"Huh---. Weird. I didn't do much work today. Why am I still a little tired? It seems I haven't exercised for a long time. Alas, I don't know if I can return to my best condition before the Four Nations Banquet." Li Qi said from
Kitchen went to the backyard of Zuixianju and shook his arms a few times. He felt a little sore and numb, and he was inevitably a little depressed. Today was the first day of his recovery from injury. His right arm had not moved much for ten consecutive days. It was inevitable that
Some exceptions will occur.
"Damn it, why hasn't this puffer fish come yet?" Li Qi drank a cup of tea and looked slightly troubled. His hand injury was healed, which means he can practice, but the problem now is that there is no material for him to practice.
, more than ten days have passed, but there is no news at all from Fan Lou.
But he also made two preparations. If the pufferfish hadn't arrived in two days, he planned to jump over the wall with the Supreme Buddha to compete.
"Master Li, Master Li."
Wu Furong's voice suddenly sounded outside the house, and his voice was very rapid. It must have been something urgent.
With a bang, Wu Furong opened the door and barged in. He said excitedly: "Master Li, here he comes, here he comes."
Li Qicuo said in astonishment: "What's going on? Uncle Wu, please explain it clearly."
"river---."
As soon as Wu Furong said a word, he immediately lowered his voice and whispered: "Master Li, the pufferfish has been delivered."
This is really what comes to mind. Li Qi stood up suddenly and said happily: "Seriously?"
Wu Furong nodded vigorously and said: "Master Fan sent someone to tell you. Now all the puffers have been sent to your house in the western suburbs."
"Walk."
Without saying anything, Li Qi raised his legs and walked outside. Now there were only five days left before the Four Nations Banquet, and there was very little time left for him.
...
The two rode a carriage and arrived at the back door of his house as quickly as possible.
Now the front yard of his manor has been turned into a refugee camp by Bai Qiannuo. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he had already ordered Fan Shaobai to deliver the puffer fish directly to the back door of his house.
When they arrived, they saw seven or eight men dressed as fishermen standing in front of the backyard door. Without Li Qi's permission, they could only wait outside the door. These people were all from Fanlou. Fishermen who went out to fish.
But that's not all. There are also three donkey carts, with three large tanks placed on top of the carts.
"The villain pays homage to the official Yan envoy."
When several people saw Li Qi, they immediately saluted.
"Thank you for your help."
Li Qi smiled slightly, cupped his hands, and asked again: "I wonder how many pufferfish you have caught?"
The leader respectfully replied: "My lord, since it is the cold winter, there are very few puffer fish in the surrounding areas. So --- so the little people only caught twenty-seven puffer fish."
"That's enough, that's enough. You did a great job."
Li Qi praised that the number was much more than he expected. He got on the donkey cart, bent down, and took a look inside the tank. The man added: "The little man followed the adults' instructions.
Be careful with these pufferfish."
"Very good." Li Qi smiled and nodded. The pufferfish must be fresh and dead. Even if it has been dead for half an hour, it must not be used for cooking, because the fish in the pufferfish's body
The toxin has probably penetrated into the fish meat. Seeing that all the pufferfish in this tank were alive, Li Qi showed a satisfied smile on his face, and then looked at the other tanks. When he came to the third tank
When he was in the tank, he suddenly frowned, stretched out his hand and said: "Bring the fishing net."
One person quickly handed over the fishing net. Li Qi took the fishing net and fished out a white puffer fish from the tank. He looked at it carefully and his face looked serious.
Seeing this, the leader hurriedly said: "Sir, is there something wrong with this pufferfish?"
Li Qi was slightly startled, shook his head and said with a smile: "This is none of your business, but this kind of white-skinned pufferfish is too toxic and not suitable for cooking."
"What should I do?"
Li Qi shrugged and said, "Take it and release it."
"yes."
Li Qi waved his hand again: "I don't want it anymore. If you put it in the river, if someone catches it again, it will be a big problem. Okay, you just don't care about this matter and come with me." Bar."
With that said, he jumped out of the car and led them into the manor.
In fact, Li Qi had already prepared a place to store the puffer fish. It was not a pond, but a house facing south and north in the backyard. There were houses in the front and back, so the house was relatively warm. At this time, four large pits had been dug in the house. , the walls of the pit are all paved with cobblestones, and the inside is filled with clean water. Since he will not be kept for a long time, there is no need to change the water system.
When the fishermen saw it, they were secretly surprised. This official was really generous. The place where fish lived was better than that of people.
Li Qi squatted down, tested the temperature of the water with his hands, nodded with satisfaction, stood up, picked up the fishing net and walked towards the jars. Seeing this, the leader hurriedly said: "Sir, these are Let the younger ones do the rough work."
Li Qi shook his head and said, "Forget it, I can do it myself."
The fishermen didn't understand at first, but they finally understood when they saw Li Qi distinguish different species and sizes and put them into the four big pits.
After putting all the pufferfish into the puddle, Li Qi let out a long breath and ordered to Maqiao: "Maqiao, you go find some smarter servants and watch this house for me. Without my instructions, No one is allowed in this house."
