Chapter 263

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

These past two days, going to Food Alley to set up stall, it wasn't long before the Imperial Academy students queuing up to buy breakfast would gather together, and in hushed tones, with the air of "Stall Owner Song, let me tell you a secret!", describe to Song Miao the scene of how the Emperor, under Dean Deng's accidental-yet-deliberate guidance, ate a spoiled steamed bun.

"That plate of steamed buns His Majesty ate was bought by me!"

"Hehe, the duck-and-goose buns in front of the Dean were placed by me — last time I ate that duck meat bun, I spat it out on the spot; finally he gets a taste too, serves him right for meddling! Hehe!"

"Well placed — wonder if he got a stomachache after he went back!"

"Shh, shh, lower your voices, don't let anyone hear!"

"Afraid of what? Such a heroic deed deserves to be known by all, so I can make a name for myself — have you not seen that Han Li?"

"Exactly, even if Dean Deng finds out, he'd be too embarrassed to nitpick with us students, wouldn't he? What would he become? Still, better not spread it — even if he doesn't give you a hard time, the masters record your names, and during questioning, they'll call on you to answer a few extra times……"

"Ah……"

Then they spoke of how Jia Chang was investigated, how he was handed over to the Court of Judicial Review, how the newly arrived officials made the canteen solicit opinions from teachers and students above and below.

"The canteen had the study leaders ask for our suggestions on which bun shop to source from in the future — I shouted three hundred times for 'Song Ji'!"

"I raised both hands, and even stood up to raise them! If legs and feet could count, I'd have lifted my feet over my head!"

"I took the document and ran everywhere finding study-mates to co-sign — hearing it was a proposal to source 'Song Ji' buns, everyone signed with such frantic urgency — not even when monthly subsidies are handed out has anyone been this enthusiastic!"

"Of course! Sign early or sign late, the subsidy gets paid all the same, but if you hand it in too late and delay progress, who knows when we'll get to eat Song Ji's buns!"

"You don't know — when that Official Jia was escorted out, from the Teaching Hall to the main gate, that stretch of road, he stumbled seven or eight times, so scared his feet couldn't stand steady; I watched and just wanted to applaud him, tell him to fall harder — serves him right!"

Similar words, who knows how many rounds heard over two days — Song Miao now understood in great detail every situation the Imperial Academy had produced because of buns.

Because she had received Chen Fuzi's reminder early on, knowing Cao Fuzi was exerting effort behind the scenes — though she didn't know how he did it, what methods he used, how it ended up involving so much, yet he actually pulled it off, incidentally replacing a Vice Commissioner of the Imperial College, reforming the canteen, so that teachers and students could finally eat decently three meals a day — even though Song Miao couldn't ask for details, she couldn't help but truly admire him.

At this moment, rare for him to come swaggering in demanding fatty meat, she agreed in one breath, and brought out that cloth bag of copper coins from last time, wanting to return them.

Cao Fuzi kept waving his hands, angrily saying: "Given to you! My bun-buying money, accounts are accounts — you returning it, what does that mean!"

Refused to accept it no matter what.

Before leaving, he specially instructed again: "Tomorrow if there's meat, that meat — can I eat one more mouthful of fatty than everyone else — one more mouthful than Lao Chen!"

Cao Fuzi finished speaking, stared at Song Miao until she agreed, only then lifted his head, hands behind back, slowly climbed into the carriage compartment, turned back waving his hand, chuckling to himself as he slipped away.

Seeing off Cao Fuzi, Song Miao turned back to the front hall, and Cheng Erniang came up to meet her, asking: "Young Lady, tomorrow the Imperial Academy canteen has many more bun orders, and Master Cao wants fatty meat — should I have someone tell Shentu Hu to bring in more good meat tomorrow?"

She also brought over a list, asking if tomorrow's ingredients should be purchased as listed.

Song Miao took it and looked — Cheng Erniang, without needing her instruction, had already early on adjusted according to the previous bun meat-to-vegetable ratios, increased proportionally.

