Chapter 120

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

Soon, that Xiang Yuan was pulled by Zhu Butcher into the side hall.

Tables and chairs had long been set in the hall; seeing someone enter, the servant hurriedly brought tea.

Zhu Butcher had just been urging and speaking until his mouth was dry and tongue parched; he picked up the teacup and took a sip.

The tea was bright yellow, smelled faintly of chrysanthemum, tasted slightly bitter but not astringent, with a hint of returning sweetness, very thirst-quenching.

He finished it in a few gulps and asked Xiang Yuan: "Why isn't our Lin Zi here? Call him to eat together."

Xiang Yuan said: "Don't mention it; ordinarily he won't get up unless the sun hits his buttocks. This child—I've been running around outside and had no time to manage him, and the two old folks spoiled him rotten!"

He sighed again: "Now he spends every day teasing cats and fighting dogs; even dogs dislike him as low! His heart isn't broad; not knowing how to tolerate people is one thing, but he actually goes looking for people to bully him! He recently learned to fight, I don't know who encouraged him, and caused a huge ruckus. He's so ungrateful—if he weren't my only one, I'd beat him to death!"

"Others say anything and he won't listen at all; only when I hit him with a stick a couple times does it do any good."

Speaking of his son, Xiang Yuan was obviously quite troubled.

Zhu Butcher said: "Let me take the liberty to advise you too: don't keep looking here and there all day; properly find a young lady to marry and live with. Isn't it good to have someone in the house who knows warmth and cold? Look at me and your sister-in-law—a young couple, companions in old age; that's the meaning."

He spoke earnestly: "Your two elders are both old, and Lin Zi is young. This time you got lucky, but you can't always bring him with you in the future. You need someone to help take care of him."

Xiang Yuan nodded and said: "Older Brother advised me before, but I never took it seriously. Only in the last year or two, with the child being good-for-nothing and several things happening at home, did I realize you are an upright man and speak sound reasoning—don't worry, I've already had the matchmaker looking."

He said this, then added: "You also know my family has some wealth. Unfortunately, I'm old; looking higher, others look down on me; looking lower, I look down on them. I'm stuck right here."

Zhu Butcher said: "What kind do you want? I'll have your sister-in-law help look too."

Xiang Yuan said: "I don't care much about family background. Best if she can read and keep accounts, to help manage the business later. Good temperament, good heart, and must be beautiful. It doesn't matter if she's given birth before, as long as she doesn't bring children..."

Though it was a remarriage, the Xiang family was rich, and Xiang Yuan was still capable, considered handsome in appearance. The conditions he listed, viewed individually, weren't actually harsh, but together they were hard to find.

Zhu Butcher listened and also felt worried.

Xiang Yuan said: "Look slowly; this matter isn't urgent anyway."

He added: "There's another matter. I heard the rains upstream are heavy, and flooding is certain. I got news yesterday that I fear the Hua Prefecture river dike won't hold. Right now, medicinal herbs, grain, and cloth are all good business. To say something inauspicious, coffins and paper money are also good business. Older Brother, if you have time, send someone to make a trip and open up some business—it could offset two or three years of ordinary expenses!"

Since ancient times, it's said that disaster is the best time to make money.

Zhu Butcher was tempted but still shook his head: "Where do I have that ability? I can't even manage this one stall. Right now Jingcheng is also flooded, with matters everywhere; I'm busy until my eyes pop out, and I simply don't have the fate to earn this money."

Xiang Yuan didn't urge further, only said: "Forget it; it is indeed hard work."

While speaking, someone had already brought food up.

Xiang Yuan hurriedly said: "Too much trouble. Early in the morning, thank you for specially preparing it. Just fill the belly; Older Brother, tell the kitchen not to bother."

His words had just fallen when a small steamer basket was placed before him, along with a dish of sauce.

The sauce looked like soy sauce but lighter in color, and smelled slightly spicy.

The servant opened the steamer basket lid; through the rising white steam, three dumpling-like foods lay inside.

Xiang Yuan only glanced, saw they were dumplings, and said to the servant: "I like to dip dumplings in vinegar, not soy sauce. Get me a dish of vinegar."

