Chapter 360: Miao Chu Chapter 361: Rich Soup

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

The Eldest Young Master mentioned by Beizhi was naturally He Ying, He Qi's elder brother.

Song Miao agreed without hesitation.

At this time, He Ying had been entertaining several envoys from vassal states for half a day, reeking of alcohol, and had just walked out of the Si Fang Guan with several subordinates.

It was no longer early in the day, past the Xu hour.

According to his usual conduct, even after leaving the yamen, he would gather his subordinates and return to the Gongshu to finish summarizing all the day's affairs before letting anyone go.

But today these envoys somehow had huge capacities for alcohol, making everyone struggle to keep up, and a minor clerk who had been blocking drinks for a superior went to the Xuefang midway and vomited all over the ground.

He Ying had been away on official business for many days, had finally returned to the Capital, and within a few days had taken on this task of receiving the barbarian envoys, leaving his subordinates in a flurry again.

Though strict with his subordinates, he was not entirely without human feeling; besides, seeing that everyone behind him was walking unsteadily, he knew that even if they returned, they could get no work done or summarize anything, so he said: "Everyone go home first today, no need to go to the yamen anymore."

A group of minor officials and clerks, hearing this, had each sobered up by five or six parts, dared not ask more, fearing that asking would spoil this rare good thing, and each hurriedly thanked him and ran off in a puff of smoke.

He Ying himself went to the Er Fang.

He changed into clean clothes brought by an attendant, and rinsed his mouth with freshly brewed strong tea.

Among the wine he drank today, there was a jar brought from afar by the barbarian envoys; its taste was ordinary, not even strong, but once swallowed, it went straight to his head, making him feel heavy-headed and stifled in the chest, wanting to vomit.

Even so, when he saw Beizhi return from Sanzao County Alley, he still sat up straight.

Beizhi respectfully replied: "Eldest Young Master, Song Xiaoniangzi has agreed, and specially asked this servant to come and ask if there is any matter at Seventh Young Master's place, and whether she needs to prepare some snacks in advance?"

Seeing that He Ying looked unwell, he couldn't help but add in a low voice: "Song Xiaoniangzi's food shop closes at the Xu hour and opens at the Mao hour; Eldest Young Master need not go today, another day would do—this servant just needs to report it!"

He Ying shook his head, stood up, and put on his shoes.

Today's matters, finished today.

He was strict with others, and even stricter with himself.

Arranged matters, unless absolutely necessary, would not be changed lightly.

Besides, thinking of the rambling letter his younger brother sent, if he didn't deal with him in time, that fellow would only know how to be annoying afterward.

Because the alcohol was too strong, He Ying dared not ride a horse, but took a carriage.

No one knew if it was because of the wine or because it was dinner time; the road was full of pedestrians and carriages hurrying home, making the He family's carriage stop and go, and the person inside swayed even more dizzyingly.

He Ying lifted the carriage curtain, saw that they had already passed Zhuque Gate, and ordered the coachman to stop the horses; he got out of the carriage himself and said: "I'll walk a few steps."

Beizhi ahead hurriedly dismounted, handed the reins to an attendant beside him, turned around, and led the way.

After walking a distance, although He Ying's throat still tasted somewhat bitter, the stifling feeling in his chest had subsided considerably, and he finally regained some spirit, asking Beizhi questions.

Beizhi answered them one by one.

"……That young lady's cooking is excellent, and she is also a very good person; Young Master, when you have leisure, you can either visit her yourself or ask us to bring food back; after getting to know them, the He family has also had many dealings—He Lao Furen often brings the young mistress to eat there!"

He was about to mention the Taixue steamed buns and praise Song Xiaoniangzi even more, when he saw He Ying across from him frown.

"This Xiao Qi, for the sake of a bite to eat, does all sorts of improper things all day!"

Just as he was speaking, He Ying looked up and saw the signboard ahead—that place was a small alley; at the alley entrance was a small wine shop, and the wine shop had hung a cloth banner from afar, on which were written the four large characters "Song Ji Food Shop," and below were phrases like "Eat our family's steamed buns, Zhan Gong Zhe Gui," "Literary spirit soaring to the sky," "Juren steamed buns," "Taixue steamed buns," and so on.

People doing business in the Capital often hang auspicious words; this food shop was probably opened near Taixue, so they made up many flowery tricks.

But although there were many flowery tricks, the cloth banner was dirty, wrinkled, and the characters on it were written crudely, with missing and wrong strokes.

He Ying's impression of this Song Ji immediately plummeted.

His younger brother liked to socialize outside, associating with all sorts of riffraff; though he didn't look down on commoners, this was too dirty!

A food shop with a signboard like this—can the things they make be eaten??

It's just Xiao Qi!

Last time I heard he made a friend from Jiaozhi and followed him to eat ants and spiders, giving himself a stomachache; this time, who knows what ruffian he met! For that person, he even came to ask me!

