Quick Transmigration: The Supporting Female Lead Stays Out of It - Chapter 10: Chef 9

Although Lin Dan deliberately made extra food for dinner, everyone still didn’t feel very full, mainly because the three burly men had too large an appetite, and the speed of rolling the pancakes was too fast. They had just finished one, and they had already stuffed three, which was really infuriating to watch.

Lin Dan still ate very little. As soon as night fell, her cough would worsen. After taking the medicine, she went into the carriage to sleep. Everyone also consciously lowered their hands and feet, fearing that they would disturb her.

The three burly men found a place with a wide view to sit and keep watch for the convoy. They seemed to have long been accustomed to this kind of living in the open, and everyone in the convoy couldn’t hold on and fell asleep, but they were still very energetic.

“No wonder Old Man Shen was so reluctant to leave Lin the shopkeeper when he left, and said that Lin the shopkeeper had fallen ill, and that whatever he ate didn’t taste good. It was for this reason.” Luo Tietou lay flat on the ground, patting his belly every now and then, “That Spring Three Delicacies pancake was so damn delicious just now, but unfortunately, there wasn’t much, and I didn’t eat much.”

“Are you hungry again?” Zhao Liu poked the bonfire with a wooden stick.

“I’m hungry,” Luo Tietou rolled over, murmuring while smacking his lips, “I don’t know what we’ll eat tomorrow morning. I still want to eat pancakes.”

Thinking of the taste of the pancakes, Zhao Liu secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He also wanted to eat pancakes, such fresh pancakes, and he wouldn’t get tired of eating them for three months in a row.

“Don’t say anymore, you guys sleep, I’ll keep watch.” The handsome man spoke in a deep voice.

The leader always kept his word, so Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou didn’t decline, and soon fell asleep. After a while, a rumble of a stomach sounded in the dark night. Fortunately, everyone was asleep, and no one knew.

The next day, Lin Dan’s illness was much better than yesterday, and she got up before dawn to make breakfast for everyone. Since the shopkeeper was up, the servants naturally couldn’t be lazy and got up one after another to fetch water and light the fire.

“You kept watch all night?” Seeing the handsome man sitting by the fire, Lin Dan was a little surprised.

The man nodded, opened his mouth, but didn’t speak.

Lin Dan could see that he was hesitating, and took the initiative to ask, “Do you have something to say?”

“Nothing.” The man hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn’t help but ask, “What are we eating this morning?”

Lin Dan couldn’t help but smile, “This morning, I’ll make a pot of plain rice porridge, cook some noodles, and then make a few small dishes. Those who want porridge will drink porridge, those who want noodles will eat noodles, and just do as you please.”

The man nodded and stopped talking. The two burly men lying beside him woke up and grumbled, “Shopkeeper Lin, why aren’t we eating pancakes? Plain porridge and noodles aren’t as delicious as pancakes.”

Lin Dan smiled and shook her head, “Even the most delicious things can’t be eaten every day. We must change the taste at every meal.”

Shao Yao came over, and said with a smile, “Master, the noodles are ready, and the porridge is also ready. You can go and stir-fry the dishes.” At the end, she looked at Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou, and said with a teasing tone, “You two big brothers are truly blessed and don’t know it. My master can make different dishes for hundreds of consecutive days, and we can’t finish eating them, but you’re complaining.”

“No complaining, no complaining, we’ll eat whatever Shopkeeper Lin makes.” Being glared at by the leader, the two burly men didn’t dare to express their opinions anymore, but they missed the pancakes from last night very much. Plain porridge and noodles just tasted like that, could they be as delicious as the Spring Three Delicacies?

But soon, Shopkeeper Lin used practical actions to tell them that as long as one’s skills were good, simple plain porridge and noodles could also become supreme delicacies. She took out the oil dregs sealed in the jars, chopped them, and stir-fried them in the pot. Then, she cut the blanched toon into pieces and combined them with the chopped oil dregs. The juice of the toon and the oil of the oil dregs permeated each other, turning into a pot of thick broth, accompanied by the bursting of every boiling bubble, bursting out a strange fragrance. After the oil dregs were cooked to a soft and glutinous state, and the fragrance of the toon was also thoroughly stimulated, Lin Dan quickly added soy sauce, salt, pepper, and other seasonings, stir-fried it a few times, and then took it out of the pot.

“So fragrant, so fragrant!” Shao Yao and Dujuan carried the clay basin with the fillings together, and sniffed their noses as they walked.

Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou, who didn’t want to eat noodles at first, were now about to drool.

Lin Dan still felt it wasn’t enough. After stir-frying the fillings, she steamed a large bowl of salted fish, made a cold dish of watercress, and also took out some pickled vegetables from the jars and arranged them on the plates one by one, and then began to make hand-pulled noodles. The hand-pulled noodles were cooked, and the plain porridge was almost ready. Everyone quickly took out their bowls and chopsticks and waited for the meal.

“Alright, eat quickly, and we’ll be on our way after we eat.” Lin Dan washed her hands and slowly put down her sleeves.

The three burly men were worthy of being practitioners, and in the blink of an eye, they had scooped up three bowls of hot noodles, mixed them with the fillings, and slurped them down. The toon and oil dregs were both ingredients with rich flavors. The two combined into one, becoming even more fragrant, while the freshness of the toon complemented the crispness of the oil dregs, making the taste absolutely wonderful. The noodles were also made very chewy, and each strand of noodles had absorbed the juice of the fillings. With a mouthful, the soft, chewy, and salty taste instantly conquered the taste buds of the three.

Delicious, so delicious! The eyes of the three of them lit up, and the speed of eating noodles increased. They were fast, and the others naturally didn’t dare to be slow, and the camp was immediately filled with the sound of slurping.

