Now that both men and women have determined their intentions, the next step is to propose. Zhong Nan lied that he was a Shudi person, the only son in the family, and his parents died in his early years, so he wandered around, because he made delicious Sichuan food, no one really doubted this. Since Zhong Nan has no parents and brothers, he naturally makes his own decisions about proposing; Qiu Xiang also has no father and no mother, is an orphan adopted by the old lady in her early years, although there are still some relatives in her hometown, but she has not been in contact for many years, so the Ma family is considered her mother's family. Zhong Nan took the dowry and set up a banquet, and after the two families sat down to discuss, they decided on the lifelong events of the two of them. Although the old lady of the Ma family likes Qiu Xiang very much and is reluctant to let her go, but when she sees that Qiu Xiang, who is in love with her granddaughter, she has found the man she likes, and she can only endure the pain and cut her love.

After the wedding date was determined, Zhong Nan began to discuss the matter of the wedding room, and the young couple discussed and decided to build a small courtyard on the open space behind the small restaurant, and the front store and back yard were also convenient for business. Looking for someone to inquire everywhere and learned that the minimum cost of this project was one hundred and fifty taels of silver, but Zhong Nan could make up eighty taels with a full calculation in his hand, and the rest was not a small amount, and Zhong Nan couldn't find a solution for a while. Originally, Qiu Xiang planned to take out her private money and jewelry and go to the pawnshop to pawn it for some silver, but Zhong Nan did not agree.

Seeing that the time was almost too late, Zhong Nan could only be cheeky to borrow thirty taels of silver from Sun Xiangfu, the shopkeeper who usually buys spices, and then asked Liu Donggui, the shopkeeper of the teahouse next door, to borrow thirty taels of silver. In the end, Zhong Nan also bargained with the boss Li Haisheng, who contracted the project, many times, and only then did he repair the small courtyard.

……

It's another year of spring flowers, Zhong Nan got up early on this day, looking at the trees in the yard that had just sprouted, he was full of emotion: more than a year ago, he traveled by himself in an autumn, from being penniless to now having a beautiful wife and a small restaurant run by himself, time flies so fast!

Zhong Nan married Qiu Xiang a few years ago, and after marriage, the two got up early and greedy for darkness, and only recently repaid the loan of thirty taels of silver from Liu's shopkeeper's house, and it is estimated that he will be able to have no account for another three or four months at most. The two are very satisfied with their current lives, Zhong Nan was not a very ambitious person originally, "wife and children hot kang head" is the most desirable, now that the wife has it, the child is naturally a matter of time, so I really have nothing to dissatisfaction with. Although he is a traverser, no one says that traversers can't be ordinary people.

Today, as usual, the door is open at about ten o'clock to welcome guests, Zhong Nan is cutting vegetables and preparing vegetables in the back kitchen, the two guys are doing chores, and Qiu Xiang is cleaning in the lobby. Recently, there are a lot of new faces in the Tianqiao team, I heard that the north and west are not peaceful, many refugees came to Suzhou and Hangzhou, those who can point martial arts on the spot to dance knives and guns to show, can also earn three melons and two dates; Those poor families who drag their children and daughters don't have the ability to do a trick and a half, so they can't support it anymore, so they can only sell their children and daughters under the overpass.

Thinking about these things, Zhong Nan felt a little embarrassed in his heart, the world is not very peaceful! It's just that Zhong Nan can only think about these things in his heart, he is a little person, he is soft-spoken, and he can't do anything to save Li Min, he can only live his own small life, don't add chaos to the country, and think about it can be regarded as contributing to the stability of the Ming Dynasty!

Although he was thinking about things in his heart, Zhong Nan's work did not stop, there was a table banquet at noon that was set yesterday, Xu Laohan, who was performing on the flyover, wanted to invite people from the yamen, why it was not clear, Xu Laohan just instructed Zhong Nan to make a few more special dishes, and specially designated the two dishes of back pot meat and boiled fish, Zhong Nan is now preparing Xu Laohan's banquet dishes.

Back to the pot meat is one of the masterpieces of Sichuan cuisine, choose the best pork belly, clean the pot under cold water, put a little salt, cut a few slices of ginger and cook to remove the fishy smell, remove the foam on the surface after the water boils, the meat is cooked and cleaned and cut into thin slices for later use, and the side dishes can be prepared. The most common side dishes for returning to the pot are green peppers, garlic sprouts, etc., and there are also pot helmets (that is, steamed buns are sliced and fried on both sides until golden brown on both sides), potato slices, etc., which can be mixed with two or three, but the most flavorful is still with garlic sprouts. After getting ready, light the fire and pour the oil into the pot, when the oil temperature is eight or nine minutes, the cut meat slices will be stir-fried in the pot and scattered, and then add an appropriate amount of bean paste and stir-fry, and then add an appropriate amount of tempeh and sugar after the fat in the meat is fried, and the garlic seedlings cut into small pieces will be put into the pot, and they can be put out of the pot and put on the plate after being fried over high heat.

