Transmigrating into the Female Supporting Character with a Good Life in a Laid-Back Novel

Nine days later, the imperial civil service examination ended. Everyone had their heads raised with hopes and expectations, waiting for the release of the public roll of successful examinees. The heat generated by Ruan san niang’s chase-and-kill fell quickly, since no one had any evidence and the Mu Family still had Mu taifei above them. In the end, the debacle ended without a proper conclusion, except the Mu Family’s reputation — which was already terrible to start with — became even worse.

Apart from these two events, there was another matter worth mentioning, which was that the fried dry noodles that Wen Ting Zhou was boiling was too fragrant. After he came out from the first round of exams, the dried fry noodles gained some fame.

Wen Ting Zhou took the chance to push out the fried dry noodles. After he learned how to make the dry fried noodles from Ruan Xi, and obtained Ruan Xi’s approval, he used Ruan Xi’s name to open a small store that specifically sold the fried dry noodles and anti-inflammatory medicinal tea. The price was not high and the common masses could afford it, and it was specifically sold to the candidates participating in the examination.

The small store was filled to maximum capacity once it opened its door and it was extraordinarily popular. In just one day, it was known throughout the capital.

For the last six days of examination, the examination hall was pervaded with a dense fragrance that could open people’s appetites.

The mouths of the main examiners and the invigilators twitched, having a certain sensation that the strict examination venue had suddenly become a restaurant.

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“Young Lady, the Third Young Lady has opened a fast food store opposite of ours that specifically sells something called instant noodles, and it’s extremely similar to our fried dry noodles, except it has two additional items called seasoning sachet and vegetable sachet.”

Once Su Yu heard this news, she sprinted over to report it with due haste.

Ruan Xi’s expression was calm. Neither fast nor slow, she copied another passage of the scriptures before she put down her brush.

“Su Yu, you don’t need to pay attention to this matter. I don’t plan on constantly selling the fried dry noodles, and the store was opened for the sake of allowing the candidates participating in the examination to eat steaming hot food.”

“But the Third Young Lady is going too far. The capital is so big and she could have opened her store anywhere, but she specifically chose to open her store opposite ours. Anyone with clear eyes is capable of seeing the Third Young Lady’s ill-intentions, and there are bad rumours and slander circulating outside right now.”

Su Yu argued against the injustice dealt to her Young Lady, she could not swallow this anger at all.

Ruan Xi moved to the short couch to sit down before she said calmly:

“Su Yu, calm down. San jie is the type of person who becomes happier the greater your grudges against her are. Because of the chase-and-kill she experienced, there’s a great deal of people paying attention to her. If I start fighting with her, wouldn’t we be allowing the outsiders to see a joke? I have another plan for the store.”

Once Ruan san niang’s instant noodles appeared, the female protagonist Mu QIng Ci will definitely surmise that Ruan san niang was a transmigrator.

As for the store, Ruan Xi was planning to sell braised ducks. As a matter of fact, there were all sorts of food prepared by stewing it in soy sauce and various spices, but wanting to make it delicious was exceedingly difficult. Ruan Xi’s culinary skills might be average, but her braised duck had a secret braised marinade recipe. All in all, her braised duck was nicely coloured and aromatic, the meat was succulent, bright, and tender, and the marinade made the taste more intense and rich.

Once Su Yu heard her Young Lady’s speech, her complexion pale instantaneously and she was short of sweating coldly in fear. Yet, the ire she felt towards the Third Young Lady only increased.

“Young Lady, if the dry fried noodles aren’t being sold, what will be sold? The greatest fear is that the Third Young Lady will follow us in selling the same item.”

The corners of Ruan Xi’s mouth hooked up. “Braised duck.”

Su Yu: “……”

“Young Lady, based on nubi’s knowledge, there are already a few extremely well-known, large restaurants that sell red braised dishes, and braised duck is one of their signature dishes.”

Su Yu was deeply worried and sick at heart. From her perspective, it was better if her Young Lady sold fried dry noodles instead of opening a store to sell braised ducks. The red braised dishes that the large restaurants used were secret recipes from the imperial kitchen, and its combination of soy sauce and various spices had its own distinctive flavours.

Furthermore, one of those aforementioned large restaurants were part of the Wen Family’s business.

