Chapter 102: The Wonderful Kitchen Chapter 101: False Pretext

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

"Then how did you lot get out just now?"

"Xue Gang came up with a plan, saying he wanted to go home to sweep the graves, and forced them to grant him leave," Wang Chang said, pointing to a plump student on the right. "That's how it is, but he only gave us half a day, and told us to go back this afternoon!"

That Xue Gang was older than all the other students present, over thirty, and usually acted more steadily.

But at this moment he also sighed and said, "We relied on being people of Jingcheng to finally get half a day off—right now there are even more people from other places trapped inside the Zhou Ya, still working."

"I originally wanted to go back and talk to the teacher or the Xuezheng, but I couldn't bring myself to lose face—back then, that Cai Xiu asked everything clearly right in front of the teacher and Xuezheng, asking if we could endure hardship and toil, and said that although we were on loan, we couldn't delay our studies, and we all agreed readily."

"Only a few days have passed, and now they're going back on their word. We've just been promoted to Shangshe—how will the teacher look at us? If he forms a first impression and thinks we're the sort who are careless and unambitious, what do we do?"

Cheng Erniang, standing to the side, listening, couldn't help but say, "Students should be reading books, and you've just been promoted to Shangshe. If I were the teacher, I probably wouldn't have agreed to let you be loaned out in the first place. Now that you want to go back, there's only happiness to be had. Don't overthink it—hurry back and explain things clearly to the teacher!"

A group of them looked at each other, and none spoke.

Cheng Erniang had a parent's mindset, feeling that the teacher embraced all things, and that as long as it was entrusted to the master, he would naturally help solve it, without any fear at all.

Song Miao, standing outside them, could understand the students' feelings a little better.

She knew that the various Xuezhai these people belonged to were not the same. Now gathered in groups, they still didn't dare get too close to Taixue—privately guessing, they were probably afraid their classmates would see them and leak it to that Cai Xiu, exposing that they weren't going to sweep graves, but sneaking back to Xuezhong to find a savior.

And if they really went back to Taixue and each found their own teacher, wouldn't that be dividing their strength?

By then, with few people and little momentum, how would they dare to speak up, and how would they speak?

And scattered here and there, even if the teachers of each Xue and Zhai agreed to help, once they gathered together and reported it upward, it would be hard for the matter not to blow up.

By then, they'd go out high-spirited and come back dejected. These new Lower Hall students would probably be too ashamed to lift their heads.

Song Miao thought for a moment and said, "I think that Cai Xiu is just trying to scare you. If it really blows up and Taixue intervenes with the Capital Prefecture Office, neither side will end well."

She added, "It's best to resolve this privately. Which Xuezhai's teacher is easier to talk to?"

Everyone looked at each other.

"It's only been a few days since we were promoted to Shangshe, so we really don't know."

"I heard Feng Fuzi is a decent person?"

"All hearsay, and we're not familiar with him!"

"Why not go back to our original teacher?"

For a moment, everyone fell silent again.

Song Miao considered for a while and said, "I know a teacher surnamed Chen. He's old, but he's very easy to talk to. Are any of you familiar with him?"

Wang Chang immediately realized who Song Miao was talking about and hurriedly said, "Chen Fuzi is a wonderful person! But he only teaches Shangshe now and rarely comes out..."

That Xue Gang on the right also said, "I know him, but he doesn't know me!"

Suddenly, someone sighed, "It would be great if Xiao Lu were here!"

For a moment, everyone turned to look at him, waiting for him to speak.

This person said, "Didn't Chen Fuzi teach us Lower Hall students for a few days before? That time, after he graded the essays and handed them back, while explaining the model essay, he read half of one and said, 'This child's writing—I, the old man, read it three times through and two times closely before barely understanding its meaning. Not only is it tortuous and harsh, but not even thirty characters per sentence, using eight allusions, which must be taken apart and mixed, inventing words and phrases. You all should take this as a warning.' I remember every word of that clearly."

