Chapter 5

I took another sip of the shop’s fizzy tea. It was like a little dance on my tongue: a bite of fried chicken, then a sip of the drink.

I wished I’d been born in Lizhou!

In the end, I couldn’t stand it any longer. On the day the little Huixiang shop closed, I ran over and waited outside.

Auntie dragged me back home. “I know the shopkeeper! I’ve already invited her here to discuss it.”

“Auntie, you’re my own mother! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

She rubbed her nose. “I told you ages ago. You just weren’t listening.”

9

The owner of Huixiang Restaurant was so young!

She wore her hair in a high ponytail and a neat, practical short jacket. A tall young man stood beside her, looking very much like her.

Both of them had slightly tanned skin. They were quite unlike the fair-skinned young masters and ladies of the capital.

I gripped the edge of my sleeve, barely able to contain my excitement.

“Are you Shopkeeper Lin? My name is Xu Anhe. Just call me Anhe.”

She laughed heartily. She started to reach out to shake my hand, then drew it back and greeted me with a clasped-hands salute instead.

“Hello, Anhe. I’m Lin Hui.”

We hit it off at once.

“Sister Hui, do you make your fried chicken with thigh meat? I can taste honey, cinnamon, dried tangerine peel, and fennel, but I can’t identify the rest.”

Her eyes lit up. “You’re a godsent food genius!”

Then she turned to the young man beside her. “See? I told you she’d learn to cook even faster than you!”

He glanced at me, then lowered his head.

“Mhm. Miss Xu is clever.”

Her younger brother was so tall, yet so shy. Lin Hui’s eyes gleamed.

“I agree to work with you on opening a branch in the capital.”

“Come to my shop from now on. You can learn alongside my younger brother.”

“Oh, I haven’t introduced you. This is Lin Zheng. He’s seventeen and still unmarried.”

As soon as she said it, his ears turned bright red. He glanced at me, then quickly turned his face away.

Auntie had been unable to get a word in until now.

“Do you need anyone to taste the dishes? Someone has to try the food as you make it!”

Qingluo was just as eager. “I can eat anything. Let me taste whatever you make!”

10

Meeting Sister Hui felt like finding a soulmate after years of searching. We were as close as sworn sisters.

I admired how many fresh ideas she had. She could turn anything into a delicious dish without even blinking.

She said my palate was heaven-sent, more precise than a scale.

In less than two months, I had learned to make all those unusual snacks.

In some ways, the student had even surpassed the teacher. We also came up with new dishes together.

Numbing and spicy, with vegetables in the broth and broth soaked into the vegetables.

She wanted to call the dish “The Meeting of Old and New.”

I didn’t understand. She laughed and changed the subject, saying we could call it Huixiang Spicy Soup instead.

Everyone had secrets. If she didn’t tell me hers, I wouldn’t ask.

Understanding one another was enough.

5

She even mapped out three-year projections and a five-year plan.

Starting from Lizhou, Huixiang restaurants would spread across the realm. She wanted a nationwide chain and meant to make a huge success of it.

Then she would reach the very peak of life!

A chain of shops? A huge success? I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

I just clapped along and told her how brilliant it sounded.

Sister Hui began brewing wine, muttering as she worked.

“The wine here has too many impurities. It isn’t pure enough. Try this jar I brewed. It’ll make an entire city smell fragrant!”

The wine really was delicious. After drinking it, the whole world spun around me.

I’d only had three cups!

Sister Hui was just as drunk, limp as mud. Lin Zheng sighed and helped his sister back to her room first.

Then he came back out and carried me on his back. “Miss Xu, pardon me!”

I swayed unsteadily, still trying to shout toward Sister Hui.

“I’m not drunk! Let’s call this Huixiang Strong Wine, just like you said—absolutely top-notch!”

“Send a few jars to my maternal grandfather. He’s still at the military camp!”

“Eldest Brother, Second Brother, and Third Brother want some too. Father can’t have any—he can’t hold his liquor…”

Lin Zheng carried me into the neighboring courtyard I had just bought. Living next door would make visiting each other easy.

Someone stood at the door in the dark.

When he saw me draped across Lin Zheng’s back, he suddenly strode over and blocked our way.

His voice was icy.

“Anhe!”

“Xu Anhe!”