Several months in, Cheng Erniang could already recognize simple characters, and kept accounts very clearly.

This current purchase list, though not hard to execute, all the work in a food shop accumulates from just such trivial matters — as long as the person doing the work can think one step ahead on every detail, then no task will become a chaotic scramble.

She praised her first, then said: "I'm thinking this Imperial Academy order is different from other places — the other orders are all breakfast, but the Imperial Academy actually does lunch too — if we split into two batches to make and two batches to deliver, can our manpower stretch? It just means more effort on my part."

In the Capital, Central Plains territory, people who eat buns, baked cakes, and noodles for all three meals are not few.

This time the Imperial Academy's purchase quantity is not small — Song Miao specially asked, the canteen plans to supply in two sessions, morning and noon.

Morning mainly supplies masters and instructors, so they can sleep well, and even if they arrive late, they won't have nothing to eat; noon mainly supplies the crowd of students.

Students come at noon to buy buns, and will conveniently buy other food at the canteen too — for the Imperial Academy canteen, improving student meals is naturally important, but finding ways to sell everything they make is even more critical.

Cheng Erniang, following Song Miao for long, immediately understood her meaning: "Young Lady fears the buns kept too long won't taste as good as fresh out of the steamer?"

Song Miao nodded yes, and added: "Our small business relies entirely on reputation — now that reputation has finally built up, we must be even more careful guarding it."

"Young Lady is right! I'll go tell everyone now — the Imperial Academy side split into two batches, made by the hour — before when orders were few, Young Lady would rather earn less or nothing, still hired a cart to deliver, just to not lose the good flavor; now orders are this big, if all those people at the Imperial Academy eat poorly, the face we've earned day after day setting up stall would all be lost!"

Cheng Erniang drew inferences, said: "Vegetables don't matter, early or late, all picked and dug the night before — but the meat should also be coordinated with Shentu Hu, have him slaughter pigs and sheep in two rounds, one at midnight, one in morning, otherwise in hot weather, buy back and leave half a day, the meat won't be fresh — Young Lady, is my thinking correct?"

Song Miao smiled: "However they slaughter, however they process, once it leaves the slaughterhouse, we need the earliest cut — if Shentu Hu doesn't have suitable, tell him the Zhu Yuanzai family — last time I heard Zhu Shenzi say, the Zhu family sells meat to other butchers in three batches a day."

For a moment Cheng Erniang also asked about tomorrow noon's small dining table dishes.

Because Cao Fuzi raised wanting fatty meat, Song Miao thought briefly — common meats are chicken, duck, goose, pig, sheep; those with fatty texture are mostly sheep and pig; since summer sheep is heating, only pork remains.

Pork fat is greasy — to remove that greasiness, she had made Taro Braised Pork before, made Sweet Braised White, made Garlic Mashed White Pork, also Red-Braised it.

Besides Taro Braised Pork, the other several dishes had all been on the small dining table, quite popular with the masters.

Among them Cao Fuzi liked Red-Braised Pork most, ate with relish still not satisfied, at the time even sighed, saying if the meat could be even fattier it would be better, he could eat three more bowls of rice with it — and was roundly cursed by the other masters.

Song Miao is the head chef — these many days observing, based on Cao Fuzi's past chopstick preferences, she vaguely guessed — though his mouth constantly clamored for fatty meat, what he actually wants isn't truly fat, but a rich, non-greasy mouthfeel, and the satisfaction of large meat pieces.

If both can't be achieved, he definitely won't eat satisfied.

This time Cao Fuzi helped so much, Song Miao gauged his taste, wanted to change to a fresh method, let him eat to his heart's content, as a token of gratitude.

She turned to the back courtyard.

Yang Gufu leading Small Worker still building the stove, seeing Song Miao come over, put down the scraper in hand, told her: "Storekeeper Song comes at just the right time — the big stove is waiting to air-dry, two more coats of mud paste, should be ready in a day or two, Small Worker can use it tomorrow — you try it first, if anything's off, still time to fix now."