The cooking process of boiled fish is much more cumbersome, first of all, to deal with the main ingredients, to choose fresh silver carp (silver carp or grass carp and the like taste is inferior), remove the fish head, cut the fish body obliquely into thin slices, and then marinate with an appropriate amount of water starch, cooking wine, salt, pepper, etc. for ten minutes, during which side dishes are prepared - vegetables such as green bamboo shoots and soybean sprouts can be prepared, and a small amount of meat dishes such as hairy tripe shreds or ham slices can also be added according to personal preferences. After the oil is heated, put in an appropriate amount of bean paste, black bean sauce, sugar, dried chili pepper, whole peppercorns, minced ginger, minced garlic, green onion and a small amount of cumin, star anise and other spices, stir-fry to bring out the fragrance, add an appropriate amount of stock and salt, monosodium glutamate to taste, wait for the soup to boil and put the side dishes in the pot, after cooking, pick up and put the bottom of the bowl for later use, and then pour the marinated fish fillets into the pot after cooking, and pour the soup and vegetables into the bowl with side dishes. Reheat the pan and pour the oil, sprinkle the appropriate amount of peppercorn noodles and dried chili noodles on the noodles of the previous dish, and pour them on when the oil is hot to 10 minutes, and the fresh and spicy boiled fish is ready.

Xu Laohan and the guests he invited to the banquet had already arrived in the lobby, Qiu Xiang was receiving, Zhong Nan asked Wang Taili to serve the cut cold dishes - two plates of braised vegetables and a plate of peanuts and a plate of mixed white meat first, and the subsequent dishes would also be served one after another. After finishing the work, the time was less than half past eleven, Zhong Nan decided to go to the lobby in person, intending to say a few words to the guests.

As soon as I got out of the back kitchen, I heard Qiu Xiang's voice: "Official, please respect yourself!" The voice was full of anger, Xu Laohan also said "I can't do it" on the side, Zhong Nan was afraid that his wife would lose, so he walked quickly to the lobby, only to see a middle-aged literati in his thirties who was about to pull Qiu Xiang's hand, he recognized this person as a master of the prefect's family, surnamed He, who was a well-known womanizer. Zhong Nan knew that this person couldn't be provoked, but he still stepped forward with an arrow, pulled Qiu Xiang back behind him, and then said with a smile: "It turned out to be Master He, I said who the guest Xu Laohan invited was, and specially asked me to make pot meat and boiled fish, presumably Master He tasted it at Master Cao's house, it was very delicious!" ”

Zhong Nan poured two glasses of wine as he spoke, one was handed to Master He, and one was held by himself, and said to him, "Do it first for respect", Master He tilted his head slightly, looking high. Zhong Nan saw that Master He didn't drink, so he filled his cup again, drank two glasses in a row, and then said: "Master He can patronize my small shop, but it makes Zhong feel very honored, the young lady of Master Cao's family likes to eat the Sichuan food I make the most, and not long ago invited me to make them back to the pot meat!" ”

Lord Cao is the prefect of Suzhou, the master of Master He, and his favorite is the young lady Zhou Bing'er. This week, Bing'er was originally a person from Sichuan and Shu, but later fled to Suzhou, and was forced into the Qinglou by life, because he was born with a charming man's face, and became a celebrity in the Qinglou under the * of the old bustard. Lord Cao occasionally patronized this green building, and Zhou Bing'er has been thinking about it after a night of spring breeze, and then visited many times, and finally simply ransomed her body and accepted her into the mansion as a young lady.

This week, Bing'er was very angry after entering Cao's Mansion, and gave birth to a big fat boy to the prefect who had never had a son, which is good, Lord Cao is even more spoiled by him, it can be said that he is obedient, and many people who want to make friends with the prefect will first beat this young lady, which shows his status in Caofu. This week, Bing'er somehow found Zhong Nan's small restaurant, and was very satisfied with the authentic hometown dishes he made, and often asked his subordinates to come over and pack a few dishes to return to his home, during which he also asked Zhong Nan to go to Lord Cao's house to cook a few dishes.

This middle-aged literati surnamed He is named He Wen, one of the masters in Lord Cao's mansion, and he has a bad reputation and likes to rub oil on beautiful women. Zhong Nan moved out of Zhou Bing'er, just to prevent He Wenli from continuing to disturb Qiu Xiang, the surname He is also a smart person, after listening to Zhong Nan's words, although he was reluctant, he still drank the wine, and then talked to Xu Laohan about the matter.

This is not the first time Qiu Xiang has been harassed, but it was mostly verbal flirtation before, and it is the first time that she has done it directly like today. Zhong Nan was very angry, and at the same time very helpless, most of the guests in the small restaurant were people from the rivers and lakes, pawns of peddlers and nearby residents, and they knew each other well, at most they had a few words, but those low-quality reckless men would make some jokes with Qiu Xiang, and they couldn't drive people away.

Qiu Xiang is twenty years old, with fair skin, big eyes and a high nose bridge, coupled with a height of one meter six and five, and a graceful body, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is "white skin, beautiful and long legs". Today's incident sounded the alarm for Zhong Nan, and after discussing with Qiu Xiang, he decided to recruit another guy or girl to be responsible for the reception and delivery of the front hall, and in the future, Qiu Xiang will just settle accounts at the counter to collect money, and reduce the chance of showing up. Fortunately, the business of the small restaurant is booming now, and there is no pressure to raise one more person, but this helpless move will make the young couple unhappy.