For a moment, Jiang Yanyi felt as if she were about to remember something, but the pain radiating from her back disrupted her thoughts.

She could only talk to Aunt Guo about something else to distract herself: “Have you noticed anyone in the kitchen giving Qui Kui a hard time these past few days?”

Aunt Guo replied, “The new ones seem diligent, and there doesn’t seem to be any conflict with Qui Kui. I even hinted at it with them, and they said they get along pretty well with her.”

The sensation of the guasha board scraping repeatedly on one area was quite uncomfortable, as if it was going to peel off the skin.

Jiang Yanyi grimaced in pain: “What about the new runner?”

Aunt Guo said, “That one is clever, always calling Qui Kui by name. Doesn’t seem like someone who would target her.”

With such a conclusion, Jiang Yanyi couldn’t make sense of it no matter how hard she tried.

The effects of the guasha were quite evident; by that evening, Jiang Yanyi felt that her dizziness had subsided, and her body was no longer heavy.

She perked up and checked the accounts from the noodle shop, only to discover that the profits were already catching up to those of the antique soup shop.

In the past few days, they had also received several large orders from merchant caravans, which made her very excited.

During her illness, Chef Yao had been holding down the fort in the kitchen.

The chickens ordered by Duke Chen that had been killed were all transformed into signature dishes by Chef Yao to prevent waste.

Outside in the shop, Yang Xiu was also capable of managing things on his own.

Jiang Yanyi decided to cook a nice meal for everyone as a way to comfort them for their hard work lately.

The kitchen was stocked with chicken, duck, fish, and meat.

To her surprise, there was also a large chunk of beef, weighing about ten pounds.

When she asked Chef Yao, she learned that a plow ox raised by a local farmer had slipped on the ice and broken its leg, making it unable to plow anymore, so it was sent to the authorities to be slaughtered.

Chef Yao had managed to buy this ten-odd pounds of beef as a favor.

In ancient times, eating beef and lamb was mostly about stewing, savoring the original flavor.

Jiang Yanyi cut a pound of beef into thin slices, wrapped them in cilantro, and skewered them with bamboo sticks to make cilantro beef skewers.

She was always generous when it came to food for the people in the shop.

Whenever she cooked herself, there was no shortage of meat.

However, when Jiang Yanyi was away, Chef Yao, who cooked for everyone, might have been instructed by Chef Li to be stingy with the oil and meat, as if afraid that a group of people would eat Jiang Yanyi into poverty.

Therefore, every time Jiang Yanyi said she would cook, the new staff members were as excited as if it were the New Year.

Having just recovered from her cold, Aunt Guo wouldn’t let her touch anything cold, so all the washing and cutting of vegetables were handled by Aunt Guo.

Jiang Yanyi and Qui Kui, along with others, prepared the cleaned ingredients by skewering them with bamboo sticks.

When the antique soup shop first opened, Jiang Yanyi had grilled skewers in the street to attract customers, and she had prepared many bamboo skewers for later use, which were now coming in handy.

The older staff members in the shop thought Jiang Yanyi was going to grill meat and were very pleased, working efficiently.

Only the three new arrivals had yet to taste Jiang Yanyi’s grilling skills, but based on her cooking skills and the excitement of the older staff, they guessed that tonight would be another delicious meal.

Yang Xiu proactively said, “Boss, I’ll go clean the grill and light the charcoal in the meantime?”

Jiang Yanyi knew they must have misunderstood and chuckled, “We’re not having grilled meat tonight; we’re having skewers.”

“What are skewers?” Qui Kui asked while skewering lotus root slices.

Jiang Yanyi explained, “It’s when you put the food skewered on bamboo sticks into a pot to boil. When you eat, you just pick it up with the bamboo stick. You can also dip it in sauce.”

Skewered food is another form of hot pot.

Jiang Yanyi planned to use the old hot pot recipe to simmer the broth.

In ancient times, people rarely ate spicy food.

The numbing and spicy hot pot she was offering now used zhu yu (a type of fruit) in the base, and even the spiciness of pepper was not reached, yet many diners shook their heads and said it was spicy.

Initially, Chef Yao had discussed with Jiang Yanyi to reduce the amount of zhu yu; otherwise, it would be hard to sell the pot.

However, those diners who had complained about the spice returned not long after, specifically asking for another pot of the zhu yu spicy hot pot they had enjoyed last time.

Gradually, the spicy hot pot became a significant feature of Jiang Yanyi’s antique soup shop, as other places had yet to see such an unconventional hot pot being sold.

While clear broth hot pots were common, the spicy hot pot used over thirty different spices for its base.

Even chefs from other restaurants who came to taste it couldn’t identify all the ingredients, and they were completely lost when it came to knowing which spices to add first.

While preparing the cilantro beef skewers, Jiang Yanyi recalled that there should still be some pickled sour beans in the pickling jar, so she asked Okra to fetch some.

She cut the sour cowpeas into thumb-length pieces, wrapped them with pieces of beef, and then threaded them onto bamboo skewers.

