A male servant wrote down the large amount of coins Elara had just mentioned and then went to check with the accounting office. A few other male servants came in carrying large bundles of bamboo slips, the information Elara wanted.
Elara frowned as she looked at the heavy bamboo slips. She called Guard Uno, who was waiting outside, and asked him to carry the slips back to the carriage and watch over them.
Outside the window, the sun was already close to setting.
They had spent enough time outside today, and the main goal was achieved. After walking around a bit more, it was time to return.
After Guard Uno finished carrying the slips, Elara stood up to say goodbye.
"After the accounting office finishes, the young masters can store the gold and silver in the Marigold Tower. I will send someone to pick them up. The proof will be the purple jade stone I used to make the bet just now. How about that?"
The purple jade stone was finely made and carefully worked. No copy could appear in a short time.
Arieck saw that she was so sure she wouldn't make a mistake and believed even more that she must have a special method. Seeing that she was about to leave, he stood up and said,
"Miss, wait a moment. Since the lady of the Plumera Kingdom also trades, the Marigold Tower is also a business. You are so talented, and I believe your family's goods must not be ordinary. Also, you helped me solve a difficult problem today. It would not be right for me to leave without showing some respect."
The Marigold Tower had waited many years for someone who could solve this problem. The way she did it was beyond his imagination. No matter what special method she used or if she was truly talented across the continent, Arieck could not just let her go.
He took out a finely carved warm jade from his sleeve and handed it to Elara.
"If you don't mind, please accept this jade token. In the future, whenever you bring this jade token to trade in the Marigold Tower, you only need to pay 80% of the original price. Would you like to become business friends with me?"
Elara looked at the jade token and felt a bit tempted.
After all, the Marigold Tower had a good reputation. Doing business with them, whether buying or selling, meant quality and guaranteed standards. It would also bring some fame and a good reputation.
In business, the hardest thing is to build a good name and trust.
The Marigold Tower was all over the continent. It was a rare and top business channel. Elara had done business in her past life, so she knew well how much future benefit accepting this would bring.
This could be a fast track to success in the business world.
The only problem was that her current body was not really a merchant yet and had no goods to trade.
But since this opportunity was right in front of her, Elara did not want to miss it.
Looking at the jade token shining softly in Arieck's hand, Elara thought for a moment and turned to him.
"Since the Marigold Tower thinks so highly of me, I cannot disappoint by offering ordinary goods. But right now, I don't have many rare items, only a few recipes I learned by chance. I don't know if they will interest you."
As soon as Elara finished speaking, Arieck smiled and agreed at once.
"Recipes? The Marigold Tower has never accepted recipes before. But since the lady of the Plumera Kingdom recommends them, I am naturally happy. Our future dishes will have two more recipes. But what is special about these recipes?"
In this era, the pursuit of food was still very basic. Many spices had not arrived yet, or were unknown, or were only used as incense by nobles.
Only coarse salt, and simple ingredients like scallions, ginger, garlic, and brown sugar were used for cooking by nobles.
Because of this, food tasted very natural and raw. Sometimes the fish or meat smelled strong and spoiled the appetite even before eating. The food was often wasted and very bad tasting.
Especially for Elara, who was used to top chefs in her past life, the so-called best delicacies in the past and the small snacks served to her at the Marigold Tower now all had very simple ingredients. They were basically just boiled pork with a few leaves on the side.
Of course, in this era, having meat on the table was already a top-level treat. Adding a few pieces of brown sugar, vinegar, and scallions made it a rare delicacy, only affordable by nobles, like what Elara had at home.
So when Arieck heard Elara offer recipes, he was increasingly enthusiastic on the surface but inside a little indifferent.
His real goal was just to connect with this lady, so he could contact her easily in the future. He did not care how he made the connection.
The Marigold Tower had lots of money and rare items. Even if the recipes were just put on a tea table without being used, he would accept them.
Elara noticed the slight indifference in his eyes.
She did not mind because for someone who had never tasted real delicacies, no matter how well she described the flavor, he could not truly feel the excitement of the taste.
So Elara did not say more. She stood up, lifting the wide sleeves of her robe to reveal her pale arms.
"Since these are recipes, words alone cannot describe the taste. If you are interested, I would like to borrow the Marigold Tower kitchen for a while to cook two dishes for you."
Arieck's gaze inevitably touched Elara's pale, slender arms. He quickly looked away, pretending to be modest while praising,
"To have the lady cook in person is truly my lucky day."
In his heart, he sighed, wondering which country this lady was from to be so uninhibited, showing her bare arms in front of men.
Elara got permission to use the kitchen but stopped after a few steps and turned back to Arieck.
"Sir, may I use the spice pouch you carry?"
She pointed to the sachet hanging at his waist.
Arieck was stunned. His smiling face froze for a moment.
In this era, for a woman to ask a man for his spice pouch had a deep meaning.
Seeing her look intently at his pouch, he felt both awkward and surprised.
Though many noble women had pursued him before and asked for his pouch, he was never interested and often annoyed. That was why he volunteered to accompany Izekiel to look for the divine vein.