He pointed with his finger, trying hard to suppress the displeasure in his tone, and asked: "Is it that Song Ji?"

Beizhi quickly swallowed the praise that had reached his lips, looked up, and immediately replied: "No! Not that one!"

He then hurriedly stretched out his arm to point ahead and said: "Sanzao County Alley is behind; Song Xiaoniangzi's Song Ji Food Shop is at the end of Sanzao County Alley; there's still a good distance!"

He Ying put on a stern face, no longer needed Beizhi to lead the way, and walked ahead first.

Several attendants followed behind; no one dared to speak, only exchanging glances, with lowered brows and obedient eyes.

This time, after walking more than half a street, another small alley appeared ahead.

That alley was not deep; one could easily see to the bottom; clearly there were two or three teahouses and wine shops inside; the innermost one had hung lanterns out early, two lanterns on the left and right, swaying back and forth; one had "Song Ji" written on it, the other "Food Shop," and there was also a cloth banner with "Authentic Song Ji Taixue Steamed Buns" written on it.

Although there was still some distance, He Ying had already seen several shirtless men, or barefoot, or wearing slippers, slovenly fellows walking in.

But this time, his tone no longer had the certainty of the previous time, yet he still couldn't help asking: "Is that Sanzao County Alley? Is that that Song Ji?"

Beizhi hurriedly said: "No, that's not 'Song Ji,' Young Master, look again—that's 'Mian Mu Ji'!"

He Ying was rare to be choked for a moment; he looked carefully at the lantern for a while; indeed, the character "Song" on it was split too far apart, looking more like "Mian Mu" than "Song," but who would seriously distinguish this??

He couldn't help but stand still on the spot and look around.

This time, he discovered another "Song Ji Food Shop" not far away.

Continuing forward, various "Song" characters in different fonts and forms appeared endlessly on many signs; most were tiny shops, or someone carrying a pole, pushing a cart with a cloth banner hung on it—nine out of ten sold steamed buns.

By this time, if he still hadn't noticed something was wrong, He Ying would be a fool.

"How can there be so many 'Song Ji'?"

His eyes were about to go dizzy from looking!

Beizhi, finally getting a chance, almost hurriedly spoke out the words he had turned over in his stomach several hundred times.

"Eldest Young Master—this is all the name taken from following Song Xiaoniangzi's food shop!"

"You have been out on errands these past days, so you probably don't know: His Majesty recently visited Taixue in person, praised the steamed buns there, saying that with this to nourish the scholars he had nothing to regret, and even took steamed buns back to pay respects to the Empress Dowager; those steamed buns were supplied to Taixue by Song Xiaoniangzi's food shop!"

He recounted everything that had recently happened around Song Ji in full; the story was long and numerous, and besides stating the facts, he kept finding ways to insert his own words, repeatedly praising again and again, until by the time he finished, his mouth and tongue were truly parched.

Hearing the latter part, He Ying's inner displeasure gradually faded, but doubt immediately rose, and his face grew even sterner.

"This food shop has already made a name before the Emperor and the Empress Dowager—what does he still need me to do!"

Beizhi dared not answer, but pointed toward an alley in the front direction and said, "Young Master—that is Sanzao County Alley!"

By the time they arrived, He Ying, though still displeased, ultimately did not nag, and strode in.

This alley did not have as many "Song" characters as many small alleys outside, nor so many steamed bun shops; instead, there were more places selling drinks, miscellaneous goods, and so on.

There were also several houses that were originally residences; outside them were piled mud, sand, lime, earth slurry, and such, along with bricks and tiles, and signboards placed to one side not yet hung up—obviously they were rushing to build and renovate, hurrying to start new businesses.

Beizhi opportunistically added a sentence on the side: "Recently many people have come to line up in the alley to buy steamed buns; presumably the neighbors saw this flow of people and all thought to borrow a bit to do business..."

He Ying neither agreed nor disagreed.

While speaking, they had already reached the end of the alley.

Beizhi hurried a few steps ahead to report the news.

Thus when Song Miao heard the news and came out from the back courtyard, she happened to meet this Eldest Young Master of the He family.

He Ying looked very stern, with a square face, appearing not easy to approach; upon seeing Song Miao, he had no idle words.

He waited for Beizhi to introduce his identity, but did not step closer; instead, standing seven or eight paces away, he said: "I just returned to the Capital not long ago; originally, Xiao Qi entrusted me to come ask whether Song Xiaoniangzi's food shop has any place needing help, but..."

Saying this, He Ying paused slightly, looked up at Song Ji's signboard—there hung a brand-new signboard, clearly the work of a master, but it bore no words like "Taixue Steamed Buns" or "Chen Gong Zhegui," only four large characters simply reading "Song Ji Food Shop."

"I just heard Beizhi speak of the young lady's recent deeds; presumably she no longer needs outsiders to meddle—I only still ask you to pass a word to my younger brother: if he encounters any thorny matters, he has my name card with him and can come to my door to find me at any time."