He added: "Aged vinegar—the sourer and older the better. Best if it's from Qingxu County."

After speaking, he put down his chopsticks and turned to talk to Zhu Butcher.

Soon, the servant returned carrying four dishes of vinegar, placing them before Xiang Yuan and Zhu Butcher respectively.

He said: "Master Xiang, the kitchen says this first dish isn't ordinary soy sauce; it's called Xiao Sauce, specially made to pair with these shrimp dumplings. Knowing Master Xiang is a discerning person, if you don't like it and want vinegar, you can also try Zhenjiang Vinegar; its sourness is gentler and won't easily overpower the fresh shrimp sweetness."

Hearing the two words "shrimp dumpling," Xiang Yuan was quite unfamiliar; he stared blankly, then looked closely at the dumplings.

Before, through the white misty steam, he had only glanced and not seen clearly. Now he discovered the food in the steamer basket was very different from ordinary dumplings.

In the bamboo steamer basket, long pine needles were laid as a base. Three shrimp dumplings, each with a piece of red something underneath—carrot slices.

The shrimp dumpling was small, one looked like a white jade curved comb that had eaten its fill, its belly puffed out round.

The skin was very thin; though not quite translucent, it was already semi-transparent, and the red-and-white filling inside could be seen very clearly.

The red was the red of shrimp meat between pink and bright red, very tender; whole shrimp meat, through the crystal skin, plump as if about to burst forth, truly a feast for the eyes.

His hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly; he hurriedly picked one into his own bowl.

The chopsticks felt heavy; looking closer, it was even more beautiful. Counting them: thirteen pleats, spaced very evenly.

Xiang Yuan prided himself on having traveled south and north, but he had truly never eaten such dumplings. Feeling very curious, he took a bite with his white mouth first.

As soon as he bit open, a mouthful of hot juice immediately slid out of the shrimp dumpling, carrying a hot fresh aroma, flowing into Xiang Yuan's mouth, actually leaving him stunned for a moment.

Extremely fresh and sweet.

It was a particularly rich fresh shrimp flavor, with no fishiness at all, with the clear sweetness of bamboo shoots, and a hint of oiliness, plus very fine peppery pungency and ginger spiciness.

The oiliness was very restrained; eating it was like very clean lard aroma, making that mouthful of soup even more fragrant, even more moist.

The shrimp dumpling was originally very small; actually, with Xiang Yuan's big mouth, one in a mouthful was just right. But because he was curious, he specially divided it into two bites to eat, so as to examine the ingredients.

A whole fresh shrimp meat lay inside, with some minced shrimp meat too, red and white; the red parts were pink and tender, with small diced bamboo shoots, sprinkled with some extremely finely ground white pepper.

Just looking at it made one feel it would be delicious.

He still had another shrimp meat in his mouth.

That shrimp meat was also very big—in such a small dumpling, it could actually hold two whole shrimps.

The skin looked so thin, yet wrapping so much filling, there wasn't the slightest damage.

Not only that; though there was clearly soup soaking inside, it wouldn't "float the bag" 【soggy】, eating it was soft yet resilient, oily yet dry.

The dryness didn't mean the skin was very dry; rather, it wouldn't stick to the teeth, and wonderfully, there was a feeling of "tension" pulling between the teeth.

The shrimp meat was especially firm and springy, fresh, crisp, and tender; eating it would burst with juice slightly, and mixed with extremely small bamboo shoot particles, the bursting juice tasted fresher, sweeter, and richer than all the shrimp he had eaten before.

He had eaten the food made by the head chef in the wine tower, and spent large sums to invite skilled cooks to cater feasts; he had seen many lavish noble banquets and tasted many properly handled shrimp with excellent texture, but this mouthful felt completely different.

Truly too fresh and delicious, too good to eat!

So good that he unconsciously grew suspicious—usually I pride myself on having discernment, yet it turns out I'm so unrefined?

Chewing slowly on half a shrimp dumpling in his mouth, Xiang Yuan used the other half to dip into the "Xiao Sauce" the cook had mentioned.

