Miao Chu

Chapter 64 Anxiety
Song Miao said she was busy, but she wasn't really busy either.

However, there were still many patrolmen and yamen runners at home, so it was not very convenient to entertain guests.

But since the person had already arrived at the door and brought their own ingredients, it was naturally difficult to refuse.

She thought for a moment and said, "There are some minor matters after noon, but they won't bother me now."

As she was talking, she glanced around and saw that Zhu Jie'er's carriage was parked right by the window in front of the house, thus blocking the view of the opposite house from the window.

This makes it difficult for the guards on duty to keep an eye on them.

A thought crossed her mind, and she smiled at He Qi, saying, "If it's convenient for you, Young Master He, could you please help me move this carriage forward a bit? I'd like to leave my stall at the door to air it out today."

Then he pointed to an open space ahead and said, "You can park the carriage there."

He Qi readily agreed and called the driver to come and move the vehicle.

To justify this explanation, Song Miao placed the stall by the window before opening the door.

Normal voices outside can be heard inside the house, even if there's only one window separating the two people.

After a short delay, when Song Miao entered the house, she found it empty, with none of the guards coming out.

As usual, she brought out a bench and cushions for the brother and sister to sit on, and then served them tea.

He Qi then asked Bei Zhi to bring in the bucket of shrimp, pointing and saying, "Stadium Master Song, just do what you're comfortable with, don't worry too much!"

As he said this, a hint of embarrassment appeared on his face.

"I was a little embarrassed to bother you again, but these shrimp were only transported from the south a few days ago, and they're so fresh. I asked the cook at home to try a few different ways of cooking them, but none of them tasted quite right..."

"These shrimp are so big, it would be such a waste if they were all eaten carelessly, so I have no choice but to trouble Miss Song!"

Song Miao was intrigued by his explanation.

Looking at these fresh and lively shrimp, the ingredients are top-notch, they should taste delicious no matter how they are cooked. How could they not be flavorful?
She asked, "What methods have you tried at home?"

He Qi then explained each point.

The He family's chefs were naturally skilled, but both Mr. and Mrs. He advocated a healthy lifestyle and were very particular about preserving the original flavor of both meat and vegetables.

Several cooks first blanched the food in plain water and served it with dipping sauce. However, He Qi and Old Mrs. He disliked it, saying it had no flavor, so they put it in a braising sauce. But eating it cold didn't taste very good either, so in the end they had to braise it in soy sauce.

"These shrimp are big and fresh, but for some reason they don't have much of a shrimp flavor. The meat itself is quite good, though, thick and springy," He Qi described. "Blanched shrimp doesn't absorb the flavor well enough, and braised shrimp loses some of its taste after being stewed for too long..."

As Song Miao listened, she picked up a shrimp and squeezed its shell, finding it to be completely different from other types, extremely hard.

She pondered the texture and taste of the shrimp meat that He Qi had just described, and gradually had a plan in mind. She said, "It just so happens that Young Master He gave me a lot of seasonings yesterday, including a fresh wasabi. I'll use dogwood to make wasabi shrimp—it's not spicy, so Sister Zhu can eat it. But whether it tastes good or not, we'll only know after we make it."

He Qi was somewhat puzzled when he heard the words "wasabi shrimp" and Song Miao say it wasn't spicy.

But he didn't ask a single question, only nodded repeatedly, and then added, "Also, Sister Zhu keeps saying she wants to come and visit Stall Owner Song. Yesterday she went to see her cousin..."

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you!"

Zhu Jie'er had been waiting for a long time and couldn't hold back any longer. At this moment, she hurriedly interrupted, "Seventh Brother, you mustn't interrupt me!"

As she spoke, she took out a wrapped handkerchief from her bosom and presented it to Song Miao as if it were a precious treasure, saying, "Sister, look! Open it and see what this is!"

She's such a cute little thing, and she's so proud of herself.

Song Miao smiled and squatted down, and sure enough, she opened the handkerchief and saw that it contained a small bouquet of flowers.

The flowers were yellowish-pink with a slight purple tinge, including buds and fully bloomed flowers.

The flower buds are small and exquisite, like the head of a bird, or somewhat like the beak of a little yellow duck. When they bloom, they resemble a bird spreading its wings as if about to take flight.

The flower has a broad standard petal and narrow, long wing petals, making it look very delicate and lovely.

Song Miao recognized the food immediately, having cooked and eaten it herself. She was extremely surprised and quickly asked, "Where did this broom flower come from?"

Yunnan is more than a thousand miles away from the capital. I only mentioned it yesterday, and today it was brought here by this Miss Zhu as if she had just picked it up casually.

What kind of action is this?
Zhu Jie'er smiled and said, "I picked them from my cousin's garden! I searched all morning and finally found them. I even saved some for her, and she said she wanted to have someone cook them for her too!"

