CH 5

Zhao Lian just took a big mouthful of fried noodles, so she had no time to speak, so she had to groan twice.

It’s a pity that although Liu Shi and Zhao Lian were mother and daughter, they were still far from the same heart as mother and daughter.

Unable to understand Zhao Lian’s “woo woo”, Liu Shi pushed Zhao Lian aside and stepped forward to block Wen Mingtang.

She put her hands on her hips and sneered at Wen Mingtang, “Who told you that you can use my meat privately?”

Wen Mingtang smiled, picked up the plate of fried noodles, put it in front of Liu Shi, and pulled it a few times with chopsticks.

The aroma of the already fragrant and domineering fried noodles went straight to Liu Shi’s nose. Even though she was angry and distressed about those pieces of meat, her body was still instinctively attracted by the smell of fried noodles, and Liu swallowed her saliva. After drooling a few times, “Mung Bean Big Eyes” stared at the fried noodles in front of her without moving away.

Wen Mingtang picked up a mouthful of fried noodles with her chopsticks, bringing the noodles even closer to Liu Shi’s mouth. There was barely a gap of a mouth’s width between them.

Liu rolled her eyes: What are you doing? Think you can bribe me with a bowl of food? Dreaming…

The chopstick with fried noodles feigned a shot, leaned towards Liu’s face, then quickly moved away from her, and was sent into another mouth.

Wen Mingtang, who was eating fried noodles with chopsticks, smiled at Liu Shi and said, “Auntie, have you seen it? There is no meat in it!”

Zhao Lian, who was pulled aside by Liu Shi, also swallowed the fried noodles in her mouth this time, and hurriedly said: “Mother, Sister Wen didn’t use your meat!”

The bowl of fried noodles was so close to Liu Shi, so she didn’t fail to see that there was no meat in it.

After the feint shot, Liu swallowed again, and said with a blue face, “What do you know? The eggs don’t cost money?”

Zhao Lian said, “Sister Wen brought the eggs herself!” After saying that, she pointed at the stove. There were a few eggs in a greased paper bag by the counter.

Liu’s gaze paused on those huge eggs, and she sneered again: “The vegetable leaves and onions in there…”

“Sister Wen brought them all herself!” Zhao Lian was ashamed. Flushing red, she couldn’t help but glance at Liu Shi complainingly, and muttered, “Mother, you are too much! Sister Wen is here as a guest, why do you want her to bring her own eggs and vegetables?”

Liu Shi cut her hard. After taking a look and cursing, “Eat inside and out!”,1 she glanced at Wen Mingtang with a sneer, turned, and left.

After leaving the kitchen door, Liu Shi went to the front without looking back.

Zhao Dalang in front had just finished eating noodles and was clearing the table.

Liu Shi, who failed to find fault, stepped forward and grabbed Zhao Dalang by the ear, raised him in front of her, and began to curse!

“You useless bastard! You can’t even control a girl! Look at that girl surnamed Wen, who cooks noodles in the back and treats this place as her own home!” When Liu said this, she was furious. She felt suffocated in her chest, especially thinking of the action of Wen Mingtang smilingly waving the food in front of her before sending it directly into her mouth. She always felt that this girl, Wen Mingtan, showed a smiling face, but she was very sinister inside, deliberately provoking her!

“When did I, Liu Su’e, let a little girl ride on my face?” Liu felt puzzled as she cursed, she shook her hand and slapped Zhao Dalang again, “You useless bastard…”

Before she had finished scolding him, someone passing by the door peeked inside and suddenly took a deep breath, surprised, and exclaimed, “What kind of dish is your restaurant making? It smells so delicious!”

Liu Shi turned her head with a bitter face, intending to scold the passerby who interrupted her scolding of Zhao Dalang for no reason. However, when her gaze fell upon the person wearing a dark blue official robe, her disdainful expression immediately turned into one of flattery. She quickly put down Zhao Dalang beside her and approached, saying, “We’re making noodles to eat! What would the official like to have? Please come inside! We’ve been running this old shop for thirteen years!”

