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Note: For those of you who wanted to read Kitchen Xiuzhen, we apologise, Translator san could not finish translating it today as he had some matters to settle today. So there will be no chapters today. Sorry about that. Translations will resume tomorrow.
The baby lobster is much easier to catch than the fishes. With each hurl of the lobster trap, they could yield good rewards. In a very short period of time, the bucket is filled with baby lobsters. Xiao Qi picked up a baby lobster and asked, "Elder Sister, today we are eating this?"
The baby lobster struggled in her fingers and wriggled here and there. When Xiao Qi was careless, it immediately slipped away from her fingers and dropped and disappeared into the river.
"It ran away!" Xiao Qi wanted to rush after it, but Shiyu held her back.
"Let it go! We have plenty!"
"En En." Then Xiao Qi rushed off and picked some flowers.
Shiyu smiled as she watched Xiao Qi frolicked happily nearby. Behind her, Lao Er, Xiao Wu, and Xiao Liu the three boys followed after her with a pail in their hands.
In a short while, Xiao Qi comes back with a crown made of flowers and placed it on Shiyu's head. Each of them has a crown of flowers, and the two girls were very happy.
This gentle wind, the youth, the freedom, this kind of life is not bad.
After taking the baby lobsters into the city, many people saw them, and asked, "Why did you catch these things?"
"To eat!" Xiao Qi immediately replied. As soon as she thought of the fine food that her elder sister prepared for her each and every day, she immediately drooled.
"This thing is very smelly, and is hard to clean. It is like eating a mouthful of mud. Not tasty at all."
"Only the commoners will eat such stuff." A group of rich ladies immediately sneered.
"Oh, you are really pitiful. I bet they would be able never tasted spiritual meat in their lifetime!" Another lady took out a few coppers, tossed them on the ground, and looked down on Shiyu, "Here, these are for you."
Shiyu: "……"
Just tossing a few coppers made them feel superior?
Shiyu held Xiao Qi's hand as she summoned the other children and walked away quickly.
The young lady did not receive the thanks that she was expecting, and become angry, "Hey, you group of commoners! I am so sweet as to give you some money, why didn't you kneel down and thank me? You lowly commoners really have no manners!"
Shiyu does not like to hear this.
Who is 'lowly commoners'? They are poor, but they still have their pride.
Shiyu took out a tael of silver and waved it in front of the lady, "This tael of silver is for you. There is no need to kneel down and thank me. I am in a rush."
Saying this, before the girl could react, she led the group of beggars and rushed off. When she reached the alleyway, she heard a loud shriek.
"Quick, run!" Shiyu immediately grabbed the pails and rushed into the maze of alleyways. This commoner's area is full of twists and turns. Unless you are very familiar with the area, you are likely to get lost in it.
Sigh, she was too rash. She had to be more low-keyed in future.
When they reached home, she tossed all the baby lobsters into a bucket of clear water, and let them spilt out the mud. Shiyu was ready to prepare dinner.
Before she could do so, they have 2 guests.
Shiyu was expecting that these people will come sooner or later. She instructed Lao Er to keep all the baby lobsters, then she opened the door.
As expected, the guests are none other than Chef Li and his disciple, Bu Yan.
Chef Li immediately look around and praise, "You are really capable. This place is spick and span.
Shiyu smiled. Xiao Qi took out two cups of tea and served the guests.
Chef Li sat down on a chair, and immediately gets straight to the point, "Xiao Shi, I heard that you are selling steam bun. These steam buns are very popular, and there are even some customers that queue up early in the morning to buy. Is this true?"
Shiyu smiled, "This is only a small business. We are lucky that many customers are willing to support us."
"Oh, there is no need to be modest." The smile on Chef Li's face becomes even thicker, "You cooking skills are top-notched. I will get straight to the point then. Will you sell the recipe to me?"
"….." Shiyu had never considered that a simple dish like steam bun needs a recipe.
Chef Li saw that she did not reply, and thought that she was mulling things over. He immediately tried to pressurise them, "Do know that there are many people taking notice of you? Your business is doing well, but it is also taking money from others. Do you believe that in at most 3 more days, someone will create trouble for you? When that time comes, your stall will be ruin, and you and the children will be injured. This would be a huge loss!"
What Chef Li had said is also something that Shiyu knows. How many shops are there in Qing Shan City? Even the big restaurants also sell steam buns. Now that a large number of customers want to eat the buns she made, she had inadvertently provoked their envy and hate.
"How much are you willing to pay for the recipe?" She asked.
Chef Li smiled and show 2 fingers.
"???" Shiyu asked, "200 taels of silver?"
"Puu…" Chef Li spat out the tea in his mouth. "It is 2 taels of silver. This is just an ordinary steam bun recipe. 2 taels of silver is a lot."
"….." Shiyu smiled.
She was furious.
This Chef Li really thought that she is a naïve girl? In these few days, she earn at least 1 tael of silver. Right now, he wants to use 2 taels of silver to purchase the recipe. This is nothing short of pure, naked greed.
Chef Li saw that she was smiled, and thought that she was happy. He took out the money and said, "Here is the money. You can share the recipe with me verbally."
Shiyu does not want to sell the recipe, but she thought that since she does not have any power right now, it is best not to offend Chef Li. Therefore she accepted the money and told him the recipe.
Bu Yan left the area to avoid eavesdropping.
After a while, Chef Li happily left. Before he left, he asked Bu Yan to stay back, "Your ages are similar, and you can try to see if you two can get along."
Shiyu immediately smelled another plot and frowned.
Bu Yan also felt that his Shifu is too much. He awkwardly apologised, "Please, do not be angry."
"Oh, I will not. This matter had nothing to do with you. But knowing what type of people he is, why do you still follow him?" Shiyu asked
Bu Yan lowered his head, "Shifu treated me well."
"Stop lying. Look at your clothes. When I first saw you, your clothes have a hole in it. Right now, the hole had widened. If he really treats you well, even if he does not buy you the finest robes, at least he would not allow you to wear this broken robe! Forget it! Some things, you need to decide for yourself. Since you are here, stay and have dinner tonight."
Regarding Bu Yan, Shiyu felt that he is not a bad lad. This young man is kind-hearted and is a trainee chef at a restaurant. She was wondering about his potential.
Shiyu brought him into the kitchen and told him, "Today I am cooking something delicious for you. But you must not tell your Shifu whatever you have seen here today. Even if he asked, you must keep it a secret."
Bu Yan was surprised, and nodded his head, "I do definitely do so."
Shiyu smiled in satisfaction. Chef Li let Bu Yan to stay here to observe if they have any more recipes. If Bu Yan could steal the recipe and give it to him, it would be great.
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