Chapter 155

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

Taking the cloth bundle and money, Song Miao did not carry them on her person but turned back to her room, stowed them inside a small wooden box, and only then came out again.

She asked about the specific arrangements for returning to Linghe Town; upon learning that the fellow villager was a local who could guide the way, and that Han Li and the others would return to the official post station ahead of time to pack up and set off together, arriving at the ferry crossing before the middle of the Wei hour to wait for the boat, she asked, "Then how long until we can reach Weizhou City?"

"Even at the fastest pace, if we rush, we won't get into the city until the middle of the night," the fellow villager carrying the duck said.

Da Wei does not ordinarily enforce a curfew, and going by Han Li's usual way of doing things, he would certainly press on into the city through the night.

But Weizhou is, after all, not as prosperous as the Capital; at such a late hour, most likely there will be no food left for sale.

Fortunately we can bring along dry provisions; since we are not setting out until after noon, there is still time to eat a full meal.

Song Miao had originally planned to go out to purchase ingredients; seeing that several ducks had been delivered, she decided to cook with what was on hand, first calling Da Bing over and sending him to boil water in preparation for killing and scalding the ducks, then telling Li A'po and the Linghe Town woman, "Both of you have to guide the way; we shouldn't let you go hungry — come eat a bite together in a while."

Li A'po said, "Han Xiu Cai also asked me to discuss with the young lady whether I could help cook a midday meal for everyone, including the two of us; I just felt a bit embarrassed to say so."

After a few encounters, Song Miao had come to know Li A'po's temperament, so she smiled and said, "What's there to be embarrassed about? It's not for nothing — duck feathers are hard to pluck, and I'm worried time is tight; Da Bing alone can't manage it all. If A'po has a moment, help pluck a few feathers?"

Li A'po was instantly delighted and said, "I'm free right now — when would I not have time!"

The fellow villager at the side also hurriedly said, "Let me lend a hand too! I'm used to doing this! When I was young, I often helped out at flowing-water banquets, specifically in charge of killing chickens, ducks, and fish!"

This fellow villager was also an old woman, surnamed Huang, a few years younger than Li A'po; at first she didn't speak much, but once she opened her mouth and exchanged a few sentences, it was clear she was straightforward and capable.

One can imagine — the route from Linghe Town to Hua Prefecture is troublesome enough to begin with, water route then mountain route then water route again; they have to set out before daybreak, bustle all day, and then rush back to their hometown — it's exhausting beyond measure.

If they weren't the sort who act the moment they decide and aren't afraid of hardship, with weather like this they would probably have stayed home resting long ago.

As they talked, the three of them went to the kitchen.

Chatting along the way, Song Miao only then learned Huang A'po's life story.

It turned out her husband had passed away the year before last; fortunately she still had two daughters — the elder daughter went to the Capital with her husband to make a living, the younger daughter pitied her old mother, and her younger son-in-law was also understanding, so they brought the mother-in-law home to look after her; the old woman also helped watch the children and do housework and such.

"My younger son-in-law does a bit of small business — he buys chickens and ducks raised by villagers and brings them back to sell in the town; just these two years life had gotten a bit better, who knew this great flood would come and wash away his chicken-and-duck shed."

"Because the rain wouldn't stop, the several batches of goods my daughter and son-in-law collected from the countryside were piled together and hadn't been sold yet — and then all at once they all escaped; people were so frantic they could hardly catch their breath!"

As she spoke of family matters, she sighed repeatedly, pointing at the ducks in the cage: "We recovered thirty or forty of them, all just like these speckled ducks; they say they'd only been raised for three months or so, their gallbladders are small, they don't dare wander far."

"Afraid that after a while summer will bring another big flood and wash the shed away again, and since all their capital was tied up in stock, even rice and flour are running out — I heard people say everything in Hua Prefecture City is expensive, so I thought to bring these out to sell, hoping to get a bit more capital to tide us over this period."

Li Popo listened to each sentence and sighed; in the end she said, "I always thought farming was hard and envied you people who raise chickens, ducks, and geese — turns out it's not easy either."

"Every snake bites; there's no easy thing in this world!" Huang A'po also let out an "Ai!" — "I only hope to get a bit more capital; once the flood passes we can go back to the chicken-and-duck business — aside from that I don't know anything else, just afraid the capital won't be enough!"

Hearing this, Song Miao told them about Hua Prefecture currently recruiting labor to dig canals and repair dikes, and added, "Ten wen per head; A'po, your daughter and son-in-law go all over the countryside collecting chickens and ducks, so they must know the situation everywhere — if they can round up a hundred or so people, that's a string of cash as a reward; though it's hard work, it's still better than having nothing at all."

Huang A'po had come in a hurry and didn't know this news yet; hearing Song Miao say it, she eagerly asked for details, then slapped her thigh and said, "There's actually such a good thing!"

She then looked at Li Popo beside her.

The latter naturally helped explain and added, "I'm also anxious to get back — I'm dead set on earning this money!"

While the three were talking, they had already reached the kitchen.

