After gathering information, Zou Feng went to several other procurement points in succession.
At the other places, the methods of taking kickbacks were all pretty much the same.
Ultimately, Zou Feng was quite surprised to discover that after this procurement trip, his own pocket had an extra five taels of silver!
Was this not too easy to earn?
One must know, the monthly wages he received at the Yang Manor were only a mere fifty copper coins…
And the five taels of silver currently in his pocket, given Luo Yong’s nature, he would absolutely not keep it all to himself; he would at least share a few qian of broken silver with him.
No wonder Li Rui, upon realizing that Luo Yong intended to take him as a disciple, actually harbored murderous intent.
From this perspective, accumulating a sum of money in a short period truly wasn’t a difficult task.
Thinking of this, Zou Feng’s mood greatly improved; since his Transmigration, his life had finally truly gotten better.
He had Martial Skill practice, meat to eat, and money to earn!
And the only cost was sacrificing Brother Li.
He quickly returned to the Yang Manor, and as he passed through the front yard, he coincidentally encountered several Yang Manor guards sparring.
This wasn’t the first time Zou Feng had seen them spar.
But before, he had only watched for the excitement; now that he had Cultivated the Five Poison Palm, he could discern many more details.
One had to admit, to be able to serve as a guard in the Yang Manor and not engage in production, these guard Martial Skill practitioners were indeed not just for show.
As they executed their Moves, strong winds whistled, and their actions were well-executed and precise.
Those Moves and actions, as well as the power they displayed, made Zou Feng feel a slight envy.
At the same time, he mentally rehearsed his chances of winning in a direct confrontation with these Martial Skill practitioners.
The conclusion he reached was that in a one-on-one fight, he would win!
But it was highly likely that he would also pay a considerable price.
After all, he only needed to hit them with one palm, and the battle would essentially be over.
However, after the opponent was hit, it would still take some time for the poison to take effect.
During this period, the opponent’s furious death throes were very likely to injure him, or even result in a mutual kill.
Therefore, it was best to avoid direct confrontations.
For a Cultivation Technique like the Five Poison Palm, ambushing and sneak attacks were the Dao.
Unless, he learned another movement-based Martial Skill that allowed him to come and go freely.
He needed to save money quickly!
Without lingering any longer, Zou Feng headed directly towards the kitchen.
When the guard Martial Skill practitioners were sparring, it was fine for other servants to glance over when passing by.
But if they lingered for a long time, they would be accused of secretly learning Martial Skill.
At that time, they would inevitably suffer a severe beating.
The Yang Manor’s back kitchen was very large, essentially a self-contained small courtyard, divided into three areas.
The area for processing ingredients, the stove room for cooking, and the living quarters for the cooks.
Currently, the Yang Manor had a total of three cooks: Luo Yong, his wife, and his father-in-law.
That’s right, it was essentially Luo Yong’s family who contracted the kitchen work for the Yang Manor.
And a big reason why Luo Yong wanted to find a reliable disciple was because he had no offspring.
So many years had passed, and his wife’s belly had shown no movement.
But this couldn’t be blamed on his wife; it was because he himself couldn’t have children.
In addition, his father-in-law was getting old and would soon be unable to work, so a new cook was urgently needed to take over.
That’s why Luo Yong was so dedicated after discovering that Zou Feng was a “good child.”
Zou Feng quickly entered the stove room, bowed, and said, “Master, the matter is handled.”
Only he, as a disciple, could enter directly; if Li Rui had entered here without permission, he would most likely have been kicked out.
An artisan’s craft, like Martial Skill, was most taboo to be secretly learned by others.
After bowing, Zou Feng deliberately showed an expression of wanting to speak but hesitating.
Luo Yong understood and waved his hand, saying, “Only your Master’s wife is here, no outsiders. Just say whatever you want directly.”
It seemed Master didn’t hide any private money…
Nodding, Zou Feng took out the cloth bag containing five taels of silver and presented it with both hands: “Master, please take a look.”
Taking the cloth bag, Luo Yong weighed it in his hand, then revealed a gratified smile.
Just as Zou Feng had guessed, Luo Yong had not informed him of the tricks involved in procurement beforehand, precisely to test him.
Now, Zou Feng not only did not hide anything at all, but the amount he handed over was also completely accurate, which further confirmed Luo Yong’s previous judgment.
What a good child!
The most commendable thing was that he was also clever enough not to be fooled by those unscrupulous merchants.
“You handled it very well!”
After speaking, Luo Yong proudly looked back at his wife, with a hint of showing off his discernment in taking a disciple.
This Master’s wife, with her sturdy build and kind face, also looked at Zou Feng with great satisfaction.
After a moment, Luo Yong said sternly again, “From now on, you will also be in charge of the cooking here, and there should be a share of this money for you.”
“However, we definitely can’t keep all this money; we still need to grease the palms of the steward.”
This was not unexpected for Zou Feng.
Such an act of fleecing the Yang Family would be strange if there wasn’t a certain Yang Family member involved.
“First, practice your knife skills with your Master’s wife; I’ll be back soon.”
Putting the money bag away, Luo Yong walked out.
Zou Feng knew that Luo Yong was going to split the spoils with the steward.
And the result of that split would determine how much would ultimately end up in his own pocket.
In fact, Zou Feng had self-knowledge; as a mere chef’s apprentice, his demands were not high.
To have a share of five qian of silver would be an excellent outcome.
Next, at the invitation of Master’s wife Wang, Zou Feng officially began the initial stage of learning to cook — practicing cutting vegetables.
However, after cutting for a while under the Master’s wife’s guidance, there was no display of knife skill proficiency on the panel.
This made him a bit confused.
After all, just by looking at the compendium of materia medica before, this thing had appeared on the panel.
But he quickly roughly understood the reason.
Because he had Cultivated the Five Poison Palm and had already achieved Minor Achievement, his hand-eye coordination, control over force, and so on, were already incomparable to ordinary people.
So, simple slicing and dicing were not difficult for him and were not considered effective skills.
Of course, it was also possible that the panel simply did not have the function to record such life skills.
The compendium of materia medica was probably recorded and displayed mainly because it could assist him in Cultivating the Five Poison Palm.
Thus, after about the time it took for a meal, Luo Yong returned.
However, as soon as he entered, Zou Feng knew something had happened.
At this moment, Luo Yong’s face was flushed red, clutching his stomach, and he gritted his teeth and cursed, “That damned Yang Ling… that fellow actually…”
Wang immediately stepped forward to support him, and Zou Feng also quickly lent a hand.
“What happened to Yang Ling? Didn’t you go to the steward to report earlier?” Wang asked, full of confusion, after helping Luo Yong sit down.
Luo Yong sighed deeply before saying, “The person has been replaced. The steward is no longer Yang Wei; Yang Ling has taken over.”
“The change of steward was decided by the Master this morning; we were all busy at the time, and no one informed us!”
Upon hearing this, Wang’s face also became increasingly grim: “Why replace anyone else, but specifically replace him with Yang Ling as the steward?”
Zou Feng’s understanding of the Yang Family members was limited; he didn’t even know what Yang Ling looked like.
But just by looking at Luo Yong and Wang’s expressions, he knew that Yang Ling becoming the steward was definitely not a good thing for the people in their kitchen.
The next moment, Luo Yong lowered his voice and said with hatred, “That fellow completely disregards the rules; he actually wants it all, not leaving a single bit for us!”
Upon hearing this, Zou Feng’s heart immediately sank by more than half.
