The old residence was not big enough to accommodate twenty to thirty bandits. The entire mutton banquet was placed at the village entrance. Two golden roasted whole lambs were placed beside the ancient well.
The roasted whole lamb had a layer of crispy skin, which was the cream of mutton. Spring was not the best season to eat roasted whole lamb. After autumn, the little ewes would have a thick layer of mutton fat under their skin. Only then would the taste of roasted mutton reach the extreme.
The two lambs in front of him were not young ewes, but in Master Bao’s hands, they still had a supreme texture.
Three different tastes filled his mouth when he ate the roasted whole lamb.
The first time he ate it was the golden and crispy outer skin. He sprinkled white sesame, cut it into strips, dipped it in the secret sauce, and bit down. It was charred and crispy, and the fat melted on the tip of his tongue. The cold sauce and the hot outer skin melted in his mouth.
The fragrance of the sesame dissolved the musk of the suet, and the taste was unbelievably rich.
Of course, the bandit leader was not stupid. Before he started, he let Chef Bao and Yu Wan try it first. After confirming that it was non-toxic and harmless, he took it and distributed it to his brothers.
The villagers squatted at the side, trembling. They smelled the fragrance of roasted whole lamb and listened to the sound of chewing mutton fat. They were drooling.
Chef Bao methodically cut the mutton fat. The mutton fat could not be cut too thick, so it was just above the mutton. Yu Wan was in charge of the other roasted mutton. She cut whatever Chef Bao cut. Soon, the mutton fat of the two mutton was swept away.
Chef Bao placed the mutton back on the fire and continued roasting.
This time, they ate the mutton itself. The fire couldn’t be too strong or too weak. If it was too strong, the mutton would be hard. If it was too weak, the mutton would be raw. Chef Bao handled it just right. After roasting, the mutton was fresh and juicy. It was fat and thin. Coupled with a green onion and a roll, it was a top-notch delicacy without any sauce.
“Damn it!” The bandit leader couldn’t stop eating.
After the first layer of skin and the second layer of meat were eaten, the third round of roasting was done. What they ate was meat. This was the most fragrant part of the meat, and it was also the essence of roasting the entire lamb. There were tendons, and it was slightly chewy. They could vaguely feel the strong fragrance of the lamb bones.
“Slurp~” Little Bruiser drooled.
The leader of the bandits wanted to kidnap Little Bruiser and nurture him into the next bandit. Seeing that he was greedy, he waved at him.
Little Bruiser walked over eagerly. The Yu family didn’t react for a moment. By the time they reached out to grab him, Little Bruiser had already walked up to the leader of the bandits.
“You want to eat?” The bandit leader asked.
Little Bruiser nodded.
The bandit leader gave him a plate of meat.
Little Bruiser carried the plate and turned to leave. He didn’t want to eat alone.
The bandit leader stopped him. “Eat here!” His food was only fed to his little bandits. There was no way others could get a share of it!
“But my sister is also so hungry,” Little Bruiser said dejectedly. “My mother is also hungry, my uncle is also hungry. My aunt, my big brother, and my second brother… Uh—”
The bandits stuffed a piece of mutton into his mouth.
Little Bruiser’s mouth was stuffed full as he mumbled, “They’re all…”
The leader of the bandits was annoyed. “If you continue to be noisy, I’ll kill you!”
Little Bruiser obediently shut up.
The bandit leader hooked a small stool with his foot and kicked it in front of Little Bruiser.
Little Bruiser straightened the stool and sat down obediently. When he finished the mutton in his mouth, he said, “Actually…”
The bandit leader drew his machete.
Little Bruiser silently swallowed the words in his mouth. He just wanted to ask whether they could give him two more plates since the mutton was really delicious.
Little Bruiser held the plate in one hand and the mutton in the other as he started eating.
Little Bruiser had been “caught”. Uncle and Aunt were both anxious. If they were so anxious, Sister-in-law must be even more worried than them, right? Just as the two of them were about to comfort Madam Jiang, they saw Madam Jiang staring in the direction of the roasted mutton. She was drooling and her eyes were green.
