Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 257

Chapter 257: Chapter 257

Xu Chou rushed back to the city right after burying his mother.

Upon his return, Aze was busy with a few others building a stove. As An Wazi and Lin Xiaoquan were young, they were assigned the task of washing the ingredients.

The two youths earnestly scrubbed the dark substance into wooden basins.

Xu Chou was wearing the clothes Nanzhi had bought for him, but his sleeves were bound with a white strip of cloth. When he saw Nanzhi and Shen Miaomiao discussing something, he promptly knelt on the ground.

"Bosses, Xu Chou is back."

The sound of his heavy kowtow startled Nanzhi and Shen Miaomiao. After he prostrated again, they finally recovered from the surprise and helped him up: "Xu Chou, stand up. Stop kowtowing all the time."

Nanzhi was slightly exasperated.

"Thank you, bosses. Otherwise, I fear my mother wouldn’t even have a proper burial."

Tears trickled down Xu Chou’s face.

He had grown up with his mother’s struggling support, and because of his ugly appearance, he had caused his mother to be regarded as a calamity by the villagers.

Who knew, even till her death, she hadn’t lived a single good day!

"You go and tidy up first, put your luggage away, and come to the kitchen later, I have something for you." Nanzhi could understand his feelings at the moment, but she had no other way to comfort him.

When her grandmother passed away, she rushed back from school, but still didn’t get to see her one last time.

The uncles and aunts in the village helped her with her grandmother’s funeral. Even the last small house was taken back by the village.

From then on, Nanzhi was a child without a grandmother.

Nanzhi’s mood sunk, and although Shen Miaomiao was unclear about the situation, she still gently patted her shoulder to comfort her.

"Sister Nanzhi, what’s the name of our restaurant? We’re opening in just a few days. But we haven’t ordered our sign yet."

"Do you have any good names in mind?" Nanzhi smiled and looked at Shen Miaomiao.

"I haven’t studied much, I don’t know what’s a good name. Sister Nanzhi, you’re smarter, you suggest."

"I do not know either." Nanzhi was also somewhat troubled.

"How about we call it... San Wei Zhai?"

The girl glanced at the main hall and suddenly asked.

"San Wei Zhai?" Nanzhi slightly frowned, here it was originally called Bai Wei Zhai, so just taking a ’San Wei’, it doesn’t seem quite right.

"No, no, ’San Wei’ is less than ’Bai Wei’. This name won’t work." Even before Nanzhi could speak, the girl shook her head and dismissed her idea.

Lu, the shopkeeper’s Bai Wei Zhai couldn’t continue to operate, so they shouldn’t name theirs San Wei Zhai. It’s not a good idea.

"We can change ’Zhai’ to ’Xuan’."

Nanzhi suggested, but then hesitated. Currently, the famous restaurants in Yan city, apart from Hongfu Building, there’s also Zuitingxuan. If they didn’t get their name right, it could invite criticism.

"Boss, we can change ’Zhai’ to ’Ju’, and call it ’San Wei Ju’."

Having almost finished building the stove, Uncle Ping wanted the two bosses to come and check. He then heard them discussing the name of the restaurant.

"Well, the restaurant will be named ’San Wei Ju’." Nanzhi slapped the table and confirmed the name. Shen Miaomiao even clapped her hands on the side.

Nanzhi couldn’t help but smile.

"How are we going to explain the ’San Wei’?" Liao Da, standing by, was curious.

"You’ll know at lunch." Nanzhi didn’t plan to explain directly, tasting it would be better than hundreds of words.

The earth oven in the courtyard had been built. Everyone sat around it, waiting for Nanzhi and Shen Miaomiao to come and inspect it.

After circling around the stove, Nanzhi nodded in satisfaction.

She waited for the stove to harden a bit from the heat, then instructed Wang Sheng to neatly align the six iron rods, which had been brushed with soybean oil multiple times, on top of it. After confirming it was properly placed and both ends were sealed with mud, she continued to burn the stove.

Watching everyone continue to work, Nanzhi went to the kitchen.

Xu Chou was standing in the kitchen in a daze, only wiping away his tears when he saw the boss enter.

"Boss, what can I do for you?"

"Xu Chou, I’m very satisfied with your cooking skills. Before you left, I asked if you are willing to learn another skill, are you still interested?"

When Nanzhi spoke, her face was serious, devoid of her usual gentleness.

Xu Chou did not hesitate and nodded fiercely.

The boss is now his master, he had no right to refuse what she said.

"Alright, take this, look at it, and I’ll show you how later." Nanzhi handed Xu Chou a pack of spices. Only when he took it did she let go.

Xu Chou was somewhat bewildered. As he opened the oil paper pack, he was confronted with a strange fragrance.

"This is star anise, the spice we’ll be using today."

Nanzhi said with a smile.

Xu Chou didn’t know what star anise was, but he felt the scent of the spice was extremely pleasant, and he was entranced as he held it in his hands.

"Start making rice first."

"Okay."

At the well, Lin Xiaoquan and An Wazi were sweating as they struggled. They never dreamt washing the ingredients would be such a hassle.

Just washing the sheep intestines took a toll on their hands.

"Boss." Seeing Nanzhi approaching, An Wazi quickly called out to her.

Looking at the two youths with their foreheads dripping with sweat, Nanzhi squinted and smiled, "How’s the washing coming along?"

"It’s...it’s almost done."

"When it’s clean, take it to the kitchen first."

"Okay."

The two youths carried the cleaned ingredients into the kitchen, and Nanzhi followed them in.

Xu Chou was still cooking the rice, while Nanzhi had already rolled up her sleeves to start preparing the ingredients.

Apart from learning how to barbecue with her master, she had also cooked stir-fried lamb tripe twice when the shop was busy. Since the offal here was cheap, she could also make a dish out of it.

Nanzhi instructed Xu Chou to watch her cooking while handing over the task of tending the fire to An Wazi.

Not only did she cut up the offal, but Nanzhi also added chopped potatoes for the dish. By the time the plate of lamb offal was served at the dining table, the onlookers hadn’t yet realized what happened.

Especially Uncle Ping, seeing Nanzhi’s smiling face, he looked incredibly bewildered.

He had tasted star anise when he was in Kyoto years ago.

Back then, people were saying that a half tael of star anise cost five taels of silver in the streets of Kyoto.

And he only got to taste it once by virtue of his master’s benevolence.

Unexpectedly, now that he had become a small accountant, he could taste such a delicacy again.

Particularly, such precious spices were added to these cheap offal...

Could it be that his boss was planning to use star anise for business?

The price would be very high then.

He didn’t know whether the people of Yan City could afford it...

Realizing that his boss could face the risk of no customers, Uncle Ping inevitably felt worried.

"Uncle Ping, aren’t you eating? What’s the matter?" Nanzhi announced the start of the meal, and An Wazi, who was eager, took the first bite. Seeing that Uncle Ping was not moving, he thought something was wrong with him.

"Uncle Ping, eat, eat, this, it’s delicious! Not gamey at all, not at all!" Lin Xiaoquan, grinning, said.