Ning Xi dragged the iron chain over to open the door, only to see that there was a long corridor in front of the door, and there were small doors like himself in a long row on the left and right, and people walked out of the door one after another, and they were also dragging the iron chain under their feet, looking numb and moving slowly.

Suddenly, a woman rushed out: "Who are you, why do you want to imprison us, do you know that this is illegal?" Ning Xi recognized that this was one of the new women who arrived yesterday, and as soon as she finished speaking, a leather whip flew over, "brushed" the ground, and a long blood mark immediately appeared behind her.

The woman threw herself forward, struggled to her feet again, and said loudly: "Let's all resist together, there are so many of us, why should we be afraid of them!" Another whip went down, forming a cross with the blood mark just now.

But the people next to him still looked numb, and walked forward one after another with their heads down.

Ning Xi couldn't bear it in his heart, and was about to go over to persuade the woman, when suddenly someone gently pulled his sleeve, and when he looked back, it was Han Xiangfei: "Don't come out, see the situation clearly before you have the opportunity to act." ”

There was a sound of whips hitting each other, and the steward shook his whip and shouted: "Don't talk to each other, go quickly!" ”

Ning Xi and Han Xiangfei glanced at each other, lowered their heads and followed everyone forward.

The group walked into a room, the room was full of long tables and benches, it looked like a canteen, everyone lined up numbly, each received a bowl of gruel and two cornmeal nests, and found a random place to sit down, Ning Xi also took the opportunity to sit with Han Xiangfei, You Zhenniang also saw that they wanted to come over, and was rudely kicked by the steward: "Don't pick." ”

There are only a few grains of rice in the gruel, which are so clear that they can be used to look in the mirror, the cornmeal nest is thick and hard, and it will cut its throat when swallowed, Ning Xi ate two bites, but she really couldn't swallow it, so she stopped and put it aside, the person next to her glanced at her, and said in a low voice: "You don't want it?" ”

Ning Xi shook his head: "Don't." ”

The man quickly stretched out his hand, pulled her nest head in his hand, stuffed it into his mouth, raised his head to see if the steward was not paying attention, and regardless of the gruel that Ning Xi had drunk, he brought it and poured it into his bowl.

Han Xiangfei said in a low voice: "You eat more, and if you want to escape, you have to have strength." "Looking at the reincarnation of all these hungry ghosts, you know that it is not easy to eat a full meal.

Of course, Ning Xi knew that he had to eat enough, but he really couldn't eat and couldn't help it.

A few people who were transported yesterday, except for the woman who was whipped just now, the others were all here, but they didn't see Jun Qianyu's figure, and they didn't know if he escaped or not, Ning Xi thought worriedly.

After eating almost enough, there were stewards who came to drive people to work, Ning Xi, Han Xiangfei and You Zhenniang, and a few newcomers were brought out: "A few of you, go over there to give a lecture." ”

A chubby woman walked over, holding a piece of paper in her greasy hand: "Ning Xi, Han Xiangfei, You Zhenniang, you three can cook?" ”

The three of them looked at each other, bowed their heads and replied, "Yes!" ”

The fat woman said: "If you are lucky, the kitchen is just understaffed, so you will be exempted from hard labor and go directly to the kitchen!" ”

With a wave of his hand, he took the three of them aside, and told them about the island as he went.

But all the newcomers, whether they were slaves and maids bought from the hands of people's teeth, or kidnapped like Ningxi, were always uneasy at the beginning, so no matter who they were, when they first came, they had to be sent to do a month of hard work, dirty work, and after suffering humiliation, people also became numb and honest, and they would be assigned to work everywhere.

There are those who farm and farm, there are those who chop wood and hunt, do all kinds of cleaning and rough work, there are also old men and ladies who serve the above, and there are also those who specialize in serving distinguished guests, of course, there are also those who cook in the kitchen, and there are some men and women who are particularly good looking or strong, they will be selected and sent to a place called "orchard", it is said that "orchard" specializes in producing "ginseng fruit", but that place is particularly mysterious, but whoever goes in, I have not seen a person come out, what is the so-called "ginseng fruit", it is just hearsay, And no one really knows.

That's why this fat woman said that Ning Xi was lucky and could go directly into the kitchen.

The people who work here are also divided into several classes, the lowest class is to do all kinds of hard work, live in Datongpu, and the daily food is only two meals of gruel in the morning and evening.

A house like Ning Xi and the others lived in last night was already a high-level servant who could live in it, and the general handyman in the kitchen belonged to this class, and they could eat three meals a day, with porridge and nests, and occasionally some meat scraps.

The next level is the stewards, each person can get a small courtyard, eat vegetables and meat, normal meals, occasionally please the master, but also get some rewards, in the kitchen, this level of treatment of the chef is a second-class chef, usually the daily diet of the masters, are responsible for them, as long as they can be promoted to the second-class chef, the life can also be quite nourishing.

As for the first-class chefs, even the fat women can't tell what they do, they only know that they all live in a luxurious courtyard, eat delicacies from the mountains and seas, wear silk and satin, have sedan chairs in and out, and have servants and maids to serve them on weekdays, and their lives are like fairies.

