After noon, Guo Chuanlin returned to Luoyan Peak and Hechuan Valley to meet his junior uncle Zhou. For the sake of his senior brother, Zhou Ke did not embarrass him. He gave him a few words of comfort and sent someone to call Hong Kun and asked him to take his junior brother to Xiaozao for dinner.
Zhou Ke was different from Li Yizhu. He didn't care about the qualifications of his disciples. As long as he had a decent temperament and was open-minded to ask for advice, he would accept him as a registered disciple for three, five, or eight years as appropriate. If there was no improvement, he would find another way out. The Huashan sect is a well-known sect in the world. Although the registered disciples cannot learn advanced swordsmanship, they can still strengthen their bodies, prolong their lives, and get to know a group of brothers. They can also have someone to take care of them when they travel in the world in the future. Therefore, Zhou Ke’s sect has many people. Xingwang, among whom two named disciples are from rich families, and the annual offerings are extremely generous. The head of the family has six branches, and he lives the most luxuriously.
The kitchen in Hechuan Valley has a total of seven stoves. The six larger stoves are used to cook for the disciples. The smaller stove is only for Zhou Ke and his wife's daily meals. A famous chef specially hired from Jianghuai is specially responsible for the small stove. Zhou Ke had a very good relationship with his elder brother Li Yizhu. This time Hong Kun and Li Qixian came to Hechuan Valley for a temporary stay. He took care of Xiao Zao to provide them with three meals and settled them in the quiet and elegant Tingfeng Courtyard, which has always been a place for entertaining distinguished guests. , it is kept empty on weekdays and no disciples are allowed to come in and out at will. Although Qin Rong was a disciple of the Fourth Branch, she was favored by Hong and Li, and lived together in Tingfeng Courtyard. She secretly guessed that if she came alone, she would not receive such treatment.
No matter what, she felt sincerely happy to be able to avoid those male disciples with bright eyes and high self-esteem.
When Li Qixian heard that Senior Brother Guo had come to Hechuan Valley, he pulled Qin Rong and ran away without any explanation. They found Guo Chuanlin next to the small stove in the kitchen. He was drinking tea and chatting with Hong Kun, waiting for the cook to make porridge to satisfy his hunger. It was already past the meal time, and there were only some leftovers left. It was too shameful to entertain the distinguished guests from Hechuan Valley. The cook had an idea. He remembered that Mrs. Zhou said that she felt uncomfortable with her stomach and intestines in the morning, and asked him to cook some white porridge to cook it. The lady frowned and ate a small bowl, leaving the rest untouched. He sprinkled some dried seafood into the porridge, and started to serve it over high heat.
The cook said with a smile: "Excuse me, let's have a bowl of porridge first to satisfy our hunger. I'm going to stir-fry two side dishes."
Guo Chuanlin waved his hand and said, "No need to bother, just eat porridge. I'm not very hungry."
The cook said a few more polite words, but Guo Chuanlin refused politely, so he followed the trend and retreated with a bow.
Li Qixian watched him drink the porridge with his hand on his forehead. The aroma was fragrant, and he felt a little greedy. He pointed to small pieces of clam-like things in the bowl and asked, "What is this?"
Guo Chuanlin said: "This is a cricket claw."
Li Qixian clapped his hands and said, "So this is the cricket! Sister Qin, he used this to deceive a set of sword skills from my father!"
Qin Rong glanced at him and said jokingly: "Why did you cheat me into a set of sword skills?"
Li Qixian spoke eloquently, chirped and babbled, and recounted what happened at "Cheng San's Table" that day. He said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "It's not fair! Dad asked the three of us to guess, who guessed correctly? It's not fair at all to tell him a favorite sword technique! He doesn't have to guess at all, he already knew that crickets can cook porridge, and he has tasted it more than once!"
Qin Rong covered her mouth and chuckled: "So that's it. The cricket porridge must be very special. How can he remember it so carefully!"
"By the way, let's have a taste too!" Li Qixian jumped up, took three more bowls, scooped out half a bowl of porridge each, and handed them to Qin Rong and Hong Kun. Qin Rong scooped a little of it with a spoon and put it into his mouth to taste. It was indeed delicious and had no fishy smell like ordinary seafood.
Guo Chuanlin said: "This porridge cannot be cooked properly. It should be made of half and half japonica rice and half glutinous rice. After washing out, put in the crickets and cook them together. Cook until the water and rice are melted and soft and greasy. When eating, pick out the crickets. , served with pickles.”
