Miao Chu

Chapter 192 Eggs
There is a saying among the people at this time: "Eat an egg on the day of Lixia (the beginning of summer), and your strength will increase by half."

Because people are prone to indigestion, bloating, and fatigue in summer, especially the elderly and children, this is called "summer sickness." There is a custom that on the day of the Beginning of Summer, boiled eggs are put into a bag, hung up, and eaten in two ways, in order to pray for health and safety in the summer and for good luck.

Upon hearing that Zhang Si Niang had come to deliver eggs for the start of summer, Song Miao smiled and stepped forward to greet her, then quickly thanked her.

She took the basket and felt its weight. When she opened it, she found there were at least twenty or thirty eggs and a teapot. She couldn't help but say, "This is really too much. Eggs aren't cheap these days. It's too much of a waste."

Zhang Si Niang could only repeat the word "not much" over and over again.

Since the food was already cooked and delivered with such kindness, it was only natural to accept it.

But Song Miao couldn't help but ask again, "Have you kept enough for yourselves? Is there any food left? Do you want to take some back with you?"

Zhang Si Niang hurriedly said, "My family has them too! Three for each of us! The little ones have been running around all day with their bibs on, playing egg-fighting games everywhere, they're so proud of themselves!"

He added, “Today I received a reward from my wife, and my brother also received a reward of thirty coins. Everyone in the family is happy. It’s also the beginning of summer, and my sister-in-law asked me to deliver some meat. I said that if I delivered meat, my wife would definitely not accept it. It would be better to deliver eggs. There are many people in my wife’s family. If we share them, we won’t have to worry about not being able to finish them!”

Song Miao quickly waved her hand and said with a smile, "It's not my reward, it's a reward from the river management department. Besides, you made a great contribution and got it all thanks to your careful work! I should be thanking you!"

Zhang Si Niang's face flushed red instantly. She said, "What kind of merit is this? It's just doing things according to the rules that you set before, Madam. We carefully checked the materials after receiving them, both inside and out, and we had to check the seals especially. Even if we didn't notice, the others must have noticed when we were kneading the dough, or Madam herself could have smelled that something was wrong!"

Seeing that Zhang Si Niang's face was getting redder and redder as she spoke, Song Miao smiled and said, "Si Niang has done something and made a contribution, so why shouldn't she be praised?"

He then raised the basket in his hand and said, "Thank you for your thoughtfulness in sending such a nice gift. I also bought some plums and apricots today. Please take some back with you for the children to eat and play with."

Seeing this, Zhang Si Niang hurriedly followed, snatched the basket from her hands, and said, "I'll take this for you, Madam—to the kitchen, shall we?"

The two went back to the kitchen together.

At that moment, Dabing was also in the kitchen, wiping the stove.

Seeing that everything was mostly tidied up, Song Miao called him over, placed the basket on the table, and said, "Fourth Sister sent over a lot of eggs. You got two by yourself, perfect for egg fighting—the rest, could you please distribute them to everyone later?"

She then pointed to the teapot and said, "This also contains the new tea she brewed."

Dabing was both surprised and delighted. He quickly thanked Zhang Si Niang, but still hesitated, saying to Song Miao, "Only children fight eggs! Madam Song, I'm all grown up now, so I won't fight anymore, right? Besides, no one will fight with me..."

Song Miao could easily tell that the last sentence was the key point, and she smiled and said, "I'll compete with you. I've never lost an egg fight since I was a kid!"

Big Pancake immediately felt ambitious and said urgently, "Wife, please wait for me to come back!"

As he spoke, he put the basket on the ground, squatted down, carefully selected a few eggs with round heads and even bodies, put them in his arms, and then ran away with the basket.

Song Miao tried to stop him from carrying the basket, but Da Bing ran away while calling back, "I'll be back in the blink of an eye!"

Zhang Si Niang hurriedly said, "It's alright, I'm not in a hurry to go back."

Seeing this, Song Miao poured her some tea and said, "Please sit for a while, I'll be right back."

He then took a basket and went to the inner room to get some fruit.

Zhang Si Niang readily agreed, but as soon as Song Miao left, she immediately put down her teacup, stood up, and went to find the two familiar water vats. Familiar with the way, she opened the wooden lids and saw that they were indeed more than half empty. She then took a carrying pole and a bucket and went to fetch water.

When Song Miao had filled half a basket with plums and then carefully divided them into two small net bags to hold apricots, she saw Zhang Si Niang carrying a load of water in two buckets as she came in.

Zhang Si Niang looked up at Song Miao and said quickly, "Madam, please don't refuse. I just can't stay idle. Besides, I'm learning skills from you. If I don't do any work and help out, where will I get a chance to show my abilities?"

After carrying the water, she sat down again to talk to Song Miao.

Because Zhang Si Niang has been studying cooking very diligently lately and often thinks about it at home, she has many questions in her mind. Now that she has the opportunity, she is busy asking them.

