Chapter 51

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

The rice noodles stir-fried over fierce fire had only sat for a moment, still steaming hot, radiating heat.

He Qi blew on it twice, then hurriedly took a bite.

Fragrant.

It was the fragrance of lard mingling with the aroma of rice noodles, carrying a touch of just-right wok-char fragrance, wafting deliciously; when chewed, the wok hei and aroma bored desperately into one's mouth and nasal passages.

Truly fragrant enough that if someone died beside you, you wouldn't know.

With enough lard added, the rice noodles were stir-fried sufficiently oil-rich, but for some reason, eating them gave a very dry-refreshing sensation, clean and crisp, not sticky or pasty at all.

Song Miao had specially chosen round fine rice noodles; they softened very evenly when blanched, and because they were finer than ordinary flat noodles, both lard and seasonings coated them better during stir-frying, and they didn't easily clump together.

She had rinsed them repeatedly; the rice noodles were washed extremely clean and refreshing, then shaken dry of water, stir-fried over high heat, giving the noodles a "dry body" feel of their own, yet they ate with rich oil fragrance.

At this moment He Qi had only chewed a few times; very magically, the fried noodles slid down his throat on their own.

When swallowing, the wok hei and fragrance became even richer, simply as if they had lost their way inside his mouth and throat, unable to find their way out.

He didn't have time to say a word, didn't even have time to lift his eyelids, and immediately picked up another large chopstickful of rice noodles.

When Song Miao prepped vegetables she had her own exacting standards; although almost all were cut into threads, the sizes varied, and they went into the wok in sequence, which guaranteed doneness.

The pork threads were stir-fried through, carrying char; the charred outer layer made the meat fragrance more pronounced; the carrot threads and scallion threads were just barely cooked through, still retaining some firmness; there were also mustard green hearts, stir-fried very tender.

The meat had meat fragrance; the vegetables were very refreshing.

Stir-fried fast enough, diligent enough, the rice noodles and accompaniments mixed thoroughly evenly.

He Qi ate a large chopstickful; this time he originally intended to chew slowly, savor carefully, but he couldn't chew more than a few times before the noodles seemed to grow legs and slid into his belly.

The rice noodles carried rich rice fragrance, charred fragrance, oil-smooth; pork threads carried meat fragrance, most chewy, eating with a bit of resilience; carrots clear-sweet, with slight crisp firmness; scallions fragrant and sweet; occasionally one or two bites would hit pickled vegetable threads, salty, crisp-crisp; when biting into mustard green hearts, soft-tender and alive, with the vegetable sweetness inherent to tender leaves.

But these latter were all just garnish, merely enriching texture layers; the main flavor was still the fried noodles' rice fragrance, charred fragrance — nothing could overpower them.

When eating the first bite, He Qi only focused on the fried noodle fragrance, only feeling this plate's flavor seemed exceptionally rich, fragrant in a special way; before he could discern where the specialness lay, the second bite went down and his mouth suddenly exploded with fiery spiciness.

Abundant cornel fruit made this plate of fried noodles thoroughly spicy; the spice given was a lingering after-kick.

Spice can enhance fragrance, cut oiliness, stimulate appetite.

He Qi was raised by his grandmother; from childhood he ate steamed and boiled dishes; even with big fish and big meat, seasoning was light; he truly wasn't particularly able to eat spicy.

But this was spicy.

Just spicy right on the tongue, spicing his appetite wide open, *su-ha su-ha* breathing, only feeling the fried noodles became even more fragrant with this spice; but that spice blended with fragrance made his tears nearly flow, yet he couldn't help hurriedly picking up another bite.

The cornel fruit's spiciness just stepped on his acceptable point, letting his tongue taste the flavors of rice noodles, pork threads, carrot threads, mustard green hearts, etc., yet its presence was truly very strong.

While He Qi ate unable to stop, his mind held only one thought — so fragrant, so delicious, but why so spicy?

Then another thought followed.

