As soon as Liu Wen Shuang received news of Chen Beiqing’s positive response to her letter, she was overwhelmed in joy, and the anticipation in her eyes could not be concealed.
Although it would have been simple for her to send the pills when she received them from Su Jin, the thought of the individual, who had not recognized her despite saving her life in the past, left a stirring sensation within her. After struggling for a while with her inner desires, she decided to modify the contents of the letter, insisting that he had to visit personally.
All she yearned for was a small opportunity to be closer to him, regardless of how slim the chance might be. She was willing to put up a good fight for it.
……
The sky was overcast with thick layers of clouds and the faint rumbling of thunder could be heard from a distance. Occasionally, cold stormy wind would blow past as the rain pitter-pattered outside. Despite the fantastic weather for lazing around, the Su family’s kitchen was bustling with activity.
“Mom, the ones you made are lacking in sugar. If it had been slightly sweeter, the taste would have been perfect. Sister-in-law, your version had way too much chilli powder in it. If an individual with a low tolerance for spicy food were to consume this, it could potentially be their last meal. No, these are unable to meet the standards. Let’s redo everything from the beginning.” Su Jin critiqued as she sampled the prototype snacks.
“Xiao Jin, isn’t the snack which you refer to as ‘spicy strips’ way too challenging to prepare? The recipe uses numerous expensive ingredients, including wheat. Oh my god, how exquisite would the end product be?”
Su Jin’s sister-in-law, Lu Shi, was perplexed by the thin and long snack and could not comprehend Su Jin’s intentions for the food experiment. First it had to be fried in hot oil, and subsequently, they had to season it with sugar. On top of that, the strips were then coated with a red substance called ‘chilli powder’. It was excessively extravagant for a snack.
She let out a deep sigh as she disapprovingly glanced at her younger sister-in-law, before resigning herself to continue kneading more dough.
Su Jin burped and telepathically communicated with the system. The formulas she had were all provided by the system.
Due to the absence of various ingredients in this era, they had to rely on experimentation to improvise with substitutes. Fortunately, she stumbled upon cumin and mala pepper1TL Note: Sichuan peppercorn, renowned for its numbing heat while exploring the mountains, which was a pleasant surprise.
Not only could she utilize these newly discovered spices for creating spicy strips, they were also perfect condiments for hot pots.
She could begin by setting up a modest workshop to produce spicy strips, and gradually expand to establish a hot pot restaurant. It was an ideal business plan for her to sustain a decent standard of living. Su Jin did not harbour any aspirations, so she had planned to live a slow and modest life.
At present, she would never imagine that her future self would regret the choice she had made.
At the beginning, Su Jin had attempted to make the spicy strips by herself. But after her mother and sister-in-law witnessed the mess she made just from kneading dough, they quickly intervened and took charge of the process, leading to the current situation.
They were now experimenting to refine the recipe. Once her estate was completed, she intended to cultivate chillis, cumin and mala pepper on a large scale in her fields, with the ultimate goal of ramping up the production of spicy strips.
Her aim was to popularize spicy strips as a spiritual snack. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone became enslaved to spicy strips which were highly addictive as they continued to indulge in them?
To cater to the palate of the people in this era, Su Jin deliberately altered the recipe to reduce the level of spiciness and balance it off with a touch of sweetness. After the masses became accustomed to the taste of chilli peppers, she intended to introduce more intense versions such as the medium spice level and the internal spice level…
The more she thought about it, the more beautiful her scheme appeared to be. Mwahahaha!
The old man who was brought home by Su Jin sat in the corridor, staring at the silly girl who was laughing alone in her fantasy, as if he was looking at a fool.
When their eyes met, Su Jin immediately suppressed her smile and pretended to put up a serious expression and cleared her throat.
He had been here for ten days. Su Jin diligently assisted him daily in searching for his relatives. But after several days of yielding no results, she eventually gave up and he had remained under their care since then.
