Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 281: Pickled fish made by Miss Shen, my mother also likes it

The little girls who had ignored Shen Yu hurried to the kitchen door and stood there when they saw Mother Feng coming.

Mother Feng walked to the kitchen door and glanced around. She saw that only Li and Shen Yu were in the kitchen, busy with everything themselves.

She ordered Qin Ma and the two cooks to help in the kitchen, but they were nowhere to be seen. Her face darkened, but she couldn't get angry in front of Shen Yu and her mother.

When Shen Yu saw Feng's mother coming over, she smiled and said, "What a coincidence, Mom, you came. The fish balls will be ready soon. I was just thinking of finding a sister to tell you."

Mother Feng smiled and said, "You are so quick, young lady. I just finished my work and thought I would come over to take a look. I thought it would take a while."

As they were talking, Li called out from inside, "Yuzhi, the fish balls are all floating up, I think they are cooked."

Shen Yu agreed and went in quickly.

Mother Feng also followed and looked into the pot. The cooked fish balls were plump and round. There was not a drop of oil in the cooking soup, but it had a fresh and fragrant smell that she had never smelled before.

Shen Yu took the soup spoon and put the cooked fish balls into two large soup bowls with seasonings, and added some soup used to cook the fish balls.

Sprinkle some finely chopped green onions into the bowl. The fish balls in the soup bowl will be snow-white, the soup will be clear, and the green onions will be dotted with emerald green. A bowl of refreshing and delicious fish ball soup is ready.

Shen Yu said to Mother Feng, "Mom, the fish balls are ready. Shall we send them to Old Madam Song now?"

Mother Feng smiled and said, "It smells so fresh and fragrant. The soup is refreshing in color and looks so pleasing."

"The old lady hasn't had much of an appetite these days. She hasn't eaten anything except porridge. It's a good idea to send it to her now while it's still hot. Maybe it tastes good and if she likes it, she'll eat more."

Mother Feng said this as she started working on it herself.

She took a food box, covered the soup bowl with its lid, and carefully placed it in the food box. She did not ask the little maid to carry it, but carried it herself and led Shen Yu and Li back to the old lady's Zizhu Garden.

As soon as I entered the yard, I heard laughter coming from the main house. It seemed that there were quite a few people there, unlike in the morning, when there was only Madam Song, the owner of the house, besides the maids and servants.

Shen Yu felt that the more people there were, the more trouble there would be, so he stopped at the Chaoshou corridor and said to Mother Feng, "Mom, there are guests in the old lady's room."

"We don't know the rules and are afraid of being impolite. The fish balls are ready. Why don't we wait in the corridor until the old lady finishes eating, and then we can go back."

Mother Feng thought for a moment and said, "There are no guests in the room. It's the first and second wives, and a few young ladies who are here to chat with the old lady to relieve her boredom. How about this, I'll go and inform her and see what the old lady thinks."

Having said that, he went straight to the main house carrying the food box.

Shen Yu and Li stood by the veranda, waiting quietly, thinking that after Old Madam Song finished eating, there should be nothing to worry about and they could go back to the restaurant.

After a while, the door curtain of the main room was lifted, and a bright red figure flew out like a little bird, ran to Shen Yu with a smile, and said in a crisp voice: "Miss Shen, we meet again."

Shen Yu had his head down, looking at a group of busy little ants beside the corridor, his mind wandering and absent-minded.

Suddenly, a red dress caught my eye. When she stopped and spoke, I saw that it was Song Yuzhi who had come to the store that day.

She was still wearing a red dress today, but the embroidery and style had changed. In the eyes of Shen Yu, a modern person who had no idea about fabrics and styles, there was not much difference. They were both beautiful dresses in bright red with intricate embroidery, like a passionately blooming pomegranate flower.

Shen Yu and Li hurriedly knelt down and saluted, saying, "Miss Song, how are you?"

Song Yuzhi smiled and waved her hand: "Miss Shen, get up quickly, and you are well too."

Without waiting for Shen Yu to reply, he continued with rapid fire: "Mother also likes the pickled fish made by Miss Shen."

"When I brought it back that day, my mother heard that I bought it from a snack bar and she disdained it, saying that it couldn't be delicious if it was made from a snack bar. She even refused to taste it."

"But I asked the cook to boil it again in the soup pot and brought it to my mother. When she smelled the sour and fragrant taste, she immediately changed her mind and said it was okay to try it."

Song Yuzhi laughed with a smug look on her face: "Guess what, mother ate half of the whole pot of fish in one go and praised it for being delicious. She said she hadn't eaten such delicious fish in a long time."

"I said it tastes better when it's freshly made. I poured it back into the soup pot and heated it up. The fish fillets are a little overcooked."

"Mother said that she would ask the girl to cook fish someday. She wanted to eat it fresh out of the pot. I didn't expect that before we could eat the pickled fish, grandmother asked the girl to cook...some fish balls. Although I haven't tasted them, I think they are delicious."

Shen Yu listened quietly to Song Yuzhi's non-stop chatter, just listening with a smile, without any time to reply.

Song Yuzhi continued, "Just now I heard that Miss Shen came to my grandmother's place to cook, so I wanted to go to the kitchen to find you."

"Grandma refused to let me, saying that it would disturb you while you were cooking, so she asked me to wait here. She also gave me some candied date cakes, saying that they were bought from your restaurant."

"It tastes really good, better than the one made by Chef Liu who specializes in making noodles in my grandmother's small kitchen."

Song Yuzhi was like a little bird, chirping non-stop.

Just as they were talking excitedly, Madam Feng came over and said, "My fourth young lady, the old lady asked you to come over. She said the fish balls are delicious, so she will give you two to try."

Song Yuzhi said in surprise, "Really? There's also a share for me?"

Having said that, he no longer cared about Shen Yu and quickly walked towards the main house.

Mother Feng had a smile on her face, and seemed very happy. She turned to Shen Yu and Li and said, "Miss Shen, Madam, the old lady wants you to come over and talk."

Shen Yu and Li quickly agreed and followed Mother Feng to the main house.

As they walked, Mother Feng whispered, "Young lady, your fish balls are so good that the old lady ate several of them in a row. Young lady, just wait for the old lady's reward."

After entering the main house, Shen Yu discovered that Old Madam Song was not in the main hall, but in the suite on the east side. Looking up, he saw that there were flowers everywhere and at least five or six people sitting inside.

Mother Feng led Shen Yuhe and Li into the side room on the east side, where Old Madam Song often spent time.

As Shen Yu and the others entered, they heard a high-pitched and somewhat shrill female voice saying, "Mother, this is Miss Shen who makes fish balls. Oh, it looks smaller than my Yuxuan. Come here and let me take a look."

Old Madam Song laughed and scolded, "Sixth Lady, you should also control your loud voice a little, or you might scare Miss Shen."

Mother Feng was busy pointing them out one by one, "This is the first lady, this is the second lady, and these two are the second and third young ladies."