After perfecting the fried chicken recipe, Shen Xuan began to work on spicy skewers (红油串串).
In the modern world, spicy skewers were simple to make, relying on a single chili oil seasoning readily available in supermarkets. However, Great Jin had no pre-made spicy hotpot bases, so he would have to make it himself.
During his university years, Shen Xuan had an exchange program abroad for a year. When he craved authentic food overseas, he followed online recipes to learn how to make a spicy hotpot base.
Based on his memory, he drew up a recipe. Most of the other ingredients could either be found in the market or substituted.
However, because the Great Jin Dynasty protected cattle, beef was rarely eaten, and beef fat was unobtainable.
Mutton was expensive, making mutton fat too costly, so he could only substitute it with pork fat.
Shen Xuan first purchased Sichuan peppercorns, dried chili peppers, and Pixian bean paste (doubanjiang). And some other spices according to his recipe.
He then went to the butcher's shop and bought twenty catties of fatty pork. Afterward, he went to the kitchen, just as before, to experiment with food.
He started by soaking and washing the purchased spices in boiling water. Then, he mixed the bought green and red Sichuan peppercorns with a small amount of white wine.
After having the cook light the stove, he poured in the dried chili peppers and boiled them. The boiled chilies were then given to the cook to be pounded into a paste using a mortar and pestle and set aside.
Next, he cut the fatty pork into small pieces and rendered the pork fat in the pot.
The pigs in Great Jin were all naturally raised, and their meat was inherently fragrant. Just rendering the pork fat filled the entire kitchen with a rich aroma.
Shen Xuan scooped out the rendered fat scraps and had the cook take them out to share with the others.
Once he was alone in the kitchen, he poured all the previously soaked spices into the oil to infuse their fragrance.
He deftly scooped out the fried spices, then poured in the pounded chili paste to fry into chili oil. By now, the kitchen was incredibly fragrant but also pungent and spicy.
Shen Xuan coughed several times from the spiciness and quickly covered his mouth and nose with a gauze scarf. After scooping out half of the chili, he added the Pixian doubanjiang.
Finally, he added the green and red Sichuan peppercorns, a small amount of white wine, sweet fermented rice (醪糟, láozāo), rock sugar, soy sauce, salt, oyster sauce, and the seafood powder he made from the dried scallops and dried shrimp leftover from the fried chicken.
This seafood powder was specifically to replace MSG. It had a delicious umami flavor, and he had already made a large jar of it, which would last a long time.
By this point, the spicy hotpot base was essentially ready, exuding a rich, fresh, and savory aroma that permeated the entire kitchen.
Shen Xuan scooped a little to taste. After adding a touch more salt, he poured the chili oil into an open-mouthed container. With the chili oil base ready, the spicy skewers now had their "soul."
However, to make complete spicy skewers, a base alone wasn't enough.
Shen Xuan poured the previously prepared bone broth into a clay pot. After adding some of the chili oil base, he added various ingredients skewered on bamboo sticks—meat skewers, potatoes, winter melon, dried tofu, and so on—and let them cook in the pot.
In a short while, the broth and chili oil in the clay pot were boiling, and the skewers were ready. Shen Xuan scooped out the skewers and brushed them with sesame oil mixed with minced garlic.
The skewers were intensely fragrant and had an appealing reddish color, making one's mouth water.
Shen Xuan, having worked until now, was hungry and couldn't resist eating a meat skewer first. The spicy skewers tasted excellent.
Although the lack of beef fat meant a slight reduction in beef aroma, the original, pure flavor, untainted by any artificial additives, was incredibly appetizing.
Shen Xuan tried a few more types of skewers before stopping. He then noticed that the previously prepared chili oil base had solidified.
He used a knife to cut the solidified oil into more than ten blocks. Each time he wanted to make spicy skewers, he would only need to use one block, making it convenient and simple.
After completing all this, Shen Xuan finally allowed Cook Huang back into the kitchen. Cook Huang, having smelled the spicy skewers' aroma outside, was already salivating, her mind constantly replaying the ingredients she had seen.
