My whole family sucked my blood; after being reborn, the little cook went on a killing spree.

Jizhou experienced a drought last summer and autumn due to little rain.

Everyone was hoping for spring rain, but this year, the spring was still hot and dry, and many rivers and streams ran dry. Later, even shallow wells could not be filled with water.

No water means no food; even wild vegetables are scarce.

There are quite a few people who sell their sons and daughters, especially girls, who are the first to be abandoned. Families who love their daughters will keep a close watch on them, as they are easily abducted and sold for money or food if they are alone.

Therefore, most beggars on the street are young boys and old men; girls... it's almost impossible for them to be homeless.

No wonder this little beggar was hiding in the shop pretending to be a ghost.

If it were Su Wan Ning from her previous life, she would definitely find this behavior extremely despicable. It was selfish, a ruthless act to save her own life, and pitifully, she was ultimately beaten to death.

But now, she felt that the only mistake the little beggar made was that he wasn't careful enough in his actions. What's wrong with wanting to live? Otherwise, why wait to be taken advantage of?

"Sister, please save me!"

The little beggar was covered in blood, but he grabbed Su Wan Ning's leg.

The man had just ordered his men to retrieve his treasure when he turned around and saw the little beggar still daring to ask for help. His anger flared up again. "You filthy beggar, you're lucky you're alive if I don't beat you to death today! Get out of here!"

"Shopkeeper, calm down. Why don't we go inside and talk things over? Xie Yaren must have been looking for you these past few days, right?"

Su Wanning brought up Xie Yan, also wanting to get to the bottom of things.

The man was taken aback, then clearly remembered that selling the shop was far more important than killing the little beggar, so he quickly invited the man inside.

Su Wanning helped the little beggar inside and then asked the driver to fetch a doctor and medicine.

The man simply pretended not to see it.

He dropped a bombshell, "I thought Madam Su wasn't going to buy my shop! I went to the brokerage to find broker Xie, but she quit. I was so worried!"

"Quit your job? Why?"

The two seemed fine when they met that day, but Su Wan Ning felt uneasy.

"I don't know."

The man wasn't very interested in the topic. He quickly produced the land deed and said, "Madam Su, are you still buying this shop? You've seen it yourself, there's nothing fishy about it. The layout is excellent, and it's only one hundred taels? If you say you'll buy it, we'll process the paperwork right now."

"purchase."

If it weren't a normal transaction, this shop would cost at least two hundred taels. Now that things have come to a head, the owner hasn't taken the opportunity to raise the price, which is quite reasonable.

Just as the two reached an agreement, a servant came running in, panting, carrying a large flowerpot in his arms.

The seedlings in the flowerpot are growing very vigorously, with clusters of slender red fruits.

"It really is chili pepper!"

Xu Lingxi could no longer pretend to be a lady, so she plucked one off and took a deep sniff.

The strong, spicy smell hit her nasal cavity, making her nose itch.

"Achoo!"

"Miss!"

Qingfang was speechless, then asked curiously, "Is this the chili pepper you were talking about?"

Xu Lingxi nodded vigorously.

He wished he could have Su Wan Ning cook a table full of super spicy food right now, but he also knew that the more he wanted it, the less he could show it. He suppressed his desire and said calmly, "This stuff is too spicy, no wonder the shopkeeper has such a bad temper."

"So this is called chili pepper?" the man exclaimed in surprise.

Looking at the clusters of red berries, Su Wan Ning blurted out the name, "Bird's eye chili?"

"You know? How could you know?"

Xu Lingxi was worried that recognizing the chili pepper abruptly would arouse their suspicion, but Su Wanning, a native, actually recognized the chili pepper.

This era should not have chili peppers.

"I think I read in a book that the bird's eye chili got its name because its fruit grows upwards."

