Quick Transmigration: The Supporting Female Lead Stays Out of It - Chapter 12: Chef 11

When the beef was halfway through stewing, a rich aroma was already wafting from the pot, making the two bandits’ mouths water. They kept hovering around the stove, constantly asking, “It’s been stewing for a quarter of an hour, should we be able to eat it now?”

“Not yet, it has to stew for at least half an hour for the meat to be tender,” Lin Dan picked up the towel to wipe her hands. “Can the two of you take me to my carriage? I want to get some seasonings.”

The two bandits immediately became alert, pointing at the bottles and jars on the stove and reprimanding, “Don’t be a busybody, there are plenty of seasonings here, aren’t they enough for you?”

Lin Dan was not flustered, and explained softly, “It’s like this, this stewed beef of mine still needs one more seasoning to fully absorb the flavor. If you two escort me, escort me back, I’m just a weak woman, can I still run away from you? If I have this seasoning, this pot of stewed beef will be several times better than it is now.”

The two bandits, smelling the rich aroma in the air, thought that if it was even better than it was now, how delicious would it be? This imperial chef’s skill was indeed extraordinary. Then they thought of Lin Dan’s method of slaughtering the cow, and felt a little timid.

Lin Dan took the initiative to take out a section of rope and wound it around her wrist. Only then did the two bandits nod reluctantly, and before leaving, they locked the kitchen door to prevent Shao Yao and Dujuan from running out. The three of them went to the deepest part of the mountain stronghold, and after turning around, they found a cave. The cave was covered with vines, and if no one pointed it out, it would really be overlooked.

The two bandits pushed aside the vines and shouted sternly, “Go in and look for it yourself, hurry up!”

Lin Dan looked inside with their torches, and indeed saw her five carriages parked in the cave, as well as dozens of locked large boxes, all of which were loot. She only glanced briefly and went in, climbed onto one of the carriages, knocked open the mud seal of a large urn, used a long spoon to scoop out a few spoonfuls of the wine, put them into an empty small jar, and quickly covered the mouth of the urn with parchment paper, and tied it tightly with a rope.

Although she moved extremely fast, it only took a few breaths to seal the wine urn, but the two bandits still smelled the indescribable aroma of the wine, and were immediately a little tipsy.

“What kind of wine is this, why is it so fragrant?” the two of them asked with a hint of greed.

“It’s just ordinary wine, I brew it myself for fun, it’s not worth much.” Lin Dan’s expression stiffened slightly, and her eyes dodged.

The two bandits looked at her deeply before they took her away. After returning to the kitchen, Lin Dan poured the wine from the jar into the stewed beef and stirred it slowly with a spatula. The already rich broth became even thicker and richer under her stirring, and each piece of stewed beef was wrapped with a layer of glistening and slippery juice, and there was also a strange fragrance that permeated everywhere. This fragrance was no less than a sharp weapon, it actually pierced through the doors and windows of the kitchen, and wandered over the mountain stronghold, making people lose their souls.

“Quick, quick, scoop up some beef for us.” The bandit in charge of watching Lin Dan and the others knocked on an empty bowl and urged.

“Two big brothers, the meat isn’t tender yet, we still need to wait a moment,” Lin Dan explained kindly.

“Whether it’s tender or not, as long as it’s cooked, that’s fine, just scoop it up if I tell you to, why are you talking so much nonsense!” The two bandits were so anxious that their eyes turned red, and being stimulated by the fragrance, they couldn’t wait to plunge their heads into the pot to eat to their heart’s content. The other bandits also smelled the scent and ran over, saying that they also wanted to taste the meat in the pot, but fortunately, the bandit leader was able to hold them down, otherwise the kitchen would have been ransacked long ago.

“What kind of wine did that woman put in the pot, that it could be so fragrant?” After leaving the kitchen, the bandit leader immediately grabbed his subordinates and questioned them, while also sniffing the lingering aroma in the air from time to time.