Ruan Xi picked up her teacup and pursed a mouthful of tea before saying smilingly, “Su Yu, set your heart at ease, I have a secret recipe for the braised marinade too.”

When she went to the main courtyard this morning to pay her respects, she did not know what was going on with Zhang shi but she had unexpectedly chosen a storefront for her to practice. In a feat of coincidence, Wen Ting Zhou also gave her a storefront, so Ruan Xi did not choose a business from the Earl Residence. Instead, she was going to engage in her own small store, cultivate a few chefs, and specialise in selling braised ducks.

Su Yu: “……” Her Young Lady’s words were only making her less confident.

Ruan Xi pretended not to see Su Yu’s expression. For the past ten days, she had set aside a double-hour to learn how to simmer soups from Mama Yang, but her simmered soup still had the same taste, and the stable progress had hackles rising.

Mama Yang had already given up and started teaching her other small dishes, and it was enough if she knew how to make it.

Ruan Xi decided to exhibit the only dish she was proficient in— braised duck.

Su Yu: “……”

Inside the small kitchen, the two kitchen maids prepared the ingredients that Ruan Xi needed, which totalled up to twenty.

Ruan Xi’s secret recipe to make the braised duck had many and varied complicated steps, and what it needed most was patience, and the marinade was exceedingly vital.

This touched on one of her secrets: there was an instance where she discovered a strange wooden box that had a cloth — which could not be intruded by fire or water — slipped between two layers, and the cloth only detailed a secret braised duck recipe. The manufacturing process was extremely detailed, and it mainly focused on the making of the marinade. The most important part was that braised duck made from that secret braised duck recipe would not cause any harm to the body at all, and it would have a nourishing effect instead which was suitable for the young and the old.

Ruan Xi had followed the steps on the cloth to make the marinade numerous times. However, the ingredients to make the marinade was extremely costly, and Ruan Xi could only make the braised duck when she had a craving so she could eat to her heart’s content.

Once she thought about how she could eat the braised duck to her heart’s content in the future, Ruan Xi was overflowing with determination.

“Young Lady, are you really going to make the marinade by yourself?” The procedure was being kept a secret; only Ruan Xi and Su Yu remained in the kitchen, and Su Yu was temporarily acting as the helper who was lighting the fire.

Su Yu had seen the main kitchen making braised chicken once, and when she saw the steps that her Young Lady was taking to make the braised duck, her faith plummeted even more.

Honestly speaking, her Young Lady could go to the main kitchen to get some thick gravy.

“Mn.”

Ruan Xi had followed the steps written on the cloth to make the marinade numerous times, and she was so familiar with the ingredient quantities and the sequence of usage that she could do it with one hand tied behind her back. She was a dexterous person to begin with, so the quantity of any ingredient she grabbed was extremely precise, but to Su Yu, it looked extremely arbitrary and trifling.

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In the process of making the marinade, the fragrance wafted out of the small kitchen ceaselessly. As the time elapsed, the expanse Earl Chengyi Residence was suffused with the thick fragrance of the marinade.

“Young Lady, is the marinade done cooking over the slow fire?”

As Su Yu fuelled the fire, she watched the large pot with owlish eyes, swallowing her saliva audibly.

That speck of distrust she previously possessed had disappeared without a trace.

“Wait a little longer.”

Truth to be told, Ruan Xi had already been stimulated by the marinade’s fragrance to the point where she was feeling uncomfortable, but she used her enormous willpower to hold on. Her eyes were glistening bright, and the surprise in her gaze was on the verge of overflowing. Although she had made the braised marinade a few times, it had never been this fragrant, thick or mouth watering.

Was it because the ingredients in the ancient-era were natural and uncontaminated?

Ruan Xi thought dimly.

A short distance away from the small kitchen’s door, it was unknown when so many people had gathered.

At the forefront was the awe-inspiring Lao Taitai from Tranquil Longevity Hall. The prayer beads in her hands had long stopped turning, and her nostrils would unconsciously move.

Zhang shi, Ruan san niang, the little chubby boy Ruan Yu Min, Lin yiniang and the rest were also there.

Ruan san niang was about to bore holes into the small kitchen’s door with her eyes. She never expected that her fourth sister would actually have a secret braised marinade recipe in her hands.

She really did not know where her fourth sister found this secret braised marinade recipe, it was fragrant to death.

