Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 507: The County Magistrate of Anping County is My Young Master

When Qixi saw Li and the eldest lady, he bowed with a smile on his face and said, "How are you, the eldest lady? How are you, Miss Shen?"

When Li saw Qixi's joyful look, she couldn't help but smile and said repeatedly, "Okay, okay, Qixi, I haven't seen you for a while, come in and sit down."

Qi Xi, carrying a small square bag in her hand, followed Li and the others into the courtyard.

After the waiter brought the tea over, Li couldn't wait to ask, "I heard that the new county magistrate is Mr. Lu. What's going on?"

Qixi put the small bag on the table next to him, picked up the honey mint tea on the table and drank it all in one gulp.

He breathed a sigh of relief, and then said with a smile: "Madam, you are right. From now on, the county magistrate of Anping County will be my young master."

With Qixi's explanation, everyone finally resolved their doubts and knew what was going on.

It turned out that after Lu Lang won the second place in the imperial examination and before he was appointed as an official, the emperor called Old Master Lu over and praised this young talent highly.

Then he said that he wanted Lu Lang to work in the Hanlin Academy, and after a few years of training, he would surely become a great man.

Mr. Lu was naturally very happy and thanked Lu Lang profusely on his behalf.

As a result, when he returned home and told Lu Lang the good news, Lu Lang dismissed everyone and had a secret talk with Old Master Lu.

As for what was discussed, no one knows.

All we knew was that the next day Mr. Lu went to the palace again to ask for an audience with the emperor.

When the official positions were appointed later, everyone was surprised to find that the newly crowned runner-up Lu Lang had become the new county magistrate of Anping County.

The former Anping County magistrate, Lu Zheng, was transferred back to the capital for his contribution to relief work and was appointed as the Doctor of Music in the Taichang Temple, a position that was both leisurely and honorable.

Because Lu Lang was about to take up his post in Anping County, he persuaded Mr. Lu and the lady dowager to send a matchmaker to arrange the marriage after he took office.

As Qi Xi spoke, he untied the small bag beside the table, revealing a rectangular wooden box.

He held the wooden box in both hands and handed it to Shen Yu, smiling and saying, "These are some new food lists that I saw when I went to a bookstore when I had nothing to do in the capital. They include southern and northern cuisines."

"The young master thought it was good, so he bought it and brought it here specially for the young lady."

Shen Yu took it with a smile, and just as he was about to open it to take a look, Qi Xi stood up and said, "Young Master has arrived today, and he has a lot of things to do."

"I have to go back first, as there are still many things waiting for me to do in the county government office."

"The young master just asked me to come here and talk to the Madam and Miss Shen first, and then come to see Miss Shen when everything is settled."

Everyone knew that he was telling the truth, so they didn't keep him any longer and sent him to the door. Only when they saw him get on the carriage waiting at the door and drive away did they come back together.

As soon as I entered the restaurant, the diners gathered around me, talking in unison: "Madam Li, I heard that young man just now came from the county government."

"Yes, yes. I heard that he was the personal attendant of the new county magistrate. What was he doing in the restaurant?"

"Madam Li, the new county magistrate has just arrived on his first day in office. How come he knows about your restaurant?"

"Needless to say, it must have been recommended by the previous county magistrate. Didn't the previous county magistrate often come to Fengnian Restaurant for dinner?" a diner deduced confidently.

"Ms. Li, don't just laugh. Tell me what that young man is doing here."

Ever since Qixi came, Li has had a constant smile on her face.

Now that everyone was urging him, he became reserved.

She tried her best to suppress the smile on her face, waved her hand and said, "Well, what else can I do here? It's just as you said."

"Our previous county magistrate recommended our restaurant to the new county magistrate. Send someone to take a look."

"Everyone, go away and have your meals quickly. Don't delay your own business."

Seeing that they could not get any information out of him, the crowd was not disappointed. They returned to their seats and, while eating, enthusiastically discussed the new county magistrate, who was said to be very young.

Li got rid of the crowd and returned to the front yard with Shen Yu and Doctor Sun.

When Doctor Sun saw that there were no outsiders, he smiled and congratulated them, saying, "Sister-in-law of the Shen family, now you can rest assured."

"Mr. Lu, oh no, as soon as Magistrate Lu arrived, he came to the restaurant to say hello. It can be seen that he values ​​Miss Yuzhi very much. You can just wait for the Lu family to make a decision."

Li's worries were swept away at this moment, and she felt relieved. She said contentedly, "Yes, Brother Sun, to be honest with you, a few days ago, I heard that County Magistrate Lu was going to be promoted, but the Lu family has not come to make a decision."

"I have always been uneasy in my heart, always worried that something unexpected would happen. Who would have thought that it would be Master Lu who would come back to be the county magistrate? This time I am relieved."

Doctor Sun laughed and said, "Well, now I can wait for the wedding banquet with peace of mind. I'll go back first."

"It's been hot these days, and I've had quite a few patients come to see me. I hope they won't make a wasted trip."

Doctor Sun said this and stood up to say goodbye and leave.

Seeing that only she and Shen Yu were left, Li said with excitement and joy, "Yuzhi, this is good. Young Master Lu has become the new county magistrate."

"If nothing unexpected happens, he will be in Anping County for at least three years."

"Even after you get married, you will have to live with Master Lu in Anping County, and then I can see you often."

As Li spoke, she couldn't help but feel sad. Thinking that this was a happy event, she burst into laughter and said, "This is all the blessing of the Bodhisattva. I have to prepare well and go to the temple to fulfill my vows one by one."

Shen Yu couldn't help but laugh and tease: "Mom, you made a wish that Master Lu would win the first place in the imperial examination."

Mrs. Li said seriously, "Although Mr. Lu did not win the first place in the imperial examination, he won the second place, and Mr. Lu also agreed to the marriage. The Bodhisattva still blesses our family."

"You know, it's not easy to get the second place. There's only one chance in four years."

Having said that, Li stood up and went to the Buddhist shrine set up at the back of the side room.

Shen Yu smiled and reached out to take the small wooden box that Qixi had handed over.

When I opened it, I found five or six thin menus of various kinds, including northern and southern cuisines. Although the emphasis was on introducing the flavors of local delicacies, the cooking methods were also briefly described.

Unfortunately, there are no pictures in the menu.

The menu items are so easy to read that I can easily guess the words. The names of the dishes and the ways and tastes of the dishes are all very interesting.

But there were many ingredients named in the local dialect, and Shen Yu had no idea what they were. After looking through them for a while, he found them very difficult to understand.

She casually flipped through two pages, and a square, smooth piece of paper fell out of the book with a "click".