"He didn't name names, but afterward everyone looked through them and discovered it was Xiao Lu's essay!"

"If Xiao Lu were here and went to his door, saying he was that student of 'tortuous and harsh' and 'thirty characters, eight allusions,' surely Chen Fuzi would have a deep impression of him!"

After hearing this, everyone laughed heartily, but as they laughed, the laughter gradually died down, and the room fell into a terrifying silence.

It was rare that the fried wraps, sprinkled bits, and snacks on the bench were all left uneaten.

Song Miao sighed and said, "I know someone who is quite close with Chen Fuzi, and he's currently in the Capital Prefecture Office. I don't know if he can help—this matter should be handled early rather than late. I was planning to go to the Capital Prefecture Office this afternoon anyway, so I'll ask him then and see if he's willing."

For a moment, everyone in the room was stunned, and after a while, they all became excited.

This one said: "It has to be Song Stall Owner!"

That one said: "We've studied at Taixue for a year or two, and in the end, we still have to rely on Song Stall Owner to make an effort. Aren't you ashamed!"

"What do you know? We're just useless students. Only Song Stall Owner holds real connections!"

"Nonsense. What connections? How can mere connections describe it—Song Stall Owner has food connections! Do you know what food connections means? Without connections, you're at most miserable, but without food connections, people starve to death!"

And so they all came to thank Song Miao again. One said he'd come to the Song Family Eatery to sweep and mop in the future; another said he'd come here to turn the millstone like a donkey. They said all sorts of things, showing just how miserable they'd been tormented these past few days.

Song Miao laughed and cried at the same time, and hurriedly said, "I'm just going to try. It might not work!"

That Wang Chang said, "Song Stall Owner puts in effort and sells face for us. Whether it succeeds or not, such kindness—we're not blind, can't we see it?!"

The other students all echoed him.

Someone else asked, "When going to ask someone for help, should we bring a gift?"

As they spoke, one or two of them felt at their waists and rummaged in their pockets.

Song Miao said, "We should bring something, but there's no need for such trouble. I've already prepared ingredients. I'll make some snacks in a while."

The Jianghua Mi brought back from Cheng Wai a few days ago had already been sun-dried. This morning, it was stir-fried dry in a pot to bring out the fragrance, then soaked in water for half a day.

She had already burned lime in water early on, clarified it for several days, and bought some aged brown rice from the shop, washed and soaked it. Taking advantage of the fact that there were idle people around now, she directed a few of the tallest and sturdiest ones to go to the back and help grind the Jianghua Mi slurry. By the time the slurry was ground, the clear lime water skimmed off at the front had already boiled. Using the boiling water, she poured the filtered Jianghua Mi slurry into it.

The hardest part of making Jianghua Portion is the ingredient proportion and cooking the slurry.

Song Miao had already adjusted the proportions long ago. When it came time to cook the slurry, she asked everyone to take turns using a large wooden stick to stir in the pot.

This task was rather boring, but since there were many people, when you stirred it, it was thick and sticky; when it was my turn to stir, it became much thinner. Smelling the clear fragrance of the Jianghua and the rice aroma of the brown rice, watching that pot of formless lump gradually take shape under their hands, turning into smooth Jianghua Portion slurry, it made a group of students who could no longer be called young unable to help but shout anxiously.

After the slurry was done, Song Miao had several large basins of cold well water brought in, and used a large ladle to strain the Jianghua Portion.

This step was very interesting. Seeing the slurry pass through the holes, sliding down like a waterfall, entering the cold water and instantly taking shape, becoming small shrimp shapes pointed at both ends, yellow and bright, very pretty. Everyone wanted to try it.

In the end, everyone almost fought to strain the Jianghua Portion. Fortunately, they still had some sense and left the last chance for Xiao Lian to try as well.

One large pot of slurry finally made five large basins of Jianghua Portion.