Song Miao answered each question in detail.

When asked about kneading dough, Song Miao explained the differences between using cold, warm, and hot water. She added, "If you want to make those small rolled pancakes like last time, you can use hot or warm water. Warm water makes the dough soft yet elastic, while hot water makes it even softer. It just depends on your preference."

When asked about making pancakes, Song Miao replied, "It's best to use a high heat and make the pancakes thin. If you use a low heat, the pancakes will easily become hard."

Speaking of the vegetables rolled in the pancakes, Song Miao added, "Sometimes I see some stall owners outside who like to mix vegetables together and put hot water underneath them, selling them all day long. Actually, I've compared and tried it myself at home, and vegetables kept warm like this are the easiest to spoil. Not only that, but cold dishes are also the easiest to spoil."

After she finished answering, she asked, "Does Fourth Sister want to set up a stall outside and sell pancakes?"

Zhang Si Niang hurriedly shook her head and said, "I dare not, I dare not—I'm asking this time because of the pancakes that Madam made for us last time, with pig's head meat inside. They were really delicious, and I want to know where I went wrong."

He added, "To be honest, young lady, my sister-in-law and I used to set up a stall selling these small pancakes with fillings. Business wasn't very good. If we prepared too much filling, it would spoil easily, and if we prepared too little, people would come and leave if they didn't see what they wanted."

"After that one transaction, I couldn't sleep at night. I was afraid to open my eyes because I was worried that there would be fewer people if it rained, that the vegetables would spoil if it was hot, and that I would have to use charcoal to warm the vegetables if it was cold."

Song Miao then asked, "There must be happy times too, right? When business is good, and customers eat well and praise your cooking skills, aren't you happy?"

Zhang Si Niang shook her head and said, "When business is good, I calculate that what I earn in one day can cover several days' losses, so I can't be happy. When business is bad, it's even more painful. Ever since that incident, I've been a bit afraid of doing business and I'm thinking that it would be better to find a job."

"But these days it's not easy to get into restaurants and eateries; they're all apprentices who've been with us since we were kids."

At this point, she glanced at Song Miao, hesitated for a long time, but finally couldn't help but ask, "Madam, do you really not take on any apprentices here? I heard that you have a restaurant in the capital, which will open sooner or later. You'll need someone to do the manual labor, right? It's better to use someone you know than someone you don't. Madam, after watching me for so many days, what do you think of me? Do you think I'm suitable? Is my character good enough?"

Ever since Aunt Ma brought her sister-in-law Zhang Si Niang to our door, she has always been a woman of few words but many deeds, and her mouth is nowhere near as sharp as her sister-in-law's. Today was the day she had talked the most. Seeing her awkward appearance, Song Miao knew that she must have mustered up a lot of courage to speak. After thinking for a moment, she told her about her current debt and then said, "You have a very good character and are very ambitious, but I really can't afford to support you."

Zhang Si Niang hesitated for only a moment before earnestly saying, "I don't want wages, I'm willing to write a contract..."

Song Miao laughed and said, "Where did this fool come from? Doesn't he know what 'a penny can stump a hero' means?"

He added, "You make it sound so easy for you now, but you don't know the hardship of leaving your hometown. When the time comes, you'll be all alone and helpless. If my business goes out of business, you won't even have the money to go back home..."

"Besides, I heard Aunt Ma say that you have a happy event at the end of the year. You'll be busy with all the wedding preparations. I'm afraid you won't be able to stay long before you have to come back."

Zhang Si Niang immediately grasped the key point and asked excitedly, "So, according to what you're saying, if I'm not afraid of leaving my hometown and don't have to worry about the marriage arrangements, and I can stay with you in the future, would you be willing to take me in?"

Seeing that she had completely gone off-topic, Song Miao couldn't help but feel helpless and said with a smile, "If I were to hire someone to help me, I would naturally prefer someone like you. You are diligent, efficient, meticulous, and ambitious—you have all the advantages..."

"I'm not very good at talking..."

"For those who make a living with their skills, being eloquent is just icing on the cake, but it's not a big deal if they don't have it—but your thinking is really too hasty."

“You’ve worked for me for half a month and think I’m good in every way, but you don’t know that I’m working for the government right now, so naturally I’m generous in everything. When we go back to the restaurant, I’ll pay for everything myself. I’m just an ordinary businessman, and I’m very careful with every penny…”

Song Miao spoke at length, and Zhang Si Niang simply nodded, agreeing to everything.

After answering, she asked the same question again: if she could accept all the questions, would she be willing to become an apprentice under Song Miao, or at least work at the Song family's restaurant?

Song Miao then said, "I don't need any people right now. In the future, when I have more money and the restaurant is open, I will write to you again when I need people—and that letter will be addressed to the official post station. If you still have the same idea, then you can reconsider whether you want to come or not, how about that?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Si Niang nodded hurriedly and sighed, "I just hope that the young lady's restaurant will open soon!"