It had never appeared in her previous lifetime.

The fragrance was so stimulating for Ruan san niang that she was on the verge of going insane, and she swallowed her saliva vehemently.

Inside the small kitchen, Ruan Xi finally revealed a smile.

“Alright, the marinade is done cooking. The remaining steps for the braised duck don’t need to be kept secret. Su Yu, go out and ask someone to butcher twenty ducks, I will be fully displaying my abilities today.”

Su Yu quickly opened the small kitchen door, only to see Lao Taitai and the rest, which made her jump in fright.

“Su Yu, is the Fourth Young Lady done making the marinade?”

When Su Yu noticed that it was Lao Taitai’s trusted Mama asking the question, she nodded jerkily. “Yes, the Young Lady instructed nubi to ask someone to butcher twenty ducks and bring it over.”

“Fifty.” Lao Taitai struck down her walking stick, fixing the tone with a final hammer’s blow.

Su Yu could only go into the small kitchen and tell her Young Lady the declaration with much difficulty. Once Ruan Xi learned that Lao Taitai and the others had been drawn over by the braised marinade fragrance she was concocting, her whole body stilled from shock. After she came back to her senses, she uttered in calm tone:

“Fifty it is then. Call for the main kitchen servants to come over and help later.”

There were servants who were specifically in-charge of butchering the poultry in the main kitchen. Hence, fifty butchered and plucked tender ducks were sent over very quickly, followed by several kitchen helpers from other kitchens and the main kitchen.

The head chefs had been agitated by the braised marinade to the point where they were restless, and they started following Ruan Xi’s instructions once they came over to prepare the braised ducks.

Ruan Xi personally marinaded nine plucked ducks: she first dried the moisture off the plucked ducks, before she smeared her secret seasoning mix all over its body, then she stewed and boiled the entire duck inside the marinade cauldron. Following, she used a large fire to boil it, then cooked it thoroughly with a slow fire, turning it a few times at fixed intervals to allow the meat to absorb the taste.

The entire Earl Chengyi Residence was pervaded with the fragrance of the braised duck, and it was so fragrant that saliva was dripping, thus making all of the servants distracted as they did their errands.

After the greater part of a double-hour, the braised ducks were finally completed. Once they had been left to cool, the head chefs with great knife skills cut the ducks into neat and thick slices before dribbling Ruan Xi’s secret braised marinade and carrying it outside.

Upon seeing the plate of braised duck which had a rosy colour, bright lustre, and dense fragrance, she picked up her chopsticks to clip up a piece of braised duck meat and placed it in her mouth. She only took a bite and all of the sharp and fragrant taste burst open on her taste buds, and an indescribable taste spread from her tongue to her entire body. Ruan Xi was wholly immersed in the sensation, and she finished all the fresh, tender, succulent and delicious braised duck meat in a short moment’s work, and only then did she return from the reverie caused by the exceedingly fine delicacy.

“Su Yu, try a piece too.” Ruan Xi said smilingly when she saw Su Yu visibly swallowing her saliva. Su Yu was overjoyed; she quickly thanked her Young Lady before she clipped up a piece of braised duck meat and ate it.

“Skies above, it’s so fragrant and tender, it’s so delicious!”

Once Su Yu was done eating, she stared at the braised duck on the plate with the intense desire to continue, like she fervently wished that she could eat the whole plate of braised duck.

“Young Lady, can nubi have another piece?”

Ruan XI felt rather accomplished upon seeing her reaction, so she nodded her head generously. When she saw the head chefs sharing one braised duck in the kitchen, Ruan Xi suddenly thought of Wen Ting Zhou, which made her instruct Su Yu with due haste.

“Su Yu, bring a few food boxes over, I want to send the braised duck I made to the Wen Family.”

How could she forget to share such an exquisite delicacy with Ting Zhou da ge?

Lao Taitai and the others were eating the braised duck made by the chefs, not because they did not trust Ruan Xi’s culinary skills, but because the head chefs had more experience.

The stewed braised marinade might have its thick fragrance and unique flavour, but it did not mean that the ducks marinaded by Ruan Xi would be fresh, tender, and tasty.

Hence, none of them ate the braised duck Ruan Xi personally made.

Ruan Xi was very happy because of this.

