There is a god in the sky

Chapter 89 The Arson Case at the Yu Mansion (Part 10)

This night is destined to be sleepless.

Shen Lan got up early and practiced boxing in the courtyard. Now that she had revealed most of her secrets, she no longer needed to hide many things.

The most surprised person was not Xuan'er, but Fu Qingyan.

He ran out with his toothbrush in his mouth to watch Shen Lan practice boxing, his eyes wide open, bigger than copper bells.

"Pah... Miss Shen knows martial arts?"

Xiao Ji withdrew his gaze from Shen Lan and tapped him on the head. "Both scholarly and martial, understand?"

Fu Qingyan nodded blankly, and then, whether it was his wounded pride or the renewed fighting spirit, he didn't even eat breakfast and went to read a book.

Xiao Ji rolled up his sleeves and walked over, raising an eyebrow as he asked, "How about we exchange a few moves?"

Shen Lan also wanted to find out his background, so she nodded in agreement.

"That's it."

"Of course."

The two exchanged polite gestures, struck a pose, their eyes changed, and they attacked simultaneously.

Xiao Ji usually practices boxing primarily for health and fitness, using softness to overcome hardness, but it's not so easy for him to injure someone.

Shen Lan usually practices military-style boxing, which is practical and doesn't involve any fancy moves.

One is soft, the other is hard; to those in the know, it's clear that Shen Lan's boxing style is more forceful and powerful.

Although fighting is not her forte, she understands the weaknesses of the human body, and if she intends to hurt someone, she can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

However, due to a lack of experience, he was only able to fight Xiao Ji to a standstill.

Xiao Ji withdrew his attack, rubbing his sore hands, and conceded defeat.

After all, he had the advantage of age and physique, and the other party had still left him some room to maneuver.

"Go change your clothes, I'll take you somewhere." Xiao Ji walked into the house with his hands behind his back.

Shen Lan didn't ask any more questions. She changed into a dress she usually wore, styled her hair in a maid's double bun, and went out with them.

When she got to the street, she saw Xiao Jixian buy a painting at the Treasure Pavilion and guessed that he was going to visit some important person today.

She imagined him to be a reclusive literary giant or a retired high-ranking official.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Ji led her to knock on the door of an ordinary farmer's house.

It wouldn't be accurate to call it ordinary. This family lived in the city, occupying a large plot of land by the river. They had a front yard and a back yard, and two thatched huts. There was no trace of poverty in their home.

The gate opened, and a little boy looked up and asked them, "Who are you looking for?"

Xiao Ji patted his head and said with a smile, "We've come to visit the Hermit of Rongshan."

The little boy looked them up and down, perhaps noticing their good looks, and politely asked, "Do you know my grandfather?"

"We'll know each other once we meet."

Shen Lan didn't know who the Hermit of Rongshan was, but for Xiao Ji to personally come to visit him, he must be someone important.

"My grandfather is not home."

Xiao Ji, unsure whether he had believed him or not, asked, "Can we go inside and wait for him?"

"No, Grandpa instructed us not to let strangers in."

Just then, an old man carrying a hoe came over from behind and shouted, "Grandson, come out and help carry these things."

Shen Lan turned around and saw the hermit of Rongshan. Her first thought was, "Has Xiao Ji come to the wrong person?"

This is the image of an ordinary farmer, dressed in cloth clothes, with his trousers rolled up, carrying a hoe on one side and a bucket of water on the other.

The little boy ran outside, peered into the bucket of snails, and exclaimed happily, "Great! We can eat these snails for days!"

The grandfather and grandson completely ignored Xiao Ji and Shen Lan and walked into the courtyard.

Xiao Ji coughed lightly, "My name is Xiao Ji, and I have come to pay my respects to Mr. Rongshan."

The old man glanced at him and said, "I don't know you."

"Yes, I come from Jianzhou. I have long admired your name and have come to pay my respects today."

The other person initially didn't want to talk to her, but then, for some reason, pointed at Shen Lan and asked, "Can you cook?"

