Devouring Evil Martial Arts, Eliminating Demons from All Heavens

Chapter 90: Gentlemen's Alliance, the Essence of Grains
Moonlight shines obliquely into the door.

Lights were lit in the kitchen.

Mrs. Wenjing yawned softly and scooped half a bucket of water from the stove.

The hot water I boiled last night has been kept warm on the stove and is not cold yet, so it's a good time to wash up.

She basically only sleeps for two hours every night, then gets up to prepare the pastries for the day.

When it gets light, the kitchen helpers and waiters all go to work, and the kitchen becomes very busy as everyone prepares today's meals.

He was busy until the afternoon, and after lunch time, Dao Baishu went on stage to tell stories.

Madam Wenjing is free now, so she can sleep for another two hours.

All in all, she sleeps for quite a while every day.

After getting used to this schedule, even if she got up in the early morning, she would only feel a little tired and not too exhausted.

After washing up, I gradually felt my spirit awakened.

Lady Wenjing rolled up her sleeves, poured glutinous rice flour into a basin, mixed it with warm water, and added a little sugarcane juice.

There are five wooden basins, one of which contains glutinous rice balls in their original color, while the other four are colored with peach blossoms, green jing leaves, banana flowers, and soybean powder respectively.

The pastries in the restaurant have always been a signature dish.

It is no problem for the kitchen helpers to help prepare roasted lamb, green rice and the like.

The craftsmanship of pastry making still requires Madam Wen Jing to do it herself in order to capture the best taste.

After kneading a few glutinous rice balls, Madam Wen Jing covered the basin with wet gauze, lit a stick of incense, and calculated the time.

During this free time, she took half a bowl of sugarcane juice from the stove, added some warm water and drank it slowly.

Her grandfather passed away early and had many illnesses.

Her parents died one after another two years ago, both due to gastrointestinal problems.

The couple ran a restaurant and their business became more and more prosperous. They hired helpers and turned the restaurant into a hotel.

As a result, as a restaurant owner, he did not eat well when he was young. When he got old, he had no appetite for anything and died of illness and thinness.

During those years, her mother often reminded her to pay attention to her diet, get up early in the morning, and not eat too much, but she still had to eat something.

"Can sugarcane juice be used to make wine?"

Sitting by the stove, Lady Wenjing suddenly thought, "I think I heard Uncle Dao mention that during the Western Jin Dynasty, there was a poet named Zhang Zai who mentioned wine brewed from sugarcane in his poems."

"It's a pity that Mr. Dao probably doesn't know the details."

Lady Wenjing picked up the bowl and took a big sip. "Then I'll figure it out myself. When I brew it, I'll give that blind man a scare."

pat!

Mrs. Wenjing heard the sound of the blind stick hitting the ground and turned her head to look.

I saw Chu Tianshu and Cheng Xiazi coming out of the kitchen at some point.

These two people walked without making any sound at all.

Did he come closer and tap his blind stick on purpose to remind me?
An idea flashed through Lady Wen Jing's mind, and she stood up and said with a smile, "Why are you two up so early?"

"Just went out and killed a few people."

Chu Tianshu pointed at Blind Cheng and said, "He discovered a group of people with bad intentions during the day, and went to deal with them at night. After interrogation, he found out that those people were specifically targeting Madam Wen Jing."

"So I wanted to ask you, did your family have any big enemies in the past?"

Madam Wenjing was slightly stunned.

Blind Cheng also turned his face towards Chu Tianshu.

How can you be so straightforward and kill people as soon as you open your mouth?
I should have said it myself!

"Is such that."

Blind Cheng added, "Those are from the Yuwen family, a well-known clan in the Tang Dynasty. I already have a grudge against them, so I'm keeping an eye on them."

"These guys are ruthless and have come a long way. They definitely won't give up just because of one failure."

"You need to think carefully. If you were accidentally involved in an incident, you should figure out the crux of the matter as soon as possible so that you can be on guard and find a way to crack it."

Lady Wenjing put her hands on her hips and fell into deep thought.

The incense stick in the corner burned lower and lower, and the last bit of incense head fell into the ashes.

Lady Wenjing came back to her senses.

"Have you finished lighting the incense?"

She returned to several wooden basins, took out a wooden mold, and stuffed the glutinous rice flour into pieces. Once the mold was full, she quickly poured it into the steamer and patted it to shake it out.

Blind Cheng said, "Don't panic, you can think slowly."

"I'm not panicking."

The quiet lady smiled back, "When making pastries, you need to be quick. It might sound a bit chaotic."

She lowered her head to look at the glutinous rice ball, her hands still moving as she spoke.

"You're always so timid and unwilling to get close. Do you think that I, a commoner, can't really take a leisurely look at the lives of you Jianghu people?"

"Actually, when this place wasn't the royal city before, it wasn't so peaceful. Swordsmen duels were common inside and outside the city."

"I've seen quite a few freshly dead bodies since I was a child, and I've washed the floor with my own hands more than two or three times."

Although the quiet lady lowered her head, she was clearly smiling.

"The first time you took action in the building was to stop two swordsmen who wanted to duel here, and prevent them from destroying the land here."

"So, you should have realized that things are not going well here, but you treat me differently. Is this considered excessive concern?"

Cheng Xiazi's hands tensed slightly, then relaxed, and he sighed: "Let's talk business first."

Lady Wenjing suddenly looked up at him. Her almond-shaped eyes were clear, yet they contained a captivating power.

The usual gentle affection seemed to have fermented to a certain point just now, revealing its true nature and turning into a kind of heroic and pretty beauty that was determined to win.

Chu Tianshu watched the show and found it very interesting.

It's obvious that a blind man can kill three or four gentle ladies with just a casual blow of his sword.