"So what does it take to be a first-class chef?" Ning Xi asked curiously.

The fat woman sneered: "Don't be too big a little girl, it's good to be a second-class girl!" The people who can come to us are all masters of cooking, and all of them are top-notch people. "This Ning Xi believes that three of the top four in the cooking competition have been tied here by them, and the others must not be ordinary.

It's just that she can't figure out why these captured people don't resist and don't run away, is it really because of the hard work of the first month that they have no heart to resist at all?

After a while, she knew the answer, as soon as the three of them came to the kitchen, they were pinched by their chins, forced to swallow a pill by themselves, and poured a large scoop of cold water, Ning Xi covered her chest and coughed: "What did you give us?" ”

The fat woman said: "As long as you are obedient and obedient, there will be no problem, and the antidote will be sent to you every month." ”

Ning Xi was shocked: "Then what if there is no antidote?" ”

The fat woman understated: "The intestines are rotten in the stomach, and then the person is carried and buried as fertilizer!" ”

After a while, Han Xiangfei asked in a low voice, "Then what are we going to do now?" ”

The fat woman said: "Later, one person will cook a dish and set a level." "If you are only in vain and your cooking skills are not up to par, you can only work as a handyman in the kitchen, that is, do some work of splitting wood and making fires, preliminarily handling ingredients, and be responsible for the food of low-level servants. If the cooking skills are passable, they will be classified as second-class, and they can be assigned to a small courtyard, and they can also receive some necessary daily necessities to live. As for the first class, it was to be personally ordered by the island owner, and the fat woman looked at the three young people and shook her head, it was definitely not qualified.

"Can you choose what to cook and what ingredients to use?" Ning Xi asked, the more she looked at it, the more she felt that this volcanic island was mysterious and terrifying, if she wanted to find out the secrets of the period, and to find Jun Qianyu's whereabouts, she had to break into the inside, so Ning Xi decided to make people amazing and strive to become a first-class.

The fat woman said: "No, we will choose an ingredient, and those that can pass guò will be set as second-class, and those that can't be used will be third-class." But you're lucky, today the owner of the island just has to personally choose the first-class chef, if you can be set as the second-class chef, you can participate in the competition, the first-class chef competition is free to choose the ingredients. ”

After speaking, he took them to an empty stove, and one of them put a plate of tofu in front of him, and there was a large basket in front of him, which contained green onions, ginger, garlic, as well as various vegetables such as shiitake mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, green vegetables, and radishes, which could be used by themselves.

It turned out that this time they were asked to make tofu.

A thin old man in his fifties walked over, and the fat woman nodded respectfully and said, "Manager Tan, these three are new cooks, please test their cooking skills." ”

Manager Tan nodded: "Well, let's start!" ”

Ning Xi had the intention of showing off and decided to make a Wensi tofu that showed off his knife skills.

Ning Xi first picked some shiitake mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, green vegetables and carrots, all of which were cut into thin strips, she shredded them quickly and finely, but this is nothing, this is the basic skill of learning to cook, and ordinary chefs can do this.

The shredded vegetables are first put into the boiling water, and the red, yellow, black, and green colors are tumbling in the water, which is very beautiful.

Then it's time to process the tofu.

I saw that she gently held up the white and tender tofu with her left hand, put it on the cutting board, dipped some water in her right hand, drenched it, and then picked up the kitchen knife, calmed down, first divided a piece of tofu into three layers, and then layer by layer.

Then she shoveled up the tofu with the blade of the knife, held the knife in her right hand, the knife surface was slightly tilted, and her left hand was lightly poured with water, and the tofu slices were separated.

Ning Xi's subordinates didn't stop, continued to push the tofu slices from the knife surface into the cutting board, took a deep breath, the blade continued to fly up and down quickly, the knife fell, and the tofu slices were cut into thin shreds like flowing water, and the tofu shreds were gently put into the boiling water, and in an instant, thousands of hair-thin tofu shreds bloomed into a beautiful flower in the water.

Use a colander to scoop up the cooked shredded tofu and the various shredded vegetables that have just been boiled together and put them into a large soup bowl, scoop up a bowl of boiling water for boiling shredded vegetables and shredded tofu, re-season and boil, pour it into the big soup bowl, only to see the light and white shredded tofu floating in the soup bowl like sinking and floating, and it is also dotted with colorful vegetable shreds, which is delicate and beautiful.

Ning Xi sent the soup bowl to Manager Tan: "Wensi tofu, please taste it." ”

Manager Tan's eyes flashed, scooped up a spoonful of steaming tofu shreds and put them in his mouth, only to feel that the tofu shreds were tender and smooth, and melted in the mouth, and the vegetable shreds mixed in were fresh and crispy, and then took a sip of soup, although this soup is not stock, but simple boiling water seasoning, but it has a fresh taste.

Manager Tan nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, in the afternoon, the island owner will personally come over to select a first-class chef, you can prepare it well." ”