Shen Lan nodded, "I know a little."

"You've really cooked?" the old man asked skeptically.

After all, Shen Lan is fair-skinned and follows a young master like Xiao Ji, so she doesn't look like someone who does manual labor.

Shen Lan stretched out her hands and told him, "I have ten years of cooking experience."

The old man asked in surprise, "How old are you? Could it be that you've been working as a kitchen helper since you were very young?"

"Pretty much, sir. You want to eat my cooking?"

“You’ve come as guests, so you should eat, but I don’t know how to cook, and my grandson certainly doesn’t.”

Shen Lan really wanted to ask, "So what do you usually eat?"

She didn't think it was difficult.

The main thing is that this can help Xiao Ji; cooking a few dishes is really nothing.

"Okay, where's the kitchen? Do you have enough ingredients? Wait for me for half an hour." She rolled up her sleeves and went inside.

The little boy led her into the kitchen.

Shen Lan thought that this family consisted of only a grandfather and grandson, so they must eat simply. However, she did not expect the kitchen to be so large, with a wide variety of ingredients, including wild game that was not commonly found in Jiangzhou.

"Did your grandfather buy all of these?" Shen Lan asked the little boy in surprise.

"Most of them were gifts from others."

Shen Lan thought to herself: Who exactly is this Hermit of Rongshan? He seems to be quite famous.

Xiao Ji politely bowed to the hermit of Rongshan: "Won't you invite me in for a seat, sir?"

"Hmph, I'm not very welcoming to uninvited guests."

"Since I'm already here, why don't I play a game of chess with you, sir?"

The hermit of Rongshan walked with his hands behind his back into the thatched pavilion and sat down. The little boy deftly set up the chessboard.

Xiao Ji casually handed the calligraphy and painting he had bought at great expense to the little boy, and then sat down opposite the hermit of Rongshan.

I thought this would be a closely contested game, after all, Xiao Ji's chess skills were not bad.

But before the game was even halfway through, the old man was distracted by the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen and lost all interest in the game.

"What is that girl cooking? It smells so good!" He kept glancing into the kitchen, but he was too embarrassed to ask.

Xiao Ji had only eaten Shen Lan's food once, and he had full confidence in her cooking skills.

He thought Shen Lan could only make simple dishes, but the smell of the food was anything but simple.

He asked, amused, "Sir, shall we continue playing chess?"

"No, no, let's wait until after we eat." The old man ran to the cellar to fetch the wine jars.

He has been storing this fine wine for many years, and today it's the perfect time to bring it out and pair it with some snacks.

The little boy ran to the kitchen to help, and Shen Lan fed him a bite of fried lychee meat. He immediately beamed with joy and didn't want to leave.

"Do you know how to serve dishes?" Shen Lan asked him.

"meeting."

"Be careful, bring the cooked dishes to the table, I'll make you some delicious fried chicken in a bit."

The little boy didn't know what fried chicken tasted like, but he thought all fried food was delicious.

He carefully carried the plate out, then turned back and smiled at Shen Lan, saying, "Pretty sister, my name is Yang Feng."

Before Shen Lan could ask him which character it was, she saw him run away with the dishes.

The hermit of Rongshan was surnamed Yang and named Jie, a name he changed himself, meaning "all alone".

Shen Lan assumed he was from Jiangzhou, so apart from the lychee pork dish she specially prepared for Yang Feng, all the other dishes were spicy.

She prepared five dishes and a soup, including braised sea bass, spicy chicken, stir-fried snails, and a plate of cured pork stir-fried with chrysanthemum greens.

It turned out that the old gentleman's favorite dish was lychee pork. He also liked the other dishes, but noticed that they were on the sweeter side.

"That's strange, why do I smell different pork aromas?" The old man sniffed and found that the smell was coming from the kitchen.

"Girl, did you secretly hide some delicious food that you didn't serve?"

Shen Lan explained, "There's also a Dongpo pork dish that's been simmering in a clay pot for too short a time, so you can save it for dinner."