The stove at the official post station keeps hot water ready at all times; Da Bing was just about to kill the ducks, but he is still young, and his previous helper work was mostly in the white kitchen; since following Song Miao he has mostly handled fish, pork, and the like — so now, holding a duck, he was rather flustered.

The two old women immediately stepped up to help.

Seeing no need for her assistance here, Song Miao considered for a moment, gave a word of instruction, and then turned and went back out the door.

Ducks are waterfowl; especially now, during the flood, the young ducks swim about in the yellow muddy water, and their bodies more easily pick up a rank odor and a fishy water stench — if not handled well, it ruins the appetite.

The usual method is to blanch them to remove the gaminess, but Song Miao felt these were tender ducks to begin with; blanching again would leach out both the freshness and the meat flavor — better to use something else to suppress the taste.

The post station still had turbid wine, one or two wen could buy a bowl; it would be perfectly feasible to braise with wine instead of water, but wine alone would not be enough to mask that flavor.

In her household, when eating duck, aside from those with exceptionally good meat that can be stewed into soup — either with dried bamboo shoots for rich freshness or with ginkgo nuts for clear fragrance — most of the time it is stir-fried.

Especially in summer and autumn, stir-fried with young ginger — the flavor is indescribably wonderful.

Although it is only just entering summer and not quite the season yet, by great coincidence she had heard a few days ago that a traveling merchant in the post station was negotiating prices — precisely for young ginger.

She turned to the front hall and indeed saw that merchant sitting and talking with a few attendants.

She went up to greet him and asked with a smile, "The other day I vaguely overheard a word saying the goods Your Excellency is transporting include young ginger — I wonder if you'd be willing to sell retail? I don't need much, just five or six catties."

This party of twelve or thirteen people — the leader is a traveling merchant from the south, originally headed for the Capital; unexpectedly the road was cut off and they are stranded here.

The other goods in the cargo are one thing, but some are seasonal fresh goods — especially a batch of young ginger still covered in mud and soil, which cannot be stored long; the merchant is extremely worried and is trying every way to sell the goods retail in Hua Prefecture City to avoid excessive loss.

Both parties are familiar faces staying in the post station; especially Song Miao's cooking — lately almost every evening meal is so fragrant that everyone dining in the hall has nowhere to escape — so the head merchant naturally recognizes her.

Being asked directly, he hurriedly set down the ledger in his hand and replied, "Selling, selling! If the young lady wants it, I'll give you a better price — we're all acquaintances, we see each other every day!"

Young ginger in the Capital region isn't available until at least the sixth month; such early-season ingredients from the south, no matter how you calculate a discount, are still a high-priced item.

Song Miao knows the market conditions and doesn't haggle; she thanked him and went with him to the rear courtyard to collect the ginger.

Seeing the cart loaded with basket after basket of ginger, all preserved with mud and sand and still bearing roots and a bit of stem — picking them up, some were still very tender, some already slightly past "young," the outer skin thickened and dried, no longer lively — like a little old man wearing a tiger-head cap to pretend youth, yet accidentally revealing a sparse white beard on his chin.

The merchant was quite decent; he had people help carry down several large baskets and said, "Young lady, pick for yourself — choose the tender ones, be selective."

Presently Song Miao picked a basketful, paid the money, then pointed at the several large carts and asked, "Your Excellency, are all these also young ginger? Are they selling well?"

The merchant poured out a stream of complaints: "Some are, some are other seasonal goods — this trip is just rotten luck, terribly hard to sell!"

"Young ginger isn't cheap to begin with; mine is early-ripening ginger from Hepu Commandery, specially ordered — transported thousands of li, with cart-and-horse fees, transit commercial taxes, and escort fees on top — a lot of extra cost went in, so naturally it has to sell at a higher price."

"If we reached the Capital, it would go off our hands easily; but we're stuck here in Hua Prefecture, blocked for days now — take it out to peddle, local merchants hear the price and nine out of ten wave us off; if we try to force our way to the Capital, it's raining all along the route, and these are big carts — many places are impassable…"

Song Miao naturally understands the difficulties involved.

When our group came from the Capital to Hua Prefecture, we all used small carts, and the cargo was mostly surveying and water-conservancy equipment, not very afraid of water damage — even so, several wooden items got moldy, making the whole student group heartsick.

Now the merchant convoy carries both seasonal fresh goods and general cargo, so naturally it's even more afraid of water damage.

Other merchants dealing in ordinary goods would have an easier time unloading them; but he deals in rare goods — normally people might take an extra look and join the excitement, but now with the flood, prices of everything are soaring, even ordinary vegetables sell at high prices, and you have to grit your teeth to buy those — who would bother with goods that are high-priced on top of high-priced?

Though she was only a small-time trader, she could well understand the hardship involved—imagine if she herself had slaved all night to make a great deal of food, only to hawk it all day with no one buying, watching it all rot before her eyes; how could she not be anxious?

"If you don't want to sell at a discount, why not have someone make it into pickled ginger in vinegar jars? It takes more effort and you'll have to buy jars, but in the end it can buy some time, so it won't all turn into old ginger—I see this rain has been falling for a month; it can't go on like this forever. Once it stops, send it to Jingcheng, and by then it'll be just about pickled, ready to take out and sell."

