Quick Transmigration: The Supporting Female Lead Stays Out of It - Chapter 7: Chef 6

Lin Dan was a taciturn person, but she was very serious when doing things. No matter how dirty or tiring the work the old woman’s daughter-in-law assigned her, she could complete it silently, without the slightest cutting corners. Over time, the daughter-in-law also felt relieved and no longer kept a close watch on her. The old woman then took advantage of her daughter-in-law’s time to sneak out and be lazy to teach her how to point out the most tender and smooth tofu, and how to make the most delicious and fragrant tofu balls.

After three months, Lin Dan learned this dish and bid farewell to the reluctant old woman, leaving the small town with Qi. From then on, she traveled around the country, seeking teachers and learning skills. If others were unwilling to teach, she would work in the shop or home of these people, and move the other party with sincerity. If the other party was still unwilling, she would not complain either, but just leave silently.

She ate all kinds of delicacies from all over the Great Chu Kingdom, met all sorts of people, and experienced different life experiences. This went on for ten years.

In the early spring of ten years later, a convoy drove along a small mountain path. There were strong bodyguards escorting them in the front and rear, as if a wealthy family was migrating. The convoy slowly stopped at a fork in the road. A middle-aged man with a big belly jumped out of the most luxurious carriage, and ran in small steps to the front of the last carriage, and whispered, “Shopkeeper Lin, are you feeling better?”

“Cough cough…” A hoarse voice came from the carriage: “Much better, thank you, Boss Shen, for your care along the way, and I hope we can meet again in the future.”

“It’s good that you’re better, I still have some medicine to replenish your body, please take it.” Boss Shen quickly asked his underlings to offer the gift box that had been prepared for a long time, and finally said with a smirk, “Meeting, we will definitely meet again, if you open a shop in the capital, I will go and patronize it from thousands of miles away. With your illness, I have no appetite for anything.”

Judging from the voice, Shopkeeper Lin in the carriage should be a woman, and the last sentence of Boss Shen seemed to have the intention of teasing her, but the people inside and outside the carriage were not aware of any problems, and even laughed in unison.

Seeing this scene, a strong man standing by the convoy revealed a mocking expression, and elbowed his companion’s waist, and silently said with his mouth: Look, even if you hitch a ride halfway, you can still hook up with someone, women shouldn’t come out and show their faces.

His companion nodded silently, and a look of mockery appeared on his face, and then he looked at the leader, but found that he was still sitting on the horse, his narrow phoenix eyes staring vigilantly at every fork in the road, without the slightest slackening. The two of them felt a chill in their hearts, and then they quieted down.

Shopkeeper Lin seemed to be worried that her illness would be passed on to others, and only opened a crack in the car curtain to reach out and take the gift box. Finally, she ordered: “Xiao Zhu, send the gifts I prepared to Boss Shen, thank you for taking care of me these days, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to get to the capital.”

A young man of fifteen or sixteen years old immediately jumped down from the front carriage, holding a wine jar in his arms. Seeing the wine jar, Boss Shen’s already rosy face seemed to be able to shine. Although he kept declining politely, his hands reached out eagerly, and his narrow eyes were about to disappear with laughter, “Oh, Shopkeeper Lin is so polite, this is just a small effort on my part!” As he spoke, he sniffed the mouth of the jar vigorously, and revealed a look of intoxication.

“It’s a small effort for you, but a great favor for us. It’s not early, Boss Shen, please set off quickly, we will say goodbye here. If we have the chance to meet in the capital in the future, I will definitely treat you to a meal.” Shopkeeper Lin said sincerely.

Boss Shen laughed even more, and repeated: “Shopkeeper Lin, in case you, a distinguished person, forget things easily, I will write this meal down in the account book first, and I will definitely come to the capital to collect the debt in the future.”

“I won’t forget, farewell.” Shopkeeper Lin chuckled.

After the two said goodbye, the long convoy also split in two. The front ten carriages went to Jiaozhou along the fork in the road, and the five carriages behind went straight ahead, intending to go to the capital. The bodyguards guarding the convoy also split into two groups. One group continued to follow Boss Shen, and the other three strong men trailed behind Shopkeeper Lin’s convoy, walking slowly on horseback.

Shopkeeper Lin seemed to have seen the three men through the car curtain, and then dispatched a young attendant to say hello.

The attendant looked a little timid, but still mustered up the courage to ask, “Three big brothers, are you going to the capital?”

One of them said with a half-smile, “So what?”

“If so, our shopkeeper wants to hire you to escort us. As long as you can safely send us into the capital, the shopkeeper will give you ten taels of silver per person, and will also provide food and drinks along the way, how about that?”

“No.” The strong man’s face was all smiles, but the words that came out could choke people to death. His companion snorted and seemed to look down on ten taels of silver.

The attendant was so angry that his face turned red, but he still patiently emphasized, “Three big brothers, please consider it again, we are providing food and drinks. Our food and drinks are really good, you won’t lose out.”

“I don’t even look up to ten taels of silver, how can I look up to your food? Get lost, get lost, don’t delay us on our way!” The strong man was a little impatient and pretended to take out the whip from his waist.

The leading man was the tallest and had the most intimidating aura. He had dark skin, handsome features, and a knife scar that almost brushed past his forehead and into his sideburns, which made him even more fierce. Seeming to dislike his subordinates being too ostentatious, he glanced coldly, and the two strong men immediately restrained their expressions and explained: “We’re in a hurry, and we’ll take a shortcut back to the capital, so we can’t go with you.”

