Chapter 160: Homecoming
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After Yu Shaoqing returned to the courtyard, he realized that something was wrong. He touched his chest with one hand. Indeed, the jade that Madam Jiang had given him was gone. It was obvious who did it.
Yu Shaoqing had always dealt with enemies on the battlefield and had no experience in entangling with women. In a moment of carelessness, he had actually fallen into the Princess’ trap.
Yu Shaoqing left the courtyard with a cold expression.
Wu San came over with a bucket of hot water. Seeing him walk over with a murderous aura, he could not help but be stunned. “Old Yu, what happened?”
“Go back to your room first.” After Yu Shaoqing coldly instructed, he went to the pavilion where he had just met the princess.
The Princess of Xiongnnu was still in the pavilion, sitting on a stone bench with a leisurely expression. She was carefully playing with a stone that looked like jade but was not. The totem on the stone made her feel novel, like a green ghost fire.
“Princess, someone is here,” a maidservant reminded her.
The princess’s eyelids did not even move. “You can leave first.”
“…Yes.” After hesitating for a while, the maidservant respectfully retreated out of the garden.
Yu Shaoqing walked up the steps and into the pavilion. He looked coldly at the unruly and scheming Xiongnu girl. “Give it back to me.”
The Princess of Xiongnu did not look at him. She was still admiring the jade in her hand. She said proudly, “No, come and take it yourself if you have the ability. However, you have to think carefully. I’m the princess of Xiongnu. Aren’t you worried that your Grand Marshal Xiao will punish you for offending your superior? Also, I heard that there’s a saying in your Central Plains that men and women shouldn’t touch each other. If you dare to touch me, you’ll have to marry me in the future!”
Yu Shaoqing, on the other hand, was not shocked by her words at all. He slammed his palm on the stone table, and a huge internal force attacked. The Princess, who was holding onto the stone table, was suddenly knocked back, and the jade in her hand flew out. In order to stabilize her body, the princess did not bother to snatch the jade. Yu Shaoqing steadily grabbed the jade in his palm.
When the Princess of Xiongnu stabilized herself by the stone table, Yu Shaoqing had already left the pavilion and disappeared at the end of the garden without looking back.
“Princess, are you alright?” The maidservant walked over worriedly.
Princess of Xiongnu patted her sleeves and asked angrily, “Am I not beautiful?”
The maidservant hurriedly said, “Princess Mingzhu is the most beautiful girl on the grassland. If you’re not beautiful, no one in the world will dare to say that they’re beautiful.”
The Princess of Xiongnu looked in the direction where Yu Shaoqing had disappeared and said, “Then why didn’t he look me in the eye?”
The maidservant thought for a while and said, “It must be that the princess is too noble. He doesn’t dare to profane your appearance.”
The Princess of Xiongnu snorted. “That better be the case!”
When Yu Shaoqing returned to the courtyard, Wu San had already taken a good look at the surroundings of the garden. When he saw Yu Shaoqing, he immediately followed him and said, “The women of the Xiongnu are too different from the women of our Central Plains!”
The noble ladies of the Central Plains would never do something like that.
“But…” Wu San scratched his head. “The Princess of Xiongnu is quite beautiful. If she really likes you…”
Yu Shaoqing interrupted him. “What are you thinking about? My daughter is already her age.”
Wu San muttered, “But I think that princess is interested in you.”
Yu Shaoqing said indifferently, “She’s just stubborn.”
Wu San: “Oh.” Why didn’t I believe him?
In Wu San’s opinion, Old Yu was really outstanding. He valued friendship and loyalty, had the backbone, and was brave and resourceful. If it wasn’t for his poor background, if he wasn’t mocked by others, he would have long become a great general.
Moreover, Old Yu was good-looking, better than any man he had ever seen.
Wu San sighed. “If I were a woman…”
Yu Shaoqing closed the door.
Wu San, who had been rejected: “…”
Wu San, who was determined to finish his sentence, said, “… I’ll f*cking marry you.”
Lotus Flower Village, white clouds are in the sky.
On the other hand, after Chef Bao left, the news that he wasn’t Yu Shaoqing’s biological father spread like wildfire. The villagers felt that it was a pity that such a good old man wasn’t Old Third’s biological father. But then again, Old Third had been at the border for so many years and there was no news of him. Could it be that…
When the villagers looked at the Yu family again, their eyes were filled with sympathy.
The Yu family even thought that the villagers were sympathizing with Old Third for losing his father again.
The Yu family did not have anything to worry about. They only felt that the old man was too lonely and helpless. They felt sorry for him, especially when they found out that the old man had left everything he had learned in his life to Uncle.
Aunt and Yu Song did not know, but Uncle, Yu Feng, and Yu Wan knew what treasure it was.
Who would have thought that the mantle of the master chef that was being fought over by all parties would actually fall into the hands of a countryside farmer like them? If news of this were to spread, it would probably shock everyone.
Any dish in the notebook could be sold for a high price of 100 taels. The first half of the book was an ordinary recipe, and the second half was a medicinal cuisine. Chef Bao’s concept of ingredients and cooking was extremely rigorous. After Uncle read it, he could only sigh that he was lucky that he did not compete with Chef Bao in culinary skills. Otherwise, he would definitely lose.