— Why am I so weak, so unable to eat spicy!

He was dazed from the spice, hurriedly picked up a chopstick of wolfberry sprout tips, blew on them, and ate in one mouthful.

Wolfberry sprouts have a slight bitter taste; a sprout tip carries only a few extremely tender leaves; eating gives slight bitterness, slight coolness, after bitterness comes slight sweetness, returning sweetness, especially refreshing.

In one go it washed clean the spice on his tongue.

Song Miao saw he was hit by spice, so she pushed that plate of bamboo shoot granule pan-fried eggs over, saying: "Eat this, relieve the spice."

He Qi hurriedly picked up a piece.

The bamboo shoot granule pan-fried eggs were also especially fragrant!

Eggs pan-fried charred yellow, especially the outermost layer and corner positions, charred to nearly a bit crisp, piping hot; even the inside wasn't that kind of very tender pan-fried egg, but rather quite chewy, because pan-fried through, the egg's own slight fishy smell was removed very cleanly, leaving only heavy pan-fried egg fragrance.

One bite down, he ate into bamboo shoot granules.

The quantity of bamboo shoot granules was large, distributed unevenly in the pan-fried eggs, almost a concentrated cluster here, a loose cluster there, but no matter where you bit, you could eat them.

The cluster of bamboo shoot granules He Qi bit into was very crisp, especially fresh, slightly sweet, carrying mountain forest bamboo leaf clear fragrance, crisp-tender, crisp-crisp texture all present.

Because they were mixed inside the pan-fried eggs, eating could both taste bamboo shoot clear-sweetness and eat pan-fried egg heaviness, plus lard fragrance; several combined, because of lard and fragrant pan-frying, absolutely not light, but gaining the shoots brought very fresh mouthfeel.

Shoot fresh flavor is forever the most prominent; fresh, tender, clear-sweet; that sweetness can even have returning sweetness afterward; no matter paired with what ingredient, it can absorb the other's flavor yet keep its own flavor.

Shoots crisp-sweet, eggs charred-fragrant.

He Qi thus alternated one piece bamboo shoot pan-fried egg, several bites fried noodles, two chopsticks wolfberry sprouts, back and forth interleaved, busy beyond measure.

When he finally reacted, he discovered the fried noodles before him had already been swept clean by himself, a bowl of wolfberry sprout soup also drunk dry, only a small piece of bamboo shoot pan-fried egg left.

Turning his head again to look, the small plate of fried noodles separated out earlier was actually also empty; only then did he vaguely recall that just now while busy eating, it seemed the Song stall owner had scooped that plate back into his own bowl.

He felt embarrassed for a moment, face reddened, saying: "How... how did you let me eat it all!"

Song Miao smiled: "I'm a cook; if someone loves eating what I make, how could that be bad? If it were left uneaten, that's when I'd be sad."

He Qi was also easily coaxed, immediately cheered up, hurriedly saying: "Truly delicious! Very delicious!"

Praised the fried noodles fragrant, praised the soup clear, praised the wolfberry sprout tips tender, then praised the bamboo shoot pan-fried eggs fresh.

After a string of praise, his eyes unconsciously looked toward that plate before him still holding a small piece of bamboo shoot granule pan-fried egg — though he was full, he completely could still eat more; hesitating a moment, the chopsticks in his hand involuntarily stretched out, then looked at Song Miao, just about to speak, when he heard outside a burst of horse hoof sounds, and also *xu-xu* rein-pulling horse-stopping sounds; not long after, a person walked in carrying a large basket in each hand.

He Qi hurriedly explained to Song Miao: "It's Bei Zhi, accompanied me since childhood."

That Bei Zhi was also quick-witted; because his hands carried things, inconvenient to salute, he only bowed toward Song Miao, saying: "Stall Owner Song, my Young Master instructed this servant to bring some things — first time visiting, no preparation; if things prepared poorly, only blame this servant's dereliction, not our Young Master's lack of sincerity!"