Song Miao took a wooden bucket, filled it to measure, covered the lid, carried it on her back with a basket, and left. Before departing, she instructed everyone that the sugar water prepared at the bottom of the well—made by boiling maltose with a bit of yellow sugar—should be poured over the locust flower powder to eat, and told them not to eat too much, because locust flower is cold in nature, and eating too much harms the spleen and chills the stomach, and so on.

Everyone nodded like pounding garlic in front of her, and even saw her off for eighteen li, actually escorting her out half a street. But after Song Miao walked far away and returned to the house, although everyone still sighed and groaned, the atmosphere had changed somewhat.

"Strange and odd, Song Xiaoniangzi only said she'd go help ask about it, why do I feel this matter no longer needs managing?"

"The Song Stall Owner also said it might not succeed; we still have to think of a way ourselves. Are we going to put all the burden on her?"

A group of six or seven people sat in the hall discussing for a long time, but couldn't come up with a solution.

Instead, they discussed back and forth, and when they saw Cheng Erniang bring out a bowl, everyone glanced with their eyes, wanting to look but not daring to look too obviously.

When a large spoonful of locust flower powder and a spoonful of ice-cold thin sugar water were successively ladled into bowls, paired with a coarse porcelain spoon, and bowl after bowl sat on the benches, no one could control the motion of swallowing saliva anymore.

—This was rice milk ground by herself, locust flower paste stirred by herself, and locust flower powder made by herself!

Cheng Erniang said: "You just sit there dry, where can you come up with ideas? Moisten your mouth before you can move your brain—just now Xiao Lian and I have already eaten a bowl, smooth and slippery, elastic and stringy, fragrant and delicious. The weather is stuffy, just right for eating this."

Hearing this, everyone picked up their bowls. At first they used spoons, then they directly sucked from the bowl rim. Indeed ice-cold, entering the mouth fragrant, elastic, and smooth. Most rare was that locust flower fragrance; when eating, it wasn't in the mouth, but circled in the nasal cavity. After finishing a bowl, the person felt refreshed.

Pity that even if the brain became refreshed, they still couldn't think of any good solution.

Song Miao, on her second trip to the Capital Prefecture Office, still sat at the gatehouse, talking with the guards while waiting for someone.

She brought boiled thick sugar syrup, had that person take two empty bowls, mixed sugar water for them, and each ladled a large spoonful of locust flower powder, saying: "Don't let it sit long. The weather is hot; it's best to drink it at noon—have a bowl after a meal, it's very good for cutting grease."

"What's there to put aside? When Old Yu comes out later, I'll have him stand guard outside, and I'll slip inside to drink it first!"

The guard laughed hehehe, and said: "Xiaoniangzi, if you come often, even if you don't look for Young Master Han, Xin Censor, and them, you can just walk around and chat—last time you wrote that sugar vinegar small ribs recipe, I took it back to try, and the whole family, old and young, said it was good. My wife even praised me to the skies..."

Song Miao couldn't help but laugh: "At home seeing an official like you with such good skill, surely you want to eat sugar vinegar small ribs every few days?"

"Who says not!" The guard sighed, "Ribs are expensive, sugar is expensive, this is really! Eat a few more times, and the family fortune will be eaten away!"

Just as they were speaking, the guard who delivered the letter came out together with Han Li.

This time because the guard blocked the doorway, Song Miao was speaking and didn't notice. By the time she saw the person, Han Li had already walked up to her.

She hurriedly stood up, smiling to greet him, and also wanted to hug that large bamboo basket.

Han Li saw this, stepped forward two paces, leaned his body, and had already lifted it first.

He lifted it naturally, and Song Miao didn't feel anything strange. She greeted the two guards and left the gatehouse.

The two walked a distance, found a quiet spot, not knowing who started it, they stood still together.

Song Miao said: "I was just about to tell Young Master Han. I already registered my name earlier, all procedures are complete, the house matter at home is settled. Thank you!"