The sour cowpea beef, once cooked, was both sour and spicy, with a unique flavor.

As she deboned chicken feet, she felt the knife was exceptionally sharp and praised, “This knife made by the blacksmith is indeed great; it’s still as sharp as when it was first sharpened after all this time.”

The new helper was an elderly woman named An, who was quick on her feet and had a noticeable big mole by her mouth.

Hearing this, she chuckled at Qiu Kui, “The blacksmith comes to the shop every now and then to help sharpen the knives! How could they not be sharp?”

Qiu Kui buried herself in her work and didn’t pay attention to Aunt An.

Jiang Yanyi was beginning to think this might be related to Qiu Kui’s unusual behavior, but before she could ask, a new waiter came in from outside and said to Qiu Kui, “Sister Qiu Kui, that woman is looking for you again.”

Upon hearing this, Qiu Kui fumbled with the skewers and nearly pricked her own hand.

Jiang Yanyi asked her, “What’s wrong?”

Qiu Kui seemed to be trying hard to hide something: “It’s nothing. I’ll go out for a bit.”

Seeing that Qiu Kui had a heavy heart as she left, Jiang Yanyi turned to the waiter and asked, “What’s going on?”

Scratching his head, the waiter replied, “Uh… I’m not sure. A few days before you returned to the Chu family, a woman came to the shop looking for Sister Qiukui. She claimed to be Qiu Kui’s aunt, but when I asked Qiu Kui, she said no.”

Jiang Yanyi wiped her hands on her apron: “I’ll go check it out.”

When Jiang Yanyi got outside, she didn’t see anyone.

As she lifted the bamboo curtain to block the wind, she discovered that Qiu kui and the woman were struggling outside.

The woman was wearing coarse cloth clothes, had a strong build, high cheekbones, and was glaring at Qiukui with a pair of slanted eyes.

One hand gripped Qiu Kui’s arm tightly, while the other was pinching the tender flesh around Qiu Kui’s waist.

“What’s going on?” Jiang Yanyi shouted.

Seeing her dressed decently, the woman likely recognized her as the owner of the antique soup shop and immediately released her grip, replacing her fierce expression with a smile. “You must be the shopkeeper here. I’m this girl’s aunt. Her uncle is seriously ill and wants to take her back to see him, but she absolutely refuses.”

Qiu Kui winced at the spot where she had been pinched, afraid Jiang Yanyi would misunderstand, and almost immediately refuted, “He’s not sick!”

The woman glared at Qiu Kui fiercely: “You ungrateful girl! Do you have no conscience? After being lost for so many years, your uncle is sick from worrying about you! He’s been longing to see you.”

Afraid of being taken away, Qiu Kui shouted angrily, “You’re lying! You just want to sell me again!”

The woman feigned as if she would strike Qiu Kui: “You don’t want to go back to see your uncle, and you even dare to say such heartless words!”

Jiang Yanyi pulled Qiukui behind her: “She is someone I bought back; if you want to speak, then speak. If you dare to lay a hand on her, I will report you to the authorities.”

The woman quickly turned to Jiang Yanyi with a forced smile: “I’m just mad because of this ungrateful girl. How could she lie like this?”

If Qiu Kui could lie, that would be surprising.

Jiang Yanyi’s tone was polite, but her words were sharp: “Qiu Kui is someone I bought back from the Xizhou army. You really don’t know how she ended up in such a place, or are you pretending not to know? Human trafficking carries a death penalty!”

The woman’s confidence wavered, and she awkwardly said, “I’m her aunt; how could I possibly sell my own niece?”

Jiang Yanyi replied, “A proper girl sells herself as a servant, and there are records in the authorities about where she was sold and who handled it.”

Hearing Jiang Yanyi say this, the woman didn’t seem to show any signs of fear; instead, she shouted, “She was lost on her own back then and was tricked into signing a contract by the old madam of the flower house! I have nothing to do with it!”

It looked like she had likely tricked Qiu Kui into signing the contract, pocketing the money and washing her hands of the matter, which gave her such confidence.

Jiang Yanyi didn’t get angry; instead, she smiled at her: “You know Qiu Kui’s contract is currently in my hands. Whether she can go back or not is up to me.”

The woman was infuriated by Jiang Yanyi’s words.

Yang Xiu and the waiter noticed Jiang Yanyi had been outside for a long time and followed her out.

Seeing two men emerge from the shop, one of whom had a fierce expression, the woman knew she wouldn’t get anywhere and immediately dropped the confrontation with Jiang Yanyi, glaring at Qiu Kui as she left, saying, “Just you wait!”

Jiang Yanyi brought Qiu Kui back inside, found a quiet spot, and asked her, “Why didn’t you tell me your aunt came looking for you before?”

Qiu Kui’s eyes were red, like a child who had done something wrong: “I was busy, and I didn’t want to trouble you.”

Jiang Yanyi sighed and said, “In the future, if something like this happens, you must tell me immediately, understood?”

Qiukui nodded obediently.

Jiang Yanyi then asked, “What does she want from you?”