Song Miao looked at the small stove, reached out to probe — indeed already fired through and shaped, currently airing in ventilation.

With a stove, the things that can be made become more.

While Song Miao was here selecting dishes for Cao Fuzi, inside Nanlu Academy, it was already a chorus of wailing.

If one says on the day the Emperor descended, Nanlu Academy sealed the Dog Hole early, and made instructors and masters patrol repeatedly — one could still self-comfort that it was to welcome the Imperial Carriage virtually across the wall, not losing face — but a full several days passed, and patrol personnel near every Dog Hole still hadn't relaxed in the slightest, it really made people unable to endure.

Nanlu's Dean Shan Chang Xu strictly grasps discipline — for everything else, he couldn't care less.

In this Dean's view, human energy is limited — if invested in food, clothing, housing, travel, one cannot focus on study — students, eating full is enough, clothing keeping cold out and covering body suffices — as for entertainment, don't even think about it, wait until you get a functional title!

Dean holds such views, and moreover a private academy, unlike the Imperial Academy with court subsidies — what Nanlu's canteen can become is imaginable.

Students endured two days, seeing no end — being at the age when blood runs hottest, naturally wouldn't stay honest and obedient.

Dog Hole filled, academy walls patrolled from time to time — but not all the time.

So someone kept watch, someone set up a human ladder, and they stacked themselves layer by layer like arhats; taking advantage of no one noticing, they found a secluded spot and climbed over the wall to get out.

Having been shut in for so long, as long as they could get out the door, even breathing a couple more mouthfuls of air outside smelled sweet.

Everyone went out to amuse themselves — some amusing themselves, some bringing food, buying idle books, and there were even those who smuggled in gambling gear — no help for it, the control was too tight, the more they were forbidden to play, the more they wanted to play.

But there were also those who ran off to exchange goods and news with friends at the Taixue.

By the time this batch of people climbed back over the wall, they naturally brought back news from outside as well.

— The Taixue welcomes the Emperor!

— The Emperor ate a spoiled steamed bun!

— They drove away a Xuezheng!

— They can actually purchase Song Ji's steamed buns! Hateful!! Heaven-killing!! We're the same students, why, on what grounds!! There's no heavenly principle!!!

Besides these pieces of news, there was another saying, vague and indistinct, circulating among the students.

— It is heard that the reason the Taixue blocked the Dog Hole and strengthened patrols this time is because Lin Yiwen's father was dissatisfied with the students isolating his son, and even more dissatisfied that Song Ji's reputation in Food Alley was too great, so he specially went to the Shan Chang to lodge a complaint!

For a moment, an uproar rose throughout, everyone cursing Lin Yiwen; though it did not go so far as making things difficult for him to his face, from then on even fewer people were willing to have anything to do with him.

Climbing the wall is truly troublesome, the target is too large, and the movements too obvious.

Before long, several students were caught by the Xuezheng.

One fell on his buttocks, one sprained his ankle, and they all received heavy punishment.

Ordinary people who went out just to eat would at most curse Lin Yiwen a few times, but these few were addicted to gambling; for the sake of finding gambling dens, when the craving hit, both angry and furious, they came to deeply hate him, just waiting for a suitable opportunity to retaliate in due course.

Song Miao did not know the situation inside Nan Lu.

Early the next morning, after returning from setting up her stall, she did not give Cheng Erniang a purchasing list, but instead took advantage of the spare time to go out purchasing together with the cart.

The weather was stiflingly hot; the masters had taught year after year, month after month, and besides being prone to rising liver fire, their throats were often dry and scratchy, and they frequently produced phlegm.

She went to the North-South Goods Shop to buy salted olives, dendrobium, and the like, preparing to stew soup, then went into the meat stall to select meat.

To eat fatty meat, the first choice is naturally pork belly.

While selecting, she explained in detail to Cheng Erniang.