Hearing this, the merchant looked quite tempted; he pondered for a moment, then said, "Thank you for the suggestion, young lady. I'll go ask around right now to see if there's anyone in the city who can help make pickled ginger in vinegar jars!"

If Xiang Yuan hadn't left, Song Miao would have liked to introduce the cook from the other party's household to this person before her—that one's pickled ginger tasted quite good.

She thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't have to be pickled ginger in vinegar jars; it could be pickled into sugar ginger, or made into other ginger preserves. Though all require more capital, as long as the taste is good, they'll sell well. It just depends on how you, sir, plan to choose."

The merchant couldn't miss Song Miao's goodwill, especially since the ideas she gave could indeed solve his urgent need, so he thanked her again and again.

After buying the young ginger, as they left, the two talked all the way, becoming much more familiar. Song Miao asked, "Lately there's been so much rain. After you sell this batch of goods, I wonder what you, sir, plan to do?"

"There's nothing to hide about that," the traveling merchant replied. "I originally thought that if it sold well, I'd bring another batch. But seeing the rain like this, I don't dare anymore. I'm afraid that on the way back I'd run into the summer flood and be blocked for ten or twenty days, losing everything!"

Song Miao said, "Let me say one thing, sir, you might listen—right now Huazhou wants to repair embankments and dig rivers. Since they're digging channels and rivers, they'll certainly need bricks, tiles, timber, bamboo, and all sorts of materials."

She added, "Sir, you're used to doing business; you don't need others to point it out to know whether there's profit in it."

"Doing this kind of materials business may not bring as much profit as selling other fresh and valuable goods, but it has the advantage of being 'stable.' Besides, bricks, stones, and tiles aren't afraid of being soaked in water. They can be placed underneath, with other goods on top, covered with a layer of oilcloth paper. That way, unless the rain is extremely heavy, they won't fear getting wet."

"Sir, you might think it over. If it's feasible, make some arrangements early. The earlier the goods arrive, the higher the price. If you're really not at ease, you can find time to talk to Young Master Han, who leads our group."

Song Miao briefly introduced Han Li.

Hearing this, the merchant was stunned for a moment and asked, "Is that the Taixue student who wrote an article scolding Prime Minister Cao?"

Seeing Song Miao nod, his expression relaxed even more. In the end, he didn't give a definite answer right away, but said, "So it's him. Last year when I went to Jingcheng to sell gold tangerines, I heard people everywhere discussing his article!"

He added, "Thank you, thank you! Let me go back and think it over carefully."

This matter naturally couldn't be forced. Besides, the young ginger she had bought was waiting in the kitchen, so Song Miao didn't say much more. She bade him farewell and turned to leave.

Just as she reached halfway, she saw a familiar person come out of a room nearby, heading toward the kitchen. It was Lu Wenming.

This man had been traveling outside for many days. Today Han Li had given him and a few other students a day off, which was a rare rest, but he was inexplicably absent-minded, not knowing what he was thinking. On a perfectly good road, he almost walked it into a "??" shape, and nearly missed a step on the stone steps.

Seeing this, Song Miao quickly called out to him and asked, "Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"

Lu Wenming shook his head and said, "I was just being muddle-headed myself!"

He asked again, "Is there anything to eat in the kitchen? I slept too late last night and missed breakfast this morning."

Song Miao said, "I just saw that there seem to be some flatbreads inside. Why not eat a little first to settle your belly? It's nearly noon; by then we can eat a proper meal."

Soon after entering the kitchen, it was just the right time—the flatbreads had just been cut with duck pieces, and Huang A'po and Li Popo were washing duck offal.

Song Miao had him bring out the leftover breakfast from the Yi Guan Guan for Lu Wenming, had him wash the young ginger, while she washed her own hands and started working.

With the side dishes ready, nothing else was needed. She put a pot on, added no oil, and directly rendered the duck's fatty skin to draw out the duck fat, then added the duck meat to the pot to stir-fry.

She stir-fried over medium heat slowly. Since duck meat easily releases water, at first the pot was full of steam, with a slight duck smell. As she stir-fried, the steam dissipated. When she heard the sizzling of oil, the duck pieces shrank, the edges of the duck skin curled, changing from tender white to golden yellow and fragrant, and a thick layer of duck fat was rendered in the bottom of the pot.

At this point, the duck's fishy smell turned into a rich fragrance of duck pieces stir-fried in duck fat.

When the aroma came out, she pushed aside the stir-fried duck meat, poured out half the bottom oil, then added a great many young ginger slices, a handful of crushed cornel, star anise, and a piece of cassia bark, stir-frying them explosively, then mixed the duck meat and ingredients together.

At this time she used high heat, stir-frying fiercely, so that every piece of duck meat honestly clung to the young ginger slices and the condiments beside it, unable to escape the aroma. Then, taking advantage of the high heat, she added a circle of clear wine, using the steam evaporated by the wine hitting the hot pot to remove the duck's gaminess. She added salt and soy sauce for seasoning and color, and several pieces of fermented bean curd to enhance the flavor.

When it came time to braise, she added no water, only turbid wine.