Chapter 118: They Seemed to Be Doing It on Purpose

(1/3) Shopkeeper Qiu chuckled to himself.

Xie Yushan saw Shopkeeper Qiu laugh and thought he had a chance, so he quickly followed up: "I imagine my unworthy son has been away from home for quite some time now. In a few days, I'll fetch him and bring him to pay you a visit."

Shopkeeper Qiu didn't respond to that. Instead, he glanced at Xie Anyi and said calmly, "Is this your youngest son?"

Xie Yushan nodded and tried to step closer to Shopkeeper Qiu to speak, but two people still stood between them, which made him furrow his brow. Yet those two seemed not to notice him at all—they paid no heed to the look he was giving them, silently asking them to move.

Xie Yushan had no choice but to give up on that approach, and hastily called out to Xie Anyi: "Yi'er, come quickly and pay your respects to Mr. Qiu."

Xie Anyi had been having a grand time playing with Big Head and the others, listening to them recount their amusing adventures in Gutong Village. Just as he was enjoying himself, he heard his father's call.

Xie Anyi's small body stiffened, but he dared not delay for even a moment. He hurried to Xie Yushan's side and bowed to Shopkeeper Qiu.

"Greetings, sir."

Xie Yushan spoke up as well: "Sir, this is my son Anyi. As a matter of fact, Anyi shares a rather special connection with the Wen family."

"Oh?" Shopkeeper Qiu raised an eyebrow.

Xie Yushan was delighted inwardly—indeed, he had only thought to try approaching through the Wen family connection, and it turned out Shopkeeper Qiu took the bait.

He quickly added: "Yes, you see, Yi'er's life was saved by that beloved disciple of Dr. Jin."

Shopkeeper Qiu looked at Wen Jun: "Is there such a thing?"

Wen Jun replied respectfully, "That is indeed the case. That day, Yaoyao and I happened to pass by and saved young Master Xie."

Before Xie Yushan could continue trying to ingratiate himself, he heard Wen Jun add: "However, Master Xie already presented two hundred taels of silver as a token of gratitude."

The implication was clear: the money was given, the debt of gratitude was repaid. Now, they owed each other nothing.

Xie Yushan now deeply regretted having Qiu Rongrong dismiss this family with money. Otherwise, with a mere excuse of repaying a life-saving debt, he could have maintained frequent contact with Qiu Zhi. Given enough time, how could he possibly refuse to teach?

"This... Young Master Wen saved Yi'er, and it is only right that we express our gratitude. But the grace of saving a life is one never to be forgotten—the Xie family has never forgotten Young Master Wen's kindness." Xie Yushan hastily said.

By this time, Big Head and Jin Xiuyi had returned to the side of Dr. Jin and Shopkeeper Qiu, and Big Head had been lifted directly onto Shopkeeper Qiu's lap.

He looked at Xie Anyi and said in his childish voice, "Do you want my godfather to teach you how to read?"

Xie Anyi glanced at Xie Yushan, then bit his lip. He didn't want to study. He liked listening to his mother read the account books, liked hearing her talk about the shop's business, and didn't like following his father in his studies.

(2/3) But Xie Anyi didn't dare say that aloud. He could only nod, because his father hoped he would study under Mr. Qiu.

Xie Yushan was very pleased with Xie Anyi's performance. However, Big Head's next words froze the smile on Xie Yushan's face.

"But my godfather has sworn he won't take on any more students." After Big Head said this, he could clearly see Xie Yushan's expression stiffen for a moment, while Xie Anyi seemed to let out a breath of relief.

Big Head continued: "But since my godfather won't take students, you could just become my disciple instead. I'll teach you."

Xie Yushan: ????

Xie Anyi was dumbfounded too. He looked at the child who was even younger than himself and blurted out, "You're younger than me. How could you possibly teach me?"

Big Head frowned: "My godfather told me never to judge people by appearance. Who says that because someone is younger, they can't teach you?"

This... Xie Anyi was dumbstruck. It did sound somewhat reasonable, but they were the same age—why on earth should he become his student?

"I don't want to." Xie Anyi's childish temper flared up, and the words came out before he could think.

Big Head spread his hands: "Godfather, it was his own choice."

Shopkeeper Qiu was about to die laughing, but he had to hold it in.

"In that case, let it be. Though I did swear an oath—I only said I would take no more students. But if it had been Zhao'er's student, then as his godfather, I naturally couldn't stand idly by. Since young Master Xie is unwilling, then so be it. The Xie family's clan school is also a fine place. Master Xie could send young Master Xie there—then the two boys would have each other for company."

Shopkeeper Qiu's words sent Xie Yushan's complexion through a cycle of white, then red, then black, like a palette being stirred.

If Xie Yushan still hadn't realized by now that Shopkeeper Qiu and this family of country bumpkins were deliberately humiliating him, then he truly was a fool.

Xie Yushan simply couldn't figure out when exactly he had offended these people.

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In the back kitchen of Drunken Immortal Tavern, Qiu Rongrong's arrival with Wen Yao threw the bustling kitchen into even greater disarray. After all, when the owner herself showed up, the usual rhythm was immediately disrupted. The head chefs didn't dare yell at the top of their lungs, and the kitchen boys didn't dare joke around. In the end, it was the tavern's own manager who came running over.

"Miss, why have you come to the back kitchen?"

Qiu Rongrong frowned. She had never set foot in a back kitchen before—not even in the days when she still lived with the Qiu family. So this is what a back kitchen looks like.

So messy.

Manager Lu was utterly exasperated. Why did she have to come and cause trouble on this particular day?

(3/3) Qiu Rongrong had no choice but to look at Wen Yao.

Wen Yao asked Manager Lu, "Manager, do you have a separate small kitchen? I'd like to borrow it."

Manager Lu was completely baffled.

Qiu Rongrong spoke up: "Just go and prepare it. Oh, and arrange for two people to assist Miss Wen."

Though he didn't understand what this young miss was up to by stirring up trouble today, Manager Lu obediently went to make the arrangements.

To his credit as a manager, he soon had the back kitchen running smoothly again, managed to pull out two helpers for Wen Yao, and set up a separate small kitchen.

Qiu Rongrong, dressed in her finery, stood there looking utterly out of place.

"Yaoyao, what are you making?"

Wen Yao gave a mysterious smile: "You'll see in a moment." With that, she instructed the two people assigned to assist her and began preparing the ingredients.

Qiu Rongrong watched as the two of them ran out one moment to fetch something, then ran out again a moment later to bring back something else.

"Miss, it's dogwood pepper, but do we need this much?" One of the kitchen boys brought a sack of dogwood pepper to Wen Yao.

Wen Yao glanced at it: "No need. Just set it down over there, and slice the meat."

"Oh." The boy set down the dogwood pepper and went to slice the meat.

Wen Yao looked at the prepared ingredients and seasonings with full confidence. Today, she was going to make a dish of shuizhu pork slices.

At this time, chili peppers didn't exist yet. If people wanted a bit of heat, their only options were Sichuan peppercorns or dogwood pepper.

But because dogwood pepper's spiciness was so intense and jarring, most people couldn't handle it, and few restaurants really used it.

Today, Wen Yao planned to use dogwood pepper to make shuizhu pork slices—to use an unconventional flavor to grab these diners by the taste buds.

Once the meat was sliced, Wen Yao began to marinate it. The key to whether this shuizhu pork dish turned out well was whether the meat was tender enough.

Fortunately, she had her tenderizing powder—twelve portions to a bag, one bag per catty, as much as she needed.