Chapter Ninety-Six: Bringing Delicacies to the Marquisate Residence

After all, Yu Jingxiao had always treated Lin Hongda with considerable care and respect.

That afternoon, after the fried chicken shop closed, she went straight to the Yu residence.

Lin Hongda and Guo Er were already waiting at the gate. When they saw her arrive, Guo Er immediately trotted over with a grin to welcome her.

“My dear niece, you’re here! Long time no see!” he said cheerfully.

No matter how Lin Sangqian thought about it, she still felt that this fellow Guo Er was taking advantage of her.

After all, there was only an eight- or nine-year age gap between them, yet he had suddenly made himself one generation older.

“Go on, get out of here!” Lin Hongda shoved Guo Er aside, then led Lin Sangqian into the Yu residence.

This was Lin Sangqian’s second visit, yet she still could not help admiring the splendor of the place.

When she had a little more money in the future, she would definitely buy a house this grand and furnish it properly.

When Yu Jingxiao heard that Lin Sangqian had arrived, he came out at once with great warmth to greet her.

“Miss Lin, thank you for coming all this way,” he said, rubbing his hands together, his face full of anticipation.

“It’s no trouble at all,” Lin Sangqian said with a smile. “After all, I’ll be relying on your kindness for quite some time.”

Lin Hongda looked at his little grown-up of a daughter and could not help but pat her head.

Right now, Lin Sangqian looked exactly as she had in childhood back in her former life.

Staring at her for too long, he almost forgot that his daughter’s soul belonged to a twenty-five-year-old.

Besides, his daughter as a child was just too adorable.

“Not at all. It has always been Guard Lin who has been taking care of me,” Yu Jingxiao said with a smile. “Ever since Guard Lin has been by my side, no matter where I go, I feel completely at ease.”

And when he was not going out, Lin Hongda stayed at the Yu residence as well, sparring with the guards there.

Now the Yu family’s household guards had all improved considerably in skill.

Yu Jingxiao even felt that fifteen taels a month was rather too little for Lin Hongda, and was considering whether to raise his pay.

At that moment, Guan Yanqing also came out from inside.

Lin Sangqian greeted him with a very polite nod, then asked Yu Jingxiao, “May I ask what dishes Young Master Yu would like?”

Yu Jingxiao turned to ask Guan Yanqing, “Zicheng, what would you like to eat?”

“Anything is fine,” Guan Yanqing said.

After all, as long as it was made by her, he liked it.

Ever since he learned that the fried chicken shop was hers, he had someone go buy from it every day.

Fried chicken was a little greasy, but he never grew tired of it.

“So do I,” Yu Jingxiao said with a laugh. “Your cooking is so excellent, Miss Lin. Whatever you make will be delicious.”

“Then I’ll improvise as I go,” Lin Sangqian said with a smile.

“Wonderful. Thank you for your trouble, Miss Lin! Uncle Yuan, do take Miss Lin to the kitchen properly. Tell everyone in the kitchen that today they are to obey Miss Lin in everything and must not laze about.”

“Very good, Young Master.”

Uncle Yuan led Lin Sangqian to the kitchen, and Lin Hongda returned to Guo Er and the others.

Yu Jingxiao looked at Guan Yanqing with satisfaction. “Well? You ought to thank me, shouldn’t you? I invited Miss Lin here for you.”

Guan Yanqing nodded. “Yes, I really should thank you.”

“That is no easy thing to hear from you,” Yu Jingxiao said in surprise. “Looks like you truly do like Miss Lin.”

Guan Yanqing cast him a cool glance, and Yu Jingxiao hurriedly added, “The dishes she makes.”

“She is still a child, and a girl besides,” Guan Yanqing said, frowning. “You had better not speak carelessly.”

“Oh, I know, I know. I just hadn’t finished my sentence!” Yu Jingxiao said awkwardly.

Perhaps it was because Lin Sangqian carried herself with such maturity that people always forgot how young she really was.

“If only we could invite Miss Lin to stay on as our head chef,” Yu Jingxiao sighed. “Even one hundred taels a month would be worth it!”

Looking at Lin Sangqian’s retreating figure, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Guan Yanqing’s lips.

“Impossible. No one can bind her.”

…

When Lin Sangqian followed Uncle Yuan into the kitchen, some of the people there were initially surprised that such a young girl had come to do what work. But once Uncle Yuan told them she was the head chef invited by Yu Jingxiao, they immediately became respectful.

Still, they were curious: could this little girl’s cooking really be that good?

The Yu residence’s kitchen naturally had every ingredient one could want.

After she had walked around it twice, a menu had already formed in Lin Sangqian’s mind.

Everyone in the kitchen was quick and diligent. Once she told them what vegetables to wash and what meat to cut, they got to work.

The first dish she made was braised chicken in oil. She cut the chicken legs into pieces, then added cooking wine, soy sauce, starch, and salt, mixing them well to marinate.

She boiled the potatoes, removed them, and mashed them. The chicken was cooked just until no longer raw in the center.

Then she heated oil in the wok, added garlic and chilies, and stir-fried until fragrant, before adding tomatoes to release their juices.

After that, she added the potatoes and chicken pieces, along with soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and salt, stir-fried everything evenly, then covered the wok and let it simmer for a few minutes before serving.

The aroma filled the entire kitchen, and just this one dish was enough to make everyone there utterly convinced of Lin Sangqian.

Indeed, Young Master Yu had a keen eye for people. If he said she was a head chef, then a head chef she was!

She then made garlic shrimp. The others in the kitchen had already helped remove the shrimp heads and veins, and had washed the shrimp clean.

Lin Sangqian made a slight cut from the tail of each shrimp so the flavor would soak in better.

She added ginger and scallions to the shrimp, poured in cooking wine, and mixed everything well to marinate briefly. Then she smashed the garlic, heated oil in the wok, added the shrimp, and stir-fried until they changed color before removing them.

Using the remaining oil, she stir-fried half the minced garlic until fragrant, added soy sauce and oyster sauce, then returned the shrimp to the wok and stir-fried again, adding water, salt, and sugar.

A few minutes later, she added the remaining half of the garlic and stir-fried everything evenly. The two layers of garlic made the dish even more fragrant.

A sprinkle of chopped scallions, and it was done.

Lin Sangqian had originally wanted to sneak a taste herself, but there were so many people in the kitchen that she was too embarrassed to make a move and could only give up in pain.

She then made braised spare ribs and twice-cooked pork, stir-fried a few vegetable dishes, and simmered a pot of chicken soup with button mushrooms.

Everyone in the kitchen felt that being there at this moment was its own torment.

They could clearly smell such rich aromas, could see these enticing dishes, yet could not eat a single bite.

They had no idea what sins they had committed in a former life to suffer so much in this one.

At last, several maids packed the dishes into food boxes and carried them away.

Lin Sangqian let out a long breath. At once, someone brought over a chair and said attentively, “Miss Lin, please sit.”

“Thank you,” Lin Sangqian said with a smile, sitting down.

The people in the kitchen immediately began chattering around her.

“Miss Lin, you don’t look very old, do you? How is your cooking so good? Who did you learn from?”

Lin Sangqian thought about it and said, “You could say I’m self-taught.”

Back in her former world, she had learned by looking up recipes and all kinds of food videos on her own. She had no way of explaining to them what food videos were.

“So this is what talent looks like?”

“We’ll never be able to compare.”

“Miss Lin, whoever marries you in the future will be terribly fortunate!”