Chapter 328: Miao Chu Chapter 350: Exchange

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

Zhang Facao calculated and recalculated here, just so he could properly and reasonably show up at the most appropriate time — for instance, at noon or the Shen hour — to slowly "verify" things with that Song Xiaoniangzi.

Meanwhile, back at the Taixue, Lao Cao, his belly "stuffed" full of ginger minced fried rice, winter melon braised crab meat, mutton, and the like, a bellyful of warmth, even took special care to gather his two sleeves neatly before coughing once and stepping through the door.

Hearing the movement inside, everyone looked up in turn, and one after another started "greeting" him.

"Aiyo, Lao Cao's back! Which one is that 'distant' nephew of yours?"

"It wouldn't be Cao Xiaofu, would it? Coming from Yu Jie, even on horseback he'd have to ride to the ends of the earth, up to the heavens and down to Huang Quan — did it take more than half a double-hour?"

"You, this uncle from a different branch, wanted to see him the day before yesterday, wanted to see him yesterday, and today at high noon you still want to see him, and even have to treat him to a meal — wouldn't it still be at Song Ji? What trouble for him, and for you too!"

A group of people were being sarcastic and snide here.

Lao Cao hummed and hawed, shrinking his head and smiling, waiting until they'd said about enough before saying: "Sigh, Xiaofu really had urgent business, that's why he rushed over to find me — what did you all eat at noon?"

This question would have been fine unasked; once asked, the crowd who were just catching their breath started cursing again.

"You still have the face to say that!"

"Lao Chen ran interference for you for half a day — right now he's still receiving that Zhang Shilang and several from the Ministry of Personnel, talking about scholar selection, Xuan Ren Po Que, my head's swelling just listening, and you? You went to Song Ji, didn't you??"

"And you ask what we ate, haven't you eaten it?? Eating 'aiyo aiyo' every day, shouting 'where's Xiao Song' — who was that?? Was it you?? How is it, today you saw Xiao Song, ate her cooking, and forgot what suffering we endured yesterday, what torment we're enduring today???"

Seeing the collective outrage here, Lao Cao hurriedly offered a cartload of apologetic words, but to no avail; he could only spread his wide sleeves and produce two rope bags from within.

"Sigh! Don't make it sound like I'm guilty of the ten heinous crimes! Though I went to Song Ji myself, I didn't forget the big guys! Look — what's this!"

Two light taps, and the rope bags went "thud", "thud" onto the table.

"What's this! This little bit of stuff, and you want us to shut up??"

"What is it?"

"Where's it from? Did Xiao Song give it?"

Though their mouths were still grumbling, hearing the words, they all swarmed over at once.

The rope bags weren't large, lined inside with oil paper, holding different things; the moment they were opened, everyone swallowed back their nagging chatter.

"Smells so good — are these quail eggs?"

"They're pigeon eggs! How are they this fragrant!"

"So many dried fruits — this bag smells amazing too! Lao Cao, did you get these from Xiao Song?"

"Did she say how to divide them?"

"Did you pay for them!"

Cao Fuzi hmphed through his nose and said: "What do you take me for!"

Then he said: "There are pigeon eggs, and quail eggs, also fragrant torreya nuts, walnuts, and pine nuts; the two kinds of eggs and the edamame at the bottom were all entrusted by Xiao Song to be given to you lot of old goods to eat, the rest I brought along myself — thinking you've worked hard setting exam questions, I slacked off myself and felt bad coming empty-handed, so I brought some snacks back!"

"How's that, this character! This conduct! Doesn't it deserve a line of praise — 'cassia blossoms pure and bright, orchid leaves lush and flourishing'!"

Delayed at Song Ji for quite a while, by the time he returned to the Taixue it was already afternoon; a roomful of old men had eaten a ceremonial banquet at noon, the cook was also juggling the front canteen, and threw together a table haphazardly — though not inedible, it was truly nowhere near good eating.

From luxury to frugality is hard.

Ever since Song Miao returned from Hua Prefecture, these masters ate at Song Ji almost every day at noon; then one day, they were all rounded up in one sweep, locked away to set exam papers, and lunch switched from Song Ji to fixed deliveries from the canteen — the suffering was indescribable.

Now hearing these were brought for their own people, the old men who'd been clamoring instantly changed their faces.

"Aiyo! Lao Cao! Still you're the best!"

"Just knew your character's noble — let me taste, are they plain boiled? Xiao Song's skill, how can a few eggs be more fragrant than anyone else's!"

After setting questions for half the afternoon, the masters pored over criminal codes, dug up old cases, revised cases, added characters and relationships, added subplots to confuse examinees — truly brain-taxing work.

Very quickly, almost everyone in the room put down their work and crowded over.