Li Qixian scolded him a few words and said: "You are just picky. You are so particular about eating porridge. Whoever marries you as your wife in the future will have a hard time!"
When Guo Chuanlin said this, the cook happened to be passing by the door. He stopped and said in surprise: "This is the way of cooking cricket porridge in the Han family in Yangzhou. It turns out you also know it."
The four words "Yangzhou Han Mansion" caught Guo Chuanlin's attention. He called the cook in and asked about Han Mansion. The cook didn't know what was going on, so he poured the beans into the bamboo tube and told everything he knew.
Speaking of Yangzhou Hanfu, it first started out as a jewelry business. After it became prosperous, it purchased land and built a house in Yangzhou's most prosperous Yanbu Street. It taught its children to study and gain fame. In thirty years, it produced a champion, two candidates, and a dozen scholars. , watching the family transform from a wealthy businessman to a family of officials, successive Yangzhou magistrates gave them a bit of face, and their business grew bigger and bigger, making money every day and having strong financial resources.
The children of the Han family each followed their own strengths. They studied Chinese essays, learned martial arts, became officials, and did business. If they had no talent, they were sent to the countryside to farm and live an honest life on the farm. At the age of thirty With years of accumulation, there are many talented people who have come to the fore. Their footprints are all over the Central Plains, weaving into an intricate network of relationships. The fire is cooking the oil, and the power is unparalleled. But seven or eight years ago, the Han family suffered a disaster. The patriarch Han Yang and his three sons were arrested by the government and executed for treason. Being slaves at the border, the big family that was once prosperous fell apart like this, which is very sad.
After the decline of the Han Dynasty, servants and cooks lived in various directions, and the method of cooking cricket porridge was passed down from them.
Someone suddenly interrupted outside the kitchen and said, "No, the Han Mansion in Yangzhou didn't commit a serious crime of treason. It was because he offended the big shots in the imperial city that it caused such a big disaster!"
Before he finished speaking, a man named Shi Shiran stepped in. His body was as straight as loose, his face was like a crown of jade, his nose was like hanging gallbladder, and his eyes were like morning stars. He turned his eyes on Qin Rong's face and said with a smile: "Senior Brother Hong, Junior Sister Li, Junior Sister Qin, this must be Junior Brother Guo, nice to meet you, nice to meet you! I happened to hear a few people talking about the old affairs of Han Mansion in Yangzhou, so I couldn't help but interject, I was presumptuous for a moment, I hope you'll forgive me."
The visitor is Yang Hu, Zhou Ke’s registered disciple. He was born in the Yang family of Heshuo. He is a famous wealthy businessman in the north. His properties are spread across three towns in Hebei Province. He has power over the government and the public, and is as wealthy as any country. Compared with it, Han Mansion in Yangzhou is inferior. More than one chip. Ever since he saw Qin Rong's appearance, he was astonished and took the initiative to come forward to greet him. He originally thought that because of his talent and background, he would be the best choice and would definitely win the heart of a beautiful woman. However, he did not expect Qin Rong to be polite and respectful to him, which made him I feel quite depressed.
Without much effort, Yang Hu found out about Qin Rong's origins. He was a concubine of the Qin family in the capital, and was marginalized and settled in Guliang City, where he made a living by doing jade business. There are three brothers and sisters. The head of the family, Qin Shouye, has no great ambitions and is content with being a little rich. The eldest sister died young and the younger sister was adopted by her in-laws. She changed her name to "Feng Di" and became a disciple of Li Shi, the head of the Huashan School. He should be called "Shi" Uncle".
Qin Rong is the daughter of Qin Shouye. She has been frail and sick since she was a child. She was spotted by the sword cultivator of the Huashan Sect in the fairy city and wanted to accept her as a disciple. However, she did not want things to go awry and her destiny to be immortal was lost again. The envoy named Li chose another disciple, but Qin Rong disappeared. Fortunately, Feng Di accepted her as a disciple out of consideration for her relatives, so Qin Rong was able to stay in Luoyan Peak and continue to practice.
Yang Hu believed that he wanted people with talents and wealth. I wonder why Qin Rong turned a blind eye to him. Could it be that he was interested in someone else? It wasn't until he saw Guo Chuanlin and Qin Rong smiling like a flower in front of him that he suddenly realized it. The sourness in his heart rushed straight to his forehead, and the feeling of loss was indescribable.