Though she didn't know exactly which were used or how they were prepared. Shen Xuan let her in and had her taste the remaining spicy skewers.
Cook Huang picked up a winter melon skewer and put it in her mouth. The winter melon was fully infused with the broth, spicy and numbing, yet surprisingly fragrant and delicious, making her want to eat more and more.
"This is called spicy skewers. How do you think it tastes?" Shen Xuan asked.
"It's too delicious," Cook Huang praised. "Earlier, I heard people from Shu were fond of numbing flavors and liked to use Sichuan peppercorns in their cooking. I tried it once but couldn't get used to it. I never expected that Sichuan peppercorns and chilies, when paired together, would have such a unique flavor, making it incredibly satisfying to eat."
"Between these spicy skewers and the fried chicken, which do you think tastes better?" Shen Xuan asked again.
"Well..." Cook Huang hesitated before saying, "I personally prefer these spicy skewers, but the fried chicken is also very fragrant and crispy. Spicy skewers have a numbing and spicy taste that some might not be accustomed to. For those who don't like spicy food, the fried chicken would probably taste better."
Cook Huang's assessment was quite practical. Hearing this, Shen Xuan called Jinzhi and Jingui in and asked for their opinions after they tasted the spicy skewers.
As expected, Jingui quite liked the spicy skewers, but Jinzhi was afraid of spicy food. After just one bite, tears streamed down his face, and he dared not eat any more, only desperately looking for water to drink.
Seeing this, Shen Xuan thought that since both of his proposed snacks were strongly flavored, he could also sell some tea to go with them. However, out of respect for his contract, he wouldn't sell honey scholar tea.
Instead, he decided to sell sour plum soup. The recipe for sour plum soup was already widely known; one could even buy the ingredients directly from herbal shop, saving him the trouble of making it himself.
After deciding on the plan, Shen Xuan began arranging to rent a shop and purchase servants. The shop had already been scouted, so he only needed to select the location and sign the contract.
Shen Xuan chose a very lively shop directly opposite a opera. Although its facade was only three chi (about 1 meter) wide, the annual rent was one thousand two hundred taels of silver.
However, despite its small front, the shop extended for three sections deep. It not only had a backyard with a well but also several rooms suitable for living, which was very convenient for a businessman who could reside on the premises.
After securing this shop and signing the contract with the broker, Shen Xuan's remaining capital was reduced to two thousand taels of silver.
With the shop found, it needed renovation, and he also needed to acquire a few people. He directly sought the broker's help for the renovation as well.
These brokers, who frequently handled property rentals and sales, had extensive connections in related industries.
Indeed, as soon as Shen Xuan mentioned it, the broker immediately introduced him to a craftsman named Master Wang.
He said that many nearby shops had been renovated by him, and his craftsmanship was excellent, with fair prices.
Shen Xuan sent for Master Wang and, upon questioning him, confirmed that he was an experienced veteran in the trade, skilled in both carpentry and masonry.
So, Shen Xuan agreed to have him renovate the shop's facade and, after discussion, offered a price of one hundred taels to have the entire layout of the shop changed according to his requirements.
After signing the contract, Shen Xuan gave fifty taels of silver as a deposit to the broker, who would pay it to Master Wang as a materials fee when needed.
Excluding material costs, Master Wang would receive fifty taels of silver for his labor. This money would be paid directly to Master Wang after Shen Xuan inspected and approved the renovated shop.
The paperwork was also handled by the broker, making the process very safe and convenient.
Shen Xuan took only one day to secure the shop and finalize the renovation plans. He even drew a sketch on the spot for Master Wang at the broker's office, clearly explaining the areas of the shop that needed renovation.
After completing all this, Shen Xuan returned home, waiting for the broker to finalize the rental contract with the authorities. He planned to go to the labor market the next day to purchase staff.
Jinzhi and Jingui, following behind Shen Xuan, were utterly astonished by his efficient and decisive style.
Among the inner female members of wealthy households in the capital, it wasn't uncommon to run businesses for extra income.
