't say much. It was just that the helper and staff came again in the past two months. Xu Qinyu asked Huo Jiang to help him check the origin. Exceptions are only allowed to be remembered.

It has been almost two months now, and the cooking competition is about to begin.

In this cooking competition, there were a large number of people participating in other state cities and Raozhou City, almost hundreds of people.

You must know that this competition is different from the usual petty fights. If you can really win the championship in this ten-year competition, you will not only be famous, but also rewarded.

This year's reward is a piece of rare ore. This ore is very, very rare, and is of little use in other places. It can only be mixed with iron to make the iron tool extremely tough and sharp.

So this kind of ore can be used to make a set of knives in doped iron.

Xu Qinyu can actually use any knife.

But there is a set of sharp and handy knives, which is much more comfortable to use for cutting vegetables, and it is also good for wrists and hands.

So even for this small piece of ore, she still wants to win this year's competition.

Three days later, the culinary competition officially began.

The venue is outside the prefect's mansion in Raozhou City.

There is a relatively empty market outside the prefect's mansion, which can be used as the venue for the competition.

This was also approved by the Prefect.

The culinary competition is similar to that of later generations, but there are tens of thousands of people in the culinary competitions and auditions of later generations, and the current number is much smaller.

This competition is divided into, the first game, the middle game and the final game.

If you can win the first place in three rounds, you will win three yuan in a row, which is a bit like the imperial examination, and you will also borrow the prize of winning three yuan in a row in the imperial examination.

Three days later, all those who went to participate in the competition had to go to the venue, and then draw lots, and compete in the order of the lottery.

The first round is also very simple, just like the sea elections of the later generations, almost all seasonings are made with the same ingredients, as long as the dishes are made within the specified time, tasted for the judges, and all judges give 60 points to pass the test.

Yang Zhizhi and Xu Yunlan learned that Xu Qinyu was going to participate in the cooking competition once every ten years, and they were looking forward to it. When the time came, the two discussed with their parents. They wanted to come and remember some days, and wanted to watch the good sisters' competition , although they knew in their hearts that good sisters would definitely win the championship, but they wanted to watch the process more.

Of course Xu Kongmu and County Magistrate Yang would not stop them. If they were not busy with their duties, they would also want to watch Miss Xu's competition quietly.

However, although the head of the family couldn't go, the wives of the two families had time, so they took their daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandson and granddaughter to live in Xu Ji first.

Because they are all women, and their grandchildren are only a few years old, it is good to live with their mother, so the two families live in two adjacent yards.

On Xu Ji's side, Xu Qinyu has already asked people to start building another garden.

The garden here is for the kind of people who drag their families.

The fourth brother helped her design the garden. Although it is a big garden, each yard is separate and does not disturb each other, and will never stray into other yards by mistake.

In a blink of an eye, it will be three days later.

People from Xu Ji knew that Xu Qinyu was going to participate in the competition in the city, so they all wanted to follow her, but the restaurant was busy, so they definitely couldn't follow her. Quite a few of Xu Ji's regular customers knew that she was going to participate, so they all ran to join in the fun. She encouraged, and even Mrs. Lu passed by.

Xu Qinyu asked Lianhua to drive the carriage into the city early in the morning, all the way to the outside of the prefect's mansion.

When they arrived, they found that there were a lot of people, besides the cooks who were still participating in the competition, there were also a lot of onlookers, and even people from other states who came to watch the competition.

Xu Qinyu and Lianhua parked the carriage, and Lianhua led her. Xu Qinyu didn't know how Lianhua did it, so she easily squeezed into the crowd and came to the front.

At this moment, it was just a lottery, Xu Qinyu stepped forward and took out the household registration documents.

When I first signed up, I would write down the basic information such as my surname, address and household registration, but now I use the household registration documents to participate in the competition.

After taking out the household registration documents, the lottery will begin.

Xu Qinyu gave the household registration documents to her husband.

These judges are all gentlemen, and the title of sir is also a sign of respect, because these judges who can come to be judges are all highly respected, and most of the old gentlemen who have achieved achievements in other fields are gluttons, while some are well-known names in various states and cities. Chef, the leader who won the previous culinary competition.

Therefore, these gentlemen are all in their 40s and 50s, and they are all absolutely fair.

It's just that I'm quite curious to see such a young lady coming here.

An old gentleman smiled and said, "Is this little lady here to participate in this year's cooking competition? The little lady looks a little young at this age, I don't know where the teacher is? Is it too early to participate at this age? "

Xu Qinyu said with a smile, "As the old gentleman said, I don't have a master, I just figured out the cooking skills myself. I also opened two restaurants in Raozhou City."

As soon as she said this, all the judges' eyes fell on her.

There were 20 old gentlemen who came to the selection. Hearing this, he couldn't help but glance at Xu Qinyu, thinking that this little lady was exaggerating.

For the most part, cooking skills are closely related to age, and cooking skills will only get better and better after years of practice.

