Miao Chu

Chapter 56 Going out
If only two people are sharing a dish, it's not so noticeable, but when the number doubles to four, it becomes very eye-catching.

For a moment, apart from Qin Zong, who was busy pouring drinks and urging everyone to eat, everyone else couldn't help but look at the plate of stuffed pomelo peel.

Soon, two more pairs of curious new chopsticks appeared on the plate.

The two owners of the new chopsticks joked and laughed as they picked up pomelo peel stuffing.

"Just eat your food, why are you all so focused on eating and not saying anything?"

"Don't just pick one dish to eat from this table!"

However, as they put the stuffed pomelo peel into their mouths, their voices seemed to be sealed off, and they never uttered another sound. But their hands, as if injected with chicken blood, quickly reached into the plate of stuffed pomelo peel again and again.

Gradually, the noisy table quieted down.

Qin Zong had just finished pouring a round of drinks and was flattering Inspector Xin, asking him to bring more favors this time. But as he was talking, he found that only his own voice could be heard in the courtyard, along with the clattering of bowls and chopsticks. He felt embarrassed and a little strange.

He turned his head and saw that the table was full of people. Apart from Han Litong and two or three people to his left and right, the rest were standing, holding bowls and stretching chopsticks onto the table.

At this moment, people at the table finally started speaking again.

"Hey, if you're going to pick up food, then pick up food, but don't block my chopsticks!"

"Old Ding! Old Ding!! Move your hand forward a bit, leave a few for me at the back, otherwise I won't be able to grab them!"

As for?
He instructed that there should be at least two plates of each dish, so how could you not be able to reach them?

Qin Zong felt something was off and hurried over. Just as he was about to greet her, he saw Sun, the village head, look up, his eyes suddenly lighting up. He waved towards the front hall and called out, "Young Lady Song is here—let's move over and make room for her here."

As Sun Lizheng spoke, he tried to squeeze to the side, attempting to make room for someone.

Among the others who were scrambling to pick up food, one or two quick-witted individuals said, "No need, no need to sit there, we have empty seats here."

Then someone even more quick-witted chimed in, "Miss Song, sit here. There are awkward corners on their tables, so it's not comfortable for them to sit. This place is much more spacious!"

However, these people were all a step too late.

Han Li stood up leisurely from the seat closest to the central gate, turned around and greeted Song Xiao Niangzi. He then pointed to another set of bowls and chopsticks on the table in front of him and said, "Shopkeeper Song, please sit here. The bowls and chopsticks are ready. I've saved some clean vegetables for you. You can eat them while they're hot."

As he spoke, he took advantage of the location and calmly reached out to take the plate of food from Miss Song's hand, then placed it in front of himself.

He had cleared a space on that table at some point, just enough to fit the plate with extra room to spare!
I go!

One should do things once, but not twice.

When you made the first dish of stuffed pomelo peel, no one could understand why you did it this way. But when you did it again for the second dish, it was too obvious!

Suddenly, several people at the table looked at Han Li with a different expression.

As for Sun Lizheng, he seemed to suddenly realize something.

When they took their seats, everyone politely declined, and they all invited Young Master Han to sit next to Inspector Xin, but he firmly refused. In the end, he chose a seat with his back to the front hall, the closest to the central gate, and sat among the patrolmen.

A thought vaguely began to form in his mind.

—Damn it, he's a student of the Imperial Academy after all. He thinks three steps ahead for every bite of food. He's really something!
No wonder you all became officials in the future!
As if he knew he had angered everyone, Han Li put the dish on the table, took the chopsticks he had left for Song Miao and put three or four stuffed bamboo shoots in her bowl, and then picked up the whole dish and served it to everyone at the table one by one.

His actions were so open and honest that no one else could say anything about them.

But with a large plate of stuffed bamboo shoots in full view of everyone, and since I had taken some before the others had, I was naturally embarrassed to take too much. So, after the plate was circled around, there was still half a plate left when it was brought back.

Ultimately, the person who is closest to the food gets the most!

Sun Lizheng had no shame; when the plate was placed in front of him, he picked up five stuffed bamboo shoots in one go.

What a unique approach!

The bamboo shoot cores are stuffed with minced meat, making them plump and glistening with sauce. The sauce slowly drips down the bamboo shoot, which has been cut in many places, releasing the aroma of the sauce and the bamboo shoot itself.

Who can bear this!
He took a big bite of it in his first bite.

Taking a bite, you first taste the extremely fresh bamboo shoots, and then bite into the rich pork and wood ear mushroom filling inside. The salty and savory flavor is accompanied by a hint of sweetness. The sweetness has the meaty taste of the pork itself, and there is also the fresh sweetness of the bamboo shoots, which brings the wildness of the mountains to your tongue.

It felt like a taste of spring rolling on your tongue.

