All Heavens: From Joy of Life to The Great Feng Night Watchman

Page 483

A few days later, Xu Lingyue went to visit her relatives.

Before dinner, she took a small jar to the kitchen. Before she even went in, she heard several cooks gossiping.

"When the master sent Miss to work as a maid, I couldn't understand it at all. How could someone of her status have to serve others? Now I realize that the master truly deserves to be an official; he has a high position and a far-sighted perspective."

Another cook, tending the fire, chimed in, "That's right! Lord Li's residence is in the inner city, and it's a six-courtyard mansion! Six courtyards! It costs over 15,000 taels!"

The outer city of the capital was mostly inhabited by ordinary people, while the inner city was reserved for high-ranking officials and nobles, and was the aspiration of the people in the outer city.

"The lady wasn't too keen on it before, but now she seems to be showing off more and more."

The cook chopping vegetables exclaimed, "That's right! Lord Li is so famous, so accomplished at such a young age, and so wealthy. I heard his net worth is a million taels of silver. My goodness, it's unbelievable!"

The cook tending the fire excitedly said, "And this Lord Li is not married yet! Miss is in a great position to be near him."

"Although he kept a courtesan in the brothel, she couldn't compare to the young lady's impeccable background. So, the master's judgment is truly sharp."

"What courtesan? Her looks might not even be as good as Miss's. Miss just doesn't take the initiative. If it were me, I would have slept in the same bed with Lord Li long ago."

"What do you know? Maybe Miss is sleeping in the same bed with Lord Li right now..."

Xu Lingyue listened to these gossips outside the door, and surprisingly, she couldn't get angry, since most of them weren't bad things.

"Cough cough..."

A clear cough was heard, and the cooks immediately resumed their quiet and busy work.

"Oh, Miss is back."

"Miss is becoming more and more beautiful."

"Miss, why are you in the kitchen?"

"Just have the maid deliver the message if you need anything."

The cooks, some surprised and some delighted, chatted warmly with Xu Lingyue.

Xu Lingyue took out a small jar. "This is a flavor enhancer that Lord Li gave me. I'm here to help you cook."

Although Li Chang'an didn't specifically instruct her, Xu Lingyue knew that this was an exclusive recipe and couldn't be leaked.

Moreover, what if the cooks secretly take such delicious food if it's left in the kitchen? So, we can only put a little in when cooking, and leave the rest to Li Ru for safekeeping. That's the safest way to go.

The cooks were incredibly curious, but they didn't know what good things Xu Lingyue had brought back, so they could only continue working.

Xu Lingyue is the mistress, and the cooks are just servants. Servants have no say in what their mistress does.

Moreover, Xu Lingyue's status and even her say in the family have gradually surpassed Xu Pingzhi's.

When the first dish, Kung Pao Chicken, was almost ready, Xu Lingyue scooped out a spoonful of MSG and added it in.

Afterwards, she picked up a little meat and tasted it, nodding in satisfaction. It was indeed the freshest taste she had had in the past two days.

Upon seeing this, the cook also took a bite, and her eyes widened instantly, almost forgetting to cook.

The flavor was familiar to her, but the chicken was several times more delicious, something that even making broth couldn't achieve.

"This is so delicious! Did I really make this? I can't believe I have such skills..."

The other cooks also tasted it and all said that the cooks who stir-fried the dishes could go to Guiyue Restaurant to become the head chef.

After that, for each dish—braised crucian carp, sweet and sour pork ribs, scrambled eggs with chives—Xu Lingyue would add a little MSG just before it was ready to serve.

The cooks finally realized that it was the MSG flavor enhancer that Xu Lingyue brought back that made the food so delicious.

"Miss, this MSG was brought from the palace. Only the nobles in the palace can enjoy such a flavor!"

Xu Lingyue smiled slightly. Even the princesses in the palace couldn't enjoy such a taste. Princess Lin'an wished she could run to Li Chang'an's house every day.

I heard that Consort Chen has placed him under house arrest, which is why he can't come out.

Xu Lingyue left a large spoonful for the cooks, telling them to add some when they cooked.

"Try this first. It won't be long before MSG is available on the market."

The cooks thanked them repeatedly, but in their hearts they all thought that even if it were for sale, they couldn't afford it.

At the dinner table, Xu Pingzhi sniffed, "The food smells so good today."

Little Pudding Xu Lingyin sat on Xu Lingyue's lap, her little chopsticks already outstretched, drool dripping from her mouth.

