Chapter 17

I was waiting for you to say that. Li Qi held back his laughter and said seriously, "Just talking won't do. Let me test your basic knowledge of cooking."

The more Li Qi said this, the more Wu Xiaoliu felt that he was not just making it up, and he replied happily, "Alright, go ahead and ask."

Li Qi deliberately put on a thinking face and after a while said, "By the way, can you write?"

Wu Xiaoliu nodded and said, "I learned for a few years from my uncle, so I can write a bit."

Li Qi nodded and said, "That's good. Here's what I want you to do. I'll give you a day to go to some of the restaurants outside and collect the dishes that the people of Bianliang like to eat. Remember, the more detailed, the better."

"Is that it?"

Wu Xiaoliu opened his eyes wide. He had thought Li Qi would ask him some questions about cooking, but instead, he was being sent on an errand, which left him both confused and frustrated.

Li Qi glanced at him and said, "What? Do you think this is easy? Do you know that understanding the customers' tastes is a must for a chef, unless you're just cooking for yourself."

Wu Xiaoliu, upon hearing this, felt that Li Qi made a lot of sense and nodded quickly, "I understand. I'll go early tomorrow morning."

"Good!"

Li Qi was very satisfied with Wu Xiaoliu's attitude and nodded. He then suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, Liuzi, do you have the kitchen key?"

"Yes, Brother Li, do you need to use the kitchen?"

"Yep, I want to borrow it for a few days."

"No problem. No one is using it anyway. Wait a moment, I'll get it for you." Wu Xiaoliu, who was looking for an opportunity to flatter Li Qi, quickly took out a copper key from the wardrobe and handed it to Li Qi.

Li Qi took the key, tossed it in his hand, and a nearly perfect plan to take over Zui Xian Ju was forming in his mind.

In fact, what Li Qi asked Wu Xiaoliu to do was essentially a "market survey." Since he had decided to make a big move in Bianliang, a market survey was essential. Although he had once lived on this land, time had changed, and people's tastes would certainly be different, so he needed to understand the current tastes.

This task seemed simple, but for Li Qi, it was crucial and could not be done wrong. He had originally planned to do it himself, but due to the tight schedule and lack of manpower, he entrusted it to Wu Xiaoliu.

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The next morning, Wu Xiaoliu got out of bed, greeted Li Qi, and hurriedly went out. This was the first task Li Qi had given him, and he naturally did not dare to be negligent.

Li Qi was also not idle. Not long after Wu Xiaoliu left, he also went out with some silver.

There were over seventy large and small restaurants in the Northern Song capital. If he wanted to survey each one, it would take at least ten days, which was too time-consuming. Therefore, Li Qi only asked Wu Xiaoliu to focus on a few high-traffic restaurants.

Even so, Wu Xiaoliu was exhausted. By the time he returned, it was already evening.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Brother Li, Brother Li—Hey? Not in the room." Wu Xiaoliu knocked on Li Qi's door for a long time, but there was no response. He scratched his head and muttered, "Could he not be back yet? That's impossible. It's so late, he should be back. Could he be in the kitchen?"

Wu Xiaoliu suddenly remembered that Li Qi had said he would borrow the kitchen for a few days and hurriedly ran to the kitchen.

Sure enough, when he entered the kitchen, he saw Li Qi standing alone, holding a cloth and carefully wiping four large jars that could fit an adult.

"Liuzi, you're back." Li Qi saw Wu Xiaoliu and put down his work, smiling.

Wu Xiaoliu nodded and pointed to the four large jars, asking curiously, "Brother Li, did you get these?"

"Yep!"

Li Qi nodded and asked, "How did your day go?"

"Oh, right."

Wu Xiaoliu was slightly stunned but quickly reacted, took out a piece of Xuan paper from his chest, and handed it to Li Qi, excitedly saying, "Brother Li, look. This is the information I gathered today. It lists all the dishes and snacks that the people of Bianjing love."

Li Qi took it and looked it over. The dishes were mostly lamb and beef, with fish being the second most common, and pork was very rare. The taste was mostly salty and sweet, with very little spicy flavor.

