Chapter 91

Wang Yang frowned, a plan came to mind, and he sighed: "If that's the case, then I won't hide anything anymore. Actually, I have a unique skill, but I rarely show it, and that is..."

"That is..."

Wang Yang dragged it out, and the curiosity of Xie Xinghan and Xiao Ning was aroused.

"It is..."

"Tell us quickly!" Xie Xinghan patted the cushion.

"It is cooking." Wang Yang said quickly.

"Ah?"

This answer was completely unexpected by Xie Xinghan and the other!

Wang Yang lowered his voice mysteriously:

"I once obtained an ancient book that recorded some long-lost recipes, and only then did I know that the way of cooking is vast, profound, and mysterious. Confucius said: 'Food cannot be too refined, and minced meat cannot be too fine.' Yanzi said: 'A gentleman eats to calm his heart.' The sages were so refined in such a minor art. I have been studying these recipes for some time; my cooking skills may not be very high, but they win on the word 'strange.' The strangeness lies in the fact that you have never seen or even heard of the dishes I make! How about it, do you want to try?"

The two little girls were bluffed by Wang Yang, and the proposal of Fragrant Snow Tower was naturally thrown to the back of their minds.

The three came to the Xie mansion. Xie Xinghan gave the twenty or so servants in the kitchen a holiday and sent people to strictly guard the small kitchen courtyard; without her order, no one was allowed to enter.

This was firstly out of consideration for Wang Yang's face. The so-called "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen"—for a dignified young master of the Langya Wang clan to cook, it wouldn't sound very good if it got out. After all, Wang Yang was not a gourmet master like Yu Cong. Yu Cong, with his high position as a "Palace Attendant" and a close friend of the Emperor, studied cooking all day long, yet he still could not avoid the ridicule of court officials. Xie Xinghan did not want Wang Yang to be criticized for cooking a meal for her.

Secondly, Xie Xinghan wanted to set up a table in this courtyard with Xiao Ning and wait for Wang Yang to cook and eat it fresh.

Wang Yang was not familiar with the layout of ancient kitchens, so he called Xiao Ning in to help. Xie Xinghan was curious and wanted to see, but was blocked by Wang Yang at the door: "The kitchen is a restricted area, unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter."

Xie Xinghan wrinkled her nose: "Who are you calling unauthorized personnel?!"

"Can you cook? If you can't cook, why enter the kitchen? Wait outside properly, and wait for the meal!"

After Wang Yang finished speaking, he directly closed the kitchen door.

Xie Xinghan was stunned for a moment, and then she realized that this guy was actually putting on airs!

She sat on the folding stool angrily and began to look at this small courtyard she had never stepped into before.

The folding stool was a popular seating tool at the time, similar to today's small stool. The reason it carries the word "bed" is that the "bed" in the medieval period originally had a part specifically for sitting. Just as the definition of "bed" in *Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters* is: "Bed, a seat for resting the body."

Therefore, the "bed" in "Bright moonlight before the bed" does not necessarily refer to a sleeping bed in today's sense.

Similarly, the line from Li Bai's slightly less famous poem, "The young man came riding a bamboo horse, circling the bed to play with green plums," is the same.

And now, this exquisite and beautiful young girl was sitting on a small stool, supporting her chin and looking around, waiting for the meal in boredom, with no young man riding a bamboo horse beside her, but a small square table; no green plums, but dried spring bamboo shoots. The warm sunshine spilled into this quiet courtyard, baking the girl's clothes warm.

The longer she waited, the hungrier and more curious she became, and she fell asleep on the small table without realizing it. When the fragrance hit her nose, she opened her eyes and saw that Wang Yang and Xiao Ning had already placed four dishes on the small square table.

Wang Yang reached out politely: "Please try the dishes, Xie Xie Niangzi Xie."

Xie Xinghan could not wait any longer. She first picked up a dumpling that was white with a hint of gold, shaped like a full moon, covered her lips with a silk handkerchief, and took a light bite.

Hearing a rustling sound, she felt it was sweet and crispy in her mouth, followed by a soft and glutinous texture, and said with slight surprise: "Is this egg white? You actually deep-fried it?"

Wang Yang was stunned for a moment before he understood that the "egg white" she mentioned was egg white: "That's right. But you took such a small bite, you didn't even taste the filling. You have to do it like this."

Wang Yang sat down, picked one up for his own plate, blew on it, and took a big bite.

Xie Xinghan smiled, imitated Wang Yang, and took another bite, only then tasting the fragrant and thick red bean paste inside. The soft red bean paste combined with the crispy egg white coating formed a strange and fresh texture.

She asked curiously: "What is the name of this dish?"

Wang Yang said while eating: "Snow-Clad Red Bean Paste."

"Snow-Clad? Which two characters?"

"The snow of white snow, the clothes of clothing."

Xie Xinghan furrowed her brows and muttered: "Snow color is fresher than jade, light clothes are not stained with dust. Snow-Clad Red Bean Paste, a good name. Xiao Ning, you try it too."

Xie Xinghan picked up a snow ball for Xiao Ning. Although Xiao Ning had been craving it for a long time, she forcibly held back, first bowed to thank the lady, and then declined to eat.

Seeing Xiao Ning's serious appearance, Xie Xinghan laughed: "Xiao Ning, what are you doing! There are no outsiders here."

Xiao Ning thought to herself, how can there be no outsiders here? Young Master Wang is an outsider!!!

But the lady had already picked up the Snow-Clad Red Bean Paste in the air, so she had to bow to take it and eat it with a blushing face.

Xie Xinghan began to try the second dish. She picked up a piece of meat that was bright red and had a mix of fat and lean, put it in her mouth, and felt the crispy, rotten, and fragrant meat melt in her mouth, truly leaving a lingering fragrance on her lips and teeth.