Lin Dan was still ill and her appetite wasn’t good, so she only drank a bowl of plain porridge and stopped.

The handsome man looked up at her and said with concern, “Shopkeeper Lin, are you not feeling well?”

“I’m already much better, just a little tired, and want to go to the carriage to lie down for a while. You can eat, you don’t have to worry about me.”

The man examined her carefully, and seeing that her complexion was rosy and her eyes were bright, she indeed didn’t look like her illness had worsened, so he felt relieved. Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou, who were sitting beside him, didn’t slow down their eating speed until they had eaten three bowls of noodles. Although they were already seven-tenths full, they still scooped a bowl of plain porridge to cleanse their palates.

The plain porridge was indeed just plain porridge, and didn’t have any special flavor, and tasted very bland. The two of them took the opportunity to add a bit of pickled vegetables into the porridge. After a light sip, they were immediately amazed. These pickled vegetables were made of chopped watercress, mixed with bitter wine, sesame seeds, and anise. They had a crisp, sour, and salty taste, and were a little rich, but if paired with the bland and sweet plain porridge, the taste immediately became moderate and harmonious, and it was also fragrant. Taking a slow sip, it seemed that the pores all over their body became smooth, and the stomach was even more obedient.

There was also a dish to go with the porridge, which was steamed salted fish with fermented soybeans. It was unknown what secret method Shopkeeper Lin used to prepare it. The salted fish, which originally had a slightly hard texture, was steamed by her until it was soft and glutinous. The rich juice slowly seeped out of the flesh and mixed with the flavor of the fermented soybeans, making people drool. Not only was the fish soft and glutinous, but even the fish bones were glutinous. They could be picked up and chewed directly in the mouth, and the more they chewed, the more flavorful they were.

The salted fish had a strong flavor, and the plain porridge had a light flavor. Eating a piece of salted fish and drinking a little plain porridge, the food in the mouth both retained the sweetness of the rice and had the salty fragrance of the salted fish. The two were simply a perfect match.

Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou couldn’t stop eating once they started, and they drank two large bowls of plain porridge before they reluctantly wiped their mouths. Seeing their frantic behavior, the handsome man naturally wouldn’t miss the delicious food. He looked elegant, but in fact, he quickly scooped a bowl of porridge, added most of the pickled vegetables, and finished the remaining salted fish. After eating, he still felt it wasn’t enough, and poured the gravy from the salted fish together with the fermented soybeans into a bowl of noodles and slurped it all up.

Xiao Zhu had already been staring blankly, and never expected that these three people could eat more than the last. Fortunately, they hadn’t agreed to stay and escort the convoy, otherwise they would definitely have eaten up their own convoy.

“Damn it, life is too comfortable!” After eating breakfast, Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou lay on a large rock, rubbing their bellies, looking very satisfied.

“We’ll set off after a while, and strive to arrive in the capital the day after tomorrow.” The handsome man was still standing straight, his lean waist and abdomen were flat, as if he hadn’t eaten.

“Alright.” The two burly men had just agreed when they saw a servant of Shopkeeper Lin running out of the forest, carrying two rabbits and a hazel grouse, and said excitedly, “Shopkeeper, the traps and nets we set last night caught a few wild animals, and we have something for lunch this afternoon.”

“What did you catch?” Lin Dan lifted the curtain for a look and immediately chuckled, “Good, we’ll have braised rabbit meat and stir-fried hazel grouse for lunch. The hazel grouse has a delicate texture, and is known as ‘dragon meat in the sky’. It is delicious no matter how it is cooked. Chop the hazel grouse meat, young ginger, pickled peppers, and pickled vegetables separately. First, stir-fry them in the pot. Then add half a bowl of water and stew for a moment to make the dish. Hazel grouse stir-fried in this way has a tender taste, and the chopped bones release a thick and smooth marrow, which is completely integrated with the sour and spicy broth. There’s no need to thicken it, and it’s already very flavorful. Eating it with plain rice, the taste is even more unrestrained.”

Accompanied by Lin Dan’s description, the people who had just eaten their fill not long ago began to swallow their saliva frequently again, and couldn’t wait for time to pass quickly, and for it to be noon next moment.

“Put the rabbits and hazel grouse away, let’s hit the road.” Lin Dan looked at the three burly men and said gently, “Three big brothers, we’ll say goodbye here. Thank you for your care along the way.”

“Shopkeeper Lin is too polite.” Zhao Liu hurriedly swallowed the saliva in his mouth, and smiled awkwardly.

“Farewell.” The handsome man mounted his horse and cupped his hands slightly.

Luo Tietou took off his shoes to check, as if there were small stones inside, but his eyes kept staring at the rabbits and hazel grouse sneakily, not knowing what he was up to.

Lin Dan bowed slightly and said goodbye, and then slowly left.

Luo Tietou slowly put on his shoes, mounted his horse, and said with a worried expression, “Boss, why don’t we escort Shopkeeper Lin for another leg? The dense forest ahead is full of dangers, and the terrain is treacherous. There might be bandits. Her servants are all southerners, short and thin, how can they protect five carriages of goods?”

“Tietou is right, Shopkeeper Lin is a nice person, and she’s a weak woman. We’ve already completed the task, so it wouldn’t hurt to see her off for a while.” Zhao Liu immediately echoed.

The handsome man turned his horse’s head to look at the convoy, and after a moment, made a decision, “Then let’s follow them.”

The three of them whipped their horses and quickly caught up, explaining their intentions to Shopkeeper Lin through the carriage curtain. Shopkeeper Lin was naturally very grateful, but Xiao Zhu’s eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. Were these three gluttons not seeing that they had caught wild rabbits and hazel grouse, and wanting to freeload again?