Quick Transmigration: The Supporting Female Lead Stays Out of It - Chapter 13: Chef 12

Hearing the noise, the man immediately reassured them, “You all find a place to hide, I’ll go take a look. The sound of hooves is uniform, and they should be well-trained soldiers. This place isn’t far from the Cangshan camp, and it only takes half an hour for them to come and go. I reckon Zhao Liu and Tietou won’t be able to find us, and they’ve gone to get reinforcements.”

Lin Dan nodded, watching him leave. To prevent any accidents, she and the two little maids found a hidden place to hide. Moments later, the gate of the mountain stronghold slowly opened, and the man walked in with a tall, burly general with a knotted beard, followed by Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou.

“Damn it, you made me come to this desolate mountain to rescue people in the middle of the night, and it turned out to be a wasted trip! The soldiers I brought out are all elite soldiers, and I feel like I’m being sliced by a knife if even one is lost. Although there was no fighting today, we were prepared for a fierce battle, and you must remember this favor!” The bearded general grumbled unhappily.

“General, we rescued these people from the woodshed, they weren’t injured.” A line of soldiers ran over to report the situation, followed by Xiao Zhu and the others, who were thanking them profusely.

“Where’s the shopkeeper? Didn’t you say there was a Shopkeeper Lin, and that you had to rescue her no matter what?” The bearded general looked around, his expression impatient.

“I’m here, thank you for the rescue, I, Lin, offer my thanks!” Lin Dan immediately walked out from the shadows and bowed deeply, and Shao Yao and Dujuan also kowtowed in fear.

The bearded general carefully sized up Lin Dan, finding that she was just graceful in her figure, with no beauty, and he was immediately a little disappointed. He had thought that the Shopkeeper Lin that Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou had instructed them to rescue no matter what, was a stunning beauty, but in the end, she was just like this.

“Forget it, forget it, get up.” The bearded general became even more impatient, “The brothers worked hard during the day and trekked here in the middle of the night, and I don’t know how many of them will be laid up tomorrow. If we had known this was such a small bandit den, we wouldn’t have come at all!”

Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou showed expressions of embarrassment. If they had known that these bandits were not yet a threat, they would not have rushed to the mountains to get reinforcements. The head of the group was highly skilled in martial arts and could definitely protect himself, but Shopkeeper Lin and the two little maids were in a precarious situation. Bandits had always been ruthless, and they would defile women and cut off the tongues of men and sell them to the coal mines in Xishan. They wouldn’t dare to delay any time, and immediately gathered their men and came up.

“Where are the bandits, have you dealt with them?” The bearded general looked at the handsome man, without any doubt that he had the ability.

“Shopkeeper Lin dealt with them.” The man pointed at the hall. The group of people quickly went inside to take a look, and then they were stunned.

“Damn it,” the bearded general turned around a few times in the crowd, and then ran to the empty wine urn and sniffed hard, his face becoming increasingly black, “What kind of wine is this, it smells so damn good?”

Xiao Zhu proudly replied, “This is Thousand Day Wine, brewed by our shopkeeper herself.”

“Thousand Day Wine? The Thousand Day Wine that Liu Xuanshi drank?” The bearded general raised his voice, his expression shocked, and then, not caring about the mess, picked up a goblet used by the bandits, poured the remaining liquid into his mouth, and kept savoring his lips and tongue, making exaggerated hissing sounds.

“Good wine, truly a rare good wine, fragrant enough, mellow enough, strong enough, smooth going down, burning in the stomach, sweet in the midst of the bitterness, and a lingering aftertaste… This is the best wine I’ve ever had, worthy of the legendary Thousand Day Wine!” The bearded general exclaimed as he lifted the goblets on the table one by one to his mouth, not letting go of even the remaining drop or two.

Most of the elite soldiers he brought were as fond of drinking as he was, and they all looked at the wine jars, hoping to find more wine. It’s a pity that the bandits were always greedy by nature, and anything good had been ruined by them, so how could there be any left?

“It’s gone, damn it, it’s gone again, would you die if you drank a little less?” The bearded general couldn’t find any wine, so he could only take his anger out on the bandits who had drunk themselves to death, and suddenly thought that this wine was brewed by Shopkeeper Lin, and immediately turned to look at her, his eyes as big as copper bells, even brighter than the torches.

Lin Dan regretfully cupped her hands, “In response to the General, this wine is extremely difficult to brew, and I only got one urn after three years of effort, and there is no more.”

The blazing eyes of the bearded general instantly dimmed, and he casually picked up the large urn, shook it vigorously, and then said with surprise, “There is still a thin layer of wine inside, quick, quick, quick, bring me an empty jar!”

The handsome man showed a helpless expression, but also quickly brought him an empty jar to hold the wine. The bearded general patted the bottom of the urn over and over, but there was still only a little bit of wine, and the palm-sized empty jar was not even full before it was gone, which was truly pitiful.

The bearded general looked at the small jar he was holding in his palm, then looked at the large urn that was originally full, and then looked at the bandits who had drunk heartily and were already dead drunk, and was immediately enraged, kicking and stomping on one of the bandits, cursing, “Damn it, you robbed and came to my territory! When you wake up, see if I don’t kill you!”

The bandit was kicked by him until he vomited bl00d, but he still hadn’t woken up, which showed how strong the effects of the wine were.

