The saintess is pregnant, what does that have to do with me, a spoiled brat?

The manager wiped away his tears and got up, holding the bowl of yellowish powder in both hands, his hands trembling like a leaf.

This is a family heirloom!

"Rest assured, sir! I will risk my life to ensure that not a single word of this secret recipe is revealed!"

Xu Nuo waved his hand, too lazy to listen to his declaration of loyalty.

"Alright, here's the recipe. From now on, all dishes at Zuixianlou will be made according to this standard."

The manager carefully put the formula away from his body, nodding repeatedly.

Xu Nuo turned to look at Fatty Wang, who was still savoring the shrimp.

"Fatty, go do me a favor."

Fatty Wang suddenly snapped out of his daze, patted his chest, and declared confidently, "Brother Xu, you say it! We'll go through fire and water, brothers will never hesitate!"

"It's not that exaggerated." Xu Nuo walked to the cutting board, picked up a brush, and casually drew a picture on a piece of scrap paper.

A round iron pot, divided in the middle by an iron plate, is divided into two halves.

"Go to the best blacksmith in town and have a batch of these pots made. The partition in the middle must be welded shut; it absolutely cannot leak. I need it quickly; I need it tomorrow."

Fatty Wang took the blueprints and scratched his head.

"Brother Xu, this pot looks really strange, what's it used for?"

"Stop talking nonsense and get going."

"Alright!" Fatty Wang stuffed the blueprints into his pocket and rushed out in a hurry.

Xu Nuo leaned against the stove, watching the bustling kitchen, a cold smile curling at the corner of her lips.

Chen Yunfei, since you've given me Zuixianlou, I'll show you what a true dimensional reduction attack looks like.

……

The next morning.

As soon as Xu Nuo stepped into the gate of Zuixianlou, the manager, sweating profusely and pale-faced, came to greet him.

"Boss, something's happened!"

Xu Nuo walked to the armchair in the lobby and sat down, slowly picking up her teacup.

"What's the panic? I'll hold up the sky if it falls."

The manager was so anxious he was stamping his feet, his voice trembling: "Master, this morning I went to buy ingredients, but all the butchers and vegetable vendors in town refused to sell to us!"

Xu Nuo paused, his eyelids slightly lifting.

The manager swallowed hard and continued, "I've inquired; it was the Chen family who made the announcement. Chen Yunfei sent word that anyone who dares to supply Zuixianlou is going against the Chen family and will have no future in the capital!"

"Boss, if this restaurant doesn't have any ingredients, what are we going to use to cook? How can we even open the door?"

The manager was in a panic.

Zuixianlou consumes an astronomical amount of ingredients every day. Now that the source has been cut off, it's like their lifeline has been directly squeezed.

Xu Nuo put down her teacup and chuckled softly.

That bastard Chen Yunfei doesn't dare to come openly, so he resorts to these underhanded tricks behind people's backs.

Supply cutoff?

"Master, how about we go to the outer city to buy it? Or send someone to collect it from the villages outside the city?" the steward tentatively suggested.

"No need for that." Xu Nuo stood up, straightening her clothes. "What kind of ingredients are they cutting off?"

"Chicken, duck, fish, meat, and all kinds of delicacies are gone. They won't even sell us the most ordinary vegetables."

Xu Nuo smiled.

"What about offal like pig intestines, beef tripe, duck blood, and duck intestines?"

The manager was stunned.

He stared blankly at Xu Nuo, thinking he had misheard.

"Ah? Master, those... those are things that only lowly people eat, they're incredibly stinky. Our Zuixianlou is the number one restaurant in the capital, we never serve such filthy things."

Serving pig offal to high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the inner city?

Isn't this ruining their reputation?!

"Go collect them." Xu Nuo tapped the table with his folding fan, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Collect as many as you can, the cheaper the better. Also, go and buy some coarse salt and white vinegar."

The manager was dumbfounded and stood there without moving.

"What are you still standing there for? Waiting for me to invite you?" Xu Nuo's eyes turned cold.

The manager trembled all over, and dared not say another word, scrambling out of the room.

……

Inner city, Lan Yue Pavilion.

Chen Yunfei leaned back on the soft couch, listening to Qian Dafu's report, and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Good! Well done!"

Chen Yunfei touched his still slightly swollen cheek, a sinister glint flashing in his eyes.