The bamboo shoots were scored seven or eight times, making them particularly easy to absorb flavor. They were first pan-fried and then braised, allowing the pork's aroma to permeate them completely.

Unlike pomelo peel stuffing, bamboo shoot stuffing doesn't release a burst of broth with every bite; it has less juice but a richer flavor.

The bamboo shoot tips are crisp and tender, the bamboo shoot body is crisp and fresh, and the meat filling inside is very fresh, without any porky smell, only the aroma of meat. As you chew, sometimes the sweetness of the bamboo shoot suppresses the aroma of meat, sometimes the aroma of meat suddenly pops out, and then you bite into the crunchy wood ear fungus. The texture is very rich, but the bamboo shoot always takes the lead.

There was also a dish of braised bamboo shoots from a restaurant on the table. It's not that the braised bamboo shoots were bad, but compared to this stuffed bamboo shoot dish that few people have tried and that has an exceptionally outstanding flavor, it was definitely inferior.

However, those with clear objectives and shamelessness like Sun Lizheng were still in the minority at the gathering.

After everyone picked up a piece of bamboo shoot, they couldn't help but praise the chef.

"I never knew bamboo shoots could be cooked like this."

"How novel!"

"Young lady, you have such skillful hands!"

"It looks delicious!"

"It smells so good!"

After praising her, he hurriedly invited Song Miao to sit down.

The group at the table consisted of officials, patrolmen, and village heads; they were likely discussing how to take turns on duty and how to keep watch.

Song Miao was certainly not so blind.

She took the bowl, thanked Han Li, and then greeted everyone, saying, "I'll go eat at the front so I can answer if anyone knocks on the door."

The others didn't want to keep her any longer, and were busy adding more food to her plate.

Song Miao then smiled and said, "I left some vegetables in the pot, so a flatbread will be enough."

As expected, he ordered two chive leaf pancakes and left.

If it were just now, everyone would definitely have added meat and vegetables to her plate, but upon hearing that she had left some vegetables in the pot, and thinking of the taste of the stuffed pomelo peel, everyone hesitated—would they rather have this whole table of food, or the stuffed pomelo peel and bamboo shoots?
Both pomelo peel and bamboo shoots are seasonal vegetables. Stuffed pomelo peel is already so delicious, so you can imagine that stuffed bamboo shoots must also be a delicacy!
When can't we eat this table of ordinary dishes and meat?

Even a fool would choose that!

***
As soon as the cook left, the remaining people at the table fell silent and went to eat the stuffed bamboo shoots they had been given.

Since everyone has a tongue, Sun Lizheng is not the only one who can distinguish between good and bad.

Soon, someone suddenly stood up, and in a flash, almost everyone at the table stood up.

Everyone was eyeing the plate of stuffed bamboo shoots with predatory intent. In the blink of an eye, a swarm of chopsticks rushed towards the plate. In the cramped space, chopsticks inevitably bumped into each other, and two or three people even managed to grab the same stuffed bamboo shoot, or someone else saw something they wanted but missed it, as it was snatched away by someone else.

Some clever ones, seeing that they couldn't reach the pomelo peel, would turn around and try to grab the pomelo peel stuffing from the side.

Qin Zong was still holding the bamboo tube in his hand, and he was even a little stunned to see the people at the table doing such things.

—Just now, with such good meat and vegetables, the patrolmen and runners were all very restrained and had to distribute it to each person individually. How come it's all different now?

The two dishes looked unique and novel, but it didn't have to be like this, did it?

Haven't any of them ever eaten anything good?

Seeing everyone's reaction, Xin Feng didn't ask any questions or listen to Qin Zong's polite words. He immediately grabbed his chopsticks and started grabbing food from the plate.

He was always on the go, and when he was on business, he didn't care about hierarchy or rank. As for food, it was always whoever was quickest got it. At that moment, relying on his thick and long arms, he grabbed three stuffed bamboo shoots and brought them back.

Having received a table full of food from Qin Zong for free, he still knew to be considerate. After placing a stuffed bamboo shoot in Qin Zong's bowl, he put it in his own mouth while saying, "Brother will teach you a lesson today: the things that are fought over are all the good stuff. Everyone says that Song..."

The word "Song" had barely left his lips when the bamboo shoot stuffed food was already in his mouth. Having tasted it, Xin Feng didn't even bother to say anything more to Qin Zong. He turned around and shouted, "What are you all fighting over with this table full of good food! There's so much chicken, duck, and goose. Eat more meat!"

As he shouted, he kept inserting his chopsticks into the plate of stuffed bamboo shoots.

The patrolmen were willing to give way, but the constables from the yamen didn't take it seriously at all, and just kept shouting, "Brother Feng, my Brother Feng, we're brothers eating at the same table, this isn't allowed!"

Someone else pushed his chopsticks aside and shouted, "What are you doing, being the one in charge, fighting with us subordinates!"

Food that everyone is scrambling to eat naturally tastes especially good.