"My sister said yesterday that stir-fried eggs with broom flowers are delicious, and I've been thinking about it ever since. I went to see my cousin today and specially taught her how to make it. She said she must have some at home."

"We searched for a long time and finally found her in her greenhouse..."

"These flowers were picked by Zhu Jie herself, one by one!"

After Zhu Jie finished speaking, she asked anxiously, "Is it this one! Sister, is it this one?"

Song Miao nodded in agreement, took the handkerchief, and praised, "Sister Zhu is so clever! I'll fry it for you to eat in a bit."

He then asked her, "Are you hungry?"

Zhu Jie'er pretended to feel it seriously, and even touched her stomach before nodding and saying, "It's empty, flat, and I'm very hungry."

The child cried out that he was hungry, so Song Miao didn't dare to delay. She quickly opened the stove, added firewood and fuel, and then checked what was left on the stove.

There were a few leftover fried dough sticks that weren't very tasty and not suitable for children to eat. However, there was still a lot of leftover rice from last night, which was being boiled in water.

She then asked He Qi, "If you don't mind, how about Mr. He has some porridge for lunch?"

He Qi readily agreed and volunteered not to sit idly by, wanting to help.

He peeled bamboo shoots quite skillfully last time, so Song Miao trusted him more. She found a stone mortar, scooped out two spoonfuls of rice, added a little milk, and asked him to pound it into a paste.

Zhu Jie'er, who was watching from the side, was very dissatisfied and also insisted on doing the work.

Song Miao then filled a basin with water and first picked out the golden pheasant flowers that had already bloomed—these flowers were quite strange, as they tasted astringent and bitter once they bloomed—leaving behind a handful of tender flower buds, she asked Zhu Jie'er to help her wash them gently.

The two people, one big and one small, were busy with a little work and were having a great time.

After dealing with those two, Song Miao opened the stove, added firewood, and started cooking the porridge before preparing the shrimp.

There were at least three or four pounds of shrimp in that bucket. Considering He Qitong and Zhu Jie'er's appetite, Song Miao only took out half of them. She used scissors to remove the shrimp heads, rostrum, and sacs, then cut open the backs to remove the shrimp veins. After washing them clean with water, she set them to dry and then went to process the wasabi.

She ground the wasabi into a powder, put it in a bowl, and mixed it with chopped dogwood, soy sauce, two large spoonfuls of sugar, one spoonful of honey, and a bowl of water. She also ground in a lot of ground pepper and stirred it well. She then chopped a few cloves of garlic and set them aside for later use—this was the seasoning for the wasabi shrimp. After doing all this, she beat two eggs before going to ask Zhu Jie'er for the goldenrod flowers she had washed.

The goldenrod buds were soaked in the egg mixture, left to soak for a while to let the fragrance seep out. Seeing that He Qi was still grinding rice paste, Song Miao didn't urge him. Instead, she heated oil in a wok and stir-fried the shrimp.

Shrimp are stir-fried in vegetable oil over high heat, and the aroma of shrimp oil quickly fills the air.

The aroma is different from that of meat; it's the unique fragrance of stir-fried river seafood. The shrimp roe and duck egg yolk have a common origin, which is very direct and makes your mouth water just by smelling it.

The aroma isn't as fishy as seafood, but it's very rich and has a strong smoky flavor.

He Qi, who was grinding rice into paste, suddenly slowed down and couldn't help but look up at the pot.

Zhu Jie'er had already finished her work and was playing with the blooming broom flowers. When she smelled the fragrance, she wanted to go closer to take a look, but because she had been reprimanded last time, she didn't dare to move. At this moment, her eyes were wide open, and she kept sniffing and smelling the fragrance. She turned her head to look at He Qi and asked in a low voice, "Brother Qi, I want to watch my sister make shrimp!"

He Qi shook his head seriously and said, "No, you'll disturb your sister while she's cooking."

As he spoke, he placed the stone mortar on the bench in front of Zhu Jie'er and said, "Zhu Jie'er, be a good girl. If you're bored, take this stone pestle and slowly grind rice paste. I'll go and take a look!"

After he finished speaking, he indeed stood up and went to the stove to watch Song Miao cook.

When Zhu Jie took over the stone mortar, she felt that she was not idle and not boring at all.

She could actually play with the flowers for half a day and enjoy their fragrance, but she couldn't refuse her seventh brother in public. So she held the stone pestle and rubbed it around several times, feeling that something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Song Miao didn't have time to worry about Zhu Jie'er's doubts.

She heated the oil over high heat to sauté the large green prawns until they were fragrant, then turned off the stove and turned the heat down to low to slowly fry them, bringing out the aroma of the prawns, oil, and roe. When they were almost done, she added minced garlic and stir-fried them together. Once the garlic aroma was released, she poured in the sauce.

The sauce is very fragrant.