Li Qi glanced through it and nodded in satisfaction. He praised Wu Xiaoliu, "You did a great job. This information is very useful. How did you gather it?"

Wu Xiaoliu laughed and said, "Brother Li, do you remember the two taels of silver you gave me this morning?"

"Of course, what about it?" Li Qi nodded. The two taels of silver were essentially a running fee for Wu Xiaoliu. Suddenly, he brightened and said, "I know. Did you use the silver to bribe the waiters and get the information from them?"

Wu Xiaoliu laughed and said, "Nothing can escape your notice."

This kid is quite clever. Li Qi chuckled and said, "Did you spend all the silver I gave you?"

Wu Xiaoliu shook his head and held up one finger, saying, "I have more than one tael left."

"Still so much left?" Li Qi was surprised.

"Brother Li, you don't know. Those waiters can be bought off with just a few copper coins," Wu Xiaoliu said proudly.

"Looks like you made quite a bit of money when you were a waiter," Li Qi teased.

Wu Xiaoliu laughed a few times, acknowledging it, and then pointed to the four large jars, asking curiously, "Brother Li, what are these for?"

Li Qi smiled and said, "Oh, they're for holding amaranth juice."

"Amaranth juice?"

Wu Xiaoliu scratched his head and asked, "Brother Li, what is amaranth juice?"

"Do you know amaranth?" Li Qi asked.

"I know. Some people like to pickle amaranth. Master Zhou used to do it too," Wu Xiaoliu nodded.

Li Qi smiled and said, "Amaranth juice is the liquid left over after pickling amaranth."

Wu Xiaoliu opened his mouth wide in surprise and asked, "Brother Li, you mean that stinky water?"

Li Qi nodded.

"Brother Li, what do you need that for?" Wu Xiaoliu asked, puzzled.

"Don't ask for now. You'll know when the time comes," Li Qi smiled mysteriously and then asked, "Do you think one copper coin is enough to buy this stinky water?"

"Of course, they have no use for it anyway," Wu Xiaoliu said.

"Then it's settled," Li Qi said, then took out three taels of silver and handed them to Wu Xiaoli, saying, "Take this silver and exchange it for copper coins. Tomorrow, you'll go with me to the outskirts of the city."

At this point, Wu Xiaoliu knew Li Qi was not joking.

Using silver to buy "stinky water," what is Brother Li up to? Wu Xiaoliu thought for a long time but couldn't figure it out. Seeing that Li Qi didn't want to say, he didn't ask further, but he was very curious.

The next morning, Li Qi had Wu Xiaoliu hire a donkey cart. They then went to some small villages outside the city, where most of the residents were poor farmers living off the land. Since spring had arrived, most families had finished their pickled vegetables, and the remaining scraps and juices were about to be thrown away. When they saw Li Qi and Wu Xiaoliu offering copper coins for the "stinky water," they all rushed over with their jars and pots, saving Li Qi a lot of time and effort.

Of course, Li Qi wasn't just taking any "stinky water." It had to be amaranth or mustard juice, and he had to smell it. The stronger the smell, the better. He didn't want the newly pickled ones, which made Wu Xiaoliu even more curious.

In less than a day, the four large jars were all filled.

This wasn't the end. The next day, Li Qi took Wu Xiaoliu to the market to buy a large amount of fermented black beans, mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, and four jars of fine wine.

He first put the mushrooms, fermented black beans, and other ingredients in a pot, boiled them over a high flame, then simmered them over a low flame. After discarding the residue, he mixed the liquid with the fine wine in a certain ratio and poured it into the four large jars. He then sealed the jars with cloth and placed them in the wine cellar of Zui Xian Ju.

Wu Xiaoliu was dumbfounded. You're not only buying stinky water, but you're also pouring such good wine into it. That's not how you spend money!

After Li Qi finished everything, Wu Xiaoliu finally couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked, "Brother Li, what are you doing?"

"Interesting, isn't it?" Li Qi smiled mysteriously, patted Wu Xiaoliu's shoulder, and said, "Go and call Uncle Wu tomorrow and tell him that I have a friend who is willing to buy Zui Xian Ju."

"What!" Wu Xiaoliu exclaimed in surprise.