Chapter 754

In the kitchen, several kitchen maids were busily working, washing vegetables, cutting vegetables, and lighting a stove. They chatted as they worked.

"We will be living in the inner city in the future." The kitchen maid cutting vegetables smiled.

The citizens of the capital yearned for the inner city, just like Xu Lingyin's yearning for food. Those living in the outer city were not necessarily at the bottom of society, but those living in the inner city were definitely from well-off families.

Whether it was the people's livelihood or public security, the inner city was far better than the outer city. There were almost no slums in the inner city. The young ladies did not need to be afraid when they went out shopping.

When they saw a secluded alley, they could boldly walk into it. Of course, this was not something worth advocating.

"Dalang is really promising. I heard Madam say that the house costs five thousand taels." The kitchen maid washing vegetables said.

"Five thousand taels? That's about the same as our house. "The kitchen maid cooking the fire said.

"What do you know." The kitchen maid washing vegetables spat, "I heard Madam say that the house costs at least seven thousand taels. It's even grander than our house."

As for why it only cost five thousand taels, of course it was because Dalang had the ability. He was a night watchman, so buying a house at a low price was a simple matter.

"Madam told us that in a few days, she will bring us to live in the inner city. Let me tell you, the inner city is very prosperous."

There were many lower class citizens living in the outer city, so they rarely had the chance to go to the inner city. If they walked from the outer city to the inner city without riding a horse or carriage, it would take two to four hours. By the time they set off in the afternoon, it would be sunset.

The servants in the fu were looking forward to moving to the inner city, so they worked hard in the past few days. They were afraid of being fired. Unless Lü E sold herself to the Xu Fu at a young age and became a maid that Xu Dalang could sleep with, the other servants signed a living contract.

"I noticed something …" The kitchen maid cutting vegetables suddenly interrupted. When the two kitchen maids looked over, she said in a low voice,

"Madam likes to show off Dalang more and more. She always talks about him, but whenever Dalang comes back, she does not give him a good look."

"Cough cough …"

Suddenly, a cough came from outside the door, interrupting the kitchen maids.

"Why is Dalang here?" The kitchen maids asked in surprise.

The kitchen was a greasy and dirty place, not a place masters should come to.

You old maids really have a lot of drama … it would be strange if Auntie would show me off … "Xu Qi 'an held the bowl in his hand and nodded,

"I made an exclusive recipe, so I came to help you cook."

Xu Qi 'an glanced around. The kitchen was not messy, but it was not clean either. After all, the walls and the stove were stained with a layer of grease that could not be wiped off.

But, as long as the pots and pans were washed frequently, there would be no problem.

"What is this?" The female cooks looked at the bowl in his hand. It was a sticky lump.

"This is good stuff. Don't look around. This is a unique recipe." Xu Qi 'an turned his body to the side, not letting the female cooks see his treasure.

The kitchen maid did not mind and continued to busy herself. If Da Lang wanted to stay, then so be it. He was the master, and they were the servants. There was no reason for the servants to care about the master. Besides, every time Madam bickered with him, she would roll her eyes in anger.

In the family, other than Old Master, probably only Erlang, whose mouth could produce flowers, could quarrel with Dalang.

Xu Qi 'an stood aside and watched. The first dish was stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork. While the kitchen maids were stir-frying, he scooped a spoonful of "chicken essence".

Then, he used his chopsticks to taste it and nodded slightly.

The taste was improved, but it was still not as good as the real chicken essence.

Guanylic acid and glutamate complemented each other … to achieve the taste of his previous life, he still had to develop MSG … Xu Qi 'an was satisfied.

Seeing this, the kitchen maids picked up a piece of bamboo shoots and tasted it.

Her eyes widened and she forgot to stir-fry.

The taste was both familiar and strange to her. It had the taste of chicken, but chicken could never be so fresh. A small spoonful had improved the taste of the bamboo shoots by several levels, which was something that the stock could not do.

Xu Qi 'an glanced at her and grabbed the spoon to stir-fry the vegetables so that they would not burn.