But at this moment, the sense of strength and weakness that the two of them gave to others was completely reversed.

"It's because I can't think of anything important to do that I'm saying this first."

Lady Wenjing had already withdrawn her gaze, stacked the steamers layer by layer, moved them into the big pot, and turned around to sit on the small stool behind the earthen stove.

When flint and stone collide, the grass lights up first and then the wood burns.

After setting up a few pieces of firewood, she clapped her hands and walked out.

"I really can't imagine what kind of incident I could be involved in recently that would make the Tang family come all this way to kill me."

"If it's an old grudge, then that shouldn't be the case."

Lady Wenjing said calmly, "My grandfather's generation was captured by the previous king of Nanzhao. Like other captured Tang people, they were forcibly relocated to various parts of Nanzhao."

"It was only by the time of my parents that the restaurant gradually became prosperous."

"Common people like us will never have any deep-rooted grudges in the Tang Dynasty."

Chu Tianshu pondered: "That's really strange."

"If the killing intent doesn't stem from an old grudge or a recent incident, then it could be from... your identity."

Chu Tianshu raised an opinion, "After your family came to Nanzhao, besides opening a restaurant, did you gain any other status?"

Madam Wen Jing's expression changed. "Back when the Six Kingdoms merged, this city was already one of the most important cities in Nanzhao. People from the Tang Dynasty had already moved here."

"After all, they were not accustomed to the local customs and practices at that time, so they had to band together to help each other and formed a Gentlemen's Alliance."

"The sky is moving vigorously, and a gentleman strives to constantly strive for self-improvement. The terrain is prosperous, and a gentleman carries things with great virtue."

"Later, the former king of Nanzhao repeatedly plundered the Tang people. All the Tang people who moved here were more or less cared for by the Gentlemen's Alliance and joined it."

Madam Wen Jing counted on her fingers, "Our family has been involved for over thirty years."

"The Gentlemen's League holds a fundraising event every year. The donated money is planned and recorded, and used to help the families of members who are in real need."

"My restaurant was picked on by someone in the early years, but thanks to the Gentlemen's Alliance who mediated, when my business prospered, we donated more every year, and now I have the title of an old man."

When Chu Tianshu and Cheng Xiazi heard this, they immediately felt that this must be the reason why Madam Wen Jing was targeted by the Yuwen family.

"The Gentlemen's Alliance is to help the Tang people who moved here. Why would a family from the Tang Dynasty attack us?"

Madam Wen Jing was puzzled, "Could it be that they want to control the Gentlemen's Alliance and eliminate the stumbling block?"

"But that shouldn't be the case. As a member of the association, I'm just a donor. It's a good name, but I don't hold any real power."

Cheng Xiazi said, "It's better to be cautious. Find someone to warn those people in the Gentlemen's Alliance."

Lady Wenjing smiled and said, "Those who truly hold power in the Gentlemen's Alliance have actually all held some official position in Nanzhao."

"After the king moved the capital here, they can be considered to be living in the royal city. With the rising tide, they have recruited swordsmen as guards. The defense is much tighter than mine, and it is not so easy to be assassinated."

Having said that, when the kitchen helpers arrived one after another, Madam Wen Jing still sent a few of them, each with a box of pastries, to visit the elders of the Gentlemen's Alliance on her behalf to give them a reminder.

When Chu Tianshu saw the pastries coming out of the oven, he couldn't help but go over and get two plates.

The kitchen has started to get busy.

He and Cheng Xiazi walked to the lobby and took some water and pastries to taste.

There is a lot of sugarcane in Nanzhao, but the sugarcane juice here is not very sweet. Moreover, after the sugarcane juice is cooked, it tastes a bit strange and is not as sweet as when eaten raw.

Mrs. Wenjing has a very good grasp of the stirring, kneading and heat.

You need to pay attention to the time the glutinous rice cake is put in and out of the stove, as well as the intensity of the fire in the stove. If it is one point less, it will be slightly bitter; if it is one point more, it will overflow and have a rusty taste.

Only by controlling the heat to the best degree can the sweet fragrance of glutinous rice be highlighted.

Blending with the taste of sugarcane juice, they make up for each other's shortcomings.

Chu Tianshu has ordered several pastries in the past few days. They were all cooled and tasted sweet and slightly chewy.

When eaten hot, this one has a stronger aroma and is softer, but after eating it, your mouth won’t feel too sweet. It has a plant aroma similar to that of green sugarcane.

"it is good!"

Every time Chu Tianshu ate a piece of cake, he would drink a big sip of water. The hot cake and the slightly hot water made his body feel refreshed.

It's a similar yet different experience to the enjoyment of eating spicy food and meat.

"Breakfast should be light, with fine grains and hot water."

Chu Tianshu felt the food in his stomach being digested and his intestines felt as flexible as his fingers.

If he wanted to, he could consume everything he had just eaten in a moment.

But you can also control your digestive ability, slowly dissolve and absorb it gently and peacefully.

If he chooses the former, he will feel no difference whether he eats meat or vegetables, because the food will be digested whole and absorbed rapidly.

But if you choose the latter, because of the slow absorption process, the feeling is too delicate, and only the experience brought by grains is the most comfortable, without the dryness of meat and the coldness of vegetables.

"So that's how it is. Those who eat grains are wise and clever, and have truly reached the realm of food as immortality. Controlling their digestive abilities and not eating meat or vegetables are relatively easy, but they still have a certain dependence on grains."

“So the ancient practitioners used the term ‘bigu’ to describe the highest requirement for fasting.”

Chu Tianshu ate another piece of peach-colored cake and closed his eyes, feeling something.

Food is immortal, great success!

(End of this chapter)