Chapter 66: Miao Chu Chapter Sixty-Six: Knocking on the Door

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

At this moment, Song Miao, whom Steward Liao had said would soon be "enjoying blessings," was still rushing to cook.

Earlier, He Qi and Zhu Jie'er had come over temporarily, delaying her for a while; her original plan was already running a bit behind.

Seeing that the people Qin Zong had arranged in the back courtyard had already bought back the lunch, Song Miao went first to check the dishes; seeing they were all big meats and big dishes, much the same as yesterday noon and evening, she felt at ease at once.

Better not gild the lily.

Chicken, duck, fish, and meat are good, but after a whole set of heavy oil and thick sauce, pan-frying, stir-frying, braising, and deep-frying, the same dishes — the first meal is certainly satisfying, but by the second meal, the excitement of the first time is gone.

Today noon is the third meal.

A person's stomach has limits and cannot digest too much; feeding like this every day, they're not ducks — most people can't eat much anymore.

She felt it best to make two grease-cutting dishes.

But unlike yesterday noon's pomelo peel stuffing and bamboo shoot stuffing, today even the meat had to be used sparingly.

Two stoves fired at once, one boiling water, one stir-frying; both were home-style small dishes, simple and quick to make; by the time the tables in the back courtyard were set up, the rice and dishes laid out, and bowls and chopsticks readied, her dishes were out of the wok.

In the back courtyard.

With yesterday noon's lesson as a warning, this time even though the food bought back from the restaurant was all laid out, everyone hesitated to move their chopsticks, instead politely deferring to one another.

Someone suggested: "There are still two people on duty up front, and also that Han Zhengyan; he went to the yamen yesterday, and though we don't know why he was kept by Magistrate Qin, no matter how busy, he should be back today; that's another mouth to feed — should we leave some dishes out for him?"

For a moment, almost everyone agreed.

Especially Qin Zong, most enthusiastic, said: "Leave extra; today's big dishes are all keepable; we'll warm them in the pot, and whenever they come to eat, it'll be fine!"

As he spoke, he stood up at once, personally helping to portion the dishes, while craning his neck to look back.

Today at noon Han Li was absent; everyone understood tacitly, and all scrambled to sit in the seats nearest the middle gate.

In the end, Qin Zong insisted his seniority was the shallowest, and since this whole table was his treat, the others couldn't argue, letting him shamelessly snag the spot.

With Han Li's demonstration yesterday, he copied the method; taking the chance to set aside dishes for others, he also cleared the space in front of himself on the table.

So obvious, such cheating; when Han Li did it yesterday, others were seeing it for the first time and couldn't quite tell at first; today, second time around, who doesn't know Qin Zong's intention?

Though it's said "eating another's food makes one soft-mouthed, taking another's hand makes one short-handed," a person's emotions can't be controlled.

For a moment, everyone's gazes toward him held a few more degrees of reproach.

Qin Zong just played dumb throughout.

Joke — if someone else sat in this position, he didn't believe they could resist doing the exact same thing!

Unlike the others at the table, Qin Zong had been raised in a wealthy hometown since childhood; fine dishes and good meat were never lacking; ever since entering the Capital Prefecture Office, to fit in with the others, he hadn't spared on treating the yamen brothers to eating and drinking outside.

Truth be told, no matter how delicious, stuffing it into the belly every day had already become cloying.

And for some reason, the food from big restaurants mostly has an oily feel; it's fine at first, but after a few more times, it actually compares poorly to some small food shops' home cooking for the human gut.

Yesterday he ate the pomelo peel stuffing and bamboo shoot stuffing made by that Song Xiaoniangzi; though not startlingly heavenly, they were truly comfortable in the belly.

Comfortable while eating, comfortable after eating full, neither oily nor cloying — too suited to his taste!

Home cooking truly nourishes!

Thinking thus, Qin Zong not only set aside dishes but also kept urging everyone to eat, calling for this one, letting that one, shouting at them to eat more good meat.

The others at the table agreed verbally, but their two chopsticks seemed welded tight by a blacksmith, pressed together so they couldn't be pried apart no matter what.

The rare one or two who did open their chopsticks moved as if they'd forgotten how to use them; they fumbled for a long time and only picked up one or two tiny pieces; the choice parts — legs, wings, fish belly — not a single person went for them.

"Eat up! Why is everyone so polite today!"

Qin Zong hurriedly urged them to eat.

Everyone looked at each other, no one speaking.

This morning that Song Xiaoniangzi left them glutinous rice, shaomai, and two kinds of drinks; all were first-time tries, so everyone inevitably ate a bit more.

Stakeout, stakeout — no need to run around; some curled up in the miscellaneous room, some kept watch all night and were busy catching up on sleep, a few were outside watching but hadn't walked far at all; fundamentally not very hungry; looking at this table of dishes now, they could eat if they had to, but as for appetite, there really wasn't much.

