The Female Supporting Role Shows Out

The smell of the food was already exuding as the beef simmered in the pot. The two bandits were itching to have a taste of it and loitered around the stove from time to time, asking anxiously, "This has been boiling for a quarter of an hour, shouldn’t it be ready?"

"It's still early, this will take at least an hour before the meat turns soft." Lin Dan picked up a piece of cloth and wiped her hands. "Sirs, can you follow me to my carriage? I need to get some spices."

The two bandits immediately became vigilant and pointed to the bottles on the stovetop before saying angrily, "You don’t get to be fussy here! We have so many different seasonings, aren’t they enough for you?"

Lin Dan did not panic and explained calmly, “I need one more type of seasoning to make the flavor of this beef stew stronger. I’m just a weak lady, if both of you escort me back and forth, there’s no way I can escape. With that seasoning, this pot of beef stew will taste several times better than it is now."

The two bandits took a whiff of the strong aroma in the air and wondered how much better it would taste after that that seasoning was added. The culinary skill of this imperial chef is extraordinary indeed, they thought. But then, they were reminded of how Lin Dan slaughtered the cattle and got a little worried.

Lin Dan took out a piece of rope and wrapped it around her wrist. The two bandits finally nodded reluctantly and locked the kitchen door before leaving to prevent Shaoyao and Dujuan from escaping. The three of them walked to the deepest part of the village and went around to find a cave. The cave was covered with vines and one would never have noticed it if they had passed by here.

The two bandits pushed the vines open and yelled at her, "Go and get what you need, do it quickly!"

Lin Dan looked inside the cave through the fire torches held by the bandits and saw all her five carriages parked in the cave. There were also dozens of large boxes that were locked, and she believed that those were all the stolen goods. She took a quick glance and climbed into one of the carriages. She opened the mud seal of a big urn and scooped a few spoonfuls of wine with a long ladle before putting it into a small empty jar. She then quickly covered the urn with brown paper and tied it tightly with a rope.

Although she moved extremely fast and only took a short moment to seal the wine urn, the two bandits could still smell the exceptional smell of wine and felt a little tipsy.

"What kind of wine is this? Why does it smell so good?" The two bandits could feel their mouths watering.

"It's just an ordinary wine that I brewed for fun. It's nothing much." Lin Dan stiffened and avoided eye contact with them.

The two bandits took a long look at her before taking her away. After returning to the kitchen, Lin Dan poured the wine into the beef stew and stirred slowly with a ladle. The flavorful soup became thicker as she stirred, and each piece of beef was covered in a layer of bright and slimy broth with a unique aroma filling up the air. This scent was nothing short of a sharp weapon, as it pierced through the windows of the kitchen and roamed around the village, fascinating those who caught it.

"Hurry up and give us some beef to try." The bandit who was in charge of guarding Lin Dan knocked on the empty bowl in his hand and urged.

"The meat has not softened enough yet, please wait a while more." Lin Dan explained kindly.

"As long as it’s cooked, I don’t care whether it's soft or not. Cut the crap and do it now!" The two bandits were so anxious that their eyes were red, and their sense of smell was stimulated by the aroma so much that they wanted to shove their heads into the pot and have a great meal. The other bandits who also smelled the food came along and wanted to have a taste of the meat in the pot. Fortunately, the bandit leader stopped them in time, or the kitchen would have been ransacked by them.

"What kind of wine did the woman put in the pot that produces such an aroma?" After the bandit leader left the kitchen, he immediately grabbed his subordinates for interrogation. His nose twitched from time to time, as he sniffed the smell in the air.

"Boss, I'll take you there to have a look." The two bandits said as if they had discovered a treasure. "Since it will take a while before food is served, how about we have a drink with our brothers first?"

"Okay, go get the wine." Several people carried the big urn to the main hall and tore away the brown paper. They looked inside and suddenly felt a little light-headed. The reason was simple – the wine smelled exceptionally good. If one were to smell it directly from the urn, it could smell as though it is sharper than a burning knife but more aged than fine wine. Before they were even able to give it a sip, their drool was already dripping all over the floor.

"Quick, fill it up!" The bandit leader yelled with a big bowl in his hand. He finished the wine in a gulp and froze before laughing and praising the wine. The others could not hold back anymore and scooped themselves a bowl of wine each. The strong aroma of wine filled the air and drew more and more people over…

Xiao-zhu and the others were discussing how to escape and rescue the manager. Suddenly, they caught the smell of delicious meat. They calmed down and said with confidence, "The manager is making beef stew with rice wine!"

"I'm hungry!" A servant murmured while smacking his lips.

The rest of them exchanged looks with each other and their stomachs were starting to growl. Whenever the manager cooked, her food would make those who were not hungry feel the hunger immediately. Even the man who was resting with his eyes closed had opened his eyes and looked towards the kitchen. The bulge in his neck was moving up and down.

Everyone remained silent for a while before starting the discussion again, but they did not expect a strong smell of wine to enter from all directions, making their eyes red in anger. Xiao-zhu, who did not lose control of himself even when he was captured, beaten, and locked up, suddenly burst in anger, "Damn those bastards! How dare they drink our wine?!"

The handsome man who had been silent suddenly asked, "What kind of wine is this?"

Xiao-zhu said while gritting his teeth, "There is a legend in Zhongshan County, I wonder if you have heard of it – Liu Xuanshi of the past bought wine from the Zhongshan Restaurant…"

The knowledgeable man immediately said, "Is that the Xuanshi Drunken Wine, also known as the Thousand-Day Wine?"