A faint salty freshness, a tiny bit spicy, it well enhanced the freshness of the shrimp dumpling, but did not cover the shrimp's fresh sweetness at all, merely adding a bit of layered texture.

The tiny shrimp dumpling wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.

There were still more in the steamer basket; he lifted his chopsticks, but his hand had only reached halfway when he noticed the sturdy arm of the person beside him had already stretched out very long, holding another pair of chopsticks, about to touch that last shrimp dumpling.

Turning his head, Zhu Butcher also looked over, as if suddenly realizing, hurriedly drew his hand back, pushed the steamer basket slightly over, and said: "Xiang Brother, you eat, you eat!"

He coughed awkwardly once more.

Xiang Yuan wanted to reach out, but felt too embarrassed to pick one, yet was truly craving it, and inexplicably felt a bit anxious, hurriedly saying: "How come this basket only has three? I see ordinary dumplings, a basket always has ten or eight!"

He added: "Older Brother, this cook you hired is impressive, the dumplings are well-wrapped, great flavor! I, your younger brother, have never eaten them before; let alone ten or eight, even ten baskets or eight baskets, I could eat them! Truly broadening my horizons!"

Such hinting was practically no different from a thick-skinned direct statement; how could Zhu Butcher fail to hear it?

He slapped his thigh and said: "Ah! That cook originally had a list and even came to ask me; I originally wanted to add Lin, a total of three for one table, and reported the number of people back, who knew it would actually be prepared by headcount!"

Speaking, he hurriedly called someone: "Go bring the food list that the Eldest Lady sent back last time."

He urged someone again: "Have the kitchen bring up another basket of these shrimp dumplings."

Finished speaking, he then said to Xiang Yuan: "Let's just add one basket for now—I heard someone read that list, over ten kinds of food, judging by the names, every one is not bad, only afraid that if we fill up at the front, there will be no room in the belly for the back."

Xiang Yuan agreed with his mouth, but in his heart did not think so, only feeling that no matter how good the later ones were, they surely could not compare to the stunning shrimp dumpling.

Usually he would rather eat one bite of an immortal peach than a basket of rotten apricots; this time he clearly had a basket of immortal peaches, even if that apricot was good, after all it was a mortal apricot, how could it compare with an immortal peach?

Better to eat his fill of shrimp dumplings, without having to think about them day after day in the future.

—He was thinking about them right now!

Just as Xiang Yuan was staring at that last shrimp dumpling, another steamer basket was brought up; the lid was lifted, and inside was a small dish holding a small quantity of chicken feet.

Even though he had eaten chicken feet prepared in who knows how many ways, looking at this dish before him, Xiang Yuan still couldn't help but praise: "These chicken feet are too beautiful!"

Amber-colored sauce coated the feet very evenly; the sauce was transparent and bright, the feet were slender and well-proportioned, just the right size, looking very fit, as if they had loved to move about in life.

The little servant hurriedly announced the dish name: "The kitchen says, this is Black Bean Chicken Feet."

Xiang and Zhu almost simultaneously thrust out their chopsticks, each picking one and putting it into their mouths.

Xiang Yuan was just about to bite; his teeth touched it, and before he could apply force, his lips and tongue unintentionally worked together to suck the skin and meat down.

One suck and it fell off.

These chicken feet tasted different from any he had eaten before; obviously they were fried for a long time then steamed, not fried too much, but steamed very thoroughly; after this set of processing, they were completely crisp, soft, and falling off the bone.

The texture was soft, glutinous, especially the skin, which was oddly soft but not rotten, still retaining the shape and gelatinous feel that chicken feet should have.

The skin had become half tiger-skin-like, with many holes, especially absorbent, carrying an extremely rich fermented black bean aroma, salty and fresh with sweetness, slightly spicy.

The freshness was the rich freshness produced by stir-frying and steaming fermented black beans; the base flavor was very mellow, the sauce thick but not viscous, able to flow on the chicken feet, flavorful but not excessive.

Taste, texture, everything was just right.

Underneath were yellow beans, powdery, starchy, and soft, having absorbed the fermented black bean aroma and chicken foot flavor; eating them was like eating meat, but compared to eating meat, there was an added freshness.

