Chapter 164: The Fragrant Carp Soup

Master Yang was even more shocked when he saw the milky white soup in the pot. He pointed at the thing in the pot and asked in disbelief, “Is this… fish soup?”

Compared to frying fish, making fish soup was even more difficult. This was because the fish smell would be even stronger in soups.

Master Yang’s steamed fish didn’t have much smell because he had accidentally knocked over sour wine over the fish one time. Then, when the fish was steamed, he noticed that the fishy smell had lightened. When Master Yang would make steamed fish in the future, he would sneakily pour some sour wine.Therefore, no one had discovered that the steamed fish he had prepared was actually marinated with sour wine.

However, he was sure that Lin Yuelan’s soup was not treated with sour wine, so how did she make the fishy smell disappear?

The fish soup was served.

Everyone was looking at the fish in the milky white soup. It looked fine and tender. It must be delicious.

They all drooled.

Master Yang looked at the dish and swallowed his saliva. His attitude toward Lin Yuelan took a 180-degree turn. With a kind gesture, he said, “Miss, can I try your dish?”

Lin Yuelan glanced at master Yang and nodded. “Of course!”

Master Yang quickly brought a small bowl and a spoon over. After pouring half a small bowl of soup, master Yang sniffed the soup in the bowl and said in surprise, “I’ve never smelled fish soup as fragrant as this.”

Only the poor and those who could not eat meat would go to the river to catch some fish to eat. However, no matter how the fish was cooked, it would smell. Therefore, not that many liked to eat fish.

Master Yang took another sip of the soup and exclaimed, “the fish meat is fresh and tender, and the fish soup is delicious. It’s wonderful!” After saying this, he said very sincerely, “Miss, I apologize for what I said. This is very delicious. You’re right. Age is not everything. Life is full of learning opportunities. Perhaps I’m getting old.” Master Yang had a bad temper, and his temper came and went quickly. Since he was rude earlier, he apologized to Lin Yuelan.

Lin Yuelan was flattered, “master Yang, please don’t say that. You are an experienced chef. I can’t rival your experience.”

Master Yang shook his head and said, “no, miss Lin. I shouldn’t have lorded my age over you. I was wrong. Therefore, I need to apologize.”

Well, what could Lin Yuelan say to that?

After accepting Master Yang’s apology, the group went back to the private room. Once the dish was served, there was an endless clanging sound as the porcelain bowls knocked against one another.

“Hmm? What is this?” Little twelve spat out a slice of ginger. “Why does it taste so spicy?”

Liu Qi and Zhou Wencai stared at the thin piece of object in curiosity and puzzlement.

They had seen this before. Their families would boil water with this when they had the flu. But why would this thing be inside the fish soup?

The two of them looked at Lin Yuelan like inquisitive children.

After Lin Yuelan finished her bowl of soup, she wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and said, “Just as you thought, this is the key to removing the fishy smell!”

She had never intended to hide the existence of the ginger slices. Otherwise, she could have fished out the ginger slices before the soup was served.

“Is that true?” Liu Qi and Zhou Wencai asked in astonishment, “Why haven’t others thought of this?” If this technique was effective, they could use this more often in the future. They were definitely businessmen. Profit always came first.

Lin Yuelan said calmly, “A chef’s skill is important to make a good fish dish, but this thing can indeed lower the smell of fish.”

Zhou Wencai was curious. He asked with a smile, “Miss Lin, then how do you plan to sell your recipe now?” The key ingredient of the recipe was revealed, so the recipe wasn’t worth much now.

He was surprised that Lin Yuelan was so short-sighted. She hoped to earn money from her recipe but she had unwittingly revealed the key to her recipe. Therefore, he wanted to know what Lin Yuelan would do next.

Lin Yuelan chuckled at Zhou Wencai and said, “I never planned to sell this recipe anyway.”

Zhou Wen and Liu Qi exchanged looks. Was Lin yuelan toying with them?

But it didn’t look like it. Based on her sinister smile, she must have other intentions.

As expected…

“I’m giving this dish recipe to you for free. However,” Lin Yuelan continued, “I have other fish recipes like braised fish, stewed fish, sweet and sour fish, chopped pepper fish head, and so on. They are all delicious!”

So, this fish soup was just the bait! Most of the fish dishes listed by Lin Yuelan they hadn’t even heard of before!

Zhou Wencai immediately asked in high spirits, “miss Lin, may I know how we can cook those dishes?” He believed that the same technique used to remove the smell in the carp soup would be replicated for the other dishes.

However, different recipes would have different techniques. Lin Yuelan waved her finger and said, “I told you that the recipe for this carp soup is free, but if you want the recipes for the other dishes…” Lin Yulen made the gesture for money.

After tasting the carp soup, Liu Qi saw a strong business opportunity. He immediately said, “How about this, miss Lin? I’ll use 100 taels to buy the recipes, but you can’t give them to anyone else!”

‘I really can’t underestimate the brilliance of these merchants.’ Lin Yuelan thought.

Using 100 taels to buy the recipes sounded like a profit to the seller, but in the long run, it was more beneficial to the buyer.

Once Liu Qi closed off the market and ensured that only Yuelai Inn would have her special fish dishes, Yuelai Inn would dominate the restaurant business in town. Lin Yuelan predicted that he would get back the 100 teals in profit after half a year. After half a year, he would have 100% of the net profit from the sales.

Therefore, Lin Yuelan shook her head and said, “I won’t do that!”

Liu Qi’s expression changed immediately. He asked directly, “What do you want then?”