The guard stopped the car, looked at the two men and asked, "What for?" ”

Lao Jin arched his hand: "Master, these two are the cooks of the Spring Manlou in the city, our post house does not have a special cook, usually small cooking, today the adults are here, the old man asked the little one to invite two cooks to come over and serve the adults and the lords." ”

The two men also followed Shi Li, and the thin man said: "Our Chunmanlou is the largest restaurant in this Zichuan County, this is our master, and the shopkeeper heard that the post house is going to receive distinguished guests, so he specially sent the two of us to serve." ”

The guard stepped forward to check the things in the car, and when he saw that there was nothing abnormal, he let Lao Jin into the courtyard, but stopped the two cooks: "Please go back, you two, we will cook by ourselves, so we won't trouble the two." ”

The fat man wanted to step forward to speak, but the thin man stopped him with his eyes, and said with a smile to the guard: "It seems that the two of us are not blessed to serve the adults today, and the little one will retire." With that, he pulled the fat man and left the inn.

In fact, Mo Jinhua and his entourage did not bring a cook, but Mo Li suggested that if the accommodation place on the road could not provide meals, let Mama Li do it, so as to save trouble for others. Mo Jinhua also agreed with her proposal, so he ordered to go down, except for eating in the restaurant along the way, the rest of the time was bought by the entourage, and Mama Li and Mama Zhao did it.

Lao Jin moved all the things in the cart into the kitchen, and the two grandmothers had already repainted the stove, pots and pans. Mama Li looked at all kinds of fish, meat and vegetables, and thought about what to do in the evening.

Mama Zhao kicked a fat chicken with her wings tied on the ground and said, "This chicken looks good, use it to stew a chicken soup to replenish the body of the young lady and the adult." Old Kim, you go and clean up the chickens. ”

"It just so happened that I saw that there were still some wolfberries and dried dates in the box, so I went to ask Ruoping for something." Mama Li said.

Mama Zhao picked up another piece of pork: "How about this five-layer stew?" Lao Jin, do you have any condiments here? ”

"Yes, I specially bought cinnamon, star anise, bay leaves or something. It's in that little cloth bag next to the rice bag. Old Phnom Penh said as he carried the chicken out.

Mama Zhao was responsible for selecting vegetables and washing vegetables, and Mama Li went to Ruoping to ask for dried dates and wolfberries, soaked them in a small bowl, and cut the pork into the pot to remove the blood. The two chatted without saying a word, and were busy with the work in hand.

Lao Jin cut the chicken and also came in to help start, Mama Li put the whole chicken to remove the blood and water and put it in a casserole and stew it on a charcoal stove over low heat, add bottom oil to the iron pot and burn it until it is four layers hot, put a little sugar to dissolve, stir-fry the dried pork belly and color, and then add cooking wine, various seasonings and water to stew.

In less than half an hour, the aroma of meat in the kitchen diffused out, which attracted Lao Jin to praise Mama Li's good craftsmanship, and the smell was more fragrant than others' stew.

"What are you doing, it's so fragrant!" Ruoping lifted the curtain and accompanied Mo Li into the kitchen.

Mama Zhao hurriedly stepped forward to stop: "Miss, why did you come here, don't get the smell of oily smoke." ”

"Ruoping and I wanted to go out for a walk, and as soon as we arrived here, we were attracted by the fragrance, is it stew?" Mo Li disappreciated, and went to the stove and lifted the lid.

Mama Li took the lid of the pot: "My young lady, don't rub the oil on your body!" ”

Mo Li frowned suddenly, picked up the spatula on the stove and rummaged through the pot, picking out a few pieces of seasoning: "Mama Li, what is this?" ”

"Octagonal, what's the matter, miss?" Mama Li said inexplicably.

"Where did it come from?"

"It's a small one that I just bought from the bazaar." Lao Jin, who hid by the wall from Mo Li's entrance, spoke.

Mo Li washed the star anise with water, put it on a spread handkerchief, and asked Lao Jin, "Do you still have the star anise you bought today?" ”

"Yes, yes." Mama Li opened the cabinet door next to her and took out a paper bag from inside, "The rest is here." ”

Several people looked at Mo Li inexplicably as she opened the paper bag and checked the octagonal inside, Ruoping stepped forward and asked, "Miss, is there any problem?" ”

"See this thin horn?" Mo Li picked up one of them and put it under his nose and sniffed it, "The real octagonal is generally eight round and blunt horns, and this one has twelve, and some are as sharp and curved as a bird's beak, the petals are not neat, and there is a bit of pine branches." ”

Ruoping realized that something was wrong, stared at Lao Jin and asked, "Where did you get this star anise?" ”

"I, I, I bought it from town!" Lao Jin was frightened by Ruoping's sharp gaze and took two steps back to the side, Ruoping stepped forward with an arrow step, grabbed his collar and threw him into the courtyard, and shouted angrily: "Someone, tie up." ”

When several guards heard the noise, they didn't know what was happening, but they immediately tied up Lao Jin like a rice dumpling, and very professionally gagged him with rags.

"Mama Li, have you ever tasted this meat?" Mo Li asked.

Mama Li's face turned pale suddenly, and she trembled and said, "No, no." The slave maid had only tasted the saltiness of the soup. ”

Mo Li patted her on the shoulder and said to her and Mama Zhao: "It's okay, don't be afraid, Mama Li, you can drink as much water as you can, don't worry, it's okay." ”

Mama Zhao helped Mama Li sit down by the stove and took water for her to drink.

Mo Li wrapped the handkerchief, took the paper bag out of the kitchen, glanced at Lao Jin, who was lying in the yard, and said to the guard, "Find a place to lock him up first." ”

Mo Jinhua heard that there was a noise in the kitchen, and was about to send someone to investigate, so Mo Li took Ruoping to look for him.

Mo Li opened the handkerchief and put it on the table and said, "Brother, look at this." ”

"Octagonal? What's wrong? Mo Jinhua asked.

"It's not an octagonal." Mo Li said, "It's called mangweed, and the whole plant is poisonous, especially this husk is the most toxic. If ingested, it can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, and eventually death from respiratory failure. ”

"What? Xi'er, what you said is true? Mo Jinhua looked at the things on the table in disbelief. Even Ruoping was taken aback, she didn't expect this thing to be so toxic.

Mo Li nodded solemnly: "At first glance, Mangcao looks very angular with anise, but there is still a difference between carefully distinguishing it, I won't be mistaken." Brother, you should immediately send someone to quietly go out and buy some star anise and come back, and you will know when you compare them. ”

Mo Jinhua didn't dare to delay, and hurriedly sent his henchmen out to buy star anise. The little guy traveled quickly, and brought back two packs of star anise in less than two quarters of an hour: "Master, the little one is afraid that he can't be sure, so he specially bought a pack from two families." ”

Mo Li was very satisfied with the little girl's caution, took out an octagonal from each of the two paper bags, and placed it side by side on the table with the grass taken out of the cloth bag.

This comparison surprised everyone present, only to see that the two star anise were larger than the mangweed, the tips were blunt and straight, and the shells were slightly open to reveal the core inside.