He added, "While my wife is still in Huazhou, I will definitely study hard these days so that when I have the opportunity to go to the capital, I can immediately lend a hand. Ideally, in two or three months, I will be able to cook for myself!"

Just then, the man with the flatbread returned carrying a basket.

Seeing his dejected look, Song Miao smiled and said, "You seem to be taking a little longer to blink today—what's wrong? Did someone bully our Master Liu?"

It took Dabing a while to realize what was happening, and he felt even more embarrassed. He took out two eggs from the small cloth bag at his waist, placed them in front of Song Miao, and said shamefully, "I said earlier that I wanted to have an egg-fighting contest with my wife, but when we went to the back to distribute the things, I accidentally let it slip to Master Wu, and he got interested and wanted to have an egg-fighting contest with the others."

"Who knew his egg was the hardest? He won against others seven or eight times in a row. I couldn't help but help him, but I lost every single one. In the end, both of his eggs broke, and I couldn't compete with Madam Song anymore!"

Song Miao laughed as she listened, picked up the two intact eggs in front of her, gave one to Dabing, and said, "I'll come back and fight you again later."

He then said to Zhang Si Niang, "It's getting late, I'll see you off."

As she spoke, she suddenly paused again and said, "There are still quite a few prawns in the pot. Only two people haven't returned yet, so they probably can't eat that many. Why don't you take some back with you, mix them with noodles, and make a late-night snack? What do you think?"

He added, "Going back and forth, carrying so much water, I'm afraid we'll be hungry tonight."

Zhang Si Niang knew she should refuse to appear polite, but the words "No need" were already on her lips when she watched as Song Xiao Niangzi opened the large pot, revealing bright red prawns soaked in rich broth, and plump pork bones glistening with juice and showing their marrow. For a moment, besides thanking her and saying "How could I accept this?", she couldn't say anything else.

Finally, he said, "I only brought a few eggs and some tea, yet I've taken so much from you, madam!"

Song Miao smiled and said a few words, ladled out a bowl for her, covered it, put it in a food box, and saw her to the door. Just as she was about to see her off, Zhang Si Niang said shyly, "Madam, you can stop here."

Then he pointed to a man sitting on a rock not far from the official post station and said, "It's me... the one from the end of the year, surnamed Wang, the third son in his family, I call him Sanlang—he just happened to be passing by and came to pick me up."

Song Miao looked at him and saw that he looked very honest and kind. She also heard from Aunt Ma that he was reliable and often dropped people off early and picked them up late. So she felt much more at ease. She went up to greet him, gave him a few words of advice, and told the two of them to be careful on the road before saying goodbye.

She returned to her room and first calculated all the expenses for the day. She deducted the portion of shrimp and pork bone soup that Zhang Si Niang had just ordered, treating it as her own expense and not counting it in the public account. Then she took out paper and pen and wrote down what had happened in the kitchen that day.

In response to this matter, she drafted an explanation and also wrote a set of guidelines on how to strengthen prevention and how to respond if such incidents are discovered.

Because it was the territory I was in charge of, and it was something I was very confident about, writing it was naturally very easy, and I finished it in one go without making any corrections.

After finishing writing, Song Miao let it air dry for a moment, folded it up, put it in her sleeve, and went out the door.

By this time it was completely dark. The rest of the people had already returned from the river, had eaten, drunk tea, and even played a game of egg fighting, but two people remained—Han and Kong—who had not yet returned.

Poisoning and fighting are both serious matters. Even an official like Cen Dezhang cannot be easily dismissed with just a few words. Song Miao had anticipated that the two would return late, so it was not surprising. She sent Dabing to sleep first, while she stood in the backyard, gazing at the moon for half a day, before finally sitting down on the stone steps with a handkerchief on her back.

As soon as I sat down, there was a round thing separating my legs and stomach.

Song Miao reached out and touched it; it turned out to be the boiled egg in her purse.

Today is the Beginning of Summer, and there is only a crescent moon overhead, not even a full moon. With an egg in her hand, she can't help but think of a certain year in the past, also the Beginning of Summer, also with a new moon. She was a little girl then, sitting on a little wooden horse made by Uncle Xu, holding an egg in her hand, and truly fought without defeat throughout Pingyang Mountain.

It wasn't until much later that she realized the egg in her hand wasn't an ordinary egg.

“When you were little, you would cry every time you lost. Back then, you were the only child on the mountain, and everyone couldn’t bear to see you like that. So they came up with a solution—others’ eggs were boiled only once, but yours, I boiled several times until it was very hard.”

"If you boil eggs several times, will they still taste good?"

My mother smiled slyly at that time: "Who knows? Anyway, your father ate them all."

(End of this chapter)