There are many famous chefs among these judges. They have followed their masters or elders in their families since childhood. Which one has not been honed for ten years. When they dare to participate in this competition, they are all at least thirty years old. With her age, not to mention that this little lady said that she has no master and that she has figured out her cooking skills by herself, so she doesn't believe her cooking skills can pass the test.

The old gentleman who asked the question didn't say anything, but he was more impressed by Xu Qinyu in his heart.

Still a little bit of a bad impression, feel that the little lady in front of me is a little eager for success, eager for fame and fortune.

Xu Qinyu didn't care either, she was just telling the truth, these old gentlemen couldn't do anything if they didn't believe her.

She used to draw a lottery, it was a wooden lottery with four hundred and fifty-six written on it, which was a relatively backward one.

Lotus glanced at the wooden sign and whispered, "A little back."

Xu Qinyu said with a smile, "It doesn't matter, it doesn't make any difference whether you are in the front or the back."

I heard these words to the first few old gentlemen, and looked at her again and again, thinking that the little lady in front of me was a little arrogant. You must know that even in the first stage, there is still a difference between the front and the back. Better.

Because the competition is very simple, given the same ingredients and seasoning, everything is exactly the same, the same dish is made, and then the judges taste the taste, which means that for several days in a row, the judges have to eat what the contestants have made. That dish, no matter what kind of delicious food it is, it will be a little boring to eat for a few days, not to mention the uneven dishes made by the contestants. Some.

In addition, the ingredients for the first session are still pork belly, and the braised pork is to be made.

Eating too much of this stuff makes it even more greasy. ate braised pork for a few days in a row. Even if the players in the back make it better than the one in the front, they may not get a high score because they are too tired of it.

So the little lady in front of her said that the front and back were the same, and they thought Xu Qinyu was arrogant.

Xu Qinyu had drawn the lottery, and was not in a hurry to leave. She would definitely have to wait a few days for this lottery before it was her turn. She planned to stay here to see the previous players.

Yang Zhizhi and Xu Yunlan also came.

They finally squeezed to the front, saw Xu Qinyu at a glance, got close to Xu Qinyu, and said happily, "Qinyu, we're here too."

Xu Qinyu was also very happy to see the two friends and started chatting with them.

As for Mrs. Lu, she sat on the top floor of a nearby attic, so she had a better view.

This attic does not receive everyone. The ladies of the higher-ranking families want to come over to join in the fun, and they also stay in the attic here and watch.

Two hours later, all the players have drawn lots.

Xu Qinyu also saw Kong Kun, the owner of Zuixianlou.

She didn't recognize Kong Kun herself, but Huo Jiang did, so he drew the faces of Kong Kun and Kong's father to show her.

Kong Kun had participated once ten years ago, but that time he missed the top spot. Ten years later, he came to participate in this cooking competition again, thinking that after another ten years, his cooking skills will be more exquisite and he should be sure to win. , just saw Xu Ji's owner, and the little lady Xu also came, and felt a little uneasy in heart.

It’s really that Xu Ji is too popular these days. He thought that Xu Ji’s crispy suckling pig tasted good. He thought it was a recipe that the little chef got from nowhere and became Xu Ji’s signature, but he didn’t expect it. The thing is, when Xu Ji became popular, many regular customers of Zuixianlou also went to Xu Ji to eat, and they all said that everything in Xu Ji was delicious, and there were many signature dishes, and every signature dish was worth eating. flustered.

But he had no choice but to watch more and more guests go to Xu Ji.

He had never eaten at Xu Ji, and Xu Ji's food could not be packaged. It was only for the guests living in the restaurant. He couldn't have the cheek to go to Xu Ji to eat.

Now I'm just looking forward to it just because Xu Ji, the little cook, knows a lot of weird recipes, so everyone always goes to Xu Ji to eat because of the freshness. Today's cooking competitions rely on taste. Ordinary dishes can also taste delicious, so the little cook should have no chance of winning.

...

Xu Qinyu glanced at Kong Kun and then retracted her gaze.

She didn't know that Father Confucius sent Yan Mingcheng to Xu Ji to steal his master's skills. Does Kong Kun know, but she must do her best in this competition.

When the selection announced that the first competition of this year was braised pork, many of the players who had drawn the previous lottery showed their joy.

Braised pork is a dish that all cooks know, and the taste is basically the same. Braised pork is made from pork belly. This dish will be very greasy, which is very beneficial to the previous players.

Kong Kun had drawn No. 37, and it was his turn in the first few rounds, so he felt relieved.

After Xu Qinyu found out, she didn't panic.

After the first competition officially started, the cooks on the scene also started to get busy.

There are only ten stoves on site, and ten people make a round.

Not long after, the sound of chopping vegetables, brushing the pot, burning the pot and putting the oil pan was heard at the scene.

The people onlookers also watched quietly, or whispered, but the sound was not loud.