Xiao-zhu looked at him in surprise and nodded, "Yes, that is the legendary Thousand-Day Wine. Manager Lin traveled in Zhongshan County for three years and went to many places. She has finally restored the recipe of the wine and recreated the wine successfully. This wine was only recently dugout after being buried in the ground for seven years and was ready to be sold in the capital for a good price. When the wine urn was opened, a ‘wine spirit’ had grown in the urn. It is a mellow yet strong wine that won’t make one drunk for a thousand days, but can knock someone out for three days and three nights."

The "Xuanshi Drunken Wine" was a legend that has been passed down for centuries. It was said that a man named Di Xi who came from Zhongshan County had the best winemaking skills, and a wine drinker named Liu Xuanshi came to buy wine. Di Xi sold him a jar of wine but forgot to tell him that the wine was very strong and could make one drunk for thousands of days. Liu Xuanshi returned home extremely drunk after drinking the wine and his family buried him because they thought he was dead. After a thousand days, Di Xi suddenly remembered this incident and quickly went to find Liu. When the Liu family dug out the buried Liu Xuanshi, he happened to wake up just in time. There was a strong smell of wine in his body which made everyone who smelled it get drunk for three months.

The legend was passed down to later generations and this wine was named the “Thousand-Day Wine”, which was known as the “god” of wine.

As his nose was filled with the aroma of wine and his ears were full of clamor made by the bandits, the handsome man licked his dry lips and said while gritting his teeth, "They are indeed a bunch of bastards!" He broke the rope as soon as he finished the sentence and stood up with a stern expression. He wanted to wait until late at night to finish them up, but he could wait no more.

"You… how did you untie the rope?" Xiao-zhu and the others stared at him with gaping mouths.

"You guys stay here first while I go and save Manager Lin. Come out and join us when you hear the whistle." He was afraid that having a few more people moving around would startle the bandits, the handsome man specifically reminded them to stay put after untying them before breaking the metal chains at the door. He put the metal chains back on the door and rushed towards the direction where the food smelled the strongest.

Lin Dan was stir-frying some beef tendons, while Shaoyao and Dujuan were kneading the softened beef into balls and putting them in the soup made with beef bones. All three of them were taken aback when they saw the man pushing the door and entering the kitchen. Lin Dan reacted fast, she pulled him in immediately and closed the door behind her back.

"Why are you here? Where are Xiao-zhu and the others?" She whispered.

"I'm here to save you." As the man's weapon had been confiscated by the bandits, he came to the kitchen to pick a knife. He said calmly, "I will bring you out of the village first. Don't run around in the forest, you need to follow the river and wait for me in the open area at the foot of the mountain. I will bring Xiaozhu and the rest over afterward." He imagined the scene later to be bloody and inappropriate for women to witness it. He thought Xiao-zhu and the rest could be saved later since they can also help him with cleaning up the scene.

After coming up with a plan, the man grabbed and pulled Lin Dan’s wrist, but was gently pushed away by her. "There are more than 30 thugs here and there’s only one of you. How can you handle all of them? Here, sit down and eat something. We will be able to leave the mountain soon.” She served him a plate of stir-fried beef with scallions and shoved a pair of chopsticks into his hands.

The man took the chopsticks without thinking and gobbled down the food in a few mouthfuls. His eyes were filled with contentment and enjoyment before pausing for a moment, looking slightly embarrassed. "This is not time to eat. Come, follow me!"

"We don’t have to go. Now, just sit and eat!" Lin Dan gently patted the man's hand and said with a smile.

The man looked at the back of his hand which was feeling numb from her touch and looked at Lin Dan's smile. He fell silent and his eyelids drooped.

Shaoyao and Dujuan looked at the beef stew that had been half-emptied in the pot and complained, "We told them that the meat was not ready yet and it had to be stewed for a while more, but they insisted on eating it first! What a waste of good food!"

"We should count our blessings that they are ruining good food and not people." Lin Dan listened to the surroundings and put on a wider smile. "There is no more noise, let's go out and take a look."

The man immediately put down the bowl and chopsticks in his hands and stood up, but Lin Dan pressed his shoulders back. "Sit down, it’s fine." The two little girls and Lin Dan each carried a plate of hot dishes and walked out unhurriedly. They were unafraid at all because even if they had encountered any bandit, they could explain that they were trying to serve food as a cover-up.

The man touched his shoulder with a weird expression and followed after them. They arrived in the hall without any problems and saw that the bandits were lying everywhere on the ground. There were a few were lying on the table, and their snores were as loud as thunder. There was a strong scent of alcohol that lingered in the air, which could make anyone who opened the door feel tipsy immediately. As snoring was also heard from several other houses, it was apparent that these bandits could not resist the temptation of the Thousand-Days Wine and were all dead drunk.

Shaoyao and Dujuan tiptoed and looked at the wine urn placed in the middle of the hall. They said while gritting their teeth, "What a waste of a jar of fine wine!"

Lin Dan ruffled the heads of the two little girls and said, "It's fine as long as no one is harmed. Let's pack our things up and go."

The man looked at the drunk men that were lying everywhere on the ground looking all surprised. He did not expect Manager Lin to save themselves without hurting anyone, and she did not even need anyone’s help.

Lin Dan walked past the man and said, "With me around, there is nothing that can't be solved by whipping up a good meal." As soon as she said her piece, there were sounds of horses galloping towards the village. It felt as though there were a group of people approaching with fire torches in their hands and one could not help but wonder what would happen next.