Moreover, in a little while Song Xiaoniangzi is still going to add dishes!

Their bellies didn't have much room to begin with; if they ate these meats, and then the added dishes arrived, what would they do if they couldn't eat them!

Under heaven, is Qin Zong the only one who can calculate?!

The table was just quiet when Zhu Shi, who had only arrived last night and knew no one at the table, sitting there stiffly, suddenly stood up and said: "The young lady has come!"

At once, everyone at the table looked over, and sure enough saw Song Miao walking over with a tray in hand.

Qin Zong hurriedly said: "Song Xiaoniangzi, just put it here; there's a spot here!"

As he spoke, he stepped out from the bench, wanting to imitate Han Li yesterday and go receive it.

However, he had only walked halfway when he turned back, looked up, and suddenly felt something was off — that Zhu Shi, at some unknown time, had already gone forward to meet her, taken the tray into her hands, turned, and walked halfway toward her own seat.

"Song Xiaoniangzi said there's still one dish up front; she told the sirs to eat first." Zhu Shi smiled cheerfully, "Everyone on kitchen duty works hard; just stay seated; with Song Xiaoniangzi not here, Old Sun and I can still handle things!"

Zhu Shi's words were brisk, her actions nimble; in three or two steps she reached the spot, shooting a glare at her husband.

Sun Lizheng had just picked up a chopstick of food, hesitating whether to put it in his mouth; seeing his wife's look, he nimbly stood up to help clear space in front of his plates and bowls.

Soon, two dishes were set out.

One was sour pickled vegetable stir-fried with minced pork, one was mixed tossed salad.

As soon as the sour pickled vegetable came up, everyone's chopsticks moved, as if in that blink just now, the two chopsticks stuck together had been pried open by some blacksmith.

"This is good! This whets the appetite!"

Censor Xin's hand was fastest; he snatched the spoon from that plate, dug a big spoonful into his own bowl first, and before it even entered his mouth, he praised it.

But he only had time for that one sentence of praise; after shoveling two mouthfuls of rice with that sour pickled vegetable stir-fried minced pork, he could no longer spare breath to speak.

So sour and refreshing!

The pickled mustard greens had more stems than leaves, soaked in water and not stir-fried too long, retaining the crisp tenderness of the stems, which went "crackle crackle" when chewed, while the leaves had a resistant texture, slightly tough, very fragrant, and chewy.

The minced meat was chopped very fine, more fat than lean, coming out delicate and soft, with a hint of scorched oil fragrance.

The lard rendered from the minced pork stir-fried the pickled greens, the fat and oil fragrance of the minced meat permeating the pickled greens well, neutralizing that harsh fermented sourness, making the sourness much milder, the sourness of the pickled greens also stir-fried into the minced meat, making even the slightly fatty minced meat carry a very comfortable sour fragrance.

When Song Miao stir-fried it, she also added a little evodia, giving the dish a slight spiciness.

Crisp, sour, refreshing, spicy, paired with fragrant white rice, simply a perfect match.

After two days of big fish and meat, suddenly getting this bowl of pickled greens, everyone at the table was eager beyond measure, those who couldn't get a spoon used chopsticks to grab as much as they could, all wanting to taste first out of respect.

Censor Xin buried himself in eating rice, using only two spoonfuls of Suan Cai Chao Zhu Meat Mo to finish a bowl of rice, then went to serve himself another bowl.

By the time he came back, he couldn't grab a spoon anymore, so he turned and went to pick at the San Ban He Cai again.

This dish used mustard greens, cabbage, water celery, and bean sprouts, all only lightly blanched in boiling water, taken out before they were fully cooked, rinsed in cold river water, wrung dry, then mixed with one spoonful each of Sichuan pepper oil, soy sauce, and vinegar, plus a little white sugar for flavor, just tossed together like that.

When eaten, the several spring vegetables were still crisp, tender, and raw, not much different from when they were just picked, both leaves and stems green and fresh.

Spring vegetables were in season, the special fragrance of the Sichuan pepper oil brought out the natural sweetness and crisp tenderness of the various spring vegetables even more, with a bit of vinegar taste and white sugar setting off the vegetables' original flavor, a little soy sauce for seasoning, clean and refreshing; describing it with the two words "exquisite" might seem exaggerated in others' eyes, but to those who tasted it, it was not excessive at all.

Censor Xin polished off three bowls of rice with just these two plates of dishes.

After swallowing the last bite, his belly was already a bit full; he hesitated a moment, then still walked to the rice pot, preparing to serve himself two more spoonfuls.

This time he would eat slowly.

But just as he opened the rice pot lid, he was stunned for a moment; when he went to open another pot lid, he couldn't help but cry out: "Where's the rice?!"