However, most didn't manage things themselves. They simply handed over their dowry shops to their families to manage, settling for dividends at the end of the year.
Even those who personally managed shops would hire experienced head shopkeepers through their household stewards to oversee operations, remaining completely ignorant of these complex matters.
Moreover, setting up a shop was certainly not a two-day affair. Even for a steward, it would take over half a month.
Jinzhi and Jingui had no idea how Shen Xuan was so familiar with these complicated procedures, handling them with such effortless ease, as if it were simple.
Seeing him sketch a draft in a few strokes and instruct Master Wang on how to renovate the shop further filled them with admiration.
After today, they were even more utterly convinced by Shen Xuan. With such a capable ger how could he possibly fail to make money?
No wonder Shen Xuan, a ger from the countryside, was so generous with his spending. As long as they diligently followed him, their future would certainly be prosperous, and their prospects would surely not be worse than those servants who followed other masters.
***
Shen Xuan also noticed the changes in Jinzhi and Jingui. Although these two were servants sent by Madam Bai, they were not direct retainers brought from the Bai family, but rather original servants of the Marquis's mansion.
Madam Bai had underestimated Shen Xuan, sending no close confidantes other than Mama You to his side.
While Jinzhi and Jingui were born into the household, their family members held no important positions, nor did any work in Madam Bai's or Xue Fenglin's courtyards.
Since Madam Bai had reassigned them to serve Shen Xuan, Xue Fenglin had moved their parents to work in his own courtyard.
After Shen Xuan had guided them for a while, he figured out their personalities. Jinzhi was straightforward; a little benefit could make him devoted to his work, doing whatever he was told.
Jingui, however, thought more deeply and was also smarter. After Shen Xuan's "guidance," he became quite loyal and could even anticipate Shen Xuan's thoughts, actively helping Shen Xuan with things he hadn't yet had time to instruct.
Shen Xuan teaching Jingui to read and write was also due to his appreciation for this intelligence, feeling that he could be put to great use.
***
The next day, Shen Xuan prepared to go to the labor market again to purchase staff for the shop.
Mama You, seeing Shen Xuan running around day after day, often not returning home until evening, was starting to get annoyed.
So, that day, before Shen Xuan could leave, she stopped him and began to lecture him, "Shen Ger, you've been in the capital for quite some time now. Although you've opened your own residence outside, as per the Empress Dowager's wishes, you are still the Marquis's heir's fiancé. It doesn't sound good if you run out to play every day. You should still consider the Marquis's family's reputation to some extent."
"You're a ger from the countryside, new to the capital, so it's not your fault if you don't understand the rules of wealthy households," Mama You said.
"Since I have time today, I'll teach you the Marquis's mansion's rules, to spare you from acting recklessly and making a fool of yourself in the future."
Mama You's words were unpleasant, effectively telling Shen Xuan not to go out. As the housekeeper sent by Madam Bai, she felt her words represented Madam Bai and carried considerable weight.
Previously, Shen Xuan had always appeared submissive to her, seemingly obeying her every word. Mama You naturally assumed Shen Xuan would listen to her this time as well.
However, after she finished speaking, Shen Xuan winked at Jingui, who then quietly ran off to find Suyun and Suyue.
Jingui told them that "Old Hag You" was getting bolder, and even dared to put on airs like a master, blocking Shen Ger at the door to lecture him just because he wanted to go out.
"Oh! That old woman is getting more daring by the day. She completely forgets her place as a servant!" Suyun and Suyue exchanged glances, immediately rolled up their sleeves, and put their hands on their hips.
Jingui had already given them a heads-up earlier, and this visit was to tell them it was time to act. They had long been waiting for a chance to catch Mama You in the act. After exchanging a look, they immediately walked out.
Upon reaching the entrance, they saw Mama You still scolding Shen Xuan about observing the Marquis's mansion's rules.
Shen Xuan didn't retort. He just stood at the door, listening to her, his expression calm, showing no signs of joy or anger.
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