Lingquan after kitchen

Chapter 65
"Get up and talk." Ouyang Jinhua saw that the kitchen was full of things but not messy, and he asked, "What are you going to do for lunch this afternoon?"

The sixty-year-old cook replied: "Miss Hui, the Duke rarely comes back at noon, and the villain only eats for the servants and guards of the mansion at noon. Today, he eats pancakes at noon, and the dish is steamed pumpkin."

Three middle-aged cooks opened the white cloth on the large vat used for kneading dough, revealing more than half of the vat of dry flour, and brought over two baskets containing more than twenty pumpkins.

Little Chrysanthemum and Little Chrysanthemum are human beings. Just now I saw that the clothes of the servants of the Duke’s Mansion are [-]% new. Now that they don’t even have tofu for lunch, it’s just the cheapest pumpkin in autumn. Like many military officials, they are strong outside but not wealthy.

Aunt He received Ouyang Jinhua's wink and opened the kitchen cabinets one by one. There was no meat in it, only a dozen eggs, some dried vegetables, and soybean paste.

It's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice.Mrs. He, who had shown off her culinary skills in Ouyang Mansion in Chang'an, was suddenly in a bad mood.

The four cooks looked at each other, not knowing where to put their hands in embarrassment.

Ouyang Jinhua asked: "Have you eaten all the food delivered by my family yesterday?"

The sixty-year-old old man thought of the delicious beef, opened his mouth and drooled out of conditioned reflex, felt that the Duke's family was completely ashamed, lowered his head in shame, coughed twice, and said: "Master Guo ate some , and the rest were sent to several generals’ residences.”

Ouyang Jinhua didn't show any contempt on his face, and asked, "Do you go out to buy vegetables and fruits every afternoon?"

The old man in his sixties nodded, and replied: "Miss is right. The Grand Duke will come back for dinner every night, and the four villains will take turns shopping every afternoon."

Ouyang Jinhua said: "Our two families came in a hurry, and the money steward of your mansion didn't know in advance. My grandpa and uncle have bad teeth, and they are very picky about food. It's just the beginning of time, I see you are coming I will lead the way, and I will call two guards, and I will send my servant Xiao Tong to buy some fruits and vegetables, and I will cook them for lunch."

The sixty-year-old old man had in his pocket the twenty-six cents of silver that the money steward gave yesterday. This was to buy the meat that Dongfang will eat tonight and the food for the slaves and guards in the house tomorrow. Just now, the money steward came in a hurry and said something Gou hurried away again, but left no money.

"My younger brother and the son are sworn brothers. The son said that his home is our home, so let me treat this kitchen as our kitchen." After Ouyang Jinhua finished speaking, he told Xiao Tong what to buy and how many catties each.

Xiao Tong was the smartest, and said in a low voice: "The maidservant has the banknotes and scraps that Miss gave last time, which is enough to buy a hundred pigs. Don't worry, Miss."

The sixty-year-old man lowered his head and took Xiao Chuan out of the kitchen to find Steward Qian.

"I'll go to the account room to get the money now." Steward Qian cursed inwardly in his heart that he was too old to be confused, because he forgot to give the money to the kitchen just now.

Xiao Tong smiled and said, "Uncle Qian, Master Shizi said that our lady should treat the kitchen as her own kitchen, and she can do whatever she wants. The lady sent me to do the shopping. It's not a big deal. You still can't trust me?"

Butler Qian refused to let Ouyang's family pay for the food no matter what, and asked the sixty-year-old man to wait here. He returned soon, but with an embarrassed expression on his face, he took three silver ingots of five taels and a handful of broken silver of about three taels to the little one. Tong, said: "Are these enough?"

Xiao Tong said: "Enough."

The old man in his sixties led the way, and Xiao Tong was escorted by two guards and left the Duke's Mansion through the side door. Walking west for about five miles was the entrance to the most prosperous West Market in Chang'an.

Ouyang Jinhua has a lot of things to buy, and Xiao Tong is afraid that he will be late to make lunch when he goes home, so as long as he looks at the freshness, he will not bargain with the hawker and make a purchase.

The 12-year-old old man secretly calculated the account in his heart. The seafood alone cost [-] taels of silver, the seasoning from Fanwai was [-] taels of silver, and the big crab was [-] taels of silver. The money steward gave was far from enough.

Half an hour later, the shopkeeper of the seafood, seasoning, fish, and butcher shop sent four assistants to push a trolley full of vegetables, fruits, meat, chicken, river fish, crab, and seafood seasoning, and followed Xiao Tong and his party to the Duke's Mansion.

The sixty-year-old old man saw that Xiao Tong was not tired at all after walking for so long, and his steps were so light that he could hardly make a sound, so he asked, "Miss, have you practiced martial arts?"

Xiao Tong smiled and said, "I have practiced for several years."

The guards and door slaves pushed the cart to unload the goods, and then sent the cart to the outside of the house and returned it to the four men.

How many times has the guy from Haihuo been here, and he got to know the door slave, and asked, "Is the princess here again?"

Everyone in Chang'an knows that Murong Yu, an alcoholic, often hosts a banquet in the Duke's mansion to entertain a few drinking buddies, but the Duke Dongfang Ding never participates.

The door slave laughed loudly: "No. This one is our son's guest."

The man was surprised and said: "The son of the world has finally returned to the house?"

The door slave nodded excitedly and said loudly, "I'm back."

There was a little guy Ouyang Jinfeng in the kitchen, who was listening to Ouyang Jinhua's story attentively. When he saw that Xiao Tong had bought a lot of things, he didn't go to look at it.

The three cooks of the Duke's Mansion went out to carry things, but they were happy when they saw a cleaned whole pig, fifteen live chickens, and a large basket full of eggs. Basket of seasonal fruits, and looked excitedly at the sixty old man.

"The money that Steward Qian gave is not enough, the rest is paid by the young lady." There was a little helplessness and shame in the voice of the sixty old man.

The middle-aged cook with a big mung bean mole on his left cheek said doubtfully: "Miss said just now that the ingredients should be fresh. There are less than ten masters in the mansion, the prince and the guests, so much meat. , Chicken, fish, eggs, you can eat more in one day.”

The sixty-year-old man asked Xiao Tong just now on the road, and said a little excitedly: "Miss specially asked Xiao Tong to buy more for us to eat."

Xiao Tong smiled and said to several people: "Miss has never been to the West Market, so I can guess that there are fresh and big crabs there."

Mrs. He praised: "Miss knows a lot of things, she is the most intelligent."

"I've heard about the prosperity of the east and west markets in Chang'an. If there are no big crabs, how can it be called the number one market in this dynasty? Xiao Tong has worked hard." Ouyang Jinhua said again: "Jinfeng, you Go and see if Xiao Tong buys more male crabs or more female crabs?"

Ouyang Jinfeng bounced to the side of the bamboo basket, dexterously grabbed the shell of a crab with teeth and claws in his fat little hands, turned it over, glanced at it, and said, "Female." After counting, ten Most of the crabs are female.

(End of this chapter)