Liu Yuan, who was flipping through the files in the lobby, was also scooping the rock sugar and snow pear presented in the “Pear Bowl”.

He stayed up until late at night yesterday and was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as he got home. When it was dawn, he was woken up by the cold! After all this tossing and turning, his throat naturally began to dry up, and he looked like he had the symptoms of catching a cold and having a fever! He hurriedly boiled a bowl of soup to remedy it, but the dryness of his throat was very uncomfortable. Now this portion of rock sugar and snow pear came at the right time!

Rock sugar and snow pear was a very common thing. As long as you were patient, the taste would not be bad! Master Wen obviously had enough patience to make this bowl of rock sugar and snow pear. The gelatin of the white fungus had long been integrated into the soup. It was slightly sticky when it entered the mouth. It slid down the throat in one gulp and immediately moistened the throat that was originally a little dry and irritated.

Liu Yuan put spoonful after spoonful into his mouth. Master Wen’s stewed pear with rock sugar was sweet and not greasy, and the sweetness was just right! After all, if this pear soup, also known as the small hanging pear soup, was not stewed well even with enough patience, then the only problem was that too much sugar was added, and it was easy to choke if you ate too much.

It was true that the longer you ate the dishes made by Master Wen, the more you could understand the words that Master Wen muttered in her mouth every day.

“The best evaluation of things like desserts and soups is that they are not sweet!” This statement really made sense.

After drinking the rock sugar pear in the pear cup, Liu Yuan ate the “pear cup” with ease. He felt that his “saving” really responded to the Emperor’s call for “thrift”. He even ate the “utensils”, wasn’t it frugal?

…

In the public kitchen yard, Wen Mingtang and the other two also ate the “pear cup”, took a short rest, and began to prepare the evening meal!

While they were busy washing rice and vegetables, several young ladies appeared outside the public kitchen and peeked in.

Although they were too busy with their work to look up, they could see several living people at the door even with the corner of their eyes!

After the rice was put into the pot, Wen Mingtang, who had a chance to do something, looked up at the young ladies who were peeking in.

Seeing Wen Mingtang raise her head, the young ladies, who were a little nervous at first, put their hearts at ease and walked into the public kitchen with confidence.

“Are you Master Wen from the public kitchen?” The young lady in the lead had a pair of double-ring buns and two small dimples on her cheeks when she smiled. She looked very pretty and cute!

This look… was really not the same as when she was sent to the Dali Temple in the middle of the night, with a dirty and disheveled appearance, as if she were two different people!

After comparing the young lady who was speaking in front of her with one of the young ladies in the portraits in the hands of Liu Yuan and the others, Wen Mingtang nodded at her and greeted her: “Miss Chang!”

Miss Chang was even happier when Wen Mingtang called her name. She gestured with her hands and feet and said, “The adults said that we should lure the snake out of its hole and make the murderer behind the scenes think that we are dead. That’s why we need to stay in the Dali Temple. We have to stay in the Dali Temple for a while!”

“The breakfast delivered this morning is called Yo Po Mian, right? It looks too simple, and I thought it wouldn’t taste good. But I thought that no matter what, it would be better than the dry steamed buns I ate when I was locked up, so I took a bite,” Miss Chang said excitedly, “That bite really shocked me, it was so delicious! I don’t know why my mother can’t make it with the same oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar, but only you can!”

Wen Mingtang smiled and was about to speak, but Miss Chang continued without waiting for her to speak.

“And there’s something called pickled fish for lunch. It’s so sour, fresh, and spicy, very appetizing and delicious!” Miss Chang said excitedly, “I didn’t eat fish at home before, but I thought I wouldn’t be picky here, so I picked it up and took a bite, and it was really amazing!”

“What those officers said was right, they said that there was a Master Wen in the public kitchen who cooked delicious dishes. We didn’t believe it at first and thought those officers were afraid that we were ignorant and may run around, so they said that!” Another young lady took over and said, “I didn’t expect it to be true! Master Wen, you are about the same age as me, how come this dish is so delicious? It’s better than my mother who has been cooking for decades?”

Wen Mingtang smiled, looked at the young ladies in front of her, and said, “It’s nothing, I’ve liked this since I was a child, so I’m skilled at it!”

These young ladies in front of her were all pulled back from the live burial pit last night, and it could be said they returned from the front of the King of Hell! After all, walking between life and death, it was hard not to be frightened. She originally thought it would take some time to recover, but now, seeing how happy they were, they had recovered much faster than everyone imagined!

Wen Mingtang greeted them and continued to cut and prepare vegetables with A Bing and Tang Yuan.

“What is this?”

“Lettuce.”

“Is this called Qian Zhang? I’ve eaten it!”

“Yes, it’s Qian Zhang.”

“What about that?”

Mung bean sprouts.”

…

They chatted like this, until Wen Mingtang and the others prepared all the dishes, poured oil into the pot, and poured in onions, ginger, garlic, prepared sauces, and other auxiliary materials. With a “sizzle”, the oil smoke with a slightly pungent spiciness rose up.

Several young ladies were startled and retreated with exclamations.

The Dali Temple was noisy, and at this moment, a voice was heard outside the door.

“Catching the murderer is a big deal!”

The clear voice was somewhat incompatible with the oil smoke in the room, and even Wen Mingtang, who was concentrating on the pot, subconsciously raised her head and looked outside the public kitchen.

But she saw Lin Fei standing there in a scarlet official robe. He was obviously down-to-earth, but in the mist, his face was a bit poetic.

But this poetic and picturesque scene only lasted for a moment. As soon as he opened his mouth, his expression was suppressed, leaving only his dignity: “Ladies, you should stay in the yard! If the bad guys sneak into the Dali Temple and commit crimes again, we can’t guarantee that we can save you again!”

The ladies who had been surprised when they saw Lin Fei were immediately startled. After hearing Lin Fei’s words such as “bad guys sneak into the Dali Temple” and “commit crimes again”, the panic of being imprisoned in the dark room and the despair of being almost killed alive last night suddenly surged up and completely overwhelmed them.

The ladies who were still smiling like flowers the moment before immediately wilted like eggplants hit by frost the next moment, and they ran away in a hurry without even bothering to say a word to Wen Mingtang.

After Miss Chang and the others left, Lin Fei’s voice rang again.

“Master Wen!”

Through the hazy smoke, she looked over there. She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but she always felt that his facial features were softer than before: “Next time this happens, just ask Ah Bing to call me!”

“Don’t let them disturb you at work!”

Of course, they don’t just work to get paid. The meals of the entire Dali Temple, from officials and servants to miscellaneous servants and doormen, must be prepared before dusk.

Although these jobs were skilled, they were also tiring.

The young ladies were not bad people. Normally, they were much loved by their family. They rarely even went into the kitchen. Seeing this was inevitably strange, so they ran over to join in the fun.

But joining in the fun was disturbing people from work!

Thinking of the scene he saw when he passed by just now: the young ladies who had just been rescued were chattering around the table and asking questions.

Clearly, they were young ladies of the same age—one never so much as touched household chores and was afraid of oil and smoke, while the other held a spatula in her hand, skillfully moving around the stove, chopping vegetables, and cooking meals.

Although Master Wen did say that she indeed liked cooking, he thought of the charming clothes those young ladies wore, as well as the girls who usually dressed in a very low-key and unremarkable manner.

For some reason, Lin Fei suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.

(End of this chapter)

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