12dz Chapter 275 Lord Xue
Chapter 275 Lord Xue
Once the roast duck restaurant opens, the people who kill the ducks have to continue working.
Yang Liuqing, the duck slaughtering team leader, took over his post again. Just like before, Zhou Tiezhu and Wang Youcai also came to help.
However, at the end of the month, Magistrate Niu came to the door with an adult.
I heard from Magistrate Niu that this gentleman was sent by the imperial court and was a sixth-rank official, a position higher than that of Magistrate Niu.
Lord Xue came here specifically to open the iron mine on the emperor's orders.
After some investigation, I finally have time to visit Lianglin Village.
According to their investigation, Lianglin Village and Xinghua Village are the two villages closest to the iron mine, but which village will be used as the base remains to be investigated.
He still had to wait for news from the generals. After all, military defense also required a large area...
He is just a bookkeeper, and everything else depends on military defense and transportation!
"Mrs. Zhou, this is Mr. Xue. The journey is long, so we'll stop by here at noon."
"Okay, sir, please take a seat first. We'll go prepare some tea. My family didn't know you were coming, so we didn't clean up in advance. You see, it's a bit messy..."
Old Mrs. Zhou was a little flustered. She quickly asked Yang Liuqing and others to carry the things to the new yard, and called her daughter-in-law and granddaughter to come and prepare things.
Zhou Mingqin and his two siblings were making soap in the new yard when they suddenly heard a noise outside.
Only after Second Grandpa told them what was happening outside did they understand what was going on.
"It looks like we'll be busy again later, Second Grandpa, kill a few more ducks and we'll light a fire and roast them later."
After Zhou Mingshu gave the instructions, he followed Old Lady Zhou's gestures and went to the kitchen.
"grandmother."
Before Zhou Mingshu could ask, Old Lady Zhou continued to tell the story.
"Don't worry, grandma. Let's light up the hanging stove and roast some more duck. We can also roast some pork belly and rabbit. Let the adults taste our specialty. We can also prepare a few other dishes. It won't be bad at all."
"Yes, okay. We have some experience after hosting a few times. But your uncle and his family are not at home. There are only a few of us at home. Let's get things ready quickly. Don't neglect the adults."
As Old Mrs. Zhou said this, she asked her to call Second Grandma over to help with cooking or something.
The three eldest brothers and the four Lius all went out to do business.
There are only three people in the family, including the mother-in-law, daughter-in-law and a bunch of children. They can't handle anything big if something happens.
County Magistrate Niu and Lord Xue did not just sit there. After drinking some tea, they walked around the village one after another.
It can be regarded as an investigation of the local customs and folkways, and then a look at the geographical environment here.
Others might not recognize him, but how could County Magistrate Niu, who had been here several times, not recognize him?
After seeing the adult whom even Magistrate Niu respected very much, the villagers were more or less nervous.
It was such a cold day that the village chief Wang Fugui wiped the sweat from his forehead, fearing that he might say something wrong or do something wrong.
But Lord Xue didn't ask anything else. He just asked about the harvest in the fields and the harvest in the mountains.
The farmers are familiar with these and can answer them fluently.
After Zhou Mingshu called his second grandmother over, the fire in the hanging stove had already been lit.
The washed duck was already soaked in water. After washing it several times, Zhou Mingshu hung the duck in neatly.
"Uncle Liu Qing, can we kill this rabbit?"
"Don't worry, leave it to me."
Zhou Mingshu selected two fat rabbits from the backyard and brought them over to kill, then cut a piece of pork belly with evenly fat and lean meat from the kitchen.
"Sanya, should we roast this whole piece of pork belly in the hanging oven?"
Zhou Mingqi just came back with a basket after picking some lettuce leaves from the vegetable garden next door.
"Yes, put the whole thing in there and cut it after it's done roasting. Don't wait any longer, wash these leaves quickly and peel some garlic cloves later."
Zhou Mingshu was so anxious that he was sweating all over. Sanshui County was a small place, and the highest-ranking official he had ever seen was Magistrate Niu.
Although Lord Xue is only a sixth-rank official and looks young, he reports directly to the emperor and still holds real power.
If I don't entertain them well, I'm afraid my plans will be ruined.
Be sure to seize this opportunity!
Zhou Mingzhi took a lot of small bowls and went to the warehouse to get some dipping dishes, such as spicy cabbage, pickled beans, diced radish... and some wine.
Zhou Mingqin was picking vegetables nearby, Zhu was busy kneading dough, the table was shaking and making clanking sounds, and Old Mrs. Zhou was washing dishes, cleaning pots and adding water.
The second grandma had never seen the world before. She stayed in the firewood pile and didn't come out, just keeping her head down and working on the stove.
Feng was coaxing Zhou Minghua and Zhou Mingxiu. She wished that the brats would close their eyes and sleep soundly, but their eyes were so round that she couldn't coax them to sleep.
In addition to the barbecue, Zhou Mingshu plans to prepare four more dishes.
They were grilled fish on a tray, which I planned to put on the plate after cooking, and then stir-fried sausage with water celery, cold-mixed eggs and hot and sour cabbage.
Overall it is quite simple. There are few people in my family but many people are eating, so I prepare a larger amount.
County Magistrate Niu took Lord Xue on a tour around Lianglin Village and chatted with the villagers for a while. Almost half an hour had passed.
So everyone went to Lao Zhou's house, and Wang Fugui followed behind to entertain the guests.
The long table was placed in the yard, with several dishes already on it.
Wang Fugui walked closer and saw that he had seen some of the dishes before.
Seeing that Mrs. Zhou was busy, he hurriedly helped pour wine and get chopsticks, and invited the adults to sit down first.
"My Lord, please try these dishes. They are all the signature dishes of the Zhou family. You can't eat them outside. What's the name of this egg..."
Wang Fugui tilted his head and thought for a while before he remembered, "Yes, it's called Biandan! It's made of eggs and tastes great."
"This is grilled fish. Don't underestimate it because it's just a piece of fish. There are actually a lot of vegetables underneath. And this is roast duck. The county magistrate personally gave it this name..."
It’s not that Wang Fugui is talkative, this is how you entertain guests, otherwise they won’t know how rare this meal is.
Lord Xue had already smelled the fragrance, especially the roast duck, the aroma went straight to his brain.
"Not bad, not bad, Lord Niu, you are so lucky to have so many delicious foods in your jurisdiction."
"Ahaha, no, no, Lord Xue, you must be joking. I just discovered this recently, and I've only eaten it twice. My friend is not very old, and I made it before the New Year."
The young friend that County Magistrate Niu mentioned was Zhou Mingshu.
Zhou Mingshu was in the kitchen, putting pickles on a plate, with a basket of lettuce next to him.
On the table were shredded rabbit meat and pork belly, all of which had been roasted, with crispy skin and strips of meat sprinkled with chili and cumin powder.
"Sir, the food is ready. This is rabbit meat and pork belly. They are all roasted in a hanging oven. They are delicious."
County Magistrate Niu didn't expect there were new dishes, and his eyes lit up.