Apart from mealtimes, the old man was rarely seen. He hardly spoke which led everyone to believe that it was a side effect from his amnesia. That was, until an incident that occurred recently, which drastically changed their impression of the old man.
On that particular day, Su Ce came back home for a break from the private academy. After his meal, he was writing an essay by the desk when he was interrupted by an unexpected slap.
When he got up and saw the person behind him, his perplexity grew stronger. Wasn’t this the elderly gentleman with memory loss who was staying here temporarily after Su Jin brought him home?
Despite usually lacking in emotions, Su Ce couldn’t help but be astonished. Why did the old man hit him?
Just as Su Ce was about to inquire from him, the old man, who was normally carefree and relaxed, suddenly became serious and shouted angrily at Su Ce. “Something like this is worthy of being called an essay? With this quality of penmanship? Even a five-year-old could do better. Is this the result of your academic endeavours over the past few years?”
Sue Ce was frightened by the unexpected outburst from the old man. He stood still and didn’t dare to move or refute. He didn’t know why, but an overwhelming sense of shame came over him, causing him to obediently lower his head.
Su Ce possessed a decent level of knowledge, and he was at least capable of placing amongst the leading ranks at the private academy. Due to bad luck in past years, he did not make it past the county exam and had not graduated as a scholar yet.
Even after being berated in such a manner, he couldn’t come up with a retort and felt deeply ashamed. Perhaps the old man’s aura was too intimidating for him to speak out.
Upon hearing the disturbance, Su Jin came over and witnessed the scene.
Without a word, the old man swept his sharp gaze across the room. He then rolled up his sleeves and picked up the brush and ink on Su Ce’s desk. After hesitating for a brief moment, a glimpse of disdain flashed across his eyes, but he proceeded to spread out a paper and began writing with solid strokes.
Su Ce and Su Jin slowly approached the desk. Even the other Su family members who had just arrived outside the door craned their necks to take a peek.
“This is… your calligraphy…” Su Ce widened his eyes and exclaimed, “Sir, what is your identity? Even the masterpiece of Great Scholar Dong Qing which was displayed on the wall at our academy could not be compared to this!”
After expressing his thoughts, Su Ce moved backwards and respectfully bowed to the old man. With a flushed face, he looked at the old man in admiration and couldn’t contain his excitement.
What kind of incredible person did his sister bring home? This…
Although Su Jin had no idea how to appraise calligraphy, she could still tell that the old man’s writing was vigorous and powerful, and had a majestic finishing to it. Each stroke of brush seemed to possess vibrant energy, resonating within the viewer’s hearts.
The other members of the Su family were even more confused. But when they saw Su Ce, who usually behaved reservedly, revering the old man, they somewhat understood the magnificence of the elderly man and began to regard him admirably as well.
It was natural for commoners to hold those with education in high regard, even more so for an individual who was able to earn strong respect from their Su Ce.
“Hmph.” The old man did not pretend to be a mute this time, and fleetingly swept his eyes across everyone in the room.
He then started walking out with confidence. Just as he arrived at the door, he glanced back at Su Ce, who was still brimming in enthusiasm, and instructed him, “Look for me on your rest days from now onwards.”
The words left Su Ce in a state of shock. When he grasped the meaning of the old man’s words, he quivered in joy as he bowed down and exclaimed, “Su Ce respectfully expresses gratitude to the esteemed teacher for the invaluable guidance to come.”
The old man did not respond and walked away in big strides. They could consider that as payment for taking care of him.
While leaning against the kitchen wall, Su Jin reminisced about the incident that occurred on that day.
Even till this day, she still found it to be quite unbelievable. From that moment onwards, her mother had paid more attention to their hospitality, and the dishes served during meals had significantly improved in terms of quality and taste. It was as if they were worshipping a great deity.
TL Corner: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Do let me know in the comments or discord if there are any errors or mistakes.
Also, if you wish to support my translations, feel free to leave a comment below or in novelupdates, or send me a Ko-Fi.
Thank you!
RECENTLY UPDATES