“Boss, I’ll take you to see.” The two bandits, as if presenting treasures, said, “It’s still a while before we can serve the dishes, why don’t we brothers drink some wine first?”

“Alright, go and bring out the wine.” The few of them brought the large urn from before into the main hall, pulled open the parchment paper and looked inside, and were immediately a little dizzy. It was because the wine was too fragrant, if they opened it and smelled it, it was even more potent than ordinary shaodaozi (a type of strong liquor), and even more mellow than Wuliangye aged wine. Before they even tasted it, their saliva had already flowed all over the ground.

“Quick, fill it up for me, quick!” The bandit leader took out a large bowl and shouted urgently. After gulping it down, he was stunned for a while, and then burst into laughter, praising the wine repeatedly. The rest of the people also couldn’t restrain themselves, each scooped a bowl and drank it heartily, and the rich aroma of the wine permeated the air, attracting even more people…

Xiao Zhu and the others were originally huddling together to discuss how to escape and how to save the shopkeeper, when they suddenly smelled an indescribably rich aroma of meat, and immediately quieted down, and then they firmly said, “The shopkeeper is making Mi Wine Braised Beef!”

“I’m hungry!” A servant licked his lips and murmured.

The rest of the people looked at each other, and their stomachs all let out a mournful cry. As long as the shopkeeper made a dish, even those who weren’t hungry would immediately feel hungry. Even the man who had been resting with his eyes closed opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the kitchen, his Adam’s apple moving up and down uncontrollably.

After a moment of silence, the crowd began to discuss again, but they didn’t expect a domineering aroma of wine to invade from all directions, making them red-eyed. Xiao Zhu, who had never lost control of her emotions, even when captured, beaten, and imprisoned, spat fiercely and cursed, “Damn it, these wretched animals, they dare to steal our wine!”

The handsome man, who had always remained silent, suddenly asked, “What kind of wine is this?”

Xiao Zhu gritted her teeth and said, “There’s a legend in Zhongshan Prefecture, I don’t know if you’ve heard it—once Liu Xuanshi bought wine from a Zhongshan winery…”

The man, being knowledgeable, immediately interjected, “Xuanshi’s Drunkenness, Thousand Day Wine?”

Xiao Zhu looked at him in surprise and nodded, “That’s right, this wine is exactly the legendary Thousand Day Wine. Shopkeeper Lin traveled in Zhongshan Prefecture for three years, going from place to place, and finally restored the recipe of the Thousand Day Wine. After it was brewed, it was buried underground for seven years, and only recently has it been dug out, preparing to sell it in the capital for a good price. When the wine urn was opened, a wine worm had already grown in the urn, the wine was extremely rich and thick, although it wouldn’t make people drunk for a thousand days, it could still make them drunk for three days and three nights.”

“Xuanshi’s Drunkenness” was a centuries-old story, which told of a man in Zhongshan Prefecture named Di Xi, whose winemaking skills were unsurpassed. There was a drunkard named Liu Xuanshi who went to buy wine. Di Xi sold him a jar of wine, but forgot to tell him that this kind of wine was extremely potent and had to be taken in moderation, as it could make people unconscious for a thousand days if they got drunk. Liu Xuanshi drank it heartily and went home, and passed out, his family thought he was dead, so they buried him. After a thousand days, Di Xi suddenly remembered this matter and hurried to find him, only then did Liu’s family dig out the buried Liu Xuanshi, and it happened that he had just woken up, and he still smelled of wine, and the people around him also became intoxicated for three months before waking up.

Passed down to later generations, this wine was named Thousand Day Wine, and it could be called a true immortal among wines.

Immersed in the aroma of the wine, surrounded by the bandits’ drunken shouts, the handsome man licked his dry lips and said with gritted teeth, “Indeed, a bunch of animals!” As soon as the words fell, he broke the rope and stood up with a dark expression. He had originally wanted to wait until nightfall to act, but now he couldn’t bear it.

“You, you, how did you open the rope?” Xiao Zhu and the others stared at him in astonishment.

