Archives: FS

Young Master Zhu knocked on the table unconsciously: “So that’s how it is.”

But even if it would be just a one-year monopoly, it was enough for him to make a lot of money.

Young Master Zhu smiled: “You are a good girl, you are willing to tell the truth.”

“Okay, I will buy your 20 kilograms of dried chili peppers and the recipes for 30 dishes. When the chili peppers are grown next year, you must give priority to supplying my restaurant.”

He looked at Gu Fei: “Name a price.”

Gu Fei smiled faintly, “My family has just arrived in Jiangnan, and I don’t know the market in Jiangnan.”

“I heard that Young Master Zhu is a righteous and kind person. Why don’t you tell me a price, and I’ll see if I can sell it.”

Young Master Zhu smiled heartily: “Little girl, you are flattering me, hahaha.”

“Let’s put it this way. Every time the chef of my restaurant develops a new dish, I will reward him with 10 taels of silver.”

“30 dishes, that’s 300 taels of silver.”

“This chili pepper–”

It’s not worth it if it’s expensive, after all, it was just a seasoning. If it’s cheap, it’s an exclusive business, and people won’t sell it.

Gu Fei smiled and said: “Dried chili peppers are only 200 wen per pound. Even if they are not weighed down, 1 pound is not a small amount.”

Young Master Zhu raised an eyebrow. The price of this chili pepper was not high.

This was a good thing, which means that the cost of a dish would not increase much if chili peppers were used.

Gu Fei continued, “Let’s say 300 taels of silver. These 20 kilograms of peppers are my gift to Young Master Zhu.”

“But I have an unwelcome request.”

Master Zhu nodded: “You say.”

Gu Fei then said: “Master Zhu bought the farm today. I wonder if you can give me 10 to 20 acres of land. I plan to plant peppers after the New Year, but I don’t have any land yet.”

Young Master Zhu waved his hand: “A few acres of land is not a big deal.”

Gu Fei said embarrassed: “Also, Young Master Zhu probably doesn’t use the yard on the farm often. My family just arrived and has no place to stay for the time being. I wonder if Master Zhu can rent a few rooms to my family so that it will be convenient for taking care of the farm.”

Young Master Zhu has already confirmed the value of peppers at this moment. He wanted to build a good relationship with the Gu family, so he said straightforwardly: “Since your family has no place to live, you can pay for the yard.”

Gu Fei was overjoyed, “That would be great.”

Gu Zhang and Gu Qing looked at each other and couldn’t believe what they heard.

Will they have land and a house soon?

Both of them were ecstatic, but they suppressed their emotions and did not lose their composure.

Young Master Zhu waved to his attendant: “Let me see the deed to the manor.”

The attendant handed over the deed, and Young Master Zhu took a look and pointed to the pattern of the field on it and said: “Since you want to buy this yard, I want to give you the land near the yard, which is convenient, but there is a pond here, and we need to go around the pond, so the land can’t be connected, which is not very convenient.”

Gu Fei’s eyes lit up: “A pond is also fine, I am planning to raise some fish, if Young Master Zhu is willing to give it up, you can transfer the pond to me.”

Young Master Zhu smiled: “Can you raise fish?”

“Okay, if the fish are well raised, my restaurant will accept them for you.”

Gu Fei bowed again: “Thank you, Young Master Zhu, you are a kind man.”

Young Master Zhu smiled: “That yard is worth more than 100 taels of silver. Let me give you 20 acres of land, plus this pond, a total of 300 taels of silver, to cover the price of the recipe, what do you think?”

Gu Fei was overjoyed and bowed deeply to Young Master Zhu: “Thank you very much, Young Master.”

“My father and I will deliver the peppers and recipes to this restaurant in 3 days. Is that okay?”

Young Master Zhu nodded: “Okay.”

“Then come back to sign the agreement in 3 days.”

 

Old Zhang looked at her from the side. This girl didn’t look like an amateur, but her cutting skills looked like an apprentice’s, far from the chef’s requirements.

Soon, several dishes were prepared one after another.

One spicy rabbit meat, one spicy chicken cubes, one spicy fish soup, and a vegetable and egg soup.

Gu Fei considered that people who had never eaten spicy food would not be able to bear it if they ate too much, so she was careful when cooking and didn’t put too much chili pepper.

Gu Fei took Lian’er upstairs with the last bowl of vegetable soup.

Old Zhang followed her up.

In the private room, in addition to Young Master Zhu, there was also a thin and fair-skinned young man.

