After sitting in Lin Fei’s courtyard for a while, finishing the first page of a storybook, and drinking a cup of tea, Wen Mingtang was finally taken by Lin Fei to see Master Xing.

When Wen Mingtang saw Master Xing with his arm wrapped in thick bandages, she was truly startled. Although she knew that Master Xing was injured, seeing the extent of his injury still shocked her.

The injury was much more serious than she had imagined! If it were someone else, they might have already asked for leave, but Master Xing was still chopping vegetables with a cleaver despite his injury.

Noticing that Wen Mingtang was watching him chop vegetables, Master Xing paused, looked up at Wen Mingtang, and greeted her with a smile: “Master Wen is here!”

Wen Mingtang nodded, called out “Master Xing,” and couldn’t help but say, “Master Xing, this fall must have been quite severe! Why didn’t you ask for leave to rest?”

Although the Lady of the Marquis loved Master Xing’s cooking, the Marquis’s mansion had other cooks. “It’s alright to rest and recover properly.”

Judging from Lin Fei’s expression, the Marquis of Jingyun and his wife weren’t the type to force anyone.

However, as soon as she said this, Master Xing shook his head, pointed to his injured hand, and said with a smile, “I’m right-handed, so it’s my left hand that’s injured. It doesn’t really bother me when I’m chopping vegetables.” He paused, then added, “I’m just naturally a restless person; it has nothing to do with Madam. Madam is very considerate; it’s just that I don’t want to be idle.”

Wen Mingtang immediately understood and didn’t say anything more about it. Instead, she untied the bundle on her back, handed him the red yeast rice she had brought, and said, “The public kitchen has quite a bit in stock.” “I brought some over; do you think it’s enough?”

Chef Xing smiled and took the large bag of red yeast rice, saying, “It’s enough, enough to make several plates of braised pork!” He then pointed to the side and said, “I’ve prepared the cutting board, cleaver, and other utensils that Chef Wen needs. Please see if they’re suitable.”

Wen Mingtang walked to the cutting board, picked up a cleaver, and tried it out. Perhaps considering the natural difference in strength between men and women, Chef Xing had specially prepared several lighter cleavers for her, making them very easy to use.

Wen Mingtang nodded, glanced at Chef Xing, whose hands were bandaged but who was still cutting and preparing vegetables in an orderly manner, and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Chef Xing is such a meticulous person!”

Chef Xing continued cutting, saying, “For us chefs, meticulousness is to be expected. If something goes wrong with the food we cook, it could be a big problem.”

Wen Mingtang wholeheartedly agreed, responded, and began preparing the dishes.

Since it was a banquet, the first dishes served were naturally cold dishes. Such cold dishes were mostly prepared in advance. Wen Mingtang glanced at the cold dishes already placed on plates, ready to be taken away at any time. A quick scan revealed several braised and pickled items. While not particularly novel, the presentation was quite exquisite, and the dishes were arranged with a certain artistic flair.

Looking at the artistically arranged cold dishes, Wen Mingtang was even more surprised and subconsciously glanced again at Chef Xing, who was chopping vegetables nearby.

She had already heard that Chef Xing was a good cook. Although Lin Fei wouldn’t arbitrarily complain about the chef’s cooking and was considered a very “amiable” master, his taste was actually quite discerning. While he wouldn’t complain, he would refuse to eat dishes that didn’t suit his palate by saying “I won’t eat” or “I’ll eat less.”

Earlier, Liu Yuan had told her that, before she came, Lin Fei would not even touch many dishes at large restaurants like Hongyanlou.

Aside from Wen Mingtang, only Chef Xing could earn a compliment from Lin Fei. Her dishes had inadvertently suited his taste, but Chef Xing’s skills… Watching Chef Xing stack lotus root slices into the shape of small boats in the cold appetizers and then garnish them with edamame and other ingredients, creating a landscape painting of “a small boat cruising on a lake” on the plate, Wen Mingtang felt ashamed of herself.   

She had seen exquisite cooking before, but even the chefs in the imperial kitchens needed guidance from several court painters to achieve the level of refinement that Master Xing possessed.

Of course, the dishes still tasted the same, but to create something like this required a foundation in calligraphy and painting.

Looking at Master Xing, who was particularly adept at the “color,” “aroma,” and “fragrance” of his dishes, Wen Mingtang couldn’t help but ask, “Master Xing, have you studied calligraphy and painting?” Before Master Xing could answer, she added, “Master Xing, your handwriting on the menu is truly beautiful!”

Master Xing, who was chopping vegetables, stopped what he was doing, turned to Wen Mingtang, and said, “Since you make a living with your skills, you naturally have skillful hands. Master Wen’s handwriting is also very beautiful, so it’s nothing special.”

Wen Mingtang shook her head, glanced at the beautifully presented cold dishes, and said, “I am the descendant of a convicted official. Wen Xuance, who was also convicted, is my father. My handwriting was taught by him. Otherwise, I could never have written such beautiful calligraphy.”

Upon hearing the name “Wen Xuance,” Master Xing was somewhat surprised, clearly knowing of Wen Xuance. However, this surprise was fleeting, and he quickly recovered. He didn’t compare himself to her again but smiled and said, “I did learn some calligraphy and painting before my family fell into decline when I was young. I never thought it would come in handy here.”

As he spoke, before Wen Mingtang could speak again, he put down the cleaver in his hand, handed over a plate of washed red dates, and said, “The cold dishes are still missing one: Master Wen’s ‘Nuomi Zao.’” Madam has been thinking about it since she saw the menu. We’ll serve it as soon as Master Wen’s ‘Nuomi Zao’ is ready!”

Although he didn’t say it explicitly, Master Xing’s gesture of handing over the dates clearly indicated a change of topic.

Wen Mingtang wasn’t oblivious. Seeing Master Xing’s action, she didn’t press the matter further but took the red jujubes from Master Xing, said, “Master Xing is right,” and then scooped up some glutinous rice flour, added water, and began kneading the dough.

This “Nuomi Zao” was actually a glutinous rice jujube. Simply cut a pitted red jujube open and stuff it with a strip of glutinous rice about the same size as the jujube.

Changing the subject to food, Chef Xing became noticeably more talkative.

While chopping and preparing vegetables, he chatted with Wen Mingtang about food from different regions.

“Scholars should read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles; we cooks should also travel more,” said Chef Xing. “I recently went to Jiangnan and other places, and I saw them stir-fry Longjing tea leaves with shelled shrimp. The combination of tea leaves and shrimp, a meat dish, is surprisingly delicious!”

Wen Mingtang nodded, placed the “Nuomi Zao” in the steamer, and began to make osmanthus sugar. While making the sugar, she said, “Meat dishes aren’t just paired with tea leaves; they can also be paired with fruit. For example, readily available pork adds a delicate fragrance when paired with plums or hawthorn, making it quite flavorful.”

The two seemed quite pleased with each other when talking about food. Because they were focused on their work, they didn’t notice that Lin Fei had entered the courtyard sometime earlier. He sat down on the stone bench outside the window, drinking tea and flipping through the storybook Wen Mingtang had just picked up, occasionally glancing up at the two of them.

When Lin Fei’s gaze fell on Chef Xing, who was cooking, his eyes narrowed slightly.

(End of Chapter)

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