Pork belly is divided into three types: upper, middle, and lower. Upper pork belly is near the pig's back, generally two or three layers, both fat and lean quite thick; the fat part easily becomes greasy, the lean part easily tough, so naturally it is not chosen.

Lower pork belly is near the pig's belly, with the most layers — fat, lean, fat, lean, fat, lean stacked layer upon layer; if you encounter a remarkable pig, it can even grow ten or more layers for you, whether others agree or not, it first factually renames itself Ten-Layer Pork — the last time Song Miao made Taro Braised Pork she used lower pork belly.

But the fat layers at this position are softer, easily greasy, and after long cooking they also easily fall apart.

This time Song Miao chose middle pork belly.

This meat is located under the pig's ribs, the middle section of the belly meat; fat and lean are most even, and although the layers are not as numerous as lower pork belly, there are still a full five layers, the fat and lean layers very pretty, each layer half a finger to a finger thick, the whole piece about an inch thick.

After selecting a large piece, she also selected a small one; this piece had only four layers, more fat than lean — it was specially prepared for Cao Fuzi alone.

With all ingredients purchased, she returned to the food shop; the others went off to their own busy work, and Song Miao brought the large flatbread and began processing the ingredients.

First, soup must be prepared.

Fresh pork shank washed clean, salted olives washed clean and halved, then scored with a knife, add dendrobium, ophiopogon, polygonatum, dried figs, add plenty of water, bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat — this is Salted Olive Dendrobium Soup, best for calming the liver, moistening the lungs, resolving phlegm, and relieving dry mouth and tongue.

Once the soup pot was on, she began marinating the meat.

This time she planned to make char siu.

According to her mother's saying, char siu means "meat skewered (cha) and roasted"; there are honey juice, crispy skin, and other flavors.

Now having come to this time and place, the Capital has similar methods called roasted meat, but the flavors are not the same.

Considering the masters more or less have bad teeth, and Cao Fuzi wants to eat fatty meat, Song Miao finally picked black char siu to make.

Pork belly skin removed, washed clean, wiped dry, mixed with various seasonings to marinate; the rest are ordinary soy sauce, yellow rock sugar, ginger garlic paste, spices, and also a little red fermented bean curd for color, fish sauce for seasoning, rose essence to enhance fragrance.

Summer weather is scorching; to keep the meat fresh, even with ice it cannot be marinated long; for flavor penetration, she could only knead and massage frequently, making the seasonings seep into the meat as fast as possible.

With char siu as the main dish, besides rice for the noon staple, there were also white flour steamed buns, and several dishes either light or appetizing — stir-fried, steamed, or stewed.

Calculating the time, she only then began cooking.

The rest are all ordinary methods; only the black char siu is pan-fried first then boiled, and at the same time the small stove at the back is heated in advance; after collecting the sauce, she brushes on sauce and puts it in the stove to roast for a moment.

Fearing it would burn, and it being her first time using the stove, she could not help but watch the fire constantly.

Almost the moment the char siu was sent into the roasting stove, the masters' carriages arrived at the door.

Cao Fuzi this time took the lead stepping out, rushed to wash his hands, wiped his face, craned his neck and sat in his seat.

Besides a few small plates of cold tossed side dishes, the first dish served was soup.

The stew cup was still hot to the touch; Da Bing helped lift the lid, and a faint clear fragrance of olive meat soup drifted out.

The weather was too hot; the masters, accustomed to eating at Song Ji, already had experience, and were not in a hurry to drink, only letting it cool slightly, chatting with each other, when suddenly one after another they all closed their mouths and turned their heads toward the direction of the second gate.

"Smells so good!"

"What's roasting?"

"Roasted meat, right? I'm afraid my teeth can't bite it... how can it smell this good, forget it, even if I can't bite it I'll use my old teeth to grind a few mouthfuls!"

And Cao Fuzi, who had been excitedly waiting, unconsciously turned sideways, one hand bracing on the armchair, couldn't help standing up, practically wanting to go forward to welcome it.