Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 2467: Chapter 2468: The Great Scramble for Food

”It’s not really poisonous, it just makes people...” Bai Ruozhu paused, ”fart frequently, unable to hold it in.”

Everyone was stunned. What kind of scheme was this? The other party wasn’t trying to poison them but to humiliate them? Make them embarrassed?

But since they weren’t leaving this yard, if everyone ended up passing gas, who would really laugh at whom? What’s so embarrassing about that?

Bai Ruozhu saw their confusion and shook her head, saying, ”It’s impressive they thought of this. Maybe they intended for me not to notice the plant juices in the dishes, and then accidentally fart when treating the second prince...”

Gao Zhou twitched his mouth, ”Would that affect the detoxification?”

”I don’t know, but there’s always some risk, so those who arranged this are quite creative.” Bai Ruozhu suddenly laughed, ”Really, it’s impressive they came up with that, but no worry, changing a type of chopsticks would solve it.”

The others couldn’t laugh it off. If everyone ate dishes that made them unable to hold in gas, just the thought of the overwhelming smell of farts everywhere killed any appetite to continue eating.

”Forget it, let’s have them swap the dishes. In case they also spit in there or something, it’s disgusting enough.” Tang Feng suggested.

Bai Ruozhu twitched her mouth, ”Your thoughts aren’t unreasonable. Have you experienced this before?”

Tang Feng lowered his voice, ”You know my past, my assistant didn’t dare to speak out against me, until one day I found out he spit in my coffee...”

Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but burst into laughter, clearly indicating he had drunk quite a bit of saliva before realizing it, perhaps even more unwelcome substances.

Then, Jiang Yichun got someone to send the dishes away and had Da Gu replace them with a whole new set. Da Gu immediately reported to the Emperor, and now they were very nervous, assuming those attempting to harm the second prince were capable of controlling everything as they pleased, and if they aimed at the Emperor, it wouldn’t be impossible for them to succeed.

Six days passed like this, and the second prince was awake more often, his eyes filled with light and gratitude when he looked at Bai Ruozhu and the others.

He had thought he was going to die before, that he’d be buried alive unable to move if Bai Ruozhu didn’t know how to detoxify, if these Zhongyuan people didn’t help him, he would’ve truly ended up buried alive, suffering unbearably in a coffin.

No, maybe not completely dead, but eventually dead nonetheless.

”Your Majesty, starting tomorrow, the second prince can begin eating, but should start with water and rice soup. To be safe, I want to add a small kitchen here, where we prepare everything he eats daily.” Bai Ruozhu said to the approaching Emperor.

”Sure, sure, I’ll have someone prepare it later. Anything you need, just let Da Gu know.” The Emperor responded.

”Please send over more ingredients daily; we want to cook for ourselves.” Bai Ruozhu added.

The Emperor felt a bit embarrassed, ”Are you worried about problems with the dishes? I’ve caught the person who tampered with them; such things won’t happen again.”

”Your Majesty misunderstood. We’re not worried about that, but our tastes differ, and it doesn’t suit our palate.” Bai Ruozhu explained tactfully.

The Fusang people either eat rice balls or sashimi, or pickled vegetables in saline, not to mention deep-fried tempura. We’ve eaten so blandly that our mouths have lost all flavor.

”Oh, my oversight. List the ingredients and seasonings you need, and if the palace doesn’t have them, I’ll send someone out to buy them.”

”We brought some seasonings with us, fresh ingredients are enough.” Bai Ruozhu had anticipated the current situation before leaving, so before setting sail, she not only prepared plenty of medicinal materials but also various seasonings, especially chili because most of the group enjoyed spicy food.

The small yard already had a kitchen, but it hadn’t been used in a long time, so the utensils were incomplete. The Emperor sent over some, which Bai Ruozhu had placed at the yard’s entrance, meticulously inspected by her before letting Qiu Zhi and others move them inside.

Since the stove was too simplistic, Bai Ruozhu drew a blueprint, asking Jiang Yichun and Gao Zhou to build another stove. The father-son duo found it both amusing and exasperating as they were not accustomed to physically doing such tasks.

But to enjoy familiar food, they had to get it done quickly.

By the afternoon, large quantities of ingredients had arrived; Bai Ruozhu checked that the rice and flour were of the highest quality, and the vegetables and fish were very fresh.

Fusang people mostly ate fish, and a variety of fish had been sent, but no one showed the slightest interest. Gao Zhou even retched, ”I’ve had enough of fish, never want to eat fish again in this life.”

Bai Ruozhu laughed, ”Then if I make fish, don’t you eat it.”

”I won’t, definitely won’t!” Gao Zhou said confidently, raising his chin.

There wasn’t much chicken or pork, certainly not enough for everyone, so Bai Ruozhu got creative. She made a chopped pepper fish head, fish puree stir-fried with green veggies, and a big pot of sour and spicy fish, like a stew with various ingredients.

As for fish and pork, any preparation would be devoured eagerly by everyone.

Yizi and a few girls helped out; Bai Ruozhu focused on cooking, so it wasn’t tiresome. After preparing the dishes, she served the girls first, as they were the ones who put in the effort and deserved to taste it first.

Bai Ruozhu took a bite of the sour and spicy fish and couldn’t help but exclaim, ”It’s been so long since I’ve tasted something this good.”

Fo Lanying and the others chuckled, even Wa Wei said, ”Sister Ruozhu, who praises their own food like that?”

Bai Ruozhu wasn’t shy, laughing, ”You’ll see after you try it. Before on the boat, conditions were limited, so I couldn’t cook anything good. Now, making something delectable brings back memories.”

She couldn’t help but think of those days her family spent in Anyuan Town. Back Mountain Village was annoying, but the time after moving to Anyuan Town was truly pleasant.

Even though her family had to work hard at their business, waking up early and toiling late, spending time joyfully together was worth it, with less danger and trouble. If life could always be like that, wouldn’t it be wonderful?

Unfortunately, life is unpredictable. Even if she hadn’t met Achun, with her father’s background, they could never return to the past.

”Alright, let’s quickly bring out the dishes. They must be eagerly waiting.” Bai Ruozhu pulled her thoughts back, smiling as she spoke to the girls.

They divided the work of bringing out the dishes; Jianqi saw and came over to help too, and soon the whole yard was seated around the table, enjoying the warm meal.

”This is truly delicious. Since coming to Fusang, I haven’t seen them stir-fry anything!” Tang Feng couldn’t help but exclaim.

”Exactly, they at most boil something in a pot, like it’s in plain water, completely flavorless.” Yuan Licheng grumbled while continuing to eat eagerly, afraid the dishes would be snatched away.

As a result, the happy gathering turned into a food-grabbing competition until the knocking on the door interrupted them.