Song Miao hadn't expected this scene either, looked helplessly at He Qi: "Young Master He only came for a casual meal; if speaking of dereliction, it should be my poor hosting; moreover today you specially came to assist, I haven't even thanked you yet..."

He Qi just *xi-xi* laughed, saying: "I'm not giving for free — still hoping to often come here sneakily for good eats in the future!"

He looked left and right, wanting to direct Bei Zhi to find a table to set down those two bamboo baskets, but didn't expect looking around, the front hall had no tables to speak of, not even an extra chair.

Song Miao then fetched a bench, asking Bei Zhi to temporarily set them there.

He Qi asked, "What is there?"

Bei Zhi lifted the cloths covering the two baskets respectively; one was entirely filled with dried fruits and goods, among which large duck pears were the most numerous, and the rest were some plums, apples, a few pickled papayas, and walnuts, lotus seeds, torreya nuts, hazelnuts, and pine nuts half-wrapped in cloth bags and spread open inside.

The other basket, however, held a whole leg of ham, not large, but very fine in shape.

Besides the ham, there was also a large bamboo tube in that basket.

So many things — it was fortunate he managed to bring them back.

Bei Zhi took out the bamboo tube and set it down, explaining, "The little one saw someone selling cow and sheep milk outside, and brought back a tube."

This gift could not be called anything but generous.

Song Miao sighed and said, "Young Master He's gift is so heavy, how can I accept it?"

She truly felt it was too much, and her heart was not at all at ease.

He Qi saw that what was bought was all food, and originally thought it quite good, but he was very sharp; though he had only heard one sentence from Song Miao, he immediately sensed this was not mere polite refusal.

Born into wealth and nobility, the He family — he could not for a moment find where the problem lay, so he could only laugh and say, "Not heavy! Wait until I come eat a meal now and then, and I'll have eaten the principal back early on!"

The gifts have already been delivered to the house; they cannot be returned, and moreover they were bought with the help of subordinates — if she declined too much, it might only implicate others.

Song Miao then thanked him, accepted the gifts, and said again, "Next time you must absolutely not do this, otherwise how will I return the gift in the future?"

He Qi hurriedly agreed.

That Bei Zhi then smiled and said, "There is still one more thing."

Speaking, he turned and went out; when he returned he was carrying a bunch of flowers.

They were jasmine flowers.

One look at the flower branches showed they had been picked not long ago; branches and leaves were very lively, more than half were flower buds, a small half already slightly open; just as they were brought into the room, they brought a faint fragrance, refreshing to the heart and spleen.

He brought them in, but did not give them to Song Miao first; instead he handed them to He Qi.

He Qi took them at once, smiled, and presented them to Song Miao, saying, "How timely! Just right to perfume the Song Stall Owner's room!"

People of this time love flowers; in spring everyone wears flowers in their hair, and giving flowers as gifts is not very rare.

Song Miao did not think much of the season for a moment, only assuming jasmine was common, and took them casually, praising, "What fragrant jasmine flowers!"

She smiled and thanked him; since the house had long lacked any decent vase, she took a bamboo tube from the side, preparing to fill it with water and arrange the flowers.

But before she could go fetch water, she heard outside there was actually the sound of a carriage again, and the sound of people blocking the way, chaotic as if soldiers and horses in disarray; in just the blink of an eye, a tiny little head poked in from the right doorway.

It was a little girl of five or six, her hair tied in two small buns on left and right, each bun encircled by two strings of pearls; the pearls were tiny, but not ordinary white pearls — they were pale pink, and very even in size.

Her hair was very fine, a bit sparse, yellowish; her face was also a bit thin, her complexion not very good, but her eyes rolled about, and one look showed she was very clever.

This little girl carefully swept her eyes around the room; seeing Bei Zhi, her eyes brightened; then seeing He Qi, she immediately broke into a smile and called out, "Brother Qi!"

While calling, she ran in.

Fortunately the Song family's threshold was not high, and did not trip her.

