The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

Chapter 611: Chapter 598: Complete Failure

“Seeing that you haven’t been around recently, I guessed as much.” Lian Rong said with a smile on his face, “Speaking of which, it’s a coincidence that Miss Zhuang visited today. We got some fresh crucian carps today. The master said we wouldn’t be using these fish today, so he suggested making a fish soup for us to drink after we finished our work tonight. Miss Zhuang, don’t leave today. Stay for dinner.”

“To be honest with you, Brother Rong, I came here today specifically to scrounge a meal off of you. Today, I must have a good meal here no matter what.” Zhuang Qingning laughed.

“That’s great, Miss Zhuang hasn’t had a meal here in ages. The master will surely be very happy.”

Lian Rong laughed with joy, his mouth almost reaching the roots of his ears, “The master is taking a nap in the room now, I’ll go and wake him up.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Saying this, Lian Rong walked into the house to knock on Zhang Yongchang’s door, “Master.”

“In the middle of the afternoon, you won’t even let a person sleep, you little bunny! Are you itching for a beating?” From inside the house, Zhang Yongchang shouted exasperatedly.

“Master, it’s really not my fault this time. The main point is that Miss Zhuang is here and she said she wants to eat dinner here tonight.” Lian Rong straightened his back.

Normally, he would accept all the scolding, but this time was different because Miss Zhuang was here. Even if Zhang Yongchang wanted to scold him later, he might need to appease him with a smile instead.

This was a rare opportunity. Lian Rong wouldn’t miss it for the world.

There was silence inside the house. A moment later, Zhang Yongchang’s roar erupted again, even louder than before, “Little bunny, you’ve grown quite a spine to be daring enough to play this joke on me!”

Well, Lian Rong certainly did not expect Zhang Yongchang to respond like this.

Lian Rong was speechless and looked towards the sky helplessly, stretching out his hand again to knock on the door, “Master, I wouldn’t dare to lie to you. It’s really Miss Zhuang who’s here, and she really said she wants to eat here. If you don’t believe me, why don’t you come out and see?”

“I will see, if you dare to fool me, watch what I will…” Zhang Yongchang got out of bed angrily while scolding, wearing only one shoe. He opened the door with a “whoosh.”

Zhang Yongchang had almost blurted out the words, “I’ll teach you a lesson, you little rabbit!” But upon seeing Zhuang Qingning standing in the courtyard with a smile on her face, he swallowed those words. On his originally flustered face, an extremely surprised smile appeared, “Why does Miss Ning have free time to visit?”

“I’ve been too busy for a while, and just got some free time today. Zhang uncle, I haven’t seen you for a long time so I thought I’d come over for dinner.”

Zhuang Qingning laughed, “Just now Lian Rong said that we will have fish soup tonight?”

“Yes, yes, we’re planning to make tofu and fish soup tonight. These carps will be put in a big pot for soup, and everyone will have two bowls each.”

Zhang Yongchang smiled and said, “Miss Ning, you must drink at least two bowls of it.”

“Agreed.” Zhuang Qingning nodded enthusiastically.

It seems that this task can be completed easily.

Zhuang Qingning could not help but squint her eyes.

For the entire afternoon, Zhuang Qingning was at the Ruyi Pavilion. She helped out in the kitchen and chatted with Zhang Yongchang and others.

When evening came, and the customers at the Ruyi Pavilion started to thin out, the kitchen staff began to have their dinner.

“Miss Ning, eat more.” When Zhang Yongchang was serving the soup to Zhuang Qingning, he added some extra pieces of tofu.

“Thank you, Uncle Zhang.” Holding a full bowl of fish soup, Zhuang Qingning took a sip first.

The soup tasted great. The stewed tofu and crucian carp were beyond words. Zhuang Qingning could not help but smack her lips, praising its deliciousness.

Eating delicious food indeed provided a sense of happiness.

However, when she saw the four dishes on the table, Zhuang Qingning felt her happiness plummet dramatically.

Four dishes, even if you include the bowl of crucian carp and tofu soup in her hand, it only made five. There was still a shortfall from the task of six dishes.

Zhuang Qingning quickly glanced over at the table, trying to find an excuse for Zhang Yongchang to add another dish.

Although these were five dishes, they were a complete combination of poultry, meat, fish, vegetables, cold and hot dishes, and soup dishes. For a while, Zhuang Qingning couldn’t find a valid reason to add another dish.

Zhuang Qingning held her bowl, thought about it for quite a while before she opened her mouth, “Uncle Zhang, your cooking skills are getting better and better, and the dishes are becoming more and more delicious.”

“Especially this dry-fried mung bean, it’s fried just right, with perfectly crispy meat bits that smell so good. Just this one dish is enough to make my mouth water.”

“Isn’t that the truth? How could my culinary skills be bad?” Zhang Yongchang was praised by Zhuang Qingning, he couldn’t help but raise his chin, “Speaking of this mung bean dish, a few days ago, I learned from someone how to pickle sour mung beans. If we count the days, they should be ready to eat now. Lian Rong, go take a look. If they’re good, bring some over so that Miss Ning can try.”

“I really need to try it. I heard from others about this sour mung bean before. They said that after it is pickled, it is crunchy, sour, and refreshing. It’s perfect to have with rice.” Zhuang Qingning was overjoyed as soon as she heard about the sour mung beans.

Pickled vegetables count as a dish too, right? As long as they had sour mung beans, she could consider the six dishes complete.

“I tasted it and found it pretty good, so I learned from that old guy.” Zhang Yongchang said, “Although this is my first time pickling, I don’t know how it tastes yet…”

While the two were talking, Lian Rong had already brought over a plate. On it were a few long tender mung beans. Because they had been soaked for quite a while, the beans looked plump and juicy.

“I’ll try it first.” Zhang Yongchang picked up a mung bean with his chopsticks and took a bite.

With just one bite, Zhang Yongchang’s eyebrows furrowed deeply.

He didn’t know whether to spit out the remaining large piece of mung bean or to swallow it. After thinking for a long while, he turned around and spat out the small piece that he had been chewing on.

“Master, what’s wrong?” Lian Rong asked in surprise.

Did that even need to be asked?

Zhang Yongchang glanced at Lian Rong with displeasure, “Take it and throw it away. Clean and sun-dry the jar. Let me think about how to pickle the sour mung beans.”

It was clear from his reaction that this attempt at pickling sour mung beans had failed.

And it seemed like a complete failure.

Lian Rong didn’t ask any more questions, but promptly picked up the plate, ready to dispose of the sour mung beans.

Zhuang Qingning sighed.

Not to mention whether the sixth dish, which was served and then removed, counts or not, it’s evident from Zhang Yongchang’s low spirits due to his failed pickling experiment that she won’t be able to complete this task.

“Wait a moment.” Zhuang Qingning stopped Lian Rong, “Let me try and see if I can tell what’s missing.”