Chapter 210

The next day, Du Ruo set off very early.

She took Lao Tietou's ox cart again; hearing that she was going to the county to see Jiang Li, Lao Tietou smiled like a chrysanthemum.

He didn't wait for anyone else and set off immediately.

Du Ruo could feel his extra care and felt a bit embarrassed, so she paid a few extra copper coins when she got off.

Lao Tietou didn't refuse and happily tucked them into his bosom.

"Jiang Li's wife, can you come back today?" he asked.

Du Ruo thought for a moment, "It's hard to say; if everything goes smoothly, I can make it back; if not, I'm afraid I'll be delayed for a day or two."

She smiled and said, "It's okay, Uncle Lao Tie, when the time comes, you just go back to the village, no need to wait for me specifically."

After saying this, she prepared to leave.

Lao Tietou suddenly spoke again, "Jiang Li's wife, when you see your husband, tell him that I, the old man, am free, so if he needs any help, don't be polite."

Du Ruo opened her mouth and finally said "Oh."

She turned and walked toward the other end of the town, wondering in her heart as she walked.

It wasn't that she looked down on Lao Tietou, but Lao Tietou was old, and besides driving a cart, she really didn't know what else he could help Jiang Li with.

But it couldn't be denied that he was indeed well-intentioned, and Du Ruo was still very moved.

Then she rented a carriage and drove all the way to Wutou Xian.

After entering the city, Du Ruo headed straight for the Xian Ya.

The gatekeeper Wei Ming saw her and hurriedly came up, "Sister-in-law, you're here?"

"Yes." Du Ruo stuffed a rich chicken she had prepared in advance into Wei Ming's hand and said with a smile, "I have to trouble you again, help me call Jiang Li."

Wei Ming reached out and peeled off the layer of lotus leaves, revealing the fragrant chicken meat inside.

He couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

But soon, his attention was pulled back to Du Ruo, "Sister-in-law, you came early; Head Jiang followed the Xianling to Yugui Shan to suppress bandits and hasn't returned yet."

It had been so many days and he still hadn't returned, which showed that things weren't going very smoothly.

"Then has any news come back?" Du Ruo asked.

"There is news, I heard the situation is not looking good; last time hundreds of people died, and this time dozens more died."

Halfway through, he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly comforted Du Ruo, "But Sister-in-law, don't worry, Head Jiang is very capable, he will definitely be fine."

Du Ruo nodded.

To say she wasn't worried would be a lie, but she was okay.

With Jiang Li's ability, plus the emergency medicine pack she gave him, the possibility of an accident was not high.

The two chatted for a few more sentences, and Du Ruo turned and went to Zui Meng Ju.

She was quite lucky; Qiu Zhanggui happened to be there.

As soon as he saw Du Ruo, Qiu Zhanggui's eyes lit up, and he invited her into a private room as if welcoming the God of Wealth, "Hahaha, Lady Du, your arrival is a great honor; do you have any good paths to introduce to old Qiu again?"

Du Ruo smiled, "I actually do."

As she spoke, she took out a dozen large chili peppers from her cloth bag and placed them in front of Qiu Zhanggui, "Do you recognize this?"

Qiu Zhanggui picked one up and looked at it over and over.

He exclaimed, "What is this? I consider myself well-informed, but I have never seen this before."

"It's right that you haven't seen it; this is a very rare seasoning that can be eaten." Du Ruo introduced.

Oh? Can be eaten?

Qiu Zhanggui was overjoyed; anything specially recommended by Lady Du, the God of Cooking, must be absolutely delicious.

He tasted it first!

Crack! He opened his mouth and took a big bite, chewing carefully.

"Ah, don't..." Du Ruo didn't expect Qiu Zhanggui to be so impatient and couldn't stop him in time; she watched helplessly as the smile on Qiu Zhanggui's face suddenly froze, and then his entire face turned red like a roasted shrimp, as if it were on fire.

After that, tears couldn't stop flowing down.

Du Ruo's mouth twitched, and she hurriedly handed him a cup of tea, "Quick, spit it out! Rinse your mouth!"

After drinking a full bowl of water, Qiu Zhanggui finally recovered.