"It seems … delicious?" The other two female cooks were a little tempted as they looked at her.

"It's, it's so delicious. I have never eaten such delicious food …" the kitchen maids said excitedly.

…

In the front hall, Xu Lingyue came over at mealtime. She looked around and asked, "Where is my eldest brother?"

Usually, at this time, her eldest brother would already be sitting at the table waiting for mealtime, teasing Xu Lingyin and swinging her in his armpit.

Or he would quarrel with his mother and they would hate each other.

"Today is a break. He may go to the Musical House," Xu Pingzhi said while wiping his saber.

"Dad, you are talking nonsense. My eldest brother doesn't even go to the brothel." Xu Lingyue puffed her cheeks and looked unhappy.

"… Yes, I used to think so too … My eldest brother who doesn't go to the brothel is now the most popular girl in the Musical House."

Xu Pingzhi sighed in his heart and said, "He is now in the Refining Qi Realm and doesn't need to keep his chastity. It's normal for him to go to the Musical House. Which man doesn't go there …"

Suddenly feeling the murderous intent from the side, Xu Pingzhi did not raise his head and continued to wipe his saber. He corrected himself and said, "Your father and I never go there. Ning Yan has been there, but it's because of social intercourse.

"Speaking of which, the men of our Xu family don't like to go to the brothel."

Xu Lingyue believed her father's words. Thinking of her proud second brother and honest eldest brother, they were indeed not the kind of men who were reluctant to go to the brothel.

She nodded and sat at the table with peace of mind.

"Mom, I want to go to the Osmanthus House." Xu Lingyin came out from under the table and scared her aunt.

Her aunt didn't like to talk to her. The second uncle Xu taught his daughter earnestly, "Lingyin, you can't go to the Osmanthus House often. It costs money."

"My eldest brother took me there yesterday." Xu Lingyin was not convinced.

"Then go find your eldest brother." Xu Pingzhi waved his hand, not willing to teach his daughter. This daughter was too stupid. Even the teachers at the Yunlu Academy couldn't teach her.

His aunt sighed, "It's said that the chef at the Osmanthus House came from the palace. His skills are the best in the capital. It would be great if our family could hire a chef like that."

"It smells so good …" Xu Lingyin suddenly said. She twitched her nose and looked outside the door.

A second later, Xu Pingzhi, who was at the peak of the qi training realm, smelled the strong freshness.

After a while, the kitchen maids came in with the food. Xu Qi 'an was also with them. However, even Xu Lingyue, who liked his eldest brother the most, didn't pay attention to him. Her eyes were firmly glued to the food.

There was stir-fried pork with winter bamboo shoots, vinegar cabbage, yam soup, scrambled eggs with chives, stewed ribs with lotus root, bamboo shoots with chili oil … and Xu Qi 'an's personally fried pork trotters.

"Today's food smells so good." Xu Pingzhi said in surprise.

He waved his hand and summoned a piece of pork trotters with crispy skin and a dusty sauce on it. Smelling the freshness that made people salivate, Xu Pingzhi couldn't wait to stuff it into his mouth and chew.

"It's actually so delicious?" he said in shock.

"Master is too exaggerated." His aunt pouted. When the kitchen maids arranged the dishes, she picked up a piece of bamboo shoot with her chopsticks. After chewing a few times, her beautiful eyes instantly widened.

The dish was still the same dish. There was nothing special about it, but the freshness exploded the taste buds and brought about an impact to the taste buds.

In the past, when cooking, one would pour a spoonful of broth at most. Broth was also divided into different grades. In fact, it wasn't as delicious as imagined. That was because the broth of this era didn't have seasonings such as MSG, so the increase in taste was limited.

Including drinking chicken soup or eating shiitake mushrooms. Just eating shiitake mushrooms was enough to make people feel fresh. However, Xu Qi 'an used two whole baskets of purified essence. The impact on the taste buds was extremely strong.

His aunt looked at the kitchen maids in surprise. Her eyes sparkled, "Today's dishes are especially different from the past. How did you do it?"