Gu Zhang and Gu Qing didn’t eat, they sat next to each other and drank tea.

Young Master Zhu was eating the spicy chicken cubes slowly.

The young man ate the spicy rabbit meat while shouting: “I like this taste, it’s refreshing and satisfying.”

Lao Zhang curled his lips slightly beside him.

Gu Fei hurriedly put the soup on the table: “The two young masters are eating spicy food for the first time, so don’t eat too much, or your stomach won’t be able to handle it.”

“Why not drink some vegetable soup?”

Young Master Zhu nodded: “Fortunately, you didn’t put too much chili in this dish, so I can handle it.”

He pointed to the fish on the table: “This fish is freshly prepared.”

Gu Fei nodded: “In fact, this fish can be prepared without chili, but the flavor will be different.”

The young man next to him said: “How can it be so delicious without chili?”

“This chili is just to my taste!”

Young Master Zhu smiled: “This is Young Master Zhou.”

Gu Fei hurriedly bowed: “Hello, Young Master Zhou.”

Young Master Zhu waved to Old Zhang: “Come here, try these dishes too.”

Old Zhang sat down, picked up the chopsticks nonchalantly, and picked up a piece of spicy rabbit meat. He had never seen Young Master Zhou eat like this before. He didn’t believe how delicious this inconspicuous dish was.

When the rabbit meat enters the mouth, the tongue feels slightly numb at first, followed by a burst of spicy taste, and then the fresh fragrance of the rabbit meat fills the entire mouth.

Old Zhang closed his eyes and tasted it carefully, and then slowly opened his eyes after a while.

Young Master Zhu smiled and said: “How is it? Will anyone eat this dish if it is sold in the restaurant?”

Old Zhang looked at Gu Fei with a complicated expression: “When I was young, I ate all over the country, but I have never tasted this taste.”

“This dish has a unique taste. If you want to introduce this dish in the restaurant, I think someone should like it.”

Gu Fei bowed to Old Zhang: “Thank you, uncle.”

Old Zhang waved his hand: “I am just telling the truth.”

Young Master Zhou raised his head at this time: “I don’t know about others, but I like this taste. The more I eat, the more addicted I become.”

Young Master Zhu drank a sip of water and pondered for a long time: “You are the only one who has this chili?”

Gu Fei nodded: “I can guarantee that no one in the Great Ying Dynasty has this thing except me.”

Young Master Zhu’s eyes lit up slightly: “Why not do this, I will buy all the chili you grow in the future, as much as you grow.”

If he wanted to do it, he should monopolize it. Everyone knows that a monopoly can make big money in business.

He can sell the chili elsewhere after drying it.

Gu Fei understood what Master Zhu meant: “Young Master Zhu, to be honest, this chili is very easy to grow. Once it appears, no matter how secretive you are, someone will find a way to get the seeds. Within a year, someone will be able to grow it.”

“So if Young Master Zhu’s restaurant uses chili to cook, it’s just to seize the initiative.”

 

Gu Fei nodded: “Yes, the dry ones can be planted directly, or soaked in water before planting.”

When the aunt in the community planted peppers, she grabbed a handful of seeds and scattered them in the soil. She squatted beside and watched, and asked questions with interest, all of which were told to her by the aunt.

Gu Zhang nodded: “That’s good.”

Gu Fei peeled for a while and took out the various seasonings in the space, which would be useful later.

At this time, Lian’er’s voice came from outside: “Miss Xiao Fei, Liu Zhuangtou said that Young Master Zhu sent someone to ask, can we leave now?”

Gu Fei shouted: “I’m coming out right now!”

As she said that, she quickly took a bag and packed the peeled peppers.

Gu Zhang also stood up: “Dad will go with you.”

“Dalang will go too.”

Mrs. Chen nodded: “Okay, you go, and the others will continue to peel.”

The three of them walked out, and Gu Fei called Lian’er again. They were going to cook later, and Lian’er could help her and save time.

Gu Zhang thought that Young Master Zhu and his men rode horses, so he borrowed the horse of the manor, harnessed his carriage, and drove out of the manor.

Young Master Zhu was waiting outside the manor. When he saw them, he nodded, whipped his horsewhip, and set off.

It took an incense stick of time to enter the South City Gate, and not long after that, the carriage stopped.

This street was extremely prosperous, with people coming and going on the street.

When Gu Fei got off the carriage, she saw a three-story restaurant with a black plaque with gold edges in the middle, with three large gilded characters on it, “Yipin Pavilion”.

