"Ao, time for roasted fish," Gu Dewang, Brother Cheng, and Gu Qingxi all gathered around the table in the yard, sharing the roasted fish. A carp the size of a palm, Gu Jinli didn’t get a single bite before it was gone. Qin San Lang saw this and sped up the roasting. Soon, he had three more carps ready, giving one to Gu Dewang, one to Brother Cheng and Gu Qingxi, and the last one to Gu Jinli: "You guys eat first, I’ll roast some more." Finally, Gu Jinli got to eat her roasted fish. The fish was a carp from the deep pools of the mountains, with firm and delicious flesh, and coated with sauce and roasted to a crisp. One bite and she felt completely satisfied. Delicious! After eating, she went to relieve Qin San Lang: "Brother Qin, you go have something to eat, I’ll do the roasting." Because they were going to have a feast in the afternoon, everyone had skipped lunch and were all hungry, including Qin San Lang. Upon hearing her suggestion, he went to find some food. He ended up eating bean dregs cakes, which Luo Wu had brought from the kitchen, without having any roasted fish. Seeing him munching on a bean dregs cake, Gu Jinli put a well-roasted carp in a clay plate and pushed it into his hands: "Eat, if you love roasted fish so much, why deny yourself?" She glanced into the wooden barrel and said, "There are still eight left, plenty to go around." Qin San Lang was taken aback — Xiao Yu knew he loved roasted fish. He smiled, didn’t decline any longer, and ate the roast fish she handed him. Gu Jinli looked around and saw that apart from them, everyone else was busy either in the main hall or the kitchen. She waved Qin San Lang over and, when he came close, quietly asked him: "Brother Qin, what kind of rations does the Great Chu army eat?" "Why are you asking about this?" Qin San Lang was astonished. These matters weren’t something a young girl like her should inquire about. But he still told her, "It varies by rank. The common soldiers usually eat sorghum cakes, and sometimes they survive on soybeans or sweet potatoes. For the Vanguard Army who is higher up, they get to eat a kind of dry cake made from flour. Both of these foods are very dry and hard and can be stored for a while. However, they can only be kept for about a month at most before they are inedible." "As for meat, it is generally before or after a battle that livestock are slaughtered for a meat meal. There is some dried meat, but not much." Gu Jinli frowned upon hearing this: "What about oil?" Qin San Lang chuckled: "It’s prepared in advance, stored in jars, and when cooking, a bit of oil is added to give the soldiers some fat in their diet." Gu Jinli remarked: "That’s a really poor diet." Qin San Lang said, "It’s already considered good. The Northwest often has food shortages, and many times the soldiers can’t even get sorghum cakes and have to make do with stewed soybeans or munch on sweet potatoes." "But sweet potatoes spoil if stored for too long. Many of the sweet potatoes stored in cellars end up rotting every year. When there is truly no food left, soldiers might even eat those that are half rotten, and many have fallen ill with diarrhea because of this." Problems with military rations have always been a big issue, not only for Great Chu, but it was also unsolvable for the former dynasty. "Why do you ask?" Qin San Lang remembered her saying she had devised a new food for Gu Daya’s family and asked, "Have you thought of some new food?" Gu Jinli nodded: "Yes, it’s a kind of noodle made from sweet potatoes that can be stored for more than a year." "Noodle? What is that?" Qin San Lang furrowed his brows, never having heard of it. Gu Jinli explained: "It’s a food similar to noodles. Once the noodles are dried, you just boil water, put them in, and they’re ready to eat cooking. They’re easy to store, convenient to carry, and simple to cook." Qin San Lang was startled and lowered his voice, "Are you saying, you can make something like noodles from sweet potatoes, and they can be stored for a long time without spoiling?" Gu Jinli nodded: "Mm." Qin San Lang’s complexion changed, he said, "Xiao Yu, this thing shouldn’t be made, it will bring disaster." Sweet potatoes were cheap, and if it were indeed possible to make a storage-resistant food like noodles from them, all of Great Chu would be shaken! After hearing Qin San Lang’s words, Gu Jinli also felt that it was best not to make the sweet potato flour. There is a saying: "Food is the God of the people." In ancient times, food was extremely important. There is also a saying: "Before the army moves, provisions must go first," military rations have always been of utmost importance to any court. In modern times, sweet potato flour would be nothing significant, but in ancient times, it was something that could cause a sensation. She currently had no power or influence, making such a product would be asking for death! Gu Jinli nodded and promised him, "Mm, I won’t make it anymore, I’ll think up a new food for my aunt and the rest." She had originally thought that since sweet potatoes were cheap and had low cost, using them to make sweet potato noodle strips for her aunt’s family to sell might be good. Now it seems it’s better not to. When Qin San Lang saw her agreement, he breathed a sigh of relief, looked around, and saw that Gu Dewang and the others had finished eating fish and had run off to the kitchen corridor to help wash vegetables. Then he lowered his voice and said: "Don’t talk about this thing to anyone, keep it to yourself... If you really want to make those noodle strips, wait until we have the power to protect ourselves before making them." It was certainly not something that could be done now. This product was different from tofu, which couldn’t be stored well and couldn’t serve as a meal. But sweet potato noodle strips could. If noble families learned of a matter related to military rations, it would not just be a few families in jeopardy. For the sake of the recipe, they would not hesitate to slaughter the entire village. "Okay, I won’t make it, I won’t mention it," Gu Jinli said with a smile, "Don’t worry, I am cautious in my actions. The moment I realized there was risk involved, I came to ask you." Qin San Lang smiled, nodded, and praised her, "Mm, Xiao Yu is very smart. You did the right thing." It was a good thing she asked. Otherwise, the consequences were unimaginable. "Everyone is here, it’s quite lively." Village Chief He brought He Jinseng, carrying gifts along, and as soon as they entered the Luo Family’s courtyard, they saw Qin San Lang and Luo Wu and immediately smiled: "You two lads have really brought honor to our Da Feng Village. From now on, when people from our village venture out and mention that our village has produced a military officer and a lord, the people from ten miles and eight villages will look up to us." He then greeted Third Grandpa who was approaching: "Brother Gu, congratulations! The young ones from your families have really made something of themselves, transformed into men of the officials." Third Grandpa chuckled: "Village Chief is joking. We’re just running errands in the government office, not really officials, and still far from achieving anything significant." While talking, he welcomed Village Chief He and his grandson into the main hall. After Village Chief He sat down, he said to He Jinseng: "What are you dawdling for? Give your gift to Brother Luo Wu." "Eh." He Jinseng quickly handed over the gift he was carrying: "Brother Luo Wu, this is our family’s gift for you." Luo Wu accepted the gift and said, "Thank you, Village Chief. Please take a seat, I’ll help in the kitchen. The feast will start in half an hour." "No rush, no rush. We’re all from the same village; whenever we eat is fine, we aren’t in a hurry to head back." Village Chief He nudged He Jinseng: "Don’t just stand there, go help Brother Luo Wu. See if there’s anything you can do." Although He Jinseng was a scholar, he was not delicate. Upon hearing Village Chief He’s word, he immediately followed Luo Wu, bustling about with tasks.