He did not expect this to happen now.
Before, Elara had spoken to them confidently and openly, without any shyness. He thought she would not be tempted by his charm.
But now she suddenly asked him for his pouch.
Arieck did not feel annoyed this time. He rubbed his chin and sighed silently at his unavoidable charm. His eyes looked deeply at Elara's head covering with mixed feelings, wondering if he should really use his charm now.
Actually, it was not impossible. After all, from what just happened, this woman clearly had many secrets and strange things about her. She was a very capable and extraordinary woman. Her words hit the point directly, and her tone was normal and concise. She was quite different from those annoying noble ladies who often cried and clung to others, needing constant attention.
More importantly, he still did not know if she was truly talented or had some unique secret method. Before he got the answer, it was better to keep her interested as much as possible.
If she really liked him, then he... also would not mind. But unfortunately, she always wore a veil, so no one knew what she looked like. Hmm, forget it. It was not like he was truly choosing a woman. It was just a temporary strategy.
While Arieck stared at Elara with increasingly strange eyes, his face full of wild thoughts, Elara frowned at his weird and changing expression. Her cold voice broke his fantasy without mercy.
"If you still have extra sachets, please lend me one. Or if you do not need the sachet, just give me the spices inside. My recipe needs those spices as seasoning."
"Heh."
A low laugh suddenly came from behind the quiet white screen.
Elara looked up strangely. She did not understand why the one who never spoke suddenly laughed.
Was it funny to use spices as seasoning?
Elara withdrew her gaze and looked back at Arieck. But she saw that the young master's expression was even stranger than before.
His hand rubbing his chin seemed frozen. His whole expression looked cracked and strange as he stared at her.
"You… you want my sachet, just for seasoning?"
Elara nodded. "Yes." Seeing Arieck's face become more and more hard to describe, she also asked back, "Then what? What do you think I mean?"
Another laugh came from the white screen behind. Without waiting for Elara to look over, Arieck in blue clothes stiffened his face and turned to the white screen. He gritted his teeth and said something.
"Is it really that funny?" Who was he doing this for? And he was seriously thinking about whether to use his looks to trade just now. But... heh.
Arieck's tone was calm, and his face still wore that fox-like smile. But anyone could hear the anger and frustration behind it.
Elara found it strange. She did not understand the thoughts of these ancient young masters. She felt there was a generation gap between them because of history. So she stopped asking more.
After Arieck adjusted his expression and mind, he turned back to look at her.
"Miss Bai, you mean you only need the spices?"
His fox-like smile returned.
"Yes."
"I understand. Don't worry, Miss Bai. I will send the spices to the kitchen soon. But I have never heard of using spices as seasoning before. It seems you will surprise me again."
"Surprise or not, you will know in half an hour when you taste it."
"Then I will wait here."
...
Elara had tasted many top delicacies in her past life. She usually did not cook by herself. But the Plumera family cared a lot about family unity. So during festivals, the food was not made by servants but by her mother, father, or herself.
Because of this, Elara's cooking skills were not as good as top chefs. But she could still handle a full table of dishes for the festival.
So after getting a bunch of spice packs and going to the kitchen, she checked the current ingredients. Then, combining the taste preferences of people in this era from her original memories, she quickly decided on two dishes.
"Braised fish" and "white boiled chicken."
It was a pity this era did not have tofu or bean curd. Otherwise, she wanted to make spicy tofu to use the spices well.
Hmm… She must get a mill someday. This thing is easy to make, and tofu is cheap. It suits common people.
For now, these two dishes would do. Luckily, her partner was Lian Yi Tower, a very wealthy place attracting many officials and rich people. Otherwise, with just these two dishes, no ordinary people in this era could afford or dare to eat them.
...
Elara spent nearly an hour in the kitchen before finally finishing these two dishes. She asked two male servants to carry them out.
The two male servants holding the dishes stared at them as if their eyes could stick to the food. Even though they served at Lian Yi Tower, they had never seen dishes that looked and smelled so delicious.
This was true color, aroma, and taste. It made them forget what they usually ate.
Elara cleaned up and followed the two servants back to the room. Inside, the setting had changed. A delicate redwood dining table was placed in the middle.
Besides Arieck sitting on the right with a smiling face, there was also a young master in white clothes on the left.
Elara guessed this must be the young master behind the white screen just now. It was true that similar people gathered together. Arieck was a very handsome young master, and this one in white was also outstanding in appearance. But his aura was colder, like someone used to making judgments in high positions.
The servants put the two dishes on the table and then withdrew.
Arieck, who had not taken Elara's recipe seriously at first, showed a slight change in expression when the kitchen's aroma came.
His eyes focused on the kitchen as he chatted casually with Izekiel. He waved his fan and waited.
At this moment, the two beautiful dishes were finally served. Just one look made Arieck know his earlier judgment was wrong again.
He could not help smiling. It seemed today he really met someone special, making two mistakes about the same woman.
These two dishes, just judging by their beautiful colors and tempting smells, were treasures.