When the shopkeeper saw Young Master Zhu, the owner, he hurried out to greet him. Young Master Zhu threw his whip and pointed at Gu Fei: “I invited this girl to cook.”

“Take her to the back kitchen. She can take whatever ingredients she wants.”

The shopkeeper nodded and took Gu Fei to the back kitchen. Lian’er hurriedly followed.

Young Master Zhu extended his hand and made a gesture of invitation: “Second Master Gu, come upstairs for tea.”

Gu Zhang and Gu Qing followed Young Master Zhu upstairs.

Gu Fei entered the kitchen, and the kitchen of Yipin Pavilion opened her eyes.

There were more than 10 to 20 stoves alone, and in the middle was a huge chopping board with various ingredients piled on it.

Many helpers were cutting and washing vegetables, and some stoves were stewing or steaming things.

The shopkeeper said to the chef, Old Zhang: “The Young Master let this girl cook a few dishes. Just let her take whatever she needs.”

He called a teenager over: “Help her.”

Old Zhang looked at Gu Fei calmly. What kind of dishes can a little girl cook? Haha, just wait and see.

Gu Fei walked to the chopping board, reached out took a gutted chicken, and said to Lian’er: “I only want chicken breast,” she gestured with her hands, “cut it into dices this big.”

Lian’er nodded, took a knife, and started to work.

Then Gu Fei took another rabbit and handed it to the boy: “Just chop it into pieces.”

Then Gu Fei took another fish and dealt with it herself.

She cut off the fish head, removed the fish bones, and then cut the fish meat into slices, adding salt, cooking wine, and starch to marinate.

After heating the oil pan, she added chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns, then put the fish head and bones in and stir-fried, then added ginger, garlic, and chili peppers to continue stir-frying. For a while, the kitchen was filled with spicy smoke, and many people choked and coughed.

Gu Fei called the helper again: “Do you have broth? Bring me a big bowl of broth.”

The helper quickly brought a bowl of broth. Gu Fei saw that the fish head was almost cooked, poured the broth into the pot, covered the lid, and let it boil.

She looked around, grabbed another handful of peanuts, and asked Lian’er to peel them.

Then she fried the peanuts in a pan.

After a while, the peanuts were fried, and she scooped them out and put them aside.

Then she started to make spicy chicken cubes.

 

This chili was a new thing, so he naturally wanted it.

But he doesn’t want the restaurant to be unable to supply it after launching it, which would be counterproductive.

Gu Fei also understood Young Master Zhu’s concerns. She thought for a while: “Young Master Zhu, I have a suggestion. Either you wait until my chili grows out before deciding whether to buy it, or you buy this little bit of dried chili now and use it slowly. For example, the restaurant launches one or two spicy dishes a day, first come, first served, or the highest bidder wins, which can attract customers and whet their appetite.”

“If you use it sparingly this way, you can almost wait until the fresh chili grows out.”

Young Master Zhu raised an eyebrow. No need to mention it, this was a great solution.

His family runs so many businesses, so he naturally understands the principle that things are precious because they are scarce.

Young Master Zhu thought for a long time before slowly nodding: “Okay, I’ll take your chili.”

“But I have another request.”

“What about spicy crab, spicy chicken, hot and sour soup that you mentioned before? No chef in my restaurant can make this. Why don’t you sell me the recipe?”

Gu Fei was a little excited. She loved cooking and bought a few cookbooks. Even if there were no recipes, she knew how to make many dishes. She could just write them down.

She nodded: “Okay, how many recipes does Young Master Zhu need?”

Young Master Zhu looked at Gu Fei in surprise: “You mean you have a lot of recipes?”

Gu Fei smiled: “I said, chili can be put into any dish as long as you like it, even stir-fried vegetables.”

For example, hand-shredded cabbage and dry-pot cauliflower both have dried red peppers.

“I can give Young Master Zhu 20 or 30 recipes, all of which can use this dried chili pepper.”

Young Master Zhu nodded slightly, thought for a moment: “How about this, it’s useless for you to just say it, I have a few restaurants in Ping’an City, if it’s convenient for you, come into the city with me later, cook a few dishes first, and I have to taste them.”

“If it’s okay, we can talk about the price.”

Gu Fei nodded: “No problem.”

Gu Qing was a little anxious when he heard it. Didn’t Gu Fei say she wanted to buy land? Why did she sell chili peppers?

Is she going to buy the land or not?

Why doesn’t she mention it to Young Master Zhu?!