Xie Xinghan ate until her starry eyes narrowed slightly: "This is delicious! What is it called?"

"This is called Dongpo Pork. It's even more fragrant with rice."

"Xiao Ning, go serve the rice, and serve a bowl for Young Master Wang too." After Xie Xinghan finished ordering, she asked again: "Dongpo Pork, what a strange name, what does it mean?"

"Uh... this... there was a pig on the east slope a long time ago, and later it was stewed by someone, so it's called Dongpo Pork."

"This... this name was chosen so rashly..." Xie Xinghan always felt something was wrong.

She began to eat the third dish, which was four large meatballs. Xie Xinghan picked one up in her bowl and ate it in small bites with her head down. Although each bite was small, the speed was not slow. Xiao Ning brought the rice, Wang Yang cut the meatball into pieces on the rice and poured a spoonful of soup on it, and Xie Xinghan followed suit.

Xie Xinghan asked: "What strange name does this dish have?"

"This is called Four-Joy Meatballs."

Actually, Wang Yang originally wanted to make Lion's Head, but firstly, there was no starch in this era, so he had to use breadcrumbs instead; secondly, to make it easier to fry through, he had to reduce the size.

"Four Joys? Why is it called Four Joys?"

Wang Yang had a flash of inspiration: "Because I'm very happy to see the Fourth Young Xie Xie Niangzi of the Xie family!"

Unexpectedly, Xie Xinghan didn't buy it at all and asked back: "Then if you see the Sixth Young Xie Xie Niangzi of the Pei family another day, wouldn't you have to change the name to 'Six-Joy Meatballs'?"

Wang Yang quickly changed the subject and reached out with his chopsticks: "This last dish is the best for clearing the palate."

"This is... eggplant strips?"

"Garlic Eggplant."

While Wang Yang and Xie Xinghan were eating and chatting in the small courtyard, inside the iron gates and high walls a few streets away, the sound of a cup being smashed came from a dim room, followed by a cold voice:

"Forget it, use the final means!"

"This... will there be any problems? After all, he is of the Langya Wang clan."

"He can't guess us, besides... even if he is of the Langya Wang clan, so what? Don't forget who we are working for... Go prepare!"

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Note: ① Regarding the explanation of the word "bed" in "Bright moonlight before the bed," besides seating and sleeping furniture, there are also interpretations such as well railings, tables, and eaves corridors. This issue has not yet been settled in academia.

② Cooking in the Northern and Southern Dynasties had already developed very maturely. It is rumored on the Internet that there were no stir-fried dishes or iron pots at that time, but these are actually rumors. For example, regarding stir-frying, *Essential Techniques for the Common People* records a dish of stir-fried eggs with green onions, called "stir-fried with sesame oil, very fragrant and delicious." Sometimes the dish name does not carry the word "stir-fry," but the method is stir-frying, such as a popular dish at the time called "Duck Fry," where the cooking process is "stir-fry until extremely cooked, add pepper and ginger powder."

As for iron pots, they already existed in the Han Dynasty, and many physical objects have been unearthed, with large ones exceeding one meter in diameter, which are collected in the Shaanxi History Museum, Anqiu City Museum, Gansu Provincial Museum, etc. Not only physical objects, but many are also written in texts. However, although iron pots were used in the Han Dynasty, they did not stir-fry vegetables because the edible oil commonly used at that time came from animal fat, which would solidify at low temperatures—that is, the word "lard" often associated with wealth in ancient texts, which could be used for stir-frying but was not very convenient. By the Northern and Southern Dynasties, vegetable oil began to spread, and the conditions for hot oil stir-frying were met.

Therefore, Wang Yang's skills would at most let Xie Xinghan try something fresh; to say that showing a few tricks would shock Xie Xinghan would be to underestimate the ancients.

③ The original meaning of Mencius citing "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen" focuses on the fact that a gentleman has a heart of benevolence that cannot bear it, but the actual interpretation and practice of this sentence in ancient times were linked to staying away from the kitchen. Because he is a gentleman, he cannot wield the knife himself. This concept originated earlier than Mencius. *Book of Rites: Jade Pattern* says: "A gentleman stays away from the kitchen, and for all living things, he does not practice it himself."

The so-called "practice it himself" means to personally carry it out. This is related to both the cultural requirements of a "gentleman" in the pre-Qin era and the restrictions on the identity of those who slaughter animals in primitive sacrifices. Therefore, although Mencius's words speak of benevolence, they actually contain the transformation of the identity of Confucian scholars (from "original Confucianism" in witchcraft rituals to the Confucianism of gentlemen, which is the Confucianism represented by Confucius. Little friends interested in this can read Hu Shi's "On Confucianism" and the "Original Confucianism Chapter" in Mr. Taiyan's "General Discussion of National Antiquities").

As for Mencius extending it to the meaning of not being able to bear it: "A gentleman's attitude toward birds and beasts is that if he sees them living, he cannot bear to see them die; if he hears their voices, he cannot bear to eat their meat." The meaning is that only by staying away from the kitchen can one eat it. Zhu Xi explained it even further: "The reason why he must stay away from the kitchen is also to cultivate this heart in advance and broaden the art of benevolence." (*Collected Annotations of the Four Books: Liang Hui Wang Chapter Part 1*). This links not entering the kitchen with self-cultivation and morality. Therefore, it was evaluated by Lu Xun as a way of "deceiving oneself and others" (*Qie Jieting Miscellaneous Essays: Miscellaneous Talks After Illness*).

④ The rumor that "nobles do not eat pork" will be explained in the chapter notes of Chapter 93.