Picking Up a General to Plow the Fields

Chapter 444: Night Party

The chef smiled.
“It’s hard to say what it will taste like.
I’ve tried steaming, boiling, stewing, and frying the small ones.
Except for stewing, everything else was fine.
When you fry them in a pot, you have to be careful.
Otherwise, they will be mushy.”

Potatoes contained a lot of starch and they had to be washed with water before shredded and fried in a pot.
In modern times, this was well known and everyone understood, but it was not surprising that people here didn’t think of it.

Lian Fang Zhou couldn’t just immediately tell him how to do it in just a few minutes.
Hearing that the chef meant to give up on the potatoes, she smiled and said: “It’s something new, after all.
Just think about it some more, maybe you can figure it out.
Let’s try something unique, Xiuyuan is the place with no equal!”

The chef reluctantly agreed.

She laughed and said: “Since you have tried cooking, stewing and frying in a pot, I wonder if you have tried it in a pan?”

The chef was stunned.
After a moment, he hurriedly smiled and said: “Yes! I will try this when I get back!”

Fang Qing smiled: “Why wait? Try it now and serve it to us later.”

“Yes, this chef will do it now.” The chef agreed.

Lian Fang Zhou smiled, “After frying, let’s try a taste.
If it doesn’t taste good, you won’t have to serve it.”

“That sounds good.” Fang Qing nodded.

The two shared a look and smiled.
Going back to the fish, Lian Fang Zhou quickly finished preparing them and putting them in the pot.
When she was done, the potato strips were ready.

This time, the chef specially wrapped the potatoes around a mixture of egg whites, crab roe, and some raw ingredients and then fried them in oil.
They tasted exceptionally crunchy and delicious, with a special charcoal fragrance.

The chefs tried a piece and smiled.

Fang Qing’s eyes lit up.
“Fang Zhou, you really are a lucky star! Frying the potatoes in a pan is really delicious! This dish will be added to the menu later.”

The head chef smiled and bowed to Lian Fang Zhou: “Thank you, Miss Lian, for reminding me.
I would have missed out on a good recipe!” He also felt that her way of thinking was good for him to think about in the future.

Lian Fang Zhou smiled: “My brothers and sister love to eat fried things, so I just thought about it casually.”

When the dishes were ready, Lian Fang Zhou and Fang Qing went back to the private room.
As they walked, two servants dressed in navy blue and brown uniforms walked behind them with several serving trays, which they placed on the table.

Seeing the fish dishes, the others knew that Lian Fang Zhou had prepared them and were instantly excited.

Included with the dishes, was a plate of fried potatoes fresh from the pan.
Everyone who tried one said they were very delicious.
Third Aunt and Lian Fang Qing especially liked them a lot.

Hearing that it was made of potatoes, Third Aunt had to think for a long moment before remembering what a potato was.
She felt very regretful: “It turns out that potatoes can taste like this! Oh, if I had known I would have planted more!”

Lian Fang Zhou laughed: “Our family has grown a lot, enough for you to eat!”

Fang Qing couldn’t help but add: “Remember to do some research when you go back and don’t forget to send a letter when you get results.”

“That is natural.” Lian Fang Zhou assured her.

After having a living dinner at the mansion, they returned to their guest house.

Third Aunt was still mumbling about how dangerous riding a horse would be, but Lian Ze and Lian Fang Qing were both very excited.
How could they worry about the rambling of Third Aunt?

After taking a hot bath and washing up, Lian Fang Zhou sat in front of the window and looked at the sickle shaped first quarter moon outside.
The evening wind blew lightly from time to time, making a rustling sound, but the night was more and more quiet.

 There was a light knock on the door.
Agitated, Lian Fang Zhou stood up and hurried over to open the door.

Ah Jian stepped inside and chuckled: “Go for a walk?”

Lian Fang Zhou looked at the open window in a daze and said: “I thought you’d come in through the window?”

He laughed at her softly and raised his eyebrow: “Did you want to watch? I’ll go in from the window next time!”

Lian Fang Zhou smiled and huffed angrily: “I was afraid you would accidently bumped into Third Aunt and Qing’er!” While she spoke, Ah Jian had already grabbed her cloak embroidered in plum branches and put it on for her.

Smiling, he said: “Let’s go!”

Lian Fang Zhou’s face was a little red but she let him pull her outside with a soft ‘um’.
After a few moments, she asked: “Where are we going? This… will we run into any guards?”

Xiuyuan had three patrols during the day and three at night.
In addition to guards who specialized in patrolling, they also had several specially trained guard dogs.
A dog with an extremely sensitive sense of smell was good in case something unexpected happened in a remote area.

Ah Jian smiled and said: “Let’s go to the observation deck.
There is no patrol there tonight.”

Startled, she looked at him confused before becoming embarrassed.
She glared at him: “You, you, you! You will not— they won’t follow— did my cousin-in-law..?”

Did he tell the patrolmen not to go there?

Ah Jian smiled slightly and said frankly: “I can’t bear to refuse his kindness.”

“You really—” Lian Fang Zhou rolled her eyes at him, not knowing what to say.
She covered her face silently in her heart.
Cousin-in-law, you are so considerate! Thank you to your eighth-generation ancestors…

Ah Jian grinned and whispered: “He is really kind.”

Lian Fang Zhou tilted his head and asked him: “You answer me honestly, was it his idea to go to the observation deck?”
 

“Well, he said that this place would have a wide field of vision and was the most suitable for star gazing.” Ah Jian said without hesitation.

She grabbed his arm and asked: “Did he say that we can go boating on the lake tomorrow night because the reeds were quite interesting?”

“How did you know?” Ah Jian asked and his eyes went wide with surprise.
“He did say that boating on the lake is not bad.
So you think so too!”

“I…” Lian Fang Zhou started to say sullenly.
“Let’s go.”

She couldn’t help but sigh.
In the end, these were his true colors: A suave and shameless person!

The two walked away from the guest house and in the direction of the observation deck, which was not far away.

Unless there was a special festival, there were no lights lit at night and it was completely dark everywhere.
There was almost no moon in the sky, only bright stars, but they were not enough to illuminate the road.

The two walked quietly on their date.
They couldn’t light a lantern and the night was very dark and gloomy.

Lian Fang Zhou’s steps were shallow and the road was deep.
Impatiently, she suddenly stopped and pulled Ah Jian’s sleeve.
With a coquettish smile, she said: “It’s so dark, you carry me!”

“Okay, I will carry you.” Ah Jian squatted down and hoisted her onto his back, smiling: “Hold tight, don’t fall.”

Lian Fang Zhou smiled: “You’re not a horse, how can I fall?”

Ah Jian turned to look at her.
His dark eyes were even darker and deeper in the night but they looked very clear.
His white teeth flashed: “Do you want to play horseback riding?”

“I—” Lian Fang Zhou was about to answer when she suddenly realized there was something wrong with his tone.
Understanding came suddenly and her face immediately turned red and hot.
She slapped him on the back and said bitterly: “What are you saying! Let’s go.”

Ah Jian laughed wickedly, very happy, and jostled her higher.
He smiled: “As ordered, Madam!”

Pleased that his mouth was more serious, Lian Fang Zhou’s heart became a little shy and sweet even when she was annoyed.
She opened her mouth to reply to him but the heat of her face made her too embarrassed to speak.