Woo woo woo, the last time he cried so miserably was when he was just born from his mother's womb.

"Lady Du, what exactly is this? Why is the taste so... stimulating?" Qiu Zhanggui took out a handkerchief, wiped his tears, and asked suspiciously.

Du Ruo explained, "This is called a chili pepper; it's not meant to be eaten dry, it's meant to be put in dishes as a seasoning."

She explained the usage in detail.

After listening, Qiu Zhanggui didn't quite believe it, "With such a strange taste, can it really be delicious in dishes?"

"Whether it's delicious or not, you'll only know if you try," Du Ruo stood up, "How about this, I'll cook a few dishes myself for you to experience."

Qiu Zhanggui naturally agreed readily.

Then he led Du Ruo to the kitchen of Zui Meng Ju.

It was almost noon, and the kitchen was busy; some were washing vegetables, some were cutting, some were stir-frying, busy but not chaotic.

Du Ruo thought for a moment and decided to make three dishes.

One was boiled fish, one was spicy chicken, and one was scrambled eggs with chili, all very classic home-cooked dishes.

In terms of flavor, Du Ruo chose mild spiciness.

First, there had to be a process of adaptation; people in this era had never eaten chili peppers, their stomachs were delicate, and if it were too spicy, they definitely wouldn't be able to handle it all at once.

Second, the chili peppers in the field weren't ripe yet; these dozen were exchanged from the system first, and they weren't cheap.

So she tried to use them sparingly.

It took two quarter-hours to finish the three dishes, and Du Ruo served them to Qiu Zhanggui.

Qiu Zhanggui held his chopsticks, quite hesitant.

The color was bright, the fragrance was pungent, it looked like Lady Du's craftsmanship, but...

"Chili peppers go best with rice, you know." Du Ruo reminded with a smile.

Qiu Zhanggui steeled his heart, tremblingly picked up a piece of fish, put it in his mouth, and quickly stuffed a mouthful of rice in, chewing.

Once, twice, three times.

Eh? It wasn't as bad as he imagined; on the contrary, the more he ate, the more flavorful it became, and he wanted to keep eating!

He couldn't help but pick up a piece of chicken; the slight spiciness flowed between his lips and teeth, impacting his taste buds, and everything before his eyes seemed to bloom like fireworks, all brightened up.

He didn't know why, but suddenly he was very greedy.

Qiu Zhanggui had no more reservations; one bite of food, one bite of rice, and he ate all three dishes like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

Then he put down his bowl and chopsticks, patted his big belly like a Maitreya Buddha, and let out a satisfied burp.

"How is it?" Du Ruo sat opposite him and asked with a smile.

Qiu Zhanggui gave her a thumbs up, "No words needed, it's absolute!"

Lady Du is Lady Du, she never disappointed him.

With the goods confirmed, the next step was naturally to talk about the price; Qiu Zhanggui was a shrewd person, and from the moment Du Ruo took out the chili peppers, he knew her intention, so he didn't beat around the bush and asked straight to the point, "Lady Du, how do you plan to sell these chili peppers?"

Du Ruo pondered for a moment, "To tell you the truth, I obtained these chili seeds by chance and cultivated them carefully; there is no other place in the entire Da Zhao that has them."

"Things are valuable because they are rare; for others, it would be at least one wen per jin; but you, Qiu Zhanggui, are different, we are real friends, heart-to-heart, so I'll sell them to you for... four hundred wen."

This was quite a discount.

Qiu Zhanggui immediately brought over an abacus and clattered away.

One jin of chili peppers, one dish needs about a small half, calculating the cost, it would add ten wen.

Hmm, a little bit too much...

Seeing the heartache in his expression, Du Ruo smiled slightly, "How about this, I still have a dozen chili peppers left, why don't we cook them all for the guests today, just to test the effect, how about that?"

That would naturally be good; Qiu Zhanggui also wanted to see the guests' reactions before making a decision.

Just then, six or seven men walked in, all tall and sturdy, carrying bundles and wearing swords, looking like people from the martial arts world.

Qiu Zhanggui went up to serve them himself and asked if they had any dietary restrictions.