“Yes, Young Lady.” After Su Yu finished another piece of the braised duck meat, she reluctantly tore her eyes away from the plate before she went to fetch four large food boxes quickly. Then, following her Young Lady’s orders, she packed six braised ducks and two jars of marinade.

After washing up, Ruan Xi specifically wrote a secret letter before dispatching a servant to send the letter and the braised ducks inside the food boxes to the Wen Residence.

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On that day, after Earl Chengyi returned to the residence from the office, he ate the braised duck that was made from Ruan Xi’s secret braised marinade and he started to praise it to the high heavens, stating that it would frighten the Heavens and men. He started coveting the secret braised marinade recipe in Ruan Xi’s hands.

There were three more people who had the same thought as Earl Chengyi, namely Lao Taitai, Zhang shi, and Ruan san niang.

Mama Lin and Mama Yang also had the fortune of tasting the braised duck that Ruan Xi made, and they were both subdued by the deliciousness of the braised duck.

“Young Lady, [I] heard from Su Yu that you were planning to open a braised duck store?” Mama Lin abruptly asked.

Ruan Xi nodded, smiling bitterly as she said, “That was the case. That store is located in a bustling district within the capital, it would be too wasteful to sell fried dry noodles. I was preparing to sell braised ducks, but it seems like that won’t be coming to fruition.”

“Young Lady, yõu are right in thinking that, yõur secret braised marinade recipe is too easy for people to covet.” Mama Yang stated with a solemn expression.

She thought about Mama Yang’s youth-maintaining secret recipe.

The difference was that the Fourth Young Lady had the backing of the Wen Family’s Wen lao-furen behind her.

Ruan Xi sighed in her heart. She did not expect this result on the onset either. The braised duck she made was clearly only a grade higher in terms of taste compared to the braised ducks made in the main kitchens of well-known restaurants back in the modern era. She had assumed that it would fall short of the braised ducks made in the imperial kitchens, but who could have expected that Mama Yang and Mama Lin would both tell her that the braised ducks made in the imperial kitchens could not compare to hers.

Everything was in the gutters.

Presently, Wen Ting Zhou was enjoying the braised duck that Ruan Xi sent over with Minister Wen and Wen furen in the main courtyard.

The news of Ruan Xi making braised ducks had already been told to Wen Ting Zhou through a messenger that Mama Lin dispatched. After reading Mama Lin’s letter, Wen Ting Zhou was greatly shocked. He did not anticipate that Ruan Xi would actually have a secret braised marinade in her hands, and the fragrance of the simmering marinade would diffuse across the entire residence.

Wen Ting Zhou had been waiting for Ruan Xi’s delicious braised duck the entire time.

And like he expected, Ruan Xi did not disappoint him.

Wen Ting Zhou’s eyes were brimming with joy.

Six ducks were sent to him. After Wen Ting Zhou read Ruan Ruan’s letter, he kept four of them, sent one to Duke An Residence, and sent another to Wen lao-furen.

“The braised duck made by Ruan yatou is more delicious than imperial kitchen’s, to the extent where it can make your body feel comfortable and refreshed after eating it. It seems like the secret braised marinade recipe in her hands isn’t simple.” After they distributed and finished the four braised ducks, Minister Wen squinted his eyes like he wanted more, but those desires were partially concealed.

“Indeed, I’ve never eaten such a delicious braised duck. It would be great if I could eat one everyday.” Wen furen concurred.

How could Wen Ting Zhou be deaf to his father’s insinuations? The edge of his lips curled as he said: “Father, this is a unique secret recipe that Ruan Ruan accidentally stumbled upon, it doesn’t belong to the Ruan Family. She told me in her letter that she would be passing on this secret braised marinade recipe to her later generations.”

His tone voice harboured a faint trace of hardness.

Minister Wen looked at his eldest legitimate son with a deep gaze before he burst out laughing. “It’s just a secret food recipe, not something of momentous importance. Ting Zhou, you’re thinking too much; why would I snatch my future daughter-in-law’s secret recipe? You should be worrying about Earl Chengyi instead.”

Wen Ting Zhou smiled faintly. “Father can set his heart at ease, I won’t let anyone snatch away Ruan Ruan’s possession.”

Surprise spread across Minister Wen’s visage. He wanted to see where his son was getting his confidence from.