Two full pots of rice, how in the blink of an eye had they scraped the bottom, not even any scorched rice left!

Hearing his question, several people all looked over; seeing the empty rice pots, they all let out disappointed "ha/" sounds.

Someone sighed: "This minced meat stir-fried pickled greens is too rice-killing! The rice is simply irresistible!"

Censor Xin held his bowl, somewhat disappointed, but could only sit back in his place.

But just as he sat down, he saw a bamboo basket covered with cloth on the table in front of him; a thought struck him, he lifted the cloth, and indeed found the basket full of steamed buns, Steamed Bun, and baozi.

Censor Xin's hand was like lightning, his target clear; he immediately snatched an old leavened baozi.

For a moment, "Scrubbed Scrubbed Scrubbed," everyone rushed toward the basket.

Old leavened baozi with pickled greens and minced meat, a great match!

All were people who handled official business outside year-round; eating like hungry ghosts reborn, it made Zhu Shi's scalp go a bit numb.

When Song Miao brought out a bowl of soup, the San Ban He Cai and pickled greens with minced meat had been eaten clean, leaving her only a small bowl; the rest of the big meat and big dishes were still left whole, barely touched.

Seeing her come out, this time Qin Zong finally rushed forward and took the soup.

It was a bowl of clear-boiled white radish soup.

No meat added, no oil either, just a few slices of ginger, a small handful of scallion flowers, a little salt and pepper for seasoning; what was eaten was purely the clear sweetness of the white radish.

By this time white radish was already out of season; Song Miao specially blanched it once, and added a small handful of raw rice to remove the green bitterness of the white radish.

Drinking a bowl of soup, then eating a few pieces of clear sweet white radish, simple and light, specially prepared to go with this meal of big fish and meat, truly very comfortable.

Everyone at the table was drinking soup and eating radish; as they ate, someone sighed and said: "I'm a mountain pig who can't eat fine grains; home cooking is still the best!"

After a while, someone else added a sentence, saying: "It's still Song Xiaoniangzi's home cooking that's the best!"

After finishing lunch, she steamed the oats and hulless barley soaked overnight together; Song Miao then busied herself for a while preparing side dishes for the next day's stall; seeing it was getting late, she finally returned to her room to rest a bit.

She took out the invitation card He Qi had given her at noon.

It used Sangpi Xianzhi paper, with very exquisite bamboo grain patterns; the cover was written with the four characters "He Ying Respectfully Pays Homage," sealed at the mouth with wax, and the sealed spot was also stamped with a small "Ying" character.

The calligraphy was like dragons flying and phoenixes dancing, very beautiful.

Song Miao didn't plan to use this invitation card for the time being, so she didn't open it, just carefully put it away.

She slept a nap, and when she woke up it was already afternoon.

Na Han Li still hadn't returned; not only that, the Left and Right Military Patrol Academy sent someone over who hastily called Xin Feng away, and also took away two Patrol Soldiers.

The remaining soldiers in the room didn't know what news they had received, and watched even more closely.

By evening, several more Patrol Soldiers came from the Back Courtyard; this time they brought many Sha Wanzhi, as well as Handcuffs, cangues, Rope, black cloth, etc., and also brought leg wraps for the others in the room.

The original soldiers had all been in plain clothes; after getting the leg wraps, without a word, they wrapped them on their legs on the spot.

Starting from the afternoon, Song Miao clearly noticed that the soldiers' rotation time had shortened considerably.

Others could take turns sleeping, but only Sun Lizheng was most pitiful; because he needed to identify people, he stayed in the Miscellaneous Room for a day and a night, hadn't slept well the previous day either, his whole face had dark circles under his eyes, only leaning against the Wall to doze, not daring to fall into a deep sleep.

Zhu Shi felt heartache seeing this, but couldn't say anything.

But since she had already come, if there were no soldiers following her, she couldn't come and go freely like Song Miao either; she could only sigh from time to time, and also told Song Miao: "Actually, most of the people Old Sun knows, I also know; I could go do this shadowing job for him, but he won't let me, saying I can't stay up late these days, where exactly can't I stay up late!"

"Usually doing nothing at all, now putting on a bear act!"

Muttering on and on.

Song Miao comforted her: "Just these one or two days; once we get through it, it'll be fine; maybe tomorrow Song Uncle can get a good sleep."

Who knew if it was a jinx.

That night after the zi hour, seeing the sky completely dark, Song Miao mixed the steamed oats and hulless barley with wine yeast, put them into a pottery jar, placed it on the extinguished Stove Top to ferment on its own; after checking the Door, she was about to turn around when she suddenly heard a burst of abrupt knocking from outside the Door.

The sound went "thud thud thud," knocking for a while, then someone faintly called out: "Is anyone inside? Song Xiaoniangzi?"

In the silent night curtain, the voice was especially eerie.