Taking a shortcut means going up the mountain, and the mountain road is rugged and narrow, and only horses can pass through, but vehicles cannot. The attendant, after hearing this, quickly cupped his hands and said goodbye. As he left, he quickly glanced at the man in the lead, and his heart skipped a beat. He saw that the man was riding on a tall horse, with a pair of narrow phoenix eyes that were cold and sharp, and his strong body was wrapped in a black tight suit, and he looked like a skilled person.

This person had such a strong air of violence, could he be a bandit? Thinking of this, the attendant ran even faster.

Shopkeeper Lin’s carriage was very close to the few of them, so she naturally heard this, and no longer asked. The group of people traveled quietly, and it was already noon. They rested in an open area near the water. Two little maids carried clay pots to fetch water from the river, and three servants brought stones to build a stove, preparing to light a fire to cook here.

The wild pink roses bloomed on both sides of the mountain road, and the fragrance of flowers was moistened by the drizzle, which seemed very pleasant. Shopkeeper Lin opened the car curtain to admire the scenery, and drank a bowl of tangerine peel and ginger water, then slowly got out of the car, and said: “I’ve been in the car for too long, and my bones are tired, so I have to come down and move around. I’ll make lunch today, you go and bring down my cooking utensils.”

“Oh, that’s great, Sister Lin is cooking today!” The two little maids shouted with joy, and the several servants all showed expressions of great joy.

The three strong men followed the convoy all the way. This Shopkeeper Lin had been sick all the way. They had only met today for the first time, and they couldn’t help looking up. They saw that the other party was about twenty years old, with a woman’s bun, tall and slender, and beautiful features, but her skin was not fair, but a light wheat color, which could be said to be completely inconsistent with the current aesthetics. But there was a bit of heroism between her eyebrows, which made people feel very comfortable to look at.

So this was the Shopkeeper Lin who Boss Shen was showing off to all day, completely different from the charming woman or the stunning beauty imagined. The two strong men were very disappointed, but their leader stared at the other party for a long time.

Shopkeeper Lin, that is, Lin Dan, immediately noticed the man’s strange gaze, and turned her head to look at him. The two pairs of eyes met, one showed a sudden realization, and the other was quite puzzled.

“May I ask, have we met before, Big Brother?” Lin Dan asked with a cupped fist, in a natural and unreserved manner.

The man hesitated for a moment, then said in a deep voice, “Never.”

Lin Dan carefully looked at him, confirming that she really had never seen him before, and then she no longer paid attention. The other party looked so handsome and had such a terrifying aura. If she had seen him once, she would definitely not forget.

When Lin Dan walked away, one of the strong men lowered his voice and asked: “Boss, do you know this Shopkeeper Lin?”

The man didn’t answer, but silently took out dried food and a water bag, and began to swallow it with difficulty. Another strong man tore off a piece of hard, dry pancake and stuffed it into his companion’s mouth, and reprimanded, “Eat your food, don’t ask questions.”

The careless strong man spat out the hard pancake, and then, he spat again, and complained: “Damn it, how many days has this pancake been left? It’s even harder than a stone! Eating these things every day, my mouth is about to taste like a bird’s!”

“Just bear with it, at the next intersection we will take the small road back to the capital, and then we’ll have a big meal and a good night’s sleep at home.” His companion revealed a look of longing.

“How far is the next intersection?”

“Not far, we can probably get there tomorrow morning.”

“Damn, it’s not far to arrive tomorrow morning? I can’t wait to grow wings and fly back!”

The two of them were talking while they were munching on the pancakes, but the leading man remained silent, only occasionally raising his eyes to look at Shopkeeper Lin, as if he was somewhat concerned about her.

Lin Dan was busy preparing lunch, unaware of the man’s attention. She took out a few pieces of well-proportioned bacon and put it on the fire to bake it. When the skin of the meat was oozing oil, the untrimmed pig hair was also licked off by the flames, and then she put it into the river water to rinse it, and then she used a knife to scrape off the black stains.

The two little maids received her instructions, ran into the forest, and dug out a few bunches of wild onions and a few bamboo shoots for use. There were also a few servants who lit a fire to cook rice.

Lin Dan sliced the washed bacon, stir-fried it in the pot, and when enough oil had been fried, she threw in a few reddish balls of an unknown ingredient, and gently crushed them with the spatula. A mixture of unspeakable sourness and the rich aroma of bacon permeated the air, causing the three men to frequently stretch their necks to look.

“Damn, what is this smell? A little sour and a little smelly.” Although the careless strong man was disgusted on his mouth, his saliva had already flowed three feet.

“I don’t know either, never seen it before.” His companion stood on tiptoe, staring fixedly at the large pot Lin Dan was constantly stirring.

The few pale red balls had already been completely crushed by Lin Dan, turning into fine powder mixed with the cured meat slices. The dish could hardly be considered attractive, but the aroma was extremely rich, a bit pungent, yet for some unknown reason, it made one’s mouth water. The so-called mix of foul and strange fragrance was probably just like this.

The handsome and imposing man, who had remained silent, finally spoke: “That’s pickled bean dregs, a specialty of the Anqing Prefecture area. When the weather is clear, the tofu dregs are mashed, placed in a jar, and stored with salt, peppercorns, and other seasonings. If the flavor is not rich enough, you can also use pig bones to boil a thick bone broth, mix it into the bean dregs, and seal it with lotus leaves, waiting for it to slowly ferment. After it’s fully fermented, it’s kneaded into balls and dried, becoming easily portable pickled bean dregs. The taste is sour, spicy, salty, and numbing, very rich, with bean fragrance mixed with meat fragrance, a very unique taste.”