“…”
Sister-in-law, did you know that your son has been captured…
Yu Wan looked at Little Bruiser not far away and then at Chef Bao. It was impossible for Chef Bao not to notice that Little Bruiser had come to eat mutton, but there was no change in his expression. He continued to cut the whole lamb.
Yu Wan lowered her eyes. She did not believe that Chef Bao would harm Little Bruiser, so these things were not poisonous. Did he really let the bandits eat happily?
The bandit leader ate to his heart’s content and took out the jar of good wine that he planned to bring back to slowly taste. This jar of wine was naturally not enough for thirty people, so he only drank it with a few trusted subordinates.
The fragrance of the wine wafted for ten miles, suppressing the fragrance of the roasted lamb.
The roasted lamb was already a top-notch delicacy. The next few dishes did not sound as outstanding, but when they were really served, the bandits thought, What kind of immortal chef was this? How did the dishes become better and better?
As soon as the braised mutton was served, it was snatched away. There was not a single drop of sauce left. Needless to say, half of the cold platter made of mutton liver, mutton tripe, and goat hooves were gone when they were served. The bandit leader was so angry that he kicked the bandit who stole the food twice.
The lamb spine hotpot had a low-temperature medicine bag placed in it. It was refreshing and spicy, spicy but not dry.
After the greasy fish and meat were served, a bowl of heart, lungs, and radish soup was served. Coupled with the green onions and tender tofu, the bandits felt relieved.
The bandits suddenly couldn’t bear to kill this old man. His culinary skills were so good. If they caught him back to cook for them, they would enjoy this everyday.
At the thought of being able to eat such a sumptuous and delicious meal every meal in the future, the bandits could not sit still anymore. They wished they could immediately return to the mountain,
“Boss!” The one-eyed bandit came over. “Leave that old man behind?”
The bandit leader nodded in satisfaction. “Leave the old man, woman, and child behind. Kill all the men!”
“Yes!” The one-eyed bandit pulled out his machete and walked towards the villagers who were cowering at the village entrance with a wicked smile.
The village headman mustered his courage and stood up. “You… don’t go overboard! This is the land of the Emperor. It’s fine if you snatch things, but if someone really dies, the officials won’t sit back and do nothing!”
The one-eyed bandit said fearlessly, “We dare to be bandits, so why should we be afraid of the officials? Besides, if we kill all of you, who will report to the officials?”
Women were sold to brothels, and children were sold to kidnappers. They had plenty of ways to shut that group of people up!
Three other bandits walked over with the one-eyed bandit. The few of them pulled out the men in the village. Aunt Bai’s husband and son were also taken away. Aunt Bai took off her size 39 shoe. “I’ll fight it out with you!”
Dong!
The one-eyed horse bandit fell.
Aunt Bai was stunned. Eh? She hadn’t done anything yet!
Immediately after, the remaining three bandits also fell. The four of them curled up and covered their stomachs, rolling around in discomfort.
The villagers were stunned by this scene. What was wrong with these people? Why did they collapse just like that? Did they eat something bad?
Aunt Bai was scared out of her wits. She quickly put on her shoes and ran back to the villagers.
The bandits fell one after another. After a short struggle, the bandit leader spat out a mouthful of blood and knelt on the ground.
When Little Bruiser, who had been pressed down by him to eat, saw this, he decisively ran into Yu Wan’s arms.
The group of bandits’ foreheads were black and their nails were black. It was obvious that they had been poisoned. On the other hand, Little Bruiser’s face was red and his eyes were watery. His breathing was even and his expression was normal. He was extremely healthy. How could this be? Little Bruiser had also eaten the things they had eaten… The only things Little Bruiser had not touched were the jar of wine and the first three plates of vegetables. However, the bandits had forced Yu Wan and Chef Bao to try them. She and Chef Bao were not poisoned.
Yu Wan was extremely sure that she had not tampered with it. It could only be Chef Bao. Not to mention that the bandits were staring at them intently, even when Yu Wan was helping Chef Bao from the beginning to the end, she did not see him do anything related to poisoning.
Yu Wan simply did not know when he did it.
