Chapter 144: Secret Joy
As they came out of the restaurant, Gu Zhang and Gu Qing exchanged a look, their faces beaming with joy.
The four of them got on the horse-drawn carriage. Gu Qing drove, while Gu Zhang, Gu Fei, and Lian’er sat inside the carriage.
Gu Zhang was incredibly excited, rubbing his hands together and exclaiming, "My daughter is truly capable! She just casually made a few dishes and got a courtyard and twenty mu of land in return!"
Gu Fei smiled. There was nothing special about the cooking itself; the key was that chili peppers were a novelty. The recipes were really just an instruction manual for using them.
"Dad, I’ll have to trouble you to copy out the recipes over the next few days."
Gu Zhang nodded repeatedly. "Of course, of course." He stuck his head out. "Oh, right, Gu Qing, see if there are any stationery shops on the street. Buy some good quality paper."
Gu Qing soon found a shop by the roadside selling paper and brushes. He bought a full set of the Four Treasures of the Study and then returned to the estate.
The carriage drove in and they all got out. Liu Zhuangtou came out, asking with a smile, "Mr. Gu, you look positively joyful. Did you manage to buy the land?"
Gu Zhang smiled and said vaguely, "It’s looking likely, but we’ll have to wait a few more days to know for sure."
Liu Zhuangtou nodded and went about his business. He didn’t put much stock in Gu Zhang’s words. Land around Ping’an City was in high demand, and he found it hard to believe that Young Master Zhu would be willing to part with any for Gu Zhang.
Mrs. Chen was cooking in the front courtyard. Hearing the noise, she ran out. "You’re back already? The meal is ready, hurry up and eat."
The old madam was present during the meal, so Gu Zhang and Gu Qing held their tongues.
Only after the old madam had finished eating and returned to her room did Gu Qing, his face alight with joy, lower his voice and say, "Mother, you’ll never guess. Just now, little sister struck a deal to teach someone how to cook with chili peppers. In exchange, they’re giving us twenty mu of land and a courtyard, worth about three hundred taels of silver."
Mrs. Chen was so shocked she dropped her chopsticks. "Really? Just for making a few dishes?"
Gu Qing shook his head smugly. "More than a few. Little sister said there are twenty or thirty dishes."
"But that can’t be worth so much, can it? It’s just cooking a few dishes," Mrs. Chen said, picking up her chopsticks from the table, still in disbelief over such a windfall.
Gu Fei, who was still eating, said, "Mother, this bit of money is nothing. At those high-end restaurants, they can sell a single dish for one or two taels. They’ll make this amount back in just a few days."
Li Chunhua, who was beside them, suddenly chimed in, "Then, little sister, why don’t you open your own restaurant? Your cooking is so delicious."
Gu Fei shook her head. "Opening a restaurant requires a lot of capital and connections. Besides, the dishes I know are all home-style. They’re not really fit for high society; they’re just a novelty."
"A true master chef has to practice their knife skills alone for many years. What I can do is nothing in comparison."
Over the next few days, the whole family, suppressing their secret joy, gathered behind closed doors to shell chili seeds. Everyone’s hands were swollen and burning from the spice, but they finally managed to shell all the seeds.
Gu Fei thought the deseeded peppers didn’t look very appealing, so she had Lian’er chop them all into a fine mince.
Gu Fei first wrote a draft of the recipes, editing out content like "X grams of this and that," and then gave it to Gu Zhang to copy neatly.
That morning, after breakfast, the father and his two children took the chili peppers and headed into the city.
The doors to the First-class Pavilion were open. Just as they stepped inside, the Shopkeeper came forward to greet them. "Mr. Gu, you’ve arrived as expected. Our young master instructed me to wait for you all."
He led them into a room, took out a written agreement, and handed it to Gu Zhang. "Mr. Gu, please take a look. Is there anything amiss?"
Gu Fei leaned in, and the two of them read the agreement over once. They didn’t find anything wrong with it.
Gu Zhang then handed the recipes to the Shopkeeper and pressed his thumbprint on the document.
Afterwards, the Shopkeeper sent someone to accompany them to the government office to process the land and property deeds.