Song Miao was very surprised and couldn't help but ask: "Young Master He entrusted an official to come, not to bring food, was it?"

He Ying shook his head: "No, the day before yesterday, a subordinate sent clothing over and delivered a letter to him—Young Lady, your food shop was previously troubled by villains, wasn't it?"

Song Miao asked several more questions before learning that He Qi had taken on an important errand and wouldn't be out for a while.

Earlier, when his family sent clean clothes and bedding in to him, some branch or other told him about Song Ji being forcibly broken into by thieves at midnight, about Wang Sanlang being blackmailed, about villains bringing IOUs to the door to demand debts, and so on, making the one inside anxious and pacing in circles.

He Qi couldn't get out for the time being, so he tried every means to entrust the matter to his elder brother.

He Ying could do nothing about this younger brother, so he had to come to the door to help pass on a word.

Song Miao never expected that He Qi couldn't even eat a single good meal, yet still cared about her and the food shop's safety.

She was truly moved in her heart, thanked him repeatedly, and said: "I indeed have encountered some troubles here and am entrusting someone to help; if it ultimately cannot be resolved, or is too thorny, I will have to come to your door to ask the official for help..."

She said earnestly: "Thank you, sir; this time it was He Qi Gongzi remembering an old acquaintance, but if not for your kind heart and not fearing trouble, anyone could be casually sent to deliver a message—why would you personally make a trip?"

He Ying did not respond, and his stern expression did not change at all, but after a while he added another sentence: "I usually return to the Fu after the hour of Xu most days; if there is anything extremely urgent, go to Si Fang Guan and report my name..."

He simply said two sentences and was about to leave.

Song Miao hurriedly asked him to stay, saying: "Earlier I did not know the official's purpose, only thinking He Qi Gongzi wanted to bring some food back—I have already prepared some ready-made items for him, among which two are wrapped in Wan Fang paper; since you have come in person, why not come in and sit for a while, drink some tea, and then help take those scattered foods back?"

Thinking of his younger brother's pitiful appearance in the letter, and knowing that he usually could not go in and out, and even if others wanted to send things in they could not, He Ying couldn't help but feel a bit of hesitation.

Before he could make a decision, he heard carriage sounds from behind, and soon several people called out in turn: "He Da Shao Ye!"

He turned his head and saw the familiar carriage and the visitor's attire; he hurried forward to welcome them, and sure enough, not long after, he helped He Lao Furen and Zhu Jie'er, who was still lying in her arms, out of the carriage.

Seeing He Ying, He Lao Furen was also very surprised and asked: "How did you come? Where is Xiao Qi?"

Upon learning He Ying's purpose, she laughed and said: "Since you have come, I have reserved a table at Song Xiaoniangzi's place—let's eat together before leaving?"

He Ying hurriedly said: "Old Furen is too courteous; I have just finished entertaining guests and have wine on my body, fearing the smell is strong and might offend you..."

If he hadn't said that, it would have been fine, but once he said it, He Lao Furen hurriedly said: "You've all drunk wine, so you should rest a while longer before leaving! Fortunately, Xiao Song's place has excellent green plum drink, which is very good for suppressing nausea!"

She turned to ask Song Miao.

Song Miao agreed, welcomed them in, instructed Zhang Siniang in the back to start preparing the cut vegetables, and had someone bring up the drinks.

After arranging for people to be seated, she asked if they wanted to add two more dishes.

He Lao Furen had not yet answered when He Ying shook his head and said: "No need to make more; I have no appetite, I'll just keep you company for a short while, drink some beverage, and then leave—there are still some matters at the Fu."

Song Miao glanced at He Lao Furen; seeing her nod toward her, she said no more, called someone to attend to them, and returned to the back kitchen herself.

She had just left for a short while when the short-term hire poured the drinks for the people at the table, and Zhang Siniang brought up the soup tureen.

"Young Lady, this soup was put on the stove at noon and has been braised until now..."

As she spoke, she served soup to He Lao Furen and Zhu Jie'er, whose eyes were hazy as if a little cat were fishing; seeing He Ying seated at the side table with clean bowls and chopsticks before him, she didn't think much and also served him a bowl along the way.

Thus He Ying, who truly had no appetite and was about to drink clear tea to suppress the wine, hadn't even had time to wave his hand in refusal when a bowl of soup was placed before him.

The condition is not very good; I revised several versions but am still not satisfied, so I can only ask everyone to bear with it and read it first.

There are not many chapters left in the main text, but friends who like daily life and the aftermath need not worry; there will be quite a few extra chapters, and the content everyone cares about will be written. Later there will also be a separate small map about Xiao Miao opening a shop elsewhere (this isn't a spoiler, is it? After all, this article actually has no plot; all content is written openly...)

Friends who are tired from chasing the update need not be afraid; the main text will fill in most of the pits, allowing everyone to get off the car safely in advance.