But He Qi was still startled, and hurried over to grab her, asking, "How did you come? Is anyone with you?"

That little girl smiled broadly, hugging He Qi's robe, not minding anything else, but from beside his leg she poked her head out again to look at Song Miao.

She glanced at Song Miao, seemed a bit shy, pulled her head back; after a while, poked it out again, smiling embarrassedly while half-hiding.

He Qi teased her, "You're a homebody tyrant; usually you interrupt whenever anyone speaks, but now you've gone silent."

He then turned to introduce to Song Miao, "Stall Owner Song, this is my maternal aunt's younger sister."

The little girl immediately stuck her head out again, interrupting to parrot, "Stall Owner Song, my surname is He, I am Zhu Jie'er!"

Simply too adorable.

As long as you don't have to bring her up yourself, don't have to manage her, such a well-behaved other people's child is really very likable.

Song Miao was amused by her into a smile despite herself, and also greeted her, "Hello Zhu Jie'er, I am Song Miao."

Zhu Jie'er smiled until her eyes narrowed, and called out, "Sister Miao!"

He Qi lightly patted her head, saying, "Don't call an elder sister by her name."

Zhu Jie'er went "Oh," and immediately corrected herself, calling out, "Stall Owner Song, Elder Sister!"

While speaking, she stared at the jasmine flowers in Song Miao's hand.

What little girl seeing flowers would not like them.

Seeing her longing look, Song Miao picked a branch with the best bloom and handed it over.

Zhu Jie'er at first dared not take it.

Song Miao half-squatted down and pinned it behind her ear.

Zhu Jie'er thanked her, immediately touched her head and smiled; smiling, she let go of the hand clutching He Qi's robe, stepped out a few steps, and spun in circles on the open ground, wanting Song Miao to look at the flower on her head and the circles spun by her little skirt.

But she hadn't spun two circles when she suddenly stopped, her eyes landing on the remaining small piece of bamboo shoot granule fried egg in the plate at the side; looking and looking, she walked to the plate's edge, didn't speak, only looked up at Song Miao and asked, "The egg isn't finished, is it Sister's family's egg? You wouldn't throw it away, would you?"

He Qi laughed and scolded, "Could the family possibly be short of food for you?"

In front of an outsider, Zhu Jie'er was also a bit embarrassed, but after a moment she said again, "They all say I don't digest well, nothing is allowed for me to eat!"

And retorted, "Seventh Brother's family isn't short of food either, but you run out every day eating randomly; last time Third Aunt still said you don't eat at home, and in the morning you secretly sneak out to eat good things outside!"

The brother and sister attacked each other for a while; He Qi had no choice but to say, "This egg was made by Stall Owner Song; I was just eating it and hadn't had time to finish; it's gotten a bit cold, don't be greedy."

But this last sentence was already too late.

Hearing it was what he was eating, Zhu Jie'er immediately took those chopsticks, and even knew to turn them around to the other end to pick up the remaining fried egg.

It hadn't been set down long; the bamboo shoot granule fried egg was still slightly warm, the fragrance still very strong.

Zhu Jie'er looked young, and one didn't know if it was to race for time, but she ate very fast; by the time He Qi ran over to stop her, she had already eaten the fried egg clean in three or two bites, her cheeks stuffed full, chew chew chew, and her two eyes shining as she looked at Song Miao.

Just finished eating, she toddled on short legs over to Song Miao's side, praising, "Sister's fried egg is so delicious! So fragrant! Really delicious! Did Sister eat? Does Sister also still want to eat?"

She was acting coquettishly when two people hurried in from outside — a nanny and a maid.

The two saw Zhu Jie'er, and saw He Qi, both with the look of having let out a breath of relief; because there was an outsider present, they couldn't speak freely, only hurried forward to salute.

Because He Qi asked, the nanny said, "Sister was originally going to find the Tian family's young lady to play; she walked halfway, saw Bei Zhi, and insisted on following along..."