Hands reached into the rope bags at once, some pinching a few eggs, some grabbing handfuls of dried fruit.

Lao Cao couldn't resist either, grabbing a few eggs, tapping them haphazardly on the table, and peeling the shells.

The first one was a pigeon egg.

As he peeled, the aroma grew richer, assaulting the nose.

Shell removed, a tiny, semi-transparent egg lay in his palm, like warm yellow jade, the outer layer impossibly smooth, inexplicably with a sense of moisture, the yolk clearly visible through the white.

The two places were close to begin with, and he'd taken a carriage; moreover the weather was hot, so the eggs were still warm.

Having eaten too full at noon, Cao Fuzi, who hadn't had a chance to sneak a bite, took a mouthful in one go.

Opened mouth — bit empty air.

His teeth actually slipped on the pigeon egg's surface skin, and inadvertently, he swallowed it whole.

Only after a few more chews did he finally taste the pigeon egg.

It was a very soft, jelly-like texture, yet springy; the white extremely delicate, the yolk fluffy, no grittiness, no powderiness at all, incredibly smooth, wouldn't choke you, eating it the mouthfeel had only the faintest presence, carrying egg fragrance, sliding down along your tongue root on its own.

Faintly salty, that saltiness came from salt-baking — the salty taste actually gave a distinctly fragrant sensation.

Waiting to eat another, this one was a quail egg.

Compared to the pigeon egg, the quail egg was a yellowish color, the white wrinkled so the skin shrank slightly; one bite down, a different texture.

The white had a bit of chew, tight and springy when chewed, very dry-fragrant; it was smaller than the pigeon egg, shell thinner, also salt-baked, but where the pigeon egg was lighter, sweeter, this one had absorbed all the spice flavors and the salt had penetrated; eating it the egg flavor and fragrance were both richer, chew slowly, all a happiness of full flavor.

"This quail egg is really delicious! If only there was wine to go with it..."

"Eat up, drink more wine, next time Song Xiaoniangzi makes a skill dish, you won't even be able to taste what seasonings she put in!"

The crowd no longer had the leisure or mind to discuss anything else, each sharing which was tastier.

"Don't just eat quail eggs and pigeon eggs, try the edamame — completely different from salt-water boiled! That edamame is so floury and glutinous, a bit like chestnuts, fragrant to the extreme, flavor penetrated too, salty and fragrant, salty and fragrant!"

"Edamame's good! Share me a handful, I'll put them on the desk and eat while setting questions — this doesn't dirty my hands, I just touched them, the outer shells are dry!"

"Dry or not, it's still inconvenient to eat, isn't it the same — you still have to shell them?"

"Shell what? Clench your teeth, pull with your hand, and they pop right out! If you really must shell them, can't you just use your teeth to shell them?"

"I don't shell them either, I chew them shell and all, eat the beans first, then chew that outer edamame pod, don't say I didn't tell you, after the salty aroma seeps in, the beans are even sweeter! And tender! Lao Cao — how exactly did Song Xiaoniangzi make this salt-baked stuff? It's too delicious!"

A whole crowd stood here, eating one, calling out for another, interspersed with comments about how the ginkgo nuts were both glutinous and fragrant, how the hazelnuts had a salty milky fragrance, even those with bad teeth slowly ground the hard nut meat, and by the end their mouths would be coated with a layer of fragrant, rich, oily paste, all hazelnut aroma.

There were even pine nuts, these were roasted, already cracked open, but still had to be slowly shelled and eaten by hand.

Pine nuts are soft the moment they enter the mouth, one tap, one bump and they crumble, carelessly they'd get flattened, carrying a unique pine fragrance, eating them they're oily and moist, distinctly sweet.

Everyone discussed while stuffing this and that into their mouths, and with so many people, the two bags were soon eaten seven or eight parts full.

Cao Fuzi had long since mixed in among them, grabbing a handful, then another handful, eating away while not forgetting to claim credit.

He turned his palm upward and stretched it out for everyone to see.

— Several red marks on his palm.

Cao Fuzi said: "Look at my hand — this is a hand that can write and paint! Carrying it all the way here, the rope chafed my hands red! If I weren't thinking of you lot, why would I go to such lengths to smuggle them in??"

No matter how much Lao Cao boasted, he had genuinely brought things back, he was the one who exerted effort as a helper, everyone lifts the flower sedan chair together, and for a moment everyone joined in praising him.

Once the praise was done, because the topic turned to questions, someone brought over a newly drafted case.

Cao Fuzi took it, glanced over it, and said: "You can add two more clauses……"

He was still explaining here when suddenly he heard a burst of footsteps at the door, turned his head, and it was Chen Fuzi returning.

Chen Fuzi's character had always been decent, this time he alone bore the burden of attending the banquet, and although his seniority and reputation spoke for themselves and he didn't have to do anything, just sitting there for a long time was exhausting enough.