The bandit leader looked at Chef Bao and said, “What… what did you do?”
“Poison,” Chef Bao said indifferently. “Medicine can heal people, but it can also kill. If you dare to eat my dishes, you have to pay the price.”
The bandit leader could not figure out how he did it. His own people had clearly kept a close eye on him and let his family eat all the dishes first. Why were they fine while he and his brothers were poisoned?
“You… you lousy old man…”
Chef Bao glared at him. “You’re the lousy old man! Your entire family is lousy old men!”
The bandit leader vomited three liters of blood!
Yu Wan began to interrogate the bandits. “How did you think of robbing Lotus Flower Village?”
Lotus Flower Village was so poor, but they had never been targeted by bandits.
The bandit leader gritted his teeth and didn’t say anything, but just because he didn’t say it didn’t mean that others wouldn’t say it. His trusted one-eyed bandit opened his mouth. “We… We heard from the people in Apricot Flower Village that someone here opened a workshop and did a big business… We… we came to rob!”
Aunt scolded, “It’s indeed those bastards!”
Apricot Flower Village was famous for its wealth. They were the first to be robbed by the bandits. In order to protect themselves, Apricot Flower Village led the trouble to the east, saying that there were bigger workshops and more beautiful women in Lotus Flower Village. They even gave the bandits directions!
Aunt Bai rolled up her sleeves and gritted her teeth. “Damn it! I must burn them to death today!”
Yu Wan said to her, “Aunt Bai, we’ll settle the score with Apricot Flower Village later. Let’s deal with these bandits first.”
“That’s right! These bastards are not good people either!” Aunt Bai raised her leg and kicked the one-eyed bandit.
The one-eyed horse bandit cried out in pain.
The bandit leader felt a burst of joy in his heart. Who asked you to have no backbone and betray me! But soon, the bandit leader couldn’t laugh anymore.
“What should we do with them?” Shuanzi asked.
The village headman thought about it and said, “Report them to the authorities.”
Yu Song disagreed. “That won’t do. Just now, we used the officials to threaten them, but they weren’t afraid at all. Perhaps they have already colluded with the officials. What if they use money to bribe the officials? In my opinion, we should kill them!”
Shuanzi said blankly, “Although they deserved to die, wouldn’t we be committing the same crime as them if we kill them? If the authorities investigate…”
Yu Song nodded. “That’s true. Then we won’t kill them.”
The bandits were delighted.
In the next second, Yu Song said, “Send them to the back of the mountain to feed the ferocious beasts. This way, we aren’t the ones who kill them!”
The bandits were about to break down! Young man, you look fair and clean, but do you have to be so evil…
It was also very troublesome for them to transport thirty bandits up the mountain, especially since there were only a few strong men in Lotus Flower Village. Each of them was not enough to carry one. In the end, Yu Wan thought of a way to achieve both ends. “Village headman, aren’t we going to reclaim the land and farm? Why don’t we leave them behind to do manual labor? This way, we won’t have to spend money to hire people outside!”
The village headman frowned. “But they eat so much. Will they not earn enough to eat?”
The bandits who were collectively silent: “…” Shouldn’t you be worried that we’re so ferocious and terrifying that we’ll slit your necks in the middle of the night?
Yu Wan said, “Then give them less. Look at how fat and strong they are. They won’t starve to death even if they don’t eat!”
That young man only let them be bitten to death by ferocious beasts, but this little girl wanted them to work while starving to death. What kind of people were they? Why were they even more ferocious than the bandits?!
The bandits were about to cry. It could be said that the life of a thief was quite miserable.
In the end, Chef Bao gave the antidote to Yu Wan. “Take it once a month, one pill at a time. If anyone is disobedient, don’t give him the antidote. Let his intestines rot and die!”
“Do they die quickly?” Yu Wan asked.
God Chef Bao said, “It’s quite fast. It’s only three to five months from the time your intestines rot to your stomach to your last breath.”
Rot… Rot for three to five months?! The bandits who wanted to die from the poison and with dignity all gave up resisting.
“We want to go up the mountain!”
“We want to open the land!”
“We want to farm!”
“We’re not eating!”