Two big men here went pop pop pop spitting out bones; spitting and spitting, almost in the blink of an eye, they finished a dish of chicken feet.

Xiang Yuan wiped his mouth with his handkerchief; as he wiped, he couldn't help but think: Such soft glutinousness, such flavor absorption, it should be filial to let his parents eat some!

Still thinking, another three steamer baskets came up.

One steamer basket was the previously replenished shrimp dumplings; one steamer basket held two small bowls of glutinous rice; and another was shaomai.

The two immediately went for the shrimp dumplings.

With three more, exactly two each, no need to push and yield anymore; to be honest, Xiang Yuan truly felt a sense of relief—he had saved face for modesty, and would not regret too much in his heart later.

But this thought had just flashed through for a moment when he already began to regret.

The two shrimp dumplings he received, out of curiosity, he dipped one in Zhenjiang Vinegar and one in Old Chen Vinegar.

Indeed Zhenjiang Vinegar was milder, but it had already somewhat ruined the fresh sweetness of the bamboo shoot bits; by the time he got to the one wrapped in Old Chen Vinegar, it completely covered the faint grain aroma of the wrapper and the fresh sweetness of the filling inside.

"Want another basket of shrimp dumplings?" he couldn't help but suggest, "And another basket of chicken feet?"

"Let's have two more baskets each..." Zhu Butcher swallowed the shrimp dumpling in his mouth, and while instructing the little servant, couldn't help but double the quantity.

The two waited while eating the glutinous rice and shaomai.

These two were both signature varieties of Song Ji; if they didn't have something special, how could they make students from Nan Lu and Taixue colleges miss them day after day, form long lines, and drag the Xunpu, Government Office, and other places, clamoring and making a fuss to get Song Miao to set up stalls near them?

At this time the glutinous rice was only a small bowl, a portion of three or five bites; the shaomai was also one each of different flavors; the two had just tasted the flavor when the bowls were already empty, and for a moment they both fell silent, looking at each other.

Without Xiang Yuan speaking, Zhu Butcher had already taken the initiative to instruct the little servant: "Ask the kitchen if they can bring up two portions, two portions at a time afterward; this portion is too little, not enough to eat."

The little servant had no choice but to run trip after trip; as he ran, he couldn't help but grumble inwardly: Two masters, clearly they could finish giving instructions at once, but they insisted on distributing them in four, five, six, seven, eight separate times; fortunately this Pian Ting was very close to the kitchen, otherwise his own legs would have been run thin!

Soon, the fifth dish was served.

This time it was not a steamer basket, but a small basin of cold tossed dish.

Crown daisy, tossed raw.

Extremely tender and fresh crown daisy, taking only the front half of the leaf parts; after washing and drying, mixed with vinegar, salt, sesame oil, wasabi paste, mustard seed, sugar, and soy sauce, sprinkled with a bit of garlic water to enhance the fragrance, but no garlic bits, only white sesame used as garnish.

The flavor of crown daisy was very strong, almost could be called overbearing; for those who loved this taste, it was simply irresistible.

Xiang Yuan had loved eating crown daisy since childhood.

Before, when he ate cold tossed crown daisy, it was always blanched in water first; this time was the first time he saw the raw tossing method, truly opening his eyes.

Because he ate too anxiously, just as it entered his mouth, accidentally, he was choked by the spiciness of the mustard seeds, and coughed violently.

Zhu Butcher beside him hurriedly handed him water, and asked if he was alright.

Meanwhile in the Pian Ting, the Xiang Family steward and several head escorts and guards were sitting together around a small table, each burying their heads in eating.

At this moment, hearing Xiang Yuan coughing loudly outside, the steward suddenly raised his head.

?? Thank you everyone for the monthly tickets, Xiaoxiang Tickets, recommendation tickets, all kinds of tickets; thank you Food Friends for your support; tomorrow is the last day of this month; whether or not we can get the benefits, we are already very grateful; thank you, thank you ^_^

Gratitude to Qing Eyebrow Thin and two book friends for gifting me Sachets=3=

Thanks to Ice Condensation Coldness, book friends, phone_QiDian, and kelp for gifting me Peace Talismans：）