Border Cook

Old Li took the chopsticks, picked up the bowl, and half-believingly picked up the food and put it into his mouth.

The moment you eat the potato chips, you can smell the rich aroma, and the rich and mellow taste hits your mouth wantonly...

Old Li felt that the vegetarian stew alone was extremely delicious.

If it were braised meat or chicken, Old Li couldn't think of any words to describe the wonderful taste.

How could Chef Wei say that such delicious food is not tasty?
Old Li was puzzled and looked at Dai Changnian for help.

After tasting the vegetarian stew, Dai Changnian frowned and looked at Chef Wei, "Chef Wei, do you really think this is not tasty?"

"Of course." Chef Wei said seriously, "It's really not very tasty."

Seeing Dai Changnian's frown getting more and more fierce, Chef Wei was a little unhappy, "What's the matter, do you think I'm not telling the truth?"

"If it tastes good, it tastes good. If it tastes bad, it tastes bad. I'm not the kind of person who would suppress others or admit that they are great. Do I have to lie?"

"But I'm also very puzzled. I've often heard people say that Madam Xia is an excellent cook. How come she made such a terrible stew this time? Is it because she doesn't know how to make stewed food and didn't do it well the first time, or is it because this wasn't made by Madam Xia at all? Are you guys lying to me?"

Seeing Chef Wei's excited words, Dai Changnian knew that he was not lying.

Chef Wei really thinks that these braised dishes are not delicious.

But they all thought the stewed food was delicious, but Chef Wei thought it tasted bad. Combined with the fact that Chef Wei's cooking was usually not as good as expected, but he was full of confidence...

Chef Wei, he must be sick.

His sense of taste is incomplete, or perhaps confused, so that the taste he tastes is completely different from that of others.

That’s why Chef Wei is working hard to cook, but the food he cooks tastes…

Dai Changnian suddenly felt quite complicated.

Chef Wei, who was already a little angry, became even more impatient when he saw Dai Changnian's expression changing, "Speak!"

"These braised dishes..." Dai Changnian paused, "They are indeed praised and criticized. As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The taste of these braised dishes will naturally be evaluated differently by each person."

"But this is a token of Madam Xia's kindness, so we can't let it go to waste. I'll have to trouble Chef Wei to distribute it at noon."

As for Chef Wei's illness, he needed to inform Zhou Zhiqing and then see how to get a doctor over.

Chef Wei was still somewhat unhappy with Dai Changnian's change of subject, but he agreed with Dai Changnian's opinion on distributing the braised food.

After all, it is a thoughtful gesture and should not be wasted.

But this kind of braised food doesn't taste very good...

Well, it's just this time, and everyone can just bear with it for a while. In the evening, he will improve the food for everyone as a form of compensation.

Chef Wei thought so and asked the cooks in the small canteen to come out and move things.

The sun gradually rose higher and soon reached its zenith.

All of Xia Mingyue's questions and unfamiliar words were completely answered, and seeing that there was still plenty of time, Zhou Zhiqing taught Xia Mingyue a few more pages of the book.

It was not until Xia Mingyue was able to recite fluently that Zhou Zhiqing stroked his beard and said, "Well, that's enough for today."

Even if you are studious, there should be a fixed amount of learning every day.

It is easy to not be able to digest too much, and learning in a hasty manner is not efficient.

Zhou Zhiqing is a person who pays attention to the quality of learning.

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Zhou." Xia Mingyue bowed. "Madam Xia, you are too polite." Zhou Zhiqing said, "After you finish reading these books I gave you, you can find some other books to read. You can read the Four Books and Five Classics, or the Rules and Instructions for Women. It all depends on your preference."

Some women are strong-willed and ambitious, and can read more broad-minded books like men.

If you only want to take care of your husband and children in the future, the latter is also a good choice.

In short, as long as you read, no matter what kind of book it is, you can always learn something. You just need to learn to extract the essence and discard the dross.

Xia Mingyue thought for a moment and asked, "Is the story book okay?"

Zhou Zhiqing, "..."

"That's fine. Most of the storybooks are written in vernacular Chinese, which makes them easier to read. They are also very suitable for consolidating the characters you have learned." Zhou Zhiqing said.

"Okay." Xia Mingyue nodded in response.

Excited.

Zhou Zhiqing touched his nose subconsciously.

Seeing how happy Madam Xia is, could it be that she wants to learn to read and write just so that she can read storybooks independently one day?
Yeah, not bad either?
After all, words are like a hoe for tilling the soil or a spoon for cooking. They are tools, not just for passing the imperial examinations or writing poems. They can also be used for entertainment...

Right?
Zhou Zhiqing coughed lightly and said, "Anyway, next time if there are any words you don't know or things you don't understand, Madam Xia can still come to the county school to find me at any time."

"Yes." Xia Mingyue bowed again, "Thank you, Mr. Zhou."

Then, saying goodbye to Zhou Zhiqing, Xia Mingyue pushed the flatbed cart that Old Li had already prepared for her and walked back.

Xia Mingyue stopped when passing by the bookstore on East Street.

After squeezing the purse in her arms to make sure that the money she brought was enough for today's spending, Xia Mingyue walked in.

The waiter in the bookstore saw someone coming and hurriedly smiled and said, "Sir..."

When he realized that it was a woman, the smile on his face disappeared by half.

The bookshop sells books, as well as pens, ink, paper, and inkstones. It can be said that it mainly supplies things used by students and scholars. Most of the people who come to buy things are students and scholars, and at the very least, they are servants or bookboys.

There were very few women coming to the shop to buy things, and even if there were, they were not very popular with the shop.

Because most women are very fussy and don't know much, you have to explain many times why this book has different prices than that book, and why this kind of paper has different uses than that kind of paper.

And they often talk a lot, leaving the woman confused. In the end, she leaves with a sentence "Let my husband buy it" and then walks away.

It is a huge waste of time and energy.

The waiter showed a bit of bitterness on his face, but still responded reluctantly, "What does this lady want?"

"I want to find some storybooks." Xia Mingyue asked with a smile, "I wonder if there are any popular storybooks to recommend at the moment."

Most of the things that are popular have been tested by the market. Although some people may not like them due to different personal tastes, at least they won’t be too bad.

Come to buy a storybook?

The guy suddenly perked up.

One reason is that the price of the storybooks is not cheap, so the profit is greater.

Secondly, those who can get women to buy storybooks are either women who know how to read or women who are asked by their husbands to do so. Those who allow their husbands to read storybooks must have very different personalities, but no matter which type they are, this business is probably not difficult to do. (End of this chapter)