The group had already eaten a lot of meat and vegetables, and now that they had received Song Miao's two stuffed dishes, they all deeply regretted that they had acted too quickly earlier and that their stomachs were too small now.

But there were far more monks than porridge, and in no time, the stuffed pomelo peel and stuffed bamboo shoots were all snatched up. The thin meat patties underneath the stuffed pomelo peel were especially sweet because they absorbed the refreshing taste of the pomelo peel, and the soup was so comforting.

"If only I had some rice..."

Someone remarked with a sigh.

Just as the man finished his remark, his cuff was forcefully tugged at by the person next to him.

The man was taken aback. He turned his head and saw the person next door winking at him.

He suddenly realized what was happening.

With Young Master Qin being so generous, allowing a group of people to eat and drink for free, how could they possibly be picky?

The man was just about to regret his actions and try to make amends when he heard someone nearby agreeing with him.

"Even steamed buns or flatbreads without filling are fine, so that the original flavor of stuffed pomelo peel and stuffed bamboo shoots can be tasted the best!"

He was startled and turned around, about to offer a reminder, but when he glanced at the face of the person who had echoed him, he was immediately stunned.

—It was actually Qin Zong, the young master himself!
After agreeing, Qin Zong looked at the remaining braised goose in his bowl and felt that the goose meat was drier than before, not braised thoroughly enough, and tasted very ordinary. For a moment, he couldn't even taste it.

He was quite regretful.

"No ordinary restaurant chef has her skill. I should have known sooner! Sigh!"

"If I had known that this young lady Song had such good cooking skills and could make such fresh dishes, why would I have told her not to cook anymore and why she had to eat at a restaurant with us!"

The atmosphere gradually fell silent; agreeing was not an option, but not agreeing would be against one's conscience.

However, Han Li said last, "There are more than ten of us. Stall owner Song also has to set up his stall and make purchases. He may not have time to cook for so many people."

That makes a lot of sense.

The group at the table became sullen again.

Someone suggested, "Why don't we chip in and ask that Miss Song to make something from her own kitchen, like today, as an extra dish?"

Xin Feng smacked the man on the head and spat, "Are you here to eat or to work?!"

However, after spitting out the insult, he couldn't help but sigh as well.

It's hard to go from extravagance to frugality!

Normally, I'd be overjoyed to have such a feast, but today, compared to this, even such delicious food seems lackluster.

***
After the group finished eating and the rotation was arranged, everyone returned to their places and began to keep watch and keep an eye on things.

Those who were assigned to keep watch in the front hall and the side rooms would take the time to praise Song Miao when they got to the front hall, praising her for her good skills and asking her how she made stuffed pomelo peel and stuffed bamboo shoots.

Others feel sorry for it.

"Sigh, we ate so many pomelos before, and we just threw away the peels. Who knew they were so delicious in cooking? What a waste of good stuff!"

But as Song Miao broke down the steps for them one by one, the questioner's brows furrowed incessantly.

"It's so troublesome. You have to blanch the meat, change the water, chop it, and stuff it..."

Song Miao then smiled and said, "Actually, it's just a home-style dish, and many people from the South should know how to make it."

"Why don't restaurants sell such delicious food?"

"It's still troublesome. They are just ordinary ingredients. If the price is set too high, no one will want to eat them. If the price is set too low, it's not worth making them. Both of these dishes need to be made fresh, which takes a lot of time and effort. They can't be kept for long, especially the stuffed pomelo peel. The peel needs to be blanched and soaked at least one day in advance. But if it's soaked for a day or two longer, it will easily go bad. If we prepare them and no one orders them, it will be a waste."

She gave an explanation.

But the more they explained, the more their mouths watered.

When you want to eat something delicious, you naturally want to eat it every meal, but you're too embarrassed to ask, so you just keep it to yourself, looking at each other and waiting for the other to speak.

Song Miao didn't think that much about it.

She tidied up the stove and then went back to the backyard to find Han Li.

The latter was talking to Sun Lizheng.

As Sun, the village head, listened, he nodded and occasionally patted his chest. When he saw Song Miao coming over, he greeted her with a smile before stepping aside and leaving through the back path.

Song Miao didn't ask any more questions, went forward, and discussed the time with Han Li.

The other party, along with Xin Feng and Qin Zong, pretended to have finished their questioning and returned the way they came, since the three of them had originally come from the front of Suanzao Lane.

As soon as Han Li and his two companions left, the once quiet house across the street began to buzz with noise again after a short while.

Seeing that there were people guarding the other side, Song Miao didn't bother with them. She went back into her house, took out the original house deed and land deed, copied the text with paper and pen, put them back in their original place, and carefully kept the copy on her person before leaving the house as the sky darkened.

Thank you so much to the bookstore! My cat, Egg, kindly sent me two little gifts. =3=
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(End of this chapter)