Gu Zhang winked at Gu Qing, signaling him to be patient.

Gu Fei bowed deeply: “Please allow me half an hour, Master Zhu, so I can go back and get the seasonings and set off.”

Young Master Zhu nodded: “It’s just right, I need some time to buy this farm, so please go ahead.”

Gu Zhang quickly got up and said goodbye, and together with Gu Qing, the three of them hurried back to the farm over there.

On the way, Gu Qing asked in confusion: “Sister, why don’t you tell that Young Master Zhu to share a few acres of land with us?”

Gu Fei said helplessly: “He doesn’t know us, isn’t it better to get close to him first?”

“Don’t worry, brother, I have a plan.”

The few people returned to the manor. Gu Fei avoided the old lady and called everyone in the room. He asked Lanzhi and Lian’er to take Xiao Cao out to play, closed the door, took out a large bag of dried chili peppers from the space, and said to everyone: “I need to use this chili pepper now. I have to get the chili seeds out of it. These are all seeds. I have to collect them.”

Mrs. Chen was confused and didn’t know what Gu Fei was going to do at that moment, but they did what Gu Fei said.

The family started to act quickly. Gu Fei peeled for a while, and her hands were so hot that she found a bottle and carefully collected the chili seeds.

While peeling, Gu Zhang asked: “Xiao Fei, the seeds are all dry, can they still be planted?”

 

Young Master Zhu ate a few slices and put down his chopsticks. He took the handkerchief handed over by his attendant and wiped his mouth. He said with lingering feelings: “I can taste the pepper and cumin in this fried meat, but there should be something else.”

He looked at Gu Fei: “What is it?”

Gu Fei smiled and took out the chili powder wrapped in paper.

Young Master Zhu looked at the red powder in the paper bag: “Is this it?”

Gu Fei nodded: “This is a wild fruit I accidentally found in the mountains of my hometown. It is called chili. It looks like this after being dried and ground into powder.”

Young Master Zhu touched his chin: “You made a plate of fried meat for me to eat, just to sell your chili?”

His family has a lot of business, and many people want to do business with him all day long.

Gu Fei didn’t mean that. She just thought that if Young Master Zhu liked spicy food, she could give him some chili, get close to him, say a few good words, and see if he could get him to share a few acres of his family’s land.

However, after Young Master Zhu said this, Gu Fei nodded and said: “Chili peppers can be added to dishes to enhance the flavor. Dried chili peppers are a kind of seasoning and can be added to many dishes. Fresh chili peppers are a kind of vegetable and can also be used in cooking.”

Young Master Zhu already wanted this chili pepper in his heart, but he shook his head: “This chili pepper is good, but the taste in Jiangnan is light, I’m afraid not many people like it.”

Gu Fei smiled. People in Jiangnan have light tastes, which was also the case in the previous life, but don’t they eat barbecue? Don’t they eat hot pot?

Which barbecue and hot pot doesn’t put chili peppers?

Gu Fei smiled: “There are indeed people who don’t eat chili peppers, but those who like to eat them will only become more and more addicted to them.”

“And there are many dishes that can be made with this chili pepper.”

“You can make spicy chicken, hot and sour soup, chopped pepper fish head, spicy crab, spicy cabbage, stir-fried meat with chili peppers–”

As Gu Fei was about to read on, Young Master Zhu felt that his mouth began to secrete saliva uncontrollably.

“Stop, stop, you can cook all these dishes?”

Gu Fei nodded: “Of course, peppers can be eaten not only fresh and dried, but also made into hot sauce, and there are many kinds of hot sauce. In short, there are too many ways to eat peppers.”

“Even pepper water can be used as anti-wolf spray–” Gu Fei was so excited that she didn’t stop for a moment. She coughed lightly: “Ahem, it’s not important right now.”

Young Master Zhu straightened up. A piece of meat fried with chili powder couldn’t completely impress him, but if peppers could be made in so many different ways, it would be worth considering.

Ping’an City was full of restaurants. If he wanted to make a lot of money, the important thing was to have your signature!

Jiangnan people have a light taste, but there were many foreign merchants in Ping’an City. If he can accept this taste, there must be others who can accept it.

His restaurant has been a bit half-dead in the past year, maybe this is an opportunity.

He nodded slowly: “How many peppers do you have? If I buy your peppers, can you guarantee the supply for my restaurant?”

Gu Fei said a little embarrassed: “Young Master Zhu, I only have about 20 kilograms of dried peppers now.”