Su Wan Ning's expression darkened slightly. Not wanting to recall those things, she changed the subject and said, "The spicy flavor of bird's eye chili is strong and has a burning sensation. Long-term consumption can indeed burn the yin fluid and cause excessive liver fire. Once the cause is found, it will be easier to solve."

"But I couldn't help it."

The man said his name was Mu Xun. Although he was the owner of the house, he did not actually live in Qingshan County. Instead, he traveled around and could be considered a semi-traveling merchant.

He got the chili pepper by chance. He thought it was festive and pretty, so he brought it back before the New Year to add some decorations. But his little daughter was naughty and ate it. She cried because of the spiciness and insisted that he eat one before she would stop.

He tasted it and felt both pain and spiciness. He broke out in a sweat, but still wanted to eat more.

"You just ate like that for three months? Just like that?"

Xu Lingxi looked at him as if he were an idiot.

Mu Xun quickly waved his hand, "How could that be? At first, I ate it directly, and then I had the cook experiment and put it in my dishes or soups. You know what, it tastes delicious no matter how it's cooked!"

Once he started eating it, he couldn't stop. Later, he developed health problems. He struggled to drink herbal medicine and take pills, but he never considered that the problem might be caused by the chili peppers.

Even the doctor couldn't understand why the illness was getting worse despite such strong medication. The main problem was that the doctor didn't even know that chili peppers existed.

Mu Xun became more and more excited as he spoke, but also felt a little embarrassed.

"Lady Su, do you think there's any hope for me? I can't even control my mouth, what kind of future can I possibly have!"

Su Wanning tried to smooth things over for him, saying, "Once you get used to eating spicy food, it's easy to become addicted. In your case, it's not suitable to stop eating it immediately; you have to do it gradually."

The shop was originally a small restaurant serving stir-fries and soups. The stove was a standard double-burner brick stove. Although it had been abandoned for a while, it could still be used after some cleaning.

Other kitchenware was either ruined or barely usable.

Su Wanning then said, "I'll prepare a few medicinal dishes for lunch. Manager Mu, please try them first. If you think they're good, I can prepare a special medicinal meal for you to gradually improve your condition."

Looking at Xu Lingxi again, he laughed and said, "Now I understand, when you always said spicy food, you meant chili peppers. I even added so many dogwood berries for you."

"Cornelian is also delicious."

Xu Lingxi's mouth watered. "How about some boiled sliced ​​pork for lunch?"

So Qingfang stayed to take care of the little beggar, while Mu Xun went to the yamen to process the contract, then went home to get pots and pans for lunch, and even led people to tidy up the shop again.

When Su Wanning and her companion returned from their shopping, the shop had been completely renovated.

Besides seasonings like oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, she also bought two slices of high-quality pork belly, a fish, and a basket of eggs. Her vegetables included bean sprouts and tofu, winter melon and lotus root, white fungus, and tender spinach, as well as some mint, chrysanthemum, and bamboo leaves.

Stew half of the meat to make a reddish-brown, tender, and juicy braised pork.

Slice the other half and try to make the boiled pork slices that Xu Lingxi mentioned.

"First, boil the bean sprouts and meat in water, then sprinkle with Sichuan peppercorns, Sichuan peppercorn powder, and dried chili peppers, pour hot oil over them, and with a sizzling sound, the aroma comes out! It's so delicious!"

Xu Lingxi can eat but can't cook, and the more she talks about it, the more tempting it becomes.

"And what about the taste?"

Su Wanning asked carefully.

"Spicy, numbing, fragrant, and tender~ even bean sprouts are delicious! Actually, they taste great as a base for other dishes too, they all have great flavor, but I love bean sprouts the most, hehe."

"You can also add thin slices of lotus root."

Su Wanning made the suggestion, and Xu Lingxi immediately agreed.

However, cooking it with water shouldn't produce such a rich flavor. Simply pouring oil over it after cooking won't give the base vegetables such a strong flavor.

No wonder it's called boiled pork slices; the key is the 'water'!