Lin Dan cupped her hands in a timely manner and comforted, “Thank you for the help of the officers and soldiers who came to rescue us late at night. There is still some food in the kitchen, shall I bring it for everyone to fill their stomachs? You must be tired from the journey, and you can rest and replenish your energy.”

Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou were drooling over the leftovers on the table, and their eyes lit up when they heard this, and even the handsome man quietly swallowed his saliva. The bearded general had never tasted Shopkeeper Lin’s culinary skills, so his reaction was just so-so, and the soldiers he brought nodded indifferently, and then took out ropes to tie up the group of bandits.

Lin Dan smiled lightly, and then went to the kitchen with the two little maids. The bandits only cared about drinking, and didn’t eat much of the dishes, which were now being reheated on the stove.

After a while, the dishes were all brought out, a large basin of rice wine stewed beef, a large basin of bone broth beef meatballs, a dish of braised beef tendons, a dish of scallion beef, and a bucket of white rice, the portions were very generous, enough for twenty or thirty people to eat. The dishes were hot, and they were steaming, and the rich, indescribable aroma of meat, mixed with the mellow aroma of wine, slowly spread out in the hall.

Gurgle, the bearded general swallowed his saliva hard.

Gurgle, gurgle… the elite soldiers he brought stood up one after another, covering their stomachs while swallowing their saliva, feeling that their bellies were filled with gluttonous bugs, and were frantically stirring.

“Thank you for your efforts in coming to rescue us, Lin has nothing to offer, only a little skill in cooking, so I will express my gratitude with this meal today, and I hope you won’t dislike it.” Lin Dan thanked them again, her tone sincere. Her servants had cleared the messy tables, and they were all serving food.

The bearded general stretched his neck, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and then waved his hands repeatedly, “Don’t dislike it, don’t dislike it, it’s only right, it’s only right.” He said with a smile, and there was no trace of impatience. His elite soldiers also gathered around, eager to try.

“Eat.” As soon as the handsome man spoke, everyone hurriedly picked up their bowls and chopsticks.

“This beef is actually stewed with Thousand Day Wine?” The bearded general ate a piece of stewed beef, and his eyes, as big as copper bells, widened even more, and then he sped up, sweeping the dishes into his bowl. Everyone was not to be outdone, and they all ate with their mouths full of oil, with expressions of amazement on their faces.

The stewed meat was all made with pork belly, lean meat interspersed with snow-white fat, cooked and soft, melting in the mouth; the beef meatballs were made with brains and neck meat, repeatedly pounded and kneaded into shape with a wooden stick, and after being cooked, they had a smooth and elastic texture, and a natural cavity would appear inside the meatballs, absorbing the beef oil and bone broth, and when the teeth lightly touched them, a fresh and rich juice would spurt out, and the taste was simply amazing; the beef tendons were first fried, then steamed for a quarter of an hour, and finally stir-fried in a pan, the red and bright sauce wrapped around each beef tendon, and when you bite into it, you first feel soft and waxy, and when it’s about to break, you taste a little bit of elasticity, and the texture is wonderful.

This table of dishes was fragrant to the extreme, glutinous to the extreme, thick to the extreme, and fresh to the extreme, and the taste was simply made perfect by Shopkeeper Lin! Everyone only ate half their fill, and all the resentment of going out on a night march was dispelled, and only a feeling of lingering fondness remained. This trip was worth it, really worth it!

Lin Dan knew that they were not full, so she cracked the beef bone that had been simmered for two hours and made a basin of bone marrow soup. The stewed bone marrow was hidden in the bone tube, and it slipped into the mouth with a light suck, and the taste was exquisitely delicious, not only washing the taste buds, but it also seemed to have washed the pores.

The bearded general held a bone marrow in both hands and slurped it happily, and said very cordially, “Shopkeeper Lin, how is your cooking so good? I heard Zhao Liu and the others say that you are going to open a shop in the capital? If the shop is open, you must tell me, and I’ll have my brothers come and support you.”

Lin Dan scooped a spoonful of soup for the handsome man, and also clipped a bone marrow, and said modestly, “My skills are not considered good, General, you are flattering me. If you come to the capital in the future, just go to my place…”

Before Lin Dan could finish her sentence, the man said in a deep voice, “Supporting the shop is supporting the shop, but the cost of the food still has to be paid, it’s not easy for Shopkeeper Lin to open a shop.” With that, he coldly glanced at the bearded general. The bearded general couldn’t help but shiver, and kept saying that he would definitely pay, not a single cent less.

Lin Dan saw the look between the two of them, and knew that the man’s identity was definitely not simple, but she didn’t ask any more questions. In walking outside, the most taboo things are to say too much, see too much, and do too much, it is easy to get into trouble, and in any case, after entering the capital, they will no longer have any dealings, it is really unnecessary to delve into it.

After everyone finished eating, Lin Dan took them to find her carriages, and by the way, she seized the bandits’ stolen goods. The handsome man didn’t know what method she used to find out the hiding place of the stolen goods, but he also had more understanding of her intelligence.

While the burly general was helping Lin Dan organize her goods, he carefully checked everything, making sure she really had no extra wine. Only then did he return to camp, filled with reluctance. That very night, he brought that jar of Thousand Day Wine into the capital to find his superior, the Marquis of Weiyuan. If one were to speak of a love of wine, the burly general was far inferior to this Marquis. The other party, along with the Marquis of Yongding, each guarded a region, one the southeast and the other the northwest, and were both first‑rate figures of power in the Great Chu kingdom. With a single word from him, soaring to the heights was within easy reach.