The Female Supporting Role Shows Out - Chapter 23

Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse

Tang Jiu did not leave after finishing his bowl of noodles. He walked to Lin Dan while holding his bowl and whispered, “There are many clan associations here in the South District as most of the people here are migrants and loves to gather with their townsmen. There are six associations with the most number of members, including the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Clan Association, Shuzhou Clan Association, Baiyue Clan Association, Jiangnan Clan Association, Hubei and Hunan Clan Association, and Yunnan and Guizhou Clan Association. In the future, it will be sufficient to just prepare the six different types of minced meat for these six groups of people. You don’t have to worry about the other flavors as it will be too much of a trouble to prepare all of them.”

“That’s a good idea. In that way, if a customer requests for a special flavor, I will make it on the spot instead. Thank you for your advice, Tang Jiu.” Lin Dan smiled gratefully. Although she knows how to save herself from too much trouble, she was not really aware of the demographics of the South District.

“Don’t mention it. Can I have another bowl of noodles with the sour and spicy flavor?” Tang Jiu pointed to his empty bowl.

Lin Dan shook her head and chuckled, but quickly made another bowl of noodles for him.

As Qin Er’niang slept late every day to serve her customers, she naturally got up late in the day, and would not get up before noon. But it was different today. She could smell an indescribable scent in the middle of her sleep. It was so strong and overbearing that it had not only made her mouth water but also made her toss and turn in bed. She struggled in bed for a long time before finally deciding to get up, put on her clothes, and went outside to check it out.

“Where does the braised meat smell come from? Go and find it for me, and buy me half a catty of the braised meat!” She instructed several pimps.

“Yes, ma’am.” The pimps were just getting prepared to go outside with their sleepy faces, it was no doubt that they were also attracted by the food smell. After a while, the girls who were sleeping upstairs all got up and beckoned on the railing, “We want some braised meat too, please get more food back.”

The pimps agreed, but they did not come back. The scent of the braised meat became stronger before it turned into a hot and sour, green scallion scent, and then, various flavors were mixing together. The flavors were making their mouths water. Qin Er’niang first sat in the hall and waited, but she ran to the door to take a look before deciding that she could wait no more. She waved her handkerchief at the girls and said, “I’ll go out and have a look by myself. You girls will go back to sleep.”

“But how can we get back to sleep with this smell?!” The girls complained while rubbing their stomachs.

Qin Er’niang could not hold herself back anymore and quickly ran to the fork junction. She went round and round following the scent and arrived at the small restaurant that she was sure would suffer losses. She was dumbfounded and thought she went to the wrong place. She craned her neck to take a look but saw some of her pimps gobbling a bowl of noodles in the restaurant.

The big earthen jar at the shop entrance was giving out steaming hot vapor and the scent was tingling her scalp. Qin Er’niang who was struggling gave in completely, she walked into the restaurant sneakily while covering half of her face.

“Welcome, please have a seat.” Xiao-zhu greeted her with a smile before showing a look of surprise, “Hey, aren’t you the lady from yesterday…?”

“Shush, give me half a catty of braised meat right now and a bowl of minced meat noodles.” Qin Er’niang’s aged face had turned red.

Lin Dan raised her head in the middle of her busy work. Although she recognized Qin Er’niang, she spoke to her while giving her gentle smiles, “Sure. From your accent, I suppose you’re from Qianzhou? Shall I mix chili, litsea oil, and garlic water into your braised meat?” After traveling for many years, she understood better than anyone the principle of making money by maintaining harmony.

Qin Er’niang was initially extremely embarrassed and was afraid that Lin Dan would make use of yesterday’s matter to ridicule her, but she instantly felt relaxed and smiled like a flower with her aged face. “Sure, please do so. That’s how we enjoy braised meat in our hometown, or it would taste too bland for me! I haven’t had this taste in more than ten years!” She wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and was afraid that she would drool right on the spot.

“Besides braised meat, people of your hometown also mix these condiments with raw meat, pork liver, pig blood, and chicken blood. It is especially delicious when mixing finely chopping cold raw pork and liver with rice wine, litsea, chili, garlic, and vinegar, and it tastes very refreshing.” Qin Er’niang got surprisingly excited after hearing Lin Dan’s casual comment.

She stared directly at Lin Dan and agreed, “Yes yes, that’s how we’d do. Lady boss, you know a lot, but can you make it?”

“Eating such heavy foods in the morning is not very good for your stomach. Maybe you can come at noon and I will make it for you. I’ve been in Qianzhou for several months and can make some local specialties.” Lin Dan nodded.[Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

Qin Er’niang nodded quickly and agreed before apologizing, “Lady boss, I was wrong yesterday. With your culinary skills, you definitely will not suffer losses even if you start a business at the smallest corner of the town!”

Lin Dan smiled and shook her head with a soft look on her face. Hearing the conversation between the two, one of the diners walked over and asked, “Boss, do you know how to make rice noodles? We used to eat rice noodles in the morning and rarely noodles back in my hometown.”

Lin Dan was stunned by his request before immediately answering, “Ah, me and my bad memory! Yes, of course, I do, just that the recipe slipped my mind for a bit. You’ll be able to have some rice noodles for breakfast if you’re back again tomorrow. By the way, we will also be serving some rice tofu with hot and sour garlic. I’m sure it would be quite a good eating experience.”