Uncle began to study the mantle left behind by Chef Bao carefully, and Yu Wan also began to read the medical book in her hand. The first page of medical skills detailed the acupoints of the human body.
“Miss Yu!”
Master Qin’s hearty laughter sounded outside the door. Yu Wan closed the medical book and placed it on the table. She stood up and welcomed him into the central room. “What brings Master Qin here?”
Master Qin laughed. “You make it sound like I don’t come often!”
Yu Wan pointed at the chair by the table. “Master Qin, please sit.”
Master Qin sat down.
Yu Wan brewed a pot of tea. Her uncle and two brothers both liked to drink tea. The tea leaves she had obtained from Yan Jiuchao and Uncle Wan had already been drunk. The tea leaves she brewed now were bought from the town, and the taste was far inferior to the previous ones. However, Master Qin wasn’t picky. He picked up the cup and took a few sips.
Suddenly, Master Qin saw the medical book on the table. “Someone in your family studies medicine?”
Yu Wan smiled. “I’m just looking around.”
“It’s for you…” Master Qin was surprised. “I have a lot of books at home. I’ll give you a few later!”
“Thank you, Master Qin.” Yu Wan didn’t refuse. She wasn’t the type to be coy. She would repay Master Qin for all the favors he had given her. Of course, this was a personal relationship, and business was another matter.
After Master Qin was full, he took out two rolled contracts from his wide sleeve and handed them to Yu Wan. “Miss Yu, take a look. There’s no problem. Fill in the supply number and we’ll sign it.”
This was a contract that Master Qin had personally drafted. According to Yu Wan’s request, he gave Yu Wan three shares of profits from the Drunken Immortal Pavilion in the Capital. This included but was not limited to the current main store. In the future, if they opened a branch in the Capital, Yu Wan would also be able to receive a dividend. The requirement was that her uncle had to be the honorary chef of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion. This was easy to handle. It was just a title. The second requirement was that Yu Wan had to provide exclusive supplies to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
“Wait, there’s no mention of which supplies we are supplying,” Yu Wan said. “Could it be that besides stinky tofu, you want us to sell you something else?”
Master Qin coughed lightly. “I think that sour bamboo shoots are not bad either.”
He had tried Yu Wan’s snail noodles. The most soul-stirring ingredient was sour bamboo shoots. Other ingredients were easy to match, but he could not find any sour bamboo shoots that could compare to Yu Wan’s family.
Yu Wan smiled faintly. “Master Qin has a big appetite.”
Master Qin said in all seriousness, “I’ve already thought of the name. It would be called the Three Stink of the Immortal Pavilion which includes stinky tofu, beancurd, snail noodle.”
Yu Wan couldn’t help but laugh. “Your calculations are very good, but I don’t remember these three shares of profits including sour bamboo shoots.”
“Don’t be in a hurry to reject me.” Master Qin gestured to the coachman outside the door.
The coachman walked in with a heavy metal item.
Master Qin asked, “Is it the jack you wanted?”
Yu Wan nodded. “You made it so quickly?”
Master Qin said, “Do you know how difficult it is to do this? The Great Zhou has strict control over iron tools. You have to register even if you buy two more kitchen knives. How much effort did I spend to help you settle such a big iron thing? You don’t just want this one, right? Three? Five?”
At least twenty, Yu Wan thought. This was really troublesome. Without Master Qin, she wouldn’t have been able to get so much iron.
“I’ve tied my head to my belt to do things for you,” Master Qin said aggrievedly.
Yu Wan laughed. “Alright, don’t sell yourself too badly. I’ll sell you the sour bamboo shoots. However, I haven’t started making the sour bamboo shoots yet and there are many things to do in the workshop. I can only slowly supply them next month.”
Master Qin agreed. “I’m not in a hurry! As long as you don’t sell it to others!” As soon as he finished speaking, a loud rumble came from the mountain. Hejumped up. “What happened? An earthquake again?!”
Yu Wan curled her lips and said, “It’s not an earthquake. Someone is excavating the back mountain and smashing rocks.”
What kind of strength could cause such a huge commotion? A horse bandit?! Just as this thought flashed through his mind, there was another loud bang in the village!
Master Qin jumped again. “What’s going on?!”
Yu Wan smiled and said, “Wang Mazi’s family is having a wedding.”
If it was a joyous occasion, so be it. What was the point of such a big commotion? Look at how smug he was. Was he an old bachelor for more than ten years?!
In the end, Yu Wan signed a contract with Master Qin at the price of ten copper coins per pound of stinky tofu and a hundred copper coins per jar of beancurd. The daily supply was eight hundred pounds. As for the price of the sour bamboo shoots and the supply, they would discuss it after the first batch of finished products was produced.
Both parties signed the contract.
Master Qin accepted the contract in a good mood and gave the other one to Yu Wan. “Aiya, we’re family from now on! Come to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion more often when you have time. You’re also a little boss!”
Little Boss? She liked that nickname.
“By the way.” After getting into the carriage, Master Qin thought of something. He lifted the curtain and said to Yu Wan, “Were many people from your village captured to fight at the border?”
Yu Wan nodded.
Master Qin said, “The Xiongnu has been defeated. It’s time for the men of your village to return.”