The moment he arrived, the others knew he'd had a hard time, and each and every one called out greetings.

"Lao Chen, Lao Cao brought back delicious food from Song Xiaoniangzi — come quick and try some!"

"Chen Lao, taste this pigeon egg! Cao Lao said this was salt-baked by Xiao Song! It really isn't ordinarily fragrant!"

Someone even brought him a tea cup and poured tea.

Chen Fuzi was truly a bit tired, and didn't decline, walked forward, grabbed a few pigeon eggs and quail eggs, but before eating he muttered: "What is this? Could it be eggshells?"

People immediately gathered around, following along to study them, and said: "Doesn't look like eggshells, what thing is tooth by tooth, could it be teeth?"

"Doesn't look like teeth either……"

Cao Fuzi's heart suddenly sensed something was wrong, hurriedly stuffed the question draft paper into his sleeve, didn't even tell the other party to revise it, himself hurriedly burrowed in among them, one hand trying to gather up the two rope bags.

"What are you doing! Lao Cao??"

Cao Fuzi said busily: "Leave some! Leave some for later! If it's all eaten up, what'll we do later??"

Speaking, he tried to yank the two rope bags back.

But it was already too late.

Chen Fuzi reacted at once, saying: "Lao Cao, don't move — how does this look a bit like crab shell to me?"

Someone immediately chimed in: "It IS crab shell!!! It's from the crab claw — Lao Cao, you ate crab at noon??"

Cao Fuzi cried bitterly in his heart, hurriedly let go, hunched his waist and backed away.

The group of Fuzi opposite had already all crowded over, eyes wide, distinguishing carefully.

"It IS crab shell! And who knows what crab!"

"There's crab to eat, and Lao Cao actually didn't bring us any???"

Salt-baked quail eggs, pigeon eggs are certainly delicious, edamame, hazelnuts and so on are also delicious, but compared to crab…… they're fundamentally not the same thing at all!

"Not honorable!! What was agreed that day! Going to Xiao Song's, as long as there's good food, everyone has to give each other a heads-up!!"

"Lao Cao?"

"Where's Lao Cao??"

The whole crowd searched for Lao Cao.

Lao Cao had long since slipped out the door, not daring to stay a moment longer, scurried back to his own room.

Aiya! How to explain this?

Originally it was just one bucket of crabs, Xiao Song still had to prepare a banquet in the evening, after setting aside what was needed, there were only a few left — he calculated, at most only eight or nine remained.

There are ten-odd old men here! How could that be enough!

As it happened, his family had exactly six people, with two extra, the two of them old husband and wife would perfectly get two each! In terms of numbers, it was completely a heaven-made, earth-set destiny with those crabs! Therefore he immediately decided, asked Song Xiaoniangzi to salt-bake them in the evening and help deliver them home, along with some grilled meat chashao, and if convenient, another portion of ginger minced fried rice.

How could this be explained?

Originally he asked Xiao Song, let her pay attention tomorrow, if there's this thing called an chun crab again, buy a bucket, salt-bake and deliver to the door, he'd find a way to send someone out to fetch it — but this explanation won't work now, it only makes him look like the more he paints, the blacker it gets!

Lao Cao didn't dare delay, afraid if he was late he'd really get beaten, hastily wrote a letter in a flurry, had someone deliver it to Song Ji, just saying tomorrow even if there's no an chun crab, crabs, mixed crabs, just make some random food and help deliver it, so he can at least cope a little.

Xiao Song!! Come save my life!!

While the crowd of Fuzi in the Taixue were eating salt-baked quail eggs and pigeon eggs, in the shed by the Liu Ta He riverbank, in Suanzao Alley the Xu family's young son Xu Da handed a chicken egg to a shed-mate.

Boiled egg, though already cold, but this is a river channel, no village ahead, no shop behind, nothing to buy or sell, the meals are even more unspeakable, therefore even just an ordinary chicken egg already made the person opposite happy beyond words, mouth incessantly thanking, and asking: "Where'd it come from? Xu little brother, you didn't eat it yourself?"

Xu Da nodded, saying: "Gave me four, I ate two myself, shared one with you, and there's one more given to Xiao Ma."

The person opposite was originally smiling while peeling the chicken egg, hearing the words Xiao Ma, the smile on his face slowly faded.

He sighed, asking: "Did Xiao Ma eat?"

"Didn't eat, judging by the look, he's still holding a sulk — if it were me I'd be resentful too, clearly everything was done by himself, why should he have to hand over everything he made to someone else! That someone else doesn't even show their face all day!"

"I heard the river will open in a few days, we'll advance two days early, and exchange with those young masters in Chan Zhou Cheng, is this news reliable or not?"

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