Seeing her say "ya" so lightly, Han Li smiled: "No need to thank—weren't you going to prepare meals for me together with Cheng Zijian these days? That's enough."

Song Miao smiled: "That's Cheng Gongzi's; mine doesn't count. Let's remember it first. We can discuss it again when Young Master Han returns to Taixue."

She then pointed to the bamboo basket and explained what was inside and how to eat it.

Han Li listened seriously, then nodded and thanked her.

Seeing the official business was done, Song Miao turned to bring up the matter of the students.

"... saying that a young master named Cai Xiu wanted them to finish the work before leaving, working from early morning to late night. Even after finishing, it was all for nothing, with no follow-up at all."

"Staying up late is one thing, but lamp oil is hard to get, and they have to pay out of their own pockets. The promised subsidy hasn't come after several days. At night, there aren't enough beds to sleep on; they have to squeeze three people onto two bunks..."

Song Miao retold many things she had heard, then said: "They want to leave, but Cai Xiu has them by the words, and they dare not leave. They fear making a big scene and displeasing both sides. If because of this the Capital Prefecture Office stops borrowing students from Taixue in the future, it would be their great mistake."

"I was thinking, this matter shouldn't be handled publicly. Better to handle it privately. I don't know if Chen Fuzi is familiar with the officials in the Capital Prefecture Office. Can we ask him to help, to intercede, to mediate, and just send the people back early?"

Han Li, hearing that over twenty students had been borrowed, was startled. But after hearing the rest, he said nothing for a long while, then said: "You thought it through well—but for such a matter, why only think of asking Chen Fuzi?"

Song Miao was stunned.

"I am also at the Capital Prefecture Office. For such a small matter, why not ask me?"

Although Song Miao was usually quick to react, hearing him speak so plainly and lay out the words, she paused for a moment—a small matter?

After a breath, she asked: "Isn't this asking you, Gongzi?"

Han Li actually rarely joked, saying: "Seriously speaking, this is called using me as a pretext."

He added: "Song Stall Owner, if you keep being so distant, in the future not only will there be no prepared meals, I'll even feel embarrassed to take this locust flower powder."

He said while lifting the bamboo basket with one hand: "Leave this matter to me. No need to find any Zhang Fuzi or Chen Fuzi, and no need to think of any thanks. In the future, when you make something good, just save me a portion when convenient. Agreed?"

After getting Song Miao's nod, he bowed, took the bamboo basket, and took his leave to return.

Back in the house, Han Li took a large bowl, ladled several large spoonfuls of that locust flower powder, mixed it with sugar water as Song Miao said, and without a spoon, drank a big mouthful straight from the bowl.

After tasting the flavor, he stood right there and finished the whole bowl of locust flower powder cleanly.

Indeed his whole body felt comfortable, very refreshing.

After serving himself another bowl, he then called Kong Fuyang over to take it and share with the other colleagues. He himself held the bowl, put it back on the desk, and first walked to the file shelf on the side.

—These were the case files to be handed over to the Legal Officer.

He found the statements from both sides regarding the Tingjiao Hang head Lao Dangjia bribing several cooks in the government office, along with other material evidence. After registering them, he took the things and went to find Qin Jie.

That afternoon, Prefect Zheng convened the Gongchang, Six Ministries, Left and Right Military Patrol Academy, Department of Records, and other departments for a short meeting.

As soon as the meeting ended, Zhang Facao hurried back to his official residence.

He summoned his confidant Zhang Fengzhi and asked: "Last time that Cai Xiu said he wanted to summon some students to organize case files. How many people have come now? Are they still here?"

Even several cooks, who had no contact with any government office secrets, could leak such important news, causing extremely bad influence.

What about those dozens of students who suddenly arrived?

They don't have the surname Han, nor even Kong. Even if they are trustworthy themselves and know everything must be kept secret, do they know how to keep secrets, or what counts as keeping secrets?