In such a huge palace, it was not the cook's turn to deliver meals.
But Butler Qian said that from now on, all of the Seventh Prince’s meals must pass through the hands of one person, so after the meal is ready, he has to deliver it directly to the prince.
Since he didn't know the way, Butler Qian specially sent a maid to lead the way for him - although it seemed unnecessary, as long as the leader was happy.
After passing through a winding corridor, I saw a black sculpture standing at the door of the dining hall from a distance.
Seeing him coming forward with the food box in his hand, Han Yang raised the knife in his hand and blocked it in front of Caleb Lu, saying sternly: "Open it and have a look."
Caleb Lu opened the lid as he was told.
Han Yang looked at this pile of strange things, and the corners of his mouth seemed to twitch several times in succession. He looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end he swallowed it back.
Then, Caleb Lu watched him take out a silver needle from his arms, poke it on everything, and then check it carefully.
"...He cursed so badly," Caleb Lu complained to the system, "Are my dishes so ugly that they look like they could poison people?
2583: "...I don't think that's what he meant, host."
Caleb Lu: "You wouldn't suspect me of poisoning you, would you? I'm just a poor worker, why would I want to poison my generous and domineering new boss!"
Just as he finished speaking, the other person's eyes came over, patrolling his face like a searchlight, snatched the food box and said, "Okay, you can leave now."
Caleb Lu: "But Uncle Qian said I should come in person..."
"Click."
The response he received was the ruthless sound of the door closing.
Caleb Lu shrugged, turned around and walked out without any reluctance. He didn't want to meet his leader anyway, so he was happy to be relaxed.
But this evil spirit seemed to have always been very dissatisfied with him. Could it be that, like Master Guo, he was also afraid that he would compete for favor in front of the prince?
That shouldn't be the case. There's such a big difference between killing people and killing pigs. They're not on the same track...
"Host, what are you going to do about selecting the ingredients?" 2583 interrupted his wandering thoughts, expanded the flashing task cursor, and a small number "10" appeared behind it.
"This mission only lasts ten days. Can you complete it?"
"Well, I know what's going on. Now another very serious problem has arisen," Caleb Lu said solemnly.
2583's data flow was disrupted for a moment due to nervousness: "What?"
I was walking along the road, looking at three paths with very similar scenery in front of me, "I'm lost, where is the kitchen?"
"......"
Ten minutes later, after asking no less than five people, Caleb Lu finally returned to the kitchen yard.
Guo Bazhen was cutting vegetables at the table. When he saw the young man come in with a cheerful face, his dark face darkened a few shades. He chopped the kitchen knife into the thick wooden chopping board with a click and called to him with a sullen face: "Caleb Lu, come here. I have something to tell you."
After the young man stood still, he said, "Since you are now fully responsible for the prince's meals, you will be responsible for purchasing these ingredients. Please make a daily list for me to review, and I will withdraw money from your account for you. After you buy the food, you must send it back to me for inspection. You are not allowed to pass off inferior goods as good ones, and you are not allowed to embezzle the food."
The purchase of the kitchen in the palace was originally managed by the head chef Guo Bazhen. Logically speaking, even if Caleb Lu was in charge of the prince's dishes, there was no need to calculate the purchase of raw materials separately.
Guo Bazhen was simply angry that this outsider came to the palace to make up the number and wanted to make things difficult for him.
For someone who cooks like that, what good can he get from shopping for groceries?
Sure enough, Caleb Lu was a little confused after listening to him, and looked at him eagerly: "Then... where does Master Guo usually buy it? Can you recommend it to me? Or I can go with you..."
Guo Bazhen snorted secretly and said, "No, you have to find it yourself."
Of course the palace has some fixed suppliers, but these are the best carefully selected by every chef and the purchasing assistant. Why should they be given away for free to this guy?
"Also, don't think you can buy good things just by spending a lot of money," Guo Bazhen added, "The money in your account is limited, so you can't buy anything above the market price."
"Hurry up and give me the details for tomorrow. You should buy them later because they will be useful tomorrow."
The implication is that starting from tomorrow, I can no longer use other ingredients bought from the kitchen when I travel.
Seeing that Guo Bazhen obviously had no intention of giving any advice to his junior, Caleb Lu had no choice but to make a menu, write down the ingredients needed for the dishes as he had said, and hand it in.
While waiting for Guo Bazhen to review the list of money, Caleb Lu went to the kitchen one by one to find help.
"Auntie, buying groceries..."
"Oh, I'm busy, I don't have time!" Aunt Luo, who was picking vegetables, turned around and left with the basket.
"Brother, do you know which one..."
"I don't understand this. I just kill chickens and fish and wash dishes and vegetables." The servant Wang Mazi said with a naive smile.
"......Hi, uncle! Hello, sir..."
When the guy saw the road, he turned around and left without even listening to the words.
Road time: "......"
2583 comforted him: "It's okay, host. We can go to the vegetable market and pick more. Practice makes perfect."
Caleb Lu sighed: "System, can't you just give me a grocery shopping guide or something like that?"
"No," 2583 refused. "The main system will judge this as cheating. We cannot provide any decisive direct help to the host during the mission."
Seeing that he was still worried, 2583 said, "Host, you have money anyway, so at most you can spend more money and choose a good one."
Two hours later, at the market in the royal city.
On the way, he held a small bag of change in his hand and stared in amazement at the dazzling array of goods in the stalls.
"What are the prices here? Why are they so expensive???" Just to buy a pork chop, most of the change in my hand would be used up, not to mention other fresh chickens, ducks, fish, shrimps, vegetables, fruits and melons.
Besides, the things on these stalls look the same?!