Ma Qiao responded and went out.
Li Qi invited these fishermen into the back hall, then asked someone to bring some copper coins, and said with a smile: "Thank you for your hard work, this is my little thought, you can take it to buy some wine."
The leader hurriedly clasped his fists and said: "Sir, this is the responsibility of the little people. How dare you ask for a reward?"
Li Qi's face darkened and he said: "I told you to accept it. Just accept it. How come there are so many words?"
The man didn't dare to say more, thanked him in unison, and then accepted the money with great joy.
After Li Qi gave some instructions on raising pufferfish, Wu Furong went back.
The pufferfish finally arrived. Li Qi's mood naturally improved a lot, and he sat in the carriage and hummed this little song.
Wu Furong stroked his beard and suddenly asked: "Master Li, when are you going to make pufferfish?"
"Tomorrow morning."
Li Qi said with a smile and said, "Would you like to try it too?"
Wu Furong laughed and said, "That's exactly what I mean."
Li Qi asked with a hint of curiosity: "Aren't you afraid?"
"Hey." Wu Furong raised his hand and said: "You dare to cook it for the emperor. At this old age, I am still very scared. I used to hear people saying that I would eat puffer fish even if I risk my life. I really want to try it." Tasting the taste of this puffer fish can actually make people risk their lives."
When did this old man become so brave? Li Qi smiled and nodded: "Okay, I will make a dish for people to try tomorrow. But there is no delicious food in this world worth risking your life for."
Wu Furong smiled and said: "That's right, that's right."
Li Qi suddenly glanced outside from the corner of his eye and saw that he was already near the bar. He thought to himself, I haven't been to the bar for a long time. He said: "Maqiao, let's go to the bar first."
As soon as Ma Qiao heard that he was going to the bar, he didn't say anything. He immediately sped up. Is it a bar? If you lack anything, you won't be short of wine. A few people came to the bar, and as soon as they opened the door, a wave of heat rushed towards them. How could it be said that it was so refreshing?
"Wow! There are so many people."
Li Qi glanced around and saw that it was full of people. The golden-red firelight emitted from the four large fireplaces, like rays of light, added a brilliant color to the bar.
"Master Li is here."
I don't know which idiot suddenly shouted.
In a daze, Li Qi saw a mass of darkness moving towards this direction at lightning speed.
One person came directly to Li Qi and said excitedly: "Master Li, do you know that I bought you a complete victory? You must win three games in a row."
Li Qi shrank his head back and said humbly: "Ah? Oh! Thank you!" But he thought to himself, it seems that they still have confidence in me.
Another person shouted: "God has the virtue of caring for people. Our Song Dynasty is a country of etiquette. How can we kill them all? Master Li is a humble gentleman. If you have the right to forgive others, you can forgive them. Just win two games and it will be fine."
Give others a way to survive.”
"Why?"
"Hey, because I bet you to win two games."
Fuck! When buying a gambling game, do you need to make so many big arguments? Li Qi couldn't laugh or cry in his heart, and nodded: "Really? A small gamble will make you happy, a small gamble will make you happy, don't be too big."
"Master Li, you must not listen to them. I have tricked you and lost all three games. You must not win."
"Haha, more---a little more. By the way, have you spent all your savings on it?" Li Qi gritted his teeth and smiled.
"That's not true."
"That's such a shame."
"Master Li, I heard that you were injured the last time you went to the palace for a banquet?"
"What? What idiot is spreading rumors?"
"Is your injury serious? Will it affect your performance?"
"I'm not hurt."
"Is it your left hand or your right hand that you injured?"
"It can't be the butt, right?"
"Let me reiterate, I am not injured."
"Did you fall or be injured?"
"Depend on!"
Li Qi cursed angrily, feeling extremely depressed. This was really his own fault. He originally designed it to deal with the imperial chef of the Kingdom of Jin, but he didn't expect that he would be involved as well.
"Give way, everyone, please give way." Suddenly, a person squeezed over and shouted loudly.
Everyone turned around to look and quickly moved out of the way.
The person who came was none other than Cai Yong.
Cai Yong stepped forward, cupped his hands towards Li Qi, and said with a smile: "Master Li, please come over with me and Captain Gao."
Li Qizheng was worried and couldn't escape, so he quickly said: "Really, let's go there quickly."
Those people did not dare to be presumptuous in front of Cai Yong, so they had to watch Li Qi leave with depressed faces.
After squeezing out of the crowd, Li Qi wiped the sweat from his forehead, md, it seems that it is not suitable for me to go out. He took a long breath, looked around, and asked: "Steward Cai, where are the Grand Master and the Lieutenant?
Woolen cloth?"
"Hey, isn't he sitting there?" Cai Yong pointed to the left and forward. Li Qi followed his finger and saw Cai Jing and Gao Qiu sitting in front of a fireplace. There was a small table in front of them.
With some food and wine on the table, the two of them leaned on the sofa, chatting and laughing, so happy.