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墨書 Inktalez
Ziyan looked at her three relatives, each of them appearing extremely anxious.
Feeling a bit sympathetic, she said, "Dad, Mom, Sister, you don’t need to worry. Doctor Mo and Uncle Gu are family friends, and Doctor Mo owes Uncle Gu a favor. So Doctor Mo said that if our business fails, we don’t have to pay back the money; it will be considered as him repaying Uncle Gu’s favor. If we make a profit, we can pay it back slowly—three years, five years, or even ten or twenty years is fine. We can repay whenever we are able."
"Really?"
Zhou's eyes widened in surprise as she exclaimed.
"Of course, Mom. You can rest assured; I won’t do anything without confidence."
Ziyan smiled gently and replied affirmatively to Zhou.
"Oh! So that's how it is. That's good, that's good."
Zhou patted her chest and let out a heavy sigh of relief while mumbling and looking at Zi Lao Er, "You scared me! Did you hear what our daughter said? I think it’s feasible."
Is it feasible? Now that the house has been bought, the household items are all prepared, and so much meat has been purchased, everything is ready; they just lack the right opportunity!
Ziyan secretly thought to herself.
Zi Lao Er certainly heard what his daughter said. Since that’s the case—rice is already in the pot, and wood is already burning. Worrying about it would be unnecessary and pointless.
Moreover, his daughter seemed to have everything under control, so he decided to let her be! Whatever comes will come.
Thinking of this, Zi Lao Er nodded in agreement: "Hmm, since that's the case, let’s go all out as a family."
It was rare to hear Zi Lao Er think so positively; Ziying and Ziyan exchanged glances and instantly smiled brightly together.
After that, the family happily chatted and laughed.
Until Ziyan saw Wu Xiang grinding all the spices into powder, she walked over to pour some out and mixed it with the homemade Spice Powder that Wu San had brought back in the right proportions.
Once mixed well, she called everyone to the front hall. First, she measured where she wanted to place the Braised Meat Cabinet.
Then she drew a rough sketch with dimensions and named the little shop “Zi Family Spiced Braise, handing it over to Wu Xiang.
He instructed, "You go to the Furniture Store right away and ask the Boss if they can make this according to the design. If they can, it would be best to have it ready overnight along with the signboard, so we can start a trial operation here tomorrow morning. Also, check how many regular tables and chairs can be placed upstairs and downstairs, and purchase them all."
After giving the instructions, he took him upstairs and marked out the positions and sizes of the private rooms on the floor with charcoal. He also drew a sketch, labeled the dimensions, and handed it to Wu Xiang to take care of.
Before finishing, he reminded him, "Tell the Boss at the Furniture Store that if they can complete it by tomorrow morning and deliver it here, we will give them an extra fee of ten taels of silver for the rush."
"Uh? Ten taels for a rush fee? Sister, isn't that too much?" Ziying, standing nearby, swallowed hard and asked Ziyan in shock.
Even Zi Lao Er and Zhou looked at their daughter in disbelief, thinking about how little they earned in a year.
This left Ziyan feeling speechless.
You have to spend to gain; without spending, how can you gain?
However, Ling Yuxuan looked at his Beloved One with admiration, believing that she was destined for greatness.
Seeing that her objections seemed ineffective against her sister, Ziying grabbed Ziyan's hands and shook them: "Sister, did you hear what I said?"
Ziyan secretly rolled her eyes and firmly held onto the noisy Ziying, saying, "Sister, this is called 'with great expenditure comes great courage.' Ten taels of silver might bring us a full house tomorrow; it's very cost-effective. You need to think long-term."
After speaking to her sister, she turned to Zi Lao Er and Zhou, making it clear: you all need to think long-term.
The first one to understand this among the three relatives was Zi Lao Er. "Yan'er is right; yes, in business, you have to spend to gain."
"Oh, look at you, husband; your reaction is quite quick this time."
Zhou laughed at her husband's words and couldn't help but tease her Future Husband with a knowing smile.
"Alright, alright, Mother, stop teasing Father. Help me go back to the Yard and work."