The wasabi inside has a very unique and refreshing flavor, very fragrant, with a slightly pungent taste that's hard to describe. The fennel is also spicy, and the ratio of the two is just right. When cooked with shrimp, it creates a special aroma that is extremely rich and fills the whole house.

Zhu Jie couldn't hold back any longer, so she put down the stone pestle and asked, "Seventh Brother, I'm done grinding. Have you finished watching?"

As he spoke, he couldn't resist standing on tiptoe to see what was in the pot.

He Qi stared at the shrimp in the pot and didn't react for a while when Zhu Jie called him. It was only after Song Miao reminded him twice that he seemed to wake up and hurried back to comfort his sister.

However, the dish was prepared very quickly. Once the sauce had reduced to about 70-80%, Song Miao added a little lard, and after the lard coated the prawns evenly, she immediately served it.

After preparing the wasabi shrimp, she washed the pan, gently stirred the goldenrod and scrambled eggs in a little oil over low heat, and served another small plate of them, which were tender and delicious.

The porridge was cooked by then. Although it wasn't very soft, it was enough to make a main dish to accompany the main course.

Two dishes were placed on the bench, and He Qi and Zhu Jie'er, one big and one small, each had a bowl of porridge in front of them.

The porridge was thick, with more rice than soup. The shrimp was huge, deveined, with a bright red, shiny shell. The shrimp meat from the deveined part had been simmered with the sauce for a while and was already quite flavorful, but the soy sauce coloring wasn't too strong, and you could still see the original light brown color from pan-frying.

The aroma of fried shrimp, the refreshing scent of wasabi, and the fragrance of pepper are overwhelmingly invigorating and appetizing.

There was also the golden broth omelet, which had a different aroma from the jasmine omelet from last time; it was lighter, yet still had a sweet taste.

He Qi was momentarily at a loss as to how to start eating.

But Zhu Jie'er was different. She immediately picked up a piece of scrambled eggs with goldenrod and exclaimed, "Sister, aren't you going to eat? The food's getting cold!"

Song Miao smiled and said, "Sister Zhu, please eat. I ate a lot on the way here and I can't eat anymore—just leave me two shrimp."

He then took the stone mortar and pounded some more milk into it before pouring it into a small pot and simmering it over a low flame.

He Qi hurriedly took a small bowl and scooped out a few shrimp. While scooping, his hand accidentally got a little bit of sauce on it.

He had a handkerchief nearby, but for some reason, he didn't wipe it. Instead, as if possessed, he grabbed a shrimp and put it in his mouth without even peeling off the shell.

***
Inside Song's restaurant in Suanzao Lane, He Qi and Zhu Jie'er were happily enjoying two dishes, while two streets away, Manager Liao was practically fuming with rage.

"You mean, Liu Er wrote the contract signing date as after Song Dalang died, and now he wants me to pay another hundred strings of cash to change the date back?"

With such a large sum of money, Diao Zi naturally couldn't make the decision on his own.

He was trembling with fear, his hands shaking slightly. He flipped through the page several times but couldn't open it. When he finally did, his voice was trembling and he was speaking incoherently.

"They said... he wasn't on duty for the past few days. Since he wasn't on duty, it's hard to change the situation, and there's another person who also needs to help him be off duty..."

This chaotic narration made Liao, the head of the household, frown repeatedly, but he had only one thought in his mind.

Such a useless subordinate can no longer be entrusted with any important tasks in the future.

He frowned and asked, "How is the Song family's daughter? Has she been involved with those imperial students these past few days?"

Hearing the question, Diao Zi finally relaxed a bit and quickly replied, "No, I haven't been interacting much with those Imperial Academy students lately, it's just..."

"Just what?"

"It's that village headman, the one surnamed Sun from Zhuque Gate. I don't know what's wrong with his wife. Last night she took her bedding to the Song family's restaurant. I heard she's going to stay there for the next few nights to keep that young lady company, so she won't be too scared to sleep."

Liao, the village head, didn't take the village headman seriously, but felt slightly annoyed and said, "She won't listen to reason, so she'll have to drink the penalty cup. Let's see if she still has time to interfere when her family affairs come out."

"There's another thing, but for some reason, there have been carriages and horses going to Suanzao Lane these past few days, and some people have even been bringing furniture in there."

That scoundrel learned everything about He Qi's visit and the gifts sent by Bei Zhi and others.

Liao asked, "Wasn't that a student from the Imperial Academy?"

"It shouldn't be. I've inquired, and all the students at the Imperial Academy are busy with their exams these past few days. They probably don't have time to come out."

Although Diao Zi denied it, Liao Dangjia was still somewhat anxious.

He had lost much trust in this subordinate, especially since if this matter was not handled well, the trouble that followed would be difficult to manage.

"Go and arrange a time for Liu Jin to meet me. I want to talk to him."

He felt that something was wrong.

I don't have time to thank everyone for the donations today, I'll thank you all tomorrow, muah~
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(End of this chapter)