Chapter 173 - 172: Mr. Chu
Chen Afu quickly put down what he was holding and together with Mrs. Wang he asked Aunt Mu and Auntie Zeng to go to the kitchen. There was still half an hour before evening, they couldn’t prepare anything too complicated or time-consuming. They could only stir-fry a few common dishes, mix a few cold dishes, and make some Luwei.
First, they needed to cook rice and stir-fry the dishes, then prepare the gold-thread cakes while they were eating.
Chen Afu thought for a while and decided on a menu. Braised rabbit, braised pig liver, braised ribs, braised bean curd, cold mixed tripe, cold mixed wood ear mushrooms, garlic kelp thread, sugar-coated peanuts, garlic sprouts sautéed with double-cooked pork, golden fried prawn balls, onion-wrapped mutton, braised beef with radish, stir-fried double mushrooms, Bear’s Paw Tofu, and clear-stewed chicken. In total, four braised dishes, four cold dishes, six hot dishes, and one soup.
Once they decided, they all started working.
Auntie Zeng’s smile disappeared as she busied herself. If it were in the past, she would think these dishes were too ordinary apart from the golden fried prawn balls which she hadn’t heard of. Even the cooks in Tang Garden could prepare more complex dishes than these. She wondered why did they choose to dine in Lu Garden instead of staying in Tang Garden.
It wasn’t until they had hot pot that day, she realized that the young master’s cooking skills had reached such an advanced level. Plus, recently, despite making some of the most ordinary dishes, they tasted great. Yesterday when Auntie Mu was busy, she took up the wok to stir-fry a few dishes, to her surprise, her skills had improved drastically, and the dishes were even more tastier than before...
Mrs. Wei also helped to stoke the fire in the kitchen. While working, she started narrating the legendary life of Chu Guangkai and Mr. Chu to Chen Afu. According to her, Mr. Chu went to the frontier when he was fifteen and returned at thirty-five after serving there for a good twenty years, and during his tenure, he accomplished numerous military feats. Eight years ago, at the age of twenty-seven, he was conferred the Marquis of West Advancement and the same year he also became the commander of Yucheng, becoming the youngest commanding officer in Dashun dynasty. He was the favourite son of the old marquis and was also Mr. Chu’s most beloved uncle, and the pride of the Chus.
Although the frontier was quite stable in these years, the emperor primarily wanted Mr. Chu to continue guarding the Yucheng frontier. But the old marquis repeatedly petitioned mentioning his old age, even crying to make his plea strong, and that’s how Mr. Chu came back.