The people who made the request were so happy that they guaranteed their attendance not only tomorrow but every day in the future. Never had they seen anyone who was better at cooking than this lady chef, and it seemed as though she could make all the dishes in the world.

Seeing that Qin Er’niang and the others could request to have their hometown food, the other diners could not resist anymore and started making their requests one after another with eyes full of hope. Fortunately, Lin Dan was very knowledgeable and could make most of the dishes. For the dishes that she had never made before, she listened intently to the diners describing the recipe in detail and thought about how to recreate the dish.

The atmosphere in the store was very lively. When it comes to hometown food, everyone seemed to have opened up their minds and became talkative. Lin Dan listened to them happily with a smile.

Tang Jiu already had his breakfast earlier on, but he remained seated and did not bear to leave. He enjoyed the atmosphere of the restaurant, which felt warm like his home, similar to the feeling Lin Dan had given him.

At this moment, a group of people walked in and they looked hostile with scars on their faces. They pushed away Xiao-zhu and the two waiters and shouted: “Where is your boss? Get him out! Anyone who opens a shop in this area must pay a visit to the Big Circle Gang first! Don’t you even know the rules of this place?!” Without a doubt, they were here to collect protection fees.

Tang Jiu knew most of the powerful organizations in the South District and was about to handle them, but he had never heard of the Big Circle Gang. There was a saying that goes, “It’s easy to talk to the king, but it’s difficult to reason with the hooligans.” These people were probably hooligans who did not manage to make their names in the area and could only bully the ordinary people who did not have any background.

When Tang Jiu was about to step forward, Qin Er’niang slammed her bowl with a bang and cursed: “You scums, how dare you create trouble in my territory? Scram or I’ll cut your tongues!”

These people did not know Qin Erniang and only thought that she was only an unruly woman. When they were about to launch their fists at her, a few pimps threw their chopsticks and were ready to break into a fight. Just as a fierce battle was about to unfold, a group of people came in through the door. The man who was leading the group was a very tall and thin man with extremely handsome features and luxurious clothes. He was obviously no ordinary person. His lips were very pale, but his cheeks had an unnatural flush and his eyes were clear and moist. He seemed to be drunk and had a charming and suave demeanor.

“Where did these little flies come from? Scram, how dare you buzz around the duke?” When he waved his hand casually, a few guards with swords appeared and threw the hooligans aside.

The noisy front hall became quiet for an instant, and everyone looked at each other. They all knew that this man was probably someone wealthy and powerful. He who even brought guards along and must at least have the rank of a general.

“Sit down and continue your meal, everyone. You don’t have to care about me.” The handsome man smiled pleasantly before turning around to look at Lin Dan. He said hesitantly, “Are you Manager Lin?”

“Yes, it’s me.” Lin Dan cupped her hands politely.

“Do you still have the Thousand-Days Wine? I’d like to buy a few jars. No, not just a few jars, I will buy as many as you have here.” Lin Dan knew his identity right away when he spoke. He claimed to be the duke, he looked drunk and even brought a bunch of guards out to buy wine before dawn. This man was probably the Duke of Weiyuan who was an alcoholic.

But why did the Duke of Weiyuan come to her suddenly? It all started two days ago when the bearded general sent a jar of Thousand-Days Wine to the duke, but was left on the shelf by his steward. One day, the Duke of Weiyuan brought his guests to visit his wine cellar. He ordered his servant to serve the best jar of wine on the wine rack and share it with the guests. However, the servant accidentally shook the rack when he got down the ladder and made the lightest jar that contained the Thousand-Day Wine topple and shatter into pieces. 

It was a jar of wine that was not labeled and did not have a luxurious packaging. The Duke of Weiyuan did not notice anything and was about to leave when the strong aroma of wine started spreading and filled the entire cellar. The guest who had the lowest alcohol tolerance started blushing even before tasting the wine and was having problems walking straight. Meanwhile, the Duke of Weiyuan who had an extremely high alcohol tolerance was already feeling tipsy and fuzzy from the smell of the alcohol.

“What kind of wine is this?” He did not care about the dirt on the ground and tasted the wine by dipping it with his finger. His eyes suddenly lit up and said, “This is a very fine wine! It’s the best wine I have ever drunk!” He suddenly realized what had happened and quickly used a cotton cloth to absorb the wine. However, it was a pity that the cellar was paved with wooden and earthen flooring instead of marble for the purpose of heat preservation. The wine quickly leaked through the cracks of the floor and was completely gone.

He did not know that a jar of supreme wine was placed right in front of him. Now that it was broken, he did not even get to have a taste of it. The Duke of Weiyuan was unable to accept the harsh reality. He did not bother entertaining the guests anymore and ordered that careless servant to receive twenty heavy sticks as punishment. Then, he asked his steward to quickly find the person who sent the wine and finally found Lin Dan after searching for two days. He could not wait anymore and arrived before dawn.

Lin Dan did not know the twists and turns of the story, but she could tell that the Duke of Wei Yuan was anxious. She looked at him carefully before shaking her head and said, “I don’t have the Thousand-Days Wine here. And even if I do, I’m not selling it to you.”[Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]