Seeing that her family finally understood her intentions, Ziyan turned back to Wu Xiang, who was still standing there in a daze, and ordered him: "You hurry up; it must be done properly."
Wu Xiang bowed and replied obediently, "I will follow your orders."
Then, like a flash of lightning, she rushed out the door, unfastened the carriage's connecting rope, and rode off in a cloud of dust with a Clerk on each horse.
Ziyan glanced around and saw several Clerks still standing in the hall, so she sent them back to the medical clinic, leaving only Wu San behind.
She knew that there were still several Golden Mask hidden guards around the house, so there was no need to keep so many people.
After watching them leave, Ziyan pulled Ziying and urged everyone to enter the courtyard.
What should she do next? Ziyan asked herself, and soon her mind issued an order: of course, it was time to start making the marinade.
Thinking of it, she acted. The men were left in the courtyard while Ziyan took her mother and sister into the kitchen to prepare the marinade.
Before starting, she seriously instructed the two of them: no one was allowed to leak their marinade-making process to anyone, let alone discuss the seasoning recipe with others.
For now, she wouldn't disclose the recipe to them either.
Of course, this led to some intimidation and scaring them until they promised solemnly that they would keep it secret before she began the preparation.
First, she added an appropriate amount of water to Rock Candy to dissolve it into a thick syrup, poured in some traditional old Soy Sauce, stirred until well mixed, then added the pre-prepared Spice Powder and ginger along with a small amount of Rice Wine and white liquor. After stirring well, she added clear water and boiled it on low heat for twenty minutes until all the ingredients were fully integrated with the water. Then she poured it into three small Iron Woks since there were four burners; the last burner was for cooking rice while the first three were for Braised Meat. This way, when the meat was ready, the rice would also be cooked without delaying anyone's dinner or the Braised Meat.
The three burners were just enough to separately braise those types of meat: one pot for Pig Intestines; another for Pig Trotters along with pig head and Pig Lung;
and the remaining pork along with Pig Stomach naturally went together. As for Wild Boar Liver, it would be braised later using the original broth when other dishes were done.
Having completed all this, Ziyan left her mother and sister in the kitchen to watch over the fire.
She stepped outside to call Ling Yuxuan and summoned Wu San. The three then went to the edge of the Lotus Pond in the backyard. Ziyan explained that they needed to dig up some Lotus Root and pick a few lotus flowers for cooking.
After hearing Ziyan's instructions, Ling Yuxuan turned to look at Wu San, who understood perfectly well what was needed.
Without any hesitation or delay, she quickly took off her cloth boots and stepped into the lotus pond, reaching into the mud with both hands to start searching for Lotus Root.
Meanwhile, Ziyan and Ling Yuxuan were not idle either; they leisurely strolled along the edge of the pond while picking five or six lotus flowers.
Turning around, I looked down at Wu San. I was shocked to see that this martial artist was far more efficient at these tasks than ordinary people.
In just a short while, Wu San had already pulled up thirty or forty pieces of lotus root of varying sizes and lengths from the water.
Estimating roughly, it must weigh at least thirty to forty pounds. Ziyan quickly called out to Wu San to stop pulling.
Thus, Wu San, who had always adhered to the contract he signed as a child—serving his master faithfully—immediately came ashore, washed his feet, and put his boots back on.
The group returned to the courtyard, where Ziyan and Wu San, along with Zhou who had just exited the kitchen, cleaned the lotus roots and sliced them.
As for the few lotus flowers?
In this era where the air was always fresh and completely free of pollution, Ziyan felt there was no need to wash them. Washing them would only diminish their natural fragrance.
Next, Ziyan gently plucked the petals from the few lotus flowers and placed them one by one in a bamboo sieve.
As Ziyan held the bamboo sieve and was about to enter the kitchen with Wu San, who was carrying a basket of sliced lotus roots, a wave of savory aroma wafted towards them, filling the courtyard with a delightful scent.
Ling Yuxuan, who was sitting in the courtyard playing chess with Zi Lao Er, couldn't help but inhale deeply. At that moment, they both paused their game and turned their eyes toward the kitchen.
Just then, a voice suddenly came from the front hall: "Oh, it smells so good! What is this little girl cooking now?"
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