“You all stay here first, I’ll go save Shopkeeper Lin. When you hear the whistle, you come out and rendezvous with me.” Afraid that the few of them would run around and scare the bandits, the handsome man specially untied the ropes for the few of them, and then tore off the iron chain on the door bolt, and then restored it somewhat, and went in the direction of the strongest meat aroma.

Lin Dan was turning the beef tendons, and Shao Yao and Dujuan were kneading the beaten beef into meatballs and putting them into the milky soup boiled from the beef bone. Seeing the man push the door in, the three of them were all slightly stunned. Lin Dan reacted the fastest, immediately pulled the other party in, and covered the door.

“Why are you here? Where are Xiao Zhu and the others?” she asked in a low voice.

“I’m here to save you.” The man’s weapon had been confiscated by the bandits. At this moment, he was in the kitchen choosing kitchen knives, his tone was very calm, “I’ll send you away from the mountain stronghold first. Don’t run around in the mountains. Follow the stream down, and wait for me at the open area at the foot of the mountain, and I and Xiao Zhu and the others will come later.” The scene later would be a bit bloody, not suitable for women to watch. It didn’t matter if Xiao Zhu and the others were rescued last, they could also help him clean up the corpses.

Thinking this, the man went to pull Lin Dan’s wrist, but she gently pushed him away. “There are more than thirty fierce bandits in the stronghold, and there’s only you, how can you deal with them? You sit and eat something, we’ll be able to go down the mountain soon.” She said as she brought over a plate of scallion beef and stuffed the bowl and chopsticks into the other party’s hands.

The man subconsciously took the bowl and chopsticks, and ate a few mouthfuls ravenously, his eyes flashing with satisfaction and enjoyment. In a moment, he stiffened and paused, his tone was a little embarrassed, “This is not the time to eat, you should come with me now!”

“Go where, sit and eat!” Lin Dan gently tapped the hand that the man had reached out, and her voice was tinged with a soft smile.

The man looked at his numb hand, and then looked at Lin Dan’s smiling face, unconsciously fell silent, his eyelids drooping.

Shao Yao and Dujuan looked at the stewed beef that had been scooped out by more than half in the pot, and complained, “We told them the meat wasn’t tender yet and that it still needed to be simmered for a while, but they insisted on scooping it out to eat, what a waste!”

“It’s already fortunate that they only waste things and not people,” Lin Dan tilted her head and listened, her eyes became more and more filled with a smile, “There’s no noise now, let’s go and see.”

The man immediately put down his bowl and chopsticks and stood up, but Lin Dan pressed his shoulders and pushed him back, “You sit, we’ll go.” With that, she and the two little maids, each holding a plate of hot dishes, walked out unhurriedly. Even if they met bandits, they could use the excuse of serving dishes to cover it up, and they weren’t afraid at all.

The man touched his shoulder, his expression somewhat strange, and immediately followed closely. The group of people smoothly arrived at the main hall, and saw that the ground was covered with bandits, with a few also sprawled over the tables, snoring like thunder. The air was permeated with an inseparable aroma of wine, which crashed over as soon as the door was pushed, making it difficult to move. Snoring sounds were also coming from several other houses, showing that these bandits, after all, couldn’t resist the temptation of the Thousand Day Wine and had already passed out drunk.

Shao Yao and Dujuan tiptoed to look at the wine urn placed in the center of the main hall, and gnashed their teeth, “They’ve ruined a whole jar of wine!”

Lin Dan patted the heads of the two little maids, and still said the same thing: “As long as they haven’t harmed anyone, that’s good, let’s pack up and leave.”

The man looked at the drunks all over the ground, his expression surprised, he never expected that without spending a single soldier, Shopkeeper Lin had actually solved the problem, completely without the need for anyone else to save them.

Lin Dan walked past the man and said slowly, “With me, there’s nothing that can’t be solved with a meal.” As soon as the words fell, the sound of horses’ hooves suddenly came from outside the mountain stronghold, and a group of torches were faintly approaching this place, not knowing what had happened.