Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Modern Cuisine
"Young Master, Master Huideng has arrived a kilometer outside the city gate."
Qu Fulan’s eyelashes quivered lightly. No wonder he was in such a hurry to bathe and change clothes; it turned out there was a noble guest to welcome.
Heir Pei stood up, "Prepare the horse!"
With that, he strode away.
Once gone, it seemed he wouldn’t return until the night was over.
Meanwhile, at Zhaoying Building, Lianhua, upon learning of the Heir’s departure, incredulously grabbed Yinhua’s hand and said, "The Heir has left?"
"He’s gone."
"Didn’t you tell the Heir I was sick?"
Yinhua: "I told him. A guest asked why you didn’t come, and I said you were ill, very seriously ill."
"It was the guest who asked, not the Heir?" Lianhua pursued.
"It was the guest who asked, the Heir didn’t say anything after hearing." Yinhua answered honestly.
Lianhua didn’t believe it, "Surely the Heir didn’t say anything because of the guest’s presence. After the banquet, didn’t he say he would come to see me?"
Yinhua found it strange. Why would the Heir come to see Lianhua? However, she was not one to be curious and ask more questions. If she couldn’t understand it, she didn’t bother thinking about it and remained silent.
Lianhua was very uncomfortable. She had specifically told Yinhua that she was seriously ill, hoping that once the Heir knew, he would come to see her. The Heir was so caring to everyone; he shouldn’t ignore her.
Clearly, in the entire Zhaoying Building, only her service was the most attentive. Whenever the Heir brought people over, he would always call for her to attend to them. Now that she was seriously ill and couldn’t go, logically, the Heir should have come to see her.
Lianhua thought over and over, unable to make sense of it. Finally, after thinking of something, she asked, "Did that maid of the Heir come today?"
The Heir had only one maid by his side, who was so beautiful, and Yinhua naturally knew who she referred to. She shook her head immediately, "She didn’t come."
Lianhua heard this and was even more puzzled, "Isn’t she the Heir’s maid? Why didn’t the Heir bring her over to serve the guest?"
Yinhua would not answer this question; how could she comment on the Heir’s personal matters?
Because of her urgent desire to recover, Lianhua insisted on taking medicine all day. The taste was so bitter that it made one frown, yet she drank it all in one go without even frowning. If the doctor hadn’t said not to drink too much, in order to get better even faster, she would have doubled the dose.
Although not fully recovered, she was much better than in the morning and had the strength to continue talking.
"Did the Heir say if he would come again tomorrow?"
"He didn’t say."
"Did the Heir say when he would come?"
"He didn’t say either."
Lianhua felt Yinhua was useless, knowing nothing, "If the Heir didn’t say, couldn’t you ask?"
Yinhua looked terrified, "I- I wouldn’t dare ask."
Lianhua was furious but knew Yinhua’s character well— hopeless. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have let her go so comfortably, but this was too much.
"I’m not saying this to be mean, but our future depends on the Heir for a decent life. If we don’t serve the Heir well, how can our marriages turn out well in the future? Do you want to end up like Taohua, marrying a random servant?"
Yinhua, blushing easily, couldn’t help but blush when it came to marriage.
Actually, Yinhua didn’t have grand ambitions. She thought marrying a servant wasn’t bad, at least there was a stable job, and they wouldn’t have to worry about their livelihood in the future.
But Lianhua thought differently. With her looks and bearing, she deserved someone like the Heir.
The next day.
After having breakfast, Qu Fulan went to the small kitchen.
Knowing that the Heir had a small stove here, the steward in charge of the main kitchen was very considerate and delivered plenty of fresh ingredients early in the morning.
Douya helped out, and Qu Fulan began preparing breakfast.
"I didn’t expect Sister to have cooking skills?" Douya asked curiously while helping to prepare ingredients.
Qu Fulan replied, "I learned a bit at home before. Now that I have some time, I thought I’d try cooking a few dishes. Didn’t Yueyuan mention the other day that Mrs. Pei had a poor appetite? I’ll try making some hometown dishes for her to taste."
If the highest authority in the household acknowledged her culinary skills, then Heir Pei presumably wouldn’t have much to say.
Douya, hearing this, curiously asked, "What dishes does Sister plan to make?"
Qu Fulan, "Rice noodle roll, Chinese crepe, and soup dumplings."
Douya looked confused, "Why haven’t I heard of them?"
Qu Fulan just smiled. She couldn’t remember where she’d seen it, but rice noodle rolls had a long history, supposedly originating from Tang Dynasty in Longzhou, originally called "Longkan Rice Cake."
Later during Emperor Qianlong’s reign, when he traveled to Jiangnan, he went to Luoding to taste Longkan Rice Cake after hearing Minister Ji Xiaolan praise it. Upon tasting this "crisp, tender, and smooth" rice cake, Emperor Qianlong was full of praise and whimsically said: this cake doesn’t quite resemble a rice cake, it seems more like intestines, why not call it rice noodle roll? Hence the name.
Indeed, many modern delicacies evolved from ancient times, but there are also many local specialties that are purely original.
However, she was in a novel, not history; these delicacies didn’t exist in the novel, so she was getting lucky.
Even if they did, ancient delicacies were unlikely to match modern ones; after all, modern cuisine has been improved over generations, and the flavors now are indescribable.
Once you master a recipe, you’re set for life.
The fortunate thing was, in the modern company she worked for, one of the branches was in the food industry, which was her first project when she joined the company, where she learned a lot.
Qu Fulan worked busily for an hour and prepared several breakfast items, with Little Douya’s help, and brought them all to Mrs. Pei’s room.
At this time, Mrs. Pei had just gotten up and finished her grooming.
Hua Hao and Yueyuan were helping Mrs. Pei dress. Hearing that Qu Fulan had arrived, they curiously asked, "Why did she come this early?"
The person who came said, "Sister Fulan heard that Mrs. Pei hasn’t been eating well lately, so she tried making some hometown dishes and brought them to serve as breakfast."
Mrs. Pei laughed, "This girl has gone there and still thinks of me."
Yueyuan replied with a smile, "She’s nostalgic and knows gratitude in her heart."
Hua Hao also said, "Fulan has always been serious in her work. I’m curious about what she brought this time; I think what she makes probably won’t taste bad."
With that, they entered.
When Mrs. Pei saw several items on the table, she curiously asked, "Is this a dumpling? But it doesn’t seem to have filling inside, more like it’s filled with water, is it soup?"
Qu Fulan cheerfully replied, "In response to Mrs. Pei, this is a soup dumpling, made with a dough skin from fine flour, using rib meat for filling, mixing it with fresh marrow broth and over ten kinds of superior seasonings. The dumpling is fresh and fragrant, the meat tender, the skin thin and soft, and the shape delicate and translucent. The best part is it’s filled with broth, rich and pure. Gently nibble a small bite, first suck the broth, then eat the dumpling in one go, it’s rich but not greasy."
"Mrs. Pei, please try and see if you like it."
Mrs. Pei, upon hearing this, was full of curious interest. She picked up the chopsticks, pinched a small opening, lifted a small dish, and gently sipped a taste.