Xu Lingyue and Xu Pingzhi also put down their chopsticks and waited with great interest for the kitchen maids to answer.

Only Xu Lingyin didn't care. She only cared about how much delicious food could enter her stomach.

"It's Dalang's secret recipe …" The kitchen maids quickly waved their hands.

The whole family immediately looked at Xu Qi 'an. Xu Pingzhi said in surprise, "Where did you get the recipe?"

Xu Lingyue and his aunt looked at him curiously.

Xu Qi 'an chopsticks flew and explained, "I just felt that the food at home was bland and the food at Osmanthus Restaurant was too expensive. So I messed around with some stuff. It looks like the taste is not bad."

The second uncle Xu nodded slightly. He turned his head to look at the table and widened his eyes, "Xu Lingyin!"

Xu Lingyin climbed onto the table and moved the dishes to her side.

"It's all mine." She frowned and said crisply.

…

Xu Qi 'an arrived at the government office at seven in the morning. He didn't do anything until noon. He was busy dealing with the gongs and gongs that returned from prison.

Yesterday, they had learned from their colleagues about the downfall of the minister of the Ministry of Works and the case that determined their fate.

If Xu Qi 'an hadn't played a role in the middle, many of their fates might have changed.

After dealing with them with great difficulty, Xu Qi 'an tied the gongs and hung his saber. His duty in the afternoon was to patrol the streets.

"Ning Yan, you haven't been to the Musical House for a while." Zhu Guangxiao, who was silent, suddenly said.

"Because now I have an illusion that I am not the prostitute, but they are the prostitute …" Xu Qi 'an said helplessly, "I feel that I am about to reach the peak of the Qi Realm. I plan to try to break through to the Spiritual Cultivation Realm."

"The peak of the Qi Realm …" Zhu Guangxiao and Song Tingfeng looked at him in a daze.

They were also at the peak of the Qi Realm, which was not difficult. As long as they practiced for a long time, it was only a matter of time before they reached the peak.

What was difficult was to accumulate merits and exchange for the visualization image.

But Xu Qi 'an had only been a night watchman for two months, and he was already at the peak of the Qi Realm. What kind of aptitude did he have?

"Then you'll have to accumulate more merits." Song Tingfeng said sourly, then added gloomily, "But with the savings you've accumulated since the Sang Po case, I think it's enough."

"Hmm." Xu Qi 'an changed the topic lightly. "I plan to accumulate merits for two weeks before going to the Musical House."

The Musical House was always the best topic to liven up the atmosphere. Song Tingfeng winked. "Then Miss Fuxiang will suffer."

"She won't suffer, but she will overflow, just like the right one …" Xu Qi 'an looked to the right.

As they walked and talked, they came to the entrance of the government office. The eyes of the three were attracted by a tall monk in a cyan frock.

His frock was slightly shabby, and a thick Buddhist bead was hanging around his neck. There were two rows of scars on his bald head, and he looked bitter and resentful.

It was Hengy Yuan.

Seeing Xu Qi 'an coming out, Hengy Yuan's eyes lit up, and he strode to greet him. He put his palms together and said, "Your excellency Xu."

"No, get out …" Xu Qi 'an interrupted him and said helplessly, "Master Hengy Yuan, I have official business to attend to. Let's make a long story short. I only get five taels of silver a month, and I'm short of money. "

As he spoke, he looked down and saw that Hengy Yuan's cloth shoes were already broken, and two toes were sticking out.

"So he wants to borrow money from Ning Yan …" Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao stared at Hengy Yuan with an unfriendly look.

Seeing Xu Qi 'an refuse straightforwardly, Hengy Yuan was silent for a long time, and then he bowed and said, "I understand."

Seeing the back of the monk leaving, Xu Qi 'an couldn't help but think of his father who came all the way to school to deliver food to him when he was in middle school. After he complained that he didn't deliver the food in time, his father also left alone.

"Hey … wait." Xu Qi 'an stopped him and exhaled. "How much money do you want to borrow this time? Let me make it clear first. I won't lend you too much. I really don't have any money recently."