"Snapped!"

Xu Lingyue pressed down on Xiaobuding's chopsticks and scolded, "Mother and brother haven't arrived yet."

Little Pudding stared wide-eyed as he put down his chopsticks, and Xu Pingzhi also put down the chopsticks he had just picked up.

Recently, Xu Lingyue's status at home has been rising, and she has become more and more authoritative, because the allowance Li Chang'an gives her has reached twice as much as he, a seventh-rank official, receives!

Economic status determines one's position within the family, alas.

After Li Ru and Xu Xinnian arrived, they also noticed that today's dishes were quite unusual. Li Ru picked up a piece of fish first and was then shocked.

"It's...so delicious...did they change cooks at home?"

Xu Xinnian picked up a piece of chicken and muttered, "That's too much."

However, after chewing a few bites, he immediately picked up his chopsticks and started fighting with the others for the food.

The dishes were the same, but the freshness exploded on the taste buds, the impact was just too strong.

Not long after, a loud cry echoed throughout the Xu family home.

"It's all... not even a little bit left..."

"I'm still not full, boohoo!"

Xu Lingyin's arms were too short; before she was even full, all the food on the table was gone.

Xu Xinnian patted his protruding belly, then patted Xu Lingyin's head.

"Don't cry, don't cry. A gentleman doesn't seek to be full when he eats. You are now the only gentleman in the whole family."

Xu Lingyin cried so hard that snot bubbled from her nose. Seeing that her whole family had finished eating and were still savoring the lingering taste of the food, she cried even harder.

Xu Qi'an, who was cooking next door, smelled the delicious aroma and heard the noisy crying, which made him even more irritable.

"Stop crying! Stop crying!"

"Eating such delicious food, and still crying, they don't know how lucky they are."

In less than half a month, five grades of MSG appeared on the market in Beijing.

The five price tiers are actually just different combinations of sea cucumber powder, kelp powder, and shiitake mushroom powder, each with a different level of umami enhancement.

However, because there are different prices to cater to people from all walks of life, Chu Caiwei's promotion to alchemist should be a foregone conclusion.

In the palace.

A palace maid, accompanied by Chu Caiwei, entered carrying a food box.

"Your Highness, look what delicious food I brought you!"

Huaiqing was fully aware of what had happened at Li Chang'an's residence, and her gaze towards Chu Caiwei was somewhat complicated.

Li Chang'an was truly like a furnace, bringing warmth to the women around him.

He wrote poems for Fu Xiang, helped Chu Caiwei with alchemy, offered advice to himself, and taught Lin'an how to play shuttlecock...

Why do so many people like him? Huaiqing suddenly felt a little irritated.

But then she thought again, how could a man who even she was attracted to not be liked?

"Your Highness, these are the five types of MSG sold in the market. Here are a few more that Senior Brother Song Qing has recently researched."

"This contains turtle essence, abalone essence, lobster essence, and bird's nest essence..."

Huaiqing couldn't help but marvel at the alchemist's imagination; how could one flavor enhancer be used to create so many different things?

After Huaiqing added various flavor enhancers to his lunch, he realized why Lin'an had been visiting Li Chang'an's house so frequently lately.

Because this taste is simply incredible!

"Li Chang'an, Li Chang'an, is there anything you can't do..."

Li Chang'an's residence.

"Brother Li! Brother Li! A major discovery!"

Song Qing, carrying a small jar, rushed into Li Chang'an's study in the front yard.

These days, he's been tinkering with flavor enhancers in the backyard kitchen.

Li Chang'an put down his pen and looked at Song Qing with some curiosity. This guy had come up with more than a dozen flavor enhancers, but he had never seen him so excited before.

He juiced and roasted almost every delicious ingredient he could think of to improve the MSG.

They killed several turtles, each costing over ten taels of silver, enough to redeem several courtesans. Indeed, the romance of science and engineering men is something ordinary people can't understand.

"What discoveries have you made, Brother Song?"

Song Qing sat opposite Li Chang'an and pointed to the jar in his arms, saying, "The best way to enhance the flavor is not through expensive ingredients like soft-shelled turtle, abalone, or bird's nest."

"It's just a chicken! An ordinary chicken!"

"Simmer chicken and chicken bones to make a broth, add a little dried shrimp, then simmer, dry, grind into powder, and then add MSG for the best flavor enhancement!"

"I never would have guessed that chicken essence is so much better than turtle essence."