Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 879 - 437: Life (Part 4)

Zhao Cheng'an and Xia Sheng had a comfortable night's sleep in the wood storage room. While they slept well, Chen Qiusheng and the old servant did not.

The old servant's small room was just an ordinary side room, next to the wood storage room, very small and close to it. As a loyal old servant, he tossed and turned all night, occasionally getting up to press against the door of the wood storage room to listen for any noise inside.

Listening to whether the two inside were asleep, and whether that thief might empty the house tonight.

Compared to the pure dedication of the old servant, Chen Qiusheng's situation was much more complicated. Qin Huai could see that Chen Qiusheng somewhat regretted bringing Zhao Cheng'an back, and he too barely slept all night.

Early the next day, the haggard old servant and Chen Qiusheng opened the door to the wood storage room and saw Zhao Cheng'an and Xia Sheng looking quite spirited, exchanging a glance that was full of helplessness at their own anxiety from the night before. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Chen Qiusheng stared at Zhao Cheng'an: "Clean yourself up, I'm taking you to Taifeng Building."

The old servant fixated on Xia Sheng: "Go fetch a bucket of water, the young master's stomach is weak and he needs to drink millet porridge every morning."

Xia Sheng immediately went to fetch water. He had already observed the courtyard when he came in the night before and noticed it was piled with various items, including water buckets and a well.

Zhao Cheng'an had a different focus entirely: "Mr. Chen, thank you so much. If it weren't for Xia Sheng telling me last night, I wouldn't have known you got me such a great job. So cooks actually make food for people to eat!"

Chen Qiusheng: ...

Chen Qiusheng was helpless at this fool in front of him, stayed silent, and walked straight ahead, motioning for Zhao Cheng'an to follow. As he passed Xia Sheng, he said, "Follow Uncle Liu for now, he'll tell you what to do from now on, learn from him if you don't know."

"Old... master..." Xia Sheng suddenly spoke, hesitated a bit, but still said, "Can I go with you?"

"What?" Chen Qiusheng frowned, then realized, looking at Xia Sheng, his expression changed instantly. He scrutinized Xia Sheng, "You want to apply for an apprenticeship at Taifeng Building too?"

"You were bought by me as an Attendant Student, the deed is in my hand, and it's a death contract. Once the human trafficker and I complete the procedures with the government this morning, you'll be my family's servant, and no restaurant or shop will hire someone like that."

Xia Sheng realized Chen Qiusheng was a bit displeased and quickly explained, "Master, I'll serve the young master well, and I'll do the housework too; I just want to go and see the world."

Hearing Xia Sheng's words, Chen Qiusheng's tone softened: "Alright, come along."

Xia Sheng quickly followed.

Zhao Cheng'an asked Xia Sheng: "You've been bought by Mr. Chen and have a job, why are you still looking for work?"

Xia Sheng didn't reply.

Qin Huai followed them all the way to Taifeng Building. Taifeng Building was just as Qin Huai had seen in Chen Huihong's memory: a two-story restaurant with a plaque engraved with the words "Taifeng Building" that seemed quite old, certainly an antique.

It was still early at this time, just two hours past dawn, around 7 a.m. according to Qin Huai's estimation. Qin Huai knew Taifeng Building didn't serve breakfast, so there wasn't a single guest in the restaurant, but the doors were open and quite a few staff were already busy. Several carts and carriages loaded with fresh vegetables and clean spring water brought in from outside the city were parked at the entrance.

Chen Huihong had told Qin Huai about this. Most of Taifeng Building's clientele were nobility. These nobles considered well water to be polluted, believing only the spring water from a certain mountain outside the city was worthy of their precious bodies. Thus, Taifeng Building's water was fetched from outside the city every morning at considerable expense.

This was also Taifeng Building's initial selling point when they first established in Beiping. Manager Lu repeatedly reminded Chen Huihong to memorize the script, praising the quality of the soup during meals and noting that it used the best spring water.

As Chen Qiusheng led the two up the steps, even before entering the door, one of the staff carrying water cheerfully greeted him: "Master Chen, you're here. Just in time, Mrs. Jiang has also arrived, she brought lots of red eggs to celebrate her family's seventh child's hundredth day. If you go in now, you can still receive a red egg from Mrs. Jiang herself for good luck."

Chen Qiusheng, hearing this from the staff, calculated the days and laughed: "So it is."

As he was speaking, a woman with a hairdo that marked her as married, carrying a basket, emerged from the kitchen. Although it wasn't yet winter or even autumn, she was wearing thick clothing, her complexion was pale, clearly indicating she wasn't in good health lately. She was followed by a half-grown child holding a food box, appearing to be about eight or nine years old, similar to Xia Sheng.

Qin Huai's attention was immediately drawn to Qin Wan. He stared at her, noticing her face was indeed very poor, with lips almost devoid of any color, signaling severe blood deficiency.

"Give the box to me. It's just a wooden food box, not heavy. There's a banquet ordered by the Prince Mansion this noon, so the kitchen will surely be busy. Running back and forth to return it will take half an hour, don't delay your work," Qin Wan said gently to the child beside her.

Initially, Qin Huai thought this child might be Qin Wan's son; only after hearing her did he realize he was probably a helper or apprentice at Taifeng Building. In this era, there's no concept of child labor, and children of eight or nine years could already work, proving affordable favorites of bosses.