The young official in the dark blue robe appeared to be in his early twenties. He had probably enjoyed a smooth journey thus far. Being young and ambitious, he spoke with less restraint compared to ordinary people. Upon hearing Liu Shi’s words, he furrowed his brows and spoke frankly, “How did this so-called ‘old shop’ end up like this after thirteen years? It’s already late in the day, the time for dinner. Other restaurants are almost full of customers, yet your place doesn’t have a single guest. How did that happen?”

The smile on Liu’s face froze immediately, and her face was a little ugly. But seeing his face in a navy blue official robe, she still didn’t get angry, but squeezed a smile and said: “That’s because the restaurant next door is jealous of my business, and deliberately crowds out my house! Those few signature dishes of my restaurant are all dishes taught by the chef in the palace! Can it be worse?”

The signature dishes of the chef in the palace still have some weight! When the young official heard the words, there was a little surprise on his face: “Really?”

“It’s true!” Liu said and called Zhao Dalang. “His sister is the Si Shan in the palace, surnamed Zhao, you will know when you go out and inquire!”

The young official looked at the complacent look on Liu’s face, raised his eyebrows, stroked his chin, and said: “Hearing what you said doesn’t seem like a lie! If so, in two days, I will come to your restaurant to taste how delicious the dishes taught by the chef in the palace are!” While speaking, he couldn’t help but take another deep breath. After taking a breath, he said intoxicated: “It smells so good!”

After saying that, he left.

Watching the young official who didn’t even reach into his pocket as he turned to leave, Liu Shi rolled her eyes and muttered, “What a waste of my breath! What day is it in a couple of days? These officials are all worthless! Their words are like farting, bah!”

……

Unaware that he was just being called “worthless” by Liu Shi moments ago, Liu Yuan rubbed his nose and returned to Dongfeng Building, the only reputable restaurant on this street rather than a simple eatery.

After entering the box, he was still rubbing his nose, smelling the food on the table in front of him, and couldn’t help feeling: “When I came back just now, I passed by a restaurant called Zhao Ji Restaurant, and the food smelled so delicious. It’s really delicious!”

“Is that so?” The other official, Bai Zhu, who was sitting next to him and appeared to be of a similar age, glanced at Liu Yuan upon hearing his words but didn’t believe a word of it. “When it comes to food and drink, there is both a lack of attention and a great deal of attention. It makes sense that good wine doesn’t fear deep alleyways. But how come I’ve never heard any food connoisseurs mention a renowned eatery called Zhao Ji Restaurant in the capital city before?”

Liu Yuan, who was questioned, didn’t care at all. He smiled and said, “I didn’t believe it either, but the proprietress also said that her restaurant is an old restaurant that has been open for thirteen years!”

Hearing the word “old restaurant”, Bai Zhu smiled even more happily: “That question is even more serious. Big! The thirteen-year-old store opened in a corner. If the taste is really good, it would have been discovered a long time ago. How come I never even heard of it?”

“It’s not just this problem! When it was time to eat, all other restaurants on this street were more or less full, but there was no one in her house.” Liu Yuan rubbed his chin, shook his head, and said, “The proprietress said yes Others are jealous of her good business and play tricks on her, which is why the business is so deserted.”

After saying this, there was another burst of laughter.

As he stroked his graying beard, an older official in a green robe couldn’t help but click his tongue in disapproval. “To think that such a blatant lie, which even a three-year-old child could see through, was brought up in front of Deputy Liu. The restaurant owner must truly have commendable courage!”

Whether it was Liu Yuan, Bai Zhu, or the gray-haired Wei Fu, all of them were officials from the Grand Court of Judicial Review, holding the position of Deputy Director.

Dali Temple indeed had a total of five deputy directors. Three of them were present here, while as for the other diner who was not one of the three deputy directors…

Wei Fu looked at the red-robed official on the main seat and pulled Shangfeng who had been silent all this time, into the topic: “What does Lin Shaoqing think?”

Lin Fei who was mentioned raised his eyelids, put down the rice bowl that had not touched a few chopsticks, and said: “I haven’t eaten it, so I can’t comment. I will try it in two days. That’s it!”