Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 311 I Want to Stay and Try Twice-Cooked Pork

He opened the lunch box with a smile, and while carrying out the steaming hot food, he introduced himself: "My last name is Jiang, and I'm the cook in the kitchen up front. You can just call me Chef Jiang."

"The fourth young master said that Miss Shen would come to cook today and he couldn't spare any time, so he asked me to make some food and send it to Miss Shen and Qixi."

"I heard that the girl is very good at cooking, whether it's cooking dishes, noodles, or flower cakes."

"I can only cook some big pot meals, which are large enough to fill you up. The taste is definitely not as good as what you cook, so just make do with it. Don't be disgusted by it, girl."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "It turned out to be Chef Jiang. I heard Qi Xi mention you. How could I ask you to come and deliver the meal in person? Thank you so much."

Just as he finished speaking, Qi Xi came in from outside. When he saw Chef Jiang, he asked curiously, "Chef Jiang, how come you have time to come and deliver the food? The lunch in the chef's room in front is ready."

Chef Jiang had a silly smile on his fat round face: "What do you mean by personal or not? I'm just a cook. You're too polite, young lady."

He then said to Qixi, "The governor will be here this afternoon, so the fourth young master asked us to finish lunch early so that we can prepare."

"I heard that Miss Shen, who made flower cakes for the county magistrate, is here, so I wanted to come and take a look."

Chef Jiang emptied the food in the lunch box, but he was still reluctant to leave.

Qi Xi asked curiously, "Chef Jiang, you have delivered all the food, please go back quickly."

"Have you finished your lunch? Would you like to sit down and eat some more together?"

Chef Jiang was thinking of finding an excuse to stay so that he could have a chance to taste the delicious-looking twice-cooked pork on the table.

But he was too embarrassed to speak up because he was not familiar with Shen Yu.

At this time, hearing Qixi ask him if he wanted to eat together was exactly what he wanted.

He was so happy that his eyes narrowed into slits, and nodded quickly, saying, "The meal started early today, and I was busy cooking for the yamen runners, so I didn't have time to eat lunch."

"Look how lively it is here. I am eating alone in the kitchen."

"If the girls don't mind, can I bring my own food over and eat with you?"

“Food tastes sweeter when there are more people.”

After Chef Jiang finished speaking, he looked at Shen Yu eagerly, afraid that she would say no.

When Shen Yu was in the restaurant, he was used to eating together with a family of seven or eight people. When he heard that Chef Jiang wanted to come over to eat together, he didn't think there was anything wrong.

She said calmly, "Of course, it's more lively when there are more people. Just bring it over. We'll wait for you to come over and eat together."

Chef Jiang said happily, "Hey!" and grabbed Qixi: "Brother Qixi, help me get the food."

Qixi has been busy all morning since he got up and had breakfast.

I spent half a day learning how to cook, smelling the aroma of the Dongpo pork. After burning the firewood for so long, I could only smell the flavor.

My stomach had been empty for a long time, and at this moment I just wanted to sit down and eat quickly, and I didn’t want to move at all.

Qi Xi said reluctantly, "Just bring it yourself. Why do you want me to go with you? It's not like there's a banquet with seven bowls and eight dishes."

Chef Jiang begged, "Brother, I have some fruit. I want to share it with everyone. It's not easy for one person to carry it all."

As he spoke, he half pushed and half pulled Qixi out.

The two of them pushed and shoved each other, whispering as they walked out of the small kitchen yard.

Shen Yu found it somewhat funny and had to sit there and wait for the two to come back. However, he heard silence from next door and involuntarily walked over.

The door of the kitchen next door was open, and Chef Xu was seen sitting at a small table, holding a pancake in his hand and slowly eating a bowl of cabbage stewed with tofu.

Seeing that it was Shen Yu standing in front of the door, he raised his head and asked, "What's the matter?"

Shen Yu hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "Uncle Xu, Chef Jiang from the main kitchen will bring the food over for us to eat together, saying that it will be more lively if there are more people."

"Would you like to come and eat with us?"

Chef Xu glanced at Shen Yu in confusion: "Don't you mind that I'm old and have a weird temper?"

Shen Yu shook his head and smiled gently: "No, I think you are kind-hearted and a good person."

When Chef Xu heard this, he smiled sarcastically: "It's a pity that good people are always bullied."

Shen Yu didn't know how to comfort the old man in front of him for a moment. He was silent for a while, and then said, "Uncle Xu, I fried twice-cooked pork. Would you like to try it?"

"You have been a first-class cook in the restaurant. Even if you just give us some pointers, it will be of great benefit to us young people."

Chef Xu raised his head and carefully examined Shen Yu's expression.

The girl in front of him was wearing clean coarse cloth and had a sincere face. She was not deliberately making sarcastic remarks to him.

He originally wanted to refuse, but for some reason, he had a special liking for this girl today.

He had never talked about his life story in the county government, but for some reason he told her about it. When he heard her say this, he was slightly stunned and then nodded.

Until Chef Xu picked up his own bowl of food, took the bamboo chopsticks and pancake, and followed Shen Yu to sit at the table in the next kitchen, Chef Xu still didn't understand why he was so defenseless against this Miss Shen.

As soon as she opened her mouth, why did I agree?

For a moment, neither of them spoke, waiting quietly for Chef Jiang and Qixi to come back.

After a while, Chef Jiang came in carrying a food box and Qixi came in carrying a small bamboo basket.

Chef Jiang was stunned when he saw Chef Xu, who specialized in cooking vegetarian dishes for the county magistrate, also sitting at the table.

Shen Yu knew that Chu Xu had a strange personality and no one in the county government could get along with him.

She quickly explained: "Chef Xu also eats alone, so I persuaded him to come over so that we can eat together and it will be more lively."

Chef Jiang didn't mind much. He just said "oh" and quickly went out to get his lunch.

Perhaps because Lu Lang had taken care of it today, the meal sent to Shen Yu included four dishes and one soup, which was very rich.

As for Chef Jiang, he only had one dish and one soup.

Shen Yu put the soup and vegetables together and said with a smile, "Let's start eating. The weather is getting colder."

Today's lunch is vegetarian pancakes, and the dishes are two meat and two vegetarian.

The vegetarian dishes include one serving of cabbage stewed with tofu and one serving of rapeseed and gluten stewed with rice.

The meat dishes include one serving of cold shredded chicken and one serving of deep-fried duck roll.

The soup is a winter melon and shrimp soup.

Chef Jiang served dishes to Shen Yu enthusiastically. He picked up the serving chopsticks and took some of each dish. He placed them in the bowl in front of Shen Yu and said, "I heard from the fourth young master that you are a great cook. Try the dishes I made and tell me how they taste."

Shen Yu was not used to others picking food for him. He felt that it was more comfortable to pick whatever he liked. He hurriedly said, "Chef Jiang is too polite. We are all chefs and we all have our own strengths."

"I am young, so I dare not instruct others. Let's learn from each other."

Qixi was really hungry and couldn't stand Chef Jiang's politeness. He pulled Chef Jiang back to the chair and said, "Can you eat first? You'll know the taste after you finish eating."