Young Master Zhu was disappointed: “It’s just this little, how long will it take!”

Gu Fei didn’t think about selling peppers at first, after all, they hadn’t been planted yet, what if they didn’t grow?

But she wanted the land here too much. It was only about 25 minutes away from the city, which was convenient for everything. The most important thing was that Ping’an City was a huge consumer market.

Gu Fei plucked up her courage: “Although I only have this little pepper now, I have seeds. I can plant it in spring, and I can harvest fresh peppers in April or May next year.”

“With fresh peppers, you can make hot sauce and pickled peppers. These are easy to store and keep, and they are also convenient to use.”

Young Master Zhu raised an eyebrow in surprise: “April or May next year?”

It was not too long. It was already mid-December, and the waiting was about half a year.

Young Master Zhu tapped the armrest unconsciously, thinking rapidly in his mind.

 

Young Master Zhu took a look at Gu Zhang. He was wearing a sheepskin coat and spoke Mandarin, so he was not a local.

Combining Gu Zhang’s words, Young Master Zhu thought for a moment and thought that since he was staying here temporarily, it must have been agreed by Young Master Su. The village head was not so bold as to invite people to live here privately.

But arranging for people to live in the village also meant that they were not guests.

It was probably a distant relative or a neighbor who was begging for money.

Of course, Young Master Zhu also saw that Gu Zhang had some of the temperament of a scholar, but more like a farmer.

However, no matter what, Young Master Su was someone he could not afford to offend. Young Master Zhu smiled: “It turned out to be Master Gu, let’s talk inside.”

Gu Zhang followed him in: “No, no, I’m just the second son, just call me Gu Er.”

Everyone entered the village together and sat down in the main hall. Young Master Zhu said: “Master Gu came here specially, I think he has something to ask?”

Gu Zhang hesitated and didn’t know how to start.

Gu Fei stepped forward and bowed: “Greetings to Young Master Zhu.”

Gu Zhang hurriedly said: “This is my daughter.”

Young Master Zhu glanced at Gu Fei casually and nodded.

Gu Fei smiled and said: “Excuse me, I heard that you have opened several restaurants. I have a new food here, and I would like to invite you to taste it. I wonder if you can wait for a moment?”

Young Master Zhu had just finished breakfast and had no intention of tasting food at all. However, these people had some relationship with Young Master Su, and they might be useful someday, so he had to give them some face.

He nodded slightly, “Good, I’ll take a look at the farm later.”

Gu Fei bowed and went out.

She found the village head and pulled him aside: “Uncle, I want to use your kitchen. If there are any ingredients, I want to take some.”

As she spoke, she stuffed two taels of silver into his hand: “Uncle can buy wine to drink.”

The village head weighed the silver in his hand: “You want to cook for that Young Master Zhu?”

Gu Fei nodded, and the village head pondered: “Girl, using the kitchen is nothing, but my master’s family is already in trouble. If Young Master Zhu eats your food and something happens-”

“Don’t worry, uncle, my family has something to ask of Young Master Zhu, how could we have the intention to harm others, you know, we live in Young Master Zhu Su’s manor.” Gu Fei had to pull out the big banner of Young Master Su.

The village head thought about it and nodded: “Then I’ll take you there.”

After entering the kitchen, Gu Fei looked around. There was a small piece of meat and vegetables in the kitchen. It must be what the village head eats.

Gu Fei took the meat, cleaned it, and quickly cut it into thin slices.

Then she took salt and cooking wine, marinated it slightly, and then put it in the pan to fry.

When the meat slices were fried until both sides were golden brown, Gu Fei took out paper bags from her arms, sprinkled chili powder, cumin powder, pepper powder, chicken essence, and finally sprinkled green onions.

After the fried meat slices were done, Gu Fei hurriedly took them to the main hall.

Young Master Zhu and Gu Zhang sat opposite each other and drank tea.

Gu Fei put the plate on the table, opened the lid, and then presented a pair of bamboo chopsticks: “Young Master Zhu, please try it.”

Young Master Zhu took a look at the plate and was disappointed.

Originally thought it was a new dish, but it was just a fried meat slice.

He reluctantly picked up the chopsticks to pick up a piece, took a bite, and frowned.

After finishing a piece of fried meat, Young Master Zhu’s brows gradually relaxed: “This taste – hiss, so spicy.”

After drinking a sip of tea, Young Master Zhu couldn’t help but pick up another piece, nodding as he ate: “It’s spicy, but how can I describe this taste? I want to eat more after eating it.”