Qian Dafu fawned over him, his face beaming, "Young Master Chen, that living devil is probably jumping up and down in a panic right now. Without ingredients, his Drunken Immortal Pavilion is just an empty shell; he can't even produce a fart!"

Chen Yunfei snorted coldly, picked up his wine glass, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Trying to mess with me? All he knows is how to bully others with his power; he doesn't know anything about doing business."

"Which vegetable or meat market in the capital doesn't defer to the Chen family? Once they go out of business and are left with nothing, they'll naturally beg me to return Zuixianlou."

Qian Dafu gave a thumbs up: "Young Master Chen is brilliant! This move to cut off the enemy's supply lines is absolutely ingenious!"

Chen Yunfei leaned back smugly on the soft couch, as if he could already see Xu Nuo kneeling in front of him begging for mercy.

……

The kitchen of Zuixianlou Restaurant.

Baskets of foul-smelling pig offal and beef tripe were brought in.

The entire kitchen was instantly filled with an indescribable stench.

Several cooks covered their noses, their faces full of disgust, and backed away.

"Master, this...this thing is really edible?" The fat cook looked miserable, almost vomiting.

Xu Nuo stood aside expressionlessly, personally directing the operation.

"Scrub it hard with coarse salt and white vinegar! Scrub it until there's no smell left! Anyone who doesn't get it clean can forget about eating today."

The cooks dared not disobey, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward, roll up their sleeves, and begin frantically scrubbing.

On the other side, Fatty Wang returned with several of his men, carrying over a dozen pre-made hot pots.

"Brother Xu, the pot is finished! It's exactly as you requested, welded tightly in the middle!"

Xu Nuo nodded and walked to the stove.

"Take the wok out of the heat and heat the oil."

The fat cook quickly started a fire.

He promised to throw a large chunk of butter into the pot.

As the temperature rose, the butter gradually melted. Xu Nuo grabbed a handful of spices, including Sichuan peppercorns, dried chilies, star anise, and cinnamon, and poured them in all at once.

Stab it!

The hot oil is bubbling.

Finally, Xu Nuo scooped up a large spoonful of the secret-recipe chicken bouillon he had made overnight and sprinkled it into the pot.

boom!

An extremely powerful, spicy and savory aroma exploded throughout the kitchen like a bomb.

The smell was so strong that it completely overpowered the stench of the sewage, rushing straight to the top of my head through my nostrils.

Fatty Wang took a deep breath, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"Holy crap! Brother Xu, what kind of divine flavor is this?!"

Fatty Wang was so excited that his fat face trembled and his mouth watered uncontrollably.

The steward and cooks were all dumbfounded, craning their necks and staring intently at the iron pot bubbling with red oil.

Xu Nuo picked up a piece of cleaned and cut beef tripe and dipped it in the boiling red oil pot several times.

The tofu skin was slightly curled and covered in red oil.

Xu Nuo scooped it out, rolled it in the garlic and sesame oil sauce that had been prepared beforehand, and then put it in his mouth.

Crisp, tender, and refreshing, with a spicy and savory flavor.

Xu nodded in satisfaction.

Although the seasonings are still not plentiful enough, the flavor is absolutely overwhelming in this Great Li Dynasty.

"Fatty, have a taste."

Fatty Wang couldn't wait any longer. He eagerly imitated Xu Nuo, picked up a piece of tripe, cooked it, and stuffed it into his mouth.

The moment of entering the entrance.

Fatty Wang froze.

"Waaaah...it's so delicious!"

Wang Pangzi was sweating profusely from the spiciness, and tears were almost streaming down his face, but he just couldn't stop eating with his chopsticks.

"This crispness! This spiciness! Absolutely amazing! Brother Xu, this is fucking incredible!"

The manager swallowed hard, unable to resist any longer, and also stepped forward to have a piece burned.

The next second, the manager immediately knelt down.

"Master, what... what is this called?" The steward gasped for breath from the spiciness, yet his face was full of fervor.

"hot pot."

Xu Nuo wiped her mouth and threw down her chopsticks.

"Go and hang a sign at the entrance. Zuixianlou is reopening today with a brand new dining experience. For the first three days, everything is half price."

The manager was so excited that he was trembling all over.

With this hot pot, who would still crave those bland and tasteless delicacies!

Does the Chen family want to cut off their path to survival?

Go dream!