Chapter 724 - 373: Plan, Part 2

Chapter 724: Chapter 373: Plan, Part 2

Yun Ying led Hulu into the kitchen, beaming. "Just look at all this activity! It warms my heart and really feels like the New Year. The smell carried all the way out to the courtyard. My stomach started growling the moment I got to the gate. I’m not going to be polite—I need a bite to eat first."

He exclaimed, "Go on, eat! That’s what it’s for. Let me get you a bowl and some chopsticks. You can pick at whatever you like. We’re a simple family, no need to wait for everything to be served at the table."

Even as He spoke, Aunt Liu had already rushed over to the cupboard. She pulled out a clean bowl and chopsticks, scalded them with some boiling water from the kettle on the stove, and then handed them to Yun Ying.

The moment he entered, Hulu went straight to Juhua’s side.

Yun Ying had only been joking, but seeing how earnest they were, she felt both bashful and delighted. She was completely at ease, feeling wonderfully relaxed. She accepted the bowl and chopsticks, ate two pieces of steamed pork with rice flour and a chicken wing, then set her bowl down.

The joyful, bustling atmosphere was infectious. She excitedly rolled up her sleeves and volunteered, "Let me help make a few dishes, too. During the New Year, it’s usually just me working in the kitchen while my father and senior apprentice brother wait to be served. It’s never this lively."

He quickly replied, "How could we ask you to help? You work so hard at the clinic all day. You should take these next couple of days to rest. The kitchen is full of smoke and grease, you’d better go outside. Juhua, you stop what you’re doing, too. Take Yun Ying out with you, or she’ll never leave. It’s the perfect chance for you two to go watch the little ones."

Juhua suppressed a laugh and had Pu Pao fetch water for her to wash her hands. "Now that you’re here, I get a break, too," she said to Yun Ying. "We should go outside. With a delicate lady like you in the kitchen, they won’t be able to relax while they work. I’ve prepared some chicken and duck dishes. I’ll bring some out for you to try. You’re a great cook, so you can give me some pointers on how to improve them."

Yun Ying had no choice but to go outside with her.

Juhua took Hulu by the hand, and the two of them returned to the main hall. Only Zhang Yang was there, reading a book while keeping an eye on his sleeping nephews.

Hulu immediately darted toward Banli and Cong’s little beds. Juhua quickly shushed him, telling him to be quiet and wait for the babies to wake up before playing. Hulu resigned himself to nestling by her side. He wasn’t a talkative child, so he leaned against her patiently without a sound.

Upon seeing Yun Ying, Yangzi quickly stood up and called out with a grin, "Sister Yun Ying! Why didn’t Doctor Qin come?"

Yun Ying explained that Qin Feng would be back a day later than expected, then sat down in a foot warmer to chat with Juhua.

A moment later, Aunt Liu came in and served Yun Ying a cup of tea. Pu Pao followed, carrying a woven bamboo tray with several small bowls containing duck necks, chicken feet, duck feet, and chicken wings, along with a few pairs of chopsticks. She placed the tray on the small, high table next to the foot warmer.

Juhua invited Yun Ying to help taste-test her creations: a copycat version of the popular spicy duck necks, as well as chicken and duck feet. She had shelved this business idea two years ago. Back then, she didn’t have many chickens or ducks, and she hadn’t perfected the recipe to make them delicious and have a long shelf life, so they couldn’t be transported very far. If she tried to sell them at Xiatang Market, the foot traffic was too low to sell much.

Now that Xiatang Market had expanded significantly and was still growing, she wanted to revisit the plan, mainly as a way to sell the chickens she raised herself.

Yun Ying tried a bit of everything and nodded. "The flavor isn’t bad, but it’s too strong. Juhua, when you cook your chicken and duck with just some garlic and ginger, they’re incredibly delicious, right? You don’t need to add so many spices. Not only is it a waste, but it also masks the original flavor of the meat. All I can taste are the spices."

Juhua nodded repeatedly. ’I was just thinking the exact same thing!’

She was trying to replicate something from her past life. Whatever the original recipe was, one thing was certain: it was heavily spiced. In her previous life, they used mass-farmed chickens and ducks. Without a ton of spices, it was impossible to mask their gamey, unpleasant flavor. But by imitating that recipe, she had, just as Yun Ying said, completely masked the fresh, natural deliciousness of her own birds.

She said, "I noticed that too. I kept feeling it would taste better with nothing added at all. So I thought about reducing the spices, but then I worried it wouldn’t be unique enough. You’re familiar with all sorts of herbs and spices. Could you help me think of one or two to add that would make it delicious and distinctive—something people couldn’t easily replicate at home?"

Before Yun Ying could speak, Zhang Yang piped up, "Sister Juhua, why are you making things so complicated? I don’t know about the other stuff, but for the chicken, you don’t need to do all that. Just make it like you did in the summer—wrapped in lotus leaves and baked in the embers of the stove. You could definitely sell ten or twenty of those a day at Xiatang Market."

Yun Ying had tried this lotus-leaf-wrapped Beggar’s Chicken before and nodded enthusiastically. "Yangzi’s right. You could sell the chicken prepared that way. Even if other people knew how to make it, they’d be too lazy to go through all the trouble of wrapping it, coating it in clay, and then baking it. It would be much easier to just buy one from you."

Juhua laughed. ’How could I have forgotten about that?’

It wouldn’t be too much trouble to make them in batches; she would just have to gather a lot of lotus leaves in the summer. If she could sell ten or more a day, she wouldn’t have to worry about finding buyers for her poultry farm in the future.

Yun Ying added, "As for the duck necks and feet, I can help you pick out a couple of spices to add. They aren’t expensive. You should get rid of all those other random ingredients. We can work on it tomorrow."

Juhua nodded again and again, feeling a weight lift from her shoulders.

Seeing Zhang Yang munching away on a duck neck with great relish, Yun Ying suddenly smiled. "Yangzi, several families at the market have heard I’m close with Scholar Zhang’s family, and they’ve all been asking me about you. They all have beautiful daughters, you know. The Fang family’s Fourth Miss has arrived—she’s quite pretty, though I hear she’s the daughter of a concubine. Old Master Huang of Qinghui’s Second Miss is here too, and her elders were asking after you. Then there’s the Chen Family, the Lin Family..."

Zhang Yang, nibbling unhurriedly on a duck foot, replied to Yun Ying as if it were nothing, "In that case, Sister Yun Ying, just tell them that I’m completely focused on my studies right now and have no intention of..."

He suddenly trailed off. ’No intention of what?’ Yun Ying hadn’t said anyone was proposing marriage, just that they were asking about him. If he finished that sentence, he would sound presumptuous. But if not that, what should he say? He felt a wave of embarrassment, and his face flushed slightly.