On the way, I gritted my teeth and squeezed into the crowd where there was a lot of shouting and bargaining. I bargained until my throat was hoarse, and finally I managed to buy everything I wanted.
Back at the palace, Guo Bazhen picked out the vegetables he had bought one by one.
First, I picked up an egg and shook it next to my ear. "There is a sound of water. It is an old egg. It is not fresh anymore."
"The scales of the chicken feet were blue and dull, the eyeballs were sunken, the skin was yellow and sticky to the touch, and they were no longer fresh."
"The potato has bruises on it, so it's rotten inside. The fungus is too small and broken, gray and not good quality. The gills of this fish are white, so it must have been dead for a long time..."
Guo Bazhen scolded while untying a few bunches of green leafy vegetables tied with straw, his face becoming even uglier, "The leaves underneath are all yellow and full of worm holes! I don't know how long they have been there! Is this how you spend money on the road? I gave you so much silver, but you only bought such a little rubbish! How dare you give this kind of thing to the prince?!"
Caleb Lu thought that it would be difficult for everything he bought to meet the standards, but he didn't expect it to be so bad. He said embarrassedly: "No, no, when I bought this vegetable, it looked very fresh..."
When did the stall owner do this? No wonder he was so enthusiastic about pulling him to give him some green onions!
"I'm really sorry, Master Guo. I'll definitely take a closer look tomorrow! Um... can you give me a little more money tomorrow?" Caleb Lu asked under pressure, "The things in the market are a bit expensive..."
It was indeed a problem that he didn't know much about the quality of the ingredients. Another problem was that many ingredients that were obviously of good quality were priced far higher than what Guo Bazhen paid him.
"You mean I deducted the money you spent on buying vegetables?" Guo Bazhen sneered, "Who do you think I am? We usually buy these things at this price. If you don't believe me, go to the account office and ask."
"Besides, how much money do you need for the dishes you cooked for the prince?"
Caleb Lu: "......" So you still look down on his home cooking!
Guo Bazhen threw the vegetables into the trash can and said, "These are useless. Either you buy them again with your own money, or you can borrow the food in the kitchen, but you have to pay the money to the account office yourself."
Guo Bazhen really wanted to see him being held accountable by the housekeeper for not being able to produce anything, but if this affected the prince's meal, he would not be able to escape the responsibility.
This b@stard got a good deal.
All the vegetables bought were wasted, but the prince’s meal had to be cooked.
Caleb Lu honestly paid the money to the accountant, then returned to the kitchen to find the ingredients he needed one by one.
Everything else is ready, except the chicken.
"You want a live chicken?" Aunt Luo shook her head when she heard Caleb Lu ask. "We don't have any ready today, but there are a few live chickens and ducks in the fence behind the yard for backup. You can catch and kill them yourself."
"......Auntie, wait a minute..."
However, Aunt Luo wiped her hands and went out to eat. I chased her out but couldn't call her back. She came back dejected.
He wandered around the kitchen, finally pulling out a rolling pin and holding it in his hand.
The system was puzzled: "Host, aren't you going to catch chickens?" What are you doing with a rolling pin?
Caleb Lu tightened the stick in his hand, his face solemn, as if facing a great enemy, and slowly exhaled: "Catch him, I'll catch him right away."
Didn’t you get chased and pecked by chickens when you were a kid in the countryside? Didn’t your legs go weak when you saw the pointed beak of a chicken?
If it can be overcome, it definitely can be overcome.
-
On the corridor, Damien Luan was listening to the housekeeper Qian reporting on the affairs of the mansion: "Minister Chen from the Ministry of Personnel came to visit yesterday. I sent him away according to the prince's wishes and returned the gift..."
As he was speaking, a scream interrupted Butler Qian.
The two of them stopped at the same time, and after the scream, they heard a series of fluttering sounds coming from behind the rockery not far away. Then a figure ran out in a hurry, with his back to them, nervously waving the stick in his hand forward.
"Brother Chicken, I, I'm warning you, you'd better obey me. My rolling pin doesn't recognize chickens..." The man's voice was trembling, "You...you just stand there and don't move, just one second..."
Butler Qian recognized the other person's back and asked in confusion: "Isn't this the path that the old servant brought back from Shifang? Who did he have a conflict with?"
As the words fell, a large rooster with a bright red crown strode out from behind the rockery with its head held high and its chest puffed out.
Butler Qian: "......"
Damien Luan: "......"
The rooster had a circle of hair exploded on its neck, looking very menacing, and it stretched its head towards the road and crowed continuously.
Next, every time the rooster took a step forward with its paw, it took a step back.
The rolling pin in his hand was still held up, but it was shaking and he couldn't put it down. He was actually forced to the edge of the flower bed by a rooster.
Damien Luan was silent for a long time, then asked calmly, "What does Uncle Qian think of him?"
Butler Qian suppressed his laughter and quickly recounted what had happened in the kitchen over the past two days, saying, "Although he is not very talented or skilled, he is quite...hardworking."
Damien Luan's expression remained unchanged, indicating that he understood, and waved his hand to let Butler Qian leave.
On the other side, Caleb Lu, who had been confronting the rooster for a long time, finally plucked up the courage. He raised the rolling pin in his hand and wanted to hit the rooster hard on the head------, but suddenly a slight sound of breaking air sounded in his ears.
Before Lu could react, the chicken brother, who had been so proud just now, fell to the ground, his claws twitched a few times and he stopped moving.
Caleb Lu: "???"
He looked around in panic, but there was no one around, only the warm spring breeze blowing by.
Caleb Lu carefully poked the rooster with a rolling pin and found that it was indeed a dead chicken. He breathed a sigh of relief and gritted his teeth to pick it up.
This is probably what it means, there are always unexpected events in life.
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