Chapter 5

In his dream, three old men with white beards appeared, and they were truly wearing Daoist robes in red, yellow, and blue. They took turns asking Cheng Chubi who was the most beautiful, which scared him awake from his sleep. Only then did he realize that it was already morning.

After washing up, breakfast was still a bowl of millet porridge, a dish of meat sauce, a dish of sliced fish, a bowl of soup, and a dish of pickled vegetables...

The breakfast of the noble families of the Tang Dynasty was like a covered rice bowl, with a strong flavor. Cheng Chubi almost doubted his life, including the fact that there was even sauce in the soup, which made him feel like he was drinking a miso soup when eating Japanese cuisine.

Born and raised in the southwestern region, Cheng Chubi loved spicy and numbing food. At this moment, he could only勉强地填饱肚子就搁下了碗筷。

"Third Brother, are you still sick? Why have you been eating so little these past two days?"

Fourth Brother Cheng Chucun, who was ordered to look after him today, belched contentedly and looked at Cheng Chubi, who was sitting on the bed with a listless expression.

As a native of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, where every meal included chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns, and the first thing he did every day was to slurp a bowl of spicy and numbing beef noodles to feel refreshed, and who felt weak if he didn't eat three to five hot pot meals a week, Cheng Chubi weakly waved his hand, his tone filled with a sense of despair.

"Is the cuisine in the mansion always prepared in these few ways?"

"Of course! Whether inside or outside the mansion, it's all the same. The only difference is that the restaurants and taverns prepare them more finely. For example, the chefs at Xiangxiang Building, where the older brothers often go, are among the top three in Chang'an."

"Whether steamed, boiled, baked, fried, or roasted, the flavors are all top-notch. Especially their fragrant sliced fish, which is not only finely prepared but also has a very fresh sauce."

"Is there hot pot?" Cheng Chubi sat up, his face full of anticipation.

"Hot pot? What's that?" Cheng Chucun was deeply puzzled, having never heard of such a thing.

"It seems there isn't." Cheng Chubi slumped back, his face filled with despair.

The food was either stewed, steamed, or boiled, and today was no different, which made Cheng Chubi, who couldn't live without spicy food, feel like he was living a life worse than death.

Being reborn after a car accident was a gift from heaven, but the thought of a future without chili peppers, the taste that made his heart race, made him wonder how he could go on.

No chili peppers, no hot pot, no stir-fried dishes, no stewed, steamed, or boiled dishes, such a life was utterly boring and tasteless.

No hot pot, no red and white soup, no stir-fried pig kidneys, no water-boiled meat, no Mapo Tofu, no Kung Pao Chicken, no Twice-Cooked Pork, no Red Oil Chicken, no Sichuan Pickled Fish...

Suddenly, Cheng Chucun heard the sound of water droplets and instinctively looked over. He was completely stunned to see the drool from Third Brother's mouth dripping onto the cool bed.

"Third Brother, Third Brother? Don't scare me." Cheng Chucun's face changed drastically, and he shouted in horror, "Did you have a stroke?"

"???"

Cheng Chubi was completely stunned. He wiped the drool from his mouth, sat up straight, and said with a black face, "Nonsense."

"Third Brother, you scared me to death. I saw you drooling and thought..." Cheng Chucun scratched his face and laughed awkwardly.

Cheng Chubi grunted and stood up, walking out of the room.

"Where are you going, Third Brother?"

"To the kitchen."

"What's there to see in the kitchen? Wait for me, Third Brother." Cheng Chucun, who was two years younger than Cheng Chubi, hurriedly followed.

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"Fourth Brother, is this the kitchen?" Standing at the kitchen door, Cheng Chubi was completely stunned. He saw a spacious kitchen filled with ancient and elegant bronze and iron utensils.

"Yes, this is the kitchen. Where else would there be so many cooking utensils?" Cheng Chucun said matter-of-factly.

The kitchen steward, Cheng Ji, cautiously flattered, "If Third Young Master is hungry, just say so."

"Is the head chef you?"

Cheng Ji glanced at the long-necked kitchen steward, who was so thin and had a long neck, and didn't look like a head chef at all.

Cheng Ji pointed to a fat, middle-aged man with a thick neck and narrow eyes and smiled, "Third Young Master is wise. This is our mansion's head chef, Mr. Mei, a famous chef recently hired from Chang'an's Dengyun Building. All the banquets in the mansion are now handled by Chef Mei."

"Your humble servant greets Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master." Chef Mei bowed respectfully. "What would Third Young Master like to eat? I will prepare it personally."

"Wait a moment, what is this?" Cheng Chubi turned and glanced at a bronze utensil he had only seen in a history museum.

"Let me inform Third Young Master, this is called a 'li,' used for boiling grains."

"..." Seeing Cheng Chubi's curious (actually stunned) expression, Cheng Ji quickly introduced the various cooking utensils of the Tang Dynasty, such as stoves, tripods, pots, li, steamers, and cauldrons...

As a high-ranking official's family, the cooking utensils were naturally exquisite and sophisticated, at least simple but not simplistic.

Cheng Chubi felt that he had not come to a kitchen but had accidentally entered a history museum's kitchen utensil exhibition. His feelings were indescribably complex.

But the problem was that none of these utensils were familiar to him, which made him very melancholic. He couldn't even cook himself.

Even a skilled housewife can't cook without rice. I don't even have suitable utensils, how can I cook and eat? Do you want to starve me to death? Damn it!

"By the way, I have a question, where is the stove?"

Looking around, he couldn't find the stove for cooking.

"Stove? The stove is here, and the hearth is outside." Following the round, chef-like figure of Chef Mei, Cheng Chubi saw a small, classically styled bronze utensil.

"..."

Exiting the kitchen's back door, he finally saw the hearth, with three large stoves built on the open ground behind the kitchen.

These clay stoves were rectangular, with fire walls, fire doors, and smoke holes at the back.

The three stoves were not small, and the largest one in the middle had six burners, with cauldrons, steamers, and jars placed on them. A canopy was built above to protect from wind and rain. Next to them were several bamboo blowpipes.

Cheng Chubi was utterly shocked. The stoves were simply amazing.

The height of the chimneys didn't even reach his head, and the shape of